What do the career path and the day-in-the-life look like for an Inside Sales Technical Enablement at Nexthink?

We connected with Rory O’Connor to find out!

Interested in learning more about Nexthink? Make sure to check out their company page!

Where did you grow up?  What did your parents do for work?  

I grew up in Quincy, MA just 5 minutes South of Boston. My mother is a teacher and my father was in law enforcement.

Where did you go to college?  What did you study and what were some of your initial jobs out of school?

I attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst. As a shameless plug, I will say they were some of the best 4 years I experienced. Between the culture, education, people, and overall environment, UMass was top notch. 

I was a political science major with a minor in macroeconomics. I loved political science because the classes involved discussion, thought leadership, and opinion, which has always been of interest. 

In high school, throughout college, and even on the side with my first job, I caddied. Caddying to this day has had the biggest influence on me workwise. I was able to spend time with accomplished individuals for hours on end, making conversation, seeing how they carried themselves, and getting exposed to new ideas. To this day, I still keep in touch with some of them, one in particular who has become a mentor. 

Caddying indirectly led me to my first job. A year or so after graduating from college, I was at a bar making small talk a year with some older golfers. Long story short, after we realized we had some mutual connections, learning that I was looking for a true first job and an “interview” over some libations, I was given a job at a boutique marketing firm in Boston.  

That marketing job was the perfect first job. I gained work experience and learned how marketing operated. However once that job wrapped up, I realized I wanted something to work towards on a daily basis. This led me to look into BDR (Business Development Representative) roles and ultimately Nexthink. I read a small article in the Boston Business Journal about a Swiss startup making inroads in Boston and sent in my resume. A few days later, I got a call from the Director of the team and told him about my prior experiences (bar story included), and he loved it. I knew little to nothing about enterprise IT but I think my ability to make conversation and connect with individuals helped!

What has attributed to your success thus far and has helped propel you to the position you have now?

I am a firm believer in keeping an open mind towards work. I think coming into a new job and ‘being a sponge’ is key to success. You want to learn from those around you, whether they do the same thing or not. Their experiences and knowledge will only allow you to better yourself. 

Can you share the high-level responsibilities of your current position as a Inside Sales Technician at Nexthink?

Some of it is classified info but I can let you in on a little… My responsibilities consist primarily of finding ways to allow the business development team to exceed. I also work with the sales enablement team. This encompasses how we pitch, the cadences, onboarding, finding new ways to get to our prospects’ attention, working through the lows and the highs, and everything in between.  

Any tips for someone considering a career in your field?

For anybody who is considering getting into this, they should ask themselves if they want to work with others by helping them learn and be in a team environment. It’s all about passing knowledge on as well as seeing how you can add value to make a colleague that much more successful. 

Day in the Life

Coffee, tea, or nothing?

Coffee! Trenta Hazelnut from Starbs!

What time do you get into the office? 

I’d be lying if I said I was a morning person... let's just say the Red Line is always ‘delayed’.

What are three things that motivate you in your role?

Passing on knowledge and seeing it work, finding new ways to win/learning from failures, and watching someone excel in their development.

Every day is different, but can you outline what a typical day looks like for you?

I like to have a coffee and see what's happening in the news. I usually have the new BDRs do the same. It is amazing how a news tidbit can then lead to a quality sales call down the line. Then, depending on the week, I have some calls with the team in Europe to see how they are doing. Right before lunch and for the afternoon, I will do some training sessions/exercises depending on where people are at. Then there is a mix of calls with the Boston team and miscellaneous activities. It really depends where we are with new hires and the time of the quarter. 

What time do you head out of the office? 

Usually, we will start heading to the train around 5:30pm depending on the night and what line you take home. We have a good group in the office and later in the week, predominantly Thursdays, there is an ‘understood’ consensus that we’ll all go grab a beer at a local bar...and I'll never say no to a beer or two!

Do you log back in at night or do you shut it down completely?  

Very rarely. I think shutting everything down is important and most of the time it can wait for the morning. I think that if you truly do not have work to do past 6pm, then being on your work computer for appearances could be better spent with family, friends, working on oneself, or just taking a breather!

Any productivity hacks?

My boss once showed me the importance of putting time on my own calendar to get work done. It has been very helpful and prevents distractions from creeping in, but also keeps you accountable. 

What are the 3 apps that you can’t live without?

I admit I have an Instagram addiction. Spotify is key, especially for podcasts during the commute to and from work. Then, oddly enough, Yelp. I love finding new food spots and bars. It always cracks me up at some of the reviews people leave, too. 

What professional accomplishment are you proudest of?

