Kate Megaw, CST, PMP
Braintrust Consulting Group is proud to announce that Kate Megaw, our COO, has been officially awarded the Certified Scrum Trainer® designation by the Scrum Alliance.
Earning this certification now means that Kate can now help others transform their complex projects with greater innovation and efficiency through the use of Scrum. Because Kate also holds the CSM and CSPO certifications through the Scrum Alliance, she can now teach Certified ScrumMaster and Certified Scrum Product Owner classes.
For those of you who don’t know a lot about the CST® designation, it is an extremely rigorous process that takes several years to complete. Kate has been working toward this goal since 2012.
In order to be considered for CST® certification, an individual must:
- Demonstrate a deep knowledge and understanding of Scrum concepts, practices, and principles.
- Hold an active Certified Scrum Professional designation from Scrum Alliance.
- Have extensive experience implementing Scrum inside organizations as a member of the team, as the Product Owner or ScrumMaster, or as a mentor.
- Have taught Scrum (to a minimum of 100 students) in a noncertified context or in partnership with a current CST.
The application process alone requires five letters of recommendations from existing CSTs, based on co-training with them.
We took a few minutes to ask Kate about the process and here’s what she had to say:
Q: What made you decide to pursue your CST® certification?
Kate: Over the last five years, I have worked with companies all over the United States as a Scrum Coach and taught non-certified classes such as Scrum Essentials, Kanban Essentials, and User Story Workshop. I’ve seen the benefits of the Agile/Scrum framework first hand. I believe in the methodology. I believe it is the most effective way to get work done. So for me, becoming a CST® was the next logical step.
Q: How hard was the process?
Kate: Overall the process was definitely rigorous. But I can confidently say the Scrum Alliance has built a great program for earning the CST® certification. It takes a ton of work, but there is a reason for everything that they require. The challenging process is the best way to ensure that only the highest quality, most dedicated professionals carry the CST® certification.
Q: What was the most rewarding part of the process?
Kate: One of the requirements for earning the CST® is co-training with people who have already earned their certification. For me, this was absolutely priceless. It was great to see how other people teach CSM and CSPO classes, because we each do it a little differently. So, co-training is an opportunity to learn from others and kind of pick the best parts from each person’s training approach. I think I probably took more notes than some of the class attendees. It was fascinating to see how other trainers structure their classes and will definitely have an impact on how I train as I incorporate some of their methods into my classes.
Q: So, now that you have earned your CST®, what’s next?
Kate: In addition to my Agile coaching, I will now be teaching some of the certified Braintrust training classes such as CSM and CSPO. As with everything in Scrum, my goal is to continually improve. The learning is never complete. My goal is to continue to be actively involved in the Scrum community, continue learning from other CST’s and to build the best possible training classes for our clients.
