10 Questions with Haley Smith
Program Manager at Facebook
Haley Smith is a Program Manager at Facebook. In her role, she helps to support and improve the experience of local businesses on Facebook by running end-to-end testing before new products launch and synthesizing feedback from customers to the product teams.
Before joining full-time, she completed two summer internships at Facebook working on the Small and Medium Business (SMB) Analytics team. Haley graduated from Northwestern University with a B.S. in Journalism, a minor in Sociology, and a certificate in Integrated Marketing Communications.
- When did you know you wanted to be in tech?
I didn’t. I like to joke that I sort of stumbled into the tech industry. By my senior year of high school, I was confident that I wanted to work in journalism. I was torn between broadcast news or magazine editorial work. The Medill school is awesome in that they throw you into very hands-on classes right away. You actually have the opportunity to go out into Chicago neighborhoods, find your stories and do reporting. During this time, I struggled with my expectations of being a day-to-day reporter not aligning with the reality. It was a very difficult time (I call it my sophomore year existential crisis), eventually leading to the decision that I wanted to pivot and explore different fields.
I talked with my parents, my peers, and got guidance from staff at Northwestern on other things I could pursue that would incorporate my skills and interests. Marketing was consistently raised as a field that involved creativity, storytelling and problem-solving — all of which I wanted out of a job, but I really had no idea what ‘marketing’ entailed. It seemed like this huge, vague term that could mean just about anything. Sophomore year, one of my close friends sent me an internship opportunity at Facebook under the ‘Global Marketing Solutions’ organization. She said this was an awesome opportunity and that based on the description, it seemed like something she thought I would be good at. I was fortunate enough to snag that internship in the summer of 2015 and was invited to intern again the following summer, which led to me becoming a full-time employee after I graduated!
2. Who is a role model that you look up to?
I have always looked up to my mom. She is one of the most selfless, caring, strong, courageous and hard-working people I’ve ever encountered. From childhood, I watched the way she tirelessly made sacrifices to look after not just her children but her entire family including her brothers and her mom. She was my first example of a ‘boss lady.’ When my sister and I were kids, she ran her own business and worked from home. It seemed like she had the flexibility and tenacity to create the life that she wanted for herself. For me as a kid, I was just fortunate and happy that she worked from home because it allowed her to be around us a lot of the time.
We never had babysitters that weren’t family and my mom or dad were the ones picking us up from school. It set the example early on that while pursuing your career goals is really important, valuing the family unit is also important. When the job market got really difficult, she had to transition into working for someone else for the first time in years. I watched as she transitioned into a different job with the utmost grace. I don’t think I ever heard her complain. When I asked her about it, she just had faith that it would all work out and said she would do whatever she had to for our family. I could go on and on about the ways in which she exhibits qualities that I hope I can display even a tenth of someday.
“[My mom] set the example early on that while pursuing your career goals is really important, valuing the family unit is also important.”
3. Where is your hometown?
Atlanta, GA :)
4. What is a struggle that you’ve faced and how did you overcome it?
My first couple of months of full-time work at Facebook were very difficult. Even after interning twice at the company, there was so much to learn, master, and conquer. I can be an incredibly harsh self-critic and I felt the need to be moving faster and faster. It was a hard time because I didn’t feel like I was thriving in any of the areas that were important to me. I was eager to show the impact that I could make in my job, but had to take my time ramping up and learning.
“I can be an incredibly harsh self-critic and I felt the need to be moving faster and faster.”
I was not putting much effort or consideration into my mental and physical health. I was not putting enough time and energy into both friends and my family. After graduating, it felt overwhelming to suddenly not have my best friends a 10-minute walk away from me anymore. Carving out time for the people I cared about (with that West coast time difference) was surprisingly difficult. I found myself getting disappointed in how I was handling it and wanting to throw in the towel.
What helped was talking to friends who felt so similarly to me. In your early twenties, everyone so desperately wants to have it all together but nobody does. The other thing that helped me at the time was leaning into the discomfort and not letting myself become a victim. Some parts of my struggle were out of my control, but I started to focus on little action items and areas that I could control. I also found myself leaning much more on friends who are a little older than I am because they’re not so far removed as to separate themselves entirely from what it feels like, so they can emphasize greatly while still providing a slightly removed perspective.
5. What is something that you are immensely proud of?
One of my most proudest accomplishments was getting into Northwestern University. I was laser-focused on finding the best journalism programs in the country, once I decided that was what I wanted to pursue. Upon discovering Northwestern, I had no idea if I had what it would take to get in. My parents and my older sister all went to schools within the state of Georgia so they weren’t as familiar with the Common Application. I didn’t have a dedicated counselor from my high school to help me through the process or tell me what my safety, match, and reach schools were, so I pretty much handled it all independently and just went for it. I was so, so proud when I got my acceptance. It felt like an accomplishment that I had truly worked for and earned.
6. What’s something that’s been on your mind a lot lately?
How to lay the strongest foundation for myself. Life after college has been a whirlwind and more difficult in a lot of ways than I had anticipated. There’s been some really trying times of feeling stuck, lost, and scared all at once. I’ve been thinking a lot about how to give myself the space to acknowledge and sit with these feelings when they emerge rather than try to beat them away on impulse, so self-care and being a little more gentle with myself has been on my mind a lot.
7. Favorite food?
Pizza
8. Mac or PC?
I’m a proud converted Mac user.
9. If you could try another job for a day, what would it be?
For as long as I can remember, my two passions have been writing and art. Before I decided on pursuing a degree in writing, I actually wanted to go to art school. My dream job was to be an animator at Pixar so I would totally try that for a day if I could!
10. If you could give your 18-year-old self a piece of advice, what would it be?
Stop being afraid because you are different from the people around you and because you want different things. Stop doubting yourself because there isn’t a clear path for people who think like you do. Stop restricting what you’re interested in or what you dream about doing. It is because you are uniquely aware of yourself that you are different. This will serve you well in the long run in surpassing even your own expectations for what you can achieve. Have the courage to be unapologetic in who you are, without feeling the need to dim yourself around others.
“Have the courage to be unapologetic in who you are, without feeling the need to dim yourself around others.”
Even as you go far, hold on to where you come from with pride because it is intrinsic to who you are. When you have the opportunity to finally travel to the farthest places you can imagine, find ways to draw your strength from the parts of home that you carry with you.
Accept that it’s okay to be constantly evolving and changing. Being a work in progress doesn’t mean that everything is falling apart. Believe that at the end of the day, you have the power to create exactly the kind of life you want.
