One of Freeosk’s first employees, Nathalie has been with the company since the early days! She recently celebrated her 10 year anniversary on top of graduating from Northwestern’s Executive MBA program – two seriously awesome achievements! We asked her to reflect on her time with Freeosk and here’s what she had to say…
If you could go back in time and give yourself one piece of advice at the start of your time at Freeosk, what would it be?
- Don’t stress out about the small failures that happen along the way in your career. They are more valuable than you think!
- Be intentional about seeking out opportunities to feel uncomfortable.
It’s important to learn from your failures. It’s those moments when you feel the most uncomfortable that you also experience the most growth. I am lucky that Freeosk is a company that embraces innovation and is not afraid to change or pivot quickly. I have plenty of moments to reflect on where if I had known what I know today, I may have changed my approach or the solution to the problem that I was trying to solve. I have always learned from those moments which makes me more prepared to tackle the unknowns of the future!
What is something you had to do in a previous role at Freeosk that you are glad you don’t have to do anymore?
Back in the early days I had a cameo in a handful of training videos for our field staff. I remember shooting multiple takes for loading & purging samples at our MI facility. At the time we also had a different design for kiosk signage that required installing 5 different pieces. I’m glad that we’ve graduated to higher production quality and no longer have to train field staff using cellphone videos.
What has your biggest learning been so far at Freeosk?
Cross-functional partners and high performing teams are critical to the success of most leaders within organizations. As a leader within an organization, you don’t need to be an expert in everything, but you should always invest in building the relationships that serve as resources for you to learn and ask questions. Do what you can to anticipate what you need to know but have the confidence to admit when you don’t know.
What makes you most excited about the future of Freeosk?
I think that Freeosk continues to be a company where you can truly have an impact. Whether that means bringing new products to the marketplace, installing in new retailers, growing business for our clients or figuring out efficiencies to scale our workflows…it all matters. People at all levels of this company have a voice to contribute to the growth & evolution of Freeosk.
Nathalie, from all of us at Freeosk, congratulations and thank you for everything! Happy Freeoskiversary!
