Each quarter, Skilljar’s executive team recognizes one Skillet who has gone above and beyond in demonstrating one of our core values. We’re thrilled to announce this quarter’s Core Value Award winner: Garrett George for demonstrating Customer Focus! Congratulations, Garrett!
We took a few minutes to sit down with Garrett for a quick Q&A to learn more about his time at Skilljar, what he loves about his role as an Implementation Manager, and a few fun facts!
Q: You joined Skilljar just over a year ago and were one of our first fully remote new hires–congrats! What drew you to Skilljar initially, and do you have a favorite Skilljar memory from the last year you can share?
The ability to work remotely was actually one of the key deciding factors, along with the amazing people I interacted with during the hiring process. I live in Eastern Washington and was looking for a great company culture that was really open to working remotely full time. With that said, one of my favorite memories from the first year was actually being able to meet the IM team for a socially distanced gathering at Greenlake Park in Seattle. It was great to put human “vibes” to the faces I’d been seeing on screen for a few months!
Q: Your managers and teammates have commended you for your ability to guide our customers through complex processes with high levels of success. It’s clear that you’re passionate about supporting new customers as they launch with Skilljar. What’s been one of your most satisfying moments as an Implementation Manager?
I have a technical customer service background, so guiding clients through sometimes complex technical concepts and implementations falls right into my wheelhouse. One of my most satisfying moments at Skilljar was helping a client with a tech-heavy implementation (with a lot of custom processes using our APIs) to get to a successful launch after a lot of technical involvement from our development team and theirs. It’s always rewarding to help clients reach their goals, even when they don’t always have a clear line of sight to the finish line.
Q: Almost a year ago, Skilljar went fully remote. Do you have a favorite WFH hack over the last year you’d recommend to any of our new Skillets?
My biggest WFH hack is two-fold: 1 – Schedule your workday out, with breaks! It’s easy when you’re always a few steps away from your computer to overwork yourself. Making sure you step away for 10-15 minutes throughout your day has always helped me to stay focused and not burn out on my work. I usually use at least one break for a quick 10-minute meditation (highly recommend the Oak app)
2 – Keep your workspace separate from your living space, if possible. Again this is an anti-burnout tactic. You always work best when you are clear and focused, so avoiding working when you should be living life keeps you on point when it’s time to really hit work hard. One of the best things about being a Skillet is the work hard/play hard mindset. You need to do both to be effective!
Q: Given that Skilljar is a learning platform, it’s no surprise that a lot of Skillets enjoy learning new things too! If you could become an expert in something overnight, what would it be?
Speaking Spanish and Thai! I love traveling and my favorite trip has been to Thailand, so it’d be great to go back and be able to speak the language. Spanish is for more obvious reasons. We live in the western hemisphere so the two most spoken languages are English (I’m pretty functional with that at this point) and Spanish.
Q: Final question – What would we most likely find you doing on the weekend for fun (pre-pandemic or currently)?
Traveling! Exploring the many cultures and experiences the world has to offer is my #1 pastime. In the two years before the pandemic, I went to the UK, Poland, Spain, Japan, and Thailand. Since 2020, I’ve traveled to Puerto Rico and I’ve done a lot of weekend trips exploring the awesome Pacific Northwest.
Thank you, Garrett! Congratulations on being this quarter’s Core Value Award recipient!