A couple of years ago here at Nexthink, I won BDR of the year. It was a great experience because the company event was in Malta, where most of us had never been, and I won it with the sales rep and sales engineer I worked with at the time. When I first started as a BDR, I was pretty bad at it and it took me a while to get it down. Eventually, it all started to click and I was able to contribute and help bring in some logos for the company. However, it was a great experience because when I see someone struggling on the BDR team, now I tell them I was no ace either… it takes a while, but eventually, if you keep trying to improve, you’ll get there. 

Who do you admire or call upon for professional advice?

It would be my father. His background is law enforcement which is a completely different world from enterprise software. However, the leadership skills I have learned from him are unparalleled. Whether it is decision making and owning that decision or staying calm when things might not be going well, those are things I look to emulate and work towards. 

What do the career path and the day-in-the-life look like for a Director of Sales at Crayon?

We connected with Chris Pope to find out!

Interested in learning more about Crayon? Make sure to check out their company page!

Where did you grow up? What did your parents do for work?  

I grew up in Newfields, NH which is a small town in southeastern NH. My mom has worked in sales at Microsoft for almost 30 years and my dad has held a number of jobs including managing manufacturing plants, coaching every youth sport you can imagine, and helping manage a golf course.

Where did you go to college?  What did you study and what were some of your initial jobs out of school?

I graduated from Hobart & William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York with a degree in Public Policy and English. I initially worked as an apprentice for Kerivan-Lane, which is a family-owned HVAC business out of Needham, MA. That opportunity was humbling and really opened my eyes to the real world and taught me a lot about hard work and customer service. It also taught me that manual labor wasn’t something I wanted to spend the next 50 years of my career doing. After my time there, I started my career in sales at AppNeta, working for the brilliant Matt Stevens. I attribute a lot of the sales skills and knowledge I have to my time there. They were a gritty start-up at the time that wasn’t afraid to provide young people with the opportunities to grow their careers quickly. While sometimes you felt like you were drowning, I also credit the sales leaders there for teaching me how to swim pretty quickly. Since then, I have been at Crayon for the past 4.5 years, where I have grown from Account Executive to Director of Sales. I think I was extremely fortunate to find Crayon when I did. It’s not every day you get to watch a start-up go from doing thousands of dollars worth of business to tens of millions of dollars worth of business first-hand in such a short period of time. It’s been the ride of a lifetime, to say the least.

What has attributed to your success thus far and has helped propel you to the position you have now?

I have two mantras:

• Always be the hardest working person in the room (or on the Zoom)
• Be an expert

Sales takes a lot of skill, but part of it is science. The harder you work, the more successful you will be. My dad drilled into my head at an early age that if you want to be a leader, you need to lead by example, so that is always what I have tried to do. 

I think one of the most common mistakes salespeople make is not taking the time to become an expert of their product and their industry. Sales is all about trust and showing your prospects you are an expert can go a long way in your attempt to build credibility. One of the first things I did during my time at Crayon is quickly form alliances with every department within the organization, as well as become acquainted with a lot of thought leaders in the industry.

Can you share the high-level responsibilities of your current position as a Director of Sales at Crayon?

Most of my time is spent supporting our senior sales executives with deal support. Whether that is providing technical support on demonstrations or strategizing around negotiations and internal contract review processes. I also assist with hiring, onboarding, and training of new sales executives, as well as other strategic initiatives we have going on internally.

Any tips for someone considering a career in your field?

Network. Network. Network. Immerse yourself into the fast-growing technology community and build as many relationships as you can.

Day in the Life

Coffee, tea, or nothing?

I crush caffeine-free tea to help me keep going through the day. 

What time do you get into the office? 

Typically between 7:30-8:00 am.

What are three things that motivate you in your role?

• Seeing others succeed
• Watching the company succeed
• Money

Every day is different, but can you outline what a typical day looks like for you?

I am in the trenches with my team.  With a team of reps that vary in tenure and experience, I never know what my day will end up being.  From scheduled demos to last minute negotiations, things move fast and so do I. 

What time do you head out of the office? 

Typically at 6pm 

Do you log back in at night or do you shut it down completely?  

It’s a mobile world, so I am pretty much always on or available. I usually take one or two vacations per year where I try my best to shut it down completely. 

Any productivity hacks?

• Take short breaks throughout the day. I am almost always pacing from one end of our office to the other between tasks. 
• Plan your next day the night before. I wrap up every day by creating a to-do list for the next day.
• Work on one big project at a time. 

What are the 3 apps that you can’t live without?

• The Grint - So I can closely monitor how bad my golf game is. 
• ESPN
• Instagram

Who do you admire or call upon for professional advice?

