04 Getting to Know Allegra - Descript
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So welcome to the podcast.
Speaker:I Agra.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:Hey, to kick us off, then where are you from and where do you live?
Speaker:That's such a loaded question.
Speaker:Where am I?
Speaker:Well, I'll say I'm from New Jersey because that's where I went to school.
Speaker:Um, so yes, I'm from New Jersey in the United States, obviously.
Speaker:And I currently live in North Carolina.
Speaker:Most catalyze so that, eh, my, my limit at American knowledge.
Speaker:So the temperature is going to be up at Walmart.
Speaker:The New Jersey is that, is that kid egg.
Speaker:It's going to be a lot warmer than New Jersey.
Speaker:I think our heat index yesterday was 103.
Speaker:I didn't enjoy that.
Speaker:I have to be honest with you.
Speaker:I don't know.
Speaker:I live in the South, but I don't like hate.
Speaker:Yeah, I, cause I suppose a lot of places in the States, it's the air-con
Speaker:rather than the heating system into.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:So Sam closed the door to, because you don't want to let there.
Speaker:He N rather than he, so does that whole thing, I guess.
Speaker:But nowadays we're all staying inside all the time.
Speaker:Anyway, so yeah, this is true.
Speaker:These are the times outside twice a day though.
Speaker:Cause I had a grocery delivery, but besides that, yes, I
Speaker:keep all the doors close.
Speaker:So you still, you still like able, you've learned these times to go, Oh, you walk
Speaker:and stuff like that or where do you add.
Speaker:Huh.
Speaker:I see people doing that.
Speaker:I have, um, it's so funny.
Speaker:I have really bad allergies, so I wouldn't have been outside anyway.
Speaker:Like I would get in my car and go somewhere, but I just wouldn't be
Speaker:like out walking around in the grass.
Speaker:That would be problematic.
Speaker:So, um, yeah, I haven't been out that often, but yeah.
Speaker:Everything I have needed.
Speaker:Somebody has brought it to me.
Speaker:So yeah, the, um, a lot of cardboard then everyone's house
Speaker:now from all the Amazon deliveries.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Every two weeks I have to break them all down and get them out of my dining
Speaker:room to get them out of my head.
Speaker:I'm just planting a huge fire that will work too.
Speaker:So am I like, when did you actually join the company then?
Speaker:January 10th of this year.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So how did that all come about then?
Speaker:I saw an ad probably a year ago now.
Speaker:So like July or so of last year.
Speaker:Um, and I'm trying to think of where I saw the ad.
Speaker:One of those podcasts newsletters I was talking about earlier and, um,
Speaker:Collin, I started talking in July and then we kind of lost touch and then we
Speaker:reconnected around November, I guess.
Speaker:And, um, Started working through how I would be able to support
Speaker:his team and split my time and help, um, Mark's team as well.
Speaker:And then in January I came on board.
Speaker:So are you, uh, are you doing your work for captivate as well?
Speaker:Is that night?
Speaker:I do.
Speaker:I'm here.
Speaker:Part-time and they're part time.
Speaker:So how long have you been working with captivate says January 6th of this year?
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Oh yes.
Speaker:I started both this year.
Speaker:Has that a lot of like overlaps in what you do for both companies?
Speaker:Well, Um, I guess so in that I'm in a support role at both organizations,
Speaker:but the work is very different.
Speaker:So, uh, yes and no,
Speaker:a blue light on a shorter daily or weekly basis.
Speaker:Yeah, here.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I'm cruising through and trying to, um, Stay on top of the chat box.
Speaker:So all of the support requests that come in, so that, um, varies pretty
Speaker:broadly between, um, some of the more administrative stuff like, Oh,
Speaker:I can't find my password doesn't work or, um, I want to upgrade my account.
Speaker:That type of thing, too.
Speaker:I'm working very closely with brand and the rest of the developer
Speaker:team when something isn't working exactly the way we would hope.
Speaker:Um, and then also I do, um, onboarding calls.
Speaker:So what kind of turned that off or on, depending on volume on, uh, in
Speaker:the inbox for other types of support.
Speaker:But, um, I offer 15 minute calls to people who have just started to
Speaker:help them get over the hump, or if someone's really having problems,
Speaker:I'll do a retention call as well.
