Leadership Spotlight: Brookley Calvin

Welcome back to another post in our Leadership Spotlight series where we take a moment to highlight one of Maven Wave’s rising stars. This month, we spoke with Brookley Calvin and learned all about her role as the Organizational Change Management (OCM) Practice Lead as well as her genuine passion for Maven Wave’s culture. As a self-proclaimed introvert who’s thrived in a highly people-oriented role, Brookley is a testament to the essentiality of cognitive diversity.

Read on to learn more about Brookley and how she’s helped to shape our company — and vice versa.

Tell us about yourself.

I grew up in Indianapolis and, after graduating from Indiana University with a degree in business, moved to Chicago to follow my now-husband who had taken a job up there. After a failed one-year career as an inside sales representative (I was truly bad at this — we learn most from our mistakes!) I found a passion for learning and development. I sought out a way to expand on my desire to help people excel in their careers, which led to many years practicing OCM and eventually receiving the opportunity to take a leadership role in this space.

Tell us about your role at Maven Wave.

No two days are ever the same, which is one of the things I love best about consulting. I partner with our sales teams and clients to develop people-oriented solutions designed to help them get the most out of their technology investments. I work with our delivery teams to strengthen our methodologies and ensure we’re providing impactful, high-quality work to our customers. The best part of my job is working as a coach to develop our people and open up opportunities that enhance both their career advancement and the growth of our business.

What are the top highlights of your career so far?

• Leading a two-and-a-half-year OCM engagement for a technical transformation impacting 160,000 employees
• Supporting a team that delivered the largest, single-weekend enterprise Google Workspace deployment of all time (180,000 employees)
• Being fully trusted and empowered by my leadership team.

I truly believe there is no other organization where I would have achieved this amount of career growth in my tenure. At the risk of sounding gushy, Maven Wave has been a life-changing experience for me.

What is your favorite part of working at Maven Wave?

Can I say the 2018 holiday party? Kidding, kidding (kind of).

We’re a culture of entrepreneurs who aren’t afraid of risk. We’ve been fortunate to see a good amount of success, but even when we stumble, we recover quickly, learn a lot, and our colleagues are there to support us. I have never been judged by my age, gender, or anything outside of my work (and that judgment of my work has only ever been constructive). Everyone has challenging times in their career, but when you have a supportive team of collaborators around you who give you advice, send a silly GIF, or crack a joke at just the right moment, you find the grit to keep going.

Oh, we also deliver really cool technology to some of the best clients in the business. So yeah, there’s a lot to be grateful for.

Which of the 7 C’s is most meaningful to you and why?

I have to go with Culture. To me, this encompasses many of the other C’s. The culture at Maven Wave is inclusive, encouraging, collaborative, and downright fun. It’s the reason I’ve been at this company for six years.

Part of our work in OCM is to help companies with cultural shifts. It’s difficult work to change something “intangible” — and it takes a long time — but it has huge dividends like better financial results, greater employee retention, innovation, and employee well being. These are all things I’ve witnessed at Maven Wave.

What makes the work Maven Wave does meaningful?

Now, perhaps more than ever, technology shapes our world. I’m passionate about de-carbonization and sustainability, which our work supports. During COVID, I’ve been incredibly proud of our teams for developing multiple products that enable telemedicine and connect job-seekers with career counselors and employers. The work we’ve done to help solve the horrific problem of the opioid epidemic is also incredibly inspiring. We take 0’s and 1’s and tackle pertinent issues. The humanization of highly technical solutions makes the work Maven Wave does so meaningful.

What goals do you have for your team for 2022? What are your long-term goals?

One of the best things I’ve learned from working in a high-growth company is how to scale. I’d like the team to develop by exploring new responsibilities and areas of interest. I want to continue to grow our team culture of coaching and collaboration. We do best when we take what already works and add different perspectives and experiences to further improve our delivery. 

As for my long term goals, I’d like OCM to be included in all sorts of technology projects. We will, of course, tweak our methodology based on what we’re delivering, but one of my core beliefs is that you’ll rarely find a technical change that can’t be strengthened by focusing attention on the people who are operating or impacted by the technical transformation.

Oh, and eventually, I want to retire in Hawaii.

What is something about you that always surprises people?

Maybe the fact that I am a very strong introvert; I work in a highly people-oriented field, and the biggest value I get from my job is seeing others (i.e., customers, colleagues, and partners) thrive. But honestly, at the end of the day, I crave a quiet night on the couch with my family (including my dog) watching TV and eating a well-cooked meal to recharge. Never let anyone tell you that you can’t do whatever you want with your career just because you’re an introvert (or anything else)!

How do you like to spend your time outside of work?

I played tennis in college and recently picked up pickleball. I am terrible at golf and enjoy cycling as well. Trying new recipes is always fun, as is spending time with family and friends and going to the dog park. Hopefully, we can get back to traveling soon, which I greatly enjoy. Mostly just normal stuff.

Rapid Question Round

• Brand new or vintage? Brand new
• City or countryside? City
• Introvert or extrovert? Introvert
• Music or podcasts? Music
• Karaoke: Singing or spectating? Singing
• Comedy or drama? Comedy
• Art, science, or history? Art
• Early bird or night owl? Early bird
• Fiction or nonfiction? Nonfiction
• Planning it or winging it? Planning it
• Favorite vacation spot: Kauai
• Favorite season: Summer
• What you’re currently listening to: Any kind of guided meditation on YouTube or Spotify
• Recommend one movie, TV show, book, or podcast: Educated by Tara Westover