Diva Tech Talk interviewed Jennifer Pfaff, Director of Store IT Services for Domino’s (www.dominos.com), a company averaging $2.3 billion in annual revenue, ranking as the 2nd largest franchisor of pizza retail outlets in the world.

Jennifer did not originally pursue information technology as a career.  She initially envisioned her future as an electrical engineer designing cochlear implants to improve hearing, since she suffered an auditory loss at a young age. But while at the University of Arizona, she came to the decision that electrical engineering was not her life’s mission and changed her major to Business, with a concentration in MIS and Operations Management. After graduation, she took her first job in Battle Creek, Mi. at the headquarters for Kellogg Company (NYSE: K) in the IT department, subsequently moving into sales there “to learn how we really did our business.”

Coming back to Michigan, “I worked for all three of the Big 3 U.S. automotive companies either directly or through consulting,” Jennifer said. “Early on, I discovered that my passion was in the project side of IT.”  One of her favorite early projects, a breakthrough personalized car owner website for Ford, is very characteristic of the rest of her career.  Jennifer and her team began the project with few requirements or resources, but a very aggressive development timeline. The amorphous nature of the project and the quick timeline “drove creativity.” Crediting her “fantastic team,” this shaped a crucial career philosophy for Jennifer: “If you have the opportunity to try something new, out of your comfort zone, with high visibility” do it! Jennifer then went to another Fortune 500 company, Jacobs Engineering (www.jacobs.com), an international technical and engineering professional services firm, with over 80,000 employees, and 127 offices all over the globe, where she led their global technology project office, managing a worldwide team on several continents. From Jacobs, Jennifer migrated to her current role at Domino’s, where her team is working on strengthening and securing the online, ordering and transaction system that allows consumers to place orders.  She has also just joined Domino’s product strategy group, helping to roll out new digital innovations for Domino’s franchisees and consumers. Jennifer’s advice for aspiring women leaders and girls in tech is:

1. “As you are building your brand, focus on what you do best, but make sure that you give some thought to what else it is that you think you want to do, in the future.”  (And try those!)
2. For all students, “take as much math as you possibly can. It teaches you to think.”
3. And “If you think broadly, give things a go and you are willing to try things, good things will happen.  Be ready; be flexible.”

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