A spotlight on … Jenni Morrison, Client Engagement Manager at Silverbear
Having spent seven years with Silverbear, I can safely say that I know Silverbear 365 pretty much inside out - although I’m not particularly technical myself.
I’m more of a translator; someone who’s able to quickly establish what the end-user needs and then translate it back to the development team. I bridge that gap between those who use Silverbear 365 and those responsible for creating it.
I joined the business back in 2015 as a software trainer after a number of years as a freelance IT trainer. Prior to Silverbear, I worked with a wide range of private and public sector clients. One day I might have been working with a housing association to help the elderly get tech-savvy, and then the next I might have been working on major projects for Walls Ice Cream and Kuehne + Nagel, the global transport and logistics giant.
My current role spans the entire business. A typical day might involve me taking a customer’s requirements and creating a wireframe demo that provides a top line illustration of how their system could look and feel – sometimes within only 24 hours! Of course, the delivery team might take up to a year to build this out for real, but I’m able to provide an immediate visual window into the future, which is nice.
Another role I have involves running engagement webinars to make sure that our existing portfolio of customers are fully utilising the system. Quite often, I’ll show them features and tools that they never knew existed, which is great.
At the moment, my educational role doesn’t end at Silverbear. I’m currently teaching my 17-year-old daughter to drive, which is interesting. She’s actually quite good, but I’m still a bundle of nerves by the end of it.
It’s not all work, though. I like to run – but I’m a fair-weather runner. I’m a little like Goldilocks in that respect. It can’t be too hot and definitely not too rainy. It has to be just right. And when not running, I’m never happier than when I have friends around the dinner table. It’s not unusual for me to have 12 people sitting in my kitchen, or for me to be spending time with my girlfriends drinking two-for-one cocktails whenever and wherever they may be found.
However, my real passion, the one thing I absolutely cannot do without, is shoes. I daren’t count, but I probably have around 100 pairs and I love them all equally. In fact, my two guiding principles are a) be kind, and b) wear fabulous shoes. I’m committed, too. I once obsessed over a pair I saw on Pinterest and used my full suite of Google abilities to track them down. It took two years but I located a pair in Canada and bought them straight away. They were only £30 and the postage was £50! There was much squealing when I found them.