A Q&A with Kelly Behlen, Alumna of the Undergraduate Certificate in Technology Management

Our department had the pleasure of chatting with Kelly Behlen, an alumna of our Undergraduate Certificate and a former intern in our department, to talk about the impact Technology Management has had on her life, career, and more. Read her full interview to learn more about the path that took her from her Certificate and working as an intern in our department, to her exciting new leadership role at Cisco Meraki. 

Find her at her LinkedIn here!

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Tell me a little bit about yourself. 

Q: What was your major and when did you graduate? Were you involved in any other activities/programs during your time in our department?

A: I was a Global Studies major while I was getting Technology Management’s Undergraduate Certificate in 2016. During that time, I also became a staff member and coordinator, working on marketing content and social media for the New Venture Competition (NVC). 

Q: What company do you work for and where are you currently based?

A: I’m currently based in San Diego, and I now work for the telecommunications company Cisco Meraki. I originally worked at Oracle in sales, after meeting them at a career fair during my time with TM. When I moved to Cisco Meraki, I worked as an account executive before moving  into a management role for account executives. Now, I’ve become the sales director for the US West and South, as well as the LATAM region, wherein I oversee 29 sales account executives and five leaders. 

Q: What is your job title and what does this job entail? 

A: I’m the Inside Sales Director for our commercial space at Cisco Meraki, covering the South, the West in the US, and all of Latin America. I manage a team of sales executives and leaders to hit their sales quota. My goal is to empower my team to be their best professional and personal selves, while also feeling supported by myself and our leadership team.

Honestly, I think TM has really influenced how I hold myself in this position, and how I analyze certain situations. I think that the program teaches emotional intelligence and self-sufficiency in a way that other classes don’t necessarily cover. Not everybody has that in the workplace.

Q: What is exciting about your line of work?

A: Being in a leadership position now, I’m fulfilled by seeing other people succeed. If they succeed, I’ve hit my goal. It’s the most rewarding to see people get to where they’ve been wanting to go after working so hard to get there. Nothing beats seeing someone take the next step in their journey and begin a new chapter of their life. I’ve been so honored to help people with interviews and mentorships, and to believe in the people I’ve been lucky enough to work with. I’ve helped so many people persevere through really hard times in their personal lives, while still helping them to find a way to show up at work and excel. That is really exciting: impacting someone's business in the same way that your favorite teacher in school might inspire you. I’ve always been so inspired by the group of people I work with!

Tell me about Technology Management has affected your life.

Q: How did the courses you took in the department, as well as the guest lectures, activities, etc. contribute to your personal growth?

A: They pushed me out of my comfort zone and forced me to look at businesses in a more consultative way. I’ll never forget when I took TMP111, the first course I signed up for in my junior year. We were beginning to review our first case study for the class, and the goal by the end was to present a case study we created about a company of our choosing, along with an 18-page paper. For starters, I had never written a paper remotely close to 18 pages, and as the class ended, I felt like I was in over my head. I went up to the teacher and shared concerns around my success. She encouraged me to stick it out and told me that I would be more than capable of doing well in this class. I stayed in it, and since then, TM has changed my life for good! 

Q: What is the thing that your certificate/degree best prepared you for?

A: It best prepared me for the real world when I graduated. It taught me how to negotiate, and how to analyze data and numbers in a business setting. Most importantly, it taught me how to build relationships with people I enjoy working with and people I want to work for. It taught me about myself, how I work,  and who I work best with. That catapulted me into understanding how organizations operate and function, and subconsciously learning how to put myself in situations that forced learning and growth. Taking the certificate was absolutely key to becoming the leader I am today. The classes in the program enable people to show up with leadership, and push students to be comfortable with the uncomfortable. You can’t just sit behind the wheel and get by. 

I will also say that working at TM and getting the certificate really taught me the importance of networking. As long as you have the work ethic and the drive, people just want to work with people that they like. And TM highlighted that for me. When the teachers and students around you are all working together toward the same goal and really investing in each other, it changes the game. It changes the class mentality.

Q: What would you say was your most impactful/interesting/memorable experience during your time with the department? 

A: I’d say the most memorable experience would be the one I just described from TMP111! Overall, though, the program as a whole has left a huge mark on my life. It provided me with a business aspect for my major in college. I’d expand on that to say that TMP provides a business aspect for every major at UCSB! The program taught me how to be an entrepreneur, regardless of whether or not I wanted to own my own company. It taught me how to be independent, understand how the workforce works, use my own network, and adapt to change.

Q: If you could give any advice to students interested in applying for our department, what would you say? And adding to that, what do you wish everyone knew about our department?

A: You don’t need to want to go into business to benefit from this program! Every company has goals and business acumen. Regardless of your position, you have to be able to know the language and understand the culture, almost like a subconscious layer of your personality that understands how companies operate and what they care about. TM prepares you to understand the goals of the company you work for, have a good perspective on how to help the company, and level up your skillset. I would encourage everyone to get the full TM certificate. It is absolutely what helped me get my first career out of college. 

Tell me about your personal goals.

Q: Where do you see yourself in the future?

A: I see myself as the VP of sales at a company where I can impact and influence change for a large group of people to be successful personally and professionally. I’d love to create a culture where people can look back and believe that time in their life was the best time in their career! 

Q: Promote one thing of your choice to our readership.  

A: Read Atomic Habits! This book shares how the small details and the small day-to-day activities make a difference. They seem small now, but over time, they become big, and can help you hit stretch goals (ultimately how I ended up in the position I currently am in).