From our award-winning group of assist specialists who troubleshoot technical challenges to the engineers who drive innovation throughout our platform to the passionate professionals who construct connections with our prospects and companions, each member of our globally distributed group is important to the success of WP Engine in addition to the 1000’s of manufacturers and companies we serve.
WP Engine’s mission is to energy our prospects’ confidence on-line. Our Meet the Consultants collection shines a light-weight on among the people who carry this mission to life via their work every single day.
On this characteristic, 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 hi there to Erika!
For Erika, life is about discovering steadiness. 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 quite a lot of time at a horse farm close to her house in Pennsylvania, typically beginning her mornings within the barn or within the saddle.
“It’s my reset button and my completely satisfied place,” she says. “Being remote-first means I by no means have to provide 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 Good.
“I’ve misplaced depend of what number of real-world issues I’ve solved due to an perception I picked up whereas listening to certainly one of these,” she says.
Erika’s profession journey
Erika’s path to WP Engine began with a need for change. She was in search of a task that aligned along 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 recollects. “On the time, WP Engine was certainly one of my ‘dream’ firms: tech-focused, remote-first, and a model I already knew properly from my days freelancing and constructing web sites for small companies.”
The hiring course of moved rapidly. A recruiter reached out on a Friday, and only one week later, she had a proposal in hand. “Leaving my previous firm and my associates there wasn’t simple, however I knew this was the fitting transfer for my profession,” she says.
Immediately, Erika leads technique and execution for occasions created by, sponsored by, or attended by WP Engine. Her position oversees every part 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 internet 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, take a look at 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 certainly one 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 prospects, company companions, builders, and the WordPressⓇ[1] neighborhood 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 greatest skilled recommendation, she focuses on embracing new alternatives. “Say sure, then determine it out,” she says.
“That’s to not say it is best to tackle every part,” 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. Shifting to the occasions group was a kind of moments. I didn’t have all of the solutions on day one, however I trusted myself to be taught, adapt, and make an affect.”
She additionally finds inspiration in certainly one of WP Engine CEO Heather Brunner’s oft-repeated mantras: Don’t let excellent be the enemy of fine.
“As a lifelong perfectionist, that’s been an enormous mindset shift,” Erika says. “Occasions, internet, and experimentation all demand agility—generally you simply have to launch, be taught, and alter.”
Erika is enthusiastic about seeing past the tactical expertise of a challenge, emphasizing the significance of telling the total story behind your work.
“With 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 individuals
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 individuals.
“The sheer experience in each ‘room’—digital or in any other case—consistently 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 depart an enduring affect, however she credit the corporate with making a tradition of connection in-house as properly. That collaborative, inclusive tradition is particularly vital in a virtual-first setting.
“You could be distant and nonetheless really feel deeply woven into the material of the corporate,” she says.
Wish to discover out extra about what it’s prefer to work at WP Engine? Go to our careers website to discover present openings and take a look at our weblog for extra inspiring tales from WP Engine’s consultants!
