Following my time as an engineering co-op with the Failure Analysis/CT Group, I joined SoftGoods as an Engineering Program Manager (EPM) for 9 months in 2022. My time as an EPM was essential to my development in engineering operations, particularly due to the COVID-19 pandemic that challenged manufacturing in Asia universally across industries.


Here are 3 major takeaways from that experience that has continued to shape the way I lead projects:

Being aggressive with your schedule is not the same as being ambitious
Seeing around corners and building a schedule for cross-functional collaboration gave teams the breathing room to continue to work with urgency and not anxiety if the worst case scenario was actualized.

Always use context as a tool to dictate how you deliver an explanation
I could never be too clear. Utilizing context and resources to figure out how I could best be understood to my stakeholder ultimately helped everyone.

Gratitude allows for others to give you grace when you need it most


Kindness and gratitude never go out of style. In the times my program needed a lifeline, someone was always there and happy to help.