Tracksuit

Senior Front-end Developer

Customer Success Specialist (Australia)

Insights Specialist

Survey Specialist

Customer Success Specialist (New Zealand)

Growth/Performance Marketer

Senior Data Engineer

Senior Full Stack Developer

Senior Back-end Developer

_A childhood love for the magic of making people think or feel something through words and pictures has naturally led Mikayla Hopkins, Customer and Marketing Lead at Tracksuit, to be passionate about coming to work each day._

_We caught up wtih Mikayla to learn more about her career jounrey in marketing and how that path led her to working for an exciting high-growth tech company._

_Mikayla had some really interesting thoughts on how businesses are losing sight of the value of brand marketing as the world chases short-term conversions._

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

Ha! Just the other day, I had an 80-year-old relative ask me what I did for work. 

It’s easy to throw the explanation into the “too hard basket”, but that’s not fair and not how I’d like to be treated at 5 or 85, so I’ve actually been practising this! 

I replied, “I help marketers build brands that people love and use beautiful technology to help them measure and manage this”. If it were a 5-year-old, I’d ask “what’s your favourite toy and why?”, then I’d explain, “my job is to help others find those answers and make more favourite toys”.   

>"My earliest memory of the marketing and advertising world was during my first job at 13 years old, delivering advertising pamphlets and the Property Press."

**And for the adults, what does a typical day-in-the-life look like?**

I help marketers build better brands. At Tracksuit, we’re super passionate about building a world where beautiful, imaginative and meaningful brand marketing is more commonplace than intrusive and irritating promotion. 

And we have the technology to help brands and marketers do this. I spread my day across the Customer and Marketing functions. There’s natural confluence across both, but my day-to-day involves:

- Working alongside awesome, kind and smart humans in the marketing and customer team (actually, the entire Tracksuit team!) to build a business, brand and product that marketers can’t live without!
- Acting as the customer's voice with our product team
- Exploring patterns in behaviour to build the ultimate customer experience/journey
- Coaching marketers on how to use brand tracking for success
- Championing the people behind the brand with a focus on building the #1 community for brand marketers
- Building the Tracksuit brand and positioning it for global growth 

>"I resonated with the magic of being able to make people think or feel something."

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

Not necessarily tech, but always marketing/brand/comms. My earliest memory of the marketing and advertising world was during my first job at 13 years old, delivering advertising pamphlets and the Property Press. 

I couldn’t care less about property, but I loved sitting down on a Friday night, cross-legged on my living room floor, flipping from pamphlet to pamphlet. I loved the colours, the language, the stories and headlines that made me linger. I’d get so lost in the pages because it felt like a two way communication. 

I resonated with the magic of being able to make people think or feel something. And that’s what a good brand can do. Tech lets you do that at scale (and in the most creative, smart and wonderful way). 

Now, I can’t ever imagine not being in tech. 

>"...one of the biggest challenges marketers face is this desperate shift to harvest limited demand with short-term sales activity."

**What are some of the most interesting challenges that you face in your role currently?** 

The business world has a low understanding of, confidence in and commitment to brand marketing. And so one of my biggest challenges is influencing behavioural change around this. 

At Tracksuit, we’re passionate about creating a world where the business community values brand marketing as a core driver of long-term commercial success. The proof is in the data. Companies with strong brands outperform those without, and yet, there’s this prevalent pushback of brand hesitancy!

I spoke about this recently at a Marketing Association event… one of the biggest challenges marketers face is this desperate shift to harvest limited demand with short-term sales activity, i.e. people are pulling everything from the brand and throwing everything into performance marketing. 

This "convert at all costs" mentality is skewing us too far into short-termism, devaluing our brands and creating major issues for long-term, sustainable growth.

And I get it. There are undeniable, irresistible pressures pulling marketers towards this short-term activity. 

We’ve had the luxury of it all being measurable with the likes of tools such as Google Analytics, it’s all immediate and acts as the backbone of communication to the higher-ups (who are often fueled by quarterly performance pressures), and these channels, such as Google/Facebook have given us access to a giant direct response advertising ecosystem. 
 