Speaker:So it's pretty broad.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So that's like a new altitude customer.
Speaker:Do you just spend a bit of time on the phone with someone
Speaker:just talking about that?
Speaker:Exactly.
Speaker:We get fascinating insights into how people are actually using it
Speaker:and, um, It's always fascinating.
Speaker:So I talked with someone the other day who was brand new to podcasting, and most
Speaker:of his questions weren't about altitude.
Speaker:They were like, do I have to have a podcast host?
Speaker:And I was like, Oh, that's kind of unusual.
Speaker:I wouldn't have thought that that would be our customer base, but
Speaker:there's a couple of people out there.
Speaker:Who are in that box.
Speaker:Um, so yeah, it's pretty fascinating.
Speaker:Um, I have talked with a couple of people who have been customers longer than that.
Speaker:Um, and done a couple of case studies, you know, just to figure
Speaker:out how people are using it to get testimonials and that type of thing.
Speaker:What say you don't lay, obviously I'll not probably be in touch with as many
Speaker:and common customers as you are, but certainly like over the years, what
Speaker:I've found is there's a big difference between late text-based communication.
Speaker:And when you actually.
Speaker:Are you able to get somebody on the phone?
Speaker:Because I've had a few situations maybe in the past for some of these got in
Speaker:touch and have been like, yo play, play Ray, all the boats on, and then
Speaker:when you speak to them in person, it's funny how we changed the way, you know,
Speaker:everything seems to come down a bit.
Speaker:It doesn't that just because I think there's that empathy
Speaker:actually having a conversation.
Speaker:I think, um, that is so true.
Speaker:You should put that on a t-shirt.
Speaker:That is so true.
Speaker:That is so true.
Speaker:I think everybody wants to be heard and it's more difficult to tell someone, well,
Speaker:I would never say this, but as an example, it's difficult to tell someone in writing.
Speaker:This is your foolish mistake.
Speaker:Basically, this is your fault, right?
Speaker:Even if that's true, you would never say that.
Speaker:But if you're on a zoom, a call with them, which is what I do, I can easily,
Speaker:you know, while they're watching me in their dashboard and then they'll
Speaker:say, Oh, so I was doing that wrong.
Speaker:And I never say, yes, you were.
Speaker:I'm just like, Oh, well how about we try it this way?
Speaker:So is much easier to deliver tougher communication.
Speaker:Uh, when it's one-on-one versus written, cause people, I just, I wait for the, the,
Speaker:um, languishing English language, right.
Speaker:Everything is like emojis or abbreviations.
Speaker:I'm like, Hey, remember when we used to talk to each other
Speaker:and reading entire books.
Speaker:Remember that?
Speaker:So,
Speaker:yes.
Speaker:So what a, well, I love job sort of curious, have you
Speaker:had throughout your life?
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:Um, Wow.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:So, um, prior to working in a technical school support,
Speaker:I worked in communications.
Speaker:So, um, marketing communications, public relations, media relations
Speaker:for different companies.
Speaker:So a couple of health organizations, a big consumer products company here
Speaker:in the States and a technical company.
Speaker:So, um, I was a communicator before I moved to the kind of support
Speaker:and training and development side.
Speaker:And so how long have you sort of been in this lane or what then,
Speaker:like this podcast specific stuff for that, that all started in January?
Speaker:Or did you sort of have another couple of years before then?
Speaker:So I was providing technical support for a couple of different software companies
Speaker:for 10 years leading up to coming here.
Speaker:And I have been a podcaster for eight or nine years, but this is the first time
Speaker:that I'm providing podcasts specific.
Speaker:Support what age?
Speaker:What's your podcast or podcasts?
Speaker:What do you, what do you put a podcast about?
Speaker:Um, one is about being more confident.
Speaker:So it's called your confidence self.
Speaker:And I have another one that I haven't pushed the button on because I
Speaker:keep going back and forth, whether it's going to stay private or be
Speaker:public, but two other girlfriends.
Speaker:And I, um, provide what we call black commentary on star Trek, series, star
Speaker:Trek, discovery, and star Trek Picard.
Speaker:Good, good.