I have a ton of mentors and peers I call or share ideas with frequently. If you don’t have a career mentor, I strongly suggest speaking to your manager about helping you find one.

There are many factors that play into one's choice when deciding on what company is the right fit for them, so we decided to dive deep into why BitSight is a great place to work by asking their team members the question "Why did you join BitSight and what were the major factors for you?"

Narmadha Ganapathy, Senior Software Engineer

Throughout my career, I have worked in multiple MNC’s, in two different industries, and I wanted to have a change from my old organization, that’s when I heard about BitSight. Being a passionate engineer I was looking for a place where I can work on a modern tech stack and get to try different aspects of the product. BitSight offers me a perfect environment for me to try this.  Our customer win report gives you a sense of gratification and the impact made by your work. At the end of the day, I can retire to my family with a high level of satisfaction from my job.  

I joined BitSight literally two days before the pandemic lockdown, making work remote. I must say the support I received from every member of the organization assured me that I have chosen a solid workplace. I am my healthiest self in my entire career, both mentally and physically after joining BitSight, as it provides good work life balance.  Every morning I wake up and the thought of work makes me happy, and the credit goes to BitSight!

Luke Mendenhall, Software Engineer

Meet JRNI’s Professional Services Manager, Luis Fleitas. Members from JRNI sat down (virtually) with Luis to find out more about his career progression, what makes JRNI different, and what he enjoys doing outside of work!

Original article can be found on JRNI's blog.

You’ve been at JRNI for four years now. How have you grown in your role thus far?

I started out as a Solutions Architect on the pre-sales team four years ago. I worked with many large enterprises designing integrations that are still up and running today. I am now managing the Professional Services team in the U.S. In the past four years, I have had the good fortune to work closely with the Sales, Product, and Engineering teams and have learned a lot from them.

What’s one of your biggest accomplishments so far in your career at JRNI?

It's hard to pick one single project or task as my biggest accomplishment in JRNI. I have worked on multiple large challenging projects that have helped the company grow and establish ourselves as market leaders. However, I would consider building a truly amazing PS team as my biggest accomplishment. It’s rewarding to see how my team delivers large projects and maintains a high level of engagement with our customers during the implementation cycle.

What’s the most rewarding part about working at JRNI?

The impact of our work. We work with very well established and recognizable brands, and our products are used by hundreds of thousands of people every month across the world.

What’s your favorite thing about your coworkers/team?

There is a direct line to anybody in the organization. We are truly an open door organization. I am able to reach out to anybody if I have an idea or issue I need to discuss.

What makes JRNI different?

The fast pace of change and how quickly we can react to market changes. It was truly amazing how our company was able to react to the changes that the COVID-19 pandemic brought to the marketplace by introducing new product offerings that helped bridge a gap.

Do you have any hobbies you’re passionate about?

I have two main hobbies. I love to cook and I also practice Crossfit. I bought a side smoker a couple of years ago and have been perfecting my technique. I am always reading on what is the best way to smoke and season a brisket.

If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go?

I have been lucky enough to travel a little bit and see some truly amazing places. However, if I could pick my next destination it would probably be Istanbul. I love the idea of walking through the open markets and visiting the Hagia Sophia mosque.

What do the career path and the day-in-the-life look like for a Director of Cloud Alliances at Aqua?

We connected with Eli Scherr to find out!

Interested in learning more about Aqua? Make sure to check out their company page!

Where did you grow up?  What did your parents do for work?  

I grew up in southern Maine in a small coastal town called Yarmouth.  My mom was a special ed teacher in a neighboring public school, and my father worked on the waterfront in Portland from selling, building & maintaining boats to running a full-service marina. 

Where did you go to college?  What did you study and what were some of your initial jobs out of school?

I went to Hobart College in Western NY. Taking full advantage of the liberal arts opportunity, I started in economics but later re-aligned, and I finished with a major in Psychology with minors in education & social justice. Following college, I had an unpaid internship with a four-person start-up in NYC. Then after a road trip to Colorado (where I became hooked on the outdoor activities, culture, and pace of life), I ended up sticking around. I spent four years there working for Maxim Healthcare in HR, Operations, Sales, and then Dish Network in HR & Field operations.

What has attributed to your success thus far and has helped propel you to the position you have now?

I believe that hard work will always be a foundational component of anyone’s success and growth.  Beyond that, I believe that accountability and delivery have helped form key relationships with my colleagues.  In my opinion, no matter where you sit in an organization the relationships you build are key to establishing yourself.

I started my career at Aqua in a different department but then transitioned into business development and cloud alliances. This career shift was possible because of the relationships I built and the trust I established. I have been lucky enough to work with leaders at Aqua who are open to creative paths for me to demonstrate my potential and allow me to explore new skills. Leadership that is committed to mentorship and people development is a game changer.    

