Laura Vazquez
Job Title: Senior Learning and Development Specialist
Company: Power Design
Location: St. Petersburg, Fla.
Age: 27
Years on the Job: 4
Interests: Playing guitar, camping, hiking with her fiancé, and playing video games
Born and raised in Miami, the electrical industry fell into Laura Vazquez’s lap.
“I was green and didn’t know much about it coming in, but as soon as I got in, I was amazed and wanted to know it all,” she says. “My main goal was learning the industry well enough to be able to apply my expertise in education and technology and help our field teams perform more efficiently.”
Shortly after studying public relations and linguistics at the University of Florida, she began working in the training department at Power Design as a field trainer. After two years in that role, she was promoted to senior learning and development specialist and oversees the job site learning facilitators.
“Training is something I am very passionate about,” she says. “If you take the time to listen to your audience and let them teach you, the way you teach them greatly improves. I continue to carry that mindset and stay curious about new technology to keep learning and grow my skill set.”
Her workday starts with on-site training on a job site. For example, she could be training a new employee, helping a team with a specific application, or rolling out a new process. In the afternoons, she meets with her team and other departments to talk about recent trends, make plans for upcoming technology rollouts, and discuss training with project managers.
Currently, Power Design is piloting new processes and technologies to improve document, labor, and material management. She is working with the field training team and pilot groups to gather feedback prior to rolling these programs out to the entire company.
Leveraging technology in innovative ways is both the favorite and most challenging part of her role.
“I’m so grateful I work for a tech-driven company that champions technology and innovation as a core value,” she says.