I’m not saying there’s no place for short term-marketing activation. It shouldn’t be a binary belief system of a this or that. I’m saying, just as Tom Roach shared in his now-famous 2020 Essay, The Wrong and Short of it, this Long versus Short is a false dichotomy. 

The truth is that marketers have two jobs: to harvest the demand in the market in the short term with conversion activity. And to build future demand for the brand among people who aren’t ready to buy just yet, but who will enter the market later. 

We need to understand that both of these jobs are equally important for sustainable growth - this is the behaviour change needed. 

When we have CMO’s and Brand Managers who leave their roles after 2 - 3 years (and top-down pressure to show immediate results), the appeal to drive commitment to long-term brand building isn’t where it needs to be. This is one of my greatest challenges, but one I’m super excited by!

**Tell us a little bit more about your career pathway and, ultimately, how you got into your current role Tracksuit?**

Growing up, I enjoyed Business and English (language, communications, creativity etc), moving on to complete a BCom degree. Simultaneously, I worked for Heineken and saw first-hand how their brand was so much more than that little green bottle. 

It was a well-oiled marketing machine that made that green bottle the world’s most valuable international beer brand and a symbol of success right across the world. 

I loved my time there, but I wanted to take that next step in my career with a growing brand over which I could have greater autonomy. 

I’m a big believer that the best marketing happens when the marketer is also a consumer. University had finished, and drinking and beer had become less of a priority - Heineken’s generous staff credits (beer) started to stack up! 

So, from beer to beauty, I took a step into a growing category; luxury cosmedicine and skin care at NZ’s premium centre for innovation and excellence, The Face Place. Our CEO Dr Catherine Stone, was a global pioneer in the industry and taught me a lot. 

Over 6 years I worked my way into the CMO role and was able to work with an incredible marketing team to build a world-class brand.

I then dipped my toe in the startup world, building my business, Her Career. This was a digital platform for women to grow their career, money and network across APAC. 

We (Rosey Marie Nathan, my business partner, mentor and hero) did this through 1:1 mentorship where we paired the best senior leaders with aspiring intrapreneurs (people wanting to work their way up within an organisation), a thriving online community, digital events, content and experiences. 

Brand was fundamental to the success of each of these companies. And yet, like many marketers, I still relied on gut-feel and outdated data points to understand the impact of brand building.

Until one day, in June last year I was demoed Tracksuit. It was beautiful, always on and affordable brand tracking - it was unlike anything I had ever seen. 

I joined as their Marketing and Customer Lead and get to work with the best marketers and the best brands across the world (and incredible leaders within the Tracksuit team + wider network). 


>"It’s also particularly exciting marketing a product that I use, believe in and know will shape the global language for brand health."

**What do you love about your role and why should others consider the career path?**

One of my favourite things about working at a startup is about getting to work in high-impact roles so close to the end customer. The other, is the nature of working with every function without silos - on any given day, I’m likely to problem solve with product, sales, customer success, ops etc. 

I’ve worked in companies where tech was a supporting function, often 3rd party solutions that caused more friction than benefit. A bit like fitting a round peg into a square hole. 

Now, as one part of the Customer’s voice, I’m able to work directly with an incredible Product and Tech team to bring their ideas to life. It’s pretty special watching the entire process from start to finish. 

It’s also particularly exciting marketing a product that I use, believe in and know will shape the global language for brand health. Just like every marketer uses Google Analytics for performance marketing, every marketer will use Tracksuit for long-term brand building. 

**Lastly, are there any key traits or characteristics of people that do well in the Tracksuit environment?** 

**People who:**
- Are curious, ask lots of questions and continuously seek to learn more
- Are passionate about powering the confidence in and commitment to brand marketing and marketers
- Want to be the best at what they do and value working with an engaged, kind, genuine and ambitious team


Mikayla Hopkins, Customer and Marketing Lead at Tracksuit profile image.jpg

Mikayla Hopkins, Customer and Marketing Lead at Tracksuit

A love for math and going to bed early ultimately overshadowed the childhood dream of becoming a rockstar for Harry Flett, Product Lead at Tracksuit.

We caught up with Harry to learn a little more about his career journey into product, what he loves about the craft and some of the advice he has for others who might be curious about following a similar path.

