Advancement opportunities are usually available in whatever career path you take. But startups like Qumulo offer something the big guys can’t — the opportunity to carve your own path. Here’s my story of how being “hungry” pays off in a startup culture like Qumulo.
A year and a half ago, I joined Qumulo’s renowned Customer Success team. Qumulo’s Customer Success is known for its white-glove service, and I didn’t hesitate to jump. I had all the passion for the customer experience and a proven track record of technical troubleshooting from my time at Apple and other startups. The fact that I had never worked in the storage industry didn’t seem to deter them, so I wasn’t about to let it stand in my way.
Within my first year, I found opportunities kept surfacing. Customer Success wanted a support portal with a ticketing system and extensive knowledge base. I already had experience building out a support system so it was a natural fit for me. Even though I was new, I was trusted to design, structure, and provide content to build out Qumulo Care.
Qumulo needed someone to narrate training videos and other company film projects. I went to school for broadcast journalism and had done voice-over work for Apple. Once again, it made sense for me to get behind a mic and lend my talents. I’ve now done the voice-overs for some Qumulo masterpieces including the Get off my Couch series, field replacement unit video guides, and Qumulo Core video tutorials. Around the office, I’m lovingly known as the voice of Qumulo.
Eventually, I noticed that Engineering lacked a documentarian. Someone who’s primary focus was to create technical content outlining all the amazing advancements we were making in this industry. Someone who could be the voice between engineering and customers. Someone to take technical jargon and turn it into language anyone could understand. Someone whose loyalty belonged to the engineers.
I met with Qumulo’s co-founder and stated my case to morph an existing job opening for a technical writer into the role I outlined above. I advocated for balancing internal and customer-facing documentation and putting an emphasis on revamping our product release notes. While I knew it would be challenging to be the first, I saw a need, and the benefits outweighed the risks. I was excited to build something from the ground-up and knew I could do a great job if given the chance. Qumulo felt the same way.
A year to the day after I started, I was promoted into the role as Technical Content Developer for Engineering. Six months later, the “Qontent” team has helped improve the way we deliver things here at Qumulo; our online documentation library is growing faster than ever to ensure success for our customers; our product release notes are no longer dry and leave nothing to the imagination; Qumulo employees have an internal resource to get up to speed with all things Qumulo when they join the family; and there’s even more new, fresh (top secret) content and resources in the works for Qumulo customers.
Qumulo gave me the career growth in a single year that some people don’t find in 10. As if that wasn’t enough, I look forward to walking into work every day for a million different reasons. I love the innovation of what we are building and see how we are impacting an outdated industry. I feel valued for my work and hear it from all parts of the organization, including the execs. I’m challenged in new ways all the time and continue to grow. I work with the most talented, passionate people I’ve met in my career and get to learn and collaborate with these great minds daily. My journey at Qumulo is a testament to how anyone can add value no matter what your role or experience is IF you have the drive to do it.
Working for a startup like Qumulo isn’t for everyone. It’s for those who are passionate, brave, driven, and most importantly, risk-takers. No other company, big or small, would have offered me the same opportunities. My risks paid off. I’m confident yours will too.
