My name is Tyler Williams and I have now been working at Right On Interactive for nearly three months. I graduated from Purdue University with a business management degree in May. If you had told me a year ago that I would be working as a client success manager at anything even close to a technology or software company a year ago, I would have laughed in your face. However, the Governor Bob Orr Entrepreneurial Fellowship and Right on Interactive changed all that for me.
Flash back to finalist day for Orr Fellowship recruitment, it was both the craziest and most fun day of recruitment in my young professional career. I had interviews from 8:00AM to 5:00PM and Right On Interactive, a company I knew relatively little about, was my last interview of the day. My interview was going fairly well (nothing extraordinary) until I asked founder and CEO Troy Burk a question that I had asked of every other CEO that day. My question was, “What is your true passion as a company founder for your work and how does that tie into your goals for your company?” Troy’s answer proved to be the best I heard all day. He stated, very matter-of-factly,
“For me, my priorities are my God, my family and then my work. That being said my passion is creating a solution that truly helps my clients and adds value to their business. If while chasing this passion, the company grows quickly and/or becomes successful then so be it, but I am more interested in providing value for people and making their lives easier.”
Later that night I received a call from Troy informing of my selection as Right On Interactive’s Orr Fellow. I could not have been more excited about the opportunity.
Fast forward to mid-August, I am now working as a client success manager and gaining more knowledge and experience every single day. As a member of the client success team, I can’t imagine being more welcomed than I have been these past two months. Given the growing nature of our company, my team is extremely busy yet continues to go well out of their way to make me feel comfortable, provide training, and aid me with any client issues or questions.
From Troy’s explanation of priorities and passion during my interview and the few other people I knew from the office, I have witnessed firsthand a company culture complete with family values, hard work, and a tight-knit group of technology professionals focused on supporting our customers in every manner possible.
I recently heard Kristian Andersen, founder of KA+A among many other successful businesses ventures, speak at an event where he discussed the much argued “Work-Life balance” topic. Kristian argued that if you are in the company and position that you belong in and best suited for, then there is no such thing as “Work-Life Balance.” Kristian went on to explain it is all part of life, and there is no need to live two different lives or even make a concerted effort at balancing if one is truly in a work environment that encourages and engages all aspects of your life. This is a topic I thought could be a potential hurdle when joining the workforce; however, I have found the culture, work, and “life” at Right On Interactive provides an overall great life experience.
I am confident and elated in my placement and subsequent position acceptance decision with Right On Interactive. I can’t imagine feeling more at home, being pushed further professionally and intellectually, and gaining my current amount of responsibility at any company this early in my young professional career.
