Jody Miller-Smith is the Senior Vice President of Marketing at Woz U. She is a leader who has devoted her career to delivering solutions at the intersection of technology, marketing, and education. She believes that now is the time to attract more women into these fields.
Jody Miller-Smith’s Background
Jody Miller-Smith grew up in rural Montana, where technology was scarce. With such a background, she could not have predicted a career in technology. Indeed, she saw her first computer when she was 11 years old and, later on, got lucky to enroll in a program that allowed her to learn coding and design.
Fifteen years later, she had a degree in marketing and moved to Arizona to begin her career. Though the internet was not much developed at that time, Jody Miller-Smith fancied the idea of every business needing a digital presence. To break through the new digital landscape, she knew she had to understand the technology, which will help her push boundaries, create interactive experiences, and continue innovating. She worked full time, but she would attend night lessons to learn coding and design.
Learning the fundamentals of web development enabled her to work with curriculum design companies and universities. Her main aim was to introduce digital experiences and educational content online by combining marketing and technology.
During that time, she was among the women who were forming inspiration in technology. She often found herself sitting in boardrooms discussing and arguing with the male colleagues about the changes that can be done online. She had a different perspective which enabled her team to push through the boundaries of the user experience. Recently, Jody Miller-Smith had a column guest posted on EdTech Digest.
EdTech Digest Guest Column
In this platform, innovators, leaders, trendsetters, and people who care about the future of education share their insights to inspire those.
The guest columnist shares their views on; their development and the innovative people behind them, EdTech trends/ or trendsetters, and perspectives with an EdTech leadership theme or an EdTech-relevant issue.
Jody Miller-Smith’s Column
Listed in the leadership column, the article discusses the drawbacks women face when enrolling for a career in technology. The post discusses technology as a creative career and how to apply the things learned in many experiences and unique ways.
She describes the perception of most women about a career in technology. According to her “the field of technology is first growing, well-paying, suitable for women looking to create a stable and sustainable career, but most are not considering the opportunity.” She believes that “changing the way we talk about technology can bring more women into lucrative and vital computer careers.”
The article is an inspiration to those thriving in regions with limited access to technology. Her column gives insight into her background and the struggles she encountered in Montana’s rural region when people did not highly embrace technology. With determination and passion, she became one of the women creating websites and starting what was to become “digital marketing.” Over time, she has been promoted into different customer experience roles, strategic marketing, and technology positions.
Read Jody Miller-Smith’s column here.
