154: How This Delivery Driver Became a FAANG Data Analyst in 100 Days (Jen Hawkins)

When I had to get down and actually go get a pizza delivery job, that was like the lowest time of my life. I'm like, I really need a job.

That is Jen Hawkins. She's now a six-figure data analyst at a FANG company. But as you heard, just Amir 100 days ago, she was a. Delivery driver. So how did she do it? Well, in this episode, you'll hear exactly that Jen tells everything you need to know about her story of going from delivering pizzas to delivering insights. Let's go ahead and get straight into the episode. Alright, Jen, so you had a thriving real estate business that kind of fizzled out and you're like, crap, I gotta go back to a nine to five job. And you struggle trying to find a job. And so you kind of end up doing deliveries. You're door dashing, you're delivering pizzas, you're delivering medicine, you're delivering toilets even, and you're like, okay, I wanna get into data. I don't want to be delivering anymore. And ultimately you landed a six figure data analyst job at a thing company. So first off, congratulations, uh, on doing that. But how the heck did you do it?

Oh man. Um, yeah, lots of perseverance, but definitely positive mindset. I would say for me it was just really focusing on the goal and not deviating because you know, in life you have so many distractions and just, you know, I went through a very difficult time and. Just like, just really focusing on the positive during that time. Trying to find every good thing and just really focusing on my goal is how I did it. I mean, and just doing everything you told me to do. Exactly. You know, I try to do everything step by step. Yeah. Just getting it done. Period.

Well, you are very motivated and, uh, you are very disciplined. But I guess we should say that you were, uh, a student inside of the accelerator program and you, that's ultimately one of the things that helped you land a job. But let's go back to that, that delivery driving. Um, you actually have a LinkedIn article, we'll, we'll put a link to it in the show notes that kind of like goes through your whole journey. But like those first like door dashes and those pizza deliveries, I can't imagine those. I mean, I'm, I'm sure that there were some pros to that job. Um, but one of the things you said was your car, you're putting a lot of mild on your car and it started to smell like garbage. So take us through what it was like doing those deliveries.

Man, when I had to get down and actually go get a pizza delivery job, that was like the lowest time in my life. I'm like, I really need a job. I couldn't go back to my old job. Nobody was hiring and it was like Christmas like, so I call the pizza place and I'm like, Hey, I need a job. And they're like, yeah, can you come tomorrow? And I start working, you know, pizza delivery and yeah, I only had 33,000 miles on my car. After all said and done, it's like 75,000 now, just within eight months. I'm like, it was really crazy. But yeah. Um, the smell of pizza and, you know, door dashing and everything, it really ruins your car. If you're gonna do deliveries, I recommend using someone else's car or a car you really don't like, not a new car.

I can only imagine, uh, that would be a really hard job. And obviously you wanted to pivot into data analytics and ultimately become a data analyst. You're delivering pizzas though, so you're not, you're not, most people would say you weren't very close. But one of the things that I, I love, and you talk about it in this article was even though you weren't really close, you were trying to think like a data analyst. At that job. So, uh, can you tell us about when you were delivering pizzas and kind of how you tried to use analytics to adjust the timing to, to get less complaints and better reviews?

Oh yes, definitely. Um, I remember telling my boss at the time that I was a data science student and that I could help his business if he would let me see his data. And he's saying, Hmm, lemme think about that. And it's the problem. I know immediately what the problem was with that business. Looking at all of the reviews on Yelp. And, um, you know, it was a few things, but one of the main things, um, that was an issue was they were quoting, um, too soon of delivery times. They just needed to tell their customers like, Hey, during peak hours you probably won't get your delivery until like an hour, you know, instead of 30 minutes because people were piling in. Um, so that was one and two, you have to be really strategic in how you, um, get into gates because people have gate codes. There's a lot of gated communities here in Austin. So the only way people will let you in is if you communicate in a certain way. So what I would do is take a picture of whatever it is, whether it's a pizza, a box, and I would show them like, Hey, I have a package for you. Can you let me in so that way they'll know that I'm really a delivery person and I have their, you know, their, their item, whatever it is. Um, but if you don't do that, they're not gonna let you in. So just really testing those things and figuring out which works best, you know, and really analyzing the situation and trying to figure out, uh, uh, the best way to get your job done each day.

