Welcome Series: New to the koala team — Product Manager, Azadeh!
This week, we publish our inaugural “Welcome Series” for Azadeh Maghsoodi, who joined us around a month ago from the Iconic. Azadeh brings a wealth of ecommerce experience working on a wide range of projects and alongside different sized teams. We are extremely happy to have her join koala and to get to know her better, we decided to interview her.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your prior experience?
I’m originally from Iran, where I studied Computer Software Engineering and started my career as a Software Developer. I gained experience in different roles; Business Analyst, Project Manager and Solution Manager in a number of companies, including one of the largest Telecom operators in the Middle East, until I discovered my dream job; ‘Product Manager’, in an eCommerce startup! After moving to Australia just over three years ago, I was lucky to further pursue my dream job at THE ICONIC, a leading player in online fashion. Thirsty for learning more and challenging myself, I recently joined Koala to explore different types of problems to help solve, and find new pairs of ears to tire with my endless questions!
What were you looking for in your new role, how is Koala different to the previous places you’ve worked and what motivated you to join Koala?
Challenge, growth, and a fair amount of koala cuteness!
Apart from the mighty level of patience Koala leadership showed during and after the interview process by openly answering my numerous questions, I also fell in love with their sweet koala symbol and its adorable footprints all over the company. Not to mention its physical and digital products (to the extent that the office is located in a Treehouse and their internal software is called GumLeaf), there were quite a number of other reasons that made me seriously consider Koala as my next adventure.
One of the early attractive signs was recognising the need for internal product management (of software utilised by internal users) and higher operational efficiency, which showed the unexpectedly high level of maturity of a company younger than three years (at the time) had reached.
I noticed Koala acts based on certain values that I also care for; attention to sustainability and social responsibility, which was one of the reasons I felt proud of working at my previous job, has also been part of Koala’s practices since its early days. Furthermore, when I got to know that Koala’s Head of Technology had taken a three-day training course to broaden his own knowledge of Product Management, and had also encouraged and sponsored two of his team members to participate in the same course and explore different career path options, it became clear to me that I am joining a team who value learning and empowerment, care about and help people to grow, and act as enabler for empathy and collaboration.
What exciting projects are you looking forward to working on?
Although I’m climbing a steep learning curve right now, I am focussed on putting together a living roadmap and strategy for Koala’s internal software products and work closely with the team, stakeholders and users throughout planning and execution. My top priority is to ensure there are proper systems and automation in place to support Koala’s growth through its journey from a well-known loved mattress company in Australia, to a furniture household name in the international market. I am also excited about a product commercialisation opportunity, which means I could get my hands dirty in loads of market research, competition analysis and, hopefully, a separate stream of defining product vision and strategy.
What would you like the team to do to get to know you better and help you settle in?
The team have already been, and continue to be, super friendly and helpful. It might not be obvious, but I’m an introvert — ‘Talkative Introvert’ is a thing! Hence, it’d be great if the team would excuse my inevitable awkwardness! I also encourage them to keep reminding me of basketball and yoga sessions until I surrender!
Koala is an Australian startup based in Sydney with a passion for changing the furniture buying experience online because life’s too short to worry about dumb stuff like wasting a whole day waiting for the delivery guy or whether 20 minutes in a showroom was enough to make an educated decision…
Try Koala today at koala.com.
