Women in Tech: Shonna Dorsey of Nebraska Tech Collaborative
Shonna Dorsey is an Omaha native working to grow tech jobs in Nebraska along with other big Omaha names, like Jeff Slobotski, who are moving the needle on Nebraska’s tech scene.
Dorsey has leveraged her personal brand of being a connector (and lover of karaoke) to develop her professional brand and career in tech.
Finding her voice and building her brand started by telling the stories of others’ success within the tech sphere. Dorsey has grown a professional brand and network that is authentic and doing good for workforce development in Nebraska.
Dorsey is the Executive Director of Nebraska Tech Collaborative, an organization creating opportunities for those with emerging tech and entrepreneur talent to foster growth and connection in the greater Nebraska tech and startup community.
Dorsey is known for connecting people with the right resources. One of NTC’s partnerships includes InternNE, a grant-funded program for businesses to create new internship opportunities for high school and college students, which offers benefits to for-profit and nonprofit organizations that participate in an internship program.
More than half of young people who intern become full-time employees, in Nebraska‘s burgeoning tech scene, this growth is monumental in getting more recognition for tech in Nebraska; one of NTC’s fundamental goals is to grow more than 10,000 new faces in tech.
Internships also provide inclusive opportunities and exposure to experiences that help young people discover their future careers.
As a woman of color in tech, Dorsey sees many gaps in the equity of exposure young people of color have to the tech industry. One of the issues she sees is a lack of awareness of Omaha's many free, quality resources for young people of color to connect to; resources like free coding camps for ages starting at just 5 years old.
Dorsey uses her power of connection to create more opportunities for young people of color to gain awareness about careers in tech, combating the problem by connecting with more people of color in tech fields to provide internship opportunities and mentorship.
Listen to our full interview with Shonna Dorsey on this week’s episode of Growing a Fruitful Brand.
Ep. 35:
Women in Tech: Shonna Dorsey of Nebraska Tech Collaborative
Automated Transcript
Raj:
Shonna, thanks for being with us.
Shonna Dorsey:
Thank you for having me.
Raj:
So I have known of you for a really long time going back to the Big Omaha days, all of that, but this is one of our first real conversations.
Shonna Dorsey:
That's true, in like 10 years.
Raj:
Yeah.
Shonna Dorsey:
Just lots of, "Hey, how are you?" But yes.
Raj:
Yes. Yes. And a lot of it has to do with the fact that I was having three kids in four years and life was crazy for a while there. And then you moved away to Florida, correct?
Shonna Dorsey:
I did. South Dakota first, then Florida.
Raj:
Okay. Better weather in one than the other probably.
Shonna Dorsey:
Right. Yes. Yep.
Raj:
But you've been a big part of Nebraska's tech development, getting us on the map, along with Jeff Slobotski and some other folks at the Silicon Prairie, and it's great to have you back in the area. Tell us a little bit about what you're doing in Nebraska now.
Shonna Dorsey:
Yes. So I literally moved back for a job. I never thought that would happen, but the Nebraska Tech Collaborative is an organization or an initiative under the Exurban Foundation that I've been connected to for many years. It was founded in, I want to say 2018-2019, and under its former leadership, I was a committee chair for higher ed and then what became the Workforce Pipeline Committee. So after that person exited, there was an opportunity for a new leader to step in, and I was like, "I'm happy to help y'all find somebody." I was having a great time in Florida working remotely for Mutual and just having a great time doing workforce development work for Mutual of Omaha, but after talking to the folks who were searching for the new leader and learning more about what the potential was for the NTC, I was like, "Okay, I'll put my name in the hat and we'll see what happens." Here we are.
Raj:
That's so great.
Shonna Dorsey:
Six months ago, yeah.
Raj:
That's so great. And I mean, it must be some job to move from Florida weather to Nebraska weather, so -
Shonna Dorsey:
For sure. And to move in January, late December.
Raj:
Oh, that's commitment, yeah.
Shonna Dorsey:
It was rough, but it's good.
Raj:
That's great.
Shonna Dorsey:
Yep.
Raj:
Well, I know we're all thrilled to have you -
Shonna Dorsey:
Thank you.
Raj:
- back in the area. So I think that that's actually probably a really great place for us to jump into how this intersects with growing a fruitful brand, because I've known you long enough, even just casually, to know that it's not so much, "Oh Shonna, she's the one who works for blank." It's sort of just like, "Oh, it's Shonna." So there's this element of personal brand to you that, I mean it's ... really even the reason we have you here is because you were a well-known person. So just talk about that.
Shonna Dorsey:
Yeah.
Raj:
What do you think your personal brand is and how did that develop?
Shonna Dorsey:
Yeah, I hope my personal brand is fun, yet professional, a little messy with typos and things like that, that pop up and all that stuff, but hopefully it'll get to this is a whole person who has many different facets, but is serious about the career she's pursuing, all that good stuff.
Raj:
Yeah.
Shonna Dorsey:
There's that, but how it all started was back when I was running Interface School back in 2014 or so. I wasn't on Facebook at the time. I was barely on LinkedIn. I didn't think I even knew what Twitter was.
Raj:
And that was a code school, right?
Shonna Dorsey:
Yes, it was a code school.
Raj:
Yeah.
Shonna Dorsey:
Yep. Actually, it's so interesting, when I was walking through your office, I ran into one of your staff members who went to one of my introduction to web development classes -
Raj:
Oh, cool.
Shonna Dorsey:
- years ago.
Raj:
Yeah.
Shonna Dorsey:
Then took the WordPress class and now she's here. That's amazing. I love to see that.
