This week on the Skykit blog, our Employee Spotlight features Skykit Vice President of Product Software Development, Marla Geary.
Tell me a bit about your role here at Skykit?
In 2013, I started as the first full-time development team employee assigned to working on Skykit. As a Product Owner/Business Analyst, I worked with Skykit CTO Paul Lundberg, and a team of contract developers to build products for our customers. By 2015, Skykit had grown large enough that we were able to hire a dedicated development team to create our own product, Skykit Digital Signage. We all wore a lot of hats beyond development in the early days, but my primary responsibility then, and today, is leading the dev team, prioritizing and delivering product features and improvements. Since I have been around so long, I also serve as a subject matter expert for overall integration planning and some legacy systems/processes.
How do you help Skykit in your role?
I prioritize our dev work, so that:
- Customers see us address their requirements, requests, and concerns as quickly as we can.
- Developers have the guidance and support they need to build amazing products for our customers.
- Strategic and unplanned priorities are juggled well so we can meet customer and market demands.
What’s one accomplishment you are most proud of?
It is hard to pick just one thing. But, I think I am most proud of the customer-centric culture we have created on the development team that expands throughout the rest of our Skykit organization. When we know a feature or bug fix is critical to a customer, we push hard to respond as quickly as possible.
What do you see as your next big challenge?
As our customer base grows and as we expand into new markets, there will be even more pressure on the development team to deliver more features faster. We are prepared to scale both our team and technologies to meet the growing demand while keeping existing features performant.
What is one piece of advice you have received that has guided you along your career path?
Listen
When you’re not in the office, what do you enjoy doing?
DIY house projects, walks with my husband and dog, watching Star Trek: The Next Generation, and cheesy historical rom-com/dramas with my daughter.
Skykit is always looking for new team members to join our amazing team! Check out our openings and reach out if you are interested in learning more.
