20th July 2020, amid the challenges of pandemic’s early months, I started my journey at Spring Marketing Capital, a unique firm that supports businesses with combined benefit of capital and marketing expertise. Honestly, I was apprehensive. Starting a new job is always a daunting experience, but doing that remotely in an entirely new industry was going to be a different ballgame. I felt riddled with unknowns “Will I connect with my colleagues over Zoom? Will I fit in?

After a smooth onboarding, I was ready for day 1. I will never forget my first call, largely because I was so nervous. I logged in to a virtual all hands meeting at 11 AM. Soon after the initial pleasantries, Raja (Spring’s founding partner) introduced me to everyone. The warmth, support and healthy banter in that introduction and the subsequent conversations during that call were my first glimpse into Spring’s culture. Several colleagues reached out to welcome me, took time out to share their Spring experience and made me feel at ease. I immediately felt at home. 8 months into Spring, my experience has been nothing but positive. Here is what stood out :

Diverse team

I come from a business consulting and development sector background. I was keen to explore and learn about the world of marketing and brand building but I was fully aware that I had an offbeat prior work experience for the industry. As I started to research Spring, I was taken aback. From the outside, I saw an eclectic group of ~25 experienced people coming together – designers, copywriters, ex-bankers, digital marketers, communication experts and investors. That’s when I first realized that it’s good to be different at Spring. There is a premium placed on diverse perspectives and problem solving approaches, and it shone radiantly during my interview conversations. On a day to day basis, it is a pleasure to work with such a team. Some colleagues bring brilliant structure and rigour to the discussion; others a wealth of creativity and clear communication skills. But, all bring humility and lots of fun to the conversations. I admire them and I am grateful to be able to draw on their deep and diverse expertise and accelerate my learning.

Breadth of learning opportunities

My favorite part about working at Spring is the diversity and complexity of the problems our brand partners seek our support to solve. I have been consistently challenged by new ways of thinking and new problems across an array of categories. In my initial few months, I jumped into new topics – from clean agriculture to mattresses ; from helping shape the brand’s narrative to helping evaluate investment opportunities in businesses. I might meet with and learn from founders in personal care, healthcare and ed-tech across different business problems – all in one week. The learning curve has been steep and incredibly rewarding. Everyday feels like a new challenge and keeps me on my toes. Over time, I feel like I have built lasting knowledge on diverse categories and topics that I would carry forward in my career.

Support system

Spring’s strong culture of caring and support makes me proud to be part of the organisation. During my first project, I needed to understand our thinking on a certain topic. I felt overwhelmed by the breadth and depth of information available, especially given it was an entirely new industry for me. The strength of mentorship relieved my worries. My team member volunteered to help me sift through the work we do. He was incredibly patient, spending over 2-3 hours to take me through our thought process on the topic and our problem solving approach. Without that guidance, I would have spent needless hours being inefficient. Whenever I face a tough problem, I know someone somewhere in the firm has tackled similar problems before, and will generously offer their help. This support also manifests in trust shown by the team in me. From day 1, I have been trusted to lead important relationships with our brand partners and pieces of work with the potential of creating significant impact. The confidence my team has in me makes me even more excited about my work.

These last 8 months have been exhilarating. I can’t wait to meet my team once it is safe to travel again.