“I have to say that my career was not a straight path,” Hadijah Creary tells us with a grin. “I never saw myself ending up where I am today.”
After teaching English in Tokyo, Hadijah was set on forging a career in the publishing industry. She then stumbled into event marketing, intrigued by the backend coordination of events, which led to dipping her toes in events for technology companies. Fast forward a few years, and Hadijah is now a senior product marketing manager at PagerDuty.
Linear? Not exactly. But Hadijah wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Through the ups and downs and diagonals,” she laughs, “it all worked out. I got to learn at every step, and that’s why I am where I am today.”
Since joining PagerDuty, Hadijah’s path has continued to evolve, and we asked her to share the inside scoop on her growth — from the power of personal branding to the influence of community.
A culture of “nice”
One of the reasons Hadijah accepted an opportunity with PagerDuty was her growth potential.
“I could see that everyone here is just so friendly, and they truly want you to succeed,” she recalls. “It’s a place where you know you’ll be supported. Everyone is in the same boat, rowing in the same direction. And we want to see each other find success.”
Case in point: while working as an event marketing manager, one of Hadijah’s co-workers said to her “So, what’s next for you?”
“It sparked something in me. It helped me to think about what I liked in my job and where I wanted to dig deeper,” says Hadijah. After connecting with someone on the product marketing team, Hadijah realized that it was the right direction for her.
“I advocated for myself, but at the same time, he helped pave the way for me, asking things like, ‘Are you still interested?’ and, ‘Do you want to learn more?’” she explains. “It comes back to that culture of “nice” here at PagerDuty. I could see that he wanted me to move forward.”
And, she did.
Hadijah accepted an opportunity with product marketing and was able to dig deeper into PagerDuty’s core products, and is now a Senior Manager of Product Marketing for one of the four product lines.
And while this supportive work culture certainly contributed to her growth, Hadijah points to another influential piece of the pie: personal branding.
Leveraging her personal brand
“One of the things I always think about myself is that I want to learn, and I'm always open to different opportunities. I never say no right off the bat,” says Hadijah. “And I want others to see that in me, too.”
She calls it her brand — and it’s played a pivotal role in opening doors.
“If you have a conversation with me, we should both walk away from it feeling like we've accomplished everything that we want to accomplish,” Hadijah explains. “When people mention me, I want them to say, ‘Oh, you worked with Hadijah? She’s amazing!’”
By nurturing this image, Hadijah has been able to put herself on the radar for certain opportunities and leverage connections.
“Throughout different positions with PagerDuty, I’ve worked closely with people who I could tell were truly invested in me and my future. And I really think it’s because of the brand I’ve built — I’m just very friendly. I want everyone to feel like they can rely on me.”
The power of community
Hadijah’s growth has been further bolstered by her involvement in PagerDuty’s employee resource groups.
“When I first started at PagerDuty, I found the group Array for Black and Brown professionals. I went to all the meetings because I thought it was such a nice community to be a part of. Everyone was so friendly and open,” she says.
A year into her time with the ERG, Hadijah was asked to join the leadership team.
“I thought, yes, I really want to be able to make people feel as comfortable and as welcomed as I felt when I first started,” she says. “I wanted them to know that this is a company where they can excel and there are people here who are willing to step in and help them.”
Recently, Hadijah helped organize a two-day internal conference for Black and Brown employees called ArrayChella with workshops on topics like personal branding and coping with burnout, along with dance parties and bonding sessions in the evenings.
“I've worked at places where I've been the only Black person in the room for the longest time. Coming here and not being that has been amazing. It helps me to see that I can grow here,” Hadijah shares.
“I really want to make sure that I'm at the forefront of helping new employees at PagerDuty feel that same way, especially those who've been the only ones in the room before. Here, they're no longer alone.”
3 tips for achieving internal growth
On your own growth journey, Hadijah leaves you with three pieces of advice for achieving internal mobility:
- Own your career. “No one else is responsible for your career, but you. Think: where would you like to see yourself? Put the time into pinpointing the people who can help you, guide you, and mentor you to get to where it is you see yourself. And reach out to them, ask a lot of questions, and advocate for yourself.”
- Remember, all skills are transferrable. “There's nothing you know now that you can't transfer to something else. For example, with tech, you don't have to go to school and study technology. There’s so much more to tech than engineering, like marketing and sales. Those skills are very, very transferrable.”
- Always say yes to things that scare you. “If your initial response is no because you're scared, you should definitely do it. It always leads to good things. That's where the growth comes from.”
When reflecting on the last five years with PagerDuty, Hadijah says, “I think one of the best things about being here is that there's always been an opportunity to say, ‘I see a path and I would like to do that.’ And then I can ask for help. People never say, ‘Well, your job is this, you can only do this.’ There’s so much room to rise to new heights.”
Interested in growing your career at PagerDuty? They’re hiring! Explore the opportunities here.
