Celebrating a decade at Wix
Published in
6 min readJul 26, 2021
Last week I celebrated 10 years at Wix!
It’s been an amazing journey, I never believed I would work 10 years for the same company, and I thought it’s a good time to pause and share some things I’ve learned from this amazing experience.
- Working with great engineers will make you better
Before I came to Wix I worked in two different companies. In both cases after a few months on the job, I felt I became the “goto” person. On the one hand, it made me feel great but on the other hand, I felt I wasn’t studying enough.
My interview at Wix was very very challenging, it motivated me to choose Wix as my next workplace because I felt I could grow as an engineer.
This was a great decision and my intuition was right. I must admit I felt intimidated at first, The backend team at the time had 6 very strong engineers. I immediately felt the imposter syndrome and wasn’t sure I fitted with them. Once I came over it I was very grateful for the ability to learn from each and every one of them.
Up to this day, I keep learning from my peers. I found my place and feel I’m respected for my knowledge but I never became the strongest person on the team and that is a very good sign. - The product matters
One of the things I loved from day one was understanding what product we’re creating and seeing the value it gives to our customers.
Being able to change people's lives by helping them open small businesses and get economic freedom is amazing. The fact that we’re a B2C company, and new features I work on get straight to the customers enabling me to see and measure the success within days gives me great motivation. - Find a mentor
I was lucky that when I joined Wix, Aviran Mordo, Our VP of engineering now, was then the backend team lead. I think he is an amazing Manager and mentor. He knew how to help me grow as an engineer, challenged me to get out of my comfort zone and try new things like public speaking at conferences. He helped me navigate my career at Wix at times I didn’t have enough self-confidence to ask for moves myself.
I am very grateful for all this help! - Coffee breaks are also work
I love coffee breaks! I can’t sit next to the computer for too long and I love those small chats you get with colleagues in the kitchen. As you can guess, I made lot’s of good friends across the company over the years :)
I always thought I was wasting time on those breaks, but use to forgive myself because I felt I got all my tasks done on time.
Then I was sent to a course to improve my Matrix Management skills. There I learned that personal connections are a great tool in motivating people to help you across the organization, and I realized that all those friendships I make during coffee breaks really help me do my job better.
- Have an opinion
I’m a very opinionated person. One of the things I love about Wix is that having a different opinion is valued. I think one of the ways to learn and grow is to ask questions and say what’s on your mind even if everyone else thinks differently. you can learn from their explanations why you’re wrong, and you can make the design better by challenging the concept and shading lights on concerns that might have been overlooked.
I was inspired by Sheryl Sandberg’s explanation on why women need to ‘Sit At The Table’, I always try to sit in the front row in big meetings and make sure I’m part of the discussion. - Work-Life balance is important
A lot of companies talk about it, but in reality don’t support it.
At Wix I really feel your personal life is respected.
Both now, that I have very young kids and can go home early to be with them, but also when I was still single and wanted time for hobbies and just going out with friends.
I think It helps me keep motivated and engaged over time, and also when I feel my time is respected I’m happy to give it all when we have an important deadline.
I feel a strong proof of it is the fact that engineers stay loyal to the company for many years. When I first joined wix we were 6 backend engineers, 4 of them are still in the company! It keeps the burnout small and is a great way to keep going strong in the future. - Having a Vision makes a difference
One of the things I found weird when I started working at Wix, was that the management would go away for an offsite in some resort every year to think of the vision and where the company was going.
At first, I thought it was just an excuse for a vacation, but I realized that every time they came back and shared their vision with everyone. I must admit I didn’t always understand the vision when they presented it, but the reality proved time after time that they got the right vision and maneuvered the company in the right direction.
I find this really inspiring. - You’re also a product
I used to think that job interviews were the place where you had to “sell your abilities”. Now I realize that building your name is something you should be doing all through your career.
A few years after I joined Wix I started giving talks at conferences. My next step was starting my blog, this was encouraged by the great female engineer group Baot. They held a blogging event, and it gave me a push to publish my first post. I also became involved with different activities in Baot.
I got another great exposure by featuring in a few podcasts episodes. Most of those were arranged by the great Morad Stern from Wix.
I feel I’ve been really building my name. I’m now approached by strangers telling me they watched my previous talks, heard me on podcasts, or read my blog. it’s a great feeling!! - Thank your lucky stars
This is a good time to admit that the only reason I interviewed for Wix in the first place was that I had a little dog, Petel, and they allowed dogs in the office. I owe her a lot, may she rest in dogs heaven
So I don’t have any good tips on joining a successful startup — it was pure luck.
It’s been such a crazy and amazing ride, I met so many amazing people along the way and learned so much!
Let me finish by raising a glass for the future success of Wix
