As a child, Fredericka Cochran had a very inquisitive and social personality. Her mom remembers her crawling all over the place just to explore. That outgoing curiosity continues to this day in her job as an advertising operations solutions specialist for the Walt Disney Company in New York City.
In her role, Cochran is part of a team that is responsible for finding solutions for any widespread or isolated issues that affect Disney’s platforms or proprietary advertising products. They serve as the central-most point within the organization that handles platform bugs, ad experience issues and scenarios in between.
“This is not only an important role but an extremely fascinating one because I really enjoy knowing how things work,” she said. “This is an extremely relevant skill because when handling an escalation, I have to be able to understand who is involved, what technologies are involved, and what the business impact is of my decisions when proposing solutions.”
One of Cochran’s passions is fostering communication across teams, a nod to the outgoing personality she has exhibited since childhood.
“I take pride in creating very detailed standard operating procedure resources that can be of use to a wide array of roles and teams,” she said. “In general, I believe knowledge sharing is an important pillar of a high-quality organization and I strive to highlight this value when creating these types of resources.”
Cochran honed her technology solution skills at Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in information management and technology in 2021.
“I got interested in technology solutions because of my inherent interest in the way things work and how we can enhance their performance,” she said. “Given this interest, the iSchool provided me with the educational tools necessary to thrive in this field.”
Cochran describes her time at Syracuse as both challenging and rewarding, which helped her figure out what she was interested in and where she excelled.
“I knew the iSchool’s curriculum would serve as a great asset in preparing me for my career,” she said. “The iSchool prepares you to be a jack of all trades, priming you to be well-positioned to find a specialty you’re passionate about.”
Looking ahead, Cochran hopes to someday be CEO of a company that is grounded in corporate social responsibility. Until then, she plans to embrace every opportunity possible to ensure she is in a position to consistently grow and learn. She plans to lean more into product management to lead a team from ideation to delivery.
“I pride myself on constantly learning in any position I’m in, no matter how long I’ve been in it,” she said. “I believe this is what has accelerated me in my career so far.”
If she could give advice to current Syracuse students, Cochran would encourage them not to be too hard on themselves.
“It’s easy to get caught up in the success of your peers while you figure out your own career,” she said. “Everyone’s timeline is different, and you need to remind yourself that your career path is a personal journey. When you finally get that job or internship – and you will – ask as many questions as possible, don’t be afraid to fail, never stop networking and always strive to learn more.”
