Boyer’s newest employee is ready to assist in any way he can. Miles Li recently joined the team as an associate project manager.
Li initially had plans to become a software engineer but midway through college decided that wasn’t the right fit. He switched gears and earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology, supplemented by his earlier two years of computer science classes.
He landed a job in business development for a company that was building an app for Asian cuisine, similar to DoorDash and Uber Eats. After a year in that position he switched to a product-development perspective, using his knowledge on what customers wanted to help the team design the best solution.
His experience came full circle when he realized his sweet spot was project management. He moved to a project manager position at a telecommunications company in 2020 and hit his stride.
“I really enjoy just working in a team environment and helping people out,” he said.
While PM work wasn’t his initial career path, the segway from business development to product development to project management just came naturally. He has enjoyed the work as well as the camaraderie with his project team and clients at his last two companies.
As a project manager, Li likes to picture a track and field team “walking toward the finish line all together.”
His part involves a lot of coordination and communication to make sure the project stays on track and within budget. He helps solve any issues that arise in order to continue pushing the project forward.
“I like to help people solve their issues … so they can perform their tasks,” he said. “My project team does all the hard work. They are the ones actually building the stuff for the clients.”
In early 2024, a family emergency caused him to put his job on hold when his grandmother back in China landed in the hospital. Li spent the next few months doing his part to care for her until other family members could take over.
When he returned to the U.S., he reached out to a former coworker to see if her new company had any open positions. That’s how he joined Boyer.
In his first two weeks alone, he met a lot of new coworkers and participated in the Minneapolis company’s annual in-person event. It’s those soft skills that Li is most excited to grow.
“It’s going to be a good experience for me to improve my interpersonal skills … I think interacting with all kinds of different people is an essential skill regardless of the industry,” he said.
He’s also looking forward to improving his technical skills, specifically as it relates to using Power BI to show customers how their project is progressing. He knows the front-end piece well but wants to learn more about how it works on the back end.
When he’s not busy managing a project, Li likes to stay active. He played a lot of basketball during his high school and college years and still enjoys frisbee, volleyball, hiking and surfing.
Li currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia, and half of his family lives in nearby Savannah, where he attended high school. The other half, from his Dad’s side, remains in China with his grandmother.
