SMART CITY SPOTLIGHT

JULIA SLOCOMBE Sr. VP Operations & Industry Relations

Smart City’s Senior Vice President of Operations & Industry Relations Julia Slocombe recently celebrated an incredible milestone. She has been with Smart City Networks for 25 years and in that time has established herself as a major player in the industry. We took a moment to catch up with her and asked her to reflect on her time with the company. She is an inspirational leader in both her personal and professional life.

HOW DOES IT FEEL TO CELEBRATE 25 YEARS WITH SMART CITY? J: It’s been great seeing the company grow all these years. We’ve changed a lot and gone through some major growth spurts, and it’s been a truly amazing experience to witness that evolution over time.

WHAT WERE YOUR BEGINNINGS AT SMART CITY LIKE? J: Initially, I was nervous because it was so different for me working in the convention center industry since I came from a different background. But I remember my boss at the time sat me down and reassured me by saying “I didn’t hire you to have any technical skills, I hired you because you had service in your background and a lot of those skills are transferable. So relax, you got this.” And he was right!

HOW DID YOUR POSITION GROW AT THE COMPANY? J: I just started learning as much I could, absorbing as much information as possible. I walked into a switch room one day with the technicians and they looked at me like “what’s this lady doing in the switch room? She’s supposed to be in the office taking the orders!” But I said nope! I want to learn how to program the phones and that’s how I cut my teeth. And then I said look, I need to have additional technical knowledge, so I went to every class that was offered. I was learning, I was productive and I’m here 25 years later. Who would have thought? And I can still install a line if I need to!

RECENTLY YOU HAVE TRANSITIONED INTO A NEW ROLE AS SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS & INDUSTRY RELATIONS. WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO ACCOMPLISH? J: Oh, so much. We’ve come a long way in this company and always want to reach that next level. I think with all my years of experience, there’s a lot of contributions I can make to grow our

company and grow our visibility as an industry leader. I’m hoping to ensure we’re on as many panels as possible, that we’re seen as the subject matter experts in our field and that we’re the go-to company for telecommunications services. We are the #1 company that does what we do, and I want to showcase that. So yes, I’m looking forward to what’s coming.

WITH ALL YOUR EXPERIENCE, WHAT WOULD YOUR ADVICE BE TO NEW EMPLOYEES WHO ARE JUST STARTING OUT AT SMART CITY? J: Be a sponge and spend time with your coworkers, whether that’s on-site, through Teams, on the phone, anything. In my early days, my coworkers were all at other centers, so I was forced to reach out by phone to ask questions. Keith McNeely, Bob Sutton, and David Langford were all there to help and we paved the way for strong working relationships today. So always ask questions and learn as much as possible.

Tina Shields recently celebrated 18 years with Smart City Networks. She is the company’s Circuit Analyst, a key figure in bridging communication between our corporate offices and our centers. Our company deals with both data and voice circuits and Tina’s responsible for keeping everything organized in terms of orders, disconnects and overall bill payments. We took time to meet with Tina and asked her to discuss her Smart City history.

HOW DOES IT FEEL TO CELEBRATE 18 YEARS WITH SMART CITY? T: It has been a great 18 years. It’s a wonderful company. They’ve been very supportive, not just with my career here but also outside of work. They’ve been very encouraging during my time here.

WHAT WERE YOUR BEGINNINGS AT SMART CITY LIKE? T: I actually came from managing doctor’s offices, but soon got fed up with doctors! So I came here, and started in customer service. I just wanted something where I was answering phones, no pressure, keeping it low key, that kind of thing. And then they created this position. Prior to me doing it, each center was ordering their own stuff and we were paying for it here at the corporate level, but nobody knew if they matched up. That meant we could have circuits that we were paying for that we weren’t utilizing. So it was kind of a mess and there was no real order to it. When I took over the position, I created an inventory, we got rid of services we didn’t need, and overall, we just put some structure to everything.

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO NEW EMPLOYEES WHO ARE JUST STARTING OUT AT SMART CITY? T: You know, just stick with it. Like I said this is a great company and they are very supportive. There are days, especially when you first start, you go “What am I doing?” But each day you get more and more into it, and you’ll continue to learn new information and new skills as your career progresses. TINA SHIELDS Circuits Analyst