Culture
ABC (Big Data) Team
Stefanie spoke with Vice President of Analytics, Big Data, and Cloud Computing (ABC, formerly Big Data) Practice Fran Lowe, Account Manager Katie LeChase, and Account Executive Jake Kasowski.
Tell us about the ABC Team.
Fran
It’s a fantastic time to be in Big Data because business has finally grasped the concept and is starting to use it for exciting things like business intelligence, predictive analytics, and cognitive computing. We cover the spectrum from infrastructure, right through to interface with the business users and scientists. We are one of the emerging practices at 10Fold and growing very, very fast.
How do you guys work together and with clients?
Fran
A lot of our challenge is helping very technical founders tell their story in a way that’s comprehensible. But it also has to have a strong technical piece, because there is always a technology decision maker, as well a business decision maker.
Katie
Some of our clients’ technology is literally helping to save lives. They’re helping to solve the biggest issues, and interoperability challenges in healthcare. And there’s so much data available, but so much of it is unstructured. And half or more of the tech clients that I support are willing to provide solutions that help to solve those issues. I’ve learned that a marketing agency that supports tech startups can really be the arms and legs of an operation, particularly those tech companies that have a strong product but don’t quite know what the next steps are in getting the market to accept and adopt it.
Jake
Diving into big data, I’ve seen how those practices are being applied to healthcare, and how it applies to manufacturing, oil and gas, and the drone space — all different aspects of the industry. Obviously, data is where every industry is going, especially on the healthcare side. I’m seeing the big picture of how much data is out there that isn’t being utilized today and working with those companies aiming to solve that problem. It’s cool to help tell their story.
Aside from the details of Big Data stuff, what are some of the biggest things you’ve learned working here?
Katie
I’d say, helping the team under me, to nurture and to grow them professionally and in many ways, personally as well. The biggest thing is just us all learning from each other and holding each other accountable. Making sure we’re starting to think more strategically and what service-oriented client service really means — what some of the biggest challenges our clients are up against and how we can help them along with that.
Jake
The biggest thing is just getting a different perspective, seeing in a different way how the agency communicates with their clients every day. We have a lot more freedom to interact with clients in each of our own ways. Each of us has a voice. It’s cool to see 10fold leaderships’ confidence and trust employed at all levels, and get the projects done that need to get done. I feel like we move a lot faster that way than getting bottlenecked at the top. That speaks to accountability. Everyone trusts each other to get the job done and act in a professional way with clients, no matter what level you’re at. And we’re all more productive because of it.
Can you tell us about what it’s like to work here?
Fran
I think it really is a learning culture. And that’s not just training, which we do have. Starting with Susan right down through the organization, we’re always pushing the limits in terms of how we change and do things better. It’s about concentrating on the things that move the needle.
Katie
The 10Fold culture is like no other culture I’ve ever been a part of. We’re very much arm and arm, despite our distance. The fact that we’re so open to sharing different ideas and practices across teams and divisions rather than working in those silos, the fact that we really come together in terms of what types of marketing or educational information might be interesting and entertaining to folks, the fact that we’re all so invested in that bottom line is a strong testament to Susan, the leadership team and the TAFFI culture.
“The 10Fold culture is like no other culture I’ve ever been a part of. We’re very much arm and arm, despite our distance.”
Katie LeChase
Account Manager