'If I had to ask the Gabriela of 3 years ago where she would see herself before starting her adventure in the back then small company called Ekkiden, her answer wouldn’t compare to the person who says goodbye today to an incredible work experience.
Being part of this team has undoubtedly been a roller coaster of challenges, celebrations and above all, a lot of personal and professional growth.'
'My history in the company started in the Community team, when we were only three people, and today it is a department that has more than 20 excellent recruiters that help the different markets and perimeters.
My first challenge was quite predictable for someone who was unfamiliar with the world of technology and industry... How was I supposed to understand a business so unknown to what I had learned in the past?
Add to that the fact that we were in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, and we were just discovering how that thing called “work from home” worked.
But that was one of the first things I discovered at Ekkiden: you are not alone, and everyone is there to help you.'
'However, keep in mind! A must to be able to evolve in such a dynamic team is autonomy, motivation and without a doubt, the desire to learn.
My experience supporting the growth of the business for the Spanish market was certainly the springboard for my next step within the company: managing our internal community and gradually laying the foundations of what would later become the Marketing & Communication department.
That’s the thing about startups. You propose, you create! And it all goes hand in hand with the learning-by-doing and entrepreneur mindset.
After months of hard work, MANY new faces and tons of challenges ahead, I landed in a team that gave me all the tools and resources to discover what today became my main interest: internal communication.
From there, I was able to learn new processes, develop great partnerships, create new practices in the team, and discover new tools, such as HubSpot and Notion, where I mainly sent communications to the team, tracked the different metrics from our projects and even developed our own intranet.
Was I capable of that? Yes, sir! Quite a challenge that even today is still in its beginnings.'
'Because beyond my job titles, which have varied quite a bit in my resume over the months, Ekkiden certainly follows very carefully one of its values: you never stop learning!
But of course, I also like to focus on the soft skills that I learned over the past years.
Being part of a young and multicultural team (who would have thought that a job would lead me to learn a new language? Oui, Monsieur!) brings with it the development of skills such as adaptability, attention to detail, creativity, critical thinking, flexibility and even leadership.
Few places today actually rely more on your knowledge and enthusiasm than your age.'
“Who knew that step by step I would end up learning from every department and from so many different people in the company?
Thanks to my somewhat hybrid position, I had the opportunity to discover everything from onboarding processes of the Human Resources team, to how (very vaguely) payroll and expense procedures work in the team, to the legal steps to build a more sustainable company, to understanding how recruiting and candidate and client prospecting processes work, and more!"
'Of course, during these last years, beyond knowledge, I take with me wonderful memories of the team. There are countless stories inside and outside the office in which I shared with colleagues that today I have the pleasure of calling friends.
But if there is one day that I always like to remember, it is the first winter party we had in our Madrid office.
We were a small team back then, but the friendliness we had for each other was very special. It took us less than a week to coordinate everything. Food, gifts, and good music. Each person took the time to prepare something, and we had a dinner that for a moment felt like I was with my second family.'
'So, for those wondering why join Ekkiden, I would say it's mainly its people. There is not a day that something or someone takes a smile off your face. Whether it's a joke from a colleague, a new achievement in the team or those GIFs that bring us closer, despite the distance.
If I had to tell my “old me” back then in one sentence what her Ekkiden experience would be like, it would be: “get ready for a journey that will certainly change your life”.
I will always be grateful for the people (co-workers, candidates, consultants, partners) who helped me to do my bit in this great project.'