Joining a new company is a mix of excitement, fear, and uncertainty. Voiceflow was my first startup and I had no idea what to expect but I did know that I was ready to be challenged. My summer at Voiceflow was a mix of opportunities, learning and getting familiar with the tech industry. I was able to spearhead projects that propelled me to think more about how I work with myself and others, all while learning a new software.
I was looking for growth in every possible form and Voiceflow was in an interesting position as they were quickly becoming a market leader in the emerging voice industry. You could say that it was a well-timed opportunity. So, what type of growth was I looking for?
I’m a firm believer in being a relentless learner. Over the course of the summer, I was looking to develop new skills and improve upon my existing ones. In particular, I wanted to further my problem solving and decision making skills.
Working at a startup is a challenge in itself and I promised myself that I was ready to take on the fast-paced environment. Working at my first startup coupled with an emerging industry was a complete 180 from my past jobs. Before working at Voiceflow, I was unfamiliar with the voice space but by the end of the summer, I gained a deeper understanding of the dynamic industry and could build full voice apps using the tool.
Opportunities
In my first month at Voiceflow, I spent countless hours learning the tool, reading up on the documentation and following tutorial videos. Voiceflow was looking to grow their presence in the community and we had applied to Voice Tech TO’s demo night where we showcased our tool to voice industry hobbyists and professionals. I was tasked with creating the presentation and demoing a skill that would best showcase Voiceflow’s easy yet powerful software. Long story short, it was terrifying but one of the biggest highlights of my summer because I was able to flex my decision-making brain by spearheading the project. On top of that, we were able to expand our network alongside Voice Tech TO and help host some of their other meetups.
Towards the end of July, I attended the 2019 VOICE Summit with my team. After the trip, I felt closer with my teammates and was so happy I got to spend time with our remote team members. We got to meet fellow Voiceflow users and numerous voice enthusiasts at the conference, which was one of the most heartwarming moments during my time at Voiceflow. While I was in consumer-facing roles In my past full-time summer jobs, it was rewarding to put faces to an online name and chat with fellow voice enthusiasts. Besides meeting our users, one of my summer highlights was eating pizza and getting drinks with the team.
Takeaways
This summer, I learned that adaptability is one of the most important skills in any working environment. Put simply, you have to roll with the punches. I learned to embrace change and the sporadic nature of startups. My role at Voiceflow wasn’t limited to the same tasks everyday, instead, I was able to try my hand at voice-app building, event planning and everything in between. Over the summer, I grew to enjoy the unpredictable.
On top of that, I learned the importance of staying curious and actively asking questions. My teammates were there to help me learn and grow but to improve my own problem solving skills, I had to ask the right questions and stay humble in my judgements when offered new perspectives. I grew to enjoy being challenged by having to think on my feet and welcomed the fact that the learning never stops.