Warrior Spotlight: Carlee Barackman

For Rochester Christian University graduate, Carlee Barackman, public transportation means more than getting from point A to point B.

After living in Nashville for a few years, Barackman realized that while most people rely on their cars for transportation in most major metropolitan areas, other options should be available for those who cannot rely on cars every day for transportation.

She became fascinated with public transportation and the mobility industry, and soon she started working as a senior project manager for Swiftly, a technology company based out of San Francisco that specializes in providing efficient transportation to major cities across the globe, including Detroit’s own Q-line, a streetcar system that runs along Woodward Avenue connecting midtown and downtown Detroit. In her role, Barackman communicates with co-workers, transportation agencies and customers to make sure that everything runs smoothly.

A mass communication major while at RCU, Barackman credits what she learned in the classroom and as an editor of Shield Media with helping her daily in her career.

“There is so much about mass communication that I learned at RCU that applies to my career now, even if I am not in public relations now. So much of my current job is figuring out how to communicate with different groups of people, which is a skill that my degree taught me. In addition, a lot of times in tech and in product roles, you think about how a product or feature is going to get marketed, sold and talked about.” Barackman said.

As one of the editors of Shield Media, Barackman fondly remembers spending countless hours working on deadlines and laying out the Shield magazine in the Journalism Lab.

After graduation and before joining Swiftly, Barackman worked for a number of tech start-ups where one of her tasks was to create a mobile app from scratch.

“I never thought I would be working in tech while I was in school, but so much of what I did at RCU brought me here perfectly, including getting a job as a user experience designer because I had Photoshop experience from working on the Shield.”

While at RCU, Barackman also was a member of the women’s soccer team. “I had the absolute honor to start the first Breast Cancer Awareness game for the women’s soccer team — the same year one of our teammates’ mother was battling cancer. I think I cried while playing soccer that whole game because I was so honored at the turn out from RCU,” she said.

Currently living and working remotely in Detroit, Barackman spends her free time competing in CrossFit competitions, walking her dog and exploring everything that Detroit has to offer.