Tara Dewey

Learn as much as you can while you are still young.

 

Hailing from Colson Park, New York, Tara Dewey is the youngest of 8 siblings. She attended Hudson Valley Community College and while in attendance, she earned a writing award from a paper she wrote. She then transferred to Stony Brook University located in New York. While there she took general studies classes and her natural interest in people and their behaviors, led her to major in the field of psychology studies. Her favorite class was management science, and she was awarded an academic scholarship. She eventually changed her major and graduated with a Business degree from Stony Brook University.

Tara has a passion for traveling and decided to spend some time seeing the world after graduating college. She gained employment at a mortgage company and worked in the IT department, which happened to be her first introduction into the field. She found that she enjoyed this field of work and decided to make a career out of it.

Tara has built a business around her passion and is currently an independent business analyst. She is hired by companies to help them make their work processes more effective and efficient. Tara uses systems like Work Flow and EDI (electronic data interchange) to make that happen.

Tara Dewey has two sons that she adores and loves to horseback ride when she isn’t busy managing her business. She currently resides in Stony Brook, New York.

Where did the idea to become a business analyst come from?

Becoming a business analyst was so natural for me because I always had a strong passion for it. It was one of those things that just resonated with me so well, and I found that I was good at it. It worked for me, and that’s when I decided to go ahead and work with other companies.

What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?

There is no typical workday routine for me, being that things vary so much from day to day. My day either involves monitoring programs that were implemented or working on various projects. This can be anything from meeting with business partners, determining their needs, troubleshooting issues that need to be resolved, developing the specifications my clients may need, drafting those specifications, getting them approved, or building programs to be tested. Then, last but not least, implementing those programs. So there is a variation of duties to carry out on a daily basis. No day is ever the same.

How do you bring new ideas to life?

I bring new ideas to life by finding out by evaluating the process that is already in place at a business. I find out where the problem areas are, draw out the development plans, then move forward and develop a new program that resolves the client’s issues.

What’s one trend that excites you?

What excites me is having the ability to go in and streamline the client’s entire workflow and assuring that things make sense to them. This also allows them to be more productive and efficient in their jobs. I also assure that they don’t miss anything, during the process. To build proper solutions, I have to learn my client’s job, and that has always been super exciting as well.

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

The habit that makes me most productive is being organized. I’m big on note-taking and using my calendar to organize my schedule. I like to be very detailed in my organization to assure that I don’t miss anything. I feel that it’s the key to being successful.

What advice would you give your younger self?

I would advise my younger self to learn as much as you can while you are still young. When I was in college, I didn’t know what I wanted to do career-wise, and I figured out my passion through trial and error. I would also stress never to give up on your dreams and whenever you want something in life, don’t be afraid to go after it.

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on?

I’ve never really encountered that; however, we do things as a team effort and I prefer to have the whole team on board. Everyone on the team plays an essential role in getting the task accomplished, and we usually discuss the details of the project first, and everyone gives their feedback as to what they think would be the most effective way to get the job done. We kind of combine those ideas to accomplish the task at hand.

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing that you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

I recommend everyone stay positive and keep that same positive attitude to get through tough situations. Keep in mind that whatever you are maybe going through, no matter how big or small, life does get better if you allow it to. Having the ability to brush things off in adverse situations has worked wonders for me and helps me to maintain my positive attitude in any circumstance.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?

The strategy that has helped me out the most is constantly learning. I am currently taking online courses in Java to expand my skills and knowledge. Staying current and up-to-date on various technologies is extremely important in my line of work. I also feel that not being afraid to fail has helped me along the way, as well. There were many instances where I was afraid to make mistakes because I wasn’t so crazy about failing at anything, however, making mistakes is actually how you learn. Nobody should ever let the fear of failing paralyze them, simply grow from it.

What is one mistake you had as an entrepreneur and how did you overcome it?

There are times when problems arise with computer programs, and you have to start trying to troubleshoot the problem and start from scratch. Many people would get frustrated but in situations like this is where you would have to exercise that positive factor and try not to get discouraged. You learn from the experience and keep pushing forward.

What is one business idea you are willing to give away to our readers?

I feel that IT should be a more personalized adventure and I always wanted to connect it with travel somehow. Due to many people not being able to travel overseas often, I wanted to find a way to bridge that gap so that they could be able to experience the world through technology. A user-friendly and cost-efficient platform for travel would be an ideal venture that people could take advantage of.

What is the best hundred dollars you recently spent? On what and why?

I just took a trip to Sweden and purchased various souvenirs over there and experienced going to the Stockholm Ice Bar. The ice bar was extremely cold, and they give you a coat upon entering. It’s a kid-friendly environment where everything was made of ice, and they even carved some fun facts about the history of Sweden on the icy walls. It was an awesome experience.

What is one piece of software of web service that helped you be productive?

I use an application called Share Point to stay organized, however, a basic calendar also would suffice. I use Share Point because it’s a little more convenient for me being that I can simply share all of my documents with the click of a button. Google Drive is another tool that helps me to streamline my work.

What is one book that you recommend our community to read and why?

I would recommend any book that bridges the gap between the technical sector and the non-technical sector. That would be a great read because it takes some skill to interpret technical information to a non-technical audience. I feel that everyone should have some knowledge of technology because of the rapid rate of its growth in the world.

What is your favorite quote?

My favorite quote is, “When nothing’s going right, turn left.” There is another one by Rosa Parks that I like, “You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it’s right.” I like quite a few, but those are two of my favorite.

Key Learnings:

● Always have the hunger to learn
● Stay positive, even in tough times
● Organization is the key to success

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