Student Story
From Homeschool to Career Success: Lydia's Vertical Immersive Journey
Lydia Emerson
Fractional COO,
Vertical Immersive Class of 2019
"I get to work remotely, and I get to be picky about who I work for."
Lydia is an Operations Specialist with experience identifying, creating, & implementing new business procedures & strategies focused on growth across all teams. She has helped multiple startups drive their bottom line by ensuring every facet of the organization is effectively streamlined towards the organization’s goals. In 2024 Lydia brought her journey full circle by becoming a facilitator at Vertical Immersive, where she teaches Personal Branding.
Before Vertical Immersive…
"I didn't know what I wanted to do whatsoever with my career."
Sound familiar? That was Lydia Emerson during her senior year of high school. As a homeschooled student from Cincinnati, she felt that all-too-common pressure to figure out her future path… and fast.
Peers were picking colleges, but here's the thing about that: traditional college asks you to commit to a major (and significant debt) before you've had a chance to discover what truly lights you up. That just didn't sit right with Lydia.
Finding Her Path
Through Immersive Learning
Instead of jumping straight into college, Lydia chose Vertical Immersive. Why? Because she wanted to "explore different career paths" and "actually figure out what I want to do."
Through multiple apprenticeships, Lydia discovered her true calling in operations management—something she might never have found sitting in traditional lectures.
"In my third apprenticeship, I was working under the operations manager at Swan Software Solutions," Lydia shares. "I got to do a couple of her tasks, and that's when I really realized I really do like operations! And that's what I'm doing today."
That moment of discovery? It changed everything.
At Vertical Immersive, Lydia didn't just learn about business. She built an impressive resume filled with actual results.
"I'm really proud of my resume and how much I've worked at Vertical Immersive to gain the skill sets that really impress employers," Lydia explains. "I get to work remotely, and I get to be picky about who I work for."
Meanwhile, Lydia has watched peers graduate from traditional colleges who "have to take whatever they can get, and don't have as many skills as I have."
Diving Right into the Deep End
As a student at Vertical Immersive, Lydia learned to adapt quickly.
"They dropped me into the deep end right away," she recalls about her first apprenticeship. "You're given support and training, but you have to learn how to create results."
That real-world experience made her incredibly adaptable—a superpower in today's ever-changing job market. "Now I'm really adaptable at the companies I work for, and I can just learn how to figure out a new system and create results."
Finding Her People
Beyond career success, Lydia found something else she was looking for—community. The relationships and networking opportunities at Vertical Immersive became a foundation for her professional journey.
"We were told at Vertical Immersive to network, and I think only some of us really capitalized on everything that Vertical Immersive gave us," she says. "The ones who did have really gone forward with the network that we built."
Her advice? "Networking is all about compound interest—the sooner you can do it, the better it's gonna be for you over time."
Where Is She Now?
Today, Lydia serves as the Director of Digital Sales at GoLive HQ, building funnels and figuring out how to increase revenue and operations. She's doing work she loves, with the freedom to choose her own path.
But her journey has come full circle too—Lydia also teaches Personal Branding at Vertical Immersive, helping current students "learn how to sell themselves on a job and get a job that they want."
Why? Because she knows firsthand how important it is to find work you love.
"That's very important for students because you want to enjoy what you do," she explains. "We (Gen Z) really do care about the companies we work for and having that good culture fit."
Is Vertical Immersive Right for You?
If you're like Lydia and not sure what career path to pursue, maybe it's time to explore instead of commit. As Lydia advises current students:
"Explore everything. Explore all the different career paths. Vertical Immersive is really great for people who don't know what they want to do with their career and want to explore a whole bunch of different things."
God has created you with unique gifts and passions. Wouldn't it be amazing to discover them through real-world experience rather than just classroom theory? To build a resume full of actual accomplishments rather than just collecting course credits?
That's the Vertical Immersive difference. And for Lydia, it made all the difference in the world.