Can you share the high-level responsibilities of your current position as a Director of Cloud Alliances at Aqua?

At Aqua Security I am responsible for the strategy of our global alliances with the major Cloud Providers (AWS, Azure, GCP, RedHat, VMware, Alibaba Cloud) as well as with relevant technical eco-system partners that support a joint value in an aligned approach. 

Any tips for someone considering a career in your field?

There is no one-size-fits-all for business development, but it is integral that you are comfortable with ambiguity and can build structure around some unknown.

Day in the Life

Coffee, tea, or nothing?

Coffee, coffee, coffee!

What time do you get into the office? 

In a pre-COVID world, I was known to be in the office by 7:15 or 7:30 (I wanted to avoid losing hours in traffic, but it doesn’t hurt when I’m working with colleagues in Israel!).  Since the pandemic, my “online” schedule shifted slightly where I sign on just before 8am each morning.

What are three things that motivate you in your role?

1. My team and the broader Aqua team. We are a group that grows together. We learn from each other but also tackle new challenges together.
2. The opportunity to have a direct impact on the success of Aqua Security as a whole – that’s the beauty of a hypergrowth startup!
3. Working with our partners and building alliances together – I am able to really see the broader impact of Aqua’s technology.

Every day is different, but can you outline what a typical day looks like for you?

Each day is a mix of internal cross-functional meetings driving existing/upcoming initiatives and externally facing partner meetings with cloud providers and/or technical eco-system partners. Then there is ongoing chat and collaboration with my team via various communication mediums while simultaneously attending to the small fires that pop up more than I’d like to admit. 

What time do you head out of the office?

It’s quite a range! 5:30-7:00 pm depending on the day, and if I am commuting from my office to living room or our physical office in Burlington, MA home to my home in Boston.

Do you log back in at night or do you shut it down completely?  

With the pace of an exponentially growing global business at Aqua Security, there are times where I have to jump on odd hour calls for different regions around the world.  I’m rarely unreachable unless on a planned vacation outside of cell coverage.  With that said, I would say as a company, we have a culture of being mindful of time zones and respecting a balance of work/life. In the remote world, it becomes even more integral to trust our folks to deliver and not worry about the time you are actually sitting in a seat. It’s about finding the balance that works with your life!  

Any productivity hacks?

Do less better.  Simplify each day by focusing on accomplishing a few critical tasks instead of getting bogged down by the noise around you. It is very easy with a million ways to communicate to never be able to focus on something from start to finish, but I believe this is key.  If the meeting you are on isn’t benefiting you to the point where you are paying attention, I might ask – “why are you on that meeting?”

What are the 3 apps that you can’t live without?

Zillow (not for practical purposes just exploration), [insert food delivery service app], and ESPN

What professional accomplishment are you proudest of?

The elbows in my career where I have moved from stable comfortable positions to take on a new challenge or rebuild something that is not working.  These opportunities to make myself uncomfortable, without a clear map in front of me, but in the end come out successful are the most rewarding. 

Who do you admire or call upon for professional advice?

That would have to be my two older brothers alongside a manager of the past.  These are the people that can be honest and upfront with me without any sugar-coating, which is just what I need having created my non-linear career path so far. 

What do the career path and the day-in-the-life look like for an Associate Product Manager at Examity?

We connected with Alana Dore to find out!

Interested in learning more about Examity? Make sure to check out their company page!

Where did you grow up?  What did your parents do for work? 

I grew up in Needham, MA. My dad worked as a client service executive - a job I did not fully appreciate until I did something similar when I first started Examity. My mom was an entrepreneur and started two health practices in different disciplines. Both of them often worked out of our house, so from an early age I learned the importance of effective communication and listening to your clients. I also learned the value of noise cancelling headphones.

Where did you go to college?  What did you study and what were some of your initial jobs?

I graduated from Northeastern University with a dual degree in English and linguistics. The best decision I made in college was adding Linguistics as a major. I was discouraged from sciences as a kid and one introductory class (shoutout to Dr. Rob Painter) changed my whole perspective. Studying linguistics allowed me to understand how we can use data and identify patterns to learn more about people and their cultures. That education continues to drive my thinking today. I love that the field of linguistics is always evolving.. 

Through Northeastern’s co-op program, I was able to test drive a variety of career paths. I worked at a nonprofit for students, in digital marketing for Wayfair and in corporate philanthropy at TJX corporate (T.J.Maxx, Marshalls, Homegoods). I thought after graduating I would end up working in philanthropy but landed a job at Examity as an Account Manager. I appreciate the culture and people at Examity and feel passionately about helping to build a better product.

