Meet Lee Morgan, Senior Custom Solutions Engineer at Mimir

Employer: Mimir

Job Title: Senior Custom Solutions Engineer

Degree Path: BS (Financial Planning), MBA (Business), MS (IU’s School of Informatics), SHRM-CP

Hometown: Chicago, IL

Current Location: Zionsville, IN

What led you to your getting into tech and this occupation? What was your first job in tech?

My background was primarily in finance with a significant technical bent. I have always had a significant interest in the tech industry. Although my career trajectory was elsewhere, a friend alerted me to TechPoint’s Sales Bootcamp program that facilitated my transition into the tech industry and my first tech-focused role.

What has been your career path so far?

I started out in corporate banking, moved into corporate finance and then a wholesale banker followed with my current role with Mimir as a customer solutions engineer.

When you think of a day in your life, what are the main work activities you do or responsibilities you have?

At Mimir, my primary focus is on serving our existing and new customers as well as key prospects. I am primarily responsible for managing a portfolio of existing and new customers, including some of our largest customers; evangelizing on their behalf within our company; including providing the voice of the customer to our marketing and product teams as well as sharing customer behavior and insights with our design and engineering teams.

Help us picture your work environment.

At Mimir, we work in an open environment that fosters collaboration and communication as our desks are in close proximity to each other. We can easily collaborate, join relevant conversations, and remain transparent and accountable to each other. The workspace options are robust, including a variety of furniture, access to different floors, the ability to take walking meetings or the ability to work remote as needed. Since we are able to interact with each other easily, we often keep work and personal conversations intertwined throughout the day, which helps to keep our culture friendly and open.

What do you love about the work you do?

I have great colleagues who are sharp, intelligent people led by engaged founders who truly care about the team they have brought together. Our mission is centered around increasing computer science education, including with underrepresented groups; and I enjoy that our company is forward thinking and finds value in large-scale movements like open education resources (OER). That, combined with collaborative efforts from some of our customers and partners is helping to increase access to computer science education while reducing costs for students.

Which personality traits, interests, and abilities are important or common for a person to succeed in and enjoy this occupation?

For me, a key to succeeding and enjoying this role is to be open to the experience, to be curious and to be generous with your time and with your colleagues. You have to want to make an effort to engage, whether with colleagues or customers daily and have a desire to grow and keep learning as well as you have to care about others, including all your stakeholders.

Which tools/technologies or technical skills are particularly important for a person in your job to be proficient in?

For someone in my current role, interpersonal skills are key, along with the ability to be collegial, to be empathetic, to be open to new people and experiences, to get out of your comfort zone; along with the relevant technical skill set that is required to do the role, in my case our product, Mimir Classroom, as we engage with a very highly educated customer base and must target our outreach accordingly.

Which soft skills (general business skills or employability skills) are particularly important for a person in this occupation to be proficient in? Some examples could include problem-solving, negotiating, communication, teamwork, and time management skills.

Honestly, all of the above are important in my role, but what is most important is the ability to listen to what your customers are saying and what they are not saying as you need to understand their pain in order to provide them with a targeted, relevant solution that solves their problem.

From your experience with new grads applying for and beginning jobs in this occupation, are they missing any particular knowledge, skills, or experiences that hold them back?

With new grads as with most, it’s about getting the experience necessary to succeed in the role. It takes time and the necessary growing pains and growth that are developed in doing the job: engaging with customers and prospects, learning how to delve deeper in order to get to what is actually the issue at hand, to truly understand what is their true pain point. It’s the ability to have a deep mutually beneficial discussion that allows a potential customer to reveal what is causing them consternation and how you may be able to provide a solution.

Which resources, people, books, websites, etc. would you recommend to those who want to learn more or advance their skills in this occupation?

I was fortunate to have access to a great sales leader and trainer, Matt Nettleton, through TechPoint’s Sales Bootcamp program. but if you do not have access to a Matt Nettleton, I would take every opportunity to learn, whether it’s a particular book, seminar, webinar, colleague, or guru. Be open to learning, to expanding your network and be open to seeking out those opportunities for additional knowledge and assistance as Indianapolis’ tech scene has great groups that foster knowledge exchange and networking–seek out those as they are a great resource with great people.

What encouragement or advice would you offer to others considering this occupation or wanting to stand out amongst others?

Outside of the required tech skills to do the job, to stand out it really is about building your interpersonal relationship skills along with a focused, repeatable sales methodology that helps you get to what is truly causing the potential customer pain and how your solution can help them.