Tom Wedding’s focus on achieving goals, whether on the soccer field or in his professional career, has been a motivating factor his entire life.

The soccer fanatic and IT Infrastructure Manager at Williams says there are parallels between his favorite sport and career success.

“In the game of soccer, you and ten others on the field from your team must be in sync and work cohesively to get the score. At work, I lead my team to do the same to achieve the goals and mission of Williams. It takes leadership, discipline, accountability and drive.”

Wedding’s career journey, while not typical, started as a teenager in the mid-1990s when he interned for Williams as a student at a Tulsa technical school. At that time, he helped introduce Williams to the World Wide Web and a digital future many could only imagine.

The day after Wedding graduated from high school, he started a full-time IT job supporting HR. With the help of mentors, a desire to continue his formal education and perseverance, he’s steadily climbed a career ladder while making sure to reach down to help others succeed.

“I’ve had a lot of great mentors who helped guide me where I needed to be,” he said. “They encouraged me to further my education and with help of Williams’ tuition reimbursement program, I’ve earned a bachelor’s degree and then a master’s degree and became the leader I always wanted to be.

“Now my main focus is helping my employees be the best they can be,” he continued. “I encourage them to find mentors, whether in IT or another department, and look for opportunities to further their careers with learning and development.”

Wedding says he stays in contact with his early mentors, including those who helped him as a teenager at Williams and former company executives he’s worked with through the years.

“They taught me to never stop learning and to always keep developing my skills,” he said, gesturing to a sign in his office.

“It says ‘Be Awesome Today.’ I try to do that each and every day.”