A well-rounded team benefits everyone—from our team to our clients, to the people who use the websites we build. That’s because one of our goals is to work together to make the web a better place.
While our designers and engineers are pivotal to manifesting that reality, other roles play an important part, too. For example, last week, we introduced you to our two new technical strategists, who help our engineers fulfill their job duties by planning and strategizing client projects.
Today, we invite you to help us welcome two other new teammates: Melissa Hoppe, Administrative Assistant, and Rebecca Lockhart, Project Manager. Each person contributes to the success of our company and website projects. Please take a moment to get to know them both.
Melissa Hoppe, Administrative Assistant
As an administrative assistant at WebDevStudios (WDS), Melissa’s duties include supporting the management team and coordinating company organizational initiatives, such as our weekly scrum meetings, user software, and helping anyone out who needs it.
Something really interesting about Melissa’s presence is that this is not her first time at WDS’ rodeo. She worked here before from 2012-2015.
“It was a much smaller company,” describes Melissa, aka Mel. “I was first a customer service representative that handled the incoming requests and then I transitioned to being a project manager, for what was then, the newly acquired Maintainn.”
Things sure are different nowadays, but that doesn’t faze Mel one bit.
“Coming back nearly 10 years later, I’ve been excited to see how much we’ve grown,” she says. “Client processes have been ironed out to run smoothly, the new pod structure within the company is brilliant, and all around, WDS has truly become a force to be reckoned with.”
Mel reports that it was a mix of situations that lured her back to WDS. She had been deep into a logistics career when she decided she was ready for a change.
“I wanted to work for a company where I knew I would feel valued and appreciated,” says Mel, adding, “I also very much wanted to work from the comfort of my own home because I am, to the fullest extent, a homebody. When Lisa Sabin-Wilson was talking to me about how crazy busy her schedule was, I knew I could step in to help ease that for her. So, really, it was meant to be.”
When Mel isn’t pitching in at work, she is binge-watching shows and playing video games. She says that long-running shows with confusing plot lines are her go-to’s.
“I have been on a rerun binge of ‘Pretty Little Liars,’ but that wasn’t before I rewatched the entirety of ‘Game of Thrones,'” Mel tells us. “As for games, I am 100% sunk into ‘Overwatch 2’ at the moment. It just launched and I haven’t been able to put it down for any other game.”
Rebecca Lockhart, Project Manager
While Mel’s role at WDS includes supporting management, Rebecca’s includes support engineering by providing project management. This role keeps client projects on budget and on time, which keeps our clients quite happy.
“I act as a liaison between our clients and our engineering team,” Rebeccas clarifies, “Some of my job duties include breaking down projects into tasks, prioritizing those tasks, providing status updates to our clients, and producing weekly reports.”
She says she loves the creativity that goes into website design and development, adding, “I was impressed with WDS’s portfolio. I also wanted to work at a remote-first company with a close-knit group of talented and passionate people where I could build on my project management skills. WDS ticked all of the boxes for me.”
Previously in her career, Rebecca has been an English teacher, jewelry maker, and site integration specialist for a real estate software company. That’s some diverse experience, all of which benefit her current position.
“Managing a classroom requires a high level of planning, prioritization, and attention to detail,” Rebecca explains. She goes on to say that it was the same thing with running a creative business. “It’s all about how to best structure days and use your time.”
“As a site integration specialist, I oversaw projects from kick-off through launch. All of these experiences have taught me the importance of time management, relationship building, and good communication,” Rebecca says.
Rebecca is quite the foodie saying that she loves to eat her way around town.
“Mexican and Vietnamese are some of my favorite cuisines. I used to live in New York City, so there was no shortage of fabulous restaurants to discover,” she says.
However, now that she is in western Massachusettes, she spends a lot of weekend mornings at a local bakery around the corner that Rebecca claims makes the best egg sandwiches and croissants. Even when she travels, Rebecca has food on her mind.
“One of my favorite food destinations is Oaxaca, Mexico for all its specialties, like tamales and mole, and the mezcal,” says Rebecca.
Join the Team at WebDevStudios
We’re hiring! We’re searching for engineers, including an engineering manager. If you want to be like Mel and Rebecca and be among our newest teammates, please visit our Careers page and submit your application today.
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