Remote Success Stories: John Scrugham, Accelo
From đź‘‹ Remote, this is Remote Success Stories, an interview series exploring successful transitions into remote work in the technology world. Interested in transitioning to remote work? Want to chat with other fellow remote workers? Join our global remote work community at helloremote.life!
Our interview today is with John Scrugham, a Solutions Engineer at Accelo.
Who are you and what do you do?
I work remotely for a business software company based out of SF. I joined pretty early on, so I end up helping where I’m need most: selling and demoing with the sales team, running webinars with the marketing team, building solutions for customers with the success team, and designing user stories and workflows with the product team.
What appealed to you about beginning to work remotely?
My wife got into an amazing interior architecture program at UCLA, so I was considering looking for a job in LA. When I told that to our CEO, he said, “Nah mate, you don’t need to do that; just work remotely”. Working remotely allowed us to follow our life path, without having to change jobs.
How did you first approach the subject with your employer? Had other employees been working remotely before you?
I was the first person to move into remote work. In Australia, there was a married couple who had started remote, so I guess that helped a bit. We work with customers across the globe every day (and many of them work remotely too), so where I’m located doesn’t make a big deal as long as the Internet works and I’m awake for the calls.
What surprising things have you discovered about working remotely?
How easy it is to start mindlessly doing house chores and forgetting that you’re being paid to do computer work, not hands-on work.
Have there been any downsides to beginning to work remotely?
The SF office has awful wi-fi. For being the center of the tech world, it’s surprising (and embarrassing) how bad the connection is. Many onsite meetings come in choppy or cut out, so I lose valuable information in the process.
Are there any tools or software that you’ve found particularly effective?
Slack, Zoom, Accelo, GSuite, Coda.io
Anything else you’d like to add?
My wife and I are looking to move somewhere more rural and start a more remote, remote life.
John Scrugham is a Solutions Engineer at Accelo. Follow him on Medium.