Thanks for sharing your story, Harry.

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

You know those Lego blocks you play with? How do you choose what to build? I do the same thing. I work out what we use those blocks to build. Except on a computer screen. 


**And for the adults, what does a typical day-in-the-life look like?**

In an early-stage startup and as the only Product Manager, I split my time between:
- Planning our Product Strategy / Roadmap — what should we build?
- Chatting to customers and resolving problems — what’s not working? What problems are we solving?
- Executing on features — working with developers and other team members to clarify what we’re creating.
- Learning about marketing, brand-tracking, and going deep on our industry.

>"I wanted to play guitar and be a rockstar. But I also liked maths."

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

Not at all. I wanted to play guitar and be a rockstar. But I also liked maths. And people. And going to bed early, which didn’t make me a good fit for the rockstar life. So I took those interests, replaced the guitar with a computer, and fell into the world of business and Finance. 

I’m a massive nerd and can’t stop problem-solving, but I also want to create something, so business/finance quickly led me to want more ownership and impact, which led me to startups.

**What are some of the most interesting challenges that you face in your role currently?**

I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about the value we’re providing to customers. It’s quite an interesting challenge:
- We survey thousands of consumers about 1,000+ brands all year round. 
- We present the survey results in a dashboard that is constantly updated, so our customers (marketers) can track their brand health and answer questions like: “Is my marketing strategy improving my brand?”
- But, improvements in brand typically take time (3 months minimum).
- So how do we best deliver value to customers?
- Specifically, is there data that’s not in the Tracksuit dashboard that we can share?
- How can we provide insights that help marketers better understand and report on their brand growth?
- Can we deliver value beyond the dashboard? Are there other insights we can share with them? 
- Can we help them make it easier to report their dashboard results? 

These are some of the product challenges I’m working on. It’s a lot of fun.

>"Product is awesome. Awesomely difficult, awesomely vague, and awesomely impactful."

**Tell us a little bit more about your career pathway, and ultimately, how you got into your current role at Tracksuit?**


I thought I was destined to be an Investment Banker. While studying, I did a few internships in Finance and it never really clicked. So I packed my bags and went travelling with my girlfriend.

I ended up in China, somehow landing a job for a great Kiwi company called Crimson Education. Crimson had recently opened an office in Shanghai.

It was a whirlwind in startups. By my second week I was trying to close a partnership with a multi-billion dollar education group.

I got kicked back to New Zealand when COVID hit and ended up in the right place at the right time. Crimson was launching an online high school, and needed people to help get it off the ground. I jumped at the chance. I started in Sales, then shifted to focus on Growth / Operations. 

Jamie Beaton (the CEO) gave me a masterclass in growth. I did everything from setting up an onboarding flow, to figuring out how to price our product, to planning which other geographies we expanded to. 

I came to a decision: should I stay broad, or go deep? I could keep pursuing generalist Growth / Operations / Strategy roles. Or I could do a deep dive into a certain area: perhaps Sales, Product, or Customer Success. 

I decided that Product was the area that interested me the most. So I’ve now joined Tracksuit to take a deep dive into Product Management. It’s a very different product to Crimson, and much more early stage, with very different challenges. 

I’m very grateful for both Crimson and Tracksuit for everything they have taught me and the people I’ve been able to learn from.

**What do you love about your role and why should others consider the career path?**

Product is awesome. Awesomely difficult, awesomely vague, and awesomely impactful. It’s a blend of strategy / execution, which I love. What do we build? Then how do we build it? 

It’s such a cross-functional discipline that requires you to understand the entire business. Especially when you’re in Product at an early-stage business. You need to be keeping an eye on acquisition while also monitoring retention. Then figuring out which is the biggest issue to focus on right now. 

The learning never stops. I’m learning from our Developers. I’m learning from our Growth / Marketing teams. I’m learning from our customers. 


>"Product requires you to think, write, and argue about many different disciplines."

**For people interested in following a similar path, what are the key skills or attributes that you think are important and where can people get started.**

**Writing.** 
I write all the time to clarify my thinking and to articulate problems. Like Paul Graham says: “Writing about something, even something you know well, usually shows you that you didn't know it as well as you thought. Putting ideas into words is a severe test.”