I think you call it AB testing, your text messages, testing. Mm-hmm. Which is so funny because if you look at AB testing in like a true traditional statistical standpoint mm-hmm. Like it requires math and it requires P values and hypothesis testing and a large sample size. And obviously you didn't really have that. But you did the best with what you had, like you did small scale data analytics at a job that most people probably would be like, there's no data analytics involved in, so I think that says a lot to, to you and your attitude one, but also hopefully is a learning for all their, listen, all of our listeners, I. Like no matter what job you have right now, you can figure out at least one or two small ways that you can use data analytics in that job. And that's going to one, like keep you more motivated at that job. But two, it's gonna give you great bullet points for your LinkedIn and your resume down the road where you're like, ah, I had this job has nothing to do with data, but like bullet point. Like you could kind of make up some numbers increased, like package acceptance by 10% by AB testing communication.

That's a great bullet. Exactly. It's, and then I actually have another story. It's really funny. I worked for this warehouse and I was delivering TikTok packages and Amazon packages and they were doing things like, in a really strange way. And, um, one of those things that they would do, they would make us do a scan, the packages, and then we had to organize them by number and then put them in our. Vehicle, but they were using cardboard boxes and one day it rained, so all the cardboard boxes were ruined and you had to like somehow put the packages in your vehicle and no one knew that, you know, they have moving bags on Amazon. So I brought my moving bags. I was like, you know what, I'm gonna organize my packages and I organize them by 10 and put no one through 10 in here. So that way I could put them pretty in my car and know, like, I'll do these celebrities and that. Then everyone caught wind to what I was doing and now everybody at that warehouse has these Amazon packages, these Amazon moving bags, and that actually saves like an hour to two hours of um, you know, sorting and like putting all that. So just little things like that is huge. And I know that helped that company and they've been around for a long time and nobody thought of that idea. So it's just little things like that that you could do to really help. Improve, um, business processes.

Amen. I I love that. And for all those people who are maybe working in a warehouse now or are driving delivery, we had two students join the accelerator recently, both named Michael. Mm-hmm. Um, one's UPS and the other one is a freight company. I can't remember. One of the things that, that they've said, and that you said as well, is there is some positive things to, you know, driving and delivering. Yes. A lot of the times you can listen to podcasts and that's, you know, one of the ways that you connected with me. Found out about, you know, data Crew Jumpstart and the accelerator program, uh, in general. So I, I just love your positive attitude where you're like, I'm in a job that I don't really wanna be in, but I'm gonna make the most out of it. I'm gonna try to find good things about it, and I'm also gonna try to have it bridge into. Ultimately the job that you ended up landing, which is a six figure data analyst job at a FANG company. Mm-hmm. Um, so let's talk about how you actually made that transition. Yes. You started with a master's degree, um, but you didn't quite finish the master's degree. You wanna get into the details of like why you didn't end up finishing the master's and maybe why a master's isn't for everyone.

So actually, um, while I was doing my master's program, um, I had just left, um, apple the first time when I was doing, you know, senior specialist of technical support. And my business like really grew. So I couldn't do my business Apple and my master's degree at the same time. Like, it was just too much, like something has to do. So, um, I chose the business and I put a pause. On my master's degree because I wanted to keep the 4.0 grade point average I had, I didn't want that to like go down. I mean, that's all I had going for me at that time. So, um, I'm like, if I keep that and then just find something else I know I can possibly, you know, go back to it. And that's. Basically what I did, I found your program and I knew that I didn't really need the master's because other people in, you know, that were getting success stories from your bootcamp. They didn't even have a master's. They were just coming straight from being a teacher. Probably had like an education master's degree. Or, um, no degree at all. Like, you know, just really interesting. So I was like, I don't need my master's degree. I'm gonna try and do this bootcamp and I'm gonna make it, and I'm gonna show everyone. You don't need a master's degree to land a job, you know? And a fame company. I mean, if you show them the type of person you are and your work ethic. I, I really don't think you need one. If you can show them that you know how to do the work

well, and congratulations, you did that. Um, and I like, like you said, you did it in, I think 17 weeks, um, from joining the program to accepting your FANG offer, which is absolutely incredible. Congratulations. But the, the coolest part about this, in my opinion, is you called your own shot. Thank you. Um, I actually have an email from you when you were about to join the program. And you literally said, quote, I will be one of your success stories. That's incredible. 'cause here you are, you are one of my success stories. But when you, when you originally told me that, why, why did you tell me that? Like, what was the purpose of you telling me that? Because I have a lot of people that join my program and not all of them land six figure jobs, uh, uh, thing, company, you know? Mm-hmm. A lot of, a lot of them land great jobs. A lot of 'em ultimately don't actually do much with the program and don't become data analysts, but like you called your own shot, why did you do that?

