New Crew Member: Katrina Tofflemire
Katrina used to work out of the same co-working space as Ten Forward, so when we learned she was looking for a new position, we counted our lucky stars and immediately reached out. She joined the staff right after Thanksgiving, much to our delight.
Talented and focused, Katrina's already made some much-needed improvements to our operations and processes, and her skills will be invaluable as we continue to grow and scale.
Read on for more about Katrina, why she joined Ten Forward, her favorite emoji and what she thinks would improve Madison's tech scene.
What brought you to Ten Forward?
"I worked alongside Ten Forward for a couple of years at Madworks (Coworking). What’s great about co-working is the exposure you get to different companies, people, processes and ideas. What I liked about Ten Forward was the team atmosphere they had built and their commitment to providing quality product to their customers. I was thrilled at the opportunity to join the team! (Plus - the snack game was on point)."
What are you looking forward to learning or doing in your new position?
"I am looking forward to working on the product roadmap! I’m excited to strengthen my skills on defining user personas, building user flows, wireframes and oh so much more!"
The previous company where you worked focused on gamification. How do you think your skills in that area could be integrated into Ten Forward?
"Gamification (at my previous software company) was used as means to drive employee engagement in the workplace. I think that I learned a great deal about software adoption in general, what works, what doesn’t and the importance of data accuracy (especially when competition is involved). Ensuring that you are solving the right problem and doing so with an intuitive, engaging interface is something that I think I can hopefully contribute to at Ten Forward."
Having worked in tech in Madison for several years now, what do you think the city is doing well? Where do you think it could do better?
"The Madison tech community is awesome. If you put yourself out there, you can find a thought-provoking talk or networking event on any night of the week. I think that the majority of the content that gets exposure is related to development/coding, which can sometimes deter others who work in tech to join. I would love to see more events around project and product management, QA, sales etc."
Fill in the blanks: "If I could only __ one __ for the rest of my life, it would be __."
“If I could only eat one food for the rest of my life, it would be tacos.”
On a given Sunday afternoon, what are you probably doing?
"Hopefully watching 'Temple of Doom' with commercials and drinking a Manhattan."
What's something about you people might find surprising?
"I don’t know how to dive, but I can hula hoop uninterrupted for an impressive amount of time. Those equal out, right?"
Favorite board game/video game, TV show/movie, band/musician, emoji.
Video game: Mario Kart
Movie: Sorry, I can’t pick one: "The Sandlot", "Indiana Jones" (any), "It’s a Wonderful Life"
Musician: Sidney Bechet
Emoji: 🙃
Star Trek or Star Wars?
"Star Wars."