Just Take the Job

How did you get to where you are today? Tell us about your career journey.

My first job out of college was tech support for DIRECTV. I needed income, and I still use those skills today, even though it isn't a career I'll return to. That experience shaped the advice I still give people: “You don't have to wait for the perfect job out of college. Take a job. You'll learn something while you look for something else”

From there, I moved to US Xpress doing payroll, then to Unum, where I took an entry-level role to get a foot in the door and started my MBA. While I was at Unum, a close family friend told me I needed to come work at Skuid. I interviewed, heard nothing, and six months later they called and offered me the job with no second interview. I don't recommend that approach, but it worked. It meant a pay cut, but it was the chance to join a small company doing big things.

I was the tenth employee, and I did whatever the company needed. Finance, accounting, HR, even working the booth at Dreamforce. When it came time to build out HR, I kept waiting for Ken McElrath (Skuid’s CEO & Founder) to bring in someone more experienced above me. Instead, he took a risk and told me this was my chance, that they believed I could do it. Skuid grew from 10 people to a company that eventually sold in 2022, and I stayed 11 years for the whole roller coaster.

After Skuid, I ran regional HR at Nintex, moved into an M&A role, and now I'm at Univar building their AI Center of Excellence, a company roughly 10 times the size of anywhere I'd worked before. 

What's a key takeaway from your career?

If you work hard and you're willing to learn, there's really no limit. Don't box yourself in. Being a hard worker at whatever you're doing, even something you don't love, carries with you for the rest of your career, through your reputation and the people you meet. People I never expected have called to ask me to join them. 

Patience matters too. Take the thing that pays your bills. You'll make connections and learn things you never anticipated, and it may turn out far better than you expected.

How would you describe your ideal team player?

At Skuid, we looked at the people we would fight hardest to keep and distilled what made them that way. 

You're looking for:

1. Humble experts, people who are excellent at their craft and carry it with humility. 

2. Design thinkers who can work outside the box. 

3. Caring heroes who save the day and make the sale, but never in a way that leaves a bad taste or requires someone else to clean up after them.

The humility and the caring hero qualities are the ones I keep returning to. Find people with those traits, and they're always strong hires.

What's a common mistake that harms team culture?

Failing to assume good intent. 

Your work life improves dramatically when you assume the other person is coming from a good place. It repairs relationships and prevents the miscommunication where you're upset with someone who never meant anything by it. 

Good culture also depends on trust, and on hiring carefully. It isn't about hiring carbon copies of yourself. It's about people who add to it.

What's the biggest challenge in leading a team, and how do you handle it?

Leading through ambiguity and change. When people say you have to be comfortable with ambiguity, it isn't hypothetical; it's real. The hardest part is that even if you're normally very transparent, there are sometimes things you can't share. That's where a high-trust culture makes the difference. You lead with honesty, even when the honest answer is "I don't know" or "I can't share it."

And if you're the one facing the ambiguity, ask the questions. The worst outcome is being told they can't answer. You can't be upset about not getting an answer to a question you haven't asked.

Who has made a transformative impact on you?

Early on, Ken McElrath. I once made a mistake that cost real money and was anxious to tell him. He simply asked whether I'd learned from it and whether I'd do it again. When I said yes and no, he told me he'd already forgotten about it and that I needed to as well. That has stayed with me ever since.

And Ryan Niemann. Ryan would call me at the end of every Friday to say thank you and that he was glad to have me on the team. I'd laugh at the time, but I didn't grasp the impact of those calls until they were gone. 

What every great leader I've worked for shared was that they cared, they invested, and they built cultures of trust. That meant everything.

What skill will be essential moving forward?

The easy answer is AI, and it is essential. But the larger one is the willingness to learn. There will always be something new, and technology touches nearly every job, whether or not you work in the industry. Knowing how to learn, and wanting to, is the trait I'd emphasize. 

And yes, learn AI and how to use it too. Don't overlook that.

What’s one piece of advice for job seekers?

Patience and a willingness to work hard at whatever you're doing will always lead you to good things, even when it takes five or ten years. Whatever your role, there's something to learn, someone to learn from, and somewhere to go above and beyond. Take advantage of all of it.

Thank you so much for sharing, Janelle.

If you'd like to connect with Janelle or learn more about her work, find her on LinkedIn here.