What has attributed to your success thus far and has helped propel you to the position you have now?

• Being curious and persistent, especially when it entails learning about what motivates, challenges, and excites other people. 
• Creating meaningful personal connections.
• A desire to be of service. If something I am doing will help someone else, then I’ll be motivated to get it done. 

Can you share the high-level responsibilities of your current position as an Associate Product Manager at Examity?

As an associate product manager at Examity, my main responsibility is contributing to the formation and execution of our product vision. 

Any tips for someone considering a career in your field? / How did you transition into Product Management?

Do your research - product management is very different from what I first anticipated. It’s a profession I didn’t even know existed until I started at Examity. I took a certificate course with General Assembly to get the lay of the land and read a lot of books and articles from product professionals. 

Ultimately, working directly with our clients as an Account Manager gave me a unique understanding of our industry, our users, and their needs. Examity leadership allowed me to sit in on product and design meetings and even work on some research and story development before I joined the team. Working at a smaller, collaborative company definitely opened up opportunities for me to dip my feet in the product world before diving in. Further, having people within the department who wanted to work with me and were committed to seeing my career develop made all the difference. 

Day in the Life

Coffee, tea, or nothing?

Black decaf. I quit caffeine a year and a half ago and I’m never going back. 10/10 would recommend. I also recently discovered “London Fog” lattes which are delicious! 

What time do you get into the office?

We’re still working remotely, so I log in a few minutes after 8AM.

What are three things that motivate you in your role?

• Providing value to others.
• Trying to understand and empathize with our users.
• Working with smart, engaged people who are passionate about the work we are doing - shoutout to our engineering teams!

Every day is different, but can you outline what a typical day looks like for you?

I always start my day by checking my to-do list and scanning emails and Slack for anything urgent. Part of our engineering team is in India, so I will typically use the first hour of my day to take inventory of the team’s progress on tickets and resolve any blockers. It feels like the best way to utilize our limited overlapping schedules. I can have anywhere from 2-6 hours of meetings in a day but I try to set aside hour-long blocks to work on specific items on my list. On any given day I could be working with clients and users to identify use cases and problems, refining our product vision, detailing tickets, updating documentation, reprioritizing our backlog, investigating user metrics, creating workflows, or collaborating with UX. 

What time do you head out of the office? 

I log off between 5PM and 6PM.

Do you log back in at night or do you shut it down completely?  

I almost always log back in at night. I like coming back refreshed after a few hours of break when there are fewer people online. I like to be available for questions from all of our internal teams during the day, so typically my focus time is at night.

Any productivity hacks?

I keep a master to-do list. Before I log off for the day, I identify three things that will push my big projects forward and any easy wins. I highlight those to tackle tomorrow. I also schedule time that I really need to buckle down and focus on a big project and highlight what that item will be in advance. 

For productivity in my personal life, I schedule exercise into my calendar at the start of the week, even if I’m just stretching. If I treat it like a “to-do” or a meeting, then I get it done. 

What are the 3 apps that you can’t live without?

• Headspace.
• Notion - I’m newly addicted. I feel like it has all the best things about every productivity, note-taking, or spreadsheet app I’ve ever used, but with way more flexibility.
• Google Maps - even when I know where something is, I put it in the app. I’ve tried new navigation apps and I always come back to this one. 
• Bonus: Peloton - I’m in the Peleton army now and they’ve really locked in on how to “surprise and delight” me as a customer. This is an app that makes me excited about working in product myself. 

What professional accomplishment are you proudest of?

• Transitioning into product management.
• Connecting with my team members for volunteering opportunities through our service committee, Examity Gives.

Who do you admire or call upon for professional advice?

My coworkers, especially the other product managers at Examity. They all have a lot more experience in product and each of them can always provide a unique insight. I have a lot of respect for the work they do on a daily basis and try to absorb as much as they are willing to share in every interaction. Second to them, I like referring back to principles by Angela Duckworth and Brene Brown when I need a reminder about the type of person I’m aspiring to be. Specifically, leading with vulnerability, empathy, passion, and perseverance.

What do the career path and the day-in-the-life look like for a Sr. Director, Global Payments at Flywire?

We connected with Kate Moran to find out!

Interested in learning more about Flywire? Make sure to check out their company page!

Where did you grow up?  What did your parents do for work? 

I grew up in Buffalo, NY (home of the chicken wing and some really loyal sports fans!). My mom worked in IT at the University of Buffalo and my dad worked as a reference Librarian, also at the University of Buffalo. They taught me the invaluable lesson of how to balance working hard while being a fully present parent.

Where did you go to college?  What did you study and what were some of your initial jobs out of school?

