Ask An Avenger: How Inspire’s Operations Team ‘Crushes It’

As Avengers, we now live by our five values: Own It, Study It, Coach It, Live It, and Crush It. We’re taking a moment to celebrate our Operations team for winning our first Avenger of the Month award for our newest value, “Crush It.”

Crush It: Avengers have a strong bias towards action. We realize that high performance takes grit and commitment. We are willing to fail in pursuit of audacious goals. We never compromise high standards for the sake of keeping the peace. We are one team. We are determined to win.

Our Operations team is a vital part of our business. Every day, they build systems and provide tools that enable our business to grow. They ensure the quality and flow of data, facilitate business decisions, detect issues to ensure a seamless member experience, and consistently improve processes that allow our business to transform. It’s a busy job; not meant for the careless or the uninventive.

Thanks to this team, we’re not only celebrating the first Avenger of the Month for our ‘Crush It’ value, we’re also celebrating the first time an entire team has won our Avenger of the Month award. The team was recognized for its bias towards action while managing a critical situation that impacted the entire retail industry. Our Ops team worked together to establish a communications framework across stakeholders, partners, vendors, utilities, and council. They acted quickly to execute a plan that prioritized and facilitated resolution based on severity and impact — a true team effort! We sat down with the team to talk about all things ‘Crush It,’ and here’s what they had to say:

Q: You’re the first team to be crowned Avenger of the Month for our newest value ‘Crush It,’ how does that feel?

Jason Sweedler - Sr. Manager of Operations

Being recognized by your peers is always a humbling experience, especially working with so many talented and relentless Avengers here at Inspire. ‘Crush It’ is my favorite value. We have lofty goals for ourselves and our business — having a bias towards action and working as one team is key to reaching the summit.

Q: What are you looking forward to crushing over the next few months?

Meghan Griffiths - Operations Manager

I’m looking forward to crushing both my departmental and personal goals! From an Ops perspective, we are going to continue to leverage technology to implement process and automate necessary functions. We have some aggressive goals, and I’m looking forward to helping them come to life. I’m also looking forward to continuing my involvement in the Philadelphia tech and sustainability communities. I’m lucky to live in Philadelphia, where there are different events happening all time. I’ve had the opportunity to meet great individuals who are also looking to make a change.

Q: What do you enjoy most about being on the Ops team?

Molly McCarron - Operations Analyst

I enjoy working on the Ops team because we are always challenged to think outside of the box while solving problems and ideating enhancements to current processes. Our responsibilities are rarely a one-person show, and often times we are meeting with each other and cross-functionally to come up with solutions.

Q: Nancy, you joined Inspire’s Ops team through Drexel's Co-op program. What made you choose Inspire specifically?

Nancy Pan - Operations Analyst

My first impression of Inspire that differentiates from all other companies is the adoption of our transparent, goals-driven culture. When I first joined, I felt right at home; it was that “aha” moment that told me right away that I made the right choice. Inspire is not your typical company — we encourage creativity, intellect, individuality, and effort in every employee. Everyone is energetic about their work and passionate about creating a product that is functional and relevant, with the potential to make a lasting impact on our planet. Our employees are open to ideas, outspoken, and charismatic leaders in the energy industry. I immediately noticed that Inspire set out to do something big, and I wanted to be a part of that mission.

Q: How have your expectations of the experience compared to actually being here?

Nancy Pan - Operations Analyst

I expected the internship to be your standard 9 to 5 job; where you’re only there to complete the assigned tasks and hope to make a few connections along the way. However, when I first joined, Inspire was completely different from that expectation. The work consistently challenges me to think outside of the box; there is never a dull moment. The most astonishing thing I learned while being here is that every individual working at Inspire is passionate about revolutionizing renewable energy. The team is always pushing forward towards its mission of creating a brighter energy future — whether through its work, volunteering, or personal actions. We are all united under one mission and that is something you don’t find everywhere.

Our Ops team sets the standard for what ‘Crushing It’ looks like at Inspire. Avengers who are highly motivated, enthusiastic about our business, and willing to put in consistent hard work are key to the success of Inspire. We thank the Ops team for being agile and tackling challenges with precision and swiftness — like true Avengers! If you’re interested in joining our Operations team and our everlasting attempts to ‘Crush It,’ check out our open positions here.