Our 'Humans of Wise-Sync' are the super-skilled and passionate ninjas behind the scenes, the warriors that champion to put our customers above and beyond, to enable one seamless sync after the next - the A1 team that makes the dream work. Next up, meet our Quality Assurance Tester, Jess!
Q: Can you tell us a little bit about your journey with Wise-Sync, and how this has been for you?
Jess: I'm just shy of my three-year anniversary with Wise-Sync. I started off in Operations, before progressing into a testing role almost one year later -
At the time, I didn't have senior experience in testing but I thought I'd give it a go, and I ended up really enjoying it - it's definitely my passion now, and it's what I want to do from hereon.
Q: Why is product testing your passion? What do you enjoy most about your role?
Jess: It's different every day, you're always doing something different. I like that it's quite hands-on, and that I'm trusted to be autonomous within my role. In the beginning, I built our test framework from scratch. It's experiences like these, where I've been able to really challenge myself and figure things out - and that personally feels very rewarding.
Q: Incredible, and what's it like being part of the product and engineering team?
Jess: We're very collaborative! Throughout the entire process, we're collaborating and working together, so I never get a new feature that we haven't discussed or worked on together before - that's one of the many things that I do love, and to also be able to reach out to anyone in the team. Everyone's so helpful!
Q: What do you love most about working at Wise-Sync?
Jess: The team, I love the team. I love that I am trusted, and everyone's voice is valued. Everyone's treated fairly and given a voice with equal opportunities, and there are so many opportunities to grow and learn within Wise-Sync. We definitely have a very talented team.
Q: Having started with the team almost three years ago, how would you explain the company's growth from then until now?
Jess: When I first started with Wise-Sync, it was basically Ted, he was the only developer at the time, Sim, our former Product Lead, and a small-knit team of consultants - I solely worked in our head office during most of this time. Now, it's pretty amazing to see how much we've grown with a solid team worldwide! And especially the culture, to see it develop into what it is now... has just been incredible to see, we've definitely become like a family.
Q: What has been one of the most challenging parts of your role at Wise-Sync?
Jess: I'd say even up to this present moment, being an integrated solution definitely has its challenges. Sometimes there are extenuating circumstances, for example, if one of our partners makes a product update, that can consequentially affect our product - so managing those issues by way of quickly returning our customers to a seamless experience, can sometimes be the most challenging as we work hard to resolve these issues as efficiently and quickly as possible.
Q: From a product perspective, how have you witnessed Wise-Sync and Wise-Pay grow in the time that you've been with the company?
Jess: At the start, we found ourselves playing catch-up with a lot of the things that ConnectWise, Xero, and QBO were doing. We weren't really able to work on the bigger features that we really wanted to. So, everything was just putting out fires but now...
We've been able to actually work on some new exciting (and huge) features, like our whole New Payment Experience (NPE) with Wise-Pay, which is super exciting to see launched! And of course, our latest Real-Time Sync (RTS) - that's been an industry gamechanger.
Q: What does it mean to you to be able to work on upcoming features and to be apart of this growth - what's this process like for you?
Jess: I love that part of my role, is that I do get to be apart of it from the start. I'm able to offer my input into what I think a lot of the product requirements will be from a quality perspective, and then seeing that, and being part of that process from the start until the end, is probably the most exciting part! I never see a feature that doesn't meet what we need because I know I've been apart of a collaborative process from its inception, where everyone on our team's onboard; the developers, Justine, our Product Owner, and JT, our Product & Engineering Lead - we all work interdependently throughout the entire process.
Q: What do you hope to see over the next few years within Wise-Sync and Wise-Pay?
Jess: To definitely see the product grow, including a new UI, hopefully more payer focus which is really exciting (we're talking a lot more about the payer).
Q: What does it mean now that we're making these enhancements to really put the payer at the centre of everything that we do? How do you see that helping the future of Wise-Pay?
Jess: We need to make sure that we're focusing on the payer so that we can grow by way of becoming one of the leading providers on the market. There's a lot of opportunity in this area for us to improve the payer experience...
By making these enhancements, we're able to serve the needs of a much broader market.
Q: If you could have dinner with one person in the world, who would you pick and why?
Jess: I'd love to have dinner with Lisa Crispin, she's one of the testing advocates that I really look up to. I'd love to really pick her brain, I actually hope to have a tester podcast in a few years' time when I am more experienced, so I'd love to just get into that community more, and I think she'd be a great mentor.
Q: Amazing, where do you see yourself in five years' time?
Jess: Hopefully with a podcast, and I definitely see myself still being in Quality Assurance and Testing - I hope to be more of a mentor and a testing advocate further down the line - that's one of my long-term goals. At the moment, I'm building my skills, learning, training, just trying to absorb everything and upskill as best I can.
Q: Are there any books that you'd recommend that have personally helped you in your role?
Jess: Yes, there's a great book called 'Agile Testing' by Lisa Crispin, which is one that I still make reference to.
Q: What does being a ninja mean to you?
Jess: It's following our values, #BECIO (Believe, Engage, Collaborate, Innovate, and Own It), being innovative, owning your work, and being in it for the hard yards. The rewards pay off, and it's great to be part of a team where everyone is working just as hard as each other.
Q: Does working within the EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) framework help you to live up to these values?
Jess: Yes, definitely, especially through IDS-ing (Identify, Discuss, Solve); there are always so many issues in teams and that's a great way to discuss issues rather than just putting them aside and waiting for something bigger to happen. Instead, we're able to discuss issues as soon as they come up - that's probably the best part about it. Also, having your rocks that you're always working on and trying to prioritise so that we're always moving forward.
Q: Are you binge watching any shows at the moment that you'd recommend?
Jess: I just finished binge watching It's a Sin, which I would highly recommend. It's only five episodes long, it's easy to watch, the messaging's very powerful and the fashion's amazing!
Q: Finally, if someone told you that you could only watch one movie for the rest of your life - what would it be, and why?
Jess: That's a hard one, but I'd say Moana because I've watched it so many times and it's one of the only movies that I feel like I can re-watch and it doesn't get old - it's such a beautiful movie.