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In this interview, we’re joined by Kim Lincoln '04, a UCU alumna whose journey from Jamaica to a successful career in project management is truly inspiring. After transferring to UCU in 2001, Kim faced culture shock but quickly embraced the international environment and Liberal Arts education that shaped her future. During her time at UCU, Kim was highly involved on campus, working at the bar, contributing to the yearbook, and helping to establish the dance team.A turning point in her life led Kim to pivot from journalism to project management, combining her love for creativity with organizational skills. Today, Kim leads cross-functional teams in designing outdoor products and gives back by supporting college students. Read on for insights from her journey, valuable advice for students, and how she stays grounded and motivated.

What made you choose UCU, and how did your first impressions compare to your expectations coming from Jamaica?

Growing up in Jamaica, universities in the Netherlands weren’t on the traditional list of application possibilities. I initially did a year at Washington & Lee ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� in Virginia, where I met a fellow future alum, who told me about UCU.

When I decided to transfer, a friend gave me a copy of “The UnDutchables” and I started learning Dutch online, but I still experienced considerable culture shock after arriving in 2001. I remember sitting on the flight for the last leg of my travel from Jamaica and hearing the flight attendants making the pre-flight announcements in Dutch, not understanding a word, and wondering whether I’d made a huge mistake. Other first semester memories include, declining an invitation to eat at a café in the city center because it was raining, and my roommates saying that I needed to get over that quickly otherwise I’d never go anywhere. There were also the joys and pains of learning a language while living in country. I felt very proud when my third-year Dutch professor said that I sounded native — but illiterate —  like I hadn’t paid attention during Dutch class in high school, and I’m quite proud of passing Het Staatsexamen NT2 before graduation. Hoera!

I chose UCU as a chance to study in what was for me a truly international environment — I’d been visiting the US all my life and saw the Netherlands as somewhere new — while still pursuing a Liberal Arts education, at what was an affordable price point for my family at the time. All with the very important bonus of being very close to my Mom’s family in the United Kingdom, which turned out to be monumental when the trajectory of my life changed suddenly in my second year.

How did your career evolve from creative roles to project management, and what key lessons shaped your path?

My mom passed away unexpectedly during my second year at UCU. Initially, I planned to leverage the Sociology side of my UCU degree to attend ERCOMER and then work the UN. However, due to financial restrictions, I was unable to attend.

Instead, I fell back on a career in Journalism, which I had started on in high school. Bolstered by my minor focus in Journalism at UCU, I worked at the Jamaica Observer as editor for the TeenAge publication and Sunday feature writer. I eventually migrated to the US where I worked at the Panama City ľ�ϸ���Ӱ�� Herald as the Assistant Opinion Editor and also as a Copy Desk Editor for the many weekly and bi-weekly publications up and down the Northwest Florida Panhandle.

I moved to Atlanta to pursue better opportunities in editing and content development when newspapers declined during the 2008 recession. I soon discovered that I had been doing project management all along (i.e., supervising teams of writers, editors, or teenagers to achieve “project” goals) when ProEdit offered me a position to also project manage the content development engagements we worked on for our customers.

I was happy to accept because I was able to combine my love of writing, editing, and developing content with the organization, facilitation, research, and process skills I had discovered while completing course and group work at UCU.

A few years later, I decided to fully transition into project management, and accepted a position as a Project Manager in the Engineering Department of Humminbird, a Johnson Outdoors brand. I now get to work with engineers across multiple disciplines and cross functional teams across our organization to design and develop innovative products for our customers, building on many of the creative problem solving techniques I sharpened during my time at UCU.

No career path is set in stone. Continue to explore the classes, skills, and hobbies that interest you and spark joy — you never know which one will land as a career or be a stepping stone to a future position or role.

How has living and working internationally influenced your perspective and career?

Although the word “manager” is in my title, I work with team members who are not my direct reports. Having an internationally influenced perspective has helped me facilitate projects and lead teams where team members are located all across the United States and in other countries across North America, Europe, and Asia.

I’ve been able to lean into the values, ideas, thoughts, concerns, and feedback of a variety of people with confidence and authenticity because of not only my background as an international student, but also my time spent living and working with friends, classmates, and professors from varied ethnicities and cultures at UCU.

What are you currently working on or passionate about, and what’s next for you professionally or personally?

Personally, I’m passionate about supporting this next generation of college students. Having my daughter start high school during the pandemic and now being a freshman in college, has given me a small window into the academic, mental, emotional, and financial challenges many emerging adults face today. I volunteer with a local Atlanta organization that seeks to provide a “home away from home” for students at our eight metro Atlanta area college campuses. We offer dinner, a spiritually uplifting environment, mental health resources, and opportunities to build safe, supportive community with other students.

Professionally, I enjoy developing and refining processes to support our project management team as we facilitate our company’s design, development, and assembly activities.Our products help people get out and experience the great outdoors, and I take great pride and joy even in the small things — like seeing a process document being used by a team or a spreadsheet template making the rounds in other projects — I take great pride and joy when I see our products out in the wild and know that those things helped keep our team working and our customers having the best outdoors experience possible.

Reflecting on your journey, what advice would you give to your younger self at UCU, or to today’s students aspiring to carve their own paths?

Maintain a growth mindset. Not knowing or understanding something in the moment does not mean that you’re unable to grow and learn in that area. Seek out resources, accept help, and try again.

Also, no career path is set in stone. Continue to explore the classes, skills, and hobbies that interest you and spark joy — you never know which one will land as a career or be a stepping stone to a future position or role.

As a faith statement, I also believe in the power of prayer — God has answered even my unspoken, big prayers — and as I learn more about Jesus, I try my best to do everything in love.

Are there any principles or habits that have consistently helped you stay motivated and grounded?

• Create and maintain to do lists and schedules or a good checklist.

• Prioritize what you need to do.

• Work the harder tasks first and reward yourself with the easy ones.

• Continue to develop good organization, time management, and note taking skills.

• Cultivate a mentor, seek accountability, and accept and incorporate feedback from those around you.