Talent Tribute: Stephan DiGiacomo

Our Talent Tribute Monthly Feature is designed to celebrate the phenomenal staff that serve our Members.

When Stephan DiGiacomo first came to VALLEYLIFE in early 2009 as an IT Consultant, he had no idea the profound impact the organization would have on his life. What started as a favor for his old high school classmate and friend Cori Dunn, a VALLEYLIFE staff member, to assist the organization with a failed server, grew into a 16-year-long career and the start of his family after meeting his wife, Jasmine, on the job.

Now serving as VALLEYLIFE’s IT Manager, Stephan plays an integral role in keeping VALLEYLIFE up-to-date on all things tech, while also securing and protecting the organization’s information systems. In addition to his IT tasks, Stephan is also known to volunteer his time and talents to a number of other department projects, truly serving as a jack of all trades.

Outside of VALLEYLIFE, Stephan is the proud husband and father of three, whose hobby list is just as diverse as his skill set. He enjoys playing violin, camping, traveling, and working as an amateur handyman on home renovation projects. With a background in mechanical engineering, with both a bachelor’s and a master’s from Arizona State University, Stephan has also had the opportunity to work on a number of exciting projects, including one that allowed him to work with one of the largest lasers in existence. He is a fan of Star Wars and classical music and enjoys any opportunity he has to go to an orchestral concert or watch a movie marathon with his kids.

We sat down and asked Stephan about his VALLEYLIFE experience as a whole, and this is what he had to say.

1. How would you describe your ideal day at VALLEYLIFE?

Given the nature of my job, many days I don’t interact with human beings frequently. I’m tasked with maintaining our IT Infrastructure and that involves a lot of computer workstations, servers, network switches, and lots of other miscellaneous equipment. My ideal day is when I am able to interact with other employees and when I’m able to be involved in projects that meander outside of my normal everyday scope of work.

I think we have a very diverse and interesting workforce here and I’ve been here long enough that I’ve met quite a few of them and they are a pleasure to work with.

2. What has your time at VALLEYLIFE taught you over the years?

My time at VALLEYLIFE has taught me to appreciate peoples’ individual talents, ones that they don’t even see until they’re able to work on things that may not be in their wheelhouse. This place has a way of challenging people to aspire to greater things and to be involved with things that they normally wouldn’t. Because of the nature of what we do here and the population that we serve, people are given the opportunity to use their talents in other ways.

That’s what I’ve learned about myself as well. I’ve had the opportunity, while working here, to do many things that I didn’t think I was capable of… things that aren’t necessarily in the job description of an IT Manager.

3. Can you tell us what you enjoy most about interacting with Members?

Having been here over 15 years now, you develop your own personal relationships with the Members, especially the ones you interact with frequently, and they become like family. You don’t even realize it, but if you don’t see those people every day, you feel like you’re missing out on something, at least I do.

My office is down by DTA 2 and I get to see everybody there on a daily basis. Just walking to the DTA, they treat me like I’m a celebrity or something and are so happy that I stopped by, for whatever reason. If I happen to get to fix something, they all start clapping like I’m their hero for the day. I don’t think there are a lot of jobs where you get treated like a superhero when you do something simple… It’s a great feeling.

I think that shows the immense gratitude our Members often have for the work we do for them, and that’s extremely rewarding.

4. What skills or qualities do you think are most important for success in your position?

In my role, you need a lot of patience. I have to interact with people with such a wide range of skill sets when it comes to interacting with computers and it’s easy when there is such a gap in knowledge to get frustrated, but my role has taught me a lot of patience that way. I think it’s much more effective to convey information in a calm way.

I’d also say the willingness to get out of your comfort zone is very important and rewarding. When you’re able to do that, I’ve found it to be a very rewarding thing.

5. Lastly, what do you hope to accomplish or learn in your future at VALLEYLIFE?

I’m very fortunate that I’ve been able to learn and continue to learn about my field, just out of necessity to maintain our operations. IT is a continually evolving field and I have resources to continue to improve my skill set and the flexibility to use the knowledge that I’ve gained to make important decisions about our IT operations.

Just within the last couple of years everyone has been talking about AI (Artificial Intelligence) and I’m trying to be on top of it, but It’s very difficult, so that’s going to be a big challenge going into the next five years. I want to make sure I’m deploying it in a way that it can be a net benefit and help us in our work delivering the services that we do.