How I Got Here: This Google manager’s tech career started at Circuit City (sort of)

Since its last stores closed in 2009, the name might be a distant memory for some and draw a blank for others, but Circuit City was an electronic retail store franchise. In the years that Matthews’ father worked there, she said, he became a prolific salesman by getting to know the products the store carried intimately — and came to the conclusion that a career in the tech industry was the perfect place for his daughter.

“He recognized the solution-oriented mindset that I have, and how good I am with my hands. So I think he was like, ‘This will be an amazing opportunity for my daughter,’” Matthews told Technical.ly. “Knowing how solution-oriented the IT world [is], I think he had that vision, that foresight to say, ‘You will be excellent in this type of role.’”

Still, it’d take a few years for Matthews to share his vision. Matthews spent most of her 20s in customer service positions because as a mother of four, her priority at the time was to provide financially for her young children instead of pursuing a higher ed degree. But finally, at 29, she decided she wanted a career and not just a job. She enrolled at the Community College of Allegheny County to obtain her associate’s degree in computer science.

Midway through her first semester in the program, her father died.

“My father passed away unexpectedly, and so then it became more of a drive and passion to complete something that was a goal of his for me,” Matthews said.

A bachelor’s degree in IT management from Point Park University, a master’s degree in organizational management from Robert Morris University, and a total of eight years later, Matthews has proven her father right. Since 2014, she’s occupied positions such as project manager at the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority and IT business analyst for Giant Eagle.

Now, she spends her days at Google as its partner solutions manager at its Bakery Square hub in Pittsburgh. According to Matthews, the role can be different on any given day, but all and all her job is to manage Google’s partnerships — such as funding Black Tech Nation Ventures to further its mission to break down barriers for underrepresented founders — and ensure internal projects go smoothly.

Kenya Matthews speaks at Black Tech Nations Ventures’ December event. (Photo by Atiya Irvin-Mitchell)

“In a day in the life, more or less, I work with a team of 12 engineers,” Matthews said, ensuring they meet deadlines and that “there’s that continuity of care throughout the integration experience and thereafter.” She also works across several departments, though, including with cross-functional stakeholders, such as Google’s business development team, which manages the company’s partnerships.

At this stage of her journey, Matthews said she’s grateful that she’s in a position to give back to her community.

“For me being here on this earth, [I feel] privileged to have the position that I do have [and] the network that I have, and taking those experiences and everything that I was able to overcome in my life and pouring that back out and to other people and to other members of my community,” Matthews said.

Sometimes that means serving as a board member at youth-focused nonprofits such as Gwen’s Girls or The Pittsburgh Project. Sometimes it’s bringing exposure to an easier pathway into the field of technology.

What’s one thing Matthews would tell someone just starting out? It’s going to be hard, she said, but if you keep asking questions and persevere, it’ll be OK.

“Whether you’re in school [or] in your position, now, the biggest thing that I think helped me and continues to help me is I ask a lot of questions,” Matthews said. “And it’s for the reason of understanding because it’s only going to hurt you later on if you’re trying to move forward with something without actually understanding it.”