My Name Is Lauren Davaloz — This Is Why I Joined Aha!

I have always been a striver. From a very early age, I would set goals and hold myself accountable for reaching them. This is how I became the first person in my family to graduate college. (And why I cheer so hard for my Michigan Wolverines.)

However, my striving has never been just about me — I also love helping others reach their full potential.  

Attending the University of Michigan was my first really big goal. I decided to go there because I wanted to be surrounded by other passionate and hard-working people. I wanted to be exposed to people from different backgrounds and ways of thinking — I saw it as an opportunity to understand what motivates people and how they make decisions. I also knew it would challenge my own mindset.

I began to study psychology and quickly realized I was interested in more than the clinical side — I wanted to know how those principles could be applied in an everyday setting. I was curious about what drives people to make certain decisions and choose one path over another. So, I pursued a degree in psychology with a focus on human resources.

I wanted to get to the real heart of business — how to make people happier and more fulfilled at work.

After college, I started an internship in recruiting with Quicken Loans. It was fast-paced and goal-oriented work. Even better, I got the chance to talk with people from all kinds of backgrounds, match them with the right opportunities, and help the company grow.

There was a strong sense of community on the team — people valued working with urgency and continuous improvement. After my internship ended, I stayed on in an administrative role. But I wanted to explore human resources more deeply to see if that would allow me to impact more people.

So, I moved into an HR generalist role at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. It was a massive enterprise — very different from the culture I experienced at Quicken. While I learned a lot, I found myself missing both the fast pace and sense of community. I also learned that while HR generalists can positively affect the organization, I missed the tangible reward of matching candidates to open roles in which they could succeed.

Tapping back into my recruiting skills, I searched for a role that gave me the culture and values I was missing. I found it at a startup called FarmLogs, a software company that helps farmers be more efficient and profitable. I became the company’s first and only recruiter.

It was an exciting opportunity — I helped build the recruiting function from the ground up.

The company was in its early stages. And over the next two and a half years, I got to help scale the team from 25 to 80 people. Contributing to the company’s growth was satisfying, but something was missing. I knew that company culture was important to me and that I also wanted to work somewhere that had a clear vision and goals. I wanted to work at a company that would challenge me to be my best.

I saw a blog post for Aha! as I was scrolling through LinkedIn one day. The company sounded interesting, so I began to read through the blog and website. I was impressed. It was refreshing to read about a company that valued transparency, responsiveness, and kindness.

As a recruiter, it was especially important to me to find a company I really believed in — one that I could be proud to represent to candidates.

From my very first interview, it was clear Aha! was that kind of company. Everyone I spoke to was hard-working and passionate about what they did. And I could tell it was the kind of environment where people pushed each other to be better.

Since joining, my focus has been on finding exceptional candidates for our Customer Success team. I get to talk with product managers daily about how they can use their talents and skills to help our customers grow and make better products. It is a rewarding cycle.

Everyone at Aha! cares deeply about the product, the customer, and each other. It is an inspiring team. The best part is that I am surrounded by fellow strivers. My teammates encourage me to grow and learn. And I work hard every day to help them do the same.

That is why I joined Aha! — and why you should too.