Hey everyone 👋
I’m excited to introduce you to another member of the Drift team.
I know you’ve already met Fernanda Lavalle, Shannon Donovan, Mary Mitchell, Catherine LaMacchia, Nadine Shaalan, and Kahlil Trocmé.
In this edition of Inside Drift, I’m taking you to beautiful Tampa, FL to meet Britnee Laughlin. Britnee is the Lead Recruiter in Tampa and joined Drift in October 2019. Britnee is a midwest native who found herself unable to escape the Florida sunshine, and she currently lives in Tampa with her husband and daughter.
Ready to meet Britnee? Let’s go ⚡
Editor’s note: The following has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Kaitlyn Martins: We’ll start with an easy one! Can you tell me a little bit about what you do here at Drift?
Britnee: I was brought on to build and scale Drift’s fourth U.S. office in Tampa, Florida and since December, we’ve gone from two Drifters to 39 (and counting). Broadly, I work closely with senior leadership and hiring teams to identify incredible talent in Tampa, and bring them into Drift to do the best work of their careers ⚡︎ Since coming on board in October, we’ve been successful in identifying space for the team to be together and partnered closely with the community and how we can make an impact locally.
Kaitlyn: How did you get into recruiting, and specifically, what interested you in SaaS recruiting?
Britnee: When I was 19, I got a job at a Locum Tenens Staffing firm and worked there for three years. I started out answering the phones and eventually moved into “Recruitment Marketing”, which, at that time, meant a lot of postcard mailers and client visits. Eventually, I took on reference checks and initial phone screens and fell in love with watching the recruiters in the office make job offers. Being able to identify jobs for an individual and their life, family, geographic preference and salary expectations seemed like a great feeling, and I wanted in! Turns out, it is still my favorite part of my job.
Recruiting in the startup space and SaaS specifically allows me to dive into new areas and disciplines that you don’t get with nonprofits, agencies, and large corporations. I love being able to build something and get the opportunity to voice my opinion, gather feedback, and ship processes that make the lives of our interviewers easier (and the experience of our candidates even better).
Kaitlyn: What does a typical day at your job look like?
Britnee: I am on the phone, a LOT. But, I love to learn about different backgrounds and perspectives and every call is a chance to get to know someone new. So, the bulk of my days are spent speaking with potential Drifters and hiring teams, understanding how we can continuously improve the experience that candidates have with us. Big goals of mine outside of recruiting have been to ensure seamless communication and shared resources across all offices, and creating cultural norms that align with the Drift Leadership Principles, plus some Tampa flavor ? Every day is unique.
Kaitlyn: What do you look for in a potential future Drifter throughout the interview process?
Britnee: Hiring teams all look for values alignment with our leadership principles and key competencies related to the position. For my initial conversations, I love to learn about candidates through a story of their life and career and why they feel Drift is the next place for them to call home.
More specifically; ways that they have pushed through moments of adversity, dedication to high standards, diversity of thought, and how they have not only been successful – but also how they’ve failed and learned from past experiences. Positivity and strong communication skills are also very important. We’re a #oneteam environment and I want to see candidates bring their genuine interests to the conversation.
Kaitlyn: What was your dream job as a kid?
Britnee: It depended on my age. When I was 5, I wanted to be the owner of all the kittens in the world and also all 101 Dalmatians (oh, ist that not a real job?). When I was 12, I wanted to be a hippie (still no?.) And then at age 18, I wanted to be a social worker for young adults.
Kaitlyn: What makes a good day at your job a great day?
Britnee: 100% it’s the people that I get to interact with. A good day easily turns into a great one by just peeking into another office to say hi, or grabbing a coffee with a colleague. Due to the pandemic, these conversations have obviously gone fully remote. Luckily, there are company-wide rituals that bring us all together twice a week, and a slew of fun things to jump into when I need to make a good day great; workouts, meditation, yoga, trivia, art, happy hours and even just streaming Zooms for social interaction with no agenda. There is something palpable about the authenticity of the people at Drift and honestly, it just makes most days great, regardless of where we’re sitting.
Kaitlyn: What’s your favorite part about working at Drift?
Britnee: I’ve mentioned the authentic humans I get the opportunity to work with, but outside of being real, Drift also moves at a speed and capability I’ve never seen in my career. The leadership principle I resonate with most is a Bias for Action and watching my colleagues across the company push themselves to do the best work for our customers, do it fast, while also ensuring the team around them is learning along the way… it’s all simply inspiring.
Kaitlyn: What’s your favorite book of all time, and what are you reading right now?
Britnee: Favorite of all time is so hard. I’ve read The Alchemist so many times and depending on where I am in my life, it brings a new light to whatever I am looking for. I also love The Proud Highway and the ever-so intimate writing of Hunter S. Thompson.
I recently finished Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown and am currently reading Poser, a book about yoga and life. I think I needed to lean on something fictional and relatable through the pandemic ?♀️
Kaitlyn: What’s something people don’t know about you?
Britnee: I was legally adopted by my step-dad when I was 8 years old. At the time, I thought it was just cool that I had my own attorney that picked me up from school, then I came back with a new last name.
Kaitlyn: What makes Tampa a great city to work in for people interested in launching or growing a career in technology?
Britnee: Tampa is absolutely incredible! The sun shines most days of the year, the cost of living is low, the quality of life is high, we’re surrounded by a diverse talent pool of new graduates from local universities and the population and employment base continues to grow. There are $13 billion in new development projects taking place in Tampa over the next several years to increase walkability, transportation, residential, office, and retail space, as well as a ton of cultural space. Tampa is an attractive place to be right now, and at the forefront of the growing tech scene, building the Drift office here, I am excited to watch us grow alongside the city.
Kaitlyn: Last question. Any advice for someone who might want to work at Drift?
Britnee: Please reach out to me, or any member of the team on LinkedIn. Even if the timing isn’t right, making connections is something we all care about and I am constantly getting referrals from Drifters because of what started with a simple, targeted, and authentic LinkedIn outreach.