Raj:
That's so great, yeah.
Shonna Dorsey:
Right? But years ago when I was running Interface, I was really having a hard time getting any sort of stories in the newspaper. It's really challenging to get a story in the world. It has to be sensational. And we were like, "Well, a person went from being a barista to an engineer making like $60,000 a year at the time." And they were like, "Yeah, great. That's amazing, but it's not an article [inaudible 00:05:17]."
Raj:
Add a zero, then you can talk to us.
Shonna Dorsey:
Right. Yeah, exactly. So one of our co-founders of the school, Mark [inaudible 00:05:25], was like, "You have to be on social media." And I was like, "I really don't want to do that. That sounds so lame."
Raj:
See, you're so natural at it that that actually surprises me, but that gives me some hope too because -
Shonna Dorsey:
Yeah.
Raj:
- I'm just like, "Ugh, I don't ..."
Shonna Dorsey:
Painful. I was like, "So I can just post every once in a while?" It was like, "No, you have to do this constant posting." So I started on Facebook and then ventured into LinkedIn and just found my voice over time, just telling the stories of other people. And that really is my main thing, is how can I be out there, because I like to be associated with things, but not be like, "Look at what I'm doing today."
Raj:
Yeah.
Shonna Dorsey:
It's an interesting balance you have to strike, but just really telling the stories of other peoples' success related to the things I'm connected to.
Raj:
Yeah, that makes so much sense. Right now I'm in the middle of this personal Instagram project of just posting a photo every day. And it's been interesting to watch the analytics on it, where even just simple ones, like how many people like it or view it even. And one thing I noticed was that with Instagram photos, you can put music with it, and I noticed those were actually getting less engagement, and I was like, "Oh, well I don't need to do that anyway. It's a waste of my time." So it's like, "I can just stop that."
Shonna Dorsey:
That's funny. People were like, "I don't like that song."
Raj:
Yeah. "The photo's fine, but turn off the music." It's like, "Oh, okay, well that's easy," but yeah, those are some of the ways you refine your voice or what ... because you're not changing who you are for the algorithm.
Shonna Dorsey:
Right.
Raj:
You're just seeing that, "Hey, of the people who are listening, when I say this kind of stuff, it resonates. When I say this other kind of stuff, it doesn't resonate." So you stay the same person, but you lean into certain things. So I can definitely see how that developed, but that was a bold move on your part to just commit to it early on.
Shonna Dorsey:
Yeah, I was like, "This is probably the only way it's free."
Raj:
Yeah. Yeah.
Shonna Dorsey:
It does take some time. We did some boosting back then too, as whatever.
Raj:
Yeah.
Shonna Dorsey:
You know what I mean?
Raj:
Yeah.
Shonna Dorsey:
Okay. I'm not doing it anymore, so I'm like, I think it's called boosting. But yeah, it's been fun to figure it out. And then also, I remember when I was running Interface and then we sold it and I was like, "Okay, so what is my brand outside of this school?" Because I was so wrapped up in that as my identity, but when I left and people were still seeing me as a person who is connected to the tech community and those sorts of things, that was very meaningful to me, but that happened through, I think my presence and that stance posting about the things that are tech community related. So then I became a person that's connected to that, if that makes sense.
Raj:
Yeah, totally. So tell me a little bit about ... are you from here originally? How did you become the leader of Interface? Yeah, how did that happen?
Shonna Dorsey:
I love that. So yes, I am from Omaha, north Omaha. Went to Omaha North, McMillan Junior High, Belvedere. Just spent all my years in North Omaha. I'm going to skip to the question about how I got selected for Interface and then I'll come back.
Raj:
Yeah.
Shonna Dorsey:
But I don't know, I kind of wonder sometimes and I mentioned this in a recent interview where I was like, I really don't quite understand what my skillset is. I mean, I'm really good at project management type of activities, but yeah, it's a tricky one.
Raj:
Yeah.
Shonna Dorsey:
But I am very passionate about things. So if I'm a person that is selected for or decides to do something, then I will be all in on that thing and want to see it through and work through the failures and all that stuff. And also come up with creative ways to get to the next step. So that's just kind of how I operate as a human.
Raj:
Yeah.
Shonna Dorsey:
So maybe that's why, I'm a little scrappy and I'll just kind of make stuff work.
Raj:
It's funny ... I feel similarly, and it's funny hosting the podcast, but I think if you were to boil it down to technical talents, probably my greatest one is writing messaging, those types of things, but it wouldn't be accurate to call me a copywriter.
Shonna Dorsey:
Right.
Raj:
So we use the term brand strategist, but even then, that's so broad. It can include everything from pay-per-click all the way to deciding what color something should be.
Shonna Dorsey:
Sure.
Raj:
So, yeah, I get that, but I think that a lot of people who feel that way, probably what they really have in common is just an entrepreneurial drive.
Shonna Dorsey:
Yeah.
Raj:
Because it's this, "Here's a problem. I will learn and do whatever it takes to figure that problem out."
Shonna Dorsey:
Right.
Raj:
So I think that is the skill.
Shonna Dorsey:
Yeah, that is something. I agree with that.
Raj:
Yeah. So in being selected to lead Interface, were you a coder?
Shonna Dorsey:
No.
Raj:
Did you have a tech background before that?
Shonna Dorsey:
Very little.
Raj:
Okay.
Shonna Dorsey:
I studied management information systems at UNO, but I did the bare minimum in every programming class because I'm like, "I'm not really into that at all."
