When you join a startup there are always huge unknowns: The culture, the expectations, the benefits, and so on, are not only unknown to you, usually they are unknown to even the founders—nothing has had enough time to simmer and establish yet. It’s a huge leap for everyone, and at some point if you want to reap the benefits, you just have to let go and trust.
For any company, it’s the leaders who set the tone and drive the direction, but it’s up to the employees to carry it through—everything from culture, to practices, to day-to-day decisions. So let’s take a peek into some of the great minds at Slice, and from there, you’ll see what kind of company Slice is, and why I love working with this team of people more than any other I’ve worked with.
Lorelei
Lorelei began her career as a developer then transitioned into business analysis where she progressed into project lead and project management roles. This is her first foray into the insurtech world, but she quickly came to know (or rather, build) every nook and cranny of the company. Her calm and assured management style reminds me of one of our founders — coincidentally, they first worked together more than 20 years ago.
Jack
Jack was Slice’s first employee, and he is definitely our #1! (Just kidding, we’re all #1, but still, he’s amazing.) After working as an IT consultant for over 20 years, and swearing he’d never be an employee, a lunch meeting at a noodle house with friend/former-colleague/founder threw all of his non-employee plans out the window. These days Jack is busy tackling many of our big ideas...thinking them through, pitching them internally, setting the course for new projects. We think of him as our lead scout—sussing out what’s going to stick, what isn’t worth pursuing, and what needs some more work to make it viable.
Wendy
Before Slice, Wendy worked for various insurance companies and applies her deep knowledge to our family of products. This is her first tech startup and she’s proven herself as someone who is always up for a challenge. She’s a ‘let’s keep going and figure it out’ type of person. I love working with Wendy because she's always a joy to chat with, and I usually learn a thing or two from her.
Vera
Vera was born in Russia, moved to Israel at the age of 8, finally landing in Ottawa via a quick stopover in England. Phew! Here at Slice, she's among a team of strong UX/UI designers and developers with big ideas and practices to create ace solutions as they build our products. She makes things look good and she tells us (politely) when they don’t.
These people are just a few of the passionate, dedicated, honest, empathetic professionals who are sincerely a pleasure to work with, problem solve with, laugh with, and yes occasionally cry with (startup life isn’t all roses and unicorns you know). While it’s true the Slice Team is spread across Canada, the US, and London, the culture, processes, and day-to-day operations work more smoothly than companies with more centralized headquarters. I think I can speak for my fellow colleagues when I say that not only am I am proud to be a part of Slice, but I wake up each day eager to start working. Why? Because I feel like I belong to something so innovative and exciting—something that hasn’t been done before. Each and every day is a learning and growing experience. It’s rewarding!
Here are some key points that keep us motivated to work harder than ever:
- Slice has our, and your, best interest at heart. The customer experience is at the forefront of every decision we make. We strive to create the exact insurance experience that we’d want for ourselves.
- Slice takes care of employees just like they take care of customers. Not only are we creating a different insurance experience, but we’re creating a different working experience too. Some unusually generous benefits include:
- 3 weeks vacation time: Everyone starts with this, but if you need more time, it’s not a problem. Plus, there are a ton of holidays, especially in Canada.
- Maternity Leave: In the US, maternity leave is a hot topic. I am proud to share that as I write this blog, I am 7 months pregnant and have 100% peace of mind about my job and benefits.
- Gotta still talk about maternity leave: When I told my Slice colleagues they couldn’t have made me feel better about it—lots of “Congratulations!” “You’re going to be a great mom!” “Whatever you need from us, just let us know.” And, the icing on the cake is that Slice provides paid maternity leave. That’s just unheard of here in the US, but boy am I happy I work at such a cool company.
- Tech forward: Many US employees work remotely so we use cool, fun, cutting edge technology and tools to communicate and collaborate and enable healthy work/life synergy. (Slack is the best, especially their daily advice!)
- Ego check: We all interact on the same level, egos are checked at the theoretical door. Hey, we’ve even been known to show up to Meetup events and drink beer with the attendees.
- Euro love: Across the border, in Ottawa, Canada, where they have funny pronunciations and spell lots of words like the Brits do (neighbour, behaviour, etc), we have our largest office. This group of Slicers has weekly team lunches, a standing weekly pub night, an open office work environment promoting cross disciplinary collaboration, and a trendy lounge space. The office is located along miles of bikeways and walkways on the shores of the Rideau River. There’s even an office bike. Okay, maybe I’m a bit jealous.
- Stateside we have a great NYC office setup, nestled on a tree shaded block lined with cafes and restaurants in the coveted Union Square neighborhood. A+ for walkability to some pretty cool spots.
Now, knowing what you know about Slice as a company, I encourage you to support what we hope you consider an important change in the insurance industry. We are a company that truly cares about those we serve and employ. In fact, we are a company that truly cares about making the world a better place by giving everyone who has the chutzpah to create a revenue stream from their existing assets the tools and means to succeed. To go out and do this on your own is admirable! You deserve the best and we want to give it to you!
Join us by following us on social media, chatting about us to your friends, especially those who may be in need of homeshare or rideshare coverage, or perhaps inquiring about joining our team. Thank you for your support and hit me back with any comments or questions.
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