Tea(m) Time with Melissa Wong
Please give a warm welcome to Melissa Wong who joins SoundCloud’s Community Team in San Francisco. Hailing originally from San Diego and with a background in food, she engages with the community every day as a Community Support Specialist and is running SoundCloud’s first food program. Say hello!
Hi! Thanks for doing this interview! Can you introduce yourself?
Hey there! Thanks for taking the time to get to know me a little better. I have been working at SoundCloud for just over 6 weeks and have been loving every minute of it! I’m originally from San Diego but moved up to the Bay Area to complete my undergraduate studies at UC Berkeley. Having created my own Interdisciplinary Studies major about technology and interpersonal relationships, I am delighted that I now get to engage with an online community everyday!
Can you take a minute and let us know what you do at SoundCloud?
I am proud to be the first Community Support Specialist in San Francisco. There’s a high chance that if you write into the SoundCloud help center and receive a response during waking Pacific Standard Time, it will be from me!
You are working from the San Francisco office is that correct? What do you love most about San Fran?
Hmmm…I’ve never been good at picking favorites. I will say that, after living in San Francisco, I will never be able to live in a flat place again. The terrain here is not only breathtaking but is reflective of the people that live here: varied. I love that I live in a place where I can drive an hour and be in wine country, at the beach, hiking in the woods; that I live in a place where freelance street vendors, designers, programmers, panhandlers, dog walkers, and food lovers co-exist so seamlessly.
This is a question I always love asking – How did you get introduced to the ‘Cloud?
After working in the Bay Area food scene for several years, I thought it was time to delve into the sister industry of the Bay Area: tech startups. But I wasn’t looking to just work at any startup, I was looking for a company profile and mission that really matched my interests and values and SoundCloud just kept coming back to me as the company that embodied all that I loved and respected about how an online platform can make everyone’s lives brighter.
And this is an easy one – What are your favorite things about working at SoundCloud so far?
Although there are many standout reasons to want to work at SoundCloud, including having headquarters in Berlin and a genuine support for employees to engage in non-work related learning, I think the people are really what make this job amazing. From my lovely co-workers in the SF office, to the awesome Community team in Berlin, to the passionate and appreciative users I get to interact with every day–the people in the SoundCloud community are what make my job so fulfilling.
At the moment, what are your favorite sounds on the ‘Cloud?
I’ve been listening to M. Ward’s new album “Wasteland Companion” on repeat this Spring.
Recent favorite is alt-J’s “An Awesome Wave”.
Lastly, do you have any fun facts you can tell us about?
I am currently heading up the food program at the San Francisco office. Growing up as a picky eater (who didn’t eat fruit or vegetables!), my parents would never have imagined that I would make gastronomic decisions for other people….
Where can we find you on the Interwebs?
SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/mellin
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/melissa_wong