Growth is an inevitable part of time’s passage. Bright-eyed students age into professionals, seedlings blossom into trees, towns develop into metropolises and startups expand into multi-million dollar corporations. Whether we like it or not, time generates growth as an unstoppable force — but not all growth occurs equally.
Without a proper support system in place, opportunities for development can become a stifling experience resulting in an uncertain future. Sure, even a flower can grow through a crack in the sidewalk toward the sun, but what if that same flower was transferred into a garden and given the foundation to flourish?
When companies don’t give their employees the space to grow and the resources they need, their chances to thrive are diminished, or worse — they’re forced to grow in a new direction altogether.
That’s why Built In San Francisco sat down with two tech leaders showcasing exactly how much employees can grow when given the right opportunities and nourishment. Whether it’s creating a collaborative company culture where teammates feel supported or allowing for the flexibility to take on challenging projects with a sense of trust, these companies use internal support to make a big difference in the growth of an individual.
What role were first hired for in your company?
I started my career at Yext in August 2018 as a senior account executive on our commercial business sales team. I was responsible for building a book of business for our search platform and strengthening the Yext brand in the Pacific Northwest — a relatively untapped market for us at the time — with my target distribution channel, healthcare. This included working with healthcare organizations that were very forward-thinking and pushing for change that would benefit their industry in the long run, like implementing the most advanced technology.
A typical day at the office would include prospecting and partnering with either our sales engineers or customer success managers on new opportunities with prospects or current customers. Once an opportunity was identified, I would sync internally and prepare a demonstration in hopes of winning their business.
What role are you in now?
When I first started at Yext, I had no idea what was in store for my career journey. But my growth is a testament to the company’s commitment to its employees. My time here has brought me from my original role as a senior account executive to an account executive role on our mid-enterprise sales team, and then to my current role as director of sales for our new search innovation team.
My main objective now is to support sellers in the commercial sales business unit during an active sales cycle and to work cross-functionally with departments such as consulting, product and sales engineering during sales opportunities. Through this role, I can strategize, collaborate and brainstorm with other Yext sellers to create use cases for our advanced AI search platform in the market.
That’s what makes this my most invigorating and satisfying role yet. Still, I’m excited to see what the future holds.
There’s the recognition of hard work at all levels, which has pushed me out of my comfort zone in positive ways.”
How has your company supported your career growth throughout this journey?
Throughout my various roles at Yext and the many stages of our growth, a few critical things have stayed the same at the company culture level that has empowered my career journey. First is the fact that I’ve never felt like I’m working alone, especially when facing obstacles. There’s always a colleague or team ready to help strategize and work towards our common goal together.
There’s also the recognition of hard work at all levels at Yext, which has pushed me out of my comfort zone many times in positive ways. In the past, I’ve been asked to share success stories with our sales team and even to present during our company-wide all-hands meeting, Manifesto. Never in a million years did I imagine I’d be highlighted and speaking to a group of more than 1,300 people!
Yext has allowed me to grow not only in my career but also on a personal level. I’ve had the opportunity to travel across the country from my territory in San Francisco to the home of our global HQ in New York. In the process, I’ve met amazing people, from individual contributors to tech leaders, who have become role models and even lifelong friends.
What role were first hired for in your company?
I joined HashiCorp to help grow the ecosystem of partners. Work then included working with incoming partner requests or reaching out to a few partners and developing relationships with them to help our customers.
What role are you in now?
Over the last two years, my role has evolved quite a bit along with the tremendous growth we are experiencing as an organization. The journey has been mine to chart, crafting my role to be what I think would be the most helpful to HashiCorp with our goals working with partners. One of the coolest projects that I recently worked on was to work cross-functionally across HashiCorp to recommend an overall strategy for one of our products.
The company’s principles of humility and kindness mean I am able to reach out to anyone internally to solve key challenges.”
How has your company supported your career growth throughout this journey?
One of the main reasons I love HashiCorp is their flexibility to support me the way I see most appropriate. This happens through a combination of our culture, people and systems.
For example, the company’s principles of humility and kindness mean I am able to reach out to anyone internally and focus on generating involvement across functions to solve key challenges. Another example is the availability of opportunities through challenging projects and the availability of internal training — both on-demand and live — that allow me to grow in the areas and in ways that I see most beneficial.
