“Start, run, and Grow Your Business”
Square was started built because Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey believed (and still believe) that no one should be left out of the economy because the cost is too great or the technology too complex. They set out to build easy tools to empower and enrich people. Tools that shorten the distance between having an idea and making a living from it. They believe in fair and square.
That mission statement was the thing (along with the potential to work for Jack Dorsey) that inspired me to join Square. I moved out to California without a job because I knew I wanted to work at Square. I only applied there. And after a month of annoying the recruiting team, I was lucky enough to get a role as an Account Executive on their newly formed Sales Team. Success!
Sales Team
When I started in May 2014, there were only 15 people on the Sales Team. I was on the ground floor of a new team at Square.
As I got started, I acted as departmental liaison to internal teams, such as Product Management, Brand and Sales Operations, to provide strategic direction and share customer insights in order to build better features and services. This was a crucial part of our team’s initial directive. Our team was essentially a test and we had to prove our worth on a daily basis.
Over the next year, I worked cross-functionally with Marketing leads, Product Marketing Managers and Sales Managers to help concept, produce and maintain the first Sales collateral at Square. This included email templates, product overviews, presentations, case studies and playbooks.
Similar to where Mailchimp is now, Square was trying move upstream. They wanted to become “more than the little white reader”. Offering more tools like Square Capital, Square Gift Cards, and Square Payroll was a critical step in getting there.
After a year and a half of growing the Sales Team to more than 100+ people across 3 offices, I wanted to move into Marketing. The real reason I joined Square.
Marketing - Retail Partnerships
I had always loved the branding and marketing of Square - that’s also what drew me to the company - and this was my opportunity to be a part of it.
In my Retail Marketing Manager role, I managed all North American retail partnerships for Square: Apple, Best Buy, Amazon, Target, Walmart, Home Depot, Verizon Wireless, AT&T, US Cellular, Rite Aid, Walgreens, Fred Meyer and Meijer. Whew. Sales of hardware in the retail channel accounted for 55% of all hardware sales at Square.
I got the opportunity to launch brand new Square hardware products (Square Contactless and Chip Reader, Square Dock, Square Stand v4) and even pitched the new Square Register to Best Buy.