My journey with the team all began 14 years ago, not with lots of expectation or even with a clear idea of the path ahead of me but with a need that had to be addressed. I was becoming an adult and wanted to do my own thing. I wanted to be independent and support my family, travel with my friends, go out as I pleased, and I really wanted to stop riding the bus!
It all started with the underlying need to be free and do as I saw fit. I wanted to make my parent’s proud and do better and be better. Looking back over the years, it’s been one hell of a ride. It was August 2007 on a week day, when I stumbled upon an ad in the employment section of the local newspaper. The advertisement promoted a new company in the city. Rumor had it that it was a global company opening a site in Guatemala and they needed a reasonable amount of people so I said to myself "Hey, why not give it a try?" A couple of weeks later, a co-worker told me that he thought this was going to be a temp job when he initially applied, but guess what? He is still here after all these years. If you picture [24]7.ai 14 years ago; it was definitely not the type of setup we have now. It was a work in progress, the office was just four walls and a roof and the facilities definitely needed a facelift.
A few days later, I was hired and everything took off from there. It was a journey of hard work and sometimes long hours. There were ups and downs but it didn't matter to me, there was something different about this place, there was a sense of urgency, pride of getting things done, the importance of hitting your targets; it felt good to help people and in this ever changing environment, even to this day, no time to get bored at all.
Over the years, I've worked with different teams and performed different roles within the company, but I have always strived to learn as much as possible and to take advantage of everything that comes my way. I have dealt with issues and/or people at what seemed to be odd hours, working through issues that at times were hard to comprehend but over time, it made complete sense and of course new challenges and change are a constant in this industry. Team members come and go but some true friends remain. Friendships are forged through hard times and those relationships remain and grow inside and outside of these walls.
Over a decade has passed in this evolving and growing organization, where over time friends and family have contributed directly or indirectly to the success of not only the company but also the success its employees. Some of those friends have become the family you come to work with every day and that is the reason why I and many of my teammates choose to call this place home.
By: Edgar Navarijo, IT GUA, Senior Manager