My Name Is Suthamie Poologasingham — This Is Why I Joined Aha!

Where did you grow up? For me the answer is a bit complex. As the daughter of a diplomat, I had the opportunity to live in seven different countries — Kenya, Kuwait, Sri Lanka, Italy, Austria, France, and Canada. Being around diverse groups of people made me realize that everyone is fundamentally alike. No matter where you live or what your circumstances are, we are all looking for a sense of belonging and acceptance.

Whether at work or in my personal life, I am happiest when I am surrounded by a community of people who are genuine, kind, and caring.

I studied computer science at Mount Holyoke College. While I enjoyed coding, I quickly realized that I liked planning high-level projects more than just the technical details. So I began freelancing on website development projects — helping folks create sites for their small businesses and other ventures.

Over the next decade, I moved into retail consulting where I advised some of the biggest retailers on their e-commerce and website strategy and expansion plans. I worked closely with developers, designers, and clients to learn about their goals and understand exactly what they needed. Eventually I became a director of research, gathering customer insights and translating them into actionable items to improve how users interacted with a website.

I also embraced the opportunity to speak at various conferences and write thought leadership articles about digital strategy and best practices. Sharing what I had learned up to this point in my career helped expand my thinking and prompted thought-provoking conversations with my colleagues.

Working with a variety of clients was energizing, but I wanted to focus my efforts on one company — deepening relationships with teammates and seeing the results of my recommendations. I moved on to working as a web marketing manager for a few different organizations.

I was fortunate to work with amazing people at some great companies — but I discovered that my core values were not always aligned with traditional corporate culture.

I continued to seek an environment where trust, transparency, and creativity were highly valued. I was looking for a company that put employee happiness first and whose values matched mine: treating others with respect, sharing feelings and opinions transparently, and building strong relationships rooted in patience and kindness.

When I came across Aha! on LinkedIn, the job description for web manager caught my eye. It sounded like a perfect fit for my skill set. And reading that a real human reviews every application stunned me — that alone was so different than most other companies.

Everyone I spoke to during the interview process was open and down-to-earth. I could feel that they were excited about speaking with me and learning how my experience aligned with the role. I also read the blog posts closely to better understand the values of the team, and I realized that these were people I wanted to work with each day.

As I have advanced in my career, I have figured out what matters most to me — being part of a company and team whose values align with my own.

Since joining Aha! I have focused on relaunching our website to better reflect our brand and suite of products. I also work on optimizing the website and our landing pages to increase engagement. I love jumping in and collaborating with different groups, from product and UX to product marketing and content.

My favorite part about being at Aha! is the people. My teammates are intelligent yet humble. Funny as well as kind — always willing to push me where and when I need it. I know that we are committed to solving problems and tackling challenges together.

The culture is overwhelmingly positive — it is all about working towards common goals, communication, resolution, and measuring outcomes. No drama and no blame games. This is what propels the company forward. And it makes for an amazing community that I am proud to call my own.

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