October 2021 active member Spotlight

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Meet taryn sullivan

Taryn Sullivan is new to JLOSH within the last year and is currently on the Membership committee and is really enjoying brainstorming ways to expand the membership.  Taryn joined JLOSH because she has moved around a lot in her life and now that she is settled in New Jersey, she wanted to find a way to build a community of like minded women and have opportunities to serve and give back. 
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Tell us about where you're from and your life outside of JLOSH.
Born in Arizona, daughter to two Air Force officers, which took us all over the US with a good stint in Michigan and then high school in Florida. Studied Chinese language and literature and Asian studies at GW in Washington, DC, where I met my now husband of 16 years! We lived in Providence, RI, Cleveland, OH, and Northern Virginia, but spent most of my time working with factories in China. Vietnam, India, Turkey and Brazil. After 8 years in manufacturing and supply chain, I founded a startup focused on improving supply chain efficiency that ended up being a bit ahead of its time, but led my career into software product management and operations. I helped reposition, grow and sell an educational robotics company, and then did that again for another educational software company. We landed in the NY/NJ area because of the acquisition, where I joined Google and am now a product manager leading education innovation efforts.  While I love my work and find it rewarding, I try to stay active outside of work too! I am a very active member of my church, a lightweight member of the elementary PTA helping to raise money, and take piano lessons. 

What is your favorite local restaurant?
The Order in South Orange. They have all kinds of food but their buttermilk biscuit breakfast sandwiches are the best!

What is your favorite movie of all time?
Tie between Moana and the Iron Lady. Moana is such a great story and the shiny crab cracks me up. “You know who you are” is my mantra. And the best quote from Iron Lady is “what we think, we become” Check out the scene here.

What are your hobbies / what do you like to do for fun?
I love playing basketball - need to find an adult league when things open back up. I also love the beach, walks in the woods, skiing, jogging and biking recreationally. Our family also plays a lot of music - so singing, piano, drums, guitar and bass can often be heard on a Saturday afternoon coming from our house. I also love to travel, but it was hard when the kids were small. We are excited the kids are getting older so we can go on fun adventures together! 

Tell us a little bit about your home life (family, pets, kids, etc)
My husband, Nate is my best friend. He’s a Rhode Islander that studied political science and is now in product marketing (but hopes to start a software company soon). He is hilarious and super emotionally aware and open. Rare find. We have two children, Mary is 5 and Sam is 4. We packed them in tight just 16 months apart and so far so good, as they are best buddies. Betty, our nanny, has been with us since Mary was 4 months old and has moved with us four times. She’s truly part of the family, and the kids call her “Betty Sullivan”. She has two grown boys that live back home in Senegal and Zambia.  We used to have two cats, but they both passed just prior to moving to this area. My husband says that they endured and thrived through so many moves and life changes, and were ready to graduate.  We hope to get a dog someday when the kids are old enough to take them out in the cold. :) (the Florida girl in me, I suppose)