My Name Is Claire George — This Is What I Achieve at Aha!

What is the best way to accelerate your career? Work in a high-growth company that challenges you and puts learning first. An unwavering motivation to continue improving and achieving is also key. The highest performers constantly pursue new ideas and seek to understand the experiences and motivations of the people around them. We can learn a lot from them.

Curiosity fuels growth — which is why we are bringing you personal stories of achievement from talented people. We hope some of their ideas are useful and inspire you to become your best.

Meet Claire George — group manager of product marketing on the Aha! marketing team. She enjoys helping the company grow by leading everything from go-to-market plans to website launches. Claire lives with her family in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where she enjoys walking her dogs, going to football games, and horseback riding.

Watch the video below and read on to learn more about how Claire finds meaning in her work — in her own words.

What energizes you about being group manager of product marketing?

"Marketing, and particularly product marketing, is very unique at Aha! because we do not have a sales team. This gives us an opportunity to make a direct impact on the success of our company and products. I am fueled by the dedication of the whole product marketing team — everyone is so passionate about helping our customers solve problems and get the most out of the time they spend using our tools."

What kinds of projects do you enjoy working on most?

"The fun of being a product marketer is the variety of projects — and going boldly forward into each one. That is the challenge that I enjoy most!"

"For example, product launches always spark my excitement. Whether we are launching a feature enhancement or a completely new product, I love every chance to come together cross-functionally and deliver what customers need. As part of this process, I enjoy working on go-to-market plans — thinking of new ways to reach our audience and what type of content will engage them.

Beyond that, I love digging into the different customer touchpoints. At Aha! our product marketing group includes product marketing, website management, the knowledge base, and video creation. All of these areas are so interlinked when it comes to customers learning about Aha! software. This really empowers our team to think about creating the best experience we can as people learn about who we are and what we do."

Which recent accomplishment at Aha! are you most proud of?

"Earlier this year we revamped our website as part of our $100 million in ARR announcement. We have launched new products over the past few years — like Aha! Ideas and Aha! Develop — and wanted to tell a broader story on the website about our product suite.

The website launch was a massive cross-functional team effort that came together beautifully. It was an opportunity to show how we are helping industry-leading companies build better products. The website is always a work in progress, but I was proud to play a part in the launch and impressed by everything our entire company does to give us such a compelling story to tell."

What has been the most rewarding thing about joining the Aha! team?

"The most rewarding thing has been seeing the company grow — and doing it our way, meaning people-first and fully bootstrapped."

"I have now been at Aha! for more than five years. In that time, we have hit $100 million in ARR, gone from a single product to a suite of four, and more than doubled our team to about 125 folks. The culture and connections are still as strong today as when I first started. I look forward to coming to work every day."

What is the most surprising but useful career advice someone has given you?

"The most useful career advice I have received was actually from CEO Brian de Haaff. His advice was to be kinder to myself. I am naturally goal-driven and intrinsically motivated. I take great pride in my work and I always want to be super responsive to my teammates. But this tends to create a constant feeling of urgency — and in a high-achieving environment like Aha! it is easy to keep pushing myself to do more and more.

The inherent empathy in Brian's advice really resonated with me. It reminded me that we can be our own biggest critics — and sometimes, we need to get out of our own way! Giving myself permission to be kinder to myself relieved a huge mental burden and allowed me to focus more on the joy of accomplishing my work."

What advice do you have for an aspiring or early-career product marketer?

"Find a product that you are passionate about and truly believe in."

"It is hard to be authentic in product marketing if you do not believe in your product — or cannot relate to the problems it helps to solve. To be successful, you need to become an expert in the product, your customers, and your market. This deep knowledge and empathy are what will ultimately enable you to reach your audience and craft messaging that resonates. Developing these skills comes down to staying curious and surrounding yourself with people who keep pushing your thinking to new levels."

The What I Achieve series spotlights the achievements and contributions of the Aha! team. For insights into how we got here, read our Why I Joined posts.

We are bootstrapped, profitable, fully remote, and hiring. Join us and achieve your best.