Speaker:Because we just felt like we had to, there were things that were not
Speaker:being said, so we say them, hi Matt.
Speaker:I've always entrusted with like the.
Speaker:TV podcast side of things.
Speaker:Would you, would you do that at a court?
Speaker:No.
Speaker:Like, would you watch an episode and then would you immediately
Speaker:all get together after that?
Speaker:Or would you try and recall the end between watch that?
Speaker:Or how would that work?
Speaker:Well, so far since, um, the two seasons of discovery and the first
Speaker:season of Picard were already done before I discovered them.
Speaker:So we schedule a time and we all rewatch it and then we talk about it.
Speaker:And then we schedule a time to rewatch episode two, right?
Speaker:So we're going through recording our thoughts immediately after
Speaker:rewatching it, because we have all watched the entire series.
Speaker:And is it just a, you know, here's what they should have done different
Speaker:and maybe a bit of a, a humorous take on certain things, just that like
Speaker:you'd run through of it that way.
Speaker:Um, I don't know if we tell them what they should have done differently,
Speaker:but we have lots of opinions about what it is that they did.
Speaker:Um, so no, I don't, we go into what they should have done differently, but we
Speaker:are, um, quite adept at finding little things that we think other people didn't
Speaker:notice that we notice from episode to episode to see if there's a through-line
Speaker:or, um, I love finding hints from like episode one that didn't actually come
Speaker:to fruition until like episode 12.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:That's a really good time.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Yes, yes.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, I'm bad for that watching TV with my wife, because like, I'm not gonna
Speaker:see 'em late a proper radio lab.
Speaker:I've done a wee bit of affection rating.
Speaker:So late.
Speaker:We'll be watching TV and some there'll be some we sang and I'm
Speaker:like, that's a checkoff gone.
Speaker:That's going to come back.
Speaker:That's when he pay off.
Speaker:I think it's just really annoying to be honest.
Speaker:So if you got any family members or pet, you should like to tell us about.
Speaker:Wow, no pets.
Speaker:Absolutely no pets thought person in a row with a pet, really both allergies.
Speaker:I'd talked about.
Speaker:If someone looks at me with a cat, it's a really bad day.
Speaker:I tease my sister all the time.
Speaker:I have a sister who lives in Arizona and she got two cats this year.
Speaker:And I told her that she was afraid I might move there.
Speaker:This is pre pandemic.
Speaker:I told her she, she lived with me.
Speaker:Up until three years ago.
Speaker:And I told her she was afraid I was going to move out there and live
Speaker:with her because she bought two cats, which I'm very allergic to.
Speaker:So yes, no pets.
Speaker:I think you can get, I am, I'm not saying do this, but I think you can get liquor.
Speaker:It's a labradoodle or, or one of that.
Speaker:Take the dogs out.
Speaker:It's like a hypo allergenic, I think.
Speaker:And you can get one, then it will not finally give allergies, but no obligation.
Speaker:You are so generous.
Speaker:I won't be doing that.
Speaker:So thank you.
Speaker:Go ahead then and get yourself adult now.
Speaker:No, I have a virtual fish.
Speaker:Does that count?
Speaker:Good.
Speaker:Yeah, no, it's um, I used to test casual computer games for a company
Speaker:called last day of work and they have a game called fish tycoon.
Speaker:So I have fish in there.
Speaker:Yes, you don't have to keep them alive and, you know, earn money
Speaker:to upgrade the water and the feed.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So let's see, I have a virtual pet, but yeah, no real life pets.
Speaker:I'll give you a pass or not.
Speaker:It was just good to see.
Speaker:I think Lindsey had enough for all of us.
Speaker:Anyway.
Speaker:She's got like 40 cars and $7.
Speaker:Oh my goodness.
Speaker:I'm tired.
Speaker:Just thinking about that.
Speaker:And what, what sort of things do you like to do outside the photic team?
Speaker:I'm such a nerd.
Speaker:I am not sure how much, how honest I should be right here.
Speaker:But, um, what I think is really fun is like breaking a WordPress
Speaker:site and then fixing it.
Speaker:I'm kind of a nerd ball.
Speaker:Um, so I love playing with WordPress sites, um, and building sites for
Speaker:all my friends, for their businesses.
