Meet Karinna Briseno, a Technical Advocate at Buffer who redefines success by balancing private progress, psychological well being, and profession accomplishments.
With a four-day workweek, she proves you possibly can have thrilling roles, a digital nomad life-style, and even time for off-the-grid hobbies. Dive into Karinna’s distinctive journey at Buffer.
Thanks for becoming a member of me for Buffer Diaries, Karinna. For those who may please introduce your self along with your identify, what you do at Buffer, and the place you’re at the moment situated.
Aloha! My identify is Karinna Briseno and I work throughout the Buyer Expertise Workforce on the Buyer Advocacy crew. I work intently with product, engineering, and advocacy groups to assist enhance the general expertise for patrons utilizing our platform. I at the moment reside in California, and I‘m from Hawaii.
When and the way did you get began working at Buffer?
I have been at Buffer for seven years, and it began again in 2016 once I was in faculty working part-time as a social media supervisor. I used Buffer to handle my shoppers’ social media, and at some point, I stumbled upon the hiring web page whereas searching the weblog.
Intrigued by their work tradition, I utilized for a Buyer Advocate position simply after graduating. The interview course of was pleasant, and I had conversations with a number of pretty Buffer teammates. Quick-forward seven years later, I am nonetheless fortunately working right here!
What did you research in faculty, and what has saved you at Buffer for seven years?
I studied enterprise and advertising in faculty. I’ve stayed with Buffer for a number of causes over time, one in every of which is the chance to develop and evolve with the corporate.
I began exploring coding and engineering about three years in the past, and Buffer has been extremely supportive. They even paid for my engineering boot camps. With the ability to apply these expertise instantly in my position and positively impression our prospects has been actually rewarding. The help I’ve obtained, particularly as a girl getting into the engineering subject, has made my expertise at Buffer really distinctive.
How has your position at Buffer developed over time? Have you ever moved between departments like a few of your colleagues?
My position has developed over time. Initially, I used to be employed as a Happiness Hero, however the title modified to Buyer Advocate about three or 4 years in the past. I’ve additionally been a part of varied sub-teams throughout the Advocacy division, together with dwell chat and social.
Extra not too long ago, I shifted to the Escalations crew, which grew to become a proper sub-team about two years in the past, and my position title modified to Technical Advocate. We work on tickets within the inbox, prioritizing software program bugs, coordinating with product and engineering, and mentoring different buyer advocates.
About six months in the past, my crew developed into the Buyer Expertise crew, the place our sole focus is working intently with the Product, Engineering, Design, and Advocacy groups to enhance the general expertise for Buffer’s prospects. It is all the time participating, and I get to work alongside some sensible colleagues and advocate for our unbelievable prospects, which is why I adore it.
What particularly made Buffer a beautiful place to work whenever you had been making use of, contemplating you used the app to handle your social media?
What really stood out to me had been Buffer’s values. Through the years, they’ve developed as the corporate and its folks have grown. The principle attraction was not simply the cool app but in addition the chance to work with a crew making an actual impression and doing one thing particular.
Our price of “Residing Smarter, Not More durable” actually resonated with me because it impressed me to “select to be on the single place on Every the place you’re the happiest, and most efficient, and also you’re not afraid to search out out the place that’s.” Working at Buffer has made me higher by embracing and actively working in the direction of these values.
Apart out of your work at Buffer, do you’ve gotten any aspect initiatives, or how do you spend your days off?
I deliberately keep away from on-line aspect initiatives to keep up a wholesome work-life steadiness and honor the 40-hour workweek. I get pleasure from spending time outdoor, going to the seashore, and hanging out with my household/mates and canine on my days off.
Having grown up across the ocean, I get pleasure from spending my weekends within the water, paddleboarding, browsing, snorkeling, or scuba diving. I really like participating in off-the-grid actions that preserve me away from my telephone and permit me to get pleasure from my hobbies. I’ve additionally began coaching to grow to be a Pilates teacher as a interest.
How has working at Buffer, with its four-day workweek, distant work, and versatile hours, contributed to your life-style as a digital nomad or traveler?
Working at Buffer has really been life-changing. The four-day workweek permits me to relaxation, recharge, and spend extra time with my household and family members. It offers an even bigger house outdoors of labor to have a satisfying life.
Distant work has given me the flexibleness to form my life round my core values and what’s vital to me on the time. Primarily based on my priorities, I’ve had the chance to plan strikes to completely different locations, like Portugal, Hawaii, and California. Earlier than COVID-19, I deliberate to maneuver to Portugal within the spring of 2020. However, because the pandemic developed, I felt it was vital to maneuver nearer to my household, so I packed up my canine and me and moved again to Hawaii.
Distant work permits us to select our areas based mostly on our values (household, mates, or companions) and wishes, a privilege I do not take without any consideration. There are completely different seasons to distant work, however it basically presents the liberty to journey as a digital nomad or transfer nearer to household, mates, or a associate. In a phrase, it is life-changing, because it permits us to decide on our location based mostly on what really issues to us. With distant working, we are able to decide our areas based mostly on “this AND that” somewhat than “this OR that.”
It is fascinating the way you select areas based mostly on values. Are you able to record the nations you have labored from or visited whereas at Buffer?
