We’re so incredibly proud that Seattle Business Magazine named Amperity a “2019 Best Company to Work For.” They honor Washington companies for creating positive workplace cultures based on ten categories: corporate culture, executive leadership, responsibility and decision-making, benefits, workplace environment, communication, training and education, hiring and retention, performance standards, and rewards and recognition. To give you a more personal account of why we’re an amazing company to work at, we chatted with Product Manager Elise Gonzales to tell us what makes Amperity so special to her.
Amperity: Why did you decide to join Amperity?
Elise: I’ve worked at quite a few companies around Seattle, ranging from (very) large to (very) small. I also tend to be a perfectionist, though my mom would laugh and say “only kind of?” In other words, if something isn’t right, I’ll keep tweaking and changing it until I’m happy. The same goes for the companies I work for.
Amperity: So what‘s important to you when deciding to join any one company?
Elise: I kind of feel like a millennial trope, but I look for and expect a lot when it comes to the company I work for. I really want to find the perfect combination product, people, and culture.
Amperity: Let’s dive into those three. Tell us more!
Elise: As a Product Manager, I absolutely want to care about and be proud of my product. Having had the pleasure of working on super cool products like HoloLens and Alexa, I set a pretty high bar for myself. I knew I liked technically complex, innovative products that solve real, interesting problems with countless applications. Amperity checks every one of those boxes for me – the problem we’re solving is real, and we’re solving it in an innovative, scalable way.
And then there’s people. Most of my job involves coordinating and working with others – I don’t write code, so I don’t actually make the product, but I try to support everything around that. And that involves a lot of people. At Amperity, the people are smart, passionate, hilarious, and unique, and have all decided to rally as a team, to build a new product and company, and to do it in a fun, transparent, and inclusive way. I hang out with a ton of my coworkers in and outside of the office on purpose, just because they’re amazing people – I’m actually going to a coworker’s wedding in a few weeks!
Lastly, the final piece of the puzzle is culture, which is often times the hardest to define and figure out, especially during the interview process. I remember a few distinct moments from my interviews that really speak to my experience here. Whenever I interview, I like to pick a question that I ask everyone along the loop to see if they’re aligned and how their answers vary. This time, I chose to ask everyone what the biggest obstacle facing the company is.
Everyone, and I mean surprisingly everyone, told me that they were focused on scaling out to more customers. Amperity had just come out of stealth mode in September 2017, so around March 2018, we were picking up steam and potential customers. We knew it worked for the early customers we had, but now we needed to prove it for significantly more consumer brands and substantially larger amounts of data. The fact that everyone was aligned on this common goal and pushing to solve it, was and is still huge to me. Being a start-up, we have to be laser focused on the right goals in order to survive and thrive, but it’s also extremely hard to achieve. This meant there was something about how the team worked, communicated, and operated that was in sync — and I wanted to learn what it was and be a part of it.
Amperity: Any other tidbits you’d like to add on why you think Amperity is an amazing place to work?
Elise: When I was interviewing, our Director of Recruiting, Sami, told me to “bring yourself.” I will 100% admit it was a bit “jargony” for me, but she dug in saying everyone is encouraged to be themselves and bring who they are — their unique perspectives and experiences. A year into my time at Amperity, I can 100%, say this has been true for me. My coworkers can tell you my dog’s name, that I like to bring in baked goods, and (not joking) what kind of music I’m into. People were even totally cool with me kicking off the Culture Committee by playing the Migos (so we can Do it for the Culture, skrrt skrrt).
Given my experience here, I can absolutely say I’ve fulfilled all my millennial dreams and Amperity hits product, people, and culture out of the park. Now, if only I could stop ordering so much avocado toast…