IntroducingourUSZippers
During the last two weeks, we welcomed two colleagues from abroad. Bob and Erik came to visit Budapest and Zurich and learned everything about Zippsafe. If you want to find out more about their onboarding, and our plans for the US market, and get to know our new American colleagues, read on.
If you follow us on LinkedIn or met us at an US trade show, you might already recognize our first addition to the team. Robert Graves, also known as Bob, is an experienced entrepreneur and investor who has owned several businesses throughout his career. Bob worked for start-ups before and can benefit from decades in sales and marketing. He lives in a small town outside Rochester with his wife and two dogs. In this free time, he enjoys hiking and skiing. Accordingly, he has no objections to traveling to Switzerland from time to time. It was during one such trip about four years ago that he was introduced to Zippsafe. Bob was immediately impressed by the product.
He wanted to bring it to the US right away and started conducting market research as an independent rep. In Autumn last year, when our Zippsafe USA Inc. entity was built, Bob officially joined the team. During the same time, we started to look for a Vice President that would lead the business development over there. A former professor of Erik Oehler shared our post on LinkedIn. Erik was instantly intrigued and applied for the position. After attending the Chicago Build conference in October, meeting the team and seeing the ZippSpace system in real life, he was drawn to join the company.
Erik lives in Naples, NY with his family, holds a BS in Computer Science and an MBA from Simon Business School in Rochester. With over 12 years of experience in IT for the New York State government, Erik has also worked as an engineer and marketer for Kodak Alaris and most recently, as Marketing Director for Orolia. He is no stranger to startups as well, having been a founding member of National Football Post, a football news website where he did everything from web development to digital marketing and content creation. Add in a few entrepreneurial ventures, and his journey showcases his versatility and adaptability. Erik's experience in problem-solving and increasing efficiency for businesses will be particularly valuable in driving Zippsafe's growth in a new market.
Now here we are. Bob and Erik flew over to Europe and spent some time in Budapest and Zurich. They had a lot of onboarding sessions, saw the production site, assisted during an installation and most importantly met the team. After two intense weeks, they are now on their way back and ready to rumble. It was a pleasure, getting to know our new colleagues, and we are extremely positive, to expand and sell our smart locker solution in the US. Hospitals are exploding, lacking space and aiming to offer a nicer changing room solution to employees. So, the prerequisites for a successful start are fulfilled…