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Melissa Jamison joined Upside as our first recruiter, and during her time she's dug into a variety of functions within the People Team. Melissa was recently promoted into a new role as Employee Experience Manager, where her passion and positivity help shape our culture.

Upside: What inspired you to join the Upside team?

Melissa: I found Upside when I was working as a recruiter for a staffing agency. I kept placing people at really cool companies and realized I wanted to be at one of those companies, too.  

Upside: What do you think are the most important skills to have in your field of work? 

Melissa: Learning, pivoting, and listening. Not necessarily in that order! I started at Upside as a recruiter. When working with a hiring manager on a new role, learning what they needed and who might best fit those needs, there’s a lot of intentional trial and error, reassessing, and then trying something different. Being able to listen and hear what is said, and then connecting those dots, is vital to success. 

Now, in my current role as Employee Experience Manager, I use those skills to gather feedback from our team on what’s working and what can be improved, then translating that into programs that hopefully really feel special and tailored to the company’s unique needs.

Upside: What stands out most to you about the culture here at Upside? 

Melissa: The people here are some of the smartest, kindest, and supportive people I have ever worked with, hands down. It’s the quickest-paced company I’ve ever worked at and that can feel hectic sometimes, but there are so many people willing to lend a helping hand, a word of encouragement, or a helpful suggestion that I never feel alone, and that makes all the difference.

Upside: Which Upside benefits mean the most to you and why?

Melissa: Our benefits are a direct result of hours and hours of hard work from our Total Rewards team—we just brought them in-house this past year! Because of their efforts, we have better core benefits for lower premiums, and that’s just plain cool. 

My favorite benefit though is Carrot Fertility. We started with them way back before I joined and they offer not only an ever-increasing slate of fertility benefits, they’ve also expanded to covering gender-affirming care. It means a lot to be a part of a company that shows their commitment to our whole selves in this way.

Upside: How has Upside supported your career growth goals?

Melissa: Upside has helped me grow professionally more than any other job I’d had before. Because of the inherent challenges and growth that come with a fast-growing company, I have been able to try new things, suggest and build new processes, and create things from scratch that I never would have even been exposed to in a more established company. My brain gets workouts daily and I find myself using project-planning and organization techniques I’ve polished here in my daily life. 

Upside: What kinds of things do you enjoy outside of work? 

Melissa: I love to sing and do anything musical. I recently started conducting our church’s bell choir and am taking a stained glass class at our local community college. I’ve begun to venture into video games and enjoy exploring and building games like Minecraft, Sim, and Fallout. I also love to read and have a long list of crochet, sewing, and crafting projects to accomplish.

Upside: What is something you’ve always wanted to learn?

Melissa: Becoming fluent in Spanish. Thanks to our company’s holiday gift, I have a subscription to Babbel that is helping me improve!

Looking for a career that invests in your future? We’re hiring! Click here to learn more about our open roles and apply.

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