Melina, Knowledge Manager: Collaboration is our Culture

What do you remember about your first few months at Tinder?

I think there were about 50 employees when I joined. I was the first customer support representative hired on the Tinder HQ team. Customer support was only a team of two at that point, which meant my boss and I wore a lot of hats. It was super challenging and super rewarding, which comes with that startup environment. It was a very exciting time to be there because everything you did just had this major impact. That remains true today because we’re still a small team. 

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What is the most interesting professional experience you’ve gotten to have at Tinder?

There’s been so much growth both as an organization and individually as well. Specifically, in my role within member experience, we tend to support a lot of the product launches. We get to see the reaction once the product is launched. We support questions, concerns, and issues. Some [product launches] are mentioned in the press and some are more quiet, but in every case there is always an impact to members.

How would you describe how the company and the product have evolved throughout your time at Tinder?

When I first started we didn’t have subscriptions, so that was the most exciting thing that happened in my first year at Tinder. We’re used to seeing these premium features now, but before they were super innovative concept. It’s been fun to be a part of something that so many people use every day and to be a part of something that’s relevant for everyday people.

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How have you yourself evolved throughout your time at Tinder?

I’m super proud of my personal growth here at Tinder. It’s given me such an immense opportunity to grow professionally and personally. I feel very lucky to have been able to explore my interests and things that I feel passionate about. From my start as a customer support representative I grew into project management. Now I’m working as a knowledge manager within the member experience team. That evolution has been heavily influenced by the growth of our teams. As we’ve been able to increase the member experience team, we’ve been able to create pillars that didn’t exist before—like the knowledge team. Now that I've turned to knowledge as a career, I feel like I’ve found my home and the thing I want to stick to indefinitely. That was something that just didn’t exist at early Tinder. To get that opportunity to grow along with the team has been invaluable. 

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How do you hope to continue your career at Tinder?

I want to keep finding innovative ways to support Tinder. There’s a lot of opportunity in member experience to optimize, innovate, and keep up with tech. Right now, we have a team of two in knowledge within member experience. Because of that bandwidth, there's so much more we want to be doing. I’m super grateful to be a part of an organization that values member experience and that our team gets to be involved in conversations that aren’t necessarily prioritized at other companies. I think that’s a key to Tinder’s success as a business. 

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What makes you proud to work at Tinder, and what does it mean to you to be able to say you’ve worked for the same company for so long?

The thing that makes me the most proud is not necessarily the product itself (though that’s cool!). It’s the culture. I really value the collaboration. I have friends who work at other tech companies and not all tech companies have the same culture. There are drastic differences between each of them. We have really awesome values and you can feel like your voice is heard. I feel like I’m valued as an employee and Tinder has my best interests in mind. 

What would you say to the version of yourself that just started working at Tinder?

A lot! Probably my best advice to my previous self would be to stay curious and ask questions. I still try to do that to this day. It’s so important to feel comfortable enough to form and then voice your thoughts and opinions, and it’s something that’s very welcome at Tinder and on our team specifically. I was in my early 20s at that point, and at that stage where I felt new to the working world. Telling myself to speak up and be comfortable speaking up would be the best advice. 

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What advice do you have for the newest members of the Tinder Team?

Everyone is super approachable and there are open channels for communication. Don’t be afraid to reach out and ask questions. Investigate, discover, research. Cross-functional communication is so crucial.

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Finish this sentence: “Remember that time when…”

…we had NERF guns in the office? That’s the first thing that comes to mind!

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