Raj:
Yeah. Well why'd you even choose to study that then?
Shonna Dorsey:
I don't know. So I started off in ... what was I, pre-med think I was going down or biology.
Raj:
Yeah.
Shonna Dorsey:
And I wasn't showing up to class. That's not good because there's a lot to learn and it compounds, the difficulty. It's very challenging. So I switched majors to computer science of all majors. Very, very challenging.
Raj:
Yeah.
Shonna Dorsey:
And then ended up in MIS because I'm like, all right, I get this tech stuff. Everyone's telling me that there are great jobs in IT. I don't know anyone in IT. At the time I didn't so it didn't really click for me, but I was like, what about ... I'm interested more in the business side of things. So there was this degree called MIS, and I was like, "If that gives me more business and less of this programming stuff, I'm all in."
Raj:
Yeah. I mean, I think that right there is such a great kind of insight. You were driven enough to know, "I want to be a doctor or something."
Shonna Dorsey:
Yeah.
Raj:
But then realizing that that's not hitting exactly right. Something in tech feels a little more natural, but not full-blown I want to be coding, that kind of thing, that business side, that leadership side. Yeah, so that makes sense.
Shonna Dorsey:
Right. And just liking to be ... I liked being connected to tech. So my first tech job, I had several kind of tech-ish jobs where I was, I think wrapping up ... no, I was done with undergrad, but I was waiting tables and stuff, and I was like, I need to do something more serious. I don't know. So I ended up kind of at ConAgra as a help desk intern, and one of my first jobs was to swap the memory out of a tower, and I was like, "I have no idea what you're even talking about," but worked through that, and over about a year in a help desk role, I found that what I was really, really, really good at was connecting with people from the admin assistant to the C-suite and just making them feel comfortable.
And I'm like, I may not be the person that is the most technical, but I have a whole crew back there that is, and we can tag team. They don't want to talk to people anyway, so I can go out and be the salesy person and the chit-chat and they can help me learn as we go. So I was doing some on-the-job training, but it was just a really good situation for me. And then ended up going from that to business analyst to project management, and then starting Interface School a couple of years later. So that's the super short story.
Raj:
Yeah. Okay, that does start to make a lot of sense. I think you and I have somewhat similar talents. So part of how Ben and I became partners was I was actually a client of his.
Shonna Dorsey:
Okay.
Raj:
And he would mention just kind of offhand, "I wish I had one of you for all of my clients." I was like ... I didn't really know what that means. I worked at nonprofit for 10 years and didn't have any idea what he meant by that until after that I started doing some freelancing with helping people with their messaging and their communications and realizing oh, before it can get to a designer, you need to do all of this work first. And very similarly for you, designers just want to be heads down making great things.
Shonna Dorsey:
Yes.
Raj:
And if they're in meetings, they're not making the things that they want to make. So it requires that person in between to lead and to get everybody to a successful ... and both the client and the design team. So it seems like that's just a very natural skill that you have. That's very cool.
Shonna Dorsey:
Thank you.
Raj:
So I feel like you glossed over, so you went from ISP, customer service.
Shonna Dorsey:
Yes.
Raj:
And then you kind of jumped out of the tech world for a little while?
Shonna Dorsey:
I did.
Raj:
For about five years?
Shonna Dorsey:
Five years.
Raj:
Yeah. And then back in, and then it is kind of just been straight on from there.
Shonna Dorsey:
Yeah, it's been beautiful, this smooth journey. I'm just kidding, but -
Raj:
We can't talk anymore if that's it.
Shonna Dorsey:
Right. It's like, "Get out of here." No. So yeah, I was five years waiting tables. I was just out of school and then I went to Atlanta and Norway for a little while after I graduated, just random stuff. Usually whenever I end up in a different city, it's because of a guy.
Raj:
Okay.
Shonna Dorsey:
And the one time I was in a different city that did not have anything to do with the guy was when I moved to Florida and it was amazing.
Raj:
Nice.
Shonna Dorsey:
I was just like, "You know what? I think I'm ready to just try something on my own."
Raj:
Yeah.
Shonna Dorsey:
And it was the best decision ever. But yeah, Atlanta and Norway, and then by the time I got back to the States, I was like, I've been out of work for a long time. It'd been like six-ish months at that point. And my resume wasn't great. I had worked at the ISP customer service job, but it was hard for me to take that and say, "Yeah, I should be a supervisor somewhere else," because it was a call center basically.
Raj:
Well, and it's also gathering dust at that point too.
Shonna Dorsey:
Absolutely.
Raj:
Five years on.
Shonna Dorsey:
Yeah, right. So I ended up waiting tables for those five years, but then I think further developed my customer service skills through that experience, and then ended up on the help desk. So used that to continue to push myself forward, but it was interesting to have this pretty high profile title at a very young age, go to wait tables, and then become a help desk intern. So I kind of had to start over.
Raj:
That takes some really humility though, to just recognize that, "Hey, I don't know that I should try to convince somebody that I'm a supervisor right now," but instead to start where you think is the right place. Also, any young people who are listening, which I don't think there are any, but I guess if you're in the car with mom and dad, do food service or retail first because you're a hundred percent right, customer service in those environments, especially when people are hungry, is much more challenging.
Shonna Dorsey:
Yes.
Raj:
And there's nothing that you can experience in the tech world or in any of the other kind of work world that compares to trying to create a good experience for somebody who's already not in a good place.
Shonna Dorsey:
Right.
Raj:
And then helping them hopefully get to a good place or at least end in a place that's not bad.