I went to the University of Buffalo and dual majored in International Relations and Communication with a minor in Spanish. At the time, I was unsure of what I wanted my career to look like so I started taking internships to help gain insight into what I thought was interesting. I worked in pharmaceutical telesales and quickly learned that wasn’t for me! I also had the opportunity to intern for an advertising agency and was assigned to their client, Paramount pictures, and was able to do promotional work for upcoming movie releases, as well as a job doing marketing for the Princeton Review and a Consumer Credit Counseling Bureau. In my senior year of college, I interned for the American Red Cross and this is ultimately what led to my first role post graduation. 

What has attributed to your success thus far and has helped propel you to the position you have now?

I feel very fortunate that I joined Flywire when I did. There was a lot of uncertainty about what the future would hold in the early days, as is typical at any startup, but it’s allowed me to see the various stages involved in the scaling of a company and opened opportunities for me to figure out where I felt I fit best. Besides timing, I would say grit and a lot of hard work, being surrounded by people supportive of my growth, and a few folks who gave me the opportunity to recognize my own potential.

Can you share the high-level responsibilities of your current position as a Sr. Director, Global Payments at Flywire?

At Flywire, I’m responsible for our Global Markets team who drives both the building and optimization of the payment infrastructure comprising our network. Fundamentally, we enable our payers to feel like they’re making a local payment, regardless of where the end destination of their transaction is. It’s our responsibility to connect payers to the payment methods most appropriate for the type and size of their payment. A working knowledge of the regulatory landscape of a market is essential in order to understand how to meet the needs of our payers in this market. We work with financial institutions, payment service providers, and many internal stakeholders as we enable new currencies and payment methods in Flywire’s platform.

Any tips for someone considering a career in your field or someone who would want to join the Global Payments team at Flywire?

Having a passion to uncover and solve complex problems with a focus on delivering value for our clients and payers.

Day in the Life

Coffee, tea, or nothing?

Plenty of both, please!

What time do you start working?

Depends on the day, but usually at 8:30AM

What are three things that motivate you in your role?

• Finding new ways to help our payers in traditionally hard-to-solve markets
• Working with some truly incredible, smart, authentic people who keep me striving to do my best
• Being part of a team making a meaningful impact at Flywire

Every day is different, but can you outline what a typical day looks like for you?

A typical day is mixed with both internal meetings with cross-functional teams at Flywire, as well as external meetings with financial institutions and providers in our network. In-between, I’m usually focusing on how to support the team so they can best drive forward their initiatives or working on building a solution to grow or optimize a part of our payment network.

What time do you stop working? 

I unplug between 5:30PM - 8:30PM every night to enjoy the evening with my husband and 2 young daughters. I try to give myself 5-10 minutes of mobility work or listen to a podcast to allow myself to transition from work mode to mom mode. 

Do you log back in at night or do you shut it down completely?  

Most nights after kiddo bedtime I log back in for a bit to be available for APAC working hours or for some time to work uninterrupted by meetings!

Any productivity hacks?

When possible, I try to do as many of the action items immediately following a meeting before the context shifting to a new topic drains your momentum. I also spend designated amounts of time logged out of slack so I have uninterrupted time to think!

What are the 3 apps that you can’t live without?

Slack, Google Keep, and Spotify

What professional accomplishment are you proudest of?

I’m proudest of making the leap from Relationship Management, where I started my career at Flywire, to Global Payments. It took me far outside of my comfort zone, but that’s where the greatest growth happens.

Who do you admire or call upon for professional advice?

There are a few trusted colleagues at Flywire who have seen the various stages of growth in my career who I depend on when making important decisions. I also have an external coach that I find invaluable for totally unbiased advice and to help navigate the unique juggling act that is being a working parent.

What do the career path and the day-in-the-life look like for a Product Designer at Yesware?

We connected with Lydia Marzot to find out!

Interested in learning more about Yesware? Make sure to check out their company page!

Where did you grow up?  What did your parents do for work?  

I grew up in Concord, MA. My mom, Hilary, was a stay at home mother and my dad, Giovanni, has been an engineer at various tech companies my whole life. 

Where did you go to college?  What did you study and what were some of your initial jobs out of school?

I graduated from St. Mary’s College of Maryland. I worked as a freelance graphic designer since freshman year of college and continued to build my client base after graduation. 

What has attributed to your success thus far and has helped propel you to the position you have now?

Continuing my education through online courses after college in new areas has been what’s helped me find success. It keeps me up to date on my skills and industry knowledge. It also allows me to explore other areas of my field as I shape my career path. 

Can you share the high-level responsibilities of your current position as a [position] at Yesware?

