Greenfield Team Spotlight:

2020 learnings & silver linings

Featuring Rachel Fairbanks

Educational Services Team - Bay Area, California

*Photo from https://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/local-movie-theaters-are-beginning-to-reopen-heres-what-you-need-to-know/Content?oid=17488696*

1. Can you tell us what a day in the life of Rachel at Greenfield Learning is like?

A day in the life of Rachel starts with a snuggle with my puppy whilst scrolling through emails, voicemails, text messages, and my calendar, and making a plan for the day. Then it's meetings and more meetings, responding to emails, returning phone calls, and hosting webinars (my favorite part!). I love it when customers login early to the webinars and we get a chance to just chat. It's what I miss most about our in-person meetings. I love the camaraderie and banter with teachers. They tell the best stories!

2. What are three things most of the Greenfield team won't know about you?

a.) I spent two years in Asia working and traveling, and it's one of the best decisions I've ever made. b.) I'm a voracious reader. I always have at least two books going at one time. I am a good resource for book recommendations! c.) At the end of a long work day, I love to unwind and recharge in the movie theater. Prior to the pandemic, I could be found there at least once a week if not more. I sorely miss movie theaters these days.

3. What is your ‘passion project’ at Greenfield?

I love all the products we work with, but I think I love PowerUp most of all. Prior to coming to Greenfield, I worked on a national middle school campaign, and grew to understand the challenges that exist within the middle school realm. PowerUp does an amazing job of addressing these challenges in a way that makes middle schoolers really feel heard.

4. How did your roles change as you maneuvered the challenges of work and life in a pandemic?

One of the things I have enjoyed about working in a fully remote capacity is being able to work with customers that I normally wouldn't have worked with simply because the geography didn't warrant it. I was able to deliver webinars to some of our Canadian customers, and it was an absolute joy. I also feel as though we've really come together as a team to support one another as we deliver our webinars and conduct our meetings, and I wouldn't trade that for the world.

Logo from https://www.lexialearning.com/products/powerup

5. Do you have a funny story to share about a technical snafu?

I showed up to a brand new school to deliver a workshop, and the school didn't have any electricity. I've done plenty of workshops without wifi, but no electricity was a new one for me. But somehow, I made it work. I pantomimed, drew pictures, and used white boards to get my point across. Surprisingly, it went fairly well!

6. Any piece of advice or words of wisdom you have gleaned recently that you can leave us with as we kick off the fall?

It's important to relax, to remember that this is a new normal that we are all trying to navigate, and that mistakes will inevitably be made, and that's ok. The most important thing to remember is that ultimately, everything we do is for the kids.

We hope you enjoyed Rachel’s interview as much as we did! To read more of this Team Spotlight interview series, navigate back to: the Team Spotlight 2020 Learnings & Silver Linings main page.

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