When Ale Garcia Buenaventura joined Zello nine years ago, she was a college student working as a community manager and translator — and reported directly to the CEO.
While the communications technology company has outgrown the small green-painted house on Austin’s West 6th St. that once served as its office, the culture that Garcia Buenaventura found there continues.
“Zello has allowed me to build my passions and skills while having a high impact in our team,” she said. “Zello has given me the freedom to explore marketing, data and other areas of potential interest for me until I landed in what I like to do — product management.”
While Garcia Buenaventura grew into her current role as a product manager, Zello scaled as well. “Growth is both beautiful and hard,” she said. “We have had to learn to adapt and change old ways while finding what works best for the point we are at. In my role, I have been fortunate to have the space and freedom to try out new approaches and frameworks while receiving support from my peers and higher ups.”
Engineering Manager Adam Bailey also started at Zello before the team moved to the large, modern offices they enjoy today.
“Zello continues to invest in its people with perks that support our professional growth,” he said. “We have annual hackathons at a remote destination, a $2,000 annual learning stipend and a six-week sabbatical after five years. Recently, Zello has started offering a year-long manager development program as well.”
According to VP of Product Nayeli Cortina, who started in an entry-level role at the organization, the manager development program is in direct response to needs that have arisen through the company’s rapid growth.
“We want to help our managers understand how to meet the changes happening across our organization while we’re experiencing accelerated growth,” Cortina said. “This training program is not just about attending classes but setting clear expectations of managers to apply their learnings in real time.”
That growth shows no sign of slowing down, Cortina told Built In. Instead, it offers opportunities for Zello to expand its organizational expertise alongside individual advancement.
Creating Impact Through Technology
While Zello’s free consumer app is many people’s introduction to the company’s walkie-talkie communications technology tool, the core business users are frontline workers and first responders who rely on Zello to stay connected while solving urgent, real-world challenges at work each day.
When Hurricane Maria devastated islands across the Caribbean, Product Manager Garcia Buenaventura saw how both consumer and B2B use solved complex problems for users quickly and simply.
“I was still a community manager and got experience answering people’s questions about how to use the app to communicate with their loved ones outside of the country,” she said. “I was privileged to hear stories of family members getting relief from knowing their families were okay when phone lines and the media were failing.”
The clarity of this impact, according to Buenaventura, is exactly why Zello has been able to move ahead for the last decade without needing to raise outside investment or spend on sales and advertising. Whether for a frontline worker not having to worry about a bulky and limited radio or family members communicating across borders, Zello offers clear solutions exactly when connection is needed most.
According to Cortina, users who first identify the free app as a solution to daily problems are some of the company’s best ambassadors.
“Frontline workers themselves are using their own resources to make up for the lack of technology they sometimes have to work with,” she said. “This is great news for Zello as we are committed to providing them with the right communication tools. Businesses are now focusing on how to make frontline workers more efficient at their jobs by providing them a voice.”
A Growing Team
Zello’s team continues to power that impact — and the company continues to hire across teams from customer service to engineering, all in the service of supporting the needs of the end user.
Even amidst exponential growth, though, hiring goals remain intentional and supportive of individual needs.
“The company has always been very balanced and deliberate with our hiring,” Bailey said. “We look to fill gaps that exist today instead of just hiring for the sake of hiring. One of the beautiful things at Zello is that everyone matters a lot.”
For Bailey, Zello’s clear vision, strategy and goals keep him engaged in his work, even as he has moved from working as a mid-level engineer into roles as a tech lead, team lead and manager.
Cortina agrees that Zello’s people continue to power growth, bringing new perspectives and experiences into the company to contribute to shared goals.
“Zello has always supported internal talent and their career goals. Our CEO has done a great job at identifying talent and creating a narrative for where we each will be as the company expands,” she said. “I can see that with myself and my peers — as the company has scaled, we’ve grown in our roles and the amount of responsibilities we each carry.”
According to Cortina, Zello’s vision for the future of the product is primed to advance alongside innovations in technology including through artificial intelligence and security compliance.
“There are some very clear opportunities for making frontline workers’ jobs faster and easier by giving them access to the newest technologies in the market,” Cortina said. “At Zello, we’re very lucky to have the opportunity to provide that for them since we’re already at their fingertips.”
