Curating Career Life Stories: How Did I Get Here? Ep. 102 with Debbie Thibault

Join me for the career reflections of Debbie Thibault, IT Director with the Office of Information Technology for the State of Colorado. A journey shaped by being the youngest of three girls and not wanting to be left behind and by an insatiable appetite for learning and building new things. She is exposed to early database tools and technology through a co-op program in high school in the early 1980s, prior to Microsoft products BTW, and figures out how to solve real business problems with them. Key bosses/mentors see her potential and keep giving her more things to learn, build and solve. She has the uncanny ability to manifest career opportunities for herself at start-ups and then her own consulting business, until 2008 when the financial crisis knocks her off course. Recognizing the need for a more stable stream of income she lands at the State of Colorado where she continues to learn, grow & build solutions. What’s served Debbie best is her gut, but she says can also be a double-edged sword. Her words of wisdom: “Being cause in the matter,” a definition of leadership that she has adopted and lives by.