**Read a lot.** 
Read good writing. He can be controversial, but someone like Scott Adams (the creator of the Dilbert cartoon) writes so clearly. Read his book How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big. Read his 20 second article on becoming a better writer. 

**Learn a little about a lot.** 
Product requires you to think, write, and argue about many different disciplines. Read some books on sales, some books on marketing, or some other books on business. Read some stories of some interesting businesses too, like how Square was built.

**Write all the time.**
Emulate great writers. Like Lenny Rachitsky, a great Product writer.
Listen to podcasts from great thinkers and writers. Lenny has a great Product podcast too.

**Lastly, are there any key traits or characteristics of people that do well in the Tracksuit environment?** 
- People who love speaking to customers
- People who leave things better than they found it
- People who have a lot of ideas!


Harry Flett PRoduct Lead at Tracksuit head shot (1).jpg

Harry Flett, Product Lead at Tracksuit

_From wanting to start his own business to carving out a career in software development, Hemant Patel, Fullstack Developer at Tracksuit, has found a home working in a high-growth environment that he loves._

_We caught up with Hemant to learn more about his journey into software development, which included taking jobs at KFC and BP whilst he studied so that he could brush up on his English, as well as his advice to others that might want to follow a similar path. He also shared what he loves about working in a smaller high-growth business. Thanks for sharing your story with us, Hemant._

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

“What’s your favourite chocolate?” “Milk chocolate? Great. Now imagine if I ask all of your friends about their favourite chocolate. Then I show the best chocolate on a screen. That’s my job!

**And for the adults, what does a typical day-in-the-life look like?** 

My role is a full-stack developer at Tracksuit. But right now, I’m focused on some front-end improvements for our SaaS dashboard tool. I’m working on making survey data beautiful, easy, and accessible. Plus learning a lot about building a scalable infrastructure for our platform.

> “I think my love of numbers is what led me from business to tech.” 

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

No, it really wasn’t. I always dreamed of running my own business, because that’s what my father did. I started by studying Accountancy before my interest in technology really developed. I think my love of numbers is what led me from business to tech.

**What are some of the most interesting challenges that you face in your role currently?**

I’m working on bringing data visualisation to life. We have some complex survey data from thousands of respondents.

One of the biggest challenges we have is making this data dynamic, simple, accessible, and more understandable. A lot of my time right now is spent on building features to help customers get more use out of their data.

I’m also learning best practices to set our platform up for future growth and scalability. This includes improving our code structure to help us move faster and build more.

> “I decided to get a job at a BP gas station. Just like KFC, it taught me more about how to speak to all different types of people.” 

**Tell us a little bit more about your career pathway and ultimately how you got into your current role Tracksuit?** 

It was a long and windy road for me. 

* I started studying Accountancy originally when I lived in India.
* After graduating, I was tossing up between an MBA and a Masters in Computer Science. I wasn’t sold on tech. I still felt business was for me. I ended up applying for a Masters in Computer Science, and I did well simply because I had studied a lot of math in previous courses.
* During my Masters, I landed a web developer internship which turned into a full-time role.  
In 2013 I joined a firm that offered development services for start-ups. That was a real turning point for me. I started jumping into hackathons, start-up seminars, and everything start-up related.
* I wanted to head to the US or Canada to get access to more opportunities in the same space. I got married in 2016, then started applying to the US and Canada, but my visa was rejected. I started freelancing and didn’t know where to go.
* I knew I had to support my family, so I looked elsewhere, and NZ appealed to me. I came to NZ in May 2018\.
* I was only able to come to the country on a student visa, so I decided to study, even though I had already studied for a long time. I started a Graduate Diploma in Web & Software Development from Manukau Institute of Technology.
* I stopped freelancing because it was tough to find good, dependent freelance work. I decided to focus on my study but still needed a source of income. I also wanted to improve my English and have some practice speaking to people, so I got a job at KFC as a cook. I had hoped to work at the front of the store, taking orders. But I was told I could only join if I started as a cook.
* I finished studying in NZ in May 2019\. After finishing my studies, I was still working in KFC while looking for other development jobs. At that stage, I was having no luck with my applications because I had a strange mix of too much experience but also not the right skills.
* So, I decided to get a job at a BP gas station. Just like KFC, it taught me more about how to speak to all different types of people. It taught me how to convince people to buy more (the team tells me this is called “upselling”).
* I found one temporary development gig supporting an e-Commerce site for a few months, which turned into a full-time role.
* Then, a friend of mine knew the Tracksuit team and suggested I interview for a role here. I wanted to join Tracksuit because I wanted to see my ideas/solutions/work go out to the world. I also wanted experience in a high-growth environment. I landed this role and am very happy here now.

