Magda Kozak

Bio:

Always around geeks but never the techie. I'm drawn to the awesome and creative people in this community and its no wonder I ended up involved in it some way. Joining Pivotal as the first non technical person in NY was definitely interesting and a challenge. All my previous experience is in accounting and finance and these industries give you a lot of direction in your role. Now I get to do so many interesting things. I don't think I can ever go back to something bigger and more corporate.

• Title: Life Engineer, Pivotal Labs
• Age: 25
• Location: Brooklyn
• Contact: @beyondreality

You currently live in Brooklyn.  What are some of your favorite bars and/or restaurants there?  Favorite place to grab a cup of coffee? 

Lately I've really liked going to Apartment 138 in Cobble Hill, it's perfect for after work drinks and dinner and they have a nice patio.  Picket Fence in Ditmas Park is really good too.  I love the fact that their amuse-bouche is air popped popcorn.  

Favorite coffee is definitely at Cafe Grumpy in Park Slope.  It's not close to my apartment but worth the 20minute trip for me on the weekends. It's small and doesn't have much besides coffee but the espresso is always just right and the atmosphere is super relaxing.  

After graduating from Drexel in Philadelphia, how did you end up at Pivotal Labs in New York? 

I realized before I graduated that I didn't want to do anything related to my fields of study.  This was a little disheartening as I thought I wasted all those years of school and had no idea what I was going to do next.  I had always wanted to move to New York and a job opportunity for my husband presented itself.  Before he got off the phone with the recruiter I was researching apartments.  A friend happened to just start working at Pivotal and mentioned that they were looking for someone non-technical for their New York Office (Thanks Kevin!).  After talking to him and reading about the company I immediately jumped at the opportunity. 

What is your favorite part of your job at Pivotal Labs?  How has it been with the Techstars folks sharing your office?

I love the variety of my job and that I get to meet new people almost daily.  I almost never know what I'm going to be doing when I go to work and that makes my job so much fun.  Having the Tech Stars program here has also been a blast.  They bring in so many interesting people and the companies in the program are so passionate about their products and ideas.  It's refreshing to be around that every single day.