ISDI Student Spotlight ft. Nion Nawbatt
In this weekly series, we’ll be highlighting the student journeys and accomplishments of our future leaders in digital business.
This week we feature Nion, an English teacher turned auto insurance savant. Now working at a start-up in the auto space industry he describes what brought him to ISDI and some exciting things he’s learned!
1. Tell us a little bit about your background and why you decided to make ISDI a part of your journey?
My family is originally from South America; Guyana, and Venezuela. When I was young we moved to Toronto, Canada, where I attended University of Toronto and studied Management and International Development. After graduating, I spent some time working, traveling abroad, and teaching English in Mexico.
I then moved to Silicon Valley and worked in contract positions at high tech companies like: Invisalign, Netflix and Samsung. I then spent 10 years as a Claims Adjuster for a large insurance company working in several departments, including the litigation department where I worked on claims settlements right up the start of a civil trial.
In 2017, I became a member of the San Jose Chamber of Commerce (now the SVO) to help launch a startup for an online marketplace that would offer free auto repair quotes and drive business to auto repair shops. While attending networking events, I was informed of a new SVO partner, ISDI Digital University.
They were getting ready to launch a program for people looking to re-tool their digital skills! As I explored and learned more about ISDI, I made the decision to make ISDI part of my digital transformation journey and have now learned the tools needed to help my startup project succeed.
2. If your friends and family had to use 3 words to describe you what would they be?
Inventive, Insightful, Spontaneous
3. What is your proudest work accomplishment? Life accomplishment?
Work: During my time as an insurance adjuster I was extremely proud of my ability to settle several difficult injury claims. Being able to work with judges and plaintiff attorneys and explain the reasoning for my settlement offers helped build rapport and an understanding of the emotional and physically taxing experience of being injured in an accident.
Life: My biggest accomplishment is teaching English abroad. Now 10+ years later, it still brings me great joy to receive updates from my students: one is now a lawyer in Mexico, another a naval officer in Brazil, and another an electronic music DJ. They shared how much they appreciated the patience I had for all the students that allowing them the opportunity to grow. I encouraged them make mistakes and learn in a safe environment, always encouraging them to express their thoughts and to think globally.
5. If you had to write a book about something, and you knew it would be an all time best seller (as in this message would be seen by millions of people) what would it be and why?
I would write a book about encouraging people to share their problems without fear of judgment in order to come up with great ideas.
Great ideas come from having the courage and confidence to speak to people about your problems and internal thoughts. Great ideas also come from talking to diverse groups of people and listening to how others have tackled similar problems and different ways in which they resolved them. This tactic has served me well so far in my career.
The sequel would be “The Book of IDEAS!” and how sharing your ideas and problems with others leads to several more ideas on how to solve your problems. I would want to highlight also how to turn your problems into opportunities.
6. If you decided to start a business tomorrow what would it be and why?
I would build a travel abroad educational program for 8th grade students entering high school. When I was 8th grade, I participated in a similar program and had the opportunity to travel to Japan. This trip had such a profound impact on my life I would want every impressionable 13-year-old to have that same eye-opening experience.
My program would include a month long family homestay abroad. I would also open a program for families to host an exchange student in their home. I believe making international connections at a young age builds connections that last a lifetime and can help expand the thinking and creativity of future generations. Speaking from personal experience, I am still in best friends with my roommate from my Japan homestay experience.
7. What is a product, service, company, book, or activity you WOM (word of mouth) advertise all the time to family and friends?
I talk about my travel experience using WOW Airlines! I was blown away how affordable it was to travel to Iceland and England last minute and with minimal luggage!
I also WOM about the SJ Museum of Art and how looking at art stays with you subconsciously. I like how the museum lends you a kit with paper and pencil to make some of your own sketches and art designs. For me, doing is learning!
I also WOM about Quartz Media, which is an online news portal that displays news stories in a text message/fun conversation format. It’s a really unique, customized interactive way to receive news, see some funny GIFs, and stay informed on what’s happening in the world.
8. What technological innovation are you most excited about in the coming decades?
Autonomous transportation: Coming from an Auto Insurance claims background, I am really looking forward to a future in which car accidents are avoidable and no longer cause injury to humans and property.
9. Give us a digital tip or trick you’ve learned at ISDI!
A great tip I picked up is a tool that can be used when researching websites called Ghostery. Ghostery is a browser extension that helps identify how many trackers are on a web page. With the ongoing changes in privacy rights and regulation like GDPR, I see this technology as being important for companies to demonstrate more transparency and clarity on how user information is used.
Another trick that was learned in the course of this 9-month Masters is more of a Digital Wish button: Ctrl + Alt +Mental Refresh. It’s a more of a self-awareness tool for when you are stuck on an idea, just take a couple moments to shut down your laptop, start a 15 minute timer, and go walk around outside or talk to a family member for a bit.
The goal is to allow your brain enough time to relax and return to your project mentally refreshed and re-energized. ISDI has helped me realize and practice this and this course has taught me when I personally need a ‘Mental Refresh’ to get a project done, so that’s been very helpful.
Thanks for joining us on our Student Spotlight Series! For more ISDI blog posts written by our amazing students and our esteemed academic board, check them out at our ISDI Blog here.
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