Steve, our Chief of Staff, recently celebrated his 10-year anniversary at MadeCurious. From accountancy in Singapore to tech in New Zealand, his journey showcases the growth opportunities and supportive culture we value. If you're considering a career change or curious about life at MadeCurious, read on!
How did you find yourself at Media Suite (MadeCurious.)?
Ha - how much time do we have? Long story short - I had trouble convincing my (now) wife, Estella, to return to Singapore after she finished up at uni. I wasn't feeling particularly happy in Singapore anyway, so I took a leap