Diva Tech Talk was excited to interview Rhonda St. John Hamborsky, Director of Strategy and Innovation at multinational AT&T Inc.  Rhonda’s job  is to guide select large global AT&T enterprise customers in terms of technical strategy development. The complexity of Rhonda’s current role was not predictable, as a girl/teenager, since she did not originally see her future in technology.  “I came into it, accidentally,” Rhonda said.  “I remember having some struggles mathematically.  I attribute it to the teaching styles of the time; we were not able to work in groups or collaborate.  So I am so excited for girls, today. I feel like their experience is vastly different, and there is a great opportunity to keep them engaged in math and sciences.”

With a robust career, Rhonda spent much of her early stages at data communications companies and startup consultancies in both Silicon Valley and subsequently in the Midwest.  Having started in sales, initially, at startups, Rhonda moved to successful sales management, then engineering management, and then general operational management. “In a startup, you have the opportunity to wear a lot of hats,” she said.

Rhonda moved over to AT&T in a role she says is “one of the best jobs in the company.”  Having been there for twelve years, Rhonda plans to stay at AT&T for 5 to 7 more years. But she also planning a worthwhile “encore” career, after her AT&T tenure.  Enrolled in a graduate program focused on gerontology (the study of aging), she is excited to see where that future path will take her.

In her career development, Rhonda characterized herself as a “good planner” but acknowledged that this came with maturity.  Being at several startups caused what she called “the urgency addiction,” earlier in her career. “What that does is it burns you out,” she admitted. “At the end of the day, you say ‘I know I did a lot today.  But did I accomplish anything that’s sustainable?’”  

Rhonda’s top four lessons for women aspiring to become technology leaders are:

• Be an active listener
• Be willing to have your argument debated, and be willing to change your mind.
• Keep learning.  
• Take a step back, and remember to remain humble.  

And offering two additional points of encouragement,  Rhonda urges women to “make your voice heard,” and “Don’t let the challenges get you down.  We’re all going to encounter speed bumps along the way.  Shake it off.  Take a lesson learned from it, and get back in the ring!”

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