How would you describe your role?
As a team lead, my role is being a mentor to junior developers. It’s to help facilitate problem solving and get out in front of issues before they bubble up. Sometimes, you’re there to be someone a teammate can vent to, other times, it’s more proactive problem solving. And as a software developer, my role is solving the problems that the customer has and that applications have.
How would you describe your team?
We’ve got a great team culture. I think everyone really helpful and we don’t seem to have a lot of ego battles or people that are difficult to work with. You don’t often have that, where everyone just gets along really well.
How have you grown professionally at Ridgeline?
Being a team lead has helped me become a better leader. It’s also helped me be more responsive to problems, my own and those of others, as they arise. You can train or read books and all that stuff if you want to, but until you’re actually dealing with it, you don’t really know what to expect.
But also, the projects we get to work on, they’ve forced me into to grow in different areas, to learn different technologies I haven’t worked with, to understand and work through different customer requirements. It’s definitely helped me grow, having all this variety.
What’s been your biggest accomplishment so far?
I think the thing I’m proudest of at the moment is seeing our intern grow and succeed. He came in as someone with just some experience from school, and he started working on some awesome projects. And now, he’s working for us part-time and seems to be really interested in what we’re doing and in staying involved in software development. I’m proud to have had a hand in that.
What about Ridgeline’s mission do you connect with?
Ridgeline helps its customers manage their digital signatures which is an important mission. I think looking at Ridgeline as a company, though, we’ve put a lot of work into making it an inclusive place, dedicating time and effort and putting funding behind these efforts. I’m glad the company recognizes the part they play in shaping the industry that way.
What resources have you taken advantage of so far?
I definitely take advantage of the clothing allowance – it’s a cool perk. I’ve spoken with our Performance Coach, I attend the happy hours and staff events. They help me feel connected.
What’s unique about Ridgeline?
I think the work we do is very unique. It’s kind of unexplored territory as far as some of the things we’ve been developing to help with digital signature management. And also, the company has an employee-centric focus where, for example, they’ll send you a birthday card or a gift for your one-year anniversary. Small things, that other companies I’ve worked for didn’t do. It really stands out. You don’t feel like you’re a face in the crowd or a name on an HR spreadsheet somewhere. They actually know who you are and care about the things you’re doing. Erik, our CEO, sent me a little photography gadget after he read my Employee Spotlight a while ago and found out that I was into that as a hobby. It just shows that the company itself does care about the people who work here.