Tell us about your professional background and roles you’ve held prior to joining AireSpring.
I've been in telecommunications for over 30 years. I began my career working for the government, specifically the bankruptcy court in the US Trustees Office, when I was still in college. I served in a project coordinator role, and occasionally, I was in charge of the receptionist desk. Eventually, that led to me checking our phone bill and our electric bill, and I noticed that we were always having issues with our telecom. We used to have old Wide Area Telephone Service (WATS) lines, and I was always having to contact US West to resolve issues. From there, I started to learn a little bit about telecommunications, and I loved it. It makes sense, because I grew up with a phone in my ear, so it was a natural move for me. I realized that I could be more successful in this industry than in the Social Welfare major I had chosen, so I got a job at MCI.
I started selling long distance, loved it, and learned about the intricacies of telecom. I took it upon myself to research trouble tickets on items that I had sold and started to see the life of an order. If you sell an item poorly, it’s going to port out or disconnect at some point in the same fashion. So, I really started to pay attention to the quality of what I was selling and submitting to the service delivery side of the business at that time. When the Telecommunications Act came into play in the United States, customers now had a choice of local carrier, and during that time I moved to the local side of the business at MCI. I not only got to see more in-depth into the life cycle of an order, but I also became immersed in the world of switches and telephone numbers and how that all affects the customer in the end.
After MCI, I joined General Telephone and Electric (GTE). They had just started their Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC). I was a Project Coordinator there, participating in both selling and installing solutions and expanding my knowledge. I spent four years there before I joined Time Warner in another service delivery role. I wanted to progress my career, so I then moved to XO Communications, where I worked in Service Delivery and as a Network Optimization Analyst for 12 years, doing everything from installations to disconnects—the life of an order again. I developed a lot of relationships, engaged with the channel, and learned everything I could. After XO Communications, I began working at RingCentral as a Project Manager. I was in that position for six months until I moved into a local number portability role. People forget about business rules and FCC regulations even though they know they have a choice of telecom carrier, so my niche was to write process and teach and train internal stakeholders and external customers. What I liked about number portability was that I had the opportunity to educate customers on their choice and what happens in the long run if they don’t pay attention to their service or bill. So, after expanding my experience in those capacities for eight years at RingCentral, I joined AireSpring. I continue to do what I love, such as building relationships with internal and external stakeholders, which I think is key.
What do you like about working at AireSpring?
I first worked with AireSpring beginning in 2003-2004, when I was at XO Communications. They always had an outstanding reputation in the industry. Years later, a director I had worked with at RingCentral wanted me to come work with him at another company in a new role, but in the end, I wasn’t able to, so he recommended me to AireSpring and I was introduced to AireSpring Chief Operations Officer Russell Shipley instead.
It's so much fun here at AireSpring. Not only is it family owned and operated, but there is also a great culture. I see people hungry to do good for their company and their customers. I also see the teams really focusing on customers and how we can assist with our services. Nobody likes escalations or disputes, and our teams really do strive to make sure that, as much as possible, those don't happen. AireSpring Director of Service Delivery Regina Targete has been a fantastic leader. One of my favorite executives that I've worked for, AireSpring SVP Service Delivery Steve Pasmanik, is a very understanding, patient, and wicked smart SVP. Watching how they manage the Service Delivery team as a whole is fantastic. I love this team.
Tell us about your role at AireSpring and what your goals are.
As Platinum Project Manager, I manage a team of senior Project Coordinators (PCs) on the AireSpring Platinum team, and my goal is to always make sure that my PCs have been enabled to the point where they have one thousand percent confidence with the customer experience process, including explaining what our products are, explaining issues, and addressing trouble tickets. I want to make sure that they feel empowered when they come in and sit down and talk to somebody, even if the person they’re talking to doesn’t have all the information. And, of course, building those relationships is key in helping AireSpring grow.
Along with my day-to-day responsibilities, I’m hyper-focused on giving our process a facelift and working with other departments to see where we can do even better. Part of what I do, along with everyone else at the company, is always to strive to work toward fulfilling AireSpring’s mission, which is to help customers connect and communicate easily, and to delight our customers and partners by providing personalized, outstanding service. That’s at the core of my commitment to this job.
Tell us about your hobbies outside of work.
I love to go camping. I live in Colorado in the foothills, so every chance I get, I take my dogs and Jeep and go up to the mountains. Whether I’m just with them or friends and family, I try to get there as much as possible. If I lived by the beach or a coastal area, I’d be there all the time too.
I do a lot of volunteering. I volunteer at the Food Bank of the Rockies as well as at animal shelters. I’ve been volunteering at the Food Bank of the Rockies since the mid-2000’s and at animal shelters for about 6 or 7 years. It’s difficult because I have two dogs and two cats already and I want to adopt every single one.
