Team Hibou
Virtual workforces are becoming the new norm, and Hibou is no exception. Our team members come from a variety of different backgrounds, and are scattered across the United States.
When working with remote companies, it's always helpful to put a face to a name, so we welcome you to the next entry of our Employee Spotlight pieces!
I'm Cory and I am the guy behind the keyboard for the social aspects of Hibou: Social media posts, most of our blog content, monitoring our CRM and Support pipelines, and a bunch of stuff I am certainly forgetting I still live in Fort Collins, Colorado, and have made myself at home here at Hibou as a Project Manager, Support Manager, Social Media Guy, as well as a SaaS (Sarcasm as a Service) expert. Author's note: My original spotlight ran almost a year ago and if you really had the time, you can read it here to compare how things have changed in my role since being a new hire. There are differences for sure. Like, notice the cover image? This one has the little recycling can next to our owl. Cause this article is largely recycled. And I'm funny.
What’s my role at Hibou? What does that look like on a daily basis?
I joined this team with zero experience in technical support or project management but quickly started wearing both of those hats. I start my day by going through email and responding accordingly to clients and coworkers, then check out help desk to see if we have new tickets and to check on progress of open tickets. Then it is over to CRM to check for new Leads and go through our open Opportunities to see if I have any scheduled follow-up activities or new messages to reply to. Then it's to my google calendar to make note of any meetings throughout the day. Through all of this, I keep the Notes app open and make a daily task list of things needing accomplished throughout the day. Between social media posts, blog writing, documentation updating, and of course client work, I try to help out where I can on any of those fun "surprise" topics that come in throughout a normal day.
What was I up to before coming to Hibou?
It's hard to believe that a year ago, I was coming up on 22 years as a retail grocery store employee. I had put in years in every department from being a Checkout Clerk, Meat Cutter, Night Crew Manager, to Inventory Control Clerk where I oversaw receipts, deliveries, kept invoices in line and made sure the bills got paid. From 2015-2021, I was waking up at 2:45am to make it to work before 4am and was on my feet for eight straight hours a day. A far cry from where I am today. I am no less busy, I just get to do it from the comfort of my own home, without a dozen bosses overseeing my work, and the freedom to (mostly) structure my own days' work.
What is my favorite thing about being on Team Hibou?
This part hasn't changed much other than I now know my coworkers better than before and can say with confidence now that this is a great group of people who, even though most of us have never met in person or share a timezone, have found ways to work together and communicate to accomplish our goals both client-facing and internal. Plus, with this remote position and some schedule flexibility, I can do my chores during my coffee breaks on Friday which leaves my weekends open for more time playing video games and spending time with family or whatever.
What’s something new or helpful I have learned since joining the company?
That learning something new each day is a prerequisite for being successful. Having a developed skillset is great and all, but if you aren't trying to absorb new information, you aren't growing. Luckily, I work with a group of people who are almost always ready to jump on a call to explain something I haven't seen before and make sure that I understand it before our call ends. That in itself is amazing and rare in most workplaces.
Enough about work! Outside of Hibou, what sorts of things do I like to do with my time?
(This part hasn't changed much!) I love video games! I currently play on PS5 and Nintendo Switch and enjoy a variety of different titles. My most consuming hobby is probably my growing collection of collections ranging from Comic Books (Huge fan of Batman, TMNT, and works from Scott Snyder, Grant Morrison, and Tom King to name a few), Action Figures, Lego sets, Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter items. Basically the stuff that everyone now loves, that kids growing up in the 80’s were mocked for enjoying, that's my bread and butter. My favorite bands/musicians are Pearl Jam, Jason Mraz, and Eminem, pretty eclectic. I am married to my lovely wife Christine, and we have a dog named Olivia that we enjoy taking out hiking.
What is an unforgettable or once-in-a-lifetime experience I have had?
It may not be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for everyone, but my first international trip is something I will never forget. My wife’s family and I started out in Italy by spending a few days in Venice, Florence, Rome, and the Isle of Capri, having amazing food and sight seeing tours in every city. Then we flew to Paris and spent a couple days doing the same things there. Finally, we flew back to the United States and met my brother and his wife in New York City where the four of us toured on our own. In the span of three days, I went from the top of the Eiffel Tower, to the top of One World Trade Center. Pretty remarkable trip, if I do say so myself. To anyone who is comparing this blog to it's original version, this once-in-a-lifetime trip has not yet been topped, so it stays!
And that's it for now! I don't know if I'll add to this yearly or not. Seems self indulgent. So probably. Thanks for checking this post out and don't forget to explore my awesome teammate's Spotlight articles!
Meet Mishael, easily educated and fearless, an awesome combination!