Shonna Dorsey:
And that's interesting. I never thought about it like that, but that is true. That is so true. And I've dropped many trays on the way to someone's table where there is a table of 10, like, "Oh sorry, give us another 30 minutes." Not great. I received a penny tip once.
Raj:
Oh, man.
Shonna Dorsey:
It's all happened.
Raj:
Yeah. Yeah. I mean we literally can tell on the management side if somebody has that experience. They'll go, "Oh, okay. I actually like that."
Shonna Dorsey:
Yeah.
Raj:
It's not a bad thing on your resume at all.
Shonna Dorsey:
I agree.
Raj:
If anything, it's a benefit.
Shonna Dorsey:
I totally agree. And in tech, yes there are technical problems, but the thing is that you're dealing with people. That's the thing.
Raj:
Yeah.
Shonna Dorsey:
So I'm like, get your people skills together, retail, customer service.
Raj:
Yes. Yeah. Yeah. So from Interface then, what was the next step for you?
Shonna Dorsey:
So after Interface, we sold it ... so funny story, I ran Interface for three years, and within the first year or so, I was like, "Oh my gosh, what we should do is find ways for businesses to tell us what they want the training to be," versus traditional education model is like, "Well here's the thing that students need to know," for whatever reason.
Raj:
Yeah, "I'm the expert. Here's what you need to know."
Shonna Dorsey:
"I'm the expert. Business, here's your output."
Raj:
Yeah.
Shonna Dorsey:
So anyway, we were like, we'll go to the business side first. Business was asking for not the latest tech, but I'm like, that's okay. If they'll pay for it, they'll help people get jobs, that's awesome.
Raj:
Yeah.
Shonna Dorsey:
So went that route, got a good model going. It was in a position to sell, which I did not realize or ever think it would be after three years when I was ready to step down and do something different. I was hired by the AIM Institute to run, I think a tech education or something like that. And then the AIM Institute ended up buying the school when I was trying to not do it anymore, but it all worked out. So I was at AIM for two years and did a variety of things there. And then when I resigned from AIM, I was just an independent consultant for three, four months. Within a couple of days ... so this is the power of LinkedIn again. I posted on LinkedIn that I resigned from AIM and now I'm a talent development consultant, some title I made up.
Raj:
The best titles are made up best.
Shonna Dorsey:
Yeah, right. There were 600 likes on this thing.
Raj:
Oh, wow.
Shonna Dorsey:
Which is a lot. I think the most I've seen on a single post for me is around 800 or so and it's always about some job change, a major job shift. But anyway, when I went independent, Mutual of Omaha reached out, their CIO and was just talking to me about coming in to do tech community engagement stuff at Mutual.
Raj:
Cool.
Shonna Dorsey:
And I'm like, that's so cool that somehow I have gotten to the point where I can do tech community stuff and get paid for it.
Raj:
Yeah. Yes.
Shonna Dorsey:
That's wild to me.
Raj:
Yeah.
Shonna Dorsey:
But that's what I was doing at Interface. And it happened to be we also were teaching classes and helping people get placed and all that stuff, but it's all community building at the core because you need partners on all sides to help move things forward. Anyway, yeah, ended up at Mutual. I was there for four years. When COVID hit, I moved to South Dakota. I was dating a guy long distance and I was like, "Let's get closer." Then we broke up. Anyway, then I moved to Florida and I was still with Mutual, and then again was pulled back to Nebraska for this.
Raj:
Yeah.
Shonna Dorsey:
Yep.
Raj:
Yeah, very cool. Thanks for sharing that.
Shonna Dorsey:
Yeah.
Raj:
So one of the things that you shared in there that I think is really applicable to a lot of us ... we were kind of talking about this before we started, but you start your career thinking it's going to be one thing and then you don't really know until you're in it for a while. I think very similar to that, finding your voice on LinkedIn.
Shonna Dorsey:
Yes.
Raj:
I think finding who you are in your work is a very similar process, where you have to try a lot of things and then you find your specialty. And your combination of winsomeness, that people want to connect with you, but then also tech literacy, where they want to know you, but they can also have the right conversation with you is a unique thing. It's a very helpful thing, because you have a lot of technologists who don't want to spend time with people, and you have people who want to spend time with people but don't know anything about technology.
Shonna Dorsey:
Right.
Raj:
So finding that intersection is so important for your personal brand and it's so great that you've started landing these roles where that's what they want from you.
Shonna Dorsey:
Right. Yeah, I agree. And I know my limits too. So I used to be out over my skis a lot talking about tech because I was like, "I have to know everything or people won't trust me." And I'm like, you know what? Remember those days when I was on the help desk, people still called and wanted my help because they know I would bring the right resource with me.
Raj:
Yeah.
Shonna Dorsey:
And that's really the key for me is to be great or un-great and bring others in when I'm not, and it's okay.
Raj:
I was just talking to a client right before this conversation who was asking for a huge list of marketing deliverables. And I would not consider us purely a marketing company. We focus especially on branding, websites, and messaging. So we're kind of a hybrid of a graphic design company and then there's some marketing, but then also just that branding and strategy side of things. So I saw the list and I was like, "Oh, there's some stuff on here we don't do." And that's always tricky going into a call, how am I going to relay this information? But it was so great because the person on the call specifically said, "I'm not looking for a company to tell me they're good at everything, because almost nobody is."
Shonna Dorsey:
Exactly.
Raj:
"But I am looking for the person who will tell me who to go to." So I can totally imagine why people would call the help desk for you and say, "Hey, I don't even want you to do it. I want you to bring me the person who can so I don't have to make 15 phone calls."
