Interactive Musical Education App

Melodics

_Working in and around music and creative people was the ultimate career goal for Laila Ben-Brahim, Social Media Specialist and Melodics. With that in mind, it looks and sounds like she has found her dream environment._

_We caught up with Laila to learn more about her career journey into working for a tech company, which included enduring the common struggles as a freelancer. She shares some insight into how she changed tact and ultimately found her way into Melodics, as well as some great career advice for anyone else early in their own journey. Thanks for sharing your story, Laila._ 

> “I make sure that the company has pictures and videos on the internet” 

**Firstly, how would you explain to a five-year-old what it is you do?**

I make sure that the company has pictures and videos on the internet (like Facebook), that tell a story about who we are, what we do, and how. 

**And for the adults, what does that translate to in regards to your day-to-day?**

I apply marketing based thinking and strategy to help create and administer content suited to all relevant social media platforms for the company. 

The purpose of my role is to build an audience, educate people about our product and company, and drive them to the product. 

Monitoring site metrics, design, and human engagement with our followers and readers are also crucial aspects of being successful in the role. 

**What are some of the common misconceptions about working as a Social Media Specialist**

That it doesn’t involve strategic or in-depth thinking because it is commonly judged for its mechanical duties (posting). That social media is solely Facebook or Instagram. Managing multiple social media accounts has a lot of moving parts and it is often seen as quite linear. 

> “Working in or around music or creative people was my ultimate goal...” 

**Was working in tech something you dreamed about doing as a kid, if not what was?**

Working in a tech company was something that I had never even thought about as a kid. Working in or around music or creative people was my ultimate goal and I’ve found that being part of a tech company has been a really nice and welcomed surprise. 

Being in the music and tech world means you’re challenged in the best ways and working with great people who combine a diverse range of skills.   
  
**Tell us a little bit more about your career journey and ultimately about how you ended up working at Melodics?** 

I have played music since I was very young and loved it so much that I continued studying and practicing music after high school. 

I tried my best to search for creative roles and found the precarious nature of ‘gig’ life or ‘project-based’ payment wasn’t providing me with enough security to live comfortably. 

I went back to uni to study communications which is also something I’m really enthused about and had since been working in various comms-based roles.   
  
Office life had become incredibly pressing on my passions and identity. I was overworked, underappreciated, and not satisfied with my day-to-day role. 

I saw the ad for Melodics which sat well with my communications background and when I researched more about Melodics, I saw an opportunity to combine my two worlds with a company that truly values its people. 

I’m so thankful that I was given the opportunity to work here and my journey served as a reminder to keep on going and never give up hope!

> “I work in a role that makes me excited about work and for a company that values my identity.” 

**What is the best piece of career advice you have ever received?** 

I come from an immigrant family, raised beneath the poverty line and where no one completed any higher education. My pathway was systemically laid out for me and statistically speaking, my chances of breaking that cycle were slim. 

Not only have I been incredibly fortunate to study and work in jobs that my parents struggle to understand, I feel like I've made it, scored a try. 

Furthermore, not only have a great job and career path, I work in a role that makes me excited about work and for a company that values my identity. 

It’s a cliche, but don’t give up! A moment can fool you into thinking it’s forever but it truly isn’t. Keep going and trekking to your true north. 

**What do you love about working at Melodics?**

Melodics is the first company I’ve worked for that stand true to and live out their values every single day. 

Everyone is considered an equal, and each individual is valued for who they are inside of work, outside of work, and what they bring to work. 

If most companies are a skyscraper where people are separated on different levels for various reasons, and each level has its own functions and limitations, then Melodics is like a horizon.

It's where everyone is on the same page and path, but each person contributes a different natural element that all comes together to make an incredible view. (couldn’t help the metaphor!)

**Lastly, Melodics continues to grow and evolve, what are the key traits and characteristics of people that will be well placed to work there?**

Melodics is filled with talented and open-minded people. I do think we’re a bit heavy on the introverted side and perhaps some more extroverted personalities would balance the room traits. 

Laila Ben-Brahim, Social Media Specialist at Melodics Ltd

_Wanting to "do music" from a young age has really turned out for Aria Jones, Product Delivery Manager at Melodics._

_After studying music and social research, Aria set-off overseas to find a research based job, however after realising that roles in the field she was most interested in were few and far between, she eventually found her way into the tech industry and has not looked back._

_We caught up with Aria to learn more about her career journey into product management, what her role entails in the context of a fast-growing Kiwi MusicTech company and why she is loving her time at Melodics. Thanks for sharing your story, Aria._

> “I solve puzzles! I help to build computer programs and I help people learn to play music.” 

