Experience

Gust

• Financial Services
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Head of Customer Support

  • Dec 2019 - Present

• Senior Customer Support Manager

  • Oct 2016 - Dec 2019

  ★ Recent Projects:• Developed and implemented operational practices that resulted in increased transactional NPS scores.• Decreased average first-reply times for incoming support requests• Decreased average ticket resolution time• Created a handbook detailing Gust's values and approach to Customer SupportRole Responsibilities:• Collaborating with executive leadership to align customer needs with long-term business strategy.• Leading cross-departmental initiatives to address key product pain points and process improvements.• Hiring support specialists, conducting 360° performance reviews and leading a team with high employee engagement and satisfaction.• Developing and maintaining departmental KPIs.• Collaborating with business development on upgrade processes.• Using Intercom to respond to customers and monitor support team performance.• Managing a Slack community of Gust: Launch startup founders with AMA sessions, platform support, and resources for fundraising, pitching, and hiring. Show less

• Senior Customer Support Manager

  • Feb 2014 - Oct 2016

  • Reported to the VP of Business Development• Coordinated with a globally distributed business development team to support investor organizations on Gust's deal flow platform.• Configured and showcased custom implementations that catered to the needs of prospective clients on sales calls.• Travelled within the U.S. and Canada to hold in-person training events with key user groups.• Maintained written knowledge bases, created training materials, and conducted live webinars to help investor groups learn the platform.• Acted as a key point of contact for more than five hundred investor groups and federations globally.• Assisted thousands of entrepreneurs in completing funding applications to investor groups.• Designed and implemented a support strategy for a complete re-platforming and re-launch of the Gust deal flow platform.• Designed and implemented a support strategy for Gust's acquisition and consolidation of several fundraising and business planning startups based in the United States, Spain, Brazil and the Netherlands. Show less

• Customer Support Manager

  • Aug 2012 - Feb 2014

• QA | Support Specialist

  • Mar 2011 - Aug 2012

  I began working under a product manager, reporting bugs from customers and performing internal QA testing. When development adopted a test based methodology we no longer had the same demand for QA, and I transitioned to a purely support focused role reporting to the CTO. When Gust's Vancouver campus was phased out, I moved to the New York headquarters and accepted a promotion.



Freelance

• Vancouver, Canada Area

• Concert / Event Production Manager

  • 2008 - Aug 2012

  I managed logistics for a popular weekly music revue; featuring high profile international talent as well as smaller homegrown indie acts. I was required to oversee a team of performers, technicians, box office staff and vendors while keeping productions on schedule and in accordance with city and venue regulations. I was responsible for paying staff and vendors as well as managing equipment rentals and acquiring hospitality riders for visiting acts. I also prepared and distributed promotional assets, and filed necessary immigration and tax paperwork for international acts. Show less



Ion Magazine

• Vancouver, BC

• Writer

  • Mar 2008 - Jan 2012

  Writer for a canadian lifestyle publication. I still occasionally write pieces for ION and other publications for fun. Writer for a canadian lifestyle publication. I still occasionally write pieces for ION and other publications for fun.



Vancouver Film Industry

• Vancouver, Canada Area

• Film Production

  • 2008 - 2011

  Preparing and overseeing locations for film crews. This includes a lot of putting cardboard on walls, laying down carpets, marking hazards, controlling traffic and pedestrians during filming, acting as a human pylon, escorting actors and crew members to set, parking cars, distributing maps, running errands, and more... Each production and location for filming had its own unique challenges, from exploding helicopters and anti-aircraft guns to critters and curious pedestrians. The key to being a good PA was to stay positive and maintaining a can-do! attitude even in the face of total exhaustion. Being able to accomplish tasks quickly and effectively with minimal supervision is essential, and often you need to do so at the end of a punishing 16-hour day. Show less



Independent Flixx

• Vancouver, BC

• Store Manager

  • Jan 2005 - Jan 2010

  Independent Flixx was an independent video store in Vancouver's historic West End, catering to film lovers and the LGBTQ community. I provided friendly customer service to a consistent clientele of dedicated film obsessives as well as casual renters who were just there to pick up the latest new-release. I created special sections, made suggestions for promotions, and increased the profitability of the business by identifying key areas of customer dissatisfaction and revenue loss. I was responsible for preparing deposits, opening and locking up the store, and assisted the owner with ordering and receiving inventory. Show less



The Peak: SFU's Student Newspaper

• Humour Editor

  • 2005 - 2008

  I solicited and curated a diverse section of humor essays, satirical articles and comics from student contributors at the university. I was responsible for two tabloid sized pages each each week, doing my own layout in Adobe InDesign. I also participated in the editor's collective, the governing body of the paper which acted in place of a traditional "Editor In-Chief" at the paper. Toward the end of my tenure I conducted a workshop for student editors from other universities across Canada. Show less