It's important to hold yourself accountable.

Um,

know, however, a way that may be. And for me, you know, my dad just always taught me to always be the best at everything that you do. It doesn't matter what it is, whether you're delivering pieces or toilets or, you know, going to school. And for me, me telling you that, and then you thinking that and me thinking that it, it just makes it happen. So it's like Jen will, I mean, she told me so I believe she will too. So just, you know, telling people your goal, you know, everyone starts to believe it and then you even believe it yourself. So, you know, then I just felt like I needed to do that to make it happen.

I love that. I think that is an amazing attitude. You're, you're putting yourself on the hook, which nice is accountability that a lot of people need, including myself. Like I, I consider myself, you know, a lot of people are like, oh, Avery, you do a lot on LinkedIn. You have find a data job.com. You have a big YouTube channel, you know, you run the accelerator. How do you stay motivated to do all this stuff? I'm like, I, I don't, a lot of the times do mean, but like I set up systems where I put myself out there to the public. So for instance, this year we're doing mission 52, which is, which you participated in. We're trying to help 52 people land a a, a data job in 2025. And that's like a lot of pressure. I told literally a hundred thousand people about that goal. Do it when I, I, Hey, thank you. I, I hope so. You're, you're, you're one of our success stories this year. I'll help you. That

I'll help you. Let's go. Good.

Let's do it. But, but my wife's the same way. Um mm-hmm. She, she works out every day, but we recently just signed, signed up for, uh, like a fitness competition race thing together. Um, I like those five. She's like,

yeah. Yeah. And she's like, I'm

working out so much more harder now 'cause I have like a, a date, I have a goal that I, i, I wanna put myself on the hook for anyways. I, I love that about you and I think it's amazing that you, like mindset played a big role for you in your, in your data journey, right?

Yes, for sure. Um, I mean, because in life you're gonna go through stuff. Sometimes you think. You're in a really comfortable situation. You're really happy for that one moment. But things happen and you know, you just have to always try to see the positive in everything because the minute you start thinking negatively about it, like more bad stuff happens. So it's like, wouldn't you rather just. See the good in it and hope for more good things to come instead of seeing how everything's falling apart, and then more things fall apart. So that's kind of just the attitude I have. Um, there's always something good about anything you're going through.

It's easier said than done, so kudos to you for being able to, to do that. Did you find that in, in my, my program compared to, like, for instance, a master's degree. One of the things that someone said to me recently was they didn't realize how much, like. Mindset stuff that we, we do in the program. Like one of the things we talk about is you have to do, you have to think progress over perfection. We're perfectionist, we're we're progressing. Did you, did you find in the program that there was a lot of mindset stuff that you found helpful?

Actually, not, you know, I do a lot of business, you know, everything I, I've purchased like really expensive courses, like I think yours is way under priced. So for anyone that says. 2000 is a lot. You No, I paid 10,000 for, you know, certain business courses, you know, and they all start with mindset and it's like very detailed mindset. But yours is like, it's so smart. 'cause it's like, yeah, progress over perfection where? The, your whole life you're taught, you know, you need to do things a certain way. Exactly. So I just, I really love that concept. It's simple. To me, it wasn't that much mindset at all. Um, for me, I already have that mentality, but I do agree to not do the course unless you do have the right mindset. Like, don't come in here and be like, oh, maybe Avery can help me. I don't think he can. But then buy the course. Because you already came in with a negative attitude, like it's not gonna work. And whatever you're thinking happens. So you just wanna, yeah. Progress over perfection and just stay positive while you're going through it. And just do it. Well, do the whole thing. Just do it. Uh, that attitude, I People buy, buy your program and don't do it. Right. Like they, you just never hear from them after like two weeks. Yeah. Just do it.

Just do it. Go into it and just do it. That positive attitude must have really helped you manifest landing your job. At fang, but also getting contacted by recruiters. Um, I've had a lot of people go through this program and very few have had as many recruiters reach out to them as, as you did. So you had a lot of recruiters from, I mean, you'll tell us the companies that were, that were reaching out to you. Yeah. I guess first off, who was reaching out to you and why do you think they were like looking at you?

