Employee Spotlight: Maya, Sr. Customer Success Manager

Meet the face of the company, genuine do-gooder Maya, who has a wealth of travel experience behind her. 

Nikole Wintermeier | Feb 08, 2023
Employee Spotlight: Maya, Sr. Customer Success Manager

Meet the face of the company, genuine do-gooder Maya, who has a wealth of travel experience behind her. 

 

If you could sum up your job in one word, what would you say?

 

My job is essentially about trying to figure out the best approach for each client. They’re all very different, including the way they use our platform and the way their business works.

I'm always trying to find the best solution per client so that they’re happy with us and our service and they get a return on their investment. 

I don’t know how to describe that in one word. I guess you could say customer-centricity. Does it count as one word if it’s hyphenated? :) And coincidentally, that’s one of our core values at Crobox.

 

How did you come to work for Crobox?

 

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Customer success team on the slopes ;)

I’ve been working in technology for the last eight or nine years. Before Crobox, I was always looking for a company in the tech sector where I would feel at home with the team. Good people combined with good technology, an environment that keeps evolving, and where you are able to keep learning. 

Crobox was just one of those places where I thought would fit in perfectly. First, in terms of being in an area I was interested in. And second, being part of an organizational culture that suited my needs. 

Before this, I was working for a chemical tech company. In the past, I’ve worked for Booking.com, and other tech companies that provided a range of B2B tech solutions. I also worked on a nationwide digital inclusion project to help charities, social care organizations, local authorities and housing providers in the UK increase their digital skills capacity. 

Actually, before I moved to the tech sector I was working in the wine industry where I was importing and selling fine wines which was a lot of fun! But I always found tech intriguing – not to mention handy.

Over the years it became the most interesting industry for me, although I thought I couldn’t work in it because I didn't really have any tech skills myself. But it was really when I had the opportunity to consult on the business side of a tech startup, and that’s something I really enjoyed. That’s how it all began. 

 

Maya as a thespian.

 

In the short time you’ve been with Crobox, what would you consider your biggest accomplishment so far?

 

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I kicked off an initiative to start a newsletter to keep customers up to speed with the latest updates from our product, company and industry.

It was very well received by our customers and it has been great working on it with you Nikki! :)

I’ve also been trying to create a strategy for the customer success department (obviously we can’t call it a department just yet with such a small team, but we’re getting there!). We started this year by implementing a KPI framework where we can now get better organized and measure our growth. 

I’m happy we’re doing that now because it’s easier to see how we’re developing as a company and to internally set goals and hold ourselves accountable to them moving forward. 

In terms of our team, we’re getting more and more traction from different customers and different industries. We’ve definitely grown since I've arrived qua customers and qua markets. 

In the next few years, I see us growing the customer success team, so we can work with more and more customers. I also see how our product is going in an amazing direction, and adapting to so many different markets and industries. I think the next few years will be really exciting working at Crobox and I just can’t wait to see what we do.

 

Who would your ideal customer be?

 

It’s hard to pinpoint one specific brand – there are just so many! But someone like Patagonia, a company with core values that they passionately stick to, would be great.

Patagonia also appeals to me personally, because I’m outdoorsy, and I love to travel and hike. But further, than that, the fact that they are so focused on sustainability and fighting climate change, and care about their impact and employees is definitely something to strive towards. 

There’s another dark horse brand that’s done surprisingly well in the past years. It’s more of a local Dutch brand but they have such a great product that also focuses on being fair trade… Tony’s Chocolonely. People at Crobox know I exclusively buy chocolate from them, especially after watching a Netflix documentary about the cocoa industry’s terrible supply chain practices. 

Tony’s Chocolonely is dedicated to changing the cocoa industry and fighting slavery. It’s amazing how such a small company has become a huge rival to big chocolate conglomerates. They’re also super creative and original while being in line with ethical principles. As I said, I can only buy their chocolate now. 

 

What’s your favorite thing about working at Crobox?

 

Crobox Ski trip 2022 in Austria!

