Pros
I began working at Next Gear in 2015 in a support capacity at the Oxford, Mississippi headquarters. At the time, there was a definite “startup” energy, but not to say it was negative – it was an energizing environment to work in every day, even at weird hours (Next Gear serves the emergency service business, mind you)! The high energy, open-door environment allowed for tremendous learning and flexibility; there were many ways to contribute to the success and growth of the company. I certainly have experienced my fair share of growth here, both personally and professionally; a little over 6 years in total! In 2017, Next Gear provided an opportunity for me to move into a Business Development role at the Lehi, Utah office. It was an exciting and life-changing move, to say the least. When I arrived, I was living with two other Next Gear employees who had also relocated. The sales organization I joined, however, lacked the systems, leadership, and culture necessary to reach the results we knew were possible. In 2018, change arrived in the form of new leadership being brought in. Specifically, a VP of Sales and an Inside Sales Rep who now serves as the Inside Sales Manager. As it turned out, these two had a track record of transforming Sales organizations within several reputable organizations, and they had their work cut out for them at Next Gear circa 2018! I continued working as a BDR in the short term and began developing a relationship with both Jesse (Manager today) and Peter (VP of Sales). It was very clear from the start that each of them took an interest in developing relationships with the team at a personal level - especially Jesse! In fact, during the months of knowledge transfer that took place between myself and Jesse during his start here, he became increasingly invested in helping me find ways to utilize my technical knowledge of the products, with the goal of realizing new success for the team. This took the form of a new role being formed, where I was able to begin demoing, selling, and even onboarding customers onto one of Next Gear’s products that had not been traditionally sold. From there began what has now become an invaluable mentorship under Jesse that has, quite literally, changed the course of my life in invaluable ways. To give you an idea, Jesse, during one of our earliest conversations, gave me access to his audible library and encouraged me to dig into the material that had proved so valuable to him during his 20+ years of working in and managing sales teams - a small gesture that's provided tremendous value! When I was offered relocation to San Diego in 2019, he even opened his own home, offering me a place to stay until I could get settled into my own apartment. Today, our team is consistently hitting goals that were once unimaginable for me back in 2017; and we’re doing it on a monthly basis, with a sales team nearly half the size of the one I had originally been a part of during those early beginnings. I should mention that I enjoy a tremendous amount of autonomy and flexibility in my work yet somehow feel more energized about the future than ever before. While change has sometimes been difficult, I can say wholeheartedly that it’s all been for the better! My advice: take a chance on Next Gear! I am a testament to the fact that they will take a chance on you.
Cons
Next Gear could find ways to improve communication (and the infrastructure within which communication happens), especially since the remote-work shift. While considerable effort has been made to provide transparency at the top (which is appreciated!) there is a lot of information flowing through Teams and Atlassian on any given day that can be difficult to keep track of (and it makes it difficult for newer employees to face the learning curve that comes with onboarding!)