Speaker:Um, what else do I do?
Speaker:I love to read, I.
Speaker:I'm convinced that there's a series of books in me where I'm a former concert
Speaker:pianist is sounding crime solving crimes that all have musical names.
Speaker:I'm not reading or playing with websites.
Speaker:What am I doing?
Speaker:Oh, I'm coaching.
Speaker:So I'm also certified life coach.
Speaker:So I also find that fun in my spare time, helping people break down barriers in
Speaker:their life into little bite sized chunks.
Speaker:Good stuff.
Speaker:Um, the favorite question are the episodes for me, the, um, tell us a joke question.
Speaker:Oh, mercy.
Speaker:You want me to tell you a joke?
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:Um, Oh man.
Speaker:Really?
Speaker:I okay.
Speaker:Is that the last question?
Speaker:Cause we have to come back to that.
Speaker:I can not think of a joke.
Speaker:Um Hmm.
Speaker:Well, we've got one more thing to cover.
Speaker:And if you think before the end.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Ah, man, it's your favorite question?
Speaker:And I'm letting you down on that one, but I can't think of funny things from
Speaker:TV shows, but I can't think of a joke.
Speaker:Well, if you, as ans natal, you want to share it or promote with us,
Speaker:uh, your podcast and where we might find out or anything else like that.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:So my sassy comment is my podcast can be fine wherever you listen to podcasts.
Speaker:I tell people to say that all day long in the chat box, I'm like,
Speaker:what do I have to tell them?
Speaker:Exactly which platforms know, tell them that your podcasts can be found
Speaker:wherever they are already listening.
Speaker:Um, Do I have anything I want to promote?
Speaker:No, not particularly.
Speaker:Um, it's just, first of all, I'm just delighted that you're doing this.
Speaker:Cause I think it's fun to get like snapshots into the people you work with.
Speaker:So I appreciate that.
Speaker:And I also appreciate everybody's willingness to just
Speaker:go across time zones, right?
Speaker:Cause I'm so American centric, right?
Speaker:As you discovered by my dismal performance in the pub quizzes, pretty much
Speaker:nothing outside of the United States.
Speaker:So, um, that is a thing that I'll share that I really
Speaker:appreciate how time zone diverse.
Speaker:Everyone tries to be and accommodate each others in different places in the world.
Speaker:I have worked remote for, I don't know, 12 years and everybody
Speaker:doesn't do it as well as we do.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:It's good to hear.
Speaker:And, and yeah, I suppose, yeah.
Speaker:When you look at the, I mean, I'm staring at the map of the bottle.
Speaker:No, one's squad cast.
Speaker:We do have a, we do a Fox pretty much.
Speaker:Um, From the right of the screen to the left of the screen, I realized how
Speaker:much this is very off topic, but at the top of America, it looks a little
Speaker:bit like a squat or eaten or not.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, no, I see something that looks like a dog trying to bite the neck of a seal.
Speaker:I suppose.
Speaker:Yeah, very top see, like on the right, in that middle section,
Speaker:if you look at that little thing, that's like jutting out to the left.
Speaker:Doesn't that look like it could be like a dog or a Wolf mouth.
Speaker:It does actually I know on the left that looks like some sort of seal or something.
Speaker:That's neck is exposed.
Speaker:I'm also seeing a rabbit came to cuddle in a tree branch and the trees got lit.
Speaker:I see that like right at the tip of Canada, I see that, which we
Speaker:could, we could make a podcast.
Speaker:I see that as well.
Speaker:It's kind of fascinating.
Speaker:So you don't have I'll let you let you off for that.
Speaker:Not late the collarbone speeding.
Speaker:Fantastic.
Speaker:So, so you're telling me that the bar is set really low, but I
Speaker:couldn't even think about, yeah.
Speaker:I just couldn't think, not feeling like I'm not funny or I'm not entertaining.
Speaker:Cause I can't think of a single joke.
Speaker:When we launch her, what does the things on the map podcast
Speaker:look like at that night?
Speaker:Yes, I will step up my game for that.
Speaker:I really appreciate you chatting with us AE and enjoy the rest of your day.
Speaker:You as well.
