Joyce Myers: How a Disney-loving army veteran became an ‘accidental’ CDO

How Joyce Myers built a career in data leadership

From growing up as a military child with dreams of Disney to becoming an ‘accidental’ Chief Data Officer, MTSI’s Joyce Myers ponders first-follower leadership, the CDO’s value and how to build data-informed culture.

Joyce Myers: Overview

• From military child to data leader
• The path to 'accidental' Chief Data Officer
• Lessons in leadership and resilience
• Building a data-informed culture at MTSI
• Quick fire questions

Joyce Myers (middle) collecting her Global Chief Data Officer 100 trophy at The Studio in Nashville

From military child to data leader

Sitting in her home near Huntsville, Alabama, home to the US Space and Rocket Centre, Joyce Myers is recalling a long career in data, one which has taken her from being a private in the U.S. Army to becoming an ‘accidental’ Chief Data Officer.

But this is not to say that the role of a Chief Data Officer (CDO), and the inner workings of master data management and databases, was her first love. 

After all, the CDO role did not exist until the early 2000s, and young Myers, living on Army compounds with both parents having served in the Air Force, was more likely to dream of Disney’s Cinderella than COBOL programming.

“The CDO [role] wasn't a thing when I was a little girl…I wanted to be a physical therapist. I just thought it was really cool how they could move you – and help you get better.”

“But when I graduated from high school in Oregon, only four people a year got selected into the physical therapy school. To have enough confidence to be one of those four people…I didn't want to do all the work for them to then say, ‘sorry you're not it’. So I ended up going a completely different path; I went to structural engineering.”

Myers liked the ‘analytical’ thought process of structural engineering, the detail around architecture - and to this day uses architectural analogies to presumably-bewildered friends and family. 

But the route into structural engineering also gave her a glimpse into her future career in data leadership and some of the cultural barriers she would face along the way.

The path to ‘accidental’ Chief Data Officer

Myers was the only woman in her courses in college and this would become a recurring theme in a career that has spanned the private and public sector. It’s why she remains a staunch supporter of other women  - and plays a key role in  Women in Data and Women in Analytics.

“I talked to the Air Force recruiter, and he said, ‘Oh, I'm sorry, we're not taking any women right now’. This was 1984, right? “, she recalls.

“Okay, so the next one's the Navy, and I'm like, ‘Oh, no way. I'm not going on a boat’. The next was the Marines and I was like, ‘I'm not hardcore enough’. So that left the Army office.”

While structural engineering sparked her analytical side, it was the practical, people-focused nature of logistics in the Army which shaped her future in data. Having joined the U.S. Army in 1984, Myers would go on to serve 20 years in logistics, during the transition from paper-based systems to electronic data management, before eventually retiring from service in 2003. 

“I started as a supply clerk, the one who orders all of the supplies and the equipment; from the toilet paper to the trucks. 

“It was data without me realising that it was data; you're authorised this amount, you have to order this amount, it has a due-in status track, right? You have to tie it all together.”

“I loved being in the Army and I loved putting those things together, solving puzzles, but helping people all the time too. It's a very-people oriented job that has that underlying data.”

This ethos would take Myers up through the ranks; from soldier, civilian and contractor in the civil service until 2022 - holding senior data leadership roles and finishing her civilian career at the Aviation and Missile command (AMCOM) and the US Army. After leading data strategy in the Army organisations she was assigned, Myers joined defense contractor MTSI in December 2023.

Join us at The Studio Nashville! Connect with top C-suite leaders for candid conversations on leadership, data, and transformation. Secure your spot and shape the future of business. Register now

Lessons in leadership and resilience

Now having spent as long outside of the Army as in it, Myers believes her career has been shaped by the good, bad and indifferent forces along the way – from the diverse culture of the U.S. Army and the allies she’s forged along the way, to the plethora of leadership styles which learned from, inspiring or otherwise.

This is not to say it has been easy. There have been times where managers or peers were ‘not willing to learn new things’ or ‘recognise when they were the ones slowing progress for people and the organisations’.

