This is the final post in Resonate’s blog series honoring Women’s History Month, in which we feature several of the women here at Resonate. We spoke with them about a variety of topics related to their lives and careers. Each article in this series will highlight a theme that emerged from those conversations.
What is your favorite Resonate memory? One of the most interesting parts of the conversations with Resonate’s female employees focused on their favorite memories at the company. The memories ranged from company-wide events to personal accomplishments.
One of the company-wide events that many people mentioned are the Resonate Mystery Events that take place throughout the year. Employees are invited to two annual events while receiving no details on what, where and how it they are taking place. Examples include a “Choose Your Own Adventure” company-wide event and a surprise outing to a Washington Redskins football game.
Estelle Peterson, a Team Lead on Resonate’s Engineering team, mentioned the Mystery Events as a highlight because they foster more cross-team engagement. Others highlighted the fact that the events were always a surprise, and the suspense created something of a bond between all attendees.
Resonate happy hours have also brought people together to celebrate company milestones. Julie McGoldrick, Resonate’s Director of Human Resources, recalled her favorite happy hour being centered around the redesign of the Reston office in 2015. The HR and office management teams had worked for months on the redesign and held a happy hour to unveil the results to the company. The HR and office management teams managed to keep the redesign a surprise and the unveiling at the happy made the event extremely special for everyone.
In addition to planned events, other company-wide accomplishments were also cited as favorite memories. Bijal Soni, Resonate’s Director of Analytics and Data Strategy, said her best recollection was being a key member on Resonate’s initiative to go into the cookie space. Seeing how the product was created from scratch and how it is helping Resonate’s clients is very fulfilling for her.
Another company accomplishment mentioned by Tatyana Yanush, Resonate’s Director of Business Solutions, was the agile reboot training day when the company created cross-functional development teams—nicknamed the “Avengers” and “X-Men.” Tatyana helped implement agile as a foundation for Resonate’s development practices; the result is quicker development and more knowledge transfer.
Team camaraderie was also a theme related to several people’s favorite Resonate memories. Deb Correa, Resonate’s VP of Client Services, remembers when her team was in transition during the busy 2014 election cycle and members of other teams as well as new hires all stepped up to pitch in right away. The overall mentality of the team was for everyone to roll up their sleeves and get things done. Seeing the team rise to the challenge and thrive was very rewarding.
The 2014 election cycle also provided a favorite memory for Ritvika Chandra, Resonate’s Manager of Client Strategy and Partnerships. She had just joined the Client Services team yet felt like she was immediately an integral part of it. She loved how everyone worked through problems together and helped each other to learn.
Great company morale also stems from the little things that Resonate does to make each employee feel valued. Mary Long, Resonate’s Executive Director of Client Solutions, remembers receiving a one year anniversary card in the mail from the executive and human resources teams. The card was a complete surprise to her, and she considered it a great gesture. Mary also cited employee appreciation day as another great memory when she unexpectedly received a Starbucks card in the mail from the executive team. She said small gestures like these have made her feel very valued at Resonate.
Hearing everyone’s favorite memories over the years was a great way for us to reflect on what makes Resonate special. Overall, the conversations throughout the month of March were a great way to engage with our female employees in different ways. We plan to continue doing different series throughout the year to highlight all of Resonate’s talent!
