What is working at AMARO like?
Hey, what’s up? Before I start talking about AMARO, let me ask you two questions:
1) Are you really the protagonist of your career?
2) Does the place where you currently work enable you to achieve your professional goals?
I apologize if this sounds kind of provocative, but you will understand the reason for those questions as we go.
During my years of experience as a software developer, I had the opportunity to work in companies of various sizes, serving national and international clients what made me learn a lot with all the people I’ve had contact with over the years. Gradually, I was developing some skills as a leader, and the coexistence with these people gave me a minimal but necessary support to face this new challenge. I am very grateful for all the learning I have gained and I can say that I have been able to achieve many of my professional goals in my career. However, as the protagonist of my career, I understood that most companies still keep the concept of command and control hierarchically established, and such a thing wasn’t in line with my goals. I believe that I don’t need to explain to you the boss x leader dilemma.
Why AMARO?
The first time I heard about AMARO, I had no idea what the company was, what it sold, where it was, when it was founded or whether it was Brazilian or not. Maybe you’re in the same situation now. The fact is, when I started my research about AMARO, I discovered a fashion startup with a disruptive business model — called direct-to-consumer (DTC) — and real omnichannel operations. By real omnichannel I mean: a truly seamless experience to customers throughout. I was even more fascinated when I read that there was a workshop at SXSW 2018 talking about how AMARO uses the data in its operations. So far so good, right? A startup with super tuned buddies motivated to undertake and make the difference in a market where giants still draw clothes on paper. But what about my professional goals? Well, that’s where my journey began.
How did I get my place at AMARO?
Unlike the usual interviews I’ve done in several companies, the AMARO process is by far the most objective and challenging I’ve ever attended. Objective because the recruiting staff clarified everything about the job position, answered most my questions about working together to achieve AMARO’s goals, supporting my career goals, and the other answers they gave me in a matter of hours. Also challenging because, after accepting to participate in the selective process, I had to present an agile transformation case for several AMARO team members: tech lead, product manager, product owner, CTO, and CEO. Yes, all these people are collaborators, they’ve been contributing to the growth of AMARO, and the role of this group is what is expected of a leader: be the example. What struck me the most about this process was the level of commitment that each of them demonstrated along the presentation, making pertinent and challenging questions. And, well, I was approved!
What is the first week at AMARO like?
Without wishing to generalize, but usually, the first day of work in many companies is limited to:
a) sign a contract, terms of confidentiality and terms of responsibility;
b) get your computer/laptop;
c) say “hi, nice to meet you” to the people you are going to work with;
d) talk to your “boss” and get some guidelines;
e) know the backlog!
When I started working at AMARO, in a nice and sunny Monday morning, there were 12 new employees, from various teams, gathered around a beautiful breakfast table, receiving the welcome from the HR team and some basic instructions. During the first week, all the new collaborators participate in an immersion process to learn more about how AMARO works. That is, basically everything including: how to design clothes and how to produce them, photo production, marketing, logistics, finance, software engineering, Guide Shops, sustainability, etc. Empower is the name we give to our integration process, and that already says a lot about AMARO: all employees are part of the company’s success. It was very inspiring to watch each presentation and understand how I could contribute to all teams.
Being an Agile Coach at AMARO
After Empower, everything was set and I was ready to start one of the biggest challenges of my career so far: to understand in depth the AMARO business context and to spread agile culture for all employees. Yes, that’s right, to spread it. Agility is not a cake recipe, it is not copying the success model of a company that has adopted some practices and worked well. Of course, there are some frameworks, practices, and methods to help us throughout this journey, but much more than that, developing an agile mindset is what matters. As Peter M. Senge said, “People do not resist change. They resist being changed.” This mindset takes time to develop, it awakens different feelings in people and, as a servant-leader, a practitioner of agility, I have to set the example, be the foothold, and help leaders become references of this mindset. One of the goals is that everyone is learning and experiencing in order to promote the continuous improvement of the whole. And that’s why I asked those two questions to you at the beginning of this text. In order to carry out my work with excellence and to contribute with everyone within AMARO, I need to know where I want to go. I need to be in a place where I can reach my professional goals and, only in a safe environment, that values learning through experience, quick and small wins and respect people, I can achieve that. Therefore, I can give the best of myself because I know everyone is doing the same and this is awesome.
And why do I believe that AMARO has everything to keep growing?
Usually, I like to follow inspiring people and read their books and posts. And one of the phrases I read in Simon Sinek’s book “Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action” sums up what I see daily here at AMARO: “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe”. Everything we do here has a purpose, working together with passion and motivation. The challenges are there, every business has its own. The point is that companies are made of people, so it is the inspiration and success of these people that enable companies to overcome their challenges.
One thing I can say: at AMARO I feel like a successful guy!
If you want to have the same experience, take a look at amaro.com/jobs to check open job positions.