Yeah, and it's just so funny because on the. To, you know, getting off of work. I already had like four reach out to me just in that past hour from like Amazon, DoorDash, like just today, you know, and in California, like places I'm, I'm not even, I'm like, I'm in Texas, you know? But I think it's, it's what you post on LinkedIn. It's your resume. It's your portfolio, it's everything. It's all like a beautiful soup, right? Like you can't just have one thing or the other, but two, it's how you post about yourself. Like you are telling you're selling yourself. Like not in a weird way, but like you're telling people like, I am the best out there. I believe it in myself. You know, and you're sharing it with other people, like, um, you know, this person wants me, that person wants me. So it's like the other recruiters are like, well, I want you too. Like, you know what I mean? It's like, like, so it's good when you have those opportunities. Put it out there, show it on your LinkedIn and it'll, it'll attract. People to you. And I think that's really important. I am, it's consistent. Ever since I would say the second, third project when I was posting it more and more and sharing my leads with people, um, I started in even more context and, and it's, um, it's really nice 'cause I, I feel that security like, okay, well things don't work out Apple, I'll just go here, I'll go here. And it's not just data analyst jobs, it's all of them, like business analysts. Dean of manager, I'm like, really weird stuff. And I'm like, I didn't apply for that, but okay, I'll, I'll take it. You know? And don't look at it and be scared of them. I see people are like, I'm through, it's way too overqualified for me. So it's like you're blocking that blessing because you're. Scared of the things coming in, but be excited about them even if you don't qualify. So that way you can attract more to you and in instead of being like, well, I don't know why they're contacting me. You know? So just, it's really the, your attitude and how you think about it.

Uh, if I, if I heard you correctly, there's like two big things that seemed to, to help you. One was like your personal branding, which is something we work really hard on in the accelerator. Like, yes, in module one and module two we're touching LinkedIn a ton. Uh, module three we're doing resumes, and by module four you have three projects and two portfolios. So mm-hmm. We're, we're really focusing on personal branding. So that seemed like it played, uh, a big role for you, but also going back to the mindset thing. Because you, like you said, a lot of people maybe will see opportunities and they'll, they'll reject themselves before they let a, a recruiter or a hiring manager reject them. Mm-hmm. And I, one, one way I say is like, look at the requirements. You know, you can, you can say, see if you fit like 60% of it, if so, apply. Um, the other way I look at it is like, squint your eyes and basically like, see it really blurry. Mm-hmm. Um, and if that, if it looks good, still still apply, but like mindset for you played a big role because maybe you are applying for jobs. That, Hey, maybe you, you weren't a good fit. Maybe like you were underqualified, but that attitude of being like, no, I can land. This kind of led you ultimately to landing a, a great job, a six figure job at a fame company.

And, and then too, it's like if you have that right attitude and you're attracting all these recruiters, you get to pick, you're like, okay, well I don't want this, you know, laundry list, job description. If it's really long, you probably don't want it. That means they want you to do everything. But if it's, you know, mine, the one I finally decided on, it was like five things. So I was like, oh yeah, that's perfect just for right now, because, you know, I'm transitioning into this. This is different than what I've ever done before. Um, so, so that's what I was saying, like it's really important to just have, you know, options. Um, whether it's, it's what you think may be too much or too little, just be happy for every option that comes in, and then you'll get the one that you really want.

And it's easier said than done, but once you, once you said, actually we were talking before we started recording. You're like, once you get one offer, it somehow just starts to snowball because Yes. Then all of a sudden someone else can reach out to you and you'd be like, well, I already have this offer from this company. And then all of a sudden you get expedited and that company, and then it's just like this big momentum ball that just gets rolling.

It's, and then you can treat it like a real estate transaction. Like, yeah, I'm valuable. Yeah, I need more money.

It, it's almost like playing hard to get when you're dating or like, like you just seem more desirable. Some more people wanna date you. Um,

exactly.

Okay. Let's talk about what your job is like at thing. So, uh, we, we've already talked about thing company over six figures. Are you hybrid? Are you remote? Are you in person?

Uh, yes. I'm, I'm actually hybrid, which I, I actually like because it's not that far from my house. So I get to work at home on Mondays and Fridays and Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, I'm in the office. But yeah, what what's good about it too is, um, you know, me, my boss is really nice. So if I wanted to tell her that I wanted to work at home, um, you know, during one of those hybrid days, if it's not a big deal, as long as I let her know. That's the beauty of hybrid is if, if you have a great boss and you know, they don't mind that every now and then you could still be at home.

That's great. I love that. And what type of tools are, are you using? People might assume it's fang, so you're doing like, I don't know, AI programming in like secretive assembly code language or something like that. But what, what tools are you actually using on a day-to-day basis?

