Student Spotlight: Carmen Mays of Elevators!

We recently caught up with Carmen Mays, Founder and CEO of Elevators, to ask her about the impact that her recent Scrum Master and Product Owner training has made in her professional life.

First, a little about her company:

“Elevators fosters equitable entrepreneurial ecosystems by developing innovative corporate supply chain strategies. We build community and capacity for melanated creatives and institutions integral to the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

I started Elevators with the simple premise of ensuring creatives of color had the tools and opportunities they needed to make a living doing what they love. Elevators has successfully engaged creatives in culturally relevant business development. Elevators also creates corporate engagement and supply chain strategies that foster equitable entrepreneurial ecosystems.”

You can find out more about her company, Elevators, right here.

Since this was a short interview format, I’ll just list the questions along with her responses below!

Q: How has the Scrum Master and Product Owner training changed the mindset with which you approach your business?

I am much more clear about how to introduce new ideas and refine existing ones. I am able to go deeper into the structure of the products thereby making them more effective.

Q: Have you incorporated any of the training into your workflow yet?

Yes! Particularly the Kanban Board.

Q: Have you seen any immediate benefits to bringing these thought processes into your business?

I’m much more productive and because I can see what I’ve completed, I don’t overwork.

Q: Do you think LSM/LSPO training would be helpful for other startups?

Absolutely!

Q: Would it be an added benefit for all members of a team to have this training (so that everyone understands it and are on the same page)?

Yes! As with any training, it’s for everybody.

If you are interested in learning more about our LSM (Scrum Master) and LSPO (Product Owner) training classes then head over to our class page to get the details. Currently, those living near Birmingham, AL might even be eligible for a full scholarship to attend!

Student Spotlight: Maureen Sears of HC3!

We recently caught up with Maureen Sears, Project Manager at HC3, to ask her about the impact that her recent Scrum Master and Product Owner training has made in her professional life.

HC3 is a data-driven tech company delivering customer communications for their clients. By managing complex data generated from multiple client systems, they help financial service organizations communicate with their customers in meaningful ways. HC3 offers focused solutions for statement and notice redesign, intelligent marketing campaigns, and seamless delivery of both print and digital communications. Through these solutions, HC3 empowers financial service organizations to give their customers a fully customizable document experience.

You can find out more about her company, HC3, right here.

Since this was a short interview format, I’ll just list the questions along with her responses below!

Q: How has the Scrum Master and Product Owner training changed the mindset with which you approach your business?

As a team, our Project Management team has adopted a more fluid perspective on how we handle implementations. Our improved mindset allows us to more easily adapt and grow with challenges that come our way.

Q: Have you incorporated any of the training into your workflow yet?

One of the most important pieces of training that we have incorporated into our workflow is the feedback loop.

Constantly sharing ideas between other departments and getting feedback from our clients has enabled us to deepen our understanding of other departments to create a better experience for our clients.

Q: Have you seen any immediate benefits to bringing these thought processes into your business?

Our digital solution HC3 offers our clients is constantly evolving and improving, so the implementation process is constantly evolving and improving at the same time.

We have been able to refine the process and tool more rapidly than ever before by including a constant internal and external feedback loop.

Q: Do you think LSM/LSPO training would be helpful for other startups?

This training did a great job of building the foundation for working in the Scrum world. It would be extremely beneficial for a startup because it is easier to get everyone’s commitment to building a new process instead of changing an existing one.

Q: Would it be an added benefit for all members of a team to have this training (so that everyone understands it and are on the same page)?

We were fortunate enough to have members of our project management team, as well as the manager of the development team, participate in the training. Having everyone together to think about how we could apply this knowledge in our work environment and bounce ideas off each other during the course was invaluable.

If you are interested in learning more about our LSM (Scrum Master) and LSPO (Product Owner) training classes then head over to our class page to get the details. Currently, those living near Birmingham, AL might even be eligible for a full scholarship to attend!

Student Spotlight: Ethan Summers of Fledging!

We recently caught up with Ethan Summers, Commercial Operations Lead with Fledging, to ask him about the impact that his recent Scrum Master and Product Owner training has made in his professional life.

Fledging is part of Birmingham, AL’s rapidly growing tech startup community and they are doing some awesome things with product design and release in the portable SSD space. If you have a need for fast, secure, portable, and stylish storage, check them out here.

Since this was a short interview format, I’ll just list the questions along with his responses below!

Q: How has the Scrum Master and Product Owner training changed the mindset with which you approach your business?

We’re building into everything. We’re a startup in an industry full of tech titans with huge bank accounts, so all we really have is our creativity and agility. Scrum is helping be a lot more nimble. One major way is our Product process. We’ve rebuilt how we evaluate product concepts so that we get to “Yes” or “No” faster and in a validated way. 

Q: Have you incorporated any of the training into your workflow yet?

We’re right in the middle of that right now. The Product example above is one good example. But we’re trying to use it for everything. We don’t see any domain as off limits, even the “perpetual work” domains like our Production team, because they can run process improvement sprints or even decide to treat a whole month, with all its Production demands, as a kind of sprint. We’ve also started using concepts like the Daily Roundup right away. 

Q: Have you seen any immediate benefits to bringing these thought processes into your business?

We have! The Daily Roundup came at the perfect time during the quarantine. It would be really easy to lose touch with each other. Instead, we implemented Daily Roundups and now we all touch base at the beginning and end of each day to discuss what we’re working on, expected roadblocks, and so on. Our team’s reporting a lot of satisfaction both personally and professionally with this process.

Q: Do you think LSM/LSPO training would be helpful for other startups?

As long as they’re not a competitor, absolutely! But it would be a terrible waste of time for our competitors. 

Q: Would it be an added benefit for all members of a team to have this training (so that everyone understands it and are on the same page)?

Yes, I think so. Our CEO already has the training. Our CSO and I went through the same class. We have a Software Engineer going through it right now and our Head of Operations goes in May. Frankly, I think everyone on our team should do it. 

If you are interested in learning more about our LSM (Scrum Master) and LSPO (Product Owner) training classes then head over to our class page to get the details. Currently, those living near Birmingham, AL might even be eligible for a full scholarship to attend!