From Biostatistics to Data Science … an Unpredictable Journey in Prediction
How did you get into Data Science?
It was literally an 11th-hour decision, on the eve of moving from Chicago to Columbia, South Carolina to start my career in Public Health (my education was in Epidemiology & Biostatistics). I had my plane ticket and the bags were packed!
The day before my flight, I interviewed with a marketing analytics consultancy, and they made me an offer immediately. Fortunately, I never left Chicago (or my fiancée, who was still in school there!) … and so began my career in Marketing Analytics.
What drives your passion for work?
That first job out of college involved building predictive models for use in marketing applications, but in those days (a long, long time ago), marketing was offline via direct marketing and telemarketing. Today, it’s very different. Although in concept the work is similar, rapid advances in ad tech, computing, and machine learning make it so much more dynamic. I also have the privilege of working with an incredibly smart and talented team.
What do you most enjoy doing, outside of work?
Binging crime shows, weight lifting, eating, and traveling (although most of my recent “eating” and “traveling” has been done vicariously, by watching vlogs).