> “Just start learning and talking to people.” 

**What do you love about your role and why should others consider the career path?**

Being a full-stack developer in an early-stage start-up like Tracksuit is interesting because there is a large variety of work. We’re also building this from the ground up.

In other organisations, you have a lot more limitations and it’s a lot slower moving. This means I can learn a lot more at a place at Tracksuit, where we are building the entire structure from scratch and moving much quicker. You’re also free to explore your ideas, get more support and collaborate more with a small team. 

At Tracksuit, I have found everyone has energy and an eagerness to do something new to improve the status quo. People do what is needed to build a great product for our customers. I don’t see that level of customer-focused mentality elsewhere. 

**For people interested in following a similar path, what are the key skills or attributes that you think are important and where can people get started?**

I think the willingness to try is enough to get started. There are a lot of different roles in tech. Odds are you can find something to match your skill set. Just start learning and talking to people.

**Lastly, are there any key traits or characteristics of people that do well in the Tracksuit environment?**

I have found everyone is enjoying their role here at Tracksuit, which makes this a great place to work. We want people that bring energy to the team. And people that are full of ideas! You have to be ready to suggest improvements and make an impact, especially when the team is so small.

Hemant Patel, Fullstack Developer at Tracksuit

_From professional athlete to lawyer and now SaaS sales, Charlotte Kight has had a really interesting and winding journey into working in tech._

_In her own words, she still doesn't really feel like she works "in tech" and the concept of sales to her is more just getting a chance to tell people about a cool product her friends have built._ 

_We caught up with Charlotte to learn more about the zigzags she has taken to get into her current role, what a typical day in her life looks like as well as some sage advice to others thinking about a career transition. Thanks for sharing your story, Charlotte._ 

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

I tell people about a really cool tool that will help them be great at their job, and then give them high fives when they decide to join our cool team!

> “I actually don’t really feel like I work in tech now! More like I get to tell people about the cool tech product my friends have made!” 

**And for the adults, what does a typical day-in-the-life look like?** 

Spreading the good word of Tracksuit (I’m in sales, if you can’t tell). I spend my day telling people that Tracksuit is a tool to help brand marketers be even better at their job.

Which is usually followed by “What is a brand marketer?” - to which I answer, they create the ads that aren’t “come into our Wild Waitangi Weekend sale!” but instead make you feel something for the brand - like a gorilla going all out on a drum solo!

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

Definitely not. I actually don’t really feel like I work in tech now! More like I get to tell people about the cool tech product my friends have made! I’ve been an athlete, and a lawyer, but have spent the most time working in sport. So Tech seems pretty far removed from my career to date.

> “The other challenge I face daily is walking the tightrope of ‘Hi there marketing friend, this tool could really help you!’ without wobbling over into ‘p\*ss off with your sales email…’ - a fine line!” 

**What are some of the most interesting challenges that you face in your role currently?** 

My day-to-day challenge is getting cool marketers to take notice of Tracksuit. They’re busy and there are a lot of SaaS tools competing for their attention. 

One specific challenge I have is dispelling people’s assumption that brand tracking is ‘scraping’ what people say about you on social media, or that it’s super expensive - when Tracksuit is neither!

The other challenge I face daily is walking the tightrope of ‘Hi there marketing friend, this tool could really help you!’ without wobbling over into ‘p\*ss off with your sales email…’ - a fine line!

