Tammy Brodzeller, class of ‘85, is one of the many successes PMHS has been able to call its very own. “One of my classes was called Basic Programming, and I loved it,” Brodzeller said. That was her first glimpse as to what career excited her.

In college, she pursued a business degree at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University and was able to incorporate her knowledge and love of code. 

“I enjoyed [programming], but I’m an extrovert. I like to talk to people,” she said.

 “When I found the degree in the business school that combined programming and consulting… that was where my passion was.”

The company she currently works for, Briljent, is a woman-owned company started by Kathy Carrier about 25 years ago.

 “[Carrier] got tired of all the rigmarole of bigger companies, lots of processes,” Brodzeller said, “…she was a woman in business 25 years ago and she decided she wanted to do it differently.”

Her company has been built from the ground up. Carrier started with one employee, herself, and now to 200. “She started driving down every day from Fort Wayne, set up like five meetings a day, then drive back home to Fort Wayne,” said Brodzeller. This over time grew her company. 

Briljent is a company that functions on the federal and state levels to help instruct other companies on how to teach their employees the skills they need to do their job.

“Let’s say a company is putting in a new computer system… and they want to make sure their team can fully utilize that system [that’s what we teach them how to use]”, Brodzeller said, “Our team goes in, figures out what needs and what people need to learn to do in their roles. We learn about the new system and help them figure it out.”

Before Jan. 1, Brodzeller was the Senior Vice President of human resources, where she managed about 10 people. Human resources focuses on employee engagement, satisfaction, and performance. “It deals with helping managers get the best out of their people,” she said. 

But, in the new year, she went up the ladder to the role of Senior Vice President of Operations. She oversees about 160 employees who do consulting work for Briljent’s clients. They work on making sure things are done on time, staying within budget, and keeping clients happy.

As Brodzeller’s roots are at PMHS, she hopes that students will be able to discover what sparks their interest by trying out different things. 

 “It’s hard to know when you’re in high school what you want to do with your life,” said Brodzeller, “…when you go to college, take as many courses as you can to learn different things. You don’t want to be rigid, you want to be open to new opportunities.”