**Firstly, how would you explain to a five year old what it is you do?**

I solve puzzles! I help to build computer programs and I help people learn to play music. 

**And for the adults, what does that translate to in regards to your day-to-day?**

Listen; absorb; question; ideate; translate; record; repeat :|| 

Then facilitate the plan and help drive delivery.

As the Product Delivery Manager at Melodics I work to unearth and refine the many, diverse idea nuggets we have, across the company.

My role is about collecting, collating, and translating the details of an idea so that we can prioritise and plan the different pieces of work involved, in order to realise our goals.

A special sauce that I bring to the table is my desire to represent the needs of the Customer (or Musician). When it comes to software development, it can be easy to get bogged down in the technical details.

Staying in tune with our Melodics Players’ experience and weaving those insights into each mission we embark upon is the key to success.

**What are some of the common misconceptions about working in Product Management?**

People often have a confused, blank look on their face when I say that I am a Product Manager. The job title itself, as it relates to the tech industry, isn’t very widely known as far as I can tell.

It seems like originally the term belonged to the realm of ‘commercial business products’ and was simply borrowed over to apply to ‘software products’. 

I think the main thing that trips people up is the word manager or management. It can tend to imply that you are some major-league, shot-caller.

Leadership is an important facet of the job, but it’s vital that you understand your leadership style and how this plays out in the dynamic of the team.

Unilateral decision-making is not the name of this game. Good product management is about using data and insights, to make informed decisions with buy-in from the dev team and wider company stakeholders.

> “My main dream as a kid was to do music, so in that sense I have hit the jackpot.” 

**Was working in tech something you dreamed about doing as a kid, if not what was?**

Not at all. I have always had a penchant for problem-solving though. My main dream as a kid was to do music, so in that sense I have hit the jackpot.

**Tell us a little bit more about your career journey and ultimately about how you ended up working at Melodics?** 

After completing my music degree and my social research post-grad, I moved over to live in Australia. I was keen to find work as a researcher but quickly realised research jobs in the social policy, advocacy, or service evaluation spaces were rare as hens’ teeth. 

So I took a comfortable, day job as an Accounts Officer in the Finance department at a local shipping company, Monson Agencies, in Fremantle. 

I ended up satisfying my research itch with a three month sabbatical, volunteer internship at a legal advocacy centre, GRACE, in Houston, Texas. 

It was when I returned from this trip that my career path took a turn towards Tech. The shipping company was embarking on a massive data migration and software development project and I was nominated to be project lead.

From then on, I dove head first into cloud based, SaaS development and web programming. 

I learnt Java Script on the fly, drew up flow charts to understand how APIs worked, and conducted my first usability tests with users. This was an amazing spring-boarding experience which changed the course of my future. 

In 2014, I decided to move to Berlin to experience living and working in Europe. I managed to land a role as a Junior Technical Product Owner at the well-known, language-learning Startup, Babbel. 

A whole new world opened up; Agile training and Scrum methodologies were my new ideology. 

I was furiously writing on post-it notes, playing ping-pong and füssball with the engineers at lunchtime, learning to code Ruby on Rails in the evening and heading to Berghain on the weekend. After this first stint as a Product Owner I decided to branch out as a contractor. 

I started to explore the world of User Experience Research and Design, including running some projects for a pioneer, music-technology company (Ableton) and building basic, java-script, front-end for web applications.

Upon returning home to Aotearoa, I reached out to Melodics and expressed interest in their product. 

I worked as a User Researcher contractor for about a year during which I realised - there is something exciting going on here! I let them know that I wanted to get more involved, and the rest is history!

> “Know yourself and what inspires you. Meaningful work is rewarding work.” 

**What is the best piece of career advice you have ever received?** 

When choosing a career: Know yourself and what inspires you. Meaningful work is rewarding work.

When you’re going for a position: Back yourself! Know your strengths and how to market yourself. And be persistent - in every failure, there is at least one lesson.

When you’re in a new role: Know your worth but at the same time, be courageous to acknowledge when you don’t know something and ask questions. It doesn’t mean you’re bad at your job, it just means you’re curious and willing to learn!

**What do you love about working at Melodics?**

The beautiful synergy of music, learning, innovation and empathy.  
  
