Cat Memes Built my Data Model, w/ Krissy Dyess

Krissy Dyess is a prime example of inspiration and adaptability. She made a decision to better her knowledge of the updated and evolving BI tools through self-teaching, and with help from the amazing data community. She went from being stuck in a cubicle, to being a team leader at one of the best BI consulting firms in the world. And she creates excellent Cat Memes! References in this episode Telling Ain't Training by Harold D. Stolovitch David Churchward's SQL UNPIVOT Makes My Data Skinny blog post Dave Grohl Explains Everlong FREE MAIAD April Workshop FREE MAIAD May Workshop Episode Timeline: 0:00 - Krissy's history is her story, Krissy is the nicest stalker ever, and the art of self-teaching23:40 - Abstract learning vs hands-on learning, the role of the community in teaching, Krissy is a Power BI Evangelist45:00 - Krissy's thirst for knowledge leads her to Seattle and a moment of clarity, her transition into being a consultant and trainer at a young upstart P3 Adaptive Episode Transcript: Rob Collie (00:00:00): Welcome, friends. Today's guest is Krissy Dyess, one of our directors here at P3 Adaptive. And I want to say that today's episode is brought to you by the words, inspiration and human. At P3, we are in the inspiration business. Now of course, we're also in the implementation business. We're not just inspiration. Otherwise, we'd be McKinsey. Necessarily, we're in the reality business. We have to bring things to life. But in today's data landscape, the art of the possible is so much wider, so much more valuable than what it ever was before that we'd be doing a disservice to our clients if we weren't also in the inspiration business. Rob Collie (00:00:39): Krissy is basically the living embodiment of inspiration. Whether you're an organization plotting your course through an ever-changing landscape or an individual planning your career as a power platform professional, I think that inspiration theme will shine through as you listen to Krissy. And that second word, human that's also Krissy. You'll notice in this conversation that she keeps circling back to training. Rob Collie (00:01:06): And we still do training here at P3, but the majority of our business is now project implementation. But even when we're building things with our clients, we can't help it. We're always transferring knowledge. We're always teaching. We're always training and it's that human connection, the need to help, the desire to help that shines through over and over again in this conversation with Krissy. She's just an incredible person. I'm so glad that she took that leap and joined us four years ago. She's grown tremendously in her time with us and we as an organization, as a team have grown tremendously right along with her. I hope you smile as much listening to this as we did while we were recording the conversation. So let's get into it. Announcer (00:01:54): Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please? Announcer (00:01:58): This is the Raw Data by P3 Adaptive podcast, with your host, Rob Collie, and your co-host, Thomas LaRock. Find out what the experts at P3 Adaptive can do for your business. Just go to p3adaptive.com. Raw Data by P3 adaptive is data with the human element. Rob Collie (00:02:21): Welcome to the show, Krissy Dyess. Krissy Dyess (00:02:24): Hi. How are you doing? Rob Collie (00:02:26): Oh, we're doing fantastic. This is one of those things that it's a real pleasure. I'm already like all curve ruffled. You just asked me how I'm doing and I'm like, "Shit, I'm not prepared to answer questions." I'm already failing. Krissy Dyess (00:02:40): It's one of those days. Rob Collie (00:02:41): We interact a lot because we work together. Krissy Dyess (00:02:44): We do. Rob Collie (00:02:45): I figured what we could do is we just do sort of like a story of your life type of thing today. But also we could just almost like conduct like a one on one meeting and just record it for the world. What do you think? Krissy Dyess (00:02:55): Okay. Rob Collie (00:02:55): Sound good? Krissy Dyess (00:02:55): Sure. Rob Collie (00:02:55): So you've been with P3 for how long now? Krissy Dyess (00:03:00): Ooh. It's interesting that you asked me that. I just realized yesterday I was outside in the yard, just taken in the nice spring weather and the angle of the sun felt familiar and I couldn't place it. Then all of a sudden I was thinking and I was like, "Oh my gosh, this is actually four years ago that I came to P3." And the angle of the sun, I remember it. I remember it so fondly, because I don't know if I ever told you this before, but I actually did not read the book before applying to P3. Rob Collie (00:03:37): I'm going to give you my false gasp before there. Krissy Dyess (00:03:42): Did I tell you this? Rob Collie (00:03:43): I don't really care. It doesn't bother me. You've kept this secret. Krissy Dyess (00:03:46): Oh my gosh. Rob Collie (00:03:48): You've kept this secret all these years because you were ...