What’s your role at Groop?
I work in the Customer Success Team; my main aim is to make our customers happy and feel supported. I work closely with the Sales and Development Teams on software demonstrations and customer feedback.
One of my favourite jobs is running the Groop webinars – The Low Down, fortnightly on YouTube and I present the soon to be released podcast – The Big Smash Podcast – available on all Podcast platforms. Watch this space…
What volunteering do you do outside of work?
I volunteer with the Great British Deaf Badminton Team, attending training sessions and helping with drills and match practice, I am a Level 1 qualified badminton coach. The training sessions run from 10am through till 4pm, followed by a social meal out afterwards with the whole team.
I started helping when I met with a player at my local club who is deaf, he invited me to come along with him one day to the Deaf Badminton Team meet and since then I haven’t stopped – I love to help, to train with the team and to meet the players. I have also learnt how to lip read (basics) and some sign language, I am continuing this learning to help with my coaching and communication skills.
What’s your background?
Before I started working for Groop, I was an estate agent in Corsham. However, before this and throughout school, college, and university my passion has been sport which I studied and played throughout. I am always up for a challenge and will give any sport a go, not that I’m competitive or anything!
Growing up my main sports were basketball, where I played at county level, and tennis which is where my love for racket sports came in. I have played a mixture of racket sports from table tennis, squash, tennis, real tennis or Stické, we have an amazing court here at Hartham Park.
I then started playing badminton at my club in Corsham and I am hooked – 7 years and counting. You can find more information about our Badminton Club here.
What skills do you need for your job?
As the Sales Solution Consultant, the most important skills are communication and listening. I need to understand quickly what a user’s query is, action it and then solve it for them. Being a good problem solver helps, having practical ability and expert knowledge of the Groop software is key to solving problems, communicating with users and smoothly onboarding new users.
I also do a lot of demonstrations of Groop, so being able to communicate in a straightforward way is also helpful.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
When you read everyone else’s blogs they all say it’s all about our Team, the people who work here at Groop… and I agree, it is seriously the people. The work, social and community ethos that we have in the work environment and the ‘family’ we have created here at Groop is special. There is nothing quite like it.
My job makes a difference, I help the users of the software, which in turn helps the people that they provide a service to in the community – we are reaching such a diverse range of people and making a real difference to their lives by supporting the groups that give them somewhere to go, a safe place where they are heard and some great fun events too. Knowing my job is a cog to combatting a wide range of social issues is important to me and makes it worthwhile.
Another bonus of my job at Groop is working from an office situated in Hartham Park, which is a beautiful location to come to on a daily basis. The fact that you can leave your desk and go for a walk around the grounds to clear your head or have a catch up with colleagues is lovely, there is also a very good café to keep the coffee levels up!
How do you spend your spare time?
One of my passions outside of work (other than sports) is photography. I will quite happily photograph anything, but usually focus on landscapes and at the beginning of the year travelled to Iceland (and not for frozen goods!), the scenery was breath-taking and the photo opportunities were fantastic, which I took full advantage of.
For any camera geeks out there, my kit is made up of my Nikon D850 and I tend to use two main lenses, my 16-35mm f/4 G AF-S ED VR which is just amazing for wide angle photos and my 35mm f1.4G AF-S prime lens. I also use the Mavic Pro Fly More Combo for aerial photography.
Any recommendations to share?
Treat people how you want to be treated.
One of the greatest gifts we can give another person is kindness. If someone is in need, lend a helping hand. Don’t restrict this to only the people you like and respect, that’s easy, extend it to the ones who drive you crazy and those you don’t even know.
True kindness lies in the act of giving without the expectation of getting something in return.
What’s your biggest achievement?
I once ate 24 Krispy Kreme donuts in one sitting… I have also completed Tough Mudder Twice. But not straight after the donuts!
