We’ve been working incredibly hard to make sure each and every personalized book is, well, perfect! So we wanted to highlight some of our Heroes who’ve been busting their butts. So meet Andrea, the Communications Manager for the English-speaking markets.
How did you first become acquainted with Hooray Heroes? It was the “Missed Connections” sections, right? We saw you giving us the side-eye the other day…
Honestly, I started out as a customer. I was a new mom to a beautifully wild baby girl and it didn’t take Facebook long to figure out that it should be throwing child-rearing products at me left, right and centre. I admit I ignored most of it, but these personalized books kept popping up in my feed. They looked so sweet and the illustrations were gorgeous! Then, one day, I finally relented and went to the website to take a closer look. Well, I cried my way through making one for hubby and that was it.
So, really, it started with one book and, obviously, went a bit further than I expected.
What is your favourite part about working here, besides the free candy?
My favourite part about working here is actually two things (so I’m cheating a bit). Firstly, I have the privilege of working with some truly extraordinary people. Being relatively new to the firm, having kind, supportive co-workers has been wonderfully motivating. It’s hard to express in words how grateful I am for this.
Secondly, I never get sick of reading the responses we get from customers: the emails, the videos, and photos that are sent in. Some people reach out to us with the most honest, heartfelt or heart-breaking stories and while I know that we pride ourselves on making parents cry, sometimes that backfires horrendously and I’m the one who ends up in tears at my desk!
Side note: I am a wonderful person to share candy with because I don’t eat candy. Coffee on the other hand, well, that’s a different story.
What was the most surprising thing you learned since you started working as a Communications Manager?
Working with my Customer Care staff and getting to know them all (as well as you can get to know people during a pandemic) has been nothing less than a joy. Working alongside such caring, hard-working young people makes you want to do more to help them do more. They surprise me every day with the level of empathy they have for people and really give me hope for the future.
What do you find to be the most challenging thing about your job? Why?
It depends on the season, but I think, generally, the biggest challenge is just keeping track of everything that’s going on around here! With 4 markets to navigate, it’s easy to get lost in all of the details. That’s one of many reasons why it’s nice to have people around you that are supportive and more than happy to lend a helping hand or remind you of something you might have otherwise forgotten (or have already forgotten). It happens to the best of us, after all.
If you had to describe Hooray Heroes’ company culture in one sentence, what would it be?
I would say that we have a relatively relaxed, friendly company culture, which does not mean that we don’t work hard, just that we try to have a little fun while we do it!