“Did I run up against walls? Yes. Did I get frustrated? Absolutely. Are there things that I walked away from because I knew it was never going to happen? For sure,” she said.

“But, in retrospect, I've had a lot of people who had my back, and who helped me be successful.”

Time has also changed her perspective on the role and her own qualities as a data leader. Admitting to being a ‘stubborn, recovering workaholic’, shaped in-part by being a single parent, Myers says gardening and yoga have changed her perspective on what good leadership and performance looks like.

“Now, I know where I am in my life. I know the value of stopping sometimes.. When I was younger, maybe I felt I had to prove myself…I wanted to be proud of myself….to learn…to go in there and just dig until I could figure it out”.

This tenacity and curiosity might be key qualities of Myers, but there’s also a steadfast focus on communication and people skills. She’s an advocate for the ‘follower-first’ leadership style, the principle of leaders walking the walk, but also seeing the positives in every situation.

“When I mentor, which is one of my favorite things to do, one of the things I always say is, even your bad boss is good, because we learn something…maybe you learn how not to be..”

Building a data-informed culture at MTSI

Having now been at MTSI just over a year, Myers is acutely aware of the need to drive value as a Chief Data Officer within the first 12 months - but she’s keen to stress that this starts with relationship building, business alignment and clear and consistent communication. 

Speaking at The Studio Nashville late last year, she spoke at length on the distinction between data-driven culture and data-informed decision making, the latter better reflecting the realistic use of data in day-to-day business operations.

“Whenever you're a chief data officer, that first year is hard. Nobody knows what you do, nobody knows why you're doing it. Nobody knows who you are. So there's just a lot of relationship building,” says Myers, who reports a positive relationship with her manager, the CIO.

“You can pick up any article about a chief data officer and it's going to say that they leave within 18 to 24months because they either didn't provide any value, they didn't feel they were providing value or getting support - or they were let go because the perception was that they weren't providing value.”

“Is it up to me to decide what the value is? Or is it up to me finding out what the company thinks is the value and then working to support that?”

Myers says the hard work is paying off. After almost 15 months ‘pushing the snowball up the hill’, the organisation is now in full alignment.  Data-informed culture, rather than data-driven, is here and MTSI is moving towards building data initiatives in a collaborative, agile manner.

“The champions are coming to the table,” says Myers.

“They're starting to see why metadata matters, what data matters, why having complete data matters. Maybe I'm a nerd, but it's exciting to see other people asking those questions and putting those pieces together by themselves.

“People are calling [me] every day saying, how do I be part of it? So I'm super excited and a little bit nervous because they're probably going to go faster than I can go.”

Myers’s priorities ahead are to evolve herself and the data function at MTSI, to continue to support women in data - but all the while finding a sense of balance for this one-time-workaholic.

“My focus over the next 3-5 years professionally is to help build the best data management program we can and help others learn about how important data management is.  After that, I will continue to take it day by day.”

Quick fire questions 🔥

What excites you about the next 12 months? 

Personally, I'm excited that my daughter is going back to school for nursing and will be graduating next year. Professionally, I'm excited to see where this next year goes as a Chief Data Officer - people are starting to see the value and want to be part of it, so the snowball is starting to pick up momentum.

What support do women in tech or data need?

Women need ‘open, safe and welcoming spaces regardless of age, background or experience where it is okay to not know everything and allow a community of trust to exist where women can learn and grow in data and tech.’ Also, finding champions, allies, and supporters whether they are women or not, and maximising that support.

What do you do outside of work? 

I'm a huge Disney fan and we go to Disney World a lot as a family. I also spend a lot of time with my grandchildren, teaching yoga and working in my flower gardens.

What’s the best advice you've ever received? 

My mantra is "there's something good in everything." No matter how stressful or frustrating things may be, I always try to look for goodness and be grateful. This has really helped shape my mindset and approach to life.

Join the C-Suite Awards 2025! Be recognised like Joyce Myers, a 2024 Chief Data Officer 100 winner. Celebrate leadership, innovation, and impact in the data world. Nominate yourself or a leader today!