Celebrating Anova's Customer Success Team

Team work makes the dream work, and today we wanted to highlight the work of our some of the people on our awesome customer success team. The secret sauce behind great customer service are the people who work in it. We pride ourselves on having an all-star team of people who are personable, friendly, caring and thoughtful.

We chatted with four of our CS reps to get to know them a little bit more and share their experience working with the #anovafoodnerdcommunity.

Meet Cristy

Location: Davao, Philippines
Years with Anova: 7
Spirit Animal: “I have no idea what my spirit animal is (I do know for sure that if it’s spirit Pokemon, it’d be Squirtle!) Wait, I took a test and found out I’m a sea turtle. Squirtle is always kind of a turtle so that’s definitely accurate!”

A true veteran, Cristy has been part of the Anova family since 2013. Over the past 7 years, Cristy has worn many hats, from helping with Anova’s first kickstarter campaign in 2015 to assisting the PR team with gift guides and newsletters to her current role on the returns and exchanges team.

In 2016, Cristy embarked on an adventure with her husband and baby to visit the Anova offices in SF. Although she was nervous to meet the team, Bill - an iconic presence at Anova - made them feel right at home by taking them on a city tour. “My favorite part was the ice cream! I think he took us to a place called Humphry Slocombe. It was the best ice cream I’ve EVER had!”

Favorite customer story?

“One quiet day at work, a famous Filipino chef emailed us about our warranty policy. The Slack channel blew up in 10 seconds - everyone was gushing over his email. Then a heated debate started about what lucky person got to respond! That was probably my favorite day in the office.”

Meet Peter

Location: Manila, Philippines
Years with Anova: 5
Spirit Animal: Koi Fish

Peter started with Anova in December 2015 when he was referred by his brother Patrick. With his background at AT&T, he became Anova’s tech support guy right away. Email, chat, reporting bugs – Peter’s your man!

What makes you most proud?

“It feels good knowing that Anova has so much faith in my ability to perform. I'm also proud of becoming friends with the other customer support team members! We try to meet up 2-3 times a year. Hopefully next year we can have a company holiday party for the entire CS team here in Manila!”

Least favorite moment at Anova?

“There have been a lot of really frustrated customers with the App this past year. I know the team worked hard to fix it so thank you to everyone for being so patient and understanding - I know it wasn’t easy.”

What does Peter like to do outside Anova?

Spend quality with his wife, Karla →

Meet Karla

Location: Manila, Philippines
Years with Anova: 3
Spirit Animal: “Caterpillar / butterfly! I adore how they struggle as a caterpillar and morph into a beautiful colorful creature. They exist to spread beauty and nourish the earth. I'd like to think I bring the same joy and lightness to peoples lives.”

Karla has been working with Anova for over 3 years. She first heard about the company through her husband Peter. Karla is currently the only customer success team member who works directly with our Operations team.

What's it like to be on the CS team?

“The days get incredibly hectic, especially around the holidays when we are running around making sure that shipments are getting where they need to go on time. I am constantly learning and doing new things. No two days are the same! It keeps me on my toes and ensures that I am never bored. The ops team is small but we are mighty and I love the variety of tasks I have throughout my work day.”

The question burning on all of our minds?

“I love working with Peter! I just feel like we are office mates. Our jobs are so different and demanding that it is nice to be next to each other for support. We take our breaks together and get to eat together. We’ve figured out a very nice way to sync our work and personal lives and it’s fun to have my best friend and an office partner with me every day.”

Meet Latesha

Location: Louisiana
Years with Anova: 6
Spirit Animal: “A unicorn - because they are slightly mysterious and have a side you don’t know about it”

Working from the “Crawfish Capital of the World,” Latesha joined the CS team just after it launched its OG kickstarter campaign in 2015. She remembers a time when people didn't even know what sous vide was!

Favorite part about Anova?

“Trust creates a positive working environment and motivates me even more to do the best job I can day in and day out! Plus, having three kids means my life is quite hectic. Working on the CS team has always provided me with the flexibility and support to be a mom first.”

Least favorite part of being on the CS team?

“That’s easy... it’s Black Friday!”

Her advice for all the #anovafoodnerds out there?

“Kindness goes a long way! Even though a lot of the time people are calling in because of an issue, I want them to know that we always put the customer first and try to do everything we can to help. I love when customers call in just to tell us how much they love the device, or to swap their favorite recipes. Those interactions always brighten my day.”

And a huge thank you to our loyal #anovafoodnerdcommunity. At the end of the day, we exist because of you. Share your favorite customer service moments with us at [email protected]!

- Anastasia Plotnikova, Social Impact Manager