Big passion for small business: This Scorpion engineer draws inspiration from the company's mission

by Brian Nordli
December 14, 2018
Anthony Ramirez
image via Scorpion

For the seven-year Scorpion veteran, Anthony Ramirez, dedication to his work and the company has been driven by more than perks and benefits alone. In fact, according to Ramirez, it's the mission of the company that fuels him.

Providing digital marketing tools such as advertising, web design, SEO optimization, content and social media marketing to small businesses, Scorpion's team has a direct impact on helping customers hit their growth goals. That opportunity — to support someone's success — continues to motivate Ramirez each day. 

Because of this passion and dedication, Ramirez has seen professional growth throughout his time at Scorpion, including a career shift: He began as a writer and has since become a senior systems engineer, where he has helped to revolutionize the company's platform. We spoke with Ramirez to learn more about his experience.

 

 

What motivated you to work in this field?

There were two things that got me excited, and the first was the culture at Scorpion. When I started, the company had only 50 people, and everyone treated each other like family. Every single person worked hard and made the environment fun.

The second part was due to our CEO, Rustin Kretz. In one of our earliest conversations, he explained why he has such a passion for what Scorpion does. It all came down to helping improve the lives of small business owners — putting their kids through college, helping them retire and enjoy vacations, helping to create jobs — and these were all things we could help create if we did our jobs well. That motivates me every day of the week.

 

We’ve evolved from a small, scrappy team of passionate people to a massive team with expertise in a mind-boggling number of topics.”

 

How has Scorpion evolved from when you first started?

The biggest change is that we’ve added over 600 people to the team. We’ve evolved from a small, scrappy team of passionate people to a massive team with expertise in a mind-boggling number of topics.

In addition, we started a leadership training course, which helps leaders build their skills as thought leaders, managers and subject matter experts. The two-hour course, which is open to new leaders and executive experts, introduces them to other experts in the company. We share thoughts, ideas and methods for improving our leadership skills. Our executive team promotes the program, and it never feels like a distraction from work. This is one of the coolest changes I’ve seen in the last year.

 

 

What would you consider your biggest accomplishment at Scorpion?

I recently worked on a project with the core development team that is revolutionizing the way we deliver our product to our clients. We streamlined and automated processes that used to be done by hand, freeing up team members to just do what they do best.

As part of that project, I helped create a tool that enabled our designers to directly interact with our websites. This gives them a live view of their final product using the tools and systems they’re comfortable with. When you get the reaction — “Are you serious? I didn’t know that was possible” — it tends to make you feel accomplished.

 

When you get the reaction — ‘Are you serious? I didn't know that was possible’ — it tends to make you feel accomplished."

 

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve encountered at Scorpion?

The biggest challenge I've encountered has been building a platform that affected every area of the company — this was nothing short of an odyssey. It’s a monster of a platform that required understanding every single aspect of our workflow, how every person does their job and how we can make their job easier. It required digging deep into the company’s core processes, working with team members in every office across the nation and an incredible amount of innovation and grit to see it through.

 

 

How does your team welcome new hires?

Every new hire goes through our week-long incubation training program, which gives you an opportunity to learn about the company, how each team functions, as well as our product lifecycle. The best part is the opportunity to sit with members from our executive team — occasionally even the CEO — and ask them about their time at the company, tips they have for doing well, what their expectations are and what the future looks like.

 

What opportunities are there to contribute right away?  

New hires are encouraged to dive in and learn as much as possible about their role, find opportunities to lend a hand and tag along with another coworker on a project. This is one of the fastest ways to get up to speed and learn how our culture and processes work.

 

Career and personal development are built into everything we do in the company: If you do well, people will notice, and that helps with your development.”

 

What does career and personal development look like at Scorpion?

Career and personal development are built into everything we do in the company: If you do well, people will notice, and that helps with your development. Doing well gives you the flexibility to ask for more responsibilities, train for your dream role and gives your team leader all the firepower and motivation they need to make it happen. I’ve been a product of that myself. I am where I am today because I hustled, stayed positive, friendly and helpful and took on every challenge that came my way.

 

 

Jobs at Scorpion

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