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The Oregon Surveyor
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Vol. 40, No. 2
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A Young Surveyor’s Testimonial
By Samantha Tanner, PLS
A Young Surveyor’s Testimonial
Part I:
A Turtle on a Fencepost
If you’ve never heard of the “turtle on a fencepost”
saying, it goes like this: If you’re walking and spot a
turtle on a fencepost, you know it didn’t get there
by itself. Which is to say, everyone receives help to
get where they are. Whether it’s your mentors who
offer you sage advice, a boss who advocates for your
promotion, a client who takes a chance on you, a
colleague who helps you get a project finished, or even
the doubter who motivates you to prove them wrong;
we are not self-made. We all need help to climb the
fencepost.
I started on this path in 2002 right out of high school.
I didn’t come from a family of surveyors and had
never heard of the profession. I discovered it in the
school’s counseling office when I found a scholarship
application for “Geomatics majors only.” Not one
person had any idea what it was. When I made it to
university, I was the only traditional student in the
program; it mainly consisted of early and mid-career
students. In fact, I remained the youngest student for
several years until the program began attracting more
students directly out of high school. It took me 7.5
years to get my degree, because of two very important
components of the degree program
1.
Math, and
2.
Many classes were not available every semester.
I also participated in the Geomatics Student
Association and was the president for two years.
While I had this role, I represented the students at the
local professional society meetings for Alaska Society
of Professional Land Surveyors, American Society of
Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, and the Alaska
Surveying and Mapping Conference.
Throughout my career, I have worked in hydrography,
aerial mapping, GIS, conventional surveying, as well as
stream and rural road engineering design. It started
with the owner of the hydrographic company taking
a chance on me. When I told him during our phone
interview that I hadn’t even taken the hydro class yet,
he simply told me to ask lots of questions. Later, I was
hired to work in aerial mapping, another field that
I had very little knowledge of and was told basically
the same thing—you’re smart, you’ll figure it out, and
ask questions. Rather than stair-stepping my way up
through one company or in one line of surveying, I
stayed true to my adventurous nature by trying a little
bit of everything.
Part II:
Never Let Fear Decide Your Fate
At the very end of 2015, I was laid off. I applied for
jobs and networked with local companies. One of
these companies suggested that since they don’t have
enough work to bring me on full-time, perhaps I’d be
interested in contracting myself out part-time. It was
an interesting concept, and I thought it might work
with one or two other companies around. The idea to
become a business owner was not instantaneous. I
thought when I retire, becoming a consultant might be
something I’d like to do, but not right now. Thus, began
my journey into the great unknown. I started 45th
Parallel Geomatics, LLC in June 2016, though it was
another month before I was taking on projects.
After sharing this notion with a few other friends
who had started businesses, the top pieces of advice
were to get an accountant and a business attorney. I
met with an accountant who explained the types of
businesses, tax structure, liability, and the purpose
of various insurances, as well as the necessities of
accounting to avoid any major pitfalls. Most of this
felt like it was over my head at the time, but it was an
excellent crash course, and I wouldn’t have even known
enough to Google for it without her expertise. My
attorney did all the heavy lifting to set me up as a legal
entity here in Oregon.
When starting a business, you are the owner, adminis-
trator, human resources director, accountant,
marketer, business development manager, the IT
department, as well as the secretary and the technical
expert in your field (both in the office and in the field).
Sometimes these roles don’t take much effort, and
other times, everything is happening all at once.
I have been blessed with the opportunity during
previous employment to experience a wide range of
surveying in the field, as well as the office. I’ve had
to develop solutions to problems on the fly while I
was in the middle of the woods and there was no
cell signal to call someone for help. I’ve taken some
projects from start to finish, but nothing compares
to doing it all on your own. I now realize how much
footwork was done by someone in the office before
handing it off to someone in the field. When you don’t
play a role in each step of determining and setting