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Welcome to the first Certify, Inc./Chrome River Newsletter!
In each issue, we aim to keep you up-to-date with what's happening across the brands. Take a look inside to learn more about upcoming events, open roles, and even meet new employees. We hope you enjoy it!
Want to be featured in our next Newsletter?
Do something cool recently? Did you get married, have a baby, or run a marathon? We'd love to know and share your interests! Please submit photos and fun facts of your pets, life events, and other exciting updates to internalevents@certify.com to be featured!
In the News...
Productboard featured a blog article on our very own Co-CPO and product strategist Claire Milligan and her methodology for leading a product organization across multiple brands. Check out the blog post HERE.
Congrats to our Sales Teams Congratulations to our Sales teams for increasing bookings by 44% year-on-year in Q1 & Q2! Collectively we have exceeded our target goal for the year!External Education Program
In case you missed the announcement, we have expanded our External Education Program to include employees from all brands! Click HERE to view the policy for more information.
The HR Team also provides assistance for opportunities related to career development at Expense Brands!
Say Hello to Emburse!We're thrilled to welcome commercial card provider Emburse to the family, making payments and expense even easier for corporations and business travelers. You can share the news via our LinkedIn post!June/July 2019
Sales Development Representative - NYC
Sales Executive - NYC
Manager, Customer Success Management - NYC
Implementation Manager - NYC
Customer Success Manager - NYC
Marketing Director - NYC
Senior Software Engineer - NYC
Software Engineer - NYC
Business Development Representative - Portland & San Diego
A/R Analyst - Portland
Compensation & Benefits Manager - Portland
SMB Sales Executive - Portland
PT Office Manager - San Diego
Are you interested in another open role?
All employees are eligible to apply for open roles within other departments and brands if tenure and skill requirements are met, with current manager approval of course! Please see below for a listing of our current open roles and click to view the latest on the careers pages. In the near future, a Slack channel will be made available with updated open roles!
Activation Consultant - LA
Implementation Manager - LA
Director, Support - LA
VP, Customer Success - LA
Business Development Representative - LA
Director, Sales - East Coast
Director, Sales - West Coast, Enterprise
Implementation Manager - Remote
Implementation Manager - Germany
Sales Consultant - Germany
Support Expert - Toronto
Product Manager - Tortosa
Do you know someone that would be a good fit
for one of our open roles?
We love referrals! Anyone with a relevant referral for any one of our brands is encouraged to submit it through our applicant tracking system, Lever! Simply upload the resume and answer a few questions for our Talent Acquisition team and hiring manager to review. If your referral is hired, you'll earn a bonus! Please speak with your HR representative for more details.
Jeromy Evans
VP, Engineering
John Demirci
Sr. Bus Development Rep
Jonathan Rosenfeld
Associate SRE
Thomas Nakaki
Sr. DevOps Engineer
Kevin Flanagan
Accountant
Morgan Kimball
Director, Accounting
Sam Johnsen
Director, Engineering
Jolena Juers
Financial Planning & Analysis Manager
Recent Role Changes
Congrats on the new role!
Deidre Kennedy
Senior Implementation Specialist
Lindsay Chocholak
Senior Implementation Specialist
Alez Martinez
Product Management Head
Miquel Bada
SVP, Marketing
Samreena Singh
Implementation Specialist
Bethany Walsh
VP, Marketing
Winston Huang
Senior Software Engineer
EJ Bernard
Jr Account Executive
Cameron Lakenen
Senior Software Engineer
Chris Hongshen
Growth and Marketing
Roger Gu
Head of Revenue
Mona Khemici
Sales Development Representative
Jessica Yee
Support and Client Success
Aaron Gordon
Account Executive
Peter Lai
Head of Product
Be sure to say hello to our newest team members!
Laura L'Herault
Executive Assistant (All Brands) - Remote
Ryan Prewitt
Mid-Market Sales Executive - San Diego
Kristin Campbell
Consultant, Implementation - Remote
Daniel Frank
Business Development Representative - Portland
Heather Peterson
VP, Customer Success Management (All Brands) - Remote
Carly Roberts
Product Designer - Portland
Tina Cote
Payroll Manager (All Brands) - Portland
Sara Zobel
A/R Analyst (All Brands) - Portland
Neus Figueres
Product Marketing Manager - Barcelona
Alvaro Sanchez
Strategic Sales Executive - Barcelona
Adriana Gonzalez
Office Manager - Tortosa
Perry Ya
Support Expert - NYC
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11 Years
Bob Neveu
Matthew MelhuishJeffrey DeSimone
Francesca Jimenez
Andrew Lam
Peter Maier
Jason McClain
Jonathan Montoya
Tay Moore
Ryan Ottney
Josue Sanchez
Thomas Schleiffer
Saul Solis
Thomas Tanetscek
Sean Larson
Lauren Sarfati
Charlotte Moore
Lindsay Chocholak
Luke Middleton
Paul Hunt
Grace Chlosta
Anna Griffin
Morgan Kimball
Chelsea Libby
Claire Morin
Chris Drews
Brad Boehmke
Kyle Savage
Shelley Glidden
Kassie Wilbur
Samrina Singh
Shavan Jenabzadeh
Alberto Ahullana Talens
Alfonso Cuadrado Lomillos
Carlos Mendizabal Delgado
June/July 2019 Company Anniversaries
Thank you for all of the contributions you've made. We appreciate your dedication and hard work!
