Boyer’s PMO team is growing: Melissa Myers recently joined as a project manager.
Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Melissa grew up overseas, living in or visiting every continent but Antarctica. A go-getter from the start, she had childhood dreams of becoming a doctor.
While attending Hollins University in Virginia, she quickly became involved in student leadership of the Hollins Outdoor Program and the Environmental Advisory Board. Her love of the outdoors and goal of reducing the university’s carbon footprint led her to a major in Environmental Studies.
“I wanted to change the word,” she said.
Natural affinity for PM work
Myers explored a career leading service and sales teams across military, manufacturing and outdoor industries. In every job, she always gravitated toward the project management aspects of the role.
“Everywhere I’ve ever been … taking on special projects or continuous improvement things or implementing new tools or processes has always been a part of the picture,” she said.
It wasn’t until someone else pointed out her natural affinity for project management that Myers started to notice the theme.
She was on the customer side of a software implementation when their PM commented that Myers’ skill for project management rivaled their own team’s. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that was the part of every role that she enjoyed most.
“The sort of work where you plan something out and help a vision become reality is very exciting to me,” Myers said.
She officially became a full-fledged project manager for that same ERP software company in 2022.
“That’s when I realized I really liked implementing and running new systems in companies,” she said. “ERP software is really where I got hooked.”
Throughout her career Myers has worked on both small and large projects and says there are benefits to both.
One customer was told they needed at least 12 months and six people to finish their implementation. The customer pushed back, saying they needed it done within six months and could only spare two people. They succeeded.
“Working with a small team that understood what their business needed, valued change and was willing to adapt processes was rewarding,” Myers said.
On the flip side, she also enjoyed creating the long-term plan for a multi-year project that spanned 30 sites across three continents.
“That’s rewarding, too, because you get to work with such a diverse group … and learn different ways to communicate or see how the same process is perceived in different places,” she said.
Why choose Boyer & Microsoft?
Myers heard about Boyer through a former coworker. Even before accepting the job, she spent hours researching Boyer, its culture and its customers. She was intrigued by Boyer’s team culture and the company’s focus on long-term customer success.
So far, she said, what she’s experiencing as a new employee is the same as what she saw in the interview process. She’s been impressed with the enthusiasm, genuine friendliness and helpfulness of her new team members.
She’s already jumped in to work with several Boyer customers and looks forward to helping them implement their goals.
“I’m really excited to get to be a part of what these companies are doing,” she said.
While Boyer is her first official role in working with Microsoft’s business applications software, she’s no stranger to the world of Microsoft. In fact, Myers called herself a Microsoft “superfan.” Even at home, Myers stays current with the latest and greatest of the Copilot-connected Microsoft 365 world. Her catchphrase is “Relax, I have a spreadsheet for that.”
Now, with her first look at Microsoft’s business software offerings, she’s thrilled to find that same cohesiveness of the Microsoft ecosystem exists across platforms.
“One of the challenges I’ve always faced with other systems is that no matter what you do you have to have a peripheral system,” she said. Integrations and customizations, even for something as mission-critical as reporting, requires fundamental changes to the software or third-party add-on solutions.
Within the Microsoft world, she said, “Everything talks to everything else. … It feels like a system that wants your business to be part of the world.”
On the home front
Myers lives in Gardner, Mass., with her fiancé, Dylan, and 13-year-old. They are currently restoring a 1930s farmhouse and are surrounded by animals including cats, dogs, turkeys, ducks, chickens and fish.
Myers spends most of her free time outside in her garden.
“I garden like crazy,” she said. Last year alone she grew 75 different plants, and she’s already starting seeds for this summer’s garden with plans to spend the fall canning her harvest.
She also knits a lot, makes birthday cakes for her friends, works on her truck and is learning how to weld.
“My hobby is learning how to do things and making myself handy to have as a friend in an apocalypse,” she joked.
