“ My previous experiences are from working as a scrum master and a backend developer. The software I worked with was very old, and the lack of documentation made the work frustrating. The working principles were stiff and should have been developed, but I didn’t have the power to do so. I enjoy problem solving with people and my work was very distant from customers, so I was missing that feeling of accomplishing something together. I was thinking about starting the search for a new position but hadn’t gotten around to it yet when the universe intervened.”
Who is Woolman and what is Shopify?
We’d like you to meet Pyry who joined Woolman in August 2018. He had just sold his car and was travelling on the train with his girlfriend and their dog. The pet cart proved to be a social place and he found himself talking to a co-traveller, Pinja.
Pinja was very interested in my background and started telling me about the company she works with Woolman. I had never considered ecommerce before and I did not know Shopify. Pinja was really excited about ecommerce and direct to consumer brands Woolman works with. This raised my interest because I was lacking the knowledge of customer value in my own work. When we departed I had agreed to meet with Pinja and her colleagues. It seemed a little absurd that I happened to be on that train and as a result I was thinking of changing jobs.
Why I joined the Woolman team
I have always been interested in problem solving. When we started discussing the opportunities Woolman had to offer, we found a role that would let me develop as a professional on many fronts. I would join the support team to help customers develop their commerce further. Shopify turned out to be a SAAS- service that is extremely well documented and that allows you the opportunity to learn as well as solve problems fast. The ability to solve customer’s problems fast means quick response times and that results in happy customers. Achieving good things together gives me a feeling of success and makes work fun.
From the first discussions I got the feeling that I had a right to speak. I was encouraged to bring forward ideas and improvements and I have. There are no strict routines, instead we develop our work together as a team to perform better internally and with customers.
Woolman truly has a flat organization and there is no bureaucracy. I can contact anyone in our organization, including our CEO Juha, and there will always be time for one to one. We all know why we do things, and for me it is important to have a purpose to know that my contribution has an impact.
From Continuous Support to Solution Architect
I first joined the Woolman Shopify support team. At the time there were three people in the team. Once I became familiar with Shopify I was soon drawn towards the more complex problem solving and integration cases. So soon I found myself working with three of our bigger customers and they took up most of my time. Then we had an opening for a temporary Service Manager and I decided to take on the challenge and test the role. I stayed on as a Service Manager for dedicated customers and I really enjoy building commerce solutions together in the long term.
In three years our Continuous Services team has grown to 20 talents, and we now work mostly on developing business solutions rather than support tickets. I actually followed in Pinja’s footsteps and recruited a friend of mine Niko who also joined our team. Us “Woolmanians” are involved in hiring new talent for our teams. Being included means that we are trusted and trust is a powerful element building psychological safety.
My interest in continuous learning is taking me to a new role again. I am now moving towards the role of a Shopify Solution Architect. I will still be able to work closely with customers and help find solutions for even more complex challenges. It is rewarding to work with not just Nordic but European brands and be part of delivering amazing customer experiences.
Why would you recommend Woolman to a new colleague?
For these three things that matter to me and I feel are special to Woolman:
- Working in a hyper growth company is really interesting and you learn so much about business alongside developing as a professional
- Our full service offering is unique. We have so many opportunities in-house and I am now speaking from a developer point of view. We have an app development team that delivers amazing apps for customers around the globe, we have our own SAAS- services team building on data and analytics, there is interesting backend and frontend development in the previous as well as in all Shopify projects. Me, I came and started in support, now I am learning to become an architect. Who knows what is next - there are still many unexplored opportunities with Woolman left.
- Leadership and culture. You can always contact our leaders and you will always get help, you are never left alone. The culture is humaine and soft. We work together, hand in hand, to be one Woolman, even though we are in multiple countries and still mostly working from home.
“When we started talking Pyry’s presence and personality made me feel safe. He was kind and curious and these characteristics match the Woolman culture that is soft. He had never heard of us, but by the end of our journey I had raised his interest and I was already setting up a meeting. This was early summer and by August we were working together.”
Pinja, Customer success manager, Woolman
Mareena Löfgrén, Brand Manager, Woolman
