Today we’d like to introduce you to Marcy Nemeth.
Hi Marcy, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I attended the University of Kansas for college. I thought I was going to be a business major. When I looked around everybody was a business major, so I met with an advisor, and he asked what I was good at. I said I was good at math. He said, “be a math major”. This was the 80s and I was female. He didn’t tell me that I could be an engineer, so I became a math major. (My eldest daughter is an Electrical Engineer.)
There were very few female math majors, so I had job offers before I even graduated. I had an offer from an actuarial firm, from Bendix, which is now Honeywell, and a few others. In fact Bendix wanted me to start before I even graduated and then finish while I was working but I didn’t like that option. I took the job at Bendix it paid well and it seems like it would be interesting I was going to program automated measuring machines. I went through security clearance and received top level security clearance. Interestingly my job was union; it was part of the aerospace Workers Union. As time went along, I didn’t agree with some of the union practices, so I looked for other internal options. I applied for a job in the engineering department and ended up doing troubleshooting for the entire plant. I did troubleshooting for all different types of computers including CAD and NC machines. They nicknamed me “BUGS”, since I was the one who fixed it all. I even wrote a manual so the engineers that came in for me and left after me could cover my job when I was not there. It was interesting but I wanted to try other things. However, my management was very happy with my work in this job and weren’t supportive of me moving to a different position, so I started looking for other jobs.
I ended up taking a job at the airline reservation system for TWA and Northwest Airlines, (now both defunct). This job was in the early days of networking. We were putting local area networks in travel agencies, a revolutionary idea. We were using a new technology from a company named Novell Networks, based in Utah. Novell Networks even flew us to their corporate headquarters and picked us up in a limo. We got the grand tour and met the founders.
We went into travel agencies and installed local area networks (LANs), so they could use the airline reservation system on PCs vs CRTs as they had been doing, thus extending the number of agents wo could work simultaneously.
During this time, I also taught computer classes at the community college including computer basics, and Word/Excel/dBase. You could install the entire Excel program from a floppy disk.
I got engaged and married. My husband was in medical school. He matched with a residency in Royal Oak Michigan, a Detroit suburb, so we had to move.
I was offered a field rep job with my current company, basically flying all over the country installing networks for the airline system. However, I was worried it would be a hard transition to a new city if I did that. I looked for jobs that were local to Detroit, and ended up with a few offers. I flew to Detroit to interview. I took the job at the one I felt needed me the most, an Architectural Engineering firm in downtown Detroit.
The firm had a lot of dBase programs which I converted to Paradox, a more user-friendly platform for the engineers to use. I also did troubleshooting for the company’s computer systems. I really enjoyed working there, but after a few years I got pregnant. The firm was very supportive. They kept my desk, and after I quit to take care of my baby daughter, they had me come in whenever I had time to do work at an hourly rate derived from my previous pay plus benefits.
During the period after my baby was born, I needed to find more work as resident pay is very low. We had been saving but needed to supplement. I wanted something with flexibility so I could spend more baby time than a 9-5 would offer me. I applied at a company that did computer training and they hired me. I taught classes on my schedule. I taught Word, Excel, etc. One day, my manager at the training company handed me a set of disks for a new program called Microsoft Access and a manual to teach it.
The first class that I taught in Access, one of the students asked if I could build a database for their company. They hired me through the training company, and I met with them and built an efficiency tracking database for the company, my first full program lifecycle (SDLC), in Microsoft Access. I fell in love with the program. It was an upgrade from Paradox and had the ability to do just about anything. I ended up converting all the Paradox programs at the AE firm to MS Access. I did more database projects through the training company too. Eventually, after 7 years in Detroit, my husband completed his residency and we moved back to Kansas City, since my mother still lived there. I also had my second daughter a few weeks before we moved.
Once I got to Kansas City, my husband worked the 10PM-7Am shift. I needed a new adventure. Before I left Detroit, my manager at the training company mentioned that someone who also did training for her had just moved to Kansas City, small world! I called her and we formed a company. We named it Training@YourPlace, after the name came to me in a dream.
We did training at companies or in people’s homes, vertical databases, and some computer fixing too. My partner did our taxes and accounting and I did the billing. We each kept the money for the work we did.
