Samantha Colby is HRchitect’s Director of Marketing. Get to know Samantha, her all-time favorite restaurant, and her favorite HRchitect employee perk in this month’s HRchitect spotlight.
Hometown: Whitman, Massachusetts
Alma mater: Southern New Hampshire University
All-time favorite restaurant: Tough question! If I had to pick, I’d say the Yard House, local to the Boston area.
Last book you read: Deep Work by Cal Newport was the most recent non-fiction book I read. The last fiction book I read was Janet Evanovich’s Twisted Twenty-Six, which is part of a series that always makes me laugh out loud.
Favorite vacation destination: Thailand! The country has bustling cities, mountains and jungles, and gorgeous beaches.
What do you like to do when you’re not working? I’m a bookworm, so you can usually find me engrossed in a good read when I’m not working. I also love to travel and explore the outdoors too.
In your own words, what do you do at HRchitect? I oversee the team responsible for all of HRchitect’s marketing – everything from content development, events, digital marketing, demand generation to partner marketing, corporate brand identity, sales support, and more. I’m also involved in HRchitect’s strategic alliances organization.
What did your career path look like before joining HRchitect? My background spans both Human Resources and Marketing. Before joining HRchitect, I was working in marketing in the higher education space, in a role that I loved, but growth was limited. My boss at the time knew that I was looking for a bigger challenge. She was familiar with HRchitect and sent me the job description for the Marketing Manager role that was open at the time. The position seemed like the perfect blend of human resources and marketing, so I jumped at the opportunity to join this fast-growing team.
What is a typical workday like for you?
With a role that spans a wide range of marketing functions, it’s safe to say that no two days are the same. In general, I start the morning by knocking out my most important project for the day. Usually, mid-morning to early afternoon is booked with meetings and calls both internally and with vendors and partners. In the afternoon and evening, I’m usually focused on a project of some sort, such as writing a case study on recent client successes or strategizing about marketing strategies to drive business in a particular consulting practice, or something along those lines.
As a 100% virtual organization, what tools or technologies have made the most significant difference for you and your marketing team?
I don’t know where my team would be without our project management tool called Monday.com! We have a lot going on at any given time, and this tool allows us to keep those projects on track and keep everyone updated. This also allows the team to work asynchronously, which is helpful since we’re spread across different time zones. As an organization, introducing Slack for internal asynchronous chat has moved us forward leaps and bounds in terms of strengthening our remote organizational culture.
Which employee benefit or perk that HRchitect offers do you enjoy the most, and why?
I really appreciate the unlimited PTO. It’s wonderful to be able to take the time you need when you need it. With unlimited PTO, all of that prioritization of time off requests that happens when you have a PTO bank to be mindful of is totally eliminated. You can take a ½ day to go to the doctor’s office and still take your family on a relaxing vacation – you never need to choose between them. Beyond being helpful for work/life balance, I feel that having unlimited PTO is a sign of trust from HRchitect’s leadership team and speaks to our excellent organizational culture.
Learn more about Samantha Colby