**Lastly, Melodics continues to grow and evolve, what are the key traits and characteristics of people that will be well placed to work there?**

People that are:

* passionate about music learning
* ambitious
* ethically conscious

Aria Jones, Product Delivery Manager at Melodics

_A last minute change of heart, saw Vanessa Radich, People and Culture Director at Melodics pivot from the dream of becoming a doctor to studying psychology._

_We caught up with Vanessa to learn more about her journey into tech as well as why she loves working at Melodics. With a track record of helping to build businesses that have since been acquired, Melodics is worth keeping a close eye on! Thanks for sharing your story, Vanessa._

> “I help people bring their whole selves to work, and feel happy in their jobs.” 

**Firstly, how would you explain to a five year old what it is you do?**

This is a tough one! I help people bring their whole selves to work, and feel happy in their jobs. 

**And for the adults, what does that translate to in regards to your day-to-day?**

People & Culture is all about creating people-centric practices, rituals and processes, and embedding those into the day-to-day life of an organisation. 

For example, things like how do we communicate internally, how do we think about performance, growth and development, what are our recruitment practices, what is our process around reviewing remuneration - the list goes on! 

I see it as my role to design and implement those practices, make sure they’re fair and equitable, and adapt them as the organisation grows. I also see it as my role to equip leaders with the right tools to lead successfully. 

**What are some of the common misconceptions about working in People & Culture.**

I see a lot of people in the People & Culture space whose primary role is to organise shared lunches and dress up days. 

No shade to either of those things, but I don’t believe that those types of activities have a true and long-lasting impact on your employees’ engagement, their tenure with your organisation, and the type of impact that they’ll have. 

They’re the icing on the cake, rather than the cake itself. 

> “... I actually thought I was going to be a doctor!” 

**Was working in tech something you dreamed about doing as a kid, if not what was?**

Definitely not! Like our CEO, Sam, I actually thought I was going to be a doctor! I did pretty well at school and I thought that being a doctor would make my parents the most proud. 

I was all ready to start my Bachelor of Health Science and had a moment of panic at the last second. I realised that I didn’t want to spend half my life studying, so I wiped the slate clean and ended up with a psychology degree.

**Tell us a little bit more about your career journey and ultimately about how you ended up working at Melodics?** 

I started out working in tech recruitment, which landed me a role at Vend in the People & Culture team. 

I spent just under four epic years there and finished up as the Global People Operations Manager - I looked after recruitment, our employee equity scheme, our remuneration review process, all employment relations issues globally, and many other things! 

It was a busy role. Working at Vend was a life-changing experience for me, I felt like I was playing on an All-Star basketball team as everyone there was an absolute pro at what they did. 

We were truly working on a global scale, from in NZ. I learned so much. So many great friends, great memories, and I met my now-husband during my time there!

After my time at Vend I joined Timely as their first P&C hire - I was their People Experience Lead. 

It was a time of scale for them (going from 45 to 80 people) and such an exciting journey to be a part of, and awesome to gain experience working in a remote-first organisation. 

It was an inspiration and a pleasure to work for Ryan Baker (Timely co-founder and CEO) on what his vision for People & Culture was at Timely.

Once I left Timely I met Sam Gribben, CEO and founder of Melodics. I started out doing some contracting work on P&C projects as the team was still really small, but Sam was dedicated to building a great place to work and wanted to bring in my expertise early.

 Now the team is almost 35 people!

> “Take ownership of your own career journey, and follow what you’re most passionate about.” 

**What is the best piece of career advice you have ever received?** 

Take ownership of your own career journey, and follow what you’re most passionate about. Letting someone else dictate your journey is one of the fastest ways to end up in a place of unhappiness.

**What do you love about working at Melodics?**

Sam Gribben is a great boss. He truly wants what’s best for our people, and pushes me to think outside the box on People & Culture initiatives. 

Being a music tech company, many of the team are very skilled musicians! I find it inspiring to be around such creative people. We all have really different backgrounds, and when the team gets together for a show & tell session it always blows my mind.

**Lastly, Melodics continues to grow and evolve, what are the key traits and characteristics of people that will be well placed to work there?**

We’re at an interesting intersection - moving from 30-ish people to hopefully around 50 within the next 12 months. 

Generally speaking - we’re a bunch of positive people who really enjoy collaborating with each other, we value experimentation and trying new things, and love music / design-thinking / adaptive learning / education. 

If that sounds like you, please keep an eye on our careers page! 

Melodics

Interactive Musical Education App

Values

Everyone can play

Mondays are cool

Our own drum

Company stories

Laila Ben-Brahim, Social Media Specialist at Melodics Ltd

Aria Jones, Product Delivery Manager at Melodics

Vanessa Radich, People & Culture Director at Melodics

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