What does your morning look like before you start work?
I start my morning with a 10-15 minute walk to get some fresh air and awaken the senses! I also normally listen to some metal music when I do this😊! It’s a bit of a ritual if you must. When I get to my desk I review my emails and any items in the Support Pipeline that need tending to. I’ll then write out a plan for the day tackling the most urgent items first and progress from there!
How do you bring your personality to work?
A mentor of mine from a prior organisation would always tell me it’s important to live with Purpenthicity (your authentic self = your purpose). So, I always try to be my most authentic self. This includes bringing levity to tense projects, saying lame dad jokes when the time arises, sharing my love for music and helping others in my community.
I’m also extremely lucky to be a part of a team that values what I have to say and what I can share with them. It’s allowed me to bring forth the more intellectual and problem-solving side of myself.
What book/film/TV series/Music artist or album do you always recommend to people?
Movie: “If you find yourself riding alone in green fields with the Sun on your face, do not be troubled. For you are Elysium and already dead! Alas, my brothers. For what we do in life, echoes in eternity!” ~ The Gladiator
Book: Leonardo’s Brain by Leonard Schlain. It’s an exploration through psychoanalysis and neuroscience of the mind/brain of Leonardo Da Vinci and presents the thought experiment of “What can we learn from someone like Da Vinci and what would happen if we were all a little bit like this?
TV Series: Da Vinci’s Demons. It’s a grammaticised fiction of the life of Leonardo Da Vinci… there’s a pattern here, I know.
Music: I’m a huge metal head and I have an endless catalogue of songs and albums I could pull from, but the band I always lean on and that has been there since day one is Haste The Day – The Place That Most Deny: “When you’re breathing in, in the place that most deny. You are strong enough.”
Who do you consider to be your role model or role models?
Surprise, Leonardo Da Vinci! Also Benjamin Franklin, Isaac Newton, Vitruvious, Plato, Nikola Tesla, Giordano Bruno.
What advice would you give your 21-year-old self about work?
Don’t just chase what “makes sense” and choose to do something you already do in your free time and find a way to get paid for it. When you’re passionate about what you do, it’s a lot less “work” and a lot more “fun.”
What skills have you had to work hard to develop? How did you do that?
Communication. I used to have panic attacks when I would meet new people and only felt safe expressing myself to those who I’ve known for a long time. Communication is obviously a critical aspect of any job, so I forced myself to be a waiter where I had no option but to break through that extreme discomfort. I then worked in B2B sales and developed partnerships at networking events for the previous company I worked for. If you were to tell my younger self I would be frequenting networking events and talking to people I didn’t know all night I would have laughed at myself. What I truly learned through this journey is to be curious, and to embody Purpenthicity.
What brought you to Access? What role did you start in?
When I was searching for roles, a friend of mine connected me with someone who already worked for The Access Group. We met and became friends ourselves and he referred me for a position and the rest is history. I started as an Associate Technical Support Engineer and that is what I still am!
What’s something you have learned from your teammates at Access?
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. There’s no such thing as a dumb question. It can feel intimidating to be surrounded by such bright and intelligent people that it can get in the way of asking questions in order not to sound a certain way. But this is how we all learn and the team I am a part of are all excellent teachers, mentors, and guides. In other words, it’s okay if you don’t know. Somebody will. And if they don’t, we’ll find the answer together.
How do the Access Way behaviours (curious, resilient, cares, flexible, accountable & commercial) feature in your work and life at Access?
Each one of these behaviours is foundational in being a Technical Support Engineer.
Curious: When a client has an issue that needs to be resolved, curiosity leads you to develop questions that then lead you to find the answer/solution.
Resilient: Sometimes the complexity of a client issue can be daunting, especially when you’re working to resolve other clients’ issues. Having the resilience to push through any sort of self-defeat or otherwise is important to push through to find solutions. Working with my team has lifted a lot of burden off my shoulders. In doing so, reaching a solution through the struggle is extremely fulfilling and something to be proud of.
Flexible: At any given time, there could be multiple client issues that are assigned to you. It’s important to be flexible in order to field differing priorities and manage expectations in a way that not only helps you but also helps the client and the team.
Accountable: We’re given a high degree of flexibility, but this comes with a high degree of accountability. My team needs to trust that I can accomplish the job and if I can’t to reach out for help. It’s not only being accountable to myself and the freedoms given by the team but also to the client. A lot of the time, clients will experience a high degree of stress and being accountable to them helps alleviate that for them and results in a much better customer experience.
Commercial: simply put, if you don’t know the answer what are the resources at your fingertips that you can utilise to find the answer?
Is there any part of your experience with Access or more generally in your career that you would like to highlight or discuss in more detail as part of the Employee Spotlight series?
I can’t overstate how incredible it is that The Access Group has such a large focus on Giving Back to the community. Through the Access Foundation, employees have the opportunity to nominate a charity that is important to them for a grant. I’m incredibly pleased to share that The Access Group has granted the non-profit I’ve been a part of for the last 10 years, HeartSupport, with one of these grants. HeartSupport is a mental health organisation founded by the metal band August Burns Red’s lead Singer Jake Lhurs. Our mission is to “Heal the Scene.” Through the grant from The Access Foundation, five individuals will get a year’s worth of mentorship and guidance.
Further, there’s also The Giving Back Champions. We’re a group of volunteers within The Access Group that work together to support our employee-nominated Charity of the Year, the National Organization for Rare Disorders. We work to organise campaigns and events for employees in the Americas to raise donations that directly impact those within the community.
