My Name Is Shannon Sauvé— This Is Why I Joined Aha!
I have always loved to explore where my curiosity will take me. We had a big backyard growing up, and I loved to run around with my brothers and invent new games. During family road trips to U.S. national parks, such as Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons, we would expand our games to a grander scale — hiking our way through the natural treasures. But there were quiet times too, when I would draw, paint, and sculpt.
Those early explorations taught me how to stretch myself beyond what I already knew.
I entered college at the University of Connecticut with this same mindset, taking on three different minors — accounting, anthropology, and women’s studies. For my major, I chose finance. I liked how broad it was and hoped it would open me up to a wide-range of opportunities.
I was also hoping to explore a new area of the country. So after graduation, I moved west to San Francisco. My initial plan was to interview for bank jobs while doing contract work for a software startup called Zenefits. But they quickly asked me to come on full-time as the 14th employee.
I started off in operations, doing a bit of everything — from getting customers set up with payroll to uncovering usage trends through our product. Then the company had a dramatic growth spurt, swelling from 14 to 500 employees in just one year. This is when leadership began to form a product management team. Since I was one of the earliest employees and knew the product so well, I was asked to join.
The world of product was entirely new to me. But thanks to living in the Bay Area, I felt like there was an endless supply of resources to help. I attended dozens of seminars to get up to speed. I also spent time observing my more experienced peers — doing my best to understand what it meant to be a successful product manager. A year and a half later, I was promoted to a senior product manager position.
Moving deeper into product management was exciting — I loved the constant push to keep growing.
Although exciting, the growth did not feel sustainable. Turns out, my feeling was right. I had spent more than 3 years there and learned so much in the process. I was grateful but ready to move on. My then-fiancé and I decided to take time off and travel. This turned out to be an incredible gift, allowing us to explore our interests and think deeply about what we wanted next. We moved back to the East Coast and got married. I started searching for a new job.
I had two goals — I wanted to return to product management and work for a company that put people first.
This is when I started reading the Aha! blog. At first, I was interested in the product management best practices. But I soon found myself reading more and more about Aha! — I saw a company that truly valued people. So when I learned that they were hiring product managers to join the Customer Success team, I knew I had to apply.
The interview process was extremely insightful. Everyone I spoke to not only wanted to make sure that I was a qualified candidate, but also that I would enjoy being a part of the team. And it became clear to me that I would. I told them how I loved working with customers to find creative solutions, and they explained how I could do that in the Customer Success role. It seemed like an ideal fit.
Since joining Aha!, I have had the privilege to work with smart and talented people every single day — both my teammates and our customers.
Recently, I have had the chance to work closer with many of our enterprise customers. Digging into their problems one-on-one and showing them how Aha! can help make them more efficient and successful is exciting and challenging work. I am able to follow my own curiosity to find solutions together.
When I am not engaging with our customers’ backgrounds and stories, I am learning from my own teammates — who are all experienced product managers themselves. They are always willing to contribute to my personal and professional growth. And I like to think that I am doing the same for them.
It is exciting to be part of a company that encourages this give-and-take of teaching and learning. And that shows me every day that I should never stop exploring.
That is why I joined Aha! — and why you should too.
