Tiffany Loftin

“Moving on to AT&T Field Operations has been empowering, to say the least.”

We often like to say starting here opens up doors to unlimited opportunities, and Tiffany Loftin certainly took that philosophy to heart. Since joining our retail team in 2015, she’s since been promoted to management, jumped into Sales as a Sales Representative, and is now continuing to grow her skills as a Network Field Operations Manager. In her current role, she oversees technician teams and makes sure their work is completed as efficiently – and safely – as possible.

But how does someone lead a technician team, when they were never a technician themselves? To Tiffany, the qualifications aren’t so black-and-white.

“A leader is a leader no matter where you put them. Your leadership isn’t defined by one role or one department and I’d say the proof to that is in my success. I didn’t know the nitty-gritty, but I was never afraid to ask for help or voice any questions.”

Tiffany stresses the importance of leadership skills as they’re often not the first things that come to mind for a Network Field Operations role. Even Tiffany herself didn’t think she was qualified for the role until one of her peers brought it up to her.

“I was asked, ‘why haven’t you tried to do this yet? Why haven’t you tried being a leader here?’ That’s when I started paying attention to what the job could offer me.”

Women Leaders in a Technician Role

The other perceived barrier to entry? Gender.

Although the world of technicians is viewed as a male-dominated field, Tiffany sees an opportunity for women leaders to make an impact for themselves and the company by broadening their horizons.

“I think the biggest challenge is that women have to get it out of their mind that you don’t need technician experience to be a successful leader. That’s the biggest hurdle: You don’t need to know how to repair a satellite dish.

“It’s also important to have sponsors who can cosign you for the leader you are. The more people who can speak to your success, the more strength and ability you have to be the go-to person to solve those challenges.”

Tiffany not only magnified her current skill set as a Network Field Operations Manager but picked up new ones as well. Soft skills like the ability to quickly pivot in surprise scenarios and learning how to analyze data points to make the best decisions for her team will prove essential as Tiffany continues building career prospects within AT&T. In early 2021, she tried her hand in a supporting role as an enablement manager, but quickly realized she missed having a team to motivate and requested the move back to Field Operations.

Continuing to grow at AT&T

She’s also made some great connections with leaders and technicians alike.

“The number of compliments I’ve received from my team has been very meaningful. If there’s an idea or project of mine, leaders were more than willing to highlight who I was. AT&T is such a large, well-oiled machine and no one realizes how many moving parts we have. This position gives insight to how everything works the way it does.

“Having the ability to be heard, respected and uplifted because your contemporaries see what you’re doing and your impact has been beyond a blessing. It’s enlightening. Empowering. To come over on this side and influence the culture, I don’t regret the decision to switch. This experience has been my favorite so far.”

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