South Bend born and raised, Delaney Kash left Indiana for college and new experiences, but she didn’t stay away for too long. She’s back in Indy and keeping busy with a never-do-the-same-thing-twice job at tech giant Angie’s List, co-chairing a company meetup group, and serving as a board member for a nonprofit.
Like many of us growing up, Delaney had visions of life in the big city. “When I was looking at colleges I knew it was my chance to go somewhere bigger than South Bend and open up my eyes to the world,” she said. “That’s how I ended up in Chicago.” She studied communication and media at DePaul University.
She loved Chicago, especially the food and restaurants, but the fast pace of the city didn’t carry over into the marketing and event planning positions where she worked. Things would slow down at the office and she found herself searching for more, something different.
“I ended back up in Indy because I had always liked the city. I knew it was growing and I was excited about the opportunities,” Delaney said.
Initially, she was worried that she’d find herself in the same position she did in Chicago — loving the city but disappointed in the workplace culture. She heard about Angie’s List through a friend and ended up landing a job as a product enablement specialist. Now she says she finally found the fun, fast-paced work environment she always wanted.
It was a little bit nerve racking at first, jumping into the tech industry, but her co-workers helped her feel welcomed and she loved the challenge of learning something new.
“That’s one of the things I like so much about the tech world,” Delaney said. “It’s always changing and here at Angie’s List every day brings something new and different. I’m always learning and I never do the same thing twice, and that’s one of the things I just love about working here.”
Even though she’s always been nervous about public speaking and presentations, it turned out to be a big part of her role with the company. In fact, that’s one of the reasons she was drawn to the job because she knew it would challenge her to overcome her fears. “I know that probably sounds kind of weird, but I wanted to get better at the thing I was probably the worst at.”
Delaney has definitely conquered her fears. She’s mastered speaking in public and giving presentations, and today it’s her job to train all new Angie’s List employees to make sure they are well-informed about the platform and products.
“It’s an important part of our culture that we know more than our own little corner and feel connected to something bigger than ourselves,” Delaney said.
Delaney also is co-chair for an Angie’s List meetup group called The Networking Committee that hosts quarterly events for employees and management from all different departments to get to know one another. It fosters new working relationships and a better understanding of the company as a whole.
Delaney still finds time to help with one of her other passions, helping animals. A vegetarian and caretaker of two beautiful spaniels, Oliver and Tank, she feels strongly about animal welfare. As a board member for Move to Act, Delaney helps to raise money to care for animals that might otherwise not have a chance.
“For me it’s part of who I am,” Delaney said. “Giving back is something that I like to do in my free time because it makes me happy and it gives me an opportunity to engage in another part of the community.