Running through a data analyst’s mind late at night

From an email to me this week. Quoted with permission.

I’ve been doing this ‘data analyst’ thing for almost a decade now and I’m not even sure I’m doing it right. Does anyone really know what a data analyst is? I’m a Microsoft Access guy that got lucky and learned SQL from a bunch of very sharp devs. Then I got lucky again when I met [name withheld] and discovered [name of tool withheld]. Now I get to play with data in a creative way. I guess that makes me a data analyst. I know there are better da’s out there that write ugly SQL, but they get the job done so I guess it’s not about coding. I think we’re riding a wave right now. Old bi, New bi … it’s all blurring together. … I don’t know if I’m doing it right. I know that sometimes I help people and sometimes the work I do makes it easier for them to do the work they do. For me, that’s enough.