Um, surprisingly, you know, I thought exactly what you said. I'm like, oh my gosh, what am I getting into? But yeah, I use Excel all day and Tableau. So that's it. Um, I do have the opportunity to use Python, you know, to maybe do automation, but there's another person that is like the go-to. So I just talked to him about what I wanna do and, you know, still learn from him. Because I want to be the one that, you know, knows how to do it. But yeah, just Tableau and Pi, um, excuse me, Tableau and Excel.

It's amazing how much you can do with, with Tableau and Excel. Mm-hmm. Like those are are really great tools and you can do so much with them. And, and to me it's not a huge surprise 'cause I also worked for a big corporation. I worked for, for Exxon. Excellent. Um, and like the companies of America are built on Excel. Like it's, there's a lot of Excel, um, and Tableau's. Awesome. So that, that makes a, a lot of sense. And what you

can do with Excel. Like I made all these macros and I used to cut three hours of time by doing like, just macros. And they're like, how did you do that? You're amazing.

That's, that is awesome to hear and I'm glad to hear the macros alive. I wasn't sure. So that's perfect. Uh, and I also like that you're learning, like you're, one of the things we talk about in the accelerator program is getting your foot in the data door, like getting, getting your, just any job we can in the data world. And then getting paid to learn, because right now you're getting paid a fairly handsome salary. And like you said, you're doing new things weekly. Uh, yeah, weekly. And you're doing new things in Excel. You're doing new things in Tableau, new things in Python. And that knowledge grows with you, you know, so you can get a promotion at your job, like you could potentially become the Python person in, in your group. And basically those skills you'll always have with you and they'll compound the, the rest of your career and you're getting paid to learn them now. So that's a great option for you.

It is. I agree. I agree a hundred percent. And, um, and I love it. I love the work. To me it's like, it feels like it's too easy. I'm like, okay, where's the hard stuff coming? You know? But it's, it's really not as difficult as you think. I mean, there, there are some jobs. That are very difficult. But again, what gives you an indicator is how long that job description is. That's how you know how much you'll work. Pick the small one like I did.

Very cool. Is there anything that's like surprised you? Um, I think you've, you've been there maybe, uh, a month or or two now. Is there anything that's like, been surprising to you or something that you've enjoyed about, about working there?

I think, well, I enjoy, I enjoy the work. It's, it's very. It's busy work. I love to stay busy. I don't like slow periods because I'm like twiddling my thumbs, trying to find things to do. Um, and for me it's like a kid in a candy store just looking at all this data and I'm like, which one do I wanna attack first? Like, you know, like, like how can I fix this first? And, and I love that, like all my jobs I've done before somehow apply to what I'm doing. Like whenever, whenever I was a manager before or doing Apple Care, you know. Anything. Um, even pizza deliveries, you know, like when they're talking terminology, I'm like, oh yeah, I did that. Like, you know, it's just, it's really, it's really interesting and, um, so yeah,

Jen, like you did such a good job and I just wanna congratulate you for Thank you. Working on your personal brands. Learning the right skills, building the projects, growing your network, um, obviously it's paid dividends. What advice would you give to all of the aspiring analysts that are listening? Listening now?

Um, I think the biggest advice, um, is I went through a very dark time. Um, and you know, there's a lot of people going through that right now. With layoffs and, and things like that. Um, and just know that, you know, if I can overcome that really dark time in my life, I know that you can too. Whether it's, you know, doing this program or something else, but just having a goal in mind will help you get through it. It doesn't matter what that goal is, but just having something to strive for it, it will, it will help you overcome. Uh, and this program, if you want a data analytics career, like you just, just do it. Just do the whole thing as quickly as possible, you know, but get everything that you need to learn exactly what to do and have the confidence. And once you like. Have that confidence, then you're ready. Like just go for it and then just, you know, apply and, and you'll get, you'll get the goal.

Thank you, Jen. Uh, thanks for sharing that. And thank you for your shining example. We'll have, uh, we'll have Jen's LinkedIn in the show notes down below. So you guys can connect with her, um, and follow her journey. You guys can see what her LinkedIn looks like, see what her portfolio looks like. It's pretty similar to what we do in the accelerator program, but she's put a great spin on it and made it look really good. Jen, thank you so much for sharing your story. We really appreciate it and I'm sure so many people resonated.

Yes, thank you. Thanks for having me. It's been an honor and just really happy to be part of, of, of all, of this and, and I hope that my story, um, helps someone.