An Interview with Tascha Price, Sr. Manager of Client Services
Welcome back to our “Team Behind the Technology” series where we’re highlighting the incredible people supporting our mantra of Technology with a Human Touch.
In this interview, you’ll meet Tascha Price who is the Sr. Manager of Client Services at CBT. Learn more about Tascha, her leadership role, her experiences living our core values of being forward-thinking with a generous spirit, and supporting diversity and inclusion at CBT.
To hear more from Tascha, check out the full transcript of her interview below:
Hi Tascha, thank you for joining us today. We’re excited to hear about your 14 years of experience at CBT! Let’s get started…
Question: Here’s a scenario – suppose that you just got on a plane and you’re sitting next to Mark Cuban (First Class, of course!!). He asks who you work for, how would you explain CBT to him in 30 seconds?
Answer: CBT started as a VAR (Value Added Reseller) about 20 years ago and has evolved into something much bigger and better: a domain expert integrator! We have four practice areas: HPC & Analytics, ITSCO, Hybrid IT, and Industrial IoT. We have 20 years of experience around the first three, and Kelly [CBT Founder and CEO] was innovative enough to start the path to Industrial IoT a few years ago, putting CBT in a unique position of deep thought leadership in the space of IT/OT convergence. We’re very unique with our experience and success on both sides of that information technology and operational technology equation.
Question: Next, Mark asks you what your role is and what value you bring to the company? How do you respond?
Answer: I manage a portion of our client services team. Client services are the link between operations and sales. Our job is to make sure that all tasks transition smoothly between the two. In terms of the value I bring, it’s my passion for problem-solving and relationship building. I love problem-solving, whether it’s my personal or professional life, and I also genuinely like talking to people and building relationships with them. These attributes are what makes me good at my job.
Question: You have been in your role for several years, but it’s not the same job as when you started. Can you talk about how you grew your role to keep pace with your own professional development and goals?
Answer: My role has grown organically because I have been doing it for a very long time. As my experience, the magnitude of the projects I was working on, and my clients grew, so did the problems– but then so did my knowledge base. More engagement with larger clients meant working with higher levels of management within each organization. Taking what I learned with every step and applying it to the next has helped me with that growth. I also attribute most of my growth to the amazing women that I have worked for. I can think of three strong women I have worked for, and Kelly Ireland is one of them. They have each taken personal time to help develop me and given me opportunities to grow.
Question: You are in a leadership position at CBT. Could you tell us a little bit about what leadership means to you?
Answer: A good leader surrounds themselves with strong people. They dig deep to find the strength that their teammates bring to them and nurture it. CBT has some very smart people, and I think understanding where each person can help the most and pulling that out of them is what a good leader does. That is how we pull each other up and make each other stronger and better team members. In the end, CBT wins because we have amazing people and we are using all their strengths!
Question: Let’s talk about some CBT Core Values. How have you been forward-thinking with a generous spirit in your job?
Answer: Kelly has been so forward-thinking and it shows in the way she runs her business. It’s hard to work in a company like this and not think ahead in the same way that she does. The beauty of it is that Kelly will help and show you how to stay ahead and on the same page as her. That is what generous spirit is to me, and I think that is how any organization continues to move forward, stay relevant, and be profitable. All CBT employees are forward-thinking because we all want to win and see the company move forward.
Question: Let’s talk about culture at CBT. In terms of Diversity and Inclusion, can you discuss your thoughts and how CBT supports employee belonging?
Answer: There are a lot of challenges being a woman of color in the corporate world, and I appreciate the company that I work for and the culture that Kelly has created here. One of the reasons I chose to work at CBT is because it is woman-owned and it’s amazing to see so many smart and strong women in one company! We do have a lot of things happening in the world and on a particular day I was NOT okay. Kelly took notice and she took action: I am so proud that the owner and employees of CBT have created a safe space for us to open dialogues for anyone that wants to participate. The world moves forward when people are strong and brave enough to have hard conversations. I am proud to work for CBT, a company that is diverse in every way and so many people that I’ve spoken to here embrace it.
Question: Thank you for highlighting the importance of having a safe space especially in the workplace. Now that we know why you like working at CBT, is there a project you are currently working on that is special to you?
Answer: Yes, the Ford Motors account – I think of it as my baby and it fills my everyday quota. My love for problem-solving drew me to this account eight years ago and it has been an everyday beast since then. One of the unique aspects of CBT is that we try to customize the process for every customer because each customer is special to us. Like our industry, technology, and customer needs change, so do the procedures and minor details that help projects move forward. I like creating processes and procedures and I have a great team that I work with which keeps the job interesting and fun.
Question: You’ve been at CBT for fourteen years. Tell us about your career and how you got to where you are today?
Answer: I started out in the tech industry; I worked for another woman who was very driven and successful but who was also very hard to work with. Although it was a struggle, I refused to quit and be driven out just because I had a tough boss. Being persistent then has gotten me to where I am today!
Question: That is a great trait to have and you must be proud of everything you have been able to accomplish since then! What are some of your greatest achievements/proudest moments?
Answer: At the three companies that I have the longest tenure with, I have been fortunate enough to be a part of the top two revenue-generating accounts. That is a big deal because the leaders in the company had enough faith in me to assign me to those major accounts. They knew that I was of value there and I’m proud of that because all those accounts were successful.
Question: Thank you once again for sharing your journey as a CBT champion with us! Is there anything you want to add?
Answer: I am grateful to be here at CBT; I used to say this early on – they’re going to need to fire me because I refuse to leave no matter what the company’s position is. It’s been a great ride, I’ve learned a lot, and worked with great people. I can tell it’s a big deal when I am truly happy doing the same job 8-5 every day! I love what I do, my work, and the people that I work with, so I am immensely grateful for that.
**end interview**
Want to meet the rest of our team? Keep an eye out for more team-member profiles here in the coming weeks.