The Life Changing Value I Learned – Vulnerability

A Personal View of What It’s Like to Be New in the Chillibreeze Journey: From Bootcamp Training to Appointment

Hi, I’m Banlum! Let me be vulnerable because that is one of the values that I learned here at Chillibreeze. When I first applied to Chillibreeze I was not sure what this training and job would be. When I joined the training phase, Chillibreeze had a Bootcamp. I thought it would be extremely intense training. What surprised me is it was fun meeting new people and having unique learning sessions. It was in the 6 PM Learning Sessions that our group became vulnerable with each other. The sessions would sometimes go on for hours. We read and discussed the book, Conscious Business, by Fred Kofman.  What I learned in these meetings really changed my perspective on life. Do not get me wrong, the Bootcamp was extremely intense. But what we gained from early mornings to late nights was a lot of new knowledge while having a great time with the new ‘family’ that we created. Our leaders, Andy, Mariabiang, and Hope.

Then Came the Next Phase of My Chillibreeze Journey

The Bootcamp training ended, and I entered the Graphic Design Team. I was assigned to the Microsoft Working Group. When I got selected into the working group I could not stop thinking, what will this next experience be like? I could not sleep that night. I was afraid, anticipating how I would perform. How would I excel? I was excited, wondering what will happen tomorrow after meeting the new team members.

The working group experience started with gaining clarity on what it would take to become a Level 1 Graphic Designer. The expectations were tough and clearly defined the next obstacle that I had to overcome. Each phase was kind of like a reality game, with clear objectives that we are playing. Having Suresh as my mentor guiding me throughout the journey, I could see that I was growing in terms of skills and customer service. I gained hands-on experience providing value to the customer and creating option slides and even brainstorming with them through calls on making the slides more presentable.

The intense training sessions were designed to prepare me for the practical reality of development. Joining the Working Group was a real taste of a professional work experience.

My First Customer Call Set the Right Tone

Becoming a POC (Point of Contact) and representing Chillibreeze, was another exciting step in my journey. The first call was with Jennifer, who was a new customer, even Suresh had not met her. Because she was new, she didn’t know how to send in her PowerPoint design work request. Even I did not know how to send the work. I was so unsure of the experience. I discovered that our customers are confused, and I needed to know how to help them. It showed me I need to know more; I need to see the process. So, I started to attend more and more customer calls with Suresh.

At first, I thought that I needed to work closely with Suresh on every project. I quickly realized more was expected from me. This wasn’t just a job. I was responsible for providing daily solutions for our customer’s graphic design needs. Seeing that everyone in the team was putting their effort into releasing my potential made me want to push myself. I started to handle different types of projects.

My teammates guided me on how to proceed with the tasks, for example, some slides only had a few bullet points. I was at a loss of what to do, but I did not just sit and stay stuck. Instead, I proactively reached out to the team for ideas.

Synshar would give me terms to search in Google. After doing that, I got it. I knew what to do next. Then I would get stuck again. I quickly learned getting unstuck was a step-by-step process that I controlled. The more I got coached, the more effort I put into being the best that I can be.

As a result, I soon became a key player contributing to winning together. Looking back at phase 1, I remember the proud moments: drafting my first emails to the customer. Today I am handling accounts. This confirms how a great team that has each other's back can significantly impact an individual.

Everyone Wants to Win, so Why Not Win Together!

Now I am progressing in my skills. I am learning Accessibility and Level 2 Graphic Design. I love trying new things and finding new ways to improve my skills. From my perspective, I can see that ideas and suggestions are encouraged in our working group. We challenge one another to look into how we can implement improvements we see, creating an environment that allows me to thrive.