Shonna Dorsey:
Exactly, because what I'm not going to do is stand around and try to learn it on your time. I'm like, "Let's not waste each other's time."
Raj:
"Let's open this thing up here and see what's going on."
Shonna Dorsey:
"What is this, a computer?"
Raj:
"Inside the computer?" So I guess for people listening, I feel like ... I'd love to hear your perspective on this, but I feel like we're kind of at a transitional moment in the economy and in people's careers where stuff that used to work maybe isn't going to work anymore. There's going to be some new technologies that disrupt some things, so people are going to be more interested in building their personal brand. And it's like, "What am I good for outside of my job title, outside of my company?" What would you say to those people who are kind of taking a look at all their various skill sets and going, "Okay, what do I do next?"
Shonna Dorsey:
Yeah.
Raj:
How would you advise them?
Shonna Dorsey:
If you take an inventory of the things that you're good at. So in every job that I've had, especially over the last five, six years or so, I'm like, "Where of do I excel?" I know that I get really bored in operational type stuff, but it's super critical, but I love strategy and putting a project together and chipping away at the milestones, all that good stuff. But anyway, just knowing where did you find the most joy in your work in the past? And obviously no job is going to be perfect, but I think aligning with those things is really key. And then someone a long time ago was like, "What if you just came up with your own job description to say here's the type of position I'm looking for? And then find things that are at least closely aligned with that." So that's another idea, but as technologists specifically, even those of us in tech-adjacent roles, we have so many skillsets, and a lot that are transferable and whatnot. So just don't doubt yourself, I guess. And just really think through, "Where have I succeeded? What did I love?" That sort of thing.
Raj:
Yeah. And I think with that, when you said take an inventory of your skillset, list all the skills.
Shonna Dorsey:
Yes.
Raj:
Not just the ones that you think belong on your resume, because that was something for me working in nonprofit, what I went to school for, all those things, but then when I started ... I remember my last job working for somebody else was in communications, and it was the culmination of every other skill I'd picked up along the way. And I know why I was putting in that job and it wasn't because I was amazing at it. It was because they needed a warm body, but when I realized that, I was like, oh my gosh, all the things I'd been doing as a part of my job or just on the side of my job had had all come to pay off and I knew how to do this job from day one basically.
So thankfully ... and I'm really thankful to Dave Miller, who's been on the podcast, who gave me that opportunity, even though I think he was just filling a hole, but then when I excelled at it ... he even mentioned, he was like, "I did not think this was going to happen." So he offered me a better version of the position in that time because it was like, "Oh, okay. Finally, all these things that I've been doing on the side are now the main thing and I can focus on them and excel in them." So it's not always the path that you think.
Shonna Dorsey:
Yes, that's true.
Raj:
Like starting as pre-med and then end up leading other people and connecting other people.
Shonna Dorsey:
Right.
Raj:
Very cool. Very cool.
Shonna Dorsey:
Yeah.
Raj:
So talking about what you do at Nebraska Tech Collaborative, we talked a lot about personal brand and how you've become Shonna more than just Shonna, if that makes sense, but how you've become a well known person. How does that match up with working for a place?
Shonna Dorsey:
Yeah. It's actually, I think, hugely beneficial, because over time I've found that my brand ... if you're listening, I'm doing air quotes. If you're watching it, I'm doing the quotes for some reason. Still doing them, but anyway, I feel like it is portable and translates easily. So as I moved into the NTC, one of the things that I was like, "I can bring to the table," is to connect my network to the NTC's brand. So at the time when I started we had around 700 followers. We're up to almost 1700 now within six months, all organic, no sponsored, all that.
Raj:
That's great.
Shonna Dorsey:
Which, nothing wrong with that, but the organic growth has been great. The engagement is definitely increased, the likes, reposts, all that stuff. And a lot of it is just bringing that storytelling aspect into the NTC because it's not all about what we are doing here. It's about how are people being impacted by the work we're doing? What are some of our partners doing and leading in the community to help build the tech and startup ecosystem? Those sorts of things. So anyway, that's what I feel I brought to the NTC, for sure.
Raj:
Yeah. And you've brought that up twice now, that part of how you've built your personal brand and gotten over that ick factor of trying to be famous online is by talking about other people.
Shonna Dorsey:
A hundred percent, yeah.
Raj:
And that's such a great lesson for all of us. We're a story brand certified agency, and one of the things that we specialize in is making your customer the hero of the story rather than talking about how great you are.
Shonna Dorsey:
Yes.
Raj:
And this is something you've done just naturally and people engage with that. I mean, a thousand new followers in six months, that's amazing.
Shonna Dorsey:
Yeah.
Raj:
And you're right, there's nothing wrong with paying for that growth, but organic growth is so much stronger.
Shonna Dorsey:
It is.
Raj:
Because people are doing it by affiliation, by affection for you or your brand, and that's huge.
Shonna Dorsey:
Yes.
Raj:
Very cool.
Shonna Dorsey:
Yeah.
Raj:
So tell us a little more about what does the Nebraska Tech Collaborative do? And it's a very cool thing that you're involved now and that you're lending your personal brand to. So I'd love to know ... yeah, just tell the folks out there, what are you doing there?
