Lisa Abbott fields a range of research questions and information challenges at the Kellogg Company, but no matter what comes her way, she’s ready to tackle it. “I know my business, and my business is whatever the day asks of me. Fortunately, I have one heck of a toolbox helping me out,” she said.
Where do you work, and what is your role?
I manage the information center for the Kellogg Company in Battle Creek, Michigan. I fill the information needs of Keebler Elves and other interesting characters, worldwide—from technical data, like optimal oven humidity, to trends data in emerging economies to primary consumer research.
What do you like best about your job?
The people are great, but the variance in requests is what I like best. I don’t have a background in food science or packaging, so many times my first step is to frame the query itself, so I can understand it and come back to my client with intelligent feedback; team problem-solving is usually the best kind. And it’s great for trivia night—when else can I reference Karl Fischer titration while drinking gin?
How did GSLIS help you get to where you are today?
It made me absolutely fearless. As a GSLIS student, I took apart a computer and put it back together. I learned html and coded nesting tables by hand (to this day, my pinky can still find the backslash key). I did UX. In analog. With crayons. And I did most of it in another time zone via Leep, hundreds of miles away, while working fulltime in another county.
So you can try and scare me with SharePoint, but it won’t work. I’ll wrestle it to the ground, make it pretty with the content editor (html, remember?), and hand you its managed metadata. You can ask me to lead an organization-wide taxonomy audit or speak ex tempore to the global leadership team, and I won’t even blink. It’s not hubris, it’s hard-won honesty.
My experience at Illinois was, quite simply, the best formal education I’ve ever had. The work I do isn’t wholly dependent on the L word, but that same training allows me to pivot and thrive wherever my work takes me. I can walk into any situation, analyze the problem, find the pain points, and work towards a solution. Even if my only contribution is guiding a team to the resources they need and stepping back, just that little push is often the turning point of a project. In my job, where every day is improv, and I am Amy Poehler saying, “Yes, and…”, GSLIS has been the steel backbone of my one-woman show.
What advice would you like to share with GSLIS students?
Trust in your innate ability to conquer anything. Even if you don’t succeed, what you learn along the way will fortify you for the next attempt. And stay away from Taco Tuesdays—your microbiome does not need to meet what lives on steam tables.
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
Organizing my Evernote folders (because obviously). Tumblring and Houzzing. Walking around outside and appreciating things that don't plug into a wall.
What’s next for you?
Currently I’m learning French for a trip to Montreal. I learned Spanish in high school, so my brain has decided the optimal route would be to translate English to Spanish, and then to French. Désolée in advance, Montreal.