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Meet the Pathfinders
OnBoard customer success manager Jillian Walker is an OnBoard veteran, relatively speaking, having joined the fast-growing team three years ago. But her experience as a board member, along with other outside endeavors, has made an outsized impact in helping customers create more effective board room experiences.
Meet Jillian
Role: Customer Success Manager
Department: Sales
Tenure: 3 Years
What She Loves About OnBoard
“I find our company incredibly transparent. This is probably the healthiest environment I’ve worked in. As a parent during COVID, we were given a lot of flexibility. That’s incredibly empowering, but it also makes me want to do good work and watch the company thrive. I adore the people I work with. I know if I’m sick or called away, anyone on the team will help. I know I’m supported even if I’m not in the room.”
“We have the ability to really advocate for the client. We’re not here just to sell them; we’re here to make sure their product works and they’re getting value out of it.”
With 3 years of being an OnBoard Pathfinder, you’re a relative veteran here. How has the company changed in your time here?
It still feels like an old start-up, and I like that. We have the ability to be agile, we have autonomy, and a really strong growing team. We went from four of us [on the CSM team] to 10 or 12, it’s a much more robust team, but it still has that feel of just a really seasoned start-up.
How would you describe your job to a layperson who has no idea what a Customer Success Manager is?
I’m an advocate and a troubleshooter for my clients. My job is to advocate, hand-hold, and put out fires for clients. That could be anything from education of the product to training to product management to being part of their team and brainstorming solutions [comparable to an account manager]. We have the ability to really advocate for the client, we’re not here just to sell them; we’re here to make sure their product works and they’re getting value out of it.
It’s just like building a muscle, whether you’re getting stronger physically. We want to grow your strength in OnBoard. Some of that comes from repetition and sometimes from tough love.
Trace Indy Is a passion project that supports women in our community and raising their voices in what they’re doing and legacies of what they’re leaving.
When COVID happened and everything was locked down, I just missed connections. It’s about asking how can the community show up for their needs and how are they leaving their trace in Indy? It’s been really fulfilling how they’ve been leaving their mark. To start a nonprofit and be supported at the company I work for is wonderful.
It helps me understand how board meetings are run. It helps me understand what an actual board packet is. Being on a board is a privilege, so we need to show up and be prepared. Having that background [she’s also built board books] but also been on a board who’s received those packets helps me understand my clients better. It gives me a deeper understanding of how to support them.
I find our company incredibly transparent. This is probably the healthiest environment I’ve worked in. As a parent during the shift to remote work during COVID, we were given a lot of flexibility. That’s incredibly empowering, but it also makes me want to do good work and watch the company thrive. I adore the people I work with. I know if I’m sick or called away, anyone on the team will help. I know I’m supported even if I’m not in the room.
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