Certain, some locations I’ve labored from embody Madrid, Spain; Singapore; Portugal; Italy, the place I spent a month working in Rome; Hawaii, the place I lived the previous couple of years; California; and New York.
Final 12 months, I used to be additionally working from Greece for an advocacy crew meetup, which coincided with my thirtieth birthday. These are the principle ones that come to thoughts, however there could also be extra.
How do you construction your workday and week at Buffer, together with your hours and timezone?
My work schedule has developed over time. Final 12 months, I had a novel four-day workweek, taking Mondays off and dealing from Tuesday to Friday. This 12 months, I modified my work schedule, and I work Monday- Thursday, utilizing Friday as an additional “overflow” day. I sometimes begin at 9 am Pacific time and finish round 6 pm. As a part of a small Escalations crew inside Advocacy, now we have to be conscious of our protection and challenge time.
I often allocate about 4 hours per week for engineering duties and initiatives, largely in the direction of the beginning of the week. Tuesdays are meeting-heavy, whereas I give attention to engineering or inbox time on Wednesdays. Thursdays, I primarily work on inbox duties and protection. It is busy however plenty of enjoyable.
As a technical advocate, how has your position modified over time in comparison with whenever you had been a buyer advocate, and are there any particular concerns in your present place?
As a technical advocate, our focus is two-fold: serving to prospects guarantee they’ve an awesome expertise and likewise offering mentorship and help for Buyer Advocates on the crew.
We work one-on-one with prospects on trickier technical points, troubleshooting, documenting steps, creating bug stories, and serving to prioritize high-impact bugs for upcoming Engineering cycles. We additionally work one-on-one with Advocates, clarifying any confusion and making certain they’ve the mandatory assets to really feel assured dealing with particular points.
As Tech Advocates, we deal with extra high quality assurance initiatives, testing new options previous to launches to make sure a clean expertise for patrons. There is a larger sense of duty, scope, and possession in my present position in comparison with once I was a buyer advocate.
Have you ever encountered any distinctive challenges in your position, significantly as a technical advocate working inside a smaller crew and a four-day workweek?
The largest problem I face is maximizing my time. Having nice concepts is one factor, however managing the time and assets to deliver them to fruition, particularly inside a four-day workweek and a smaller crew, can generally be difficult. We have to be conscious of after we step away and give attention to particular duties.
I am basically pursuing a full-time profession inside a restricted variety of hours every week, which requires dedication and the flexibility to make a big impression inside that point. It is a distinctive problem I’m grateful for, because it permits me to develop and proceed difficult myself.
Having somebody like Mick, an engineer who was initially a buyer advocate and went by way of an identical course of, serves as a task mannequin and reveals that it’s potential to realize progress on this means, regardless that it won’t be the best path.
Wanting again on seven years, what was one thing that caught you off guard whenever you first began at Buffer?
The transparency at Buffer undoubtedly caught me off guard to start with. I needed to get used to working for an organization the place anybody may simply discover details about it, like salaries, for example. It took a while to regulate to being extra open about my wage with my family and friends.
After the primary 12 months, I grew to become extra snug with this degree of transparency, and now, if somebody asks me about my wage, it isn’t a query that catches me off guard.
What’s your strongest earliest reminiscence of Buffer?
My strongest early reminiscence of Buffer was my first retreat in Madrid. It is contemporary in my thoughts as a result of I not too long ago discovered a video from that point. There have been round 80 folks, and we had been working on the Google campus in Madrid. I bear in mind the crew dinner, the camaraderie, and the sensation of being in the identical room with individuals who had been beforehand simply in a bit of field on my display screen.
One in all my favourite reminiscences was going to a karaoke bar after the crew dinner. We crowded the small bar, and the entire crew sang karaoke collectively. These are a few of my fondest reminiscences at Buffer – not solely working with superb teammates but in addition sharing experiences and feeling like we have identified one another for a very long time.
On the Madrid retreat, I used to be initially nervous about having to be extroverted on a regular basis, as I’m each introverted and extroverted (an ambivert). Nevertheless, I realized it is okay to step away and recharge my batteries, and the crew understood and welcomed that want.
Some folks imagine that it’s important to sacrifice one facet of your life, resembling your private life, to realize success in one other, resembling your profession. Given that you’ve a four-day workweek at Buffer and time for actions outdoors of labor, would you say that you’ve got achieved skilled success with out making important sacrifices, regardless that some imagine success requires a extra demanding schedule?
I imagine the way in which folks outline success can change over time. My definition of success has developed over time. Once I was youthful, I believed success was decided by cash, hustling, my profession title, {and professional} accomplishments. As I’ve grown older, I’ve come to know that true success in life encompasses private progress, relationships, and prioritizing my psychological well being as effectively.
I really feel that I’ve achieved a degree of success in my present state of affairs, however I do know there’s nonetheless extra room for progress. My notion of success has modified, particularly after taking a seven-week sabbatical earlier this 12 months. I used to be burnt out and realized I wanted to take a position extra power into different areas of my life.
The four-day workweek has helped me discover a higher steadiness between my private {and professional} lives, and I imagine it is potential to realize skilled success with out sacrificing one’s private life.
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