Christina Nance's FCM Employee Story
Looking for the right place to thrive
When I was ready to make the jump from hospital administration to events management, I knew I didn’t want to be at a stagnant company. I wanted to work with engaging, positive people who were always looking for something new to bring to the table. I wanted to thrive in an environment that values creativity and personality. Most of all, I wanted to learn from fresh perspectives and young ambitions. And at FCM, there’s a lot of that happening.
Circling back to FCM
After graduating college, I began working in healthcare communications, which was great for what it was at the time, but my passion had always been in the events space. After a few years of healthcare comms, I went on Indeed in search for an Event Manager role. My plan of attack was to create a spreadsheet of all the companies I found and research each one of them. One company stood out to me from the start, and that was FCM. I’m someone who loves to push myself, and I could immediately see myself thriving in their fast paced, ever-evolving industry.
I was able to get an interview, which gave me a great sense of the culture and type of people that I could potentially be working with at FCM M&E, but ultimately, I ended up accepting a role at a different company. I was still in healthcare, and not feeling motivated and inspired in the work that I was doing. Everything was very monotone and lacked creativity. While I was there, I kept thinking back to my first interaction with FCM, specifically how my interviewers really seemed like people I could learn from and enjoy working alongside. Months later I circled back to see if an opportunity for my dream role was still on the table. I’m so glad that I did! I got an offer and started in April 2022, and I’ve been with FCM ever since.
The future’s looking bright
I am looking forward to my future and growth with FCM. There’s still so much more room for me to enhance my skill sets. There are so many inspiring, hardworking people that blaze their own trail and lead by example in FCM M&E. My team leaders (TLs) are both true examples of that.
The leadership at FCM genuinely want to support us and help foster growth and development. They give you the power and the tools to forge your own path and feel confident to lead a project. I’m personally trying to learn more about the Cvent platform and its capabilities, as well as how to be a more strategic thinker when it comes to building out a registration site. I have my own timeline for when I want to take trainings and get certifications in the platform, and my TLs support that for me. They have the confidence in me to follow through with my goals, which in turn has made me more confident in my own development.
A team you can count on, no matter where
Although my role has been entirely virtual, with event travel being a big part of my in-person team interactions, I can confidently say that I have never felt disconnected from my team. We Teams chat each other and connect frequently throughout the week to ask questions and follow up on projects. This is my first event manager role, so I’m in a constant state of learning. I always appreciate the guidance and advice my team can offer me.
Recently, my team has been able to get together in-person for some team building activities, including a 2-day get together in New York City and Jersey City, where we took a cooking class, had drinks, and did some in-person learning.
Going worldwide
During my junior year of college, I studied abroad in London. This was my first time out of the United States, and I was so nervous to step out of my comfort zone that I almost didn’t go. My mom strongly recommended that I do, and I’m so grateful she did. It opened my mind up to embracing different cultures. Ever since then I have had an appreciation for travel. I am grateful that my job is an extension of that. I believe it is so important to learn from other cultures and perspectives to be more open to people. While in London, I got a chance to attend weekly theater performances and visit museums. This is very important to me and I found it to be more financially accessible to the public in London. It was by far one of my favorite experiences.
During my spring break, I country hopped, visiting other parts of Europe and taking in all the sights, sounds, and food. My creative mind was aglow.
I found that my travel experience gave me some perspective that I can use in my current situation. Similar to travel, events are ever changing. No two experiences are completely the same, no matter if it is the same trip or event. I like that there is so much to be learned from each experience and interaction and I look forward to that continuing during my time at FCM.