-Communicating between my fellow designers, the engineering team I’m embedded on and company stakeholders to focus on building a product that achieves our goals

-Implementing and evolving the current design process to innovate efficiently and stay within the scope

-Thinking beyond a project to the future capabilities of the product functionality and UI and adapting those ideas to the current project appetite and goals

Any tips for someone considering a career in your field?

Start doing projects, they don’t have to be official, paid or even asked of you. Go pick an app you use all the time and imagine what you wish it could do or a different way it already does something and get to work sketching and mapping out ideas. Exposing yourself to the work is not as hard as you think and you will quickly find out if it is meant for you. 

Day in the Life

Coffee, tea, or nothing?

Coffee, but usually decaf, and super sugary

What time do you get into the office? 

I like to get in slightly before 9

What are three things that motivate you in your role?

Self growth, company success, and empowering others

Every day is different, but can you outline what a typical day looks like for you?

My every day either starts or ends with a long run, but my time in the office usually starts with me outlining my daily tasks and meetings in my favorite agenda book, ordering tasks to complete by priority and bandwidth and dialing into my computer screen with noise-canceling headphones. I typically have about 2 hours, give or take, of meetings mixed into the day. 

What time do you head out of the office? 

This can change a lot depending on what I’m trying to complete that day. Most days are around 5:30 but sometimes I’m really deep in my work and stay late to hit a deadline. 

Do you log back in at night or do you shut it down completely?  

I log back in constantly. I like to keep up with conversions on the engineering teams I’m embedded on and check to see if anyone’s looking for quick feedback on some early designs in the design team channel 

Any productivity hacks?

Good music, cereal, noise-canceling headphones. 

What are the 3 apps that you can’t live without?

Spotify, slack and gmail

What professional accomplishment are you proudest of?

Making the transition into product design in early 2021 from a marketing design background

Who do you admire or call upon for professional advice?

I met a woman named Masha through networking. She has become my go to for professional (and personal) advice. We were complete strangers before I reached out to her on LinkedIn and now we talk daily. She started her own company, Titov, back in 2019 and has a lot of amazing and thoughtful advice from her experiences.

What do the career path and the day-in-the-life look like for a Sales Manager at Rapid7?

We connected with Sarah Sidford to find out!

Interested in learning more about Rapid7? Make sure to check out their company page!

Where did you grow up?  

I grew up on Long Island about 45 minutes outside of New York City. I’m a huge theatre person so I spent a lot of time going into Manhattan seeing Broadway shows.

Where did you go to college?  What did you study? Did this have an impact on your current career choice? 

I went to Hamilton College, a liberal arts college in upstate NY. I majored in Mathematics with a minor in Computer Science. I’ve always had a technical brain that enjoys problem solving but I also love artistic and athletic activities. I was in an a cappella group, played with our school orchestra, was captain of a dance team and played ultimate frisbee. I constantly sought out a balance of analytical and artsy. 

When planning for my next step after graduation, I spent time reading job descriptions posted to our Hamilton networking page. I then applied to the ones I felt I was well suited for. Lucky for me, there was a listing from a Hamilton alumni for a BDR position at Rapid7. It seemed a perfect blend of technical and social that I was craving. I’m able to work on a team and meet new people all the time but also get in the weeds and apply problem solving to help customers. The rest is history!

What has attributed to your success thus far and has helped propel you from the role you started at Rapid7 with to the position you have now? 

I’d say a big part of it is persistence. I’ve been with Rapid7 for over 7 years and investing that amount of time building a territory and learning the business will yield results. I also have a personality that embraces and thrives in change. Some people might find it jarring but the constant evolution keeps me entertained and challenged. 

Can you share the high-level responsibilities of your current position as a Sales Manager at Rapid7?

My job is to enable my team to reach their goals and find success in their career. I’m responsible for understanding where the team’s business stands and help where needed. I also work cross functionally to find ways sales as a whole can optimize and innovate. 

Any tips for someone considering a career in your field or at Rapid7?

If you love learning and love thrive off of change and new challenges, this is the place for you. What has kept me here for 7 years is that no year is the same. The space is ever-changing, the company is constantly evolving and there’s no shortage of amazing people to work with and opportunities to grow. 

Day in the Life

Coffee, tea, or nothing?

Every stage of my life I think it’s the time I’ll finally get into coffee, but still has never happened. That said, I drink tea almost every day and pretty constantly. It’s quite soothing. 

What do you miss most about being live and in the office? 

So many things. I miss seeing people that I don’t work with on a daily basis and meeting new people around the company or bumping into old friends. The energy and the space itself is magical. Then there are little things I miss like being in conference rooms for meetings, bumping into people in the hallway, high fiving people when they close a deal and so much more. That said, having this much time away will make coming back that much better. 

