Welcome to UpKeep — Devon Montgomery

Welcoming Devon Montgomery to the UpKeep Family!

[Image not migrated]

We’re so excited to welcome Devon to the team this week! Devon is joining us as our Sales Development Representative, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to have him on board! Here is our interview with him!

We’re excited to welcome you to the UpKeep family today, Devon! Tell us a little about yourself! 

I recently graduated from Colorado State University (SKO RAMS) with a Bachelor’s Degree in Health and Human Sciences with a concentration on Sports Medicine. For three years, I majored in Psychology and minored in Nutrition and Biomedical Sciences. My original aspiration was to be an orthopedic surgeon, but about halfway through my last year of undergrad, I decided that I need a break from school after graduation to figure life out. My passion has always been helping people, fitness, and also technology. I am contemplating going back to school and getting a Master's in Computer Sciences, possibly becoming a software engineer, which is why I am so thankful to have such an amazing opportunity to work for UpKeep!

How did you first get into Sales?

I first got into Sales when I was 19. I was a sponsored athlete for this company and stopped by one of their stores to pick up some free products. When I walked in, the regional manager was attempting to juggle five customers at once, guiding them through the sales process while also cashing out others. So, I stepped in to help explain products and understand what the customers may need based on their goals. After the rush, he asked me if I wanted a job working there. The following two weeks at one location, I had the most sales with the highest PM (profit margin), so the regional manager once again offered me a position, but this time to be the manager of my own store while I was in school. In that year, I brought the store from doing $35K monthly to $74K monthly.

Why are you excited to join UpKeep?

I am excited to join UpKeep for so many reasons. There is so much to learn by working for this company and I am very excited to grow personally and to assist in the growth of the company. I am also excited to be able to work in SaaS considering I love computer sciences, but what makes me the most excited to join UpKeep is the community. This company doesn’t seem like everyone is just a coworker here, but it seems like one big family. Everyone is so friendly and kind. The company has an amazing culture and simply just being able to talk to Ryan on my first day of onboarding showed that to me. In other companies, I never even got to see the face of the owner, let alone meet them. It is obvious that Ryan has cultivated and will continue to cultivate a strong community in his company.

What are your first thoughts about the culture and team so far?

Going off of my answer to the previous question, I love the culture and the team. It is a strong, close-knit community even though it continues to grow. Everyone is so open and welcoming to each and every person that works for the company, and also very respectful of one another. It seems like everyone has each other’s best interests in mind and not just their own. Ryan has done a great job growing this company and I hope to play a big role in the growth of the company as well.

Devon, we have to know - what’s the story behind Rezdawg Rescue?

Rezdawg Rescue is an NPO around rescuing animals from the four corners. The rescue started out rescuing dogs from Native American reservations, hence the name. Reservations typically have a lot of strays that were either born a stray or were abandoned and became a stray. It was started here in Colorado by my stepmom’s friend, Angela. Most of the animals actually come from New Mexico reservations (and now it is all animals not just dogs), but they are also rescued from kill shelters all over the four corner states. Instead of those shelters putting down the animals due to an overpopulated shelter, our fosters go and pick up full van-loads of animals to bring back and distribute to other fosters. They take care of all spays/neuters, vaccines, chips, etc., and get the animal to be more socialized with humans and other animals until they are “adoption ready”. In 2019 alone, over 1,700 animals were rescued by Rezdawg.

Finally, and most importantly, what would you be if you were a kitchen utensil?

I would choose a sponge because I am soaking up all of the info that UpKeep is teaching me during this onboarding process, and I am going to squeeze out the information when I begin to start talking to customers.

Welcome, Devon!