My Name Is MaryGrace Baldo — This Is Why I Joined Aha!
"If you want to be a true professional, you will do something outside of yourself." Ruth Bader Ginsburg used to give this advice to her law students. And although I toyed with the idea of attending law school myself, I think it is a sentiment that can be applied broadly to any career path. I know that I reflect on her words often because I too feel a genuine drive to help others.
So I have always sought opportunities with organizations that share my passion for social responsibility.
After graduating from UCLA, I joined a technology company called ServiceSource. I enjoyed my work in customer success. But what I liked most was the company's awesome corporate responsibility program. I volunteered to teach a business class at a high school and loved interacting with the kids. It was fun to share what I knew about business to help them learn something new.
I then took a sales role with a fundraising platform for higher education institutions and nonprofits. The opportunity perfectly combined my interests in social responsibility and technology. After a few years, I moved into product management. It was something entirely new to me, but I was excited to take on the challenge of managing a portfolio of products. And I learned a ton about how to better understand users and build products that create real value.
The role also included product marketing work, which I really enjoyed. So when I was ready to make a career move, I decided to look for product marketing job postings. Aha! appealed to me right away due to its dedication to helping companies set strategy and build better products. And I could tell that the Aha! Cares program was something really special.
It was clear that Aha! genuinely cared about supporting not just customers and its team, but the broader communities we all live in.
The interview process blew me away. What especially stood out to me was the writing assignment. Claire George, who leads the product marketing team, reviewed my work and then set up a call to go over her feedback with me. I was so impressed that she took time out of her day to coach someone who was still just a candidate. I knew then that Aha! was a company made up of people just like me — driven to help others.
Since joining, I feel like I am able to make a difference in the lives of others every day. I write support articles that help customers better understand how to use our product. And I contribute to our extensive product management and marketing guides. I love when we hear from people who say that these resources helped them solve a problem or accomplish something new.
It is rewarding to know there is a new product manager out there — just like I once was — who gained something valuable from the materials I create.
Aha! Cares turned out to be just as impressive as I thought it would be. We are encouraged to volunteer in our own communities and together at our onsite events. I am especially inspired by the recent expansion of the program to include efforts promoting social justice. Initiatives like this make me proud to be an Aha!
There are many different career paths I could have taken. But I am so happy that I ended up here. Everything about the company — the people, the work, the values — aligns with my personal passion for social responsibility.
I cannot wait to see what the future holds for Aha! as we continue to find new ways to make a difference in the lives of our customers and the communities around us.
That is why I joined Aha! — and why you should too.
