What’s your name and what do you do at Liberis and where in the world do you work?

Hey – my name is Tracy Kitchen, and I have been at Liberis, for 9 and a half years! This year will be my 10th anniversary! (WOW!) I am the Global Customer Operations Manager, working with the Customer Operations team across all regions, and supporting setting up our Customer Operations teams in new regions as we expand globally – which is so exciting! My first 6 years were spent in our amazing Sales function until I made the move into Operations. I am a remote worker, based at home, which is just outside of Glasgow. With the nature of my job and where my teams are based, I am lucky enough to spend a few days a month in our London office and visiting my teams in other regions too.

From the moment you wake up in the morning, what do you look forward to for the day ahead? 

Everything!! Strong morning coffee first obviously, but if I were to pick one thing, I would say the cross-collaboration my role entails. I get to collaborate daily with the people in my own team, which is always productive and fun, and also with colleagues from marketing, product, tech, finance etc, so as much as I am getting work done, I am also constantly learning, which is a massive plus for me.

Describe a typical day for you in your role. 

No day is the same for me, so it very much varies, but a typical day starts with a catch-up with my Manager, Hanna, where we will discuss projects, I am working on, giving status updates and getting support on anything else I might need and just a general check in on how I am doing, which is so valuable as a predominantly remote worker. Throughout the day I will normally have some 1-2-1s with my own team. A large part of my day is spent working on operational improvements that we can make, so I will be working with other functions, like product or the partnerships team, problem-solving or giving my input to cool, upcoming plans they have. My team is also responsible for customer feedback, so day doesn’t go by where we aren’t collating feedback, sharing it with relevant stakeholders and of course responding to our fantastic customers.

What advice would you give a colleague whose just joined your team? 

ASK ALL THE QUESTIONS YOU HAVE! Our responsibilities are very broad, and there is so much to learn. We need to know the details of the E2E journey for our merchants and be advocates for them. Our team lives and breathes all of our company values, especially Merchants Matter Most, so asking questions is key to getting all the knowledge the team need. Myself and the other leaders within the function really want an open, honest and transparent culture, so direct and clear communication is key to our success!

Are you office based, remote or hybrid? What are the pros and cons, if any? 

As I mentioned I am a home-worker but spend a lot of time in our London office. I love the work-life balance I get as a remote worker, and this was so important to me when I joined Liberis, as my son was only 9 at the time, so this allowed me to be present for him, while also focusing on my career. In the last few years, as we have grown globally as a business, I have been able to work often in London, and visit our other offices to support setting them up and do training with my team members in Stockholm and Atlanta and have just returned from the launch of our new Munich office. Liberis are advocates for work-life balance, and the flexibility I had when my son was younger has allowed me to grow with the company. Now he is 18, I have even more flexibility personally, as well as professionally which has been invaluable. Home-working for some can be difficult but at Liberis I never feel excluded. My biggest piece of advice to any remote worker is to include yourself as much as possible, be seen and heard (as everyone knows I am, haha!) and enjoy the balance it gives you!