During her eleven years with Time Warner Telecom Hawaii, Pearson has worked in a variety of positions, beginning her path as a college intern. In following years, she has served as a Provisioning Engineer, Network Engineer, Outside Plant Engineer, Network Technician and Installer, and Central Office Engineer.

Born and raised in Kauai, this local girl attended the University of Hawaii at Manoa, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and later went on to earn a Masters of Business Administration degree from Hawaii Pacific University.

During Marji’s years at HPU, she was a member in the HPU Chapter of Delta Mu Delta International Honor Society. Currently, she is an active member with the Hawaii Telecommunications Association and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.

As a way to “broaden [her] outlook of life”, Marjorie believes that it is important to be involved in the community. Aside from her work at Time Warner Telecom Hawaii, she volunteers at her church’s annual East Honolulu Food Festival fundraiser and at the Hawaii Telecommunications Association 2007 conference. As part her company’s community service efforts, she volunteers at the Hawaii Public Radio Semi-annual membership drive.

PacificNews.Net invited Pearson to share her experience with being a woman in the tech industry………

Q: What is unique about your work environment?

A: Our work environment is like a typical family. We are close and are able to have fun and do get into our little beefs with each other like brothers and sisters. In the end we bond together as a team and support each other both professionally and personally.

Q: Outside of work what do you do in you free time?

A: I spend a lot of time with my family supporting their sporting and Drill Team Hawaii activities. I enjoy almost all water activities such as surfing, fishing, swimming, and diving. I need to get my ‘gills” wet every week.

Q: What have been some of the greatest challenges you have faced in your profession? And from these challenges what knowledge or wisdom did you learn and take with you?

A: One of the greatest challenge I have been faced is being a young looking woman in a usually male dominated profession. I have had to basically “prove” my knowledge and gain these individuals trust and respect in time through my actions and conversations. The wisdom I learned is not to judge people initially and always to keep an open mind and positive attitude in any situation.

Q: In your primary responsibilities at work, how do you use technology to improve or advance your organization?

A: Technology is used on a daily basis to maintain and expand my knowledge of Time Warner Telecom’s communication services product offering and what is going on in the telecommunications industry. Technology is leveraged to be in constant communication with others in the company nationwide and to have their resources and knowledge literally at my fingertips.

Q: In your profession and in life what do you consider to be your greatest accomplishment thus far?