Welcome to Behind the Flame, a series created to showcase our incidentios.
Meet Eva Camus-Smith, Head of Legal here at incident.io.
Q: What has been your favorite incident.io memory?
As part of our company offsite to Marseille earlier this year we got to choose an activity and I opted for the hike and swim. It was beautiful, a lot of fun and a great opportunity to spend quality time with the team.
Q: What is the value that most resonates with you?
Find a way. incident.io is a fast-paced startup and it’s sometimes necessary to find creative ways to deal with issues.
Q: What is your favorite benefit?
Our share option scheme, I think it's a good way of keeping the team motivated and focused. Other than that, my favorite benefit is the last Friday of the month, but I'm sure a lot of people say that!
Q: What is your favorite Slack channel?
#pets, I absolutely love the channel. There's a lot of cuteness there; I enjoy logging in in the morning and seeing what the team’s dogs and cats are up to. Other than that, my favorite Slack channel is #celebrity-gossip, it's where I find out about all sorts of breaking news such as Molly May and Tommy Fury's recent breakup.
Q: If you could go back to your first day, what is one piece of advice you would give yourself?
It would be to sit with different teams within the business to get a thorough understanding of what everyone was working on and what their roles entailed. I wouldn't be nervous about asking lots of questions either, the team is fantastic, people are open and friendly, and having this extra context is helpful when you’re starting at a new business.
Q: What advice would you give to candidates interviewing with us?
Do plenty of research, there are a lot of materials available online. We have podcasts and blog articles, there is a huge amount to enable candidates to understand what we're doing as a business, priorities and also to get a good feel of what it’s like to work here. Additionally, think about what's important to you and come armed with questions that help you address those priorities. An interview is a two-way discussion - we need to understand if your skills and expertise are right for the role, but it's equally important for candidates to understand if this is the right business for them!
Q: How would you describe the culture in three words?
I would describe the culture as dynamic, fast-paced, and fun.
Q: What incident.io employee would you want to be stuck in a lift with?
I hope this isn't too general, but I would say one of the incident.io employees based in the United States. We work together closely and speak together regularly, but at the same time, it's great to have face-to-face time with people.
Q: What are you most looking forward to with the journey here at incident.io?
Seeing how things will be in the next six months and the next year. We're constantly pushing out changes, improvements and working on new product features. In the two years that I've been working here, I feel like I've worked at several iterations of the same company and I'm excited to see how that's going to continue in the future.
Q: What is something you're really proud to have worked on?
I am proud to have worked on some of our largest deals and helped the Sales team get them across the line. I'm excited and proud to have worked with Product on pushing our new products and features and, for example, working on the development of On-call and making that reality. Although I was a very small piece of the puzzle, I'm proud to have been involved in that.
Q: What is something that surprised you when you joined incident.io?
This shouldn't have surprised me because it was abundantly clear in the interview process, but working here means that you have the advantage of working with people who are top of their game. It's fantastic working with such motivated people who are inspiring you to be your best.
Q: If you were to work in another team for a day, what team would you join and why?
I would like to work in the Customer Success team and to work directly with our customers for a day I am interested in our Slack channel called #compliments and seeing a lot of the feedback that our customers give to us. This is important, both to understand what we're doing well and to understand where we can improve and what we may think about building next.
Q: What is the day-to-day like as the Head of Legal?
The day-to-day of legal work is completely versatile and changeable, which is why I enjoy it so much. I spend the first 30 minutes of my day working out what the priorities are because it's constantly shifting and changing and you've got to be open to that. Anything high priority is to be addressed first. The rest of the day is a combination of meetings with different teams to understand any issues, questions, or projects that they are working on and time for deep work where I can crack on with tasks.
Q: How does incident.io recognize and celebrate achievements/milestones?
incident.io is good at recognizing achievements and milestones such as anniversaries and birthdays, there's always plenty of cake in the office. We also have a #gratitude Slack channel where the team can recognize and thank team members for things they've been doing particularly well, it’s a nice opportunity to shine a light on people's achievements.
Q: How do you see your role developing in the next 6 to 12 months?
As the business expands it may be necessary for the Legal team to grow to address that resourcing need. The Legal function needs to remain agile and evolve as the business evolves, so for instance making sure that all processes and procedures reflect the current business requirements.
Q: Would you rather WFH or have a hybrid role?
I enjoy a hybrid setup. We've recently moved into a new office in Old Street, and the People team did an incredible job at finding a great office and making it beautiful. I love coming into the office, I think it's important to have in-person conversations and it’s good from a collaboration perspective. That being said, I also appreciate the flexibility to be able to work from home, which is particularly good for deep work.