Shonna Dorsey:
Yeah, so the NTC, its overall mission is to connect emerging and skilled tech talent and talent in general, so entrepreneurs as well, to the startup and tech ecosystem. So if you are a young person going through high school, college, we want to connect you to a tech internship. If you're obviously a tech student, connect you to a tech internship. And then hopefully that internship leads to full placement in a Nebraska company, you build your career here, then you continue to give back. You are presenting at Heartland Developers Conference, you're mentoring, coaching, doing that sort of thing. So really just creating this network of people that are do doing that, in it, succeeding, giving back, and then coming back through. We do all of this with investments from a variety of companies. So we have very small nonprofits and for-profit companies that ... I'm sorry, not small nonprofits, but small for-profit companies that invest in the NTC up to your Mutual of Omahas and other firms like that. I always say Mutual. I still talk about it with a "we" sometimes.
Raj:
That's great.
Shonna Dorsey:
I have a strong affection for Mutual, but yeah, just a lot of different partners helping us move the needle.
Raj:
Yeah. What can us older folks do who have little gray in our hair or beard if we're not tech students, but what involvement can we have with something like the NTC?
Shonna Dorsey:
Yeah, so there are going to be a lot of great opportunities for people who have been in tech for a while to serve as mentors. So there's this new initiative that was recently launched by Exurban called Intern NE, Intern Nebraska. And with that, we are really trying to, under the leadership of Dan Curran, create really meaningful, high value internship experiences on both sides, both for the employer and the student. And part of that means you have access to a mentor who's dedicated to you and wants to see you succeed. Now typically that mentor will be with the company that you have an internship with, but there is an opportunity for us to get creative about how we have a pool, if you will, of people who have a certain skillset and maybe they're serving as coaches for a student group that is working on a specific skillset or something like that.
Just let me think of a specific example. So let's say you have a programing class, they're all learning whatever technology. We could stand up a virtual office hours or something like that with professionals throughout the state who are able to help those students as they work through homework, but then the benefit of that is A, the student's getting access to professionals outside of their faculty, so relieving some of that burden for the schools, those tech professionals working on their communication skills, because when you're trying to teach something to someone, that can be very challenging. So you have to explain it a few different ways sometimes, but also helping those students and professionals build their networks and just make Nebraska more sticky for students.
Raj:
Yeah.
Shonna Dorsey:
But yeah, I think it really has to be an all-in partnership for all of us, where it is educators and businesses working side by side, not the supply side saying, "Here's your graduates. Good luck."
Raj:
Yeah, so let's talk about that for a second. This sounds important. Why is it important? What does it do for all of us who aren't tech students?
Shonna Dorsey:
Yeah, love that question. So on average, the latest numbers I've seen ... and these numbers shift a lot, so I'll throw out a number. Go check it. It's around this number, but the average salary in the state is around $54,000. Let's say $54k-$60k average salary, and tech jobs is around $83,000.
Raj:
Okay.
Shonna Dorsey:
So when you think about ... one of the additional, I should say, pieces of our mission is to boost economic prosperity. And part of the way that you do that is to help people make more money. One of the best ways to do it is through tech jobs. They're always changing. They will always be. So that is why it is so important for our state. And then when you think about it too, when people have more disposable income, they spend more, they do more, they go out to those restaurants, which we need so that our young kids can learn customer service skills. So it all kind of works together.
Raj:
Maybe a tech student who is also waiting tables.
Shonna Dorsey:
That's right.
Raj:
And is going to be a much better professional for you.
Shonna Dorsey:
You know what?
Raj:
Yep. That's great.
Shonna Dorsey:
I didn't even make that connection, but that is exactly one of the reasons why this is so important.
Raj:
Yeah, that's great. You and I are both people of color.
Shonna Dorsey:
Yes.
Raj:
And you're talking about this boosting prosperity for people in Nebraska, and unfortunately our city in particular has some pretty severe challenges when it comes to that.
Shonna Dorsey:
Definitely.
Raj:
Yeah, how do you see NTC's role in, or your role personally, in overcoming some of those challenges?
Shonna Dorsey:
Yeah, I think it's extremely important for me to be a part of it. And it's also one of the hardest things to do because there are so many gaps on many different fronts. So one of the issues that I see often when I think about the kids that I know that go to the free coding camps, which there are so many very high quality free camps -
Raj:
That's great.
Shonna Dorsey:
- in the city, but a lot of the students that I see ... and I don't go to all the camps, so I can't speak for all of them, but I usually see young white children in these classes. And it makes so much sense, if their parents know that this is a great career path for you.
Raj:
It's a great path, yeah. Yep.
Shonna Dorsey:
So of course you're going to go take the training, but the kids that could benefit from it the most, don't have the exposure, they don't have the awareness. So it's hugely important to me to continue to do things about that. So when I ran Interface School, I would come up with these little partnerships. I had one with Urban League of Nebraska where I would teach introduction to web development classes to young students over the summer. I did one with Omaha South, and one of the students just recently launched a startup, and they have funding now through Move Venture Capital.
Raj:
That's so great.
Shonna Dorsey:
So these little things make a difference, but what I love to do is as we're doing this work, you and I and other people of color in tech who are out here advocating for more people of color to be in tech, is I think we have to create more mentors and coaches who are willing to be engaged and supportive. Even though it's hard work, it's important. And if you make a difference in one person's life and then you're maybe a catalyst for them to make a difference in someone else's, it's a thing that is helpful. But in short ... I'm saying a lot.
Raj:
No, no, you're good. You're good.
Shonna Dorsey:
But it's super important -
Raj:
Yeah.
Shonna Dorsey:
- that we continue to do this work. Also, the salaries in that part of our city are even lower than that $54,000 average.
Raj:
Yeah.
Shonna Dorsey:
It's much lower.
Raj:
Yeah.
