When people first look at my resume or hear what my background is, almost all of them say something along the lines of "Oh, so you're a utility player!" Some of them say it like it's a good thing and others... not so much. I'm here to clear the air and explain what a utility player is and why utility players are an absolute asset on any team.

Utility Player defined: "[A utility player is] a player on a sports team who has the ability to play in several different positions, and often plays in different positions for their club." (Source)

In business, a utility player is basically the same as in sports: someone with many different skill sets that can work in different roles, as opposed to having only one specialty.

Frequently, people will parrot the phrase "a jack of all trades but a master of none," as if being a jack of all trades is a bad thing. They don't realize that the full quote is actually: “A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one." When problems arise, you want someone on your team that can handle many different types of problems instead of just one.

There are, of course, many benefits to specializing and having specialists on your team. These people have an in depth knowledge of one or two  particular areas, which can be very useful. But to really make sure that your team can handle anything, you need utility players.

Utility players (like me) can take over multiple aspects of a project, depending on their skill set and sometimes, their different skill sets can compliment each other. Using myself as an example, I am a utility player with a background in IT (Information Technology), technical writing, and tech support. These skills combined help me understand the technical aspects of a project at a high level and also allow me to be able to explain them easily to people with less IT experience. How? Let's take a look at how each skill contributes:

• Tech Support: Performing troubleshooting with people that don't understand the technology allows me to understand their thought process and how to talk to them so they'll understand what I'm trying to help them do.
• Technical Writing: Writing guides that are by nature for someone at a basic level of understanding and training people while using those same guides helps me you improve and simplify my explanations, as well as make my guides easier to work with.
  
• IT: Being in technology for most of my career has allowed me to understand basic computing and networking concepts despite not being an engineer or a developer. This allows me to have intelligent and meaningful conversations with those specialists that I mentioned earlier.
  

When you have a solid team that includes at least one utility player, it's like having a Swiss army knife at the ready; someone that can tackle many different tasks or problems with ease. The next time that you're building a project team or a department, make sure to have a utility player on it. You won't regret it!

Thank you,

Alexa Medhus

This was my speech for the 2020 Area 45 contest. It’s all about the importance of being yourself.

((NOTE: This contest took place during the COVID-19 quarantine, which is why I was presenting to a camera.))

Unless you've been living under a rock for the last few months, you've no doubt heard about the recent pandemic plaguing the world right now (pun unintended): COVID-19.

There have been at least a million posts about how to prevent the spread of this disease (wash your hands, don't touch your face, try not to panic, etc.), but no one is talking about how to take care of YOU as a WHOLE.

I'm located in the Seattle, WA area, which is the epicenter of the US outbreak. Every day seems to revolve around the virus. All of my newsletters, social media feeds, and conversations are full of the latest news surrounding the virus. All of the events I had planned have been cancelled. It feels like my entire world is COVID-19.

To top it off, I have some anxiety issues. I'm not ashamed of it, it's just a part of who I am. It isn't "bad" anxiety, but it does exist and is something I work on all the time. However, all of this uncertainty and panic is STRESSING me out and fanning the flames of my anxiety; because of this, I am working very hard on my self care and I think that everyone else should too. EVERYONE is affected by stress, anxiety issues or not, and during times like these, self care becomes even more important.

Life is full of stress and it is important to manage it; being in the middle of a pandemic can add even MORE stress, so it's important to take care of yourself. Stress:

• Lowers your immune defenses
• Affects your heart health
• Causes headaches, stomach issues, high blood pressure, and sleep issues, and 
• Is just generally unpleasant to experience.

WebMD has more information about stress HERE.

1. Take. Time. For. YOU. I know that it can be super hard with all of the obligations that people have nowadays, but you can't help anyone if you don't take time for YOU. Take time to stop and breathe. Drink some tea, take a bath - do something for you, no matter how small.
2. Take a news/social media break. The more you dwell on what is stressing you out, the worse it gets, and taking a break from the news will help. Everyone is panicking and that kind of negativity can really have an impact on your mental health.
3. Take time to do something that you love or that relaxes you. I've been taking time to sit and read with instrumental music playing, time to play video games, or time to do some kind of crafting (a personal favorite hobby).
4. If you're remote like me, make sure to take breaks to stand up and walk around/stretch. I normally have a sit/stand desk at work, but don't have one at home, so I've had to work hard to keep moving.
   1. Also, try to stick to a schedule if you're remote. You can choose to wear pajamas or "real clothes" while at home (I personally don't believe you should wear "real clothes" at home unless you have company, but to each their own), but whatever you do, try to be comfortable.
5. Talk it out! If it gets to be too much, don't be afraid to reach out to someone you trust or a professional therapist. Talking things out can really help with stress (at least that's what MY therapist says; having one can help you be accountable to your goals as well). It's never good to bottle things or dwell on the bad stuff.

​
Remember, the best thing you can do right now is to be smart, to be careful, and to take care of yourself as best you can. 

Thank you,

​Alexa Medhus

Is there anything quite as terrifying to a business professional than changing careers? Other than the dreaded words "downsizing" or "reorg," nothing can be quite as scary as changing one's career field. Switching careers means moving outside of your comfort zone and trying something brand new.

