Enabling people through technology
As we continue our celebration of Women’s History Month, we’re pleased to introduce you to some of the inspiring women leaders who power Driven Brands. Meet Christi Rowekamp, CIO for Platform Services.
One would think that Christi Rowekamp, Chief Information Officer (CIO) for Platform Services at Driven Brands, got to where she is today professionally having studied information technology in college. Nothing could be farther from the truth. “It’s hard to believe it, but I went to Ohio University on a music and theater scholarship,” Christi recalled recently with a laugh at the irony.
At Driven Brands, Christi has focused most recently on building and launching DrivenAdvantage, a B2B marketplace. Christi is focused on results, but in a way that’s inclusive, collaborative – and challenging.
“I tell people all the time that I love my job and the people I work with – the business and technology teams work seamlessly towards the goal,” she says. “We set targets, then challenge those targets in a positive way. We consistently ask: ‘Can we simplify and get results faster?’ Or ‘Can our idea stretch and achieve more?’”
So, how did someone who started out in theater and music transition into a business career with a focus on IT? If there are any through lines in Christi’s learning and leadership journey it’s this – she has a natural curiosity and a love for learning.
“I ended up in IT because it was the first environment that I worked in that changed all the time, that kept challenging me, that required me to keep learning and relearning,” she says. “I never get bored doing this work.”
Learning to make career moves that changed and challenged her started in her junior year of college. She started to see theater and music classmates moving to New York City, crashing on couches, and surviving on pizza. It was a lifestyle Christi couldn’t imagine for herself. She switched majors, focusing on interpersonal communications instead.
After graduating, she was hired by a computer training company to pair her skills teaching and connecting with others to an entirely different field – IT. Ever curious, she learned the courses quickly and began to teach within her first month. She kept asking to learn more. Within the first year, she had exhausted all their IT curriculums.
She moved on to work for L Brands (the portfolio of brands previously known as The Limited, Inc.) helping to build their customer support training environment. She recalls this part of her leadership journey as the stage when she was willing and eager to do the jobs other people didn’t want to do. “I was the person who would say, ‘What? You have to re-network everything this weekend? Sure. I'll come in and work on it,’" she says with a laugh.
As a woman on the team, she started to stand out. “I was learning infrastructure, cabling underneath data center floors, picking up and moving servers,” she says. “Not very many women applied to work in that kind of job.”
When men on her team would offer to carry the large, heavy monitors and servers for her, she politely declined. “I was, like, ‘nope, I can do it, I’ve got it; this is my role, we have the same title.’”
Christi’s willingness to do the tough work earned her a spot on a team of system architects. She “skipped” several ranks in this move. She thought her boss had made a mistake. She questioned him about it.
“He told me that he didn’t need more of the same on the team – he needed somebody on this team who was different; someone who knew how to enable people through technology – not just geek out about it, someone willing to learn anything,” she recalls. “That was a pivotal career moment for me, and I asked myself: ‘Why am I trying so hard to be the same?’ I needed to really embrace the things that made me different.” Suddenly, the imposter syndrome shifted to confidence in her curiosity, willingness to learn, and her eagerness not to fear new opportunities - but, instead, to take the risk and embrace them.
What would Christi tell a young woman just starting her career in IT?
Trust your instincts, embrace changes, keep volunteering for opportunities to learn and grow, she shares. And you deserve to be at the table.
“You’re at the table for a reason – stop second guessing that part,” she notes. “And, if you’re there, they want to hear your voice, right? So, speak up – your ideas are good.”
As has always been Christi’s journey, her advice to women is inclusive and collaborative. “If you’re at the table, make sure to bring a friend,” she says. “When you bring someone with you, you’re welcoming someone else who might be afraid to speak up or take that chance; this is your opportunity to pave the way for the next person.”