Before Laura Naccarato joined Toronto-based CrowdRiff as a web developer in 2018, she was looking for an opportunity to expand her front-end knowledge to a more rounded “full-stack” position. “One of the things that really appealed to me is how available and approachable Dan and Abhi are,” she says.
Naccarato is referring to CrowdRiff co-founders Dan Holowack and Abhi Ajgaonkar. When they launched their visual marketing software company for tourism and travel organizations in 2011, they didn’t have a broad vision of what they wanted their corporate culture to look like. They just knew they wanted to hire kind, driven employees who didn’t have egos.
“We were looking to surround ourselves with like-minded people who wanted to solve problems through technology,” says chief executive officer Holowack, who met Ajgaonkar, the chief technology officer, at the University of Waterloo. “In those early days, our culture was based on our commitment to each other. As we grew, we thought about how to recognize and reinforce the culture we had established organically.”
Soon the founders’ love for building things on the internet evolved into a passion for building their company. Naccarato was referred to CrowdRiff by a friend who worked there. “I knew it was a friendly environment, so socially it seemed like a good place because I like to have fun at work,” she says. “Professionally I was interested because I was a front-end developer, but I was interested in learning the back end.”
While front-end developers implement the visual elements that users see and interact with, back-end developers work on server and data architecture. “People have the ability to go in any direction they want to here,” says Naccarato, who has become a full-stack developer working on the front and back ends of projects. “When you’re in an environment where you’re trying to learn new things, I know I can ask anyone anything – that there are no dumb questions.”
Last fall, Naccarato began working closely with her manager on a project to learn more about database architecture and how to build a data analytics pipeline. “It can be intimidating because it’s such a critical portion that sometimes you think, what if I delete everything by accident? I love learning from my manager, who is incredibly smart and with me every step of the way.”
Holowack is happy to hear stories like that. “So often I see someone teaching someone else something,” he says. “We learn from each other every day, as well as from our customers.”
Collaborating with co-workers has been more challenging since everyone was sent home to work due to COVID-19. And although they’ve been meeting on Slack, Zoom and phone calls, not being able to have impromptu water-cooler conversations has made the experience a bit different. The pandemic has produced some silver linings, however.
“We innovated and pivoted faster in 2020 than we might have otherwise,” says Holowack. “We’ve introduced new products for our customers, who are focusing less on international travel and more on highlighting local businesses to local travellers. We’ve proven that our value is very strong with our customers.”
Even though Naccarato misses chatting with co-workers sitting near her at the office, she still feels connected to them – and to new employees. “We’ve had new team members join since the pandemic started, and I feel like they’re just as much a part of the team as anyone else. What I love about working at CrowdRiff is that I have the freedom to be whatever I want professionally, and I get to work with a wonderful team.”
