From our award-winning workforce of help specialists who troubleshoot technical challenges to the engineers who drive innovation throughout our platform to the passionate professionals who construct connections with our clients and companions, each member of our globally distributed workforce is significant to the success of WP Engine in addition to the hundreds of manufacturers and companies we serve.
WP Engine’s mission is to energy our clients’ confidence on-line. Our Meet the Consultants sequence shines a lightweight on among the people who convey this mission to life by means of their work daily.
On this function, we’ll introduce you to Erika Sentz, our North American Lead Occasions Supervisor based mostly in Baltimore. She oversees planning and technique for the in-person occasions WP Engine attends and sponsors all through North America, in addition to our many digital occasions all year long!
Say whats up to Erika!
For Erika, life is about discovering stability. She lives simply exterior downtown Baltimore, which retains her shut sufficient to benefit from the metropolis’s meals scene, however not too removed from the countryside both. Whereas she enjoys the town, she additionally spends lots of time at a horse farm close to her residence in Pennsylvania, usually beginning her mornings within the barn or within the saddle.
“It’s my reset button and my glad place,” she says. “Being remote-first means I by no means have to present that up.”
Outdoors of the stables, Erika is an avid learner. Her 35-minute commutes to the farm are sometimes spent listening to audiobooks and podcasts like Lenny’s Podcast, From A to B, and Assume Quick, Speak Sensible.
“I’ve misplaced depend of what number of real-world issues I’ve solved because of an perception I picked up whereas listening to one in every of these,” she says.
Erika’s profession journey
Erika’s path to WP Engine began with a need for change. She was searching for a job that aligned together with her passions for each know-how and creating human connections.
“I had a job alert turned on for experimentation-based roles, and in the future WP Engine popped up,” she remembers. “On the time, WP Engine was one in every of my ‘dream’ corporations: tech-focused, remote-first, and a model I already knew effectively from my days freelancing and constructing web sites for small companies.”
The hiring course of moved shortly. A recruiter reached out on a Friday, and only one week later, she had a proposal in hand. “Leaving my outdated firm and my associates there wasn’t simple, however I knew this was the suitable transfer for my profession,” she says.
At present, Erika leads technique and execution for occasions created by, sponsored by, or attended by WP Engine. Her position oversees all the things from large-scale conferences and high-touch roundtables in North America to reimagining our webinars to make them extra impactful for attendees.
Her background as an online strategist and CRO practitioner informs her strategy, so each touchpoint is intentional, data-informed, and designed to be examined and optimized over time.
“I deal with each occasion like an experiment: outline the aim, check the strategy, measure the outcomes, and refine for the subsequent time,” she explains. “That mindset ensures our occasions don’t simply occur—they evolve, delivering extra worth with each iteration.”
Her position additionally makes her one in every of WP Engine’s frontline ambassadors. Whether or not she’s representing the model at an in-person convention or designing digital occasions that educate and encourage, Erika helps join WP Engine with present and potential clients, company companions, builders, and the WordPressⓇ[1] group extra broadly.
Phrases of knowledge: Say sure, then determine it out
Erika is greater than only a learner; she’s a doer. So, when requested about her finest skilled recommendation, she focuses on embracing new alternatives. “Say sure, then determine it out,” she says.
“That’s to not say you must tackle all the things,” she explains, “however I’ve discovered that saying sure to alternatives that scare me just a little has all the time pushed me to develop. Transferring to the occasions workforce was a type of moments. I didn’t have all of the solutions on day one, however I trusted myself to be taught, adapt, and make an influence.”
She additionally finds inspiration in one in every of WP Engine CEO Heather Brunner’s oft-repeated mantras: Don’t let good be the enemy of excellent.
“As a lifelong perfectionist, that’s been an enormous mindset shift,” Erika says. “Occasions, net, and experimentation all demand agility—typically you simply must launch, be taught, and alter.”
Erika is keen about seeing past the tactical expertise of a challenge, emphasizing the significance of telling the complete story behind your work.
“Having the ability to join the dots between what you probably did and why it issues to your viewers will set you aside,” she says.
Powered by folks
When requested what she loves most about WP Engine, Erika’s reply echoes the sentiment shared by lots of the different consultants we’ve interviewed: it’s the folks.
“The sheer experience in each ‘room’—digital or in any other case—always ranges me up, each professionally and personally,” she says.
Erika’s work helps join WP Engine to communities throughout North America and past as she creates intentional, considerate experiences that go away a long-lasting influence, however she credit the corporate with making a tradition of connection in-house as effectively. That collaborative, inclusive tradition is very essential in a virtual-first setting.
“You might be distant and nonetheless really feel deeply woven into the material of the corporate,” she says.
Need to discover out extra about what it’s prefer to work at WP Engine? Go to our careers web site to discover present openings and take a look at our weblog for extra inspiring tales from WP Engine’s consultants!