I did some research and found that Kansas City had a Microsoft Access User’s group. I started going to the monthly meetings. I met some great people I ended up getting a lot of database work from this group. Eventually I even became the president of the group and remained president for 4 years.
During this period, things happened and I got divorced. I was lucky that I could size up the business to support myself and my 2 kids.
I got a big break when I did a few municipal databases, including the Fire Department, Police, Court, Code Department, State Sales Tax, and more. The City I did the work for loved what I did and told other cities. My phone was ringing off the hook. My partner started working on these with me as well. We had customers for a “mini court” as well as a full-fledged court system using the State information and the City’s own standard letters and code set. We also created a Police System, State Sales Tax, and Code Enforcement systems that we sold to other cities. We had a booth at the State conferences to promote our business for cities. I also had quite a few vertical clients. I usually ended up doing at least 2 or more databases for any customer I had, once the people saw the power of using a database vs Excel or a manual process.
All of these were created in the very robust Microsoft Access. As time went on, I added the capability to do SQL back ends and online applications with an MS Access front end.
My partner decided she wanted to teach school, so she quit our business, leaving it in my hands. I decided that maybe it was time to look around to see what jobs that were out there fit me. My kids said they would be okay with that. I was very fortunate to have been able to make a good living and still be the room mom, go on field trips, and be the girl scout cookie mom. I entered a search into Linked In and up came a local job at a company called Archer. I applied for the job and quickly was given an interview. I was not even sure I wanted a “real” job at this point. I went for the interview and got the job, all within 2 weeks! I told myself if I hated it, I would just quit. I even had to delay my start to finish up a huge database job I had been working on. I didn’t even tell my own customers for a few months. I started the job on my birthday in 2011.
Working at Archer was great. I really enjoyed being back in an office environment and the camaraderie. I was a technical support engineer on a SQL based database that was customizable like Access, however much more complex. The software is used for GRC and compliance. I still kept my customers for a while but cut back my hours and did not take many new projects. I basically worked days in the office, nights and weekends from my home office. I really loved my new job and did a lot of highly technical work. I was made a high-level support engineer with dedicated customers after a year there. I wanted to better myself in my career and studied and passed my CISSP.
When the pandemic hit, everyone had to pack up their desk and was sent to work from home. We thought it would be short term, as everyone did. Management reached out to me to see if I was interested in moving to a development position, similar to what I did in my (now limited) own business. I agreed and started working in Professional Services. I loved the work but missed the camaraderie with direct customers. I also was not a fan of the required billing paperwork.
I also was married to a wonderful man during the pandemic after dating him for 10 years. The wedding was planned pre-pandemic. We had to modify our plans when the pandemic didn’t stop. I changed my name from Gaynes to my husband’s, Nemeth after I got married, but a lot of my business associates still use Gaynes since that was my name most of my career.
As part of my PS work, I had several “Success” customers that I met with them monthly and helped them with any issues they had, which I really enjoyed. When I found out Archer was going to form a whole “Success” department I was excited. I emailed my interest to the CEO and was the first one hired for the department. I am now a Client Success Manager. I work directly with my customers along with the account managers to help them be successful with the Archer software.
I also still have my own customers from Training@YourPlace. It is amazing to me that these databases I built years ago are still in everyday use at some of the companies. Sometimes I get phone calls with questions or changes from customers I have not talked to in years.
I have been lucky in my career. I have enjoyed it, every step of the way, The thing that matters most in my world is family, both work family and personal family.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
My personal life caused work life struggles. I went through a very difficult divorce and during that time had trouble concentrating on work. My customers were wonderful and understanding. I kept communication open as did they and I got through it. I completed all the work.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am known for my ability to come up with solutions for all kind of issues. This includes ones that involve a database, for Training@YourPlace, or questions about Archer at my Client Success Manger job. I always say that if I do not know the answer or solution, I either know who does or will figure it out.
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
One thing that surprises people is that I have a degree in Math. I am very open and honest with my customers so very few surprises.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://trainingatyourplace.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcygaynes/
- Other: https://softwaresolutionskc.com
