Unbouncers Uncovered: Building Connection through Meaningful Work
Hi there! Welcome to our new multi-part series where we’ll share with you stories from the talented people behind the landing page builder — Unbounce. Who better to tell you what it’s like inside our offices (and, frankly, now working remotely from the comfort of our homes around the world) than our wonderful Unbouncers themselves.
Meet Nicole Wright. During her time at Unbounce she has worn many hats, and is now our Senior Analytics Developer on our Data Analytics team. Nicole didn’t always know she was going to end up in tech. She actually comes from a Fine Arts background. Growing up, Nicole attended a Fine Arts high school then went on to Art school after that. However after graduating, her father, being a Business Intelligence (BI) Engineer himself, introduced her to the world of Tech and the rest is history!
Additionally, Nicole’s love for people and connection has been one of her favourite parts about being an Unbouncer. Nicole joined Unbounce in 2017 and then left to pursue another opportunity. Knowing that we would always welcome her back with open arms, she returned to Unbounce again in 2019 and we’re so delighted to have her. We took the time to sit down with Nicole and learn about her experiences as an Unbouncer. Read on!
Tell us about your story? How did you end up at Unbounce?
I have been working in the tech industry for a pretty long time, almost 15 years. Specifically, I’ve been working in data. I’ve been a subcontractor and contractor. I’ve worked for big companies, and I’ve worked for startups. I’ve done full-stack software development and a lot of BI analysis. In terms of my career, it’s been a pretty full range within the tech industry.
How did I end up at Unbounce? At the time, I was writing an app by myself and I was doing the full-stack development. I met two people that were (and still are) employees of Unbounce. Separate from one another, they talked about how great it is to work at Unbounce and they said I would be a great fit for the company. It took me a couple of years to come around and to apply, because I was invested in the app I was working on. Eventually, I realized the app was not going anywhere, and it was in fact a terrible experience and I had a very good friend of mine tell me that I could just leave the app — which blew my mind, but that’s what I did.
It was an incredible life change for me to come here. Walking away from something I was invested in was hard. And then the lifestyle was completely different. For example, I had been working from home, by myself with no colleagues and talked to my boss every couple of weeks. At Unbounce, I got to develop all these very real friendships and be surrounded by people all the time.
What does an average day look like for you? What are you working on?
In my day-to-day, I do a lot of communication and a lot of ‘consulting’ for lack of a better word. I consult on projects. Because I was managing the team last year, I do still have this relationship where people can ask for advice and I can help them. My tenure at Unbounce also plays a role in this since I have a lot of historical context on the people and various projects.
That’s half of my day-to-day and then the other half is actual development now. I’m currently doing analytics development engineering, which is really where my strength has always been. The role suits me really well.
I also work with business teams (AKA, our operations and senior leadership teams!). I love that part of my job! That’s why being in internal data is super fun to me because you get to figure out what people need and then help them to get that.
What’s something that you’re passionate about?
Too many things! I’m passionate about tech and the intellectual stimulation of solving hard problems. I’m passionate about people. I really like learning about people. I’m very driven by that. And I’m passionate about craft. I have lots of hobbies that I enjoy. For example, I work with leather and make shoes, and I do pottery, or at least I did before Covid. I would like to get into glass blowing. That’s the next craft I’d like to explore.
If you had to give advice to your younger self what would it be?
My advice would be to be patient and understand that sometimes you just have to wait. That’s something that has taken me a long time to learn but once I did, it had a profound effect on my life. At the same time though, being bold and taking action is also something you have to do simultaneously. It doesn’t mean being impulsive, which is something I did a lot as a kid, but having a balance between being comfortable waiting for something, and the confidence to be open to share my thoughts, feelings, opinions and experiences. Finding the balance between those two, that’s what I would ask my younger self to consider.
What’s something you’ve been able to achieve at Unbounce that you’re proud of?
What I’m most proud of is being able to play so many roles. I have been able to change roles and each one was different from the other. So far, I have been in three roles all within the Data team. Having the support and enablement to explore all of those has been great. I feel pretty proud of it because I’ve learned different things from each one.
I feel proud, as well, that I’m working with people that I consider mentors. Figuring out how to try and drop my ego a bit and say, ‘No, I actually don’t know best all the time. There are people who know a lot more than I do, about a lot of different things’. We have that kind of mentorship here at Unbounce and it’s encouraged.
At Unbounce we have many ‘fun’ Slack channels that have nothing to do with our work. What is your favourite Slack channel?
I love our home workout gang channel. It’s where Unbouncers who participate in Fitbounce (a weekly workout over zoom) chat. It’s a nice change to see people in something other than meetings.
If you ever have the pleasure of interacting with Nicole, her love for people is something that’s hard to miss. One of Nicole’s favourite parts of working at Unbounce is actually something that’s intangible. You can’t put a price on the relationships you create. It’s the people that make it that much more enjoyable to come to work(or log on to work) every day. Even though we can all feel a little deprived of human connection right now, Nicole still finds a way to extend a welcoming hand to all Unbouncers. Her energy is something you can feel even through a screen!
At Unbounce, our diversity movement is at the forefront of our minds, and we celebrate the uniqueness of each Unbouncer and the talent that they bring to the table. Our people-first culture allows us to create an environment where Unbouncers feel CARED for and can do their best work. Unbounce is one of Canada’s fastest-growing tech companies and is the world’s leading landing page platform with a workplace of over 200 people who really, truly care about one another and 20+ very good office dogs.
If you’re interested in levelling up your career with Unbounce, check out our careers website to learn more about joining our team.
