Company CultureMeet Our Team: Creative & Web Manager, Kyra Constam
Get her take on her DESelect journey →
Her journey at DESelect began with the title of Senior Graphic Designer, where her talent and hard work shined brightly from the beginning. Through her dedication and exceptional skill set, Kyra swiftly ascended the ranks to her current role as Brand & Web Manager. With youthful energy and a keen eye for aesthetics, Kyra has redefined the standards of design within DESelect. Her story epitomizes the potential for growth and success within our company, inspiring both colleagues and aspiring designers alike.
In this interview, we get into Kyra’s journey and get insights from her remarkable career trajectory and her story with DESelect.
What does a Creative & Web Manager do?
When I first joined DESelect I started as a Senior Graphic Designer and last month I was promoted to Brand & Web Manager. Because we are a small team it basically means that I have a hand in all things design and branding. This covers numerous aspects of the company, including our website, product, and events. If you are looking at the DESelect brand – that’s actually me behind the scenes putting all of those assets together.
“I believe I’m really fortunate to make some real friendships with people at work, and at DESelect it is definitely possible”
What are your TOP 3 reasons to work at DESelect?
I love that it’s a global team. It kind of opens your eyes to different cultures and I really like fostering relationships with people who don’t live in the US. I also like that working at DESelect has led to genuine friendships. Even though some people don’t work here anymore, I still consider them friends and stay in touch with them. I believe I’m really fortunate to make some real friendships with people at work, and at DESelect it is definitely possible. Traveling to Belgium has also been so amazing. I’m definitely someone who loves to travel and meeting people face-to-face, especially when I’ve only ever seen them on Zoom!What surprised you the most while traveling to Belgium?
I had been to Europe before, so when I came to visit DESelect in Belgium, it wasn’t so much of a shock, but I had never been to Antwerp before! What definitely surprised me was how cheap the beer is (lol)
If you had to name one. What is the main and most impactful project that you are responsible for?
The most impact project I work on is
putting together the UX for in-person events. This involves landing pages, booth design, swag items, and printed information to hand out to attendees, plus graphics to promote ourselves before, during, and after the event. One of the biggest events that we have upcoming is “Connections” in Chicago. We’re also present at a bunch of Salesforce World Tours, literally around the world. We always try to generate demand from prospects at those events, and in light of that, it is important that I update the website with new pages and the best possible content, to help convert our leads into booking a demo. We want people to see our product, try it, fall in love with it, and then close that deal.
“I like that I have a lot of creative freedom, I feel like people around me trust me, as the expert”
Which project of the ones that you completed was your favorite one and why?
I really like putting together at the end of 2023 – I kind of initiated these end-of-the-year stats. It was a document but also it was very visual. I got to intersect product and design and marketing all into one format because I had to go into Metabase and I got to work with CS on that a little bit to see what our users are actually using the product for, how many selections they are creating, how many Engage contacts they have in database. And so I put that together in December just basically highlighting the performance of our product. It was really fun to see how our users have been doing over 2023 and how the numbers are in millions for every product.
Favorite moment so far at DESelect?
I can’t decide between the two so I will tell you both! The first of my favorite moments at DESelect was last May, at the Company Gathering at the end of the week, everybody went out for the celebration and it was really fun, to just like see people when they were away from their desks when we all had fun when you see everyone even our CEO and CTO drinking and dancing and just having fun. And beyond that at the end of Dreamforce, last year in September the whole team went out for dinner and that was so fun. We felt like we had a really good conference, we generated pipeline, and it was one of those “work hard – play hard” situations.
Are you more of a cat person or a dog person?
I love both honestly, I feel like my legacy is that I started the #pets channel on Slack. When I joined in September 2022 there was no pets channel and I was like “ I want to see everybody’s cats, dogs, whatever they have” and so I started it. I would say that I’m slightly, slightly more of a dog person but I do love cats and if my husband wasn’t allergic to them I would have a cat for sure. But I do have a dog, I have a corgi, he is kind of crazy.
What do you like the most in your role?
I like that I have a lot of creative freedom. I feel like people around me trust me, as the expert, and while they are more than welcome to give feedback, I do feel like there is a lot of trust from them that I’m going to make the best decision for whatever I’m working on.
If you could say something to yourself back at the beginning of your professional career what would you say to this Kyra in the past?
I would say to not be afraid to push boundaries in your designs and always ask questions from those more experienced than you when you have the time. I think a lot of people want to help you with your beginnings and you don’t have to work in a kind of bubble, you can grow your network and learn from others.
“Don’t be afraid to push boundaries in your designs and always ask questions from those more experienced than you”
Help us elevate engagement through human intelligence at scale
Company CultureMeet Our Team: Customer Success Manager, Alex Divrioti
Get her take on her DESelect journey →
Alex has a passion for innovation, change and exponential growth. That passion makes her an amazing fit for most tech startups. She recently decided to join DESelect as a next step in her career , working from our cozy office in Antwerp. We recently sat down with Alex for an interview, to uncover more about the girl who has a huge heart for her customers.
How was your journey at DESelect so far?
I needed to relocate from Greece and I appreciate how everyone was trying to help me with things that I didn’t know. It’s an international environment and everyone is open in the office. We really have good and fun people working at this company. When comparing the onboarding process with other companies, I must say that I really enjoyed the onboarding at DESelect. There is proper documentation and different things you have to study before you get started. It can be a bit overwhelming in the beginning because there is a lot of information. But once you get into a rhythm, the process is quite smooth. I’ve seen myself grow a lot in short period of time. The first 2 months was all about training and followed by months where I got to join client meetings. Now I can happily say I have my first 5 clients!
