Amanda Suggs

For 15+ years, Amanda Suggs’ world revolved around color theory, styling, and structural design. As a professional cosmetologist doing hair and makeup, and later as a fashion design student finishing her degree, her career path was entirely creative.

But just as she graduated, the pandemic struck. Overnight, the fashion internships and roles she had lined up disappeared.

“I was on this thought journey of, ‘What now?’ Everything I worked hard for and was planning for was gone,” Amanda recalls. 

Always the designated IT person for her family, Amanda decided to explore technology. She embarked on a disciplined path of self-study, sampling different disciplines like software engineering and data analytics before a spark clicked. 

She earned her Google IT Support and Cybersecurity certificates, but she knew she needed a structured, powerful ally. Her needs led her straight to Per Scholas.

Stepping into an intensive IT training program with a non-traditional background can be daunting. Before her first day, Amanda wrestled heavily with imposter syndrome.

“I was nervous,” Amanda admits. “The IT people I knew growing up were very much not women, and not Black women. I thought, ‘There is no way I’m going to fit in. Maybe I shouldn’t do this.’”

But the moment she walked into her Per Scholas classroom, those fears vanished. She looked around and saw people she could relate to, including classmates and instructors with backgrounds similar to hers. 

“I instantly felt that it was a safe space. My class was made up of people pivoting from vastly different backgrounds outside of technology. The classroom experience was eye-opening and absolutely imperative to my journey.”

Making a full-time career pivot requires immense dedication, but it also requires a financial safety net. Because Per Scholas programs operate like a full-time job, balancing everyday life can become a massive hurdle for learners during their training.

To bridge this gap, Amanda participated in the Per Scholas Zero Percent Loan program. This student-centric financial initiative provided her with interest-free capital to cover essential living expenses while she focused on her career pivot.

The loan gave her the peace of mind to dive headfirst into complex technical concepts, study late into the night, and conquer her exams without financial anxiety looming.

Amanda threw herself into earning her CompTIA A+ certification. The rigorous exam is split into two parts: hardware and software. To her immense surprise, Amanda, who always considered herself a software person, scored incredibly high on the hardware portion. But when she took the software exam, she faced a setback: she failed on her first attempt.

“My instructors rallied for me, my classmates rallied for me, and the staff at Per Scholas rallied for me. They said, ‘Amanda, you had an off day. Everybody has off days. Tomorrow, you’ll come back, and you’re passing this.’”

And she did. 

Amanda’s determination paid off instantly. Just 12 days after graduating from Per Scholas, she landed her first tech role: a contract position with the Board of Elections.

Soon after, she transitioned to a permanent role as an IT Generalist at CRISP (the Center for Research and Security Prices), a specialized financial data company affiliated with the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Working on a nimble team of six, Amanda gained massive hands-on experience across every facet of IT operations.

When CRISP was acquired by global financial services giant Morningstar, Amanda successfully transitioned into a booming enterprise environment. She currently works as a technician on Morningstar’s high-velocity Help Desk, supporting a campus of thousands of local users and a global workforce of 12,000+.

“Going from a company of 120 people to a massive global enterprise has been an incredible learning experience. On a day-to-day basis, we are busy dealing with a whole host of issues ranging from networking and hardware to cutting-edge AI tools.”

Working has given Amanda the perfect vantage point for her next career evolution through upskilling: specializing in cybersecurity, firewall operations, and cloud security. 

The financial and personal transformation since Amanda’s days in cosmetology has been night and day: “Per Scholas has changed my life completely. I’ve grown in confidence and am self-assured now because I know what I put into this pivot. I’m always bragging about Per Scholas to everyone! When people say they hate their jobs, I tell them, ‘You don’t have to.’”

For Amanda, the fear of the unknown is gone.

“When I started, I was scared, confused, and didn’t know which way was up,” she reflects. “But now? The possibilities are truly endless. If someone tries to tell me I can’t do something in this industry, I just say, ‘Just watch. I’ll show you better than I can tell you.’ And I credit all of that to Per Scholas opening that door for me.”