Thaniya Keereepart: From Data Engineer to Head of Mobile + Platforms at TED

I first met Thaniya at a talk hosted by Betaworks in the summer of 2015. The second I heard her introduce herself, I knew I needed to meet her and share her story on ZigZag Path. Thaniya was kind enough to agree to have a complete stranger interview her and we sat down a few weeks later to chat. Thaniya gave one of the most honest and unfiltered accounts I’ve heard and we ended up talking for nearly two hours. Below is Thaniya’s ZigZag Path as told to me at La Colombe Torrefaction in New York City on July 28, 2015.

A bit about Thaniya before we dive in: Thaniya currently leads mobile and platforms at TED. She’s responsible for overall strategic direction, investment, product management, growth, and operations on all non-web platforms owned and operated by TED. Thaniya’s work has been recognized by numerous awards, including Emmy, Peabody, Adobe MAX, Webby, and the National Design Award.

What did you want to be when you were in high school?

In high school I wanted to be either a field scientist or an architect. I loved science documentaries and my dream was to stalk lions in the wild. I was great at chemistry and I was on my way to becoming a scientist but then I began to develop a phobia for critters and worms and that stopped me from being a scientist. I also really loved art and design and pursued it pretty far.

Nearing the end of high school I got a four-year scholarship to attend a great art school, but my parents told me I could major in one of the following: medicine, engineering, sciences, business, or law. Those were my only choices.

I was accepted to study international business at Carnegie Mellon University. Somewhere in between getting accepted and starting school, my major turned from international business to information systems. I wasn’t sure whose mistake it was in the process, but I received a brochure about information systems on my doorstep. Information systems is a combination of political science, decision-making and computer science. I was a very indecisive person and I thought learning about decision-making might help me decide what I want to do with my life, so I decided to go with it.

Tell me about your career path, how did you find your way to where you are today?

I was hired out of college to be a data engineer for a creative agency called Scient, but I didn’t actually end up doing any data engineering. One of my first days, I got a little drunk and I told the hiring manager that I wanted to try out front-end development, and the next day he staffed me on a front-end development project immediately. I knew nothing about front-end development, so I learned how to do it on the job. I picked up all of the front-end languages and I ended up being pretty good at it because of my interests in art and engineering. I did that for a few years and then transitioned from Scient to Major League Baseball (MLB).

When I joined MLB I was still a front-end engineer. Then one day, one of the application developers left the company and my boss asked who wants to learn Flash and I raised my hand. That was the point that changed my career. Flash was the technology required to build MLB Game Day, our live datacast, and learning Flash enabled me to go from a web developer to an app developer. I eventually became really good at real-time application development and ended up running the engineering team that was responsible for all live gaming experiences.

A few years later, our VP of Engineering at MLB decided to quit. I was up next for the role along with another engineering lead who just happened to be the guy I was dating. He ended up getting promoted. Since that would have created a direct reporting structure, MLB decided that it was imperative I leave the engineering team. I was not happy with that decision because it had no reflection on my professional performance, but since I was still going to be working on a product I loved, I decided to stay.

I joined the product team and the transition ended up being a blessing-in-disguise. It gave me ownership and responsibility over the entire vision and an opportunity to work on a more cross-disciplinary team. It was really fun, but after a few years I kind of burned out. I was working fourteen-hour days including weekends and I wanted to do something that was not monetarily driven. So I decided to leave and reach out to TED, which is a very mission-driven organization.

TED, at the time, was only hiring for interaction designers. When I came in to interview I told them that interaction design was only 10% of what I could do and that I could bring product development to TED. They thought that was great and I ended up being employee #1 on product at TED. No one at the time knew what product was and it was really rewarding to be able to change the organization structure from the inside out. I was able to build not just a product, but a team and carve a space for product as a discipline. Now, I lead a very cross-disciplinary team that includes product managers, researchers, and experience designers.

What did you do at work today?

We have a new staff member. I on-boarded him and got him setup. And then I ate dim sum, because every time someone starts we have to feed their soul first.

What are the three most important things you’ve learned along the way?

1. I’m a believer in bringing myself to work. I don’t have a work persona. I just have me. I think when you’re working on the things you love you are able to be yourself.
2. Number two is a funny story: A few years ago I was on a tiny plane in Patagonia and I sat next to this guy from Boston and I randomly started talking to him. I asked him if he missed home, and he said, “You know, there’s this app called MLB Game Day Audio and it allows me to listen to my home team. Whenever I do that, regardless of where I am, I feel at home.” That was the moment where I realized if I can create an emotional connection, something positive, something small, but personal and impactful to a large audience, then that’s meaningful. That was a moment of pride. It feels good to know you’re creating an impact for people.
3. I want to work with people who inspire me on a personal level.

Do you have any regrets about the path you’ve taken?

No.

What’s one piece of advice you would give to your high-school self?

I think we are the best versions of ourselves when we can honestly say we’re doing what we love to do. Whatever that may be, you should never let go of that. Even if you can’t quite see how you can make a living out of it, you should always foster it. It doesn’t necessarily have to turn in to your career, but you should never let it go. For me, art and design is something I have always loved. It’s not my career but I’m exposed to it all the time and it’s great.

What’s next? Where do you see yourself in the future?

Well, I’m not going to Mars. I know there are a lot of TED talks about going to Mars, but I’m not doing that.

I think we’re at a place in human history where technology really changes fundamentally who we are as people. The discipline of behavioral economics as it pertains to human computer interaction is an area I’m really interested in.

Thanks for making it all the way through. This is the first interview in a series called ZigZag Path. You can read more about the idea behind ZigZag Path here. The second interview will be published in February. Follow ZigZagPath on Medium or Twitter to stay tuned.