“Interacting & sharing ideas, is really a core value for startups because that’s how innovation happens”
According to you, what makes a great CSM at DESelect?
At DESelect, you need to have the right product knowledge and you need to be communicative, since you need the ability to explain the product to numerous people, with different technical backgrounds. You also need to be compassionate and understand the clients struggles and pain points. As a CSM, we need to listen, and think how we can make their lives easier. In the end we want to have happy customers that can rely on us for a better experience. We simplify their daily lives, by enabling them to work with SalesForce Marketing Cloud more easily.How is the Customer Success Team embracing you?
I think the team is amazing and everyone is trying to spread knowledge. We also have meetings we call ‘knowledge transfer.’ A moment where team members share what works well for them, and what techniques they use. There’s a lot of willingness to share best practices – I really appreciate that. Within the team we also gives honest feedback to each other, and you can feel that the feedback comes from a good place.
Can you describe DESelect’s culture?
There are some common traits from other startup companies that I worked for. The fun factor is always present, because you have people that are typically of a ‘younger’ generation, with a similar way of thinking. I really appreciate that in startups. Specifically at DESelect, I like that we are eating lunch together on a regular basis (weekly soup days!). In the Antwerp office, we also schedule an activity once a month, which really bonds the team. We’re in a hybrid set-up, and I personally like to work form the office, since I’m a people person. I love interacting with others & sharing ideas. I personally find that to be a core value for startups, because that’s how innovation happens. We also have darts and pingpong table at the Antwerp office, contributing to a lot of fun.
Rapid fire questions for Alex!
3 words to categorize DESelect?Innovative.
Ope.
Fun.
Go to comfort food?Five Guys: fries, burger with bacon & cheese (must have) and a vanilla milkshake.
Favorite destination?Pilio, Greece. When I was a child, we went there with my family a lot. You can go in wintertime and during the summer.
What do you carry with you at all times?Headphones with noise cancellation & water bottle.
Favorite DESelect moment so far?Tortilla slap challenge during the Christmas party.
Help us elevate engagement through human intelligence at scale
Company CultureMeet Our Team: Digital Marketing Specialist, Carley Zoccali
Get her take on her DESelect journey →
A year into her DESelect journey, Carley realised that marketing was her true calling, and quickly transitioned into being a valued member of our Marketing Team. Being the polyvalent talent she is, Carley tackles numerous projects at DESelect, with 1 main goal in mind…demand generation!
What does a Demand Generation Specialist do?
At DESelect, I’m working closely with the Head of Marketing. Implementing strategy, mapping out the marketing initiatives for the quarter and outlining the concrete deliverables, to achieve the team’s overall goal. Other things I do, are segmenting the audience for emails, writing the emails and scheduling them. If we have events, I need to make sure that all the logistics are taken care of, as well as making sure that leads are assigned to the sales team. Facilitating webinars and managing our sponsorships with other companies, are also part of my tasks. I also run our socials, which means, coming up with the right promotional strategy that relates back to our value proposition.
“At DESelect, you’re able to voice your opinions and make your own ideas happen.”
What makes working at DESelect different from your previous work experiences?
I originally worked at a very large company before DESelect, and it’s kind of the feeling that you’re like a small fish in a big pond. You do your job, and that’s it, there’s not a lot of room for growth. At DESelect, since we’re a smaller company, you have the chance to learn a lot and be involved in a lot of conversations. You’re able to voice your opinions and make your own ideas happen.
What projects did you realize or are you currently working on?
Right now, we’re transitioning from being known as a “marketing enablement platform” to a “marketing optimization platform.” So thinking through the whole process for that. For example, what are we going to change on the website so that this makes sense to consumers, how this affects our customers and what we will communicate to them, etc. A smaller project, was making a mini ebook. The content is very snackable, and repurposed a lot of our older content. It was sent out to a decent sized audience and we ended up getting over 30 downloads in one day, which is pretty impressive. Kudos to our designer Kyra as well!
One of the events that was very fun and challenging, was a Salesforce event in London. It was actually one of the first events where I did all the logistics for, and went there by myself as the sole marketing person. That was super challenging but I enjoyed it.
“We have a lot of people that are very knowledgeable about what
they do.”
What do you believe we’re good at as a company?
I think we have a lot of people that are very knowledgeable about what they do. For example, our Customer Success Team. Everyone on the Customer Success Team is very good at training the customers, explaining things to them and really walking them through processes. Not to mention having a lot of technical knowledge for both Salesforce Marketing Cloud, and DESelect. Our Product Team is doing bug fixes, making adjustments and listening to customer feedback. We could get a request from a customer for a new idea or feature. Then this is actually something our Product Team will work on and often implement into our platform.
What’s it like working within the marketing team?
I think the team works really well together. We are not afraid to give each other feedback, but it’s never taken in a negative light. Everyone’s always trying to help everyone out and everyone is also very good at what they specialize in. Apart from the skills, half of the marketing team is in America, so it’s nice to talk about pop culture and things from home that we all can relate to.
Favorite moment so far at DESelect?
This is because I’m a food person, but I like our lunch time. We’re not really talking about work, but taking a break during the day like people, not just coworkers.
Go to comfort food?
I love Mexican food and Chipotle (I don’t want to make anyone mad by actually calling this Mexican food because it isn’t). A bowl, a burrito and the queso that apparently is only available in America. I could eat Chipotle anytime of any day.
Favorite destination?
I really enjoyed Madrid. I went to Madrid last winter, and the people were so nice, and the food was great, and it was not extremely expensive, which is always a plus when you’re like a foodie. The landmarks and stuff are amazing as well, but for me it’s about the restaurants.