Humans of Lob is a project dedicated to getting to know our Lobsters on an individual level. We sat down with Gözde Görce, our Enterprise Customer Success Manager.
Tell me a little bit about your background.
I'm originally from Istanbul, Turkey. I moved to the US when I was 24. I initially moved to Boston, Massachusetts, and had a really harsh winter there when I was getting my Master's Degree in business. Then, after I graduated, I moved to the Bay Area. Since then, I've been working in tech, specifically in customer success!
How did Lob come into your life?
At my previous job, I was not really feeling the culture. I started looking for and applying for new jobs. Usually applying is a long process but Lob was one of the first companies that the hiring manager reached out to me directly and was quick with the process. After I jumped on the initial call, I was invited for an onsite interview, and I got my offer seven days after my first call with the hiring manager! I really appreciated the company culture I saw throughout the interview process. It really stood out, compared to all the other long interview processes that I had been going through. They showed the real culture of Lob during the interview process.
What do you work on at Lob?
As an Enterprise Customer Success Manager, I work with our new customers to onboard them to the Lob Platform by thoroughly understanding their direct mail strategies, and growth drivers, and managing relationships with marketing, product, developer teams, and C-level leaders on the customer side. My day-to-day revolves around providing forward-thinking, data-driven analysis, and recommendations for Strategic and Enterprise customers across Lob's API solutions.
What is something about work that energizes you?
There are two ways to answer this; I could talk about customer success and then Lob. I studied Industrial Engineering back in Turkey, and I was really passionate about wanting to be in the production facility as I wanted to be in the weeds of production, and when I moved here there was actually a mix of both. But the majority of tech companies don't have that printing or production type. What energizes me with Lob is that every day there are two different things that you need to focus on. The production keeps you busy, and every day is different. There are so many different challenges that you're trying to solve as a business. That keeps me excited about what I wanted to do professionally.
The second piece is that in customer success every day is different, and I like helping people; both at work and in my personal life. I enjoy it when my friends come to me and ask, "How should I go about this? What do you think? What do you think I should do?" Same thing with customers. They're looking for guidance and partners to help leverage Lob’s services. I love being able to help people and show value. Those two things energize me day in and out.
What do you love about customer success?
I love helping people both in my professional and personal life. I know we all have a bigger purpose in life aside from achieving our personal goals, and my passion is to uplift people around me. Customers rely on their Customer Success Managers (CSMs) as thought leaders to help them figure out how to leverage a product or service they purchase. I cannot think of any other way of accomplishing what I love aside from the customer success function.
Describe your team in one word! Why that word?
CEOs! We are the Chief Executive Officers of our book of business, and we know the ins and outs of our customers' business, their needs, and how to advocate for them as a CEO knows their business and markets the best.
When was the time you felt most alive?
I go to Burning Man every year. I love expression. I love art. For seven days, that's where I try to rejuvenate and I feel really connected and alive. I normally go to check out my friend's art pieces. I don't contribute in that way. But there are so many other ways to contribute. You can build a camp together that has a certain value that it brings. Last year, I went with a camp aiming to give more exposure to people coming from the Middle East. We wanted to show the typical food that a Turkish person eats or the typical food that an Israeli person cooks. The camp focused on the cultural aspects of it. It is a whole ecosystem and experience.
What is one of your favorite memories from the past year?
Last year, during Covid and everything, I was really burnt out. My team knew how I was feeling because of the projects I was on. Emilie Begin on my team said, "Hey, we should bump up Gözde’s mental health stipend to $200 so she could get a massage." They all felt that I was so tense and needed some relaxation. Two hours later, I heard back from Ryan Ferrier (Lob’s COO) that he approved the budget. I was able to take some time and go to Bunya, a Russian sauna that is located in the Dogpatch in San Francisco. That was a moment when I realized we're all like a family here at Lob. My coworkers were aware of how I was feeling, they were not ignorant and the leadership team was willing to accommodate what the customer success team was advocating for. I felt truly heard and recognized, and also felt that people care. We care about our mental health, and we know when somebody's stressed.
If you were a food, what would you be and why?
That's a tricky one. The reason why it's so difficult for me is that I generally love all types of food. I think I would be a drink, more specifically an adult beverage. Mimosas! I'm a really bubbly person, and when I get into a room I try to make sure I connect with everybody. People energize me and mimosa is a drink that you have so much fun with!
Tell me about a time you felt proud of yourself?
In general, I never feel happy when I don’t put myself in challenging situations. The very first time when I felt proud of myself was when I landed at Hong Kong airport to start my exchange program journey as a college student. Coming from Turkey, Hong Kong, and Asia in general, have always been intriguing to explore. The minute I landed I had this scary feeling and I thought to myself, “What am I even doing here? I don’t speak the language, and I have no idea how to tackle this new life experience.” That’s when I felt most proud of myself for having the courage to be in uncertain situations and just trusting myself along the journey.
How do you wind down after work?
Work-life balance is very important for me. Being on the customer-facing side can be draining so my passion for the outdoors keeps me sane and innovative in my day-to-day work. I recently got my advanced diving license, so when I’m not around, you can find me swimming with turtles and going on underwater adventures with my husband, Moiz.
Thank you, Gözde, for telling us more about you and your experiences inside and outside of Lob. If like Gözde, you're looking for a company with a great culture and the opportunity to join a brand working on increasing connectivity between the offline and online worlds, explore the open positions on our careers page.