Josh Halickman
Catherine Gussin
Vlad Popescu
Daniel Sharratt
Charly Nanfack Tsafack
Gontran Segue Nzouba
Chris Kellogg
Laura Ramage
Jason St Cyr
Deirdre Kennedy
Kelly Kwan
Michael Montplaisir
Gayane Aramyan
Charlene Burke
Olga Huber
Elise Jackson
Blake Meadows
Marsha Miller
Michael Stafford
Emily Wells
Lu Zhang
RoseAnn Kostecki
Aleksandr Pisarevich
Alex Kim
Julie Read
Jianhua Ren
Sukrit Verma
Shane Calnan
Peter Cortinas
Jeffry Devier
Andrea Escobar
Dena Fuentes
Thomas Plackowski
Nicholas Saiben
Jennifer Weinress
Steven Reedich
Aaron Tomas Castells de la Ascension
Tom Dewispelaere
Oscar Oliver Obiol
Jordi Panisello Tomas
Jeffrey Langsner
Heather Falb
Dan Devaney
James Stephen Youlios
Andrew Gilbert
Alfred Diez
Stephan Curzi
Andrew Enciso
Jeromy Evans
Debra Graves
Bill Hanfrey
Carla Ordonez
Dan Humbert
Laura Brady
Beau Bruderer
Keyvan Khosrovian
Chad Mills
Jeremy Soto
Ara de Torres
Carlton Parsons
Courtney O'Reilly
Dean Marvin
John Manley
Nicole Dumont
Randy Farr
Mike Pare
Heather Brietbeil
Danielle Camarata
Oscar Mateu Rodriguez
Mathew Melhuish
Kevin Van Heusen
Bob Neveu
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"True Master, Genius, Expert... the list goes on forever. CJ has been a huge part of my success in the company. He has helped me in every step and is always willing to help out whenever and wherever. I know that I can always rely on his indescribable amount of knowledge and the trust that he has the answer to everything. He is the true hero and my master 😄. I am very glad to be a part of his team and look forward to overcome any future challenges that I may run into."
CJ Antipuna
Sr Technical Product Owner
Shelby Aitkenhead
Sales Ops
"Unbelievably helpful breaker of silos. Shelby is one of those rare people who isn't just good at what she does, she is also incredibly helpful and goes beyond to help others. The Creative Team, and SpendSmart, wouldn't be the same without her expertise and assistance. She's careful to build what;s needed without sacrificing quality, and without killing deadlines. While Shelby isn't technically in Marketing, she consistently goes beyond silos to ensure that everyone who ask for her help, gets it. We need more Shelbys in the world!"
Christopher Kellogg
Full Stack Developer
"Finisher Award for Crushing Spend Limits by Cat.
👍 🙌 🙏 ✔️
All the emojis for getting this done!"
Calvin Lee
Customer Support Expert Tier 2
"Thanks for helping me with documentation! Thanks for answering so many questions (including ridiculous ones), watching for holes in documentation, and being so fun to work with. I really appreciate you and CJ's work!"
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Do you have someone you want to give a shout out to for going above and beyond? The Certify, Inc. Family of Brands has a Praise page in Small Improvements where you can offer a peer to peer recognition. Take some time to recognize your fellow coworkers for their dedication and hard work and peruse some of the June/July shout-outs below.
Employee Shout Outs!
Mobile Developer
Kira Carey
Sr Office Manager
"Praise for always being there for all of us even when she is out of the office."
Pet Spotlight
Featuring our Chromie Cuddlers!
PhoebeHuman: Kelly Causey
She is a 6 yr. old Miniature Australian Shepherd. She’s about 18lbs.She’s excellent at Frisbee and playing fetch with the “Chuck-it” in the back yard.She has MANY nicknames! (Emma, Cheebee, Cheebee Emma, Cheebs and CheeBeats)She “Talks” to animals she sees on TV Shlomo Todd
IT Manager
Shlomo and his wife Tova just welcomed twin girls to their family.
Zoey and Anna were born on April 15th with Zoey weighing in at 6 pounds, 5 ounces and Anna at 5 pounds, 13 ounces.
Here's a glimpse of what's been happening with our Chromies outside of the office!
If you'd like your pet featured, please send over a photo and some fun facts to hr@chromeriver.com.
Ahna Holloran
Marketing Events Manager
Outside of work I'm a personal finance coach and absolutely love walking with people through their financial journeys. I help clients get a full, clear picture of their financial situations and devise a plan that aligns with their goals and values.
A question I get asked a lot is "how can I save more money?" There's a lot of tips and strategies out there, but my answer is to always start with your "why." Why do you want to save more money? Until you have this question answered, saving will always feel like a chore and will be hard to achieve! Your 'why' would be "to reduce stress in my life," "to travel more" or "to know I can retire one day." Whatever it is, defining it is the first step to achieving it!"
