From Interning to Landing in London

[originally published on https://www.cloudhealthtech.com/blog/interning-landing-london]

I was taking 6 classes at UMass Boston and working part time at another internship when I started as an intern at CloudHealth Tech. I first met CHT CEO Dan Phillips at the Venture Development Center which he started at my university; he helped me secure my first internship, and now this one. This is when my life changed forever.

The Beginning

CHT was in its infancy and only had a handful of employees. We hadn’t even announced our Series A round of funding yet when the VP of Marketing, Melodye Mueller, hired me. Initially I was tasked with finding companies to target, testing out our messaging and even working on our website. Leadership was trying to figure out where I fit in, and I really appreciated the opportunity to prove myself. I was in a hybrid marketing/sales/IT role. I was originally brought on to put together manual Health Checks (something we’ve since automated). Wearing many hats, I may even have been known for fixing printer jams with Dave Eicher and connecting ethernet hubs as we grew (remember: small startup, no IT department yet -- you do what needs to be done wherever your skills fit).

The product, although young, made perfect sense. However, cloud naysayers still outnumbered forward-thinking adopters heavily. In fact, colleagues, friends and family warned me not to join CloudHealth Tech in the first place, wanting me to opt for a safe choice at a data storage company -- an ‘established company’, whatever that means (Wow, what a precious price I would have paid career-wise). The biggest challenge for me wasn’t having a product that I believed in (I had that), it was finding companies that were actually using the cloud. If I made 125 calls per day, I’d get connected maybe 20 times and 15 of the 20 prospects would tell me they would never use the taboo “Cloud”. “Far too many security and bandwidth issues,” they’d say, “no use for your services. Good luck. {click}”.

In a 2,500 square foot shared space that we were subletting in another company’s office, the journey began. Our days started early and ended late. My morning routine always began with making coffee while talking with the executives and founding engineers. Someone along the way told me to savor/absorb those experiences and acquire as much knowledge as I could, because it wouldn’t always be that way. I am glad I listened...Boy, am I glad I listened. I’d spend late nights learning about the technology with our CTO Joe Kinsella and the rest of engineering. Surrounded by the founding team I was able to dive deep into the market, and the intricacies and nuances of our software. I’d overhear their conversations. I’d absorb and mirror the way they spoke with others. I learned from them. I learned so much that first year. And I learn even more with each year that passes.

Defining My Role

Having success in getting meetings, my role became more defined and I was hired full time in January 2014 as a Business Development Representative. I worked tirelessly (yes, even in my night classes - sorry UMB!) to get meetings and find prospects through any means necessary - LinkedIn, personal websites, online forums - you name it, I was there. My colleagues were a big help during this time and under the direction of Melodye and our VP of Sales Eric Shoemaker, we were able to figure out what resonated and accelerate this process thanks to their constant availability and drive to succeed. Yes - I used to call them on the weekends for prospecting advice...

I wasn’t perfect, far from it. I made mistakes. Lots of them - I tried FaceTiming prospects (I thought I was going to get fired when this was discovered), I tried asking for meetings without building any rapport. I failed, then succeeded and failed some more. The important thing isn’t failing, it’s the knowledge you acquire in the learning process. Perhaps most importantly, I was given the opportunity to learn and discover what worked with hands off management, who led by example with absolutely no micromanaging. Under Eric and Melodye’s leadership, I internalized just how vital a maniacal focus and attention to detail are to achieving success.

Having previously lived in Europe, I took a liking to prospecting into the region. Adoption was picking up on the other side of the pond and I had some (initial) success. My role was further defined and I started to focus primarily on the international market. I was lucky enough to have studied abroad at a popular business school. It’s amazing how many people you can connect with that studied there as well. Instant connection. A meeting at this point is just a favor for an alumni in another part of the world. In January 2015 I was promoted to a sales role (which was my ultimate goal), reporting into Eric and focusing on building our small but growing international business. This was the year that things really took off for CloudHealth. We raised our Series B extension round and business was booming. Every month we were bringing on new customers from different countries. I traveled with Melodye and Eric throughout Europe and during this time I was really able to learn how important cultural nuances are throughout the sales process. These lessons became ingrained in me and I was able to transfer my newfound knowledge and adjust our sales and marketing pitches for local markets accordingly.

Making the Jump to London

Knowing the company was looking to hire someone overseas, I put together a business plan and my case to Eric for why they needn’t look outside of our four walls. 90 days later I was promoted to Senior Account Executive. With Dave Eicher and Larry Begley’s help, I made it to bustling London 6 months later as a UK resident to continue the next chapter in the CloudHealth saga.

Fast forward to 2016 and we have 18,000 square feet spread across 3 floors in our Boston headquarters, and employees with new faces joining us every week. Now the journey begins again, anew, on the other side of the Atlantic. I am very fortunate to have this opportunity because it wouldn’t be possible without the mentorship and guidance from the top down, coupled with the work ethic and team spirit of all my colleagues (the most important ingredients to success in a startup).

A wise man once said, “the best way to predict your future is to create it.” Which future will you create? See our openings at CloudHealth Tech to start your adventure today.