What has been the best aspect of being remote (how has your company supported you)?

Rapid7 has handled remote working extremely well. I was able to transition pretty seamlessly to working remote. I always felt extremely supported and confident that Rapid7 would stay steady and solid throughout the external mayhem. 

What are three things that motivate you in your role?

• Positive Impact- Helping our customers, helping my team and helping the company. I always want to leave things better than I found it and at Rapid7 you really have the ability to make a difference. 

• Problem Solving- Even 7 years in, I’m still finding scenarios I have never encountered and I love facing these new challenges and finding creative solutions

• Teaming- I’ve always loved camaraderie and being part of a team. At Rapid7 there are lots of different team structures you work within which gives you exposure to great people. You learn a lot from them and having that many perspectives helps you grow

Every day is different, but can you outline what a typical day looks like for you?

Right now as I transition into this new role, it is a LOT of meetings. 1-1s with my team, interdepartmental meetings, interviews, and strategic planning meetings. Then I also find time to update tracking data for our pipeline and listen to calls to help with feedback and strategizing.  

What professional accomplishment are you most proud of?

When I first started on our Detection and Response team in 2014, we had less than 10 customers, a sales team of 2 and we were trying to pioneer a new space that had yet to be defined. Rapid7 had a vision to solve a massive problem in the security space but it was going to take a lot of education to get the word out. When I think back to that time and compare it to where we are today- a market leader, hundreds of customers and a dedicated sales organization of over 80 people - it blows my mind. I’m truly lucky to have been part of this team from the beginning and see how much believing in that vision has paid off.

What do the career path and the day-in-the-life look like for a Designer at Piaggio Fast Forward?

We connected with Jerry Ding to find out!

Interested in learning more about Piaggio Fast Forward? Make sure to check out their company page!

Where did you grow up?  What did your parents do for work?  

I grew up in a small township in Hsinchu County, Taiwan, where you can see the paddy field in a 5-minute walk. My dad is working at a tech company. My mom taught at the school and now is a housewife.

Where did you go to college?  What did you study and what were some of your initial jobs out of school?

I went to National Cheng Kung University in Tainan City where I studied industrial design. After I graduated and finished my military service, I came to the states and obtained my master's degree in industrial design at RISD in 2017. I did a couple internships, but PFF is my first job out of school.

What has attributed to your success thus far and has helped propel you to the position you have now?

I am lucky to be joining PFF and meet many great minds here. One thing I came to realize is that when I'm surrounded by that many talented people, one thing I have to do is to take any challenge as an opportunity to learn and grow. At the end of the day, they will all come together. My past experience has taught me that everything is connected and intertwined at some levels. Even I may not be aware of it at the beginning, but eventually, they will gain me a new perspective and provide me the strength you need to build a future career. 

Can you share the high-level responsibilities of your current position as a Designer at Piaggio Fast Forward?

I’m addressing both physical and digital products from a user experience perspective to ensure that no matter what platform(s) the product is on, they are pleasing for people to use.

Any tips for someone considering a career in your field?

It's a cliche, but I think staying conscious and self-learning is essential in this fast-paced industry. The tools I learned and the format of the product we understood at school have changed dramatically compared to today's technology.

Day in the Life

Coffee, tea, or nothing?

Both

What time do you get into the office? 

I go to the office once or twice a week when I need to. Other days I wake up around 8:30 and make a cup of coffee, which has become a ritual for me to mark the start of the day.

What are three things that motivate you in your role?

Come up with new ideas, solve new challenges, learn new things from people.

Every day is different, but can you outline what a typical day looks like for you?

It is very difficult. The design team has a weekly meeting at the beginning of the week, where we use this meeting to configure and prioritize the tasks that need to be done during the week. For the past week, I’ve been tweaking the app screen based on the developer’s feedback. Before that, I was doing internal user testing for the package design, so I spent a couple days watching people unboxing our product.

What time do you head out of the office? -> What time do you get out of work?

It is more fluctuated depending on where I’m in the process.

Do you log back in at night or do you shut it down completely?  

I used to work until I felt comfortable with the progress before I left the office, so it's very flexible based on the workload. Since the pandemic, my work and life are now happening in the same space, I’ve been trying to separate them more strictly to make sure I get the right balance and have full energy to address the task the next day.

What are the 3 apps that you can’t live without?

Google Map, Spotify, and lately there’s another one, which is mygita app.

What professional accomplishment are you proudest of?

Our gita robot won a Red Dot Award and the package won a Adobe Dieline Award, I’m proud of being part of the team.