Below is an article originally written by Tara Sussman at PowerToFly Partner Bluecore, and published on May 15, 2018. Go to Bluecore's page on PowerToFly to see their open positions and learn more.

Signing New Brands, Working with a Passionate Team and Growing Fast: Why Lauren Rayappu is #BlueToTheCore

At Bluecore, we put our people front and center in everything we do. To better understand what makes our diverse team tick and get to know the individuals that make up our people machine, we decided to find out why different Bluecorians are #BlueToTheCore.

Today's interview is with Lauren Rayappu, an Account Executive at Bluecore. Lauren first joined Bluecore in January 2017. She recently transitioned from working remotely to working at Bluecore's New York City headquarters and is enjoying exploring her new Tribeca neighborhood.

TS: Tell me about the path that led you to Bluecore.

LR: I worked in the eCommerce industry previously, so I was familiar with Bluecore from trade shows. I had met a Bluecore recruiter at one point, and he reached out to me when something in sales came up because he thought it would be a good fit. I liked that Bluecore had a true startup vibe, and I got a great impression of the culture through the interview process. Everyone's passion and commitment to their work really stood out from everything I had seen.

TS: What does your typical day at work look like?

LR: When I'm in the office, I start my day by checking my calendar to make sure I'm prepared for my meetings for the day. Then I do any outstanding follow up from meetings with prospects and clients. Maintaining strong relationships is important to me, so this part of my day is critical. In between calls I sync with my manager to review my pipeline, talk about how things are progressing and strategize how to get new business across the finish line faster. A couple of times a month I get out of the office to visit prospects and clients all over the US, which is always fun.

TS: What differentiates Bluecore from other high growth companies?

LR: I think Bluecore has a unique culture that we strive to protect and maintain. It's a work hard, play hard mentality where everyone collaborates to get things done.

TS: Which Bluecore value do you most represent?

LR: As simple as possible and as powerful as necessary. That's a balance I strive for in all of my communications. For example, when speaking with prospects, I try to narrow in on our strengths make clear what we do and how we're different from others in the marketplace. If I do that well, our prospects immediately understand the value that Bluecore can deliver for them. And if a customer or a prospect has a problem for which we don't have a solution, I will collaborate with other teams to try find the best way to solve for that problem with this value in mind.

TS: How well do we walk the walk when we say product and customer first?

LR: Bluecore is all about the product and customer first. When a customer raises a challenge or we see common problem in the marketplace, we are quick to address that need and build features in the platform. Our role in sales is to pass feedback along to the product team to help inform our product roadmap. Everything we do is about helping retail marketers achieve their desired outcomes.

TS: If you could switch jobs with anyone, who would it be?

LR: Our recruiters. I love meeting new people and would like to be able to pair people's strengths to roles here at Bluecore.

TS: What about Bluecore do you value the most?

LR: The people that I work with are incredibly intelligent and motivated. We're all working toward a common goal of driving success and fulfilling Bluecore's mission. People really do bleed blue here.

TS: What are you most looking forward to accomplishing this year?

LR: Enabling retailers to drive new revenue with Bluecore, which is also my favorite aspect of my role!

TS: What are you most proud of, either personally or professionally?

LR: I'm really proud to share that one of the brands that I brought on to the platform is seeing 50x ROI in their first month after launching Bluecore!

TS: What keeps you at Bluecore?

LR: The excitement of being a part of a company in a high growth phase. Every day is different and brings its own challenges and rewards.