April Esgate
Proposal Manager
Congratulations to April and her husband on their wedding!
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Serving up some healthy smoothies!
Chromie Food Tour #3: India
Wellness Activities
One of our main goals at Chrome River is promoting the importance of health and wellness. Special thanks to Barbara Essien for teaching us some great exercise that can be done at our desk! We also served up some sweet and tasty afternoon treats - 100% fruit smoothies. Chromies be sure to check your email for more details on future wellness activities.
Thanks to everyone who participated in our Q2 Walking Challenge: U.S National Parks
Congratulations to the winning team: Walking Tango Foxtrot
Our lunch tours aren’t just about eating, it gives us another opportunity to better understand the diverse backgrounds and cultures that make up Chrome River! Special thanks to Krishna Nadiminti and Sowmya Gottumukkala for the cultural lesson on dishes from India!
Top 3 Teams:
1. Walking Tango Foxtrot
2. Hustle & Muscle LLP
3. 2 Fast 2 Furious
Top 3 Individual Finishers:
1. Yash Gokhale
2. Francesca Jimenez
3. Woo Yun
Team Dallas
San Diego 5k
Volunteering
Expense Brands recognizes the importance of supporting our surrounding communities and nonprofit organizations. Did you know that employees are provided 4 hours each month as paid volunteer time?
In June and July, Portland held three successful volunteer programs: painting and preparing an educational summer camp venue at the Animal Refuge League, painting fences and cleaning barns at a horse rehabilitation center (MSSPA), and a beach cleanup on Peaks Island! We've also held a successful food drive to benefit The Locker Project, providing sustenance to food insecure children in Maine.
Team Building
During the summer months, we hold an outing for team building and friendly competition for each office location. This past June and July, the Team Dallas escaped a Western Bank Heist and Team London found their way to the golden chalice in record time! Team London went on to celebrate their victory with a darts competition! Team Dallas will head to an axe throwing competition in the fall.
Team Sports
Each year our athletes get together outside of work to participate in races and group sports. This past June/July, San Diego and Portland ran 5K's to benefit local causes, a half marathon just for fun, and a Kickball team played every Wednesday to blow off steam. Go Team Certify!
If you would like to volunteer or know of an organization that needs extra hands, please reach out to your HR representative for further information!
Portland 5k
Portland Kickball
Team London
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Summer Beach Olympics
Nexonia held their 2nd Beach Olympic games in July! The Toronto teams fought hard for the win, playing games such as Hoppy Ball and Tug of war but only one team can take home the trophy... until next year!
Annual Summer Outing
Team Montreal attended a Cirque du Soleil light show in a pyramid called PY1!
Captio employees met for a company-wide meeting in Tortosa on July 11th. They celebrated their wins this year with their 1st annual Beach Olympics on July 12 in Delta de l'Ebro! Their games consisted of soccer, volleyball, paddle boarding, and sea kayaking!
Volunteering
Tortosa held three volunteer programs in Q2: working at a local food bank, putting in time with the animals at the Animal Welfare Association, and hosting a blood drive. Madrid also worked at a local food bank!
Quarterly OutingTeam Abacus celebrated their wins at a Mets versus the Yankees baseball game in June! Who do you think the team was rooting for?
Athletic EventTeam Abacus athletes trained all spring for their first ever Tough Mudder, a 9-mile obstacle course (with 25 obstacles) which took place in Pennsylvania, and they survived! What a success! This event took place in May, but deserves to be featured here. We'd like to offer more sporting events later in the year.
We've Been Busy
Team Tallie has been busy combining two offices into one. Soon, Tallie and Emburse will be moving into one shared office location in San Francisco! The two teams have events planned for later in the season, one being a lunch cruise around San Francisco Bay on the Hornblower.
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A little bit about the product...
Emburse is a San Francisco-based company that enables solutions for general employee expense cards, virtual cards for accounts payable, and additional use cases, including candidate travel management and contractor spending. For example, Emburse allows a recruiting manager to instantly create and digitally send a card that can only be spent on airfare, hotels, and ride share up to a set amount that expires within a week.
This is an exciting addition to the portfolio and enables organizations to further reduce out-of-policy spend and the financial burden on the cardholder. It reinforces our commitment to providing the most comprehensive suite of travel, expense and payment solutions for any company, worldwide.
Please click HERE to see the press release, and take some time to check out the Emburse website.
Instant Virtual and Physical Cards for Business Expenses. Track and Control Spending.
Team OutingTo celebrate their coming aboard, Team Emburse spent their summer outing at The Mystery Spot, a gravitational anomaly located in the redwood forests just outside of Santa Cruz. It remains a mystery why this specific place hold variations of gravitational perspective, so the team went to check it out!
Los Angeles
San Francisco
Los Angeles
San Diego
Portland
Dallas
Here are some hints about our upcoming scheduled events across the brands. More information regarding these events will be shared by email.
Food tour, August 15th
Office Massages, August 28th & 29th
Evening Catamaran, August 23rd
Beach Cleanup Volunteer Event, August 21st
Axe Throwing, September 11th
Hornblower Cruise, October 4th
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