Meet Cami Davis, intentionally crafting a creative career

I'm a small-town girl from Central Illinois, born and bred. The bedrock of everything I've done, or everything I'm yet to do, comes from my family. I was raised by five oldest daughters, and I'm an oldest daughter, too. So, these women — my mother, my grandmothers, my great-grandmothers —helped me navigate the world. My mother was both a career person and a stay-at-home mom, so as I grew up, I got to see the value of both sides.

In college, I couldn't quite find my footing with my major. Nothing resonated with me. Like I always do, I went out and talked to a bunch of people to figure out what to do. This brought me back to my family. I talked to my uncle, and he asked me, "What do you love to do? And I told him I love to write and tell stories. He said, "You need to be a journalism major. Trust me. This is what you want to do. Never underestimate doing something if it's what you love."

So, I studied journalism and upon graduating moved to Chicago. However, I was pretty reluctant to join corporate America. My first job was with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, which was my way of trying to indulge my creative side. But, I quickly found out it wasn't the right fit for me. What ended up being right was a small software company in Deerfield, Illinois. That was my first job in technology consulting, an industry where I've been in my entire career ever since.

From day one, I've discovered that my creative side is easily fulfilled. I love the chance to dig into the analytical parts of the work to solve customer problems. Working with people and solving their biggest business challenges is an incredibly creative endeavor.

It was also the beginning of many years of mentorship. Many years of finding my footing, my voice, and myself. Having joined the industry 30 years ago, things that sound quaint in the rear-view mirror were actually the reality of being a young woman in a male-dominated industry. There's a lot of wanting to prove yourself, trying to keep up, and making mistakes along the way.

The advice I would get, every single time, was not to try to be like the men. Just be you. It's easier said than done, but, looking back, it was always the right advice. I can have my style. I can have my voice. I can be my energetic five-foot-three self. I can be authentically me. Being authentic makes work so much more fun. I learned that anytime I was struggling, it was because I was trying to copy somebody else. Through being more me, my journey has been incredibly rewarding.

Another lesson a mentor told me along the way was to not take everything so seriously. I used to be serious about everything because I thought that's how you had to be. However, I was taught to shift that. Somebody's dealing with a problem at home. Someone just got an upsetting phone call. Maybe someone has a sick child. We're all just people at the end of the day. So, I try to walk into every room with empathy and hope that people have that same mentality toward me when I need grace.

I think everybody strives to develop the thing in their career that makes them unique or is something they're particularly drawn to. For me, that's Microsoft. As an enterprise seller before becoming a partnerships person, I spent 20 years in the trenches learning how to sell Microsoft. During that time, I learned a lot about the ecosystem, how it worked, what success looked like and ultimately, why somebody would spend their time learning how to work with the world's largest software company. It became something I was so passionate about that I wanted to teach other people how to do it — a want which led me to my current role at Kin + Carta.

At the end of the day, I'm here to facilitate the growth of our firm through our Microsoft partnership. Partnerships are so important from the top down here. It's exciting to be part of an organization where our leaders have stated the clear growth area for us. Our goal is to be the best at doing this. For me, it's been an incredible journey, and very much by design. This is what I wanted to do, and I'm honored and thrilled to be in this position.

The other really great part? I get to work on an award-winning team. Just this year, we were named a finalist for three Microsoft Partner of the Year awards. The recognition our team receives symbolizes what an incredible group we have. There is nothing I do in my job that happened because Cami Davis did it. It's always because I'm on a team. We think big. We dream big. We're deliberate about what we want to do. We live the fact that we are in a people's industry.

Ever since early in my career, I've been very intentional. Throughout every part of my life, I've always had goals and a plan. Initially, it started as a necessity — find a job and find a way to feed your creative passion. Along the way, though, I've found that when I go through the process of setting a vision and taking all the limitations off the table, it either leads me to where I want to go or to something I didn't even know I wanted. The case of my landing at here? All by design. Setting goals and planning for my future continues to be a worthwhile exercise. It continues to remind me of the ways I can intentionally and authentically move throughout this world.