Mark Brokaw
MINDBODY
San Luis Obispo, CA USA
"Be very intentional and very purposeful...set some goals and make promises to yourself that you will go down a certain path and then go on to the next step."
Career Roadmap
Mark's work combines: Technology, Numbers, and Problem Solving
See more careers and stories that connect to your interests.
Take Roadmap Quiz
Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Advice for getting started
Go to a community college first to get your required classes out of the way and to take your fundamental classes for whatever major you choose. It gives you a chance to explore different things and save money. I also recommend auditing classes you aren't sure about to see if you like it.
Here's the path I took:
High School
Associate's Degree
Mathematics, General
Cuesta College
Bachelor's Degree
Computer Science
California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life took a while to figure out
1.
Born and raised in Central California.
2.
Always knew he wanted to go into technology, but he had no idea which field to pursue—he grew up as a gamer and used to practice programming on his old Texas Instruments calculator.
3.
Attended Cuesta College, a community college near San Luis Obispo, CA, that has the reputation of being a “feeder school” for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where he later earned a degree in mathematics.
4.
Says he used his experiences at community college to save on tuition costs and explore different areas of interest within the world of technology.
5.
He transferred into Cal Poly as a computer science major specializing in databases during the “dot-com bubble” of the late ’90s and early ’00s—says it was an exciting time to be in computer science.
6.
At the time, there weren’t many tech opportunities in Central California—admits he faced the tough decision of either leaving his home or switching majors to pursue new opportunities in the area.
7.
While at Cal Poly, he learned of a small software startup called MINDBODY that would allow him to stay on the Central Coast and pursue his passion—he has been working there ever since.
8.
He now oversees the data science teams at MINDBODY, analyzing user data in order to better serve the customers and businesses that use their product.
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Society in general:
You should probably move to San Francisco or Los Angeles if you want to work in tech. There aren't any opportunities on the Central Coast.
How I responded:
I stuck it out and got lucky when I found the opportunity with MINDBODY. I knew that even though there weren't as many opportunities here, this is the place I wanted to be, so I made it work.
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
At the time I was starting out, there weren't a lot of tech opportunities on the Central Coast. I was faced with the decision of having to move away from an area I loved or change my course.
There was a time where I doubted if I wanted to finish my major program at school. There were some classes I just didn't like. Ultimately, I decided to finish it because there were aspects of it I knew I could focus on later.