What is a typical day for you like at Concentric?
Every day is different for me and that is one of the things I love about my job. The majority of my day is usually spent meeting with clients or checking in with our intelligence professionals who are embedded directly with our clients. I like to get a feel for what’s going on in their world and any challenges they might be facing, so we can find ways to better support them. I really like that Concentric doesn’t have a one-size-fits-all approach to fulfilling client needs because it allows us to get creative when it comes to solutions. I often find myself reaching out to my Concentric colleagues to leverage their expertise and ideas; it’s great to know I have a whole team supporting the effort!
How long have you been at Concentric and what part of your job do you find most fulfilling?
I started with Concentric about six months ago. In that time, I’ve come to find that the most fulfilling part of my job is finding the perfect match between a prospective employee and an open position with one of our clients. It’s really exciting to bring in new talent and then watch them grow in their roles. I’m always amazed at the creative thinking and innovative solutions our employees bring to the team. My absolute favorite is when we get to hire a new graduate or someone new to the field. Having worked in intelligence for almost 20 years, it’s truly a privilege and inspiring to get to support someone just starting out in their intelligence career.
What is your educational and professional background before joining Concentric?
I have a B.S. in ComputerScience and a M.S. in Intelligence Studies, both from the University of Maryland. During college, I worked as a database designer for a defense contractor and quickly realized that was NOT the job for me. I really loved current events and so I applied to the FBI. I spent about 6 years as an intelligence analyst in the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division where I supported investigations in the U.S. as well as crimes against U.S. citizens or assets in the Middle East and South America. My time with the Bureau made me realize I wanted to see more of the world, so I took a job as a civilian intelligence analyst with the U.S. Army Special Operations Command. While there, I deployed overseas six times to provide intelligence support to military operations. I then served as the Deputy Director of Intelligence for my unit before being promoted to Senior Civilian Advisor for the command team. After 12 years with the Army, I decided it was time to move on to try something new and I thought corporate intelligence would be a great fit and luckily, I found my way to Concentric.
What do you enjoy doing when you’re not working?
I really enjoy spending time at home with my husband and our two dogs, both boxer-mix rescues. About a year ago we bought an older home on a piece of property, so we’ve been spending a lot of time fixing it up, clearing overgrown land, and wiping muddy paws. Aside from that, I volunteer with our local hospice to provide respite care and emotional support to hospice patients and their families. One of our dogs is a certified therapy animal, so I sometimes take him to the local hospice house to visit with the patients and staff. He’s somewhat of a local celebrity – it’s not unusual for a stranger at the store to stop me and ask how he’s doing – and he thoroughly enjoys the attention!
What are you most looking forward to over the next year?
Like everyone, I’m looking forward to the lifting of COVID-related restrictions and a return to “normal.” The restrictions have limited my ability to volunteer with hospice, so I’m hoping to get back to my regular visits, and I’d really like to be able to travel a bit this year. Since we have so much land with our new house, I’m also planning on planting my first organic vegetable garden this spring, so I’m excited to see how successful (or not) I’ll be at that. I believe most of my time will be spent devising creative solutions to keep the deer, squirrels, birds, and rabbits from eating everything, but I still think it’ll be a great time.
