Justine McKenna, Implementation Manager

Justine McKenna, an Implementation Manager in the Wollongong office, is a Professional Service expert with a passion for training clients. Over the last 2 years, she has onboarded 80+ companies, trained hundreds of customers, and onboarded the largest client Accelo has had to date! She assures that each one of our clients has a seamless implementation and steers them on a path to success. Here's how Justine is #Accelorating her career!

What was your career journey to becoming our Implementation Manager?

I studied Media Communications and Business Management at the University of Wollongong because I was fascinated by the rise of digital media. From there, I started my career working for a large advertising agency in Sydney, NSW.

While I loved the fast-paced nature of the advertising industry and met so many amazing people, there was always something missing from it for me.

I grew up in a family that prided themselves on helping small-to-medium-sized businesses. Working for an extremely large corporation, I often didn’t know who or what I was impacting! I wanted to work for a company that was empowering these businesses where I could directly be a part of the impact.

Additionally, I was frustrated by the lack of project management and transparency of communications across business departments. Most of my day was spent filing emails and following people up for overdue tasks - way too much admin.

This led me to rethink my career trajectory and switch paths to the software/tech industry to pursue my interests in project management, training, and operational efficiencies. When I found Accelo, a platform established to help small-to-medium-sized businesses reduce their admin time, I knew it was the opportunity I was looking for.

Not to mention I needed a change of scenery! I had been working in Sydney for a few years and missed the coastal vibes of the Gong.

What is the most fulfilling part of your job?

I spend 3 to 4 months with most clients preparing them to go live in Accelo. I build custom workflows, create and import templates, and share invaluable industry best practices. The most fulfilling part of the role is seeing those clients go live and the feedback that follows. Clients are always overjoyed with how much quicker it is to log time and find the work they have due.

It’s awesome to be able to give our clients more time back in their day to do the work they love! For example, all of our digital agency clients can spend more time strategizing creative ideas and plans for their customers instead of worrying about the administrative side - our streamlined workflows and templates do all the heavy lifting. 

I really enjoy working with so many different clients from our core industries (engineering, digital agencies, accounting, IT/MSPs, business consulting) and learning about their varying services. For example, I am working with an Environmental Consulting firm that is doing great things for the community. I'm learning so much about their services and procedures that I can then share with other customers and the wider professional services team.

Which Accelo features are the most useful in your role?

ALL! Where do I begin...I use every single feature of Accelo in my role. I would be absolutely lost without the detailed project plans, tasks with checklists, and due dates. 

However, my favourite feature would have to be the stream! Gone are the days of having to manually file emails and search for historic conversations. 

The auto timer feature on emails is also a lifesaver.  Sometimes I spend 15 or 20 minutes responding to a client’s question or a training follow-up email and Accelo captures all this time directly against the project!

What’s one piece of advice you would give to someone starting at Accelo?

Join the awesome People Operations initiative, ‘Hello it’s Me’ (yes, like the Adele song HA!). Every fortnight, our People Operations team pairs you with someone in the business to chat in person or virtually for 30 minutes. This is how I met a lot of people in our Denver and SF offices! It’s awesome to chat with different people and departments to get a better understanding of how the business operates as a whole.

Work with Justine!

Are you a detail-oriented, tech-savvy self-starter with a knack for solving challenging business problems? We want to hear from you! Head to our careers page to read more about our open Professional Service roles in Wollongong, Denver, and San Francisco.