Charleston Women Winter 2021-22

www. Char l es tonWomenPodcas t . com | www. ReadCW. com | www. I ns tagram. com /Char l es tonWomen CW H ad you asked Cyndi Mays in the late 1980s where she saw herself toward the end of her career, she probably wouldn’t have answered that she would be a high-ranking senior executive service member of the U.S. State Department and living in Charleston. Rather, the Virginia native and Old Dominion grad had big plans for a different role — one as a policy analyst for an intelligence agency. But life has an interesting way of changing course in the blink of an eye. Mays had gotten as far as to complete all of the polygraphing, medical tests, psychological tests and other requirements to join the Central Intelligence Agency, but while waiting for the results in 1989, decided on somewhat of a whim to put a copy of her resume into an Air Force Personnel folder in the career center. “Two days later, I got called in for a civilian intern position with the Air Force. I was tired of waiting for the other thing, so I took it,” she laughed. She relocated to Lexington, Massachusetts and started her federal career in human resources. At first, Mays anticipated staying in for three years and then moving to the private sector, but she found that she loved some of the most prominent parts of her job: the travel and solving problems. “I call it the ‘Helping People Competency,’” she grinned. “I love helping, and I like to take risks and be challenged.” It also didn’t hurt that she was motivated and eager to take on new things. “Honestly, expectations for working in HR in the late 80s and early 90s seemed pretty low. I started taking on tech initiatives when a lot of people didn’t have computers — I was actually the first person in the Air Force HR group with a real computer,” she reminisced. Her eagerness to accept new challenges and experience different things also led her to work in Italy for a few years. “It’s good to get out of your comfort zone — those experiences help expand your career. Sometimes it’s a lateral career move, not just for a pay increase but for learning and gaining new skills to be more marketable,” she said. BY ANNE TOOLE Women in Government Meet Cyndi Mays feature Cynd i Mays , Sen i or Execut i ve Ser v i ce Member. Photo prov i ded.