Briana's Story: Empathy, Mentorship and Giving Back
Briana Faulk | Senior Engineer, Technical Support | North Carolina, United States
Originally Published: February 18, 2025
I am a senior engineer on the Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG) PowerFlex and Competitive Intelligence (CI) support team, and I have been at Dell Technologies for over six years now. My journey to Dell was not an ordinary path but was exactly what I needed, and I didn’t even know. I went to a job fair at Wake Technical Community college to seek a new job. I spoke with a few different companies that day and as I was leaving, I saw the Dell Technologies table and at that moment I only had one more resume in hand.
I stood in line to speak with one of the recruiters, and they asked if I had ever heard of EMC. At that time, I was a recent graduate still learning the industry, so I was unfamiliar with the name. The recruiter advised me to learn about them because they found that my resume was perfect. They advised that I should apply for the upcoming GSAP (Global Services Associate Program), renamed Managed Onboarding, camp. I went home that evening and learned about EMC and the merger with Dell and agreed with the recruiter that this was the perfect company for me. I knew I wanted to get into data storage and cloud technologies coupled with my prior networking skills, but it wasn’t until that day that I found the company that offered the career path that I didn’t know existed.
What made me stay at Dell over the past few years is working with amazing team members along with doing work that I am truly passionate about. I also enjoy the amazing work culture, especially having support from the company to explore my other passion to give back in some way to the community.
Giving back helps to fuel my “why” in life. This fits perfectly into Dell culture since giving back is something that Dell encourages – it provides ways and encouragement for employees.
Briana F.
Senior Engineer, Technical Support
What does the Impact Maker Award mean for you?
The impact maker award is very humbling because the work that I do in the community is to do my part and to help to be a part of the solution. This is more than I expected but I am truly grateful.
How do you find time to give back? What’s the most rewarding part of giving?
I look for small opportunities to give back that can fit into my schedule to start. This might be a 30-minute to hour long mentoring session to help answer questions and provide guidance to students or unemployed individuals. Overtime, this naturally made me want to find ways to increase my giving and every small action helps in some way. The most rewarding part of giving back is being able to see the joy it can bring to people lives.
Why is giving back so important to you and how does that fit into the Dell culture?
Giving back helps to fuel my “why” in life. This fits perfectly into Dell culture since giving back is something that Dell encourages – it provides ways and encouragement for employees.
What has been a huge influence in your approach to community service/giving?
One of my first mentors in my career always reminded me that no matter where my career takes me, I should always find ways to give back to the community and people that have helped me.
What have you learned or developed at work that has helped you outside of work?
At work, I have learned how to be confident in my abilities and to not second guess myself which has helped me outside of work. When I first started at Dell, I wasn’t sure if I was ready for this job and was always second guessing my work. Having a manager that saw my abilities and gave me the encouragement and support to grow my confidence helped me tremendously.
What have you learned about yourself that is surprising from community service?
I was surprised that people enjoy hearing my story and find what I have to say valuable and helpful in some way. It also helped me to see how creative I can be to find ways to give back in various ways which normally means stepping outside of my comfort zone.
What’s one skill that you are glad you possess when it comes to community service?
Empathy has helped me to be able to connect with people on a different level to ensure they have someone that hears their needs and understands them.
What did you want to be when you grew up when you were younger?
I had a few things that I wanted to do when I was younger. The main thing was that I initially wanted to go to school to be a lawyer, but the moment I learned how long I would have to be in school for, I immediately wanted to change my major!
What would you tell your younger self?
I would tell my younger self to not resist when life is pushing me to grow in uncomfortable ways and be comfortable to take risks.
What’s your favorite tradition that you have?
My favorite tradition is being able to host my friends together for a friendsgiving every year. We are normally all so busy and it can be challenging for us to all meet at the same time, but normally friendsgiving is the time when we know we can come together.
What are some of your hobbies?
I enjoy Latin dancing and going to various classes and socials in the area. Also, over the summer I found a love for pickleball which is now one of my newer hobbies.
If you can have dinner with anyone in the world, alive or dead, who would it be?
I would want to have one last dinner with my great-grandmother because she passed away at the beginning of COVID unexpectedly and I never had a chance to see her smile one more time.
If you could describe Dell in one word, what would it be?
Exhilarating!
Next, read about Kevin's story and how he gives back to the community.
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