 

The team! It’s a really diverse group and yet everyone glues really well. We work well together but we can also do our own thing and have our own lives outside of work. 

In startups, there’s often a lot of pressure to always do group things and it can sometimes feel like you are forced to be part of the team. Whereas at Crobox we have more of a natural bond. We get together a lot and have fun together, but it’s also easy to do our own thing. Working here just feels really cozy. 

 

What’s your go-to leisure activity outside of work?

 

{No hesitation} TRAVEL. 

I don’t like talking about myself, but I guess I should expand. I’ve lived in eight countries in my life so I grew up changing countries and traveling all the time. I love discovering new places and cultures and meeting new people. 

Outside of work, I also do lots of CrossFit and Yoga. I like being outdoors and love doing sports. I started with yoga more than 10 years ago now and did my yoga teacher training certification in India and I even used to teach in my spare time for fun.

At some point, I was teaching yoga in a CrossFit gym so I had free CrossFit classes. I never thought I would like it, but I did and actually loved it so much I was instantly hooked!

After doing CrossFit and yoga I found the two sports really complemented each other. Yoga helps me with flexibility, while also balancing out my mental health and giving me a sense of calm. Whereas CrossFit makes me feel super energetic. 


Maya and co-worker in other co-workers Bakfiets… a very Dutch experience to say the least. 

 

What’s a fun fact about you even your colleagues wouldn’t know? 

 

When I was in University in Greece doing my bachelor’s I was in the drama club. I was in a play that won some sort of award and we got invited to perform at the American University of Beirut.

So we went to Beirut for a week to perform there. I have my picture in the Greek newspaper. The play was called Children of Oedipus. 

I also used to live in Aleppo, Syria. Which is now obviously completely destroyed. My dad was a diplomat and this was a long time ago, when the country wasn’t at war. Bashar’s father was in power at that point, the country was beautiful, and I have some really fond memories of it. Seeing it destroyed has been really heartbreaking. 

 

What’s been your favorite country to live in?

 

It’s really difficult to say because every place has impacted me in a different way, and was in different stages of my life. I really liked living in Greece – I mean, great weather, amazing food, beautiful country to travel around, with some of the nicest, friendliest people. But would I live there again? I’m not so sure, maybe when I am ready to retire.

Financially, the country isn’t very stable right now. I think I would probably also get a bit irritated working there now. Things tend to move really slow (this is obviously a generalization, and could have changed from how I remember things). 

Living in London was definitely a highlight since that’s where I spent the most time. It’s the one place I felt at home right away. It’s so international, there’s so much to do you could never get bored. Basically, if you have an interest and you want to fulfill it – London’s the place. I love theatre, and in London you get to see so many amazing performances.

The restaurant scene is also great. London caters to people from all over the world, which means you can find food from all over the world at a super high standard. That’s really rare. 

Plus, so many people that live in London are not from London, so it’s really easy to create your own family out of friends. In most of the other countries that I’ve lived in, I’ve felt a little bit like an outsider. But not in London. It’s also a great hub if you want to travel anywhere. And also people come to visit you! Because they can fly easily through London. 

But now I’m a little older so I’m happy to be in a smaller space. Here in the Netherlands, the lifestyle is more relaxed. I can’t really pick out a particular place, everywhere has impacted me in a different way. 



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Maya as professional wine taster. 

 

What’s your favorite song?

 

One song that always gives me goosebumps is a classic, Sam Cooke’s A Change is Gonna Come. Otherwise, if I’m in a chilled-out mood, I’ll put on some Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, or Nina Simone or Benjamin Clementine. If I’m feeling upbeat, I’d listen to someone like Tank and the Bangas or Crazy P.



Who’s your biggest inspiration in the company and why?

 

Our team as a unit is super inspiring. Everyone is a real expert within their field and it’s amazing to see how each individual contribution adds up to make it all work seamlessly. I’m inspired because I am learning so much on a daily basis from everyone on the team, as well as from our rockstar customers. :)