Acceleration Economy connected with Crystal Ahrens on her experiences as a woman in tech. Ahrens is a veteran in the Microsoft community with extensive involvement in project implementation and ERP.
Ahrens has been working in solutions architecture for over 18 years. Currently, she’s the director of systems architecture for Heico Companies. She is responsible for solution delivery of phase one projects, which involves the implementation of its ERP D365. She looks after system architecture in general, including non-ERP parts in the ecosystem.
She elaborated on her passion for systems architecture and navigating her career journey with her “superpowers” — ADHD and dyslexia — as well as having mentors and being a mentor. She also discussed her involvement with Dynamic Communities’ Community Summit event.
Early Experiences
“You absorb things and you naturally gravitate towards them,” Ahrens said when discussing her early exposure to the field. In her first job, she had to step in for a project manager, presenting an opportunity for her to be hands-on with an IT project management role. Her mother worked as a project manager, so the role was natural for her.
But she always had a heart for solution architecture. When she started school, she became interested in coding and development. She attended the University of Phoenix and took classes at the University of Washington while working for Microsoft in Seattle. She graduated with a degree in Information Sciences.
“Growing up in the Microsoft world…that’s where I really got my passion,” she says. It propelled her to learn by experience and enabled her to experiment in different areas, such as exploring new topics like AI or earning certifications. “I was constantly going towards whatever product was out there that I wanted to learn.” She was always eager to gain additional industry knowledge and pursue whatever certification programs were available.
All the professional positions she’s been in have prepared her for the one she’s in now. However, she credits her most recent role as the one with “the biggest impact…It was a big ERP.” She elaborated, “I was given the opportunity to dive from not just the ERP from a process perspective, but I was able to do a lot of business intelligence work.”
Applying Superpowers
Ahrens shared her experiences with how ADHD and dyslexia played a part in her career journey. While some may consider these as weaknesses, Ahrens passionately describes them as superpowers and advocates for this perspective in the workplace. “Because of those things, multitasking became fun,” she said as an example.
This mindset means considering things that are challenging to be your superpower. “What people see as a shortcoming is not a shortcoming; make it your own and take it further,” she said. “Just be confident in yourself and view it as a superpower.”
Ahrens mentions spelling challenges with her dyslexia to exemplify how to shift to a superpower mindset. “When I talk to our executives or have a new employee, I tell them upfront, ‘If I write a message that’s crazy, just ping me back” for clarification. “Because my mind goes super fast, I communicate fast…I’m not offended at all,” she notes. “If you own it upfront, all most people want is accountability and then they look past it and respect you more because of it.”
Mentorship
Mentors and allies played an important role for her, not only as a woman in tech but also with her superpowers. “I’ve always been given opportunities by amazing mentors,” Ahrens said. She mentions a mentor who “recognized that even with the superpowers, when dyslexia ‘wasn’t cool’ and looked past the frustrations of ADHD…she realized ‘the kid is really smart and catches on really fast, put her in a challenging position and she’s going to solve it.’” Having a mentor who noticed her potential and wanted her to have a seat at the table made a major difference.
She mentors others as well. The Women in IT group at her company enables women to exchange advice and support other women in tech in navigating different situations. She has also mentored young women who are still in school as they prepare to enter the tech field.
Community Summit
Ahrens has been heavily involved with Dynamic Communities Community Summit for the past seven to eight years. Her involvement is vast, leading her to be a recipient of the Legends Award.
She has participated at Summit as a speaker and as a panelist, discussing topics like supply chain, finance, women in tech, and more. She presented her own session on implementation and successful projects. She’s on the programming committee, noting that she has “a blast all the time selecting the different participants and speakers each year.” Ahrens has also enjoyed being at the tech desks to help attendees. “Since I’m still hands-on in the system, I like to get in there and fix problems myself.”
She excitedly stated, “It’s a blast going to Summit because you get to see everyone that you haven’t seen forever, it’s like a family reunion and it’s fun to see the newbies that are learning where to go and what to do with their systems…Summit is an amazing opportunity.”
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