March 21, 2024
I got a request at work to write a blog for a newsletter. The requester asked me for a “few” paragraphs, but as I suffer from “Main Character Energy”, I provided about 8 instead. I thought I’d share what I submitted here.
Hello, friends!
Wow. I’m so excited for this opportunity to write about myself in this forum. I am writing this with two goals in mind. 1) I hope folks who haven’t met me yet will read this and feel inclined to reach out to make my acquaintance; and 2) I hope folks who have met me will learn some things they didn’t know before.
I’ll start with my elevator pitch. I’m Rebecca Crouch, a Specialist Leader out of the Arlington, VA office. In 2016, I completed a PhD in Statistics at the University of Kentucky (born and raised Kentucky gal) and ten days after walking across the stage in the most expensive gown I’ll probably ever own (unless I get married someday) I packed up my life and moved to the DC area to start my career with Deloitte. I work in the National Intelligence space in DS&J and lead some of the most tremendous, high-performing teams at Deloitte (actually, the best teams IN THE WORLD) who work tirelessly to apply advanced AI to White House level mission problems and do R&D that could change the future of National Security. I LOVE my job.
I wake up every day with a simple goal – I want to be the AI leader that a more junior version of myself (“Consultant Rebecca”) would have wanted to follow. To be that leader, I focus on three components of AI leadership:
1) Methods expertise and mastery – both technical and interacting with technical clients.
2) Translating those methods into business/growth/opportunities to solve client problems and make mission impacts.
3) Developing analytics practitioners and leaders to create a great technical talent experience and to make it possible to deliver excellent work to clients.
I’m writing to you from sunny Charleston, SC where I am enjoying a “spring break” trip with friends. In typical Rebecca fashion, I procrastinated writing this blog before my PTO hit (as a result of the daily triage of activities we all have to do), and now I’m enjoying putting pen to paper with a beautiful morning view from our Airbnb on Folly Beach. I snapped this picture “for the ‘gram” and to send to my mom to rub her nose in my relaxing vacation (daughter of the year). When I looked at it, I realized there’s a lot you can learn about me from this photo alone.
First, I have my water cup that says, “Empowered Women Empower Women”. I made the white sticker with my Cricut machine. I am an amateur Cricut user but have had great success making vinyl stickers for cups (as shown above), sweatshirts with custom logos (see the pic below of my niece, Cali Jo and I before our annual Turkey Trot up and down my sister’s driveway in rural Kentucky) and most recently, magnets for my client’s internal impact expo.
I made the cup pictured as part of my annual GALentine’s Day event I host at Deloitte. This event is just an excuse to wear pink (my favorite color!) and spend an evening hanging out with the fantastic, inspiring, talented women in my network. This year, we ate pizza and had a cookie exchange in the Rosslyn office. I have expanded this community to include an active Teams chat with ~100 participants called “GALentine’s Day is Every Day” where we have curated a GALentine’s Playlist, a list of book/podcast recommendations, and create learning and networking opportunities that are focused on empowering women at Deloitte – a passion of mine. If you are interested in being added to the “GALentine’s Day is Every Day” community, please reach out!
You may also notice one of my books on “Winning with Accountability”. I’m reading this book to hopefully create some course/workshop content on building an environment that fosters accountability on teams. One of my other passions is Learning & Development, and I have been on a journey over the past few years to help practitioners in GPS learn how to thrive in all stages of the sales and delivery lifecycle. This year, Steve Hardy and I worked with a team to implement ClubMED (Manager Excellence Delivery), a comprehensive training for newly promoted managers in AI&D. We had a day of hybrid training in August of last year, where Steve and I had a blast working with managers on managing individuals, leading teams, solving problems, ensuring quality on AI projects, shaping deals and more. We leaned in hard to the ClubMED theme and wore leis all day, while I subjected participants to more Ryan Gosling memes than they bargained for. We’ve provided virtual training to supplement that long day of learning with content on proposal writing (how to make it less painful), engagement economics, and most recently a session on building your Deloitte brand in honor of International Women’s Day. We are planning to continue and expand ClubMED this year, so please reach out in you would like to learn more or get involved as part of my team!
The last thing you may notice from my Folly Beach picture is the other book “The Icepick Surgeon: Murder, Fraud, Sabotage, Piracy, and other Dastardly Deeds Perpetrated in the name of Science”. When I’m not working on AI with my top-notch team, or doing all of the other Deloitte things, I have a myriad of hobbies and interests. I love to read, and most recently, I’ve been fixated on books about historical science (mainly medical science and diseases). If you want to get me talking, ask me about Ebola. Did you know there is a strain of Ebola named after Reston, VA? I would love to tell you that story over some coffee or a beer. When I’m not devouring books about the plague and science experiments gone wrong, I love to write. I keep a fun blog about the hilarity that ensues while trying to date in your 30’s in the DC area. You can read it at beecrouch.blog.
I also love to run when my knees aren’t bothering me, and coach Girls on the Run in Northern VA where I get to do little lessons with Middle School girls about topics such as friendship and setting goals while we train for a 5K together. I’ve run three half marathons and enjoy taking little run-cations where I can combine a fun race with a road trip. I like to visit new cities and small towns, and almost always go on a ghost tour when a town offers one. A ghost tour in Williamsburg, VA caused my great pirate obsession of 2021, where I spent an entire summer reading about Blackbeard. The main takeaway from that rabbit hole was that Blackbeard had only been a pirate for about three years when he died – meaning years of experience aren’t always the most important part of a resume. Something worth remembering.
Hopefully this gives you a snapshot of my work at Deloitte and all the things that make me excited to get out of bed in the morning. Thank you for the opportunity to introduce myself. I know every person reading this has an interesting story and could fill a similar blog template with all of the things that make you tick. Please reach out and tell me all about it. I can’t wait to hear your story. Thank you for everything you do – I appreciate you.
Cluelessness is the Mother of Invention 