Hi! Welcome to my domain. My name is Monica White (Monica Young before I got married) and this is my little spot on the internet to build my brand. I’ve been a lifelong grammar enthusiast and voracious reader, both of which have strengthened my abilities in grammar, construction, and various forms of writing and editing. Professionally, I have made a name as a technical writer who worked her way up to a documentation department manager, and I have managed departments of one (me) for about 10 years at this point. I am also extremely useful in a team environment, and tend to take a leadership role if said role is not already occupied.
My career began as a Quality Control Artist (QC) at ADVO, Inc. For that job, I proofread hard copies as well as electronic files against client requirements for direct mail coupons, and learned how to build the files as well. When ADVO was acquired by Valassis, the desktop production team was outsourced, and I was repurposed into a print coordinator on the YUM! team, one of the highest-volume accounts within the company. I spent a few months there, then the company decided that the outsourced graphic design wasn’t quite cutting it and reinstated most of its artists. I became the Quality Control Team Lead, at which point I was training other QC artists who had been hired as new. While in that position, I evolved the entire role of Quality Control Artist to involve also building ads when the graphic designers were overwhelmed with builds, and set the schedule for when each QC would build versus when they would proof. I was also responsible for all mistakes that made it to print from my department, and to correct the mistake habit in future efforts.
When I left Valassis, I went back to work as a print coordinator for the Houston Chronicle for the ads that went into the newspaper. It was similiar to the work I had done for YUM!, but with significantly more clients in different industries. It was not the best fit, so I separated from the Houston Chronicle.
That’s when I found Technical Writing. I started my journey at Mireaux Management Solutions, where I worked with a team of two other technical writers for an ISO auditor. We worked closely together on multiple projects for several clients in many different industries, including oil/gas, import/export, and chemical processing. I was unhappy there and found a job at Load Systems International (LSI, but has since been acquired by Trimble) as a technical writer in the Marketing department. There I was able to refresh all of their manuals for crane safety equipment from an outdated Qwark format to a refreshed InDesign structure, including basic graphic design formatting for cover images on the various available manuals. I also ran the Google AdWords campaign at LSI until I moved to NRG Houston as a technical writer to lead their ISO initiative based on my experience at Mireaux Management Solutions.
During my contract at NRG, I created and implemented a documentation structure and flow that met ISO-9001-2008 standards within a repair facility for large equipment used in the energy industry (pipes for water, oil, air, and exhaust) and trained mechanics and engineers on documentation standards within those requirements. Once the audit was passed, my contract was completed and I moved on to my next contract, Pivot3.
Pivot3 was the first software-based technical writing job I’d had in my career, and I loved it. I have a Master’s Degree in Information Systems from the University of Phoenix, and I was introduced to computers early (my first computer was a Commodore 64!), so I really felt like I’d found my home. While it was only a 6-week contract, I made friends at Pivot3 and refreshed their user manual at the thirteenth hour before a big release. I tested the existing documentation against the upcoming release and updated all changes, reinventing the manual structure, look, and tone while clarifying information and capturing process screenshots. When the contract ended, I had several people sorry to see me go…including the boss who had hired me, Greg Pellegrino.
Not too long after that contract ended, Greg called me again to come work for him at SoftNAS (now Buurst). I worked there, remotely via O-Desk, for a 6-week contract, extended twice, as a technical writer. At the end of that contract, I was called by a manager at Pivot3 to come back and run the documentation department on a contract-to-hire basis. Wanting to get back into the office, I took the Pivot3 offer and ended up getting hired full-time. That was my first chance to run an entire company’s documentation by myself, and I did a good job, promoted to Technical Documentation Manager and also working with Product Management as a Business Analyst. I was able to fill both roles happily and with time to spare to assist with office needs and party planning.
After Pivot3, I took a contract at TransCore, the company that builds the software behind Houston EZ Tag and EZ Pass to communicate with other states’ tolling programs. The developers were dedicated but very difficult to get time with, so I was open to other opportunities.
Then I heard from Greg Pellegrino again, and I immediately joined him at Identity Automation, where I was hired to fix an outdated library and help update it for a new UI release for the software. (Flash to HTML5 UI conversion, with significant workflow changes to explain.) There I was joined by two other technical writers, one an intern with previous training and another a new hire who started a week after I did. I went through formal training for the documentation software Paligo, and took what I learned from that training to train the other two writers on various procedures and best practices. The three of us worked together to update the library to the new UI, though I did most of the work for RapidIdentity while the others worked on HealthCast and Identity Automation’s Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) product. We worked together in Jira, Confluence, and Paligo libraries until the CTO ordered a layoff that removed the other two technical writers as well as my boss, Greg. I then moved to Product as the sole documentation professional at Identity Automation, where I quickly built relationships, contacts, and processes to most efficiently get documentation produced for any department who needed it. Ultimately I ended up restructuring, then writing and managing the library in Document360 at help.rapididentity.com. Much of my work still exists there today.
Venture capitalism being what it is, Identity Automation had to lay off 10% of the company in late August 2022, and I happened to be part of that 10%. Since then, I have been seeking another meaningful position at a company that can really use my skills as a word nerd, proofer, editor, and writer with a strong foundation at building a department for documentation within a company. I look forward to hearing from you if you are interested in hiring!