Shonna Dorsey:
High poverty, all that stuff. So again, when we think about shifting those dynamics, then you possibly bring in more interesting commerce to those communities because businesses are like, "The income levels can support my operation." And there's just all those things that make a big difference long term. So it's important that we keep working on it.
Raj:
Yeah. Yeah. When the income raises, you get better stores and restaurants and all those things.
Shonna Dorsey:
Absolutely.
Raj:
That draws to the neighborhoods as well.
Shonna Dorsey:
Right.
Raj:
That's so wonderful. Thanks for sharing that. I was a little nervous about asking because -
Shonna Dorsey:
No, you can ask me anything.
Raj:
But I think something you mentioned in that is that it's like when people of color are in those roles, I think we operate a little differently because we're just aware of dynamics that other people may not have experienced.
Shonna Dorsey:
Right.
Raj:
And that's also good for your workforce development. And that's actually one of the reasons why for a long time now I've wanted to sit down and have this conversation is because I was a little bit in awe just like, "How? How did you do this? Show me the path." So yeah, it's been very fun to have you here for that.
Shonna Dorsey:
Thanks.
Raj:
So as we kind of wrap up here -
Shonna Dorsey:
Oh wait, do you want me to answer how I do that part? That's kind of interesting.
Raj:
Oh, that's true. Great. Yeah, if you actually have an answer for it.
Shonna Dorsey:
Because I don't really know, but I ... okay, here's what I will say. I do love partnering so much. So what I try to think about is okay, if I ... I have so many examples of this, but one of my most recent ones that's kind of still in the development side, but you know what, I'm going to speak it into existence. We're just going to talk about it right now.
Raj:
Love it.
Shonna Dorsey:
Okay. So yesterday, or whenever this was, sometime recently, whenever it airs, I was at an event where I was sitting at a table with five other women of color who also happened to be in tech. So this all, again, generated or started through LinkedIn. So I posted something where I was like, "Hey, I'm seeking women of color in tech to be speakers at this event for kids." I got so many responses.
Raj:
That's great.
Shonna Dorsey:
So so many. It was amazing.
Raj:
Yeah.
Shonna Dorsey:
And several of them made it work. I met with five of them at this event and we were all sitting around and each of them was talking about in their company how they might be the only one or two women of color in IT and all that stuff. And as I was sitting there, I was like, "What do y'all think about standing up a group that is for women of color in tech in Omaha? And it can be a meetup group where we get together monthly, quarterly, whatever the frequency is and just talk about tech topics or whatever topic we want to talk about." And they're like, "Yeah, let's do it." And I'm like, "We need a space at Central. I'm going to email a guy and see if we can host there. I have a meetup account. I can actually do all these things." And the great thing about it is I'm good at organizing things like that. I know a lot of people who want to lend their space for things like that.
Raj:
I was going to say, you're sitting in one right now.
Shonna Dorsey:
Exactly.
Raj:
We would be happy to lend it.
Shonna Dorsey:
That's amazing, because the space I was thinking about using, they're moving super far west and I'm like, "I want it to be a pretty accessible place." So we'll talk about that.
Raj:
Absolutely.
Shonna Dorsey:
But it's like a company has space that they want to lend, they're not out organizing the event. I'm going to do that part, but then we both get a benefit out of it. So you're hosting this thing that's meaningful to the community. I'm helping get this group of women together. They're going to be fascinating. They don't need me. I'm just more of a, "I'll help you get it started," sort of person. But then it becomes this meaningful connection point for people.
Raj:
Yeah.
Shonna Dorsey:
I forgot what point I was making. Oh, it's partnerships. That's really a lot of how I get things done is try to find the lowest risk thing, but highest value thing someone can do to get involved in the thing I'm trying to get done. And then also so I'm not trying to do it all like, "Oh, I went and rented a space," and I make myself the smarter type.
Raj:
Yeah. Yeah.
Shonna Dorsey:
I'm like, it's unnecessary. Just partner and get more done faster.
Raj:
Yeah. That reminds me, probably about a year ago, maybe two, I was invited to a group of black professionals in Omaha on LinkedIn, and I messaged the person who ran the group and I was like, "Hey, I'm really honored. I'm not black, so I don't know if you want me." And she was so sweet and she was like, "No, we totally want you. I know you're not," but just that spirit of supporting each other. And it's like, well yeah, let's not make sort of artificial boundaries here.
Shonna Dorsey:
Yes.
Raj:
We know what we need to do and it's better if we do it together.
Shonna Dorsey:
Absolutely.
Raj:
Yeah, the partnerships are so, so key.
Shonna Dorsey:
Yeah.
Raj:
So I think that actually is great for our last question here, which is you've talked about building that personal brand, about refining that voice, and then you've talked about how that leads to these opportunities, but we also know that it would be kind of all for naught if you leave and all the followers leave with you.
Shonna Dorsey:
Right.
Raj:
So something that you're passionate about is leveraging your brand for whichever organization you're with -
Shonna Dorsey:
That's right.
Raj:
- at the time. And then creating followers that stick for them. So talk to us about that a little bit, of how do you balance that I'm leveraging, I'm using my brand for this place, but I also want them to stay and support this thing that I still believe in, even if I'm not there anymore.
