It’s not the first time at Meltwater that I’ve been presented with a task foreign and intimidating to me with the expectation that I would step up to the challenge.
Meltwater News represented to me exactly what I wanted out of my first job - the possibility to lay a career path for myself in an entrepreneurial company where I’d be exposed to business on a practical level. At that point in time, Meltwater News had only one US office in the heart of Silicon Valley that was nothing more than a pile of cardboard boxes and unassembled Ikea furniture. I had no idea that I would have the opportunities I’ve enjoyed in the last 3 years of our US expansion – not to mention, I’m a force to be reckoned with at Ikea (double up on meatballs and Lingonberry sauce!).
When I joined Meltwater, things got moving fast. After only 3 months as a Sales Consultant, I was promoted to Sales Manager and took on responsibility for a team – lovingly named THE FURIOUS FIVE, coupled with a Grandmaster Flash theme song. Please note that this bling will be altered from CZs to diamonds soon…
In Silicon Valley the entire office was a hot group – absolutely high on the challenge to grow the company’s newborn US operation. One team shot off to Miami and opened our South Beach office, another to Chicago, and then a third headed to DC. We were dotting the map with Meltwater News guerilla units.
On our way to the US summer party in South Beach, I remember sharing a bottle of wine with our founder, Jorn. He asked me, “Where do you see yourself in a year?” I said that I had always wanted to live in New York, and maybe, just maybe, one day work abroad in a Spanish-speaking country.
Three years later and looking back on that moment, my answer was simply dreamy “what-ifs” of a 22 year old. I had no idea that these dreams could be feasible realities for me.
After 7 months with the company, I was given the opportunity to open and run our fifth US office in Philadelphia. After 8 months of cheesesteaks we had launched a top-10 sales office worldwide full of some of the most inspiring people I’ve ever worked with. Then I was presented with my dream opportunity – opening our NYC operation. We set up shop in a DUMBO penthouse office (low rent, I swear) overlooking Manhattan. The Brooklyn Mob Squad.
Here’s some victory poses upon landing - we were jeered at for doing the Rocky pose on the completely wrong stairs in Philly (Anton, Niklas, and NickyD, welcome to the East Coast):
Finally, being the stir-crazy person I am, I heard whisperings that Meltwater News would be launching a South American office, and I expressed my desire to be involved. I had the privilege of opening and managing the Buenos Aires office along with a team of 3 incredibly talented Spanish-speakers and Meltwater superstars. Los Gauchos Gringos (Niklas, Katie, NickyD, and Pablo) with the first Argentine contract:
So, yes, it has been a frantic 3 years. I’ve learned more than I could’ve imagined, and not only do I have rich memories from these different cities, but also fantastic communities of friends and colleagues. It wasn’t easy, that’s for sure – I’ll save that for my next post.
Comin’ at ya soon.
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