**Tell us a little bit more about your career pathway and ultimately how you got into your current role at Tracksuit?**

* Played netball here in NZ for a few years while studying law, until injury sped up the (fleeting) transition into law.
* A more appealing option of studying sports management in Europe popped up so I jumped on that. A year of learning about international sports management and struggling to explain netball to the rest of the non-commonwealth world (especially with my Kiwi accent making it sound like knit-ball) ended with a role at the HQ of FIFA (the round football) in Zurich.
* Organising world cup football tournaments around the world - UAE, Japan, Canada, Colombia, Korea - learning about the level of preparation required for mega sporting events. From pitch maintenance at training sites, being underqualified security for world cup trophy tours, to running live televised award ceremonies - a huge range of experiences.
* When the learning curve flattened out I left for a new challenge.
* Ended up back home working in rugby - but from a different angle. Player representation, for the NZ Rugby Players Association. Managing the use of player IP by teams and sponsors. The last few years have been very interesting for the rugby commercial scene - and some exciting times to come!
* But time came for the next challenge. After some shadowing during covid-flex-time, jumped into a completely different role with Tracksuit.
* SaaS. Marketing. Startup. Sales. Zero experience in any of those - so the learning curve has been steep! But a great team, fantastic product and a healthy dose of don’t-think-too-much-just-do-it has seen me through some uncomfortable learning moments and I’m loving it!

**What do you love about your role and why should others consider the career path?**

I’ve still got my sales trainer wheels on. But I love how quickly it moves. The pressure of targets and numbers has taken some getting used to, but if you can manage that, the challenge is good fun.

> “Finding your next challenge is often more about being comfortable taking a step backwards to go forward.” 

**For people interested in following a similar path, what are the key skills or attributes that you think are important and where can people get started?**

I’m not sure my ‘path’ is recommended - seems to have been less of a path, more like a series of random zigs and zags following whatever catches my eye.

But I guess for someone throwing themselves into an unfamiliar role/industry/type of organisation, it sounds a bit cheesy, but if you’ve got the courage to give it a try, who knows, you might just love it! 

Finding your next challenge is often more about being comfortable taking a step backwards to go forward. I got this role because I spent time finding great people doing interesting things, who I wanted to spend my time with. Finding those people is sometimes the biggest hurdle. 

Once you find the right people, you don’t always need to have all the right skills. Sometimes you just need to convince them you’re hungry to learn alongside them. I started at Tracksuit with shadowing, then joined as a junior growth member.

> “It’s about being a good human that people want to work with. The rest you can learn along the way...” 

**Lastly, are there any key traits or characteristics of people that do well in the Tracksuit environment?** 

It’s about being a good human that people want to work with. The rest you can learn along the way (except maybe if you want a career in eye surgery… or simultaneous translation).

Charlotte Kight, Growth at Tracksuit

Tracksuit's mission is to help emerging and SME companies use brand marketing to drive short and long term success.

**The market opportunity ahead for Tracksuit**

We are not only creating a useful tool, but a VERY valuable data set that is unique and defensible.  
  
We've secured a good proportion of NZ's most exciting brands as customers already — including Sharesies, Allpress, Laybuy, Yu Mei, Emma Lewisham and Yealands. We've also already launched in AU and the UK proving it isn't just an NZ problem we're solving.

**Why Tracksuit is a great place to work**

We're early stage and growing (very) fast, so the ability to make an impact on the culture and company in general is enormous.   
  
(Obviously) when people join, they get an epic (Tracksuit) tracksuit, which reflects our vibe. We are built for speed and comfort, we're fun and informal yet tidy, practical, and ready for anything.  
  
We value:

* Being a cheerleader and champion: for each other, for our customers, and for brand generally
* Ambition: intentional and focused, but not blind Enjoying the process: quick to smile, hungry to learn, incremental & directional improvements
* Transparency and trust: across the board
* Keeping things simple: across the board
* Leaving things better than we found them: on a macro and micro scale

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Mikayla Hopkins, Customer and Marketing Lead at Tracksuit

Harry Flett, Product Lead at Tracksuit

Hemant Patel, Fullstack Developer at Tracksuit

Charlotte Kight, Growth at Tracksuit

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