In December 2014, I started working at HubShout as a New Business Development Rep. I had been unemployed by a corporate like business for several years, recently had a baby, recently moved out of my parents' basement and in with my at the time boyfriend. This was a job I desperately needed and HubShout took a chance on me.
I met the President at the company upon starting and remember thinking how awesome it was that I got to shake his hand and that this type of introduction was not was I was accustomed to when I had worked for another marketing job several years prior. Rarely were these people in these positions available for face to face meetings, just people you either heard about or read about. After about a week of training, I was set to go. My background at the time was in advertising, specifically in print, online, and mobile. I had not done much with SEO, but was excited to learn. This was a different beast.
Early on in my career at HubShout there were individuals who shared their frustrations about their own experiences. I needed this job and wanted to learn so I did my best to not let it distract me, after all, I had a family to support. Within a month I was promoted to an Account Manager. There wasn’t as much training in this role as there was when I started, but I was OK with asking team members questions to help me acclimate and adapt. I began to experience what people had been sharing with me earlier about their frustrations. So I made a decision to investigate and found that there was a serious lack of communication between departments and quickly realized that in order for me to be successful in my position and to help our clients be successful, these walls had to be torn down.
I approached the Leadership Team at HubShout and shared what I had been hearing. I asked for permission to gather people from different departments to discuss our differences and challenges so we could find a way to work better together. This was the start of cross department collaboration, and I found fulfillment in learning about each individual who worked there and their roles. I found fulfillment in learning how we could break down walls and build bridges within the HubShout community. I was met with some opposition, which can be expected when people are asked to step out of their comfort zone, but ultimately, it started a culture shift towards what I believe stronger relationships and overall better business.
I was hungry for more and began participating in activities like book clubs, leadership meetings, fun committee meetings, and continued to work at bridging gaps where there was a need. I learned about the differences between management and leadership, intrinsic vs extrinsic motivation, self awareness, how to adapt the way I speak to others who may or may not be in the same place metaphorically speaking as myself, different ways to work through difficult situations and difficult people, and so much more. The Leadership team believed in me and I did not take that for granted.
Some time had passed, and I felt a calling to serve in other areas of my life. I decided to put in a letter of resignation, only to be called in and asked, “what can we do to keep you here?”. I was offered a part time position so I could continue my work there and do other things life had called me to do. HubShout believed in me, and proved it again. Through this experience, I learned more about maximizing my input to increase output. I learned more about time management and had set a goal for myself to have a greater impact in the less time I spent there. After some time, all this effort led me to an opportunity to create a position that never existed before. I became the Marketing and Team Development Leader. This required a lot more responsibility but I was for it because I knew that the time and autonomy HubShout invested and provided me had equipped me for a role such as this. Things began changing at what felt like an eternity but in fact was really quick in the big picture. The culture around me was changing, the people were changing, attitudes and perceptions were changing, and it was good.
HubShout worked hard at recognizing my strengths while working with me to find areas where I could grow. They made sure to put me and the needs of my family first, recognizing that I was a young mom. Fun fact, I got married on a Tuesday, and worked that Tuesday. The fun part about working this day was that as soon as they found out I was getting married, which was the day of, the Leadership Team gathered the company into a meeting room, brought me in and surprised me with a celebration. They took the time to recognize I was a person first, not just an employee.
In December 2016 I had another calling to serve outside of HubShout and decided it was at this time I had to move on. Fast forward three years. Every day I use the tools I was equipped with at HubShout. One of the books we read was Search Inside Yourself by Chade-Meng Tan and an exercise we did during book club was to take 8 minutes and write out where we as individuals would be in five years. I have that piece of paper in my dresser and often look at it, reflecting on where I was and where I am at now. Most of it has come to fruition, I’ve done missionary work in Africa since then, had my second child, restructured and grew an online business that allowed for flexibility to spend quality time with my family, and now working towards a growing partnership in a Main Street business (well really it’s an East Avenue business) whose mission is to build and share childlike faith, joy and wonder with the world while standing firm in our core values of fun, creativity, community, and safety. I have taken every experience, good and challenging, and have applied it to my everyday life.
To this day, I am still working with the team at HubShout. I am still learning from the experiences they have shared with me while being outside of their home. I find it incredible that the individuals who are still there are still pouring into my career and my soul even after not being employed there for several years. I am so grateful for this company who took a chance on me five years ago, and still continues to believe in the person I am and the person I am becoming.
Thank you HubShout for all you do to serve.