One of the most rewarding feelings in the job market is knowing that you made the right call on where to settle down. That feeling gets heightened when the company goes on to file an IPO and become the biggest video conferencing provider in the business.
It’s an experience a lot of Zoom Video Communications’ employees get to enjoy after watching the company become one of the most recognizable names in the tech space in just a few short years.
We talked to some members of Zoom’s team to talk about how their careers have developed along with the company and what it’s been like to witness this growth first hand.
FOUNDED: 2011
EMPLOYEES: 2,200+, 250+ local
WHAT THEY DO: Zoom Video Communications brings teams together. Through video meetings, voice, webinars, and chat across desktops, phones, mobile devices and conference room systems, as well as business app integrations and developer tools, Zoom is creating customized workflows no matter where your team is located.
WHERE THEY DO IT: Denver
GET FIT FOR FREE: A healthy team is a happy team! To make sure that team members remain active, Zoom reimburses fitness activities.
FLEXIBLE PTO: The best work comes from team members who have a balanced life and get to go and enjoy themselves out of the office. With that being the case, Zoom offers flexible PTO.
Ashley Kooij, Account Executive, Commercial
Ashley’s has had a lot of different roles with Zoom, but her current role as an account executive mostly involves bringing in new customers. Her role is to help her team meet or exceed its goals, all while delivering happiness to our customers and employees.
You joined the Zoom team around three-and-a-half years ago. What changes have you seen in the company since then? What are some things that you’ve seen remain the same?
When I started here, there were only 300 employees, and now we have grown to over 2,200. Our CEO [Eric Yuan] still holds an all-hands meeting every other week to hear from the employees, good and bad, and I truly love that about Eric. He also replies to emails and chats faster than almost anyone in the company! He is still here for his employees at all times of the day, no matter how large we grow.
One great change I have seen over the years is how we went from a company that no one had ever heard of to being one of the best known unified collaboration platforms out there! Anytime I wear a Zoom shirt in public, I am stopped by customers who love our product, and it is great to hear different stories of how Zoom has positively impacted so many.
I have so many great mentors here and I wouldn’t be where I am today without the support of my Zoom family.”
Since joining Zoom, you’ve transitioned into four different roles. What do you think it says about the company’s culture to allow team members to grow and develop this way?
I have had so many great opportunities to be promoted within the company and that not only shows how much growth the company is going through, but also that Eric and the executive team care about their employees and want to see them expand their careers and reach their full potential. I have so many great mentors here, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without the support of my Zoom family.
When you look toward the future, what do you see Zoom looking like and doing? How do you imagine you’ll play a part in that future?
We have accomplished so much as a company in the past three-and-a-half years that I have been here, but we have so much more to give and we are not slowing down by any means. I look forward to the new features, products and enhancements we will release in the future that will allow us to deliver even more happiness to our customers and continue on our path of amazing growth. I plan to keep giving my all every single day and continuing to grow with my Zoom Family!
Nishita Singh, Product Demo Specialist
As a product demo specialist, Nishita helps define the best techniques and approaches to effectively communicate the benefit of Zoom’s products to potential customers. A large part of Nishita’s role is making sure that customers understand Zoom’s products, so it makes sense that one of her long-term goals is to create executive briefing centers that customers can visit and have a full Zoom experience.
What about your company or your work inspires you?
The fact that we listen to our customers’ feedback and take it seriously, and that we are always innovating and growing as a software. I’ve been using Zoom since 2014, and we have made such great changes to the software to help connect everyone all over the world. The fact that everyone in our company dedicates themselves every day makes me work harder and deliver happiness to our customers. Every quarter, I get the opportunity to demo something new since our product and engineering team has extremely creative visions for the future of the software.
How have you seen Zoom work to ensure that all team members, across all offices, are working towards the same ultimate goal?
All-hands meetings absolutely encourage us to focus on the same goal on generating revenue and being as creative as possible to promote Zoom. I’ve seen sales managers make sure their employees have all the resources to make their customers happy and all other departments like marketing, sales, ops and more create these resources. These projects get everyone in different departments to collaborate and get to know each other.
Our workplace and HR — a.k.a., the happiness crew — has done a good job on bringing the office together and make comfortable office space.”
In your two-and-a-half years with Zoom, what changes have you seen in terms of growth? Is there anything that’s remained the same for the better during that time?
I’ve seen the software grow and become incredible. Our workplace and HR — a.k.a., the happiness crew — has done a good job of bringing the office together and creating a comfortable office space. The people and attitudes have stayed the same, which is important to create an open environment. Eric’s attitude of making sure everyone is well-informed is extremely important, and having all-hands meetings and the option to ask anonymous questions helps us keep this open environment.
Chris Michelmore, SMB Segment Leader
Chris is responsible for managing the SMB teams in Zoom’s Denver, Kansas City and Atlanta offices. Every day he hopes to lead his team by example, both in numbers and with effort, passion and integrity. Outside of making customers’ experiences as seamless as possible, Chris works hard to lead by example, both in numbers and with effort, passion and integrity.
You relocated from California to join Zoom and help support the Denver office. What about the company encouraged you to make this decision?
Simple — the people. I already believed in the product and knew it was different, but I didn’t think a company like this existed and that made the decision to move my family halfway across the country an easier one. I also was excited about the thought of being part of a brand new office. The company’s growth and goals meant that opportunities were great, and being a part of something new was what I was looking for. I came here to watch something grow, to contribute any way I could, to be allowed to share my thoughts and abilities, and to be trusted to do so has been amazing.
You’ve received multiple promotions since joining Zoom. How did these come about? Would you say that’s it’s common for Zoom to promote internally?
I have been fortunate, to say the least. I also make it a practice to never blindly turn down an opportunity that has presented itself, so I am constantly looking for ways I can help those around me, regardless of whether or not it relates to my direct responsibilities. It is very common for Zoom to promote internally, as we tend to already know what that person’s culture fit is, which is obviously incredibly important. We also trust our employees and know that they have Zoom’s best interests in mind.
... I didn’t think a company like this existed and that made the decision to move my family halfway across the country an easier one.”
In your own words, how would you describe the culture at Zoom to someone who has never seen it before? What are you likely to walk in and see on a typical day?
Enter in the morning to high fives and people asking (and caring) about your evening and weekends. Whenever someone has a question, you will find at least three people from different teams rush to help you answer it. A deal comes in and you will hear the celebration gong sound off and feel the positive energy throughout the building. While there is no “typical” day at Zoom, the constant is the fantastic people we have to work with all supporting each other as we all work towards the same goal.