Shonna Dorsey:
Yeah. So part of the way that I do that, just the easy button stuff is to reshare content from that account and connect it to mine with my own original thoughts, but what I really try to do is just think about creative ways to plug the NTC anytime I'm talking about something. So I did this 5K a few weeks ago that was for some Air Force group, but they were raising money for STEM scholarships. So that's an easy tieback to the NTC because it's tech related, it's helping kids through school, and that sort of thing. So there's always a way to connect it back and to make NTC ... at this time that's what I'm working on, but to make that connect to me. And it's not like my account is all about Shonna's personal stuff, like my karaoke thing and whatever else I do randomly. It's really about, I'm passionate about NTC and the things that we're trying to get done and connecting people to that mission and vision.
Raj:
Yeah.
Shonna Dorsey:
So I think that makes it sticky. We'll find out. That'll be way, way, way down the line when we find out, but yeah.
Raj:
Yeah. Well, and I think a couple of things to go with that is that a lot of times we will start following something because of a person, but then actually get connected to what's going on there.
Shonna Dorsey:
Right.
Raj:
And then when that person moves on, we typically don't just, "Oh, well let me look that up and unfollow -"
Shonna Dorsey:
Yeah, that's true.
Raj:
So there's a natural piece to it, but there's also ... it's a great introduction to something that you might not have followed otherwise.
Shonna Dorsey:
That's true.
Raj:
But then you do find out that you actually do have affinity for that brand or that project.
Shonna Dorsey:
Yep.
Raj:
That's very cool. And I think for a lot of us, like I said, kind of mid-career, learning about our own personal brand, it's really helpful to see that those things can work together, but also be a little bit separate.
Shonna Dorsey:
Yeah, absolutely. You can totally maintain your own personal image, brand, whatnot, and still be super supportive of the organization you're working for.
Raj:
Yeah.
Shonna Dorsey:
Those two can absolutely work together.
Raj:
Yeah. And I think one thing that you sort of subtly mentioned there, but is something that I'm passionate about is having something prepared sort of. We talk about story brand one-liners, but there's a million different ways to do that.
Shonna Dorsey:
Yep.
Raj:
And there's one client in particular that I always tell her to reject the premise of a question. They teach presidents to do this all the time in the debate. It's like, "Well, why don't you care more about healthcare?" And the president says, "I believe that if our children are all educated, then our healthcare will improve." And you lead with the thing that you want to lead with -
Shonna Dorsey:
Smart. I like that.
Raj:
- instead of just giving in to whatever the question is. So that's a nice way to get the brand out there. Whatever you're talking about, having something prepared that you can say, "Well, at Nebraska Tech Collaborative, we do this."
Shonna Dorsey:
Exactly.
Raj:
"And I think that that's going to lead to the outcome that you're looking for."
Shonna Dorsey:
I love that. Look, I'm taking lessons here. That is really good. And at this point in time, Chat GPT is still pretty new to a lot of us. I use it quite a bit. I just have fun experimenting with it. But yeah, great way ... if you're like, "What do I even talk about?" You can create an entire social media calendar with content through Chat GPT.
Raj:
Yeah.
Shonna Dorsey:
I've experimented with it. I haven't used it to that extent yet, but it can be done.
Raj:
Yeah. And I think part of that, one of the things that we're finding is that when you have that structure down from what you want talk about, so you've got a good one-liner or something like that, that you've really refined through human thought on your own, and then you give those prompts to your AI writers, then you can say, "Hey, what's a way that I could talk about this at an event for Air Force -
Shonna Dorsey:
Exactly.
Raj:
- officers," or whatever. "And how do I make a connection between those two?"
Shonna Dorsey:
Yep.
Raj:
That immediately helps the tool to perform better for you.
Shonna Dorsey:
Absolutely.
Raj:
Because you've done a little bit of the homework to feed it first.
Shonna Dorsey:
Exactly.
Raj:
That's very cool. Yeah.
Shonna Dorsey:
Right.
Raj:
Yeah.
Shonna Dorsey:
I love it.
Raj:
Well Shonna, I mean incredibly honored to have you with us. I'm also glad you're back in town and looking forward to more conversations. Please, by all means, you're welcome to use our space to foster this kind of community here.
Shonna Dorsey:
Awesome.
Raj:
I'm glad you do this work.
Shonna Dorsey:
I have a meetup host? Amazing.
Raj:
That's so great.
Shonna Dorsey:
Yeah, that worked out great.
Raj:
All right, so thank you so much.
Shonna Dorsey:
Thank you.
Raj:
Where can they find you and Nebraska Tech Collaborative?
Shonna Dorsey:
Yeah, Nebraska Tech Collaborative on LinkedIn and then nebtechcollab.com.
Raj:
Perfect. Perfect.
Shonna Dorsey:
Yep. And oh wait, do you know when this will be aired?
Raj:
A few weeks I think.
Shonna Dorsey:
Oh, cool. Well, we will have an event at 1623 Farnham, the data center, where we're releasing this tech workforce dashboard that the NTC is working on with UNO. So it'll be pretty robust and a great way for people to understand what's been happening as far as workforce trends go, people exiting and entering jobs, demographics of talent, all of that good stuff. So anyway, we're rolling it out in September and I'll be sure to share the link with you for people to register and come meet us and see what we're up to.
Raj:
Perfect. If the show's out by then we'll put it in the show notes -
Shonna Dorsey:
Excellent.
Raj:
- for you.
Shonna Dorsey:
Yeah.
Raj:
Thank you so much.
Shonna Dorsey:
Thank you.
Ben:
Thanks for joining us today on Growing a Fruitful Brand. If you found today's show helpful, don't forget to subscribe and consider sharing it with someone who might also enjoy it. If you'd like to work with Fruitful on a branding website or messaging project of your own, you can always reach out on our website, fruitful.design. So until next time, don't forget to grow something good.