At least that's how I feel. Right now, I am on the cusp of starting my new career in marketing (my first day in my new role is tomorrow!). I have spent most of my professional life in some form of direct client-supporting role and now I will be following my dreams of working directly in marketing. I'm not going to lie, this is an exciting (yet terrifying) move for me.

When I was in high school, I took marketing classes every year I could and competed in DECA every single year as well, making it to state each time. Marketing was my passion, but I let myself get talked out of majoring in it when I headed off to college. Instead, I pursued my other love: technology. Now I have come full circle. 

The most exciting part of this change for me will be marrying several of my passions together: marketing, creativity, technical writing, technology, managing systems, and helping/supporting my customers. 

Thanks to the support of my COO and Marketing Manager at General Microsystems, I discovered that my potential lies in embracing my creative side. My COO, Sue DeFlorio, took the time to go through every job that I have ever had with me to determine what I loved most about each one and what I was best at. We discovered that perhaps a change was in order. My marketing manager, Cherie Reese, opened her department to me and is giving me my first chance to pursue high-school-me's dreams. I am forever grateful to the both of them.

I will be best able to serve myself, my company, my customers, and my peers by doing what I truly love and am best at: being creative. I believe that my creativity will allow me to help our systems be the best that they can be and help put GMI's name out there. 

I am truly looking forward to everything that this career change will bring me and am so excited to see where I go!

Hello and welcome back to my now bi-weekly blog!

Last blog, I shared a list of ideas for how to continue your education outside of school. For today's blog, I have decided to share a story from my days as an intern as an example, a story which I have alluded to a few times. Back when I was an intern at Sterling Health Plans (which has gone by several names since then and has since been absorbed into WellCare), I realized that I had a golden opportunity in my hands; I had access to industry professionals who I could learn from. What better way to learn about being a leader than from people actually leading?

​THE QUESTIONS
I created a list of who I wanted to talk to in the company and then created a list of questions I wanted to discuss. The questions I asked were:

1. What school did you go to and what did you study?
2. What's your work background?
3. What is your definition of success?
4. What did you do to work towards your definition of success?
5. What is your definition of a leader?
6. What is your leadership philosophy?
7. What have you done to become a better leader?
8. How did you get to where you are today?
9. What was it like when you first started your position? How did you get people to follow you?
10. What are you responsibilities in the business?
11. What is the best part about your job?
12. What is the hardest part about your job?

Evidently, college me wanted to be thorough.

THE PROJECT
Once I was ready, I kicked off my informal project to learn from the company’s leadership. I talked to (either on the phone, via email, or in person) my list of C-suite executives/VPs/managers.I also arranged a meeting with the CEO for all of the interns to get a chance to talk to him and ask him questions.

Virtually every single person I reached out to was excited to speak with me. People generally want to help people, and I encourage you to put yourself out there no matter where you are in your career!

WHAT I LEARNED
Admittedly, a lot has changed since I interviewed all of these professionals (2011), but what I learned has held up over time. Here are my original notes on the key takeaways, with some new comments included:

• The number one thing stressed to me by multiple people was networking. Each of them got to where they are through developing and MAINTAINING a network of people.
  • I have continued to hear this same piece of advice over the years and have striven to adhere to it.

• GOALS! Have a goal that you have a passion for and have a real desire to achieve it. Set your goals high, but make them achievable. This was another one stressed a lot.
  • I still strongly believe in this and have also heard this advise repeated numerous times. 
• Let people know what you want and listen to them.
• Enhance your marketability- diversify.
• Always volunteer for projects.
  • I would like to add a caveat to this: do not take on more projects than you can effectively handle. Biting off more than you can chew risks things slipping through the cracks. It is, however, very important to volunteer for as many as you can.
• Read and study your industry a lot.
  • Continuous education! 
• Expose yourself to different parts of your company and industry.
• Be self-aware. Know what motivates you and what your strengths/weaknesses are and use/improve them.
  • I definitely agree with this still. I recommend that everyone list out what their personal/professional strengths and weaknesses are. Then, determine how to strengthen your weaknesses and how to best leverage your strengths. 
• Determine how what you do supports the business and understand the business as a whole.
• Plan for the future, but perform excellently at your current job, even if it’s boring. “Grow where you’re planted” and gain full mastery of whatever position you’re in.
• Don’t always take the safe/easy route.
  • Remember what I learned at that recent women's conference? Take risks!
• When you see an opportunity, take it. Never close an opportunity.
• Always look for a way to add value- don’t wait to be asked.
• The people you surround yourself with are key. Hire people that are better and smarter than you and help them achieve their potential.
• Enjoy what you do.

Thank you for stopping by! I would like to note that if you decide to start a project similar to mine, make sure to thank everyone that took the time to work with you. I was going through my old notes while making this blog and found my list of who to send thank you cards to and the address for their office; I suggest you do something similar. A physical card is more meaningful and shows more appreciation than just an email, and I encourage you to send one wherever possible.