Jessica Joyner, Receptionist.

Meshing is strange and mysterious territory for me. As the Receptionist at Pointwise, I don’t often get involved with the software, but I can’t help but admire the artistry of the posters created by our team. They are a beautiful mix of art and engineering that has captured my imagination. I’ve had a deep love of the arts since I was a child. While I greatly enjoy several different mediums, my primary love is writing. Creating places and people with words is something I’m still passionate about.

I was born and raised in the Sierra Nevada foothills of Northern California. My hometown is positioned right on the edge of the American River canyon, a beautiful and inspiring place to drive, hike, camp, and (if you’re brave) swim. I spent a large portion of my life climbing around those hills and walking along the river, letting my imagination run wild.

Later on, I worked at the local recreation district, whose offices were perched right on the edge of the canyon. It was a small organization, and I learned to exercise every artistic and technical skill I could muster in order to assist the different departments. Some of my strongest skills were developed here; I not only helped customers, I also managed and maintained our giant software program, wrote and designed ads for publication, and became the building’s unofficial troubleshooter.

When the time came to uproot myself and move to Texas, I took the opportunity to look at my future and decide what I really wanted to do with my life. With the encouragement and support of my closest friends, I enrolled at Tarrant County College and plunged back into the academic world I hadn’t seen since high school. As it turned out, I loved school and performed better than I expected. I found out that I liked math and science, which was a surprise, and I continued to invest in my writing abilities.

I’m in the middle of my degree program now, trying to decide on my major – so many choices! In the meantime, I love working at Pointwise and putting my eclectic mix of skills to work wherever they’re needed. My software experience has started to blend well with my writing skills, as I assist our marketing department as a proofreader and editor. I keep moving forward, step by step, class by class, and I’m excited to see what the future holds for me.

• Location: Fort Worth, TX
• Current position: Receptionist
• Current computer: … It’s a Dell. They gave it to me. Okay, okay, it has a fast Intel Core i5-2400 Processor and two absolutely vital monitors. It also possesses GHz and RAM of some variety. Have I mentioned the monitors?
• One word that best describes how you work: Tenaciously

What software or tools do you use every day?

The four pillars of my job are: Sage, Outlook, Sage Fixed Assets (FAS), and Spark IM.

What does your workspace look like?

I have a nice mix of tidy and lived-in going on here. In general, since this is the first thing guests see, there isn’t a ton of personalization in my space. I have to sneak in my five-headed dragon and Legend of Zelda milk bottle.

What are you currently working on?

Among many other things, I’m currently helping with proofreading articles and reconciling our company’s assets.

What would you say is your specialty at Pointwise?

I’m still pretty new and learning aspects of my job as they come up. But so far I think my specialty has been editing and proofreading articles for marketing.

Any tips, tricks, or advice for our users?

Use the resources Pointwise provides! There is a ton of content to help out just about every skill level, even a basic beginner like me.

What project are you most proud of and why?

I would have to say starting my YouTube channel. It doesn’t get a lot of use now, and it never got particularly popular, but in a few short months I went from being completely inexperienced with recording devices and hating the sound of my own voice to speaking confidently, recording content, and editing my videos. Every now and then I think of picking the channel back up and making a fresh start, I just haven’t had the time.

Have you recently read any books or articles we should know about?

I don’t know how relevant this is, but recently I’ve been reading everything I can get my hands on about the American Revolution. My American History classes were some of my favorites, and I’m still entranced by how the constitution was written in secret – with the doors locked and the windows blocked, so no one could catch on to the fact that they weren’t doing what they were told. Right now I’m reading Ron Chernow’s biography on Alexander Hamilton, which is fascinating.

Do you plan on attending any conferences or workshops this year?

Not really. As the receptionist, conferences and workshops aren’t really in my sphere.

What do you do when you’re not surrounded by engineers making meshes?

Read, write, listen to music, and play games, to name a few things.

What is some of the best advice you’ve received?

“Don’t live your life to please other people.”

If you had to pick a place to have dinner, where would you go?

Old Town Pizza – a restaurant back in my hometown that made the best pizza in the world. I’ve found restaurants in Fort Worth to replace most of my other favorite places from home, but nothing has come close to matching OTP.