Hello! I’m Jess Anderson, an avid community builder, data + strategy professional, and mom of two from Louisville, Kentucky. I built this site to explore the latest in work-life trends and tools in a constant pursuit toward creating a quality professional and personal life. This site was built with heart, a spirit of experimentation, and focused problem-solving in mind. I hope it is as valuable to you as it is to me, and that you find strategies and tools that you can bring into your own life. I welcome comments, discussion, and guest posts, because we learn the most when we learn from each other. Please feel free to reach out to me for details.
About Me
Professionally, I am a data strategist and Director of Data & Analytics for Mercer HR Consulting. In this role, I get to work across technology, operations, and business teams to create compelling solutions and products leveraging data and AI, while leading high-performing teams. Professionally I am:
- I am honored to be a 2023 Fortune Connect Fellow
- I have an MBA from Keller Graduate School DeVry
- I am a Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) from ScrumAlliance
- I am PMP certified (inactive) via the Project Management Institute
- I am a member of the professional Society of People Analytics
- I am a life-long learner, recently taking courses in Generative AI with DeepMindAI’s Andrew Ng, among other courses, to continually extend my skillset to new dimensions.
I feel incredibly lucky to be working in a role that I love. At the same time, I can trend toward exhaustion trying to ‘make it all work.’ Sound familiar? I knew years ago that I couldn’t keep the pace that was going to lead to my own burnout. I also knew that I had no intention of leaving a professional path that gave me immense satisfaction and drive. It was then that I challenged myself to level up, weaving new thinking, new tools, and a few more skills than I had before into my professional toolkit to truly and sustainably ‘make it work.’
This mission to ‘level up’ became a daily practice over time. My mindset has shifted from ‘work harder’ to:
- I intend to be fully engage in my work, focused and productive while I’m in working and hold space for passion projects.
- I invest in my health and relationships.
- I will develop and nurture community.
- I will hold time for play, and rest.
It’s possible, but it isn’t always easy.
About You
Talking with friends and colleagues, I have found that many of my peers have similar struggles to what I’ve experienced. Why? It turns out there are several trends that are impacting work/life all at once, which we will talk about in depth in this space.
Notably:
- Work expectations have shifted with the rise of remote and hybrid work (hello, pandemic!) and – for many of us – now back to the office again. Our work lives look different than they did a few years ago and we’re learning to embrace a ‘new normal’ as we’re creating it.
- New technology, and especially the introduction of Generative AI, is changing expectations of professionals to adopt new tech quickly and continuously learn and improve our digital literacy. Check out this eye opening 2023 article from the World Economic Forum for more on this topic.
- We now live in in the ‘always connected’ era. New digital tools and social connectivity, accelerated by the pandemic need to connect virtually, increases pressure to maintain an always-connected lifestyle. Where does it stop?
Point being – if this sounds like you, be assured that it’s not just you. These changes are affecting the vast majority of professionals across almost every industry.
Making The Shift
My belief is that if we can take a step back and recognize how our world is changing, and develop the new tools and skills to adapt, we can not only move through but influence the new era of work that is upon us. We can shift from being affected by change to being the change agent who shapes what comes next.
Thus, this site was born.
I am genuinely ‘At Work’ here, exploring the leading concepts, trends, and tools on the market that allow engaged adults to work – and live – in an always-connected world. We will lean into the topics of up-skilling, data, product, agile team building, and sustainable work + life to work smarter and live better. My strong belief is that this combination of digital savvy and emotional IQ has the ability to rapidly improve the way we work – and live – in this new era.
Thank you for walking beside me on this journey. It will be fun, I expect to learn a lot and hope you do, too. I look forward to getting to know you along the way.
Jess
@ Work 