Q&A with Joanna Chan
Joanna Chan is a member of our APAC Tacks and Women’s Employee Resource Groups as well as our Design team’s DEI committee.
Learn about her experiences within ERGs at Thumbtack.
What is your primary role at Thumbtack?
Our design team works to create the best experience to easily connect customers to all types of pros on Thumbtack through inclusive collaboration. We’re not just focused on “how,” but also “why” and “what” new features to work on. I’m on the Instant Book team, where we remove the hassle of back-and-forth for our customers and give them confidence that their job will be done by the right pro. As a designer, it’s really important to me to share my work and interact with our users, because what’s obvious to me may not be so obvious to the person who is actually using our product each day.
Why did you join Thumbtack?
Proud to say I’m still at Thumbtack today for the same reasons why I was drawn to it: it’s a product for everyone. Thumbtack offers even the smallest business a better chance to succeed. Mom-and-pop shops use us to connect with their neighbors. And families get to hire more family businesses, thanks to our product. There’s nothing better than hearing stories from our pros about how Thumbtack made a difference in their lives. I was even inspired to sign up as a pro myself. I discovered how much I enjoy helping couples with their wedding first dances and thanks to Thumbtack, I’ve been able to do that! It’s really fun.
Since my first interview, I knew that this product promotes the kind of future I want to support. Now I get to spend my days working alongside brilliant teammates that can help bring these unique experiences to life.
What excites you about Thumbtack and the future ahead?
Female leadership. We’re lucky to have Dionna Smith as our Global Head of DEI and Rannie Teodoro as our Head of Design. As a woman in tech, it’s awesome to have female role models and rising stars right in front of me. Thumbtack also recently acquired the Canadian company, Setter, and we’re introducing video consultations that can be done from your home. We’re watching, in real time, our vision for Thumbtack as a one-stop shop for home maintenance come to life. New homeowners don’t get a handbook to help them take care of what’s likely the largest investment in their lives, and now we’re able to support them by providing them with local experts ready to lend a hand.
How would you describe Thumbtack’s culture?
Our culture is rooted in connection. In the same way we connect pros to customers, we take time to connect with each other as employees. Not being in the office together this year has been strange, but we make up for it by having meetings dedicated to just hanging out and sharing about our lives outside of work. Last week a few of us had a synchronized boba order to our houses and just chatted over video with a new co-worker. How cool is that?
We even hire pros from our platform for team activities and off-sites. It’s important to us to understand our product and to enjoy it, too. I’ve tried services from a personal stylist to furniture cleaning — it really opened my eyes and helped me build empathy for the pros who work for us. The company offers all of us quarterly stipends for hiring pros and we love swapping stories about how we use our “Thumbtack Bucks.”
What Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are you part of? How have they helped to create a culture of belonging at Thumbtack?
I’m a member of multiple ERGs: APAC Tacks and Women, and I’m also a DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) committee member on our Design team. We have a company value, “Say what you mean,’ and that’s all about making Thumbtack a safe, inclusive space for everyone to be heard. It’s comforting knowing other people at Thumbtack have a shared experience and understanding of the work environment, in a very specific way. None of us need to feel alone. With the recent spate of attacks against the Asian community, APAC Tacks has been a channel for us to open up about our emotions and remain outspoken against xenophobia and hate crimes.
There’s also diversity within our groups that’s powerful. When people think about ERGs, you might assume that all members of an ERG have a singular, shared perspective. In reality, I’ve learned that being Asian and a woman in tech can take on many forms. The key to belonging is being able to identify with each other through shared experiences, but also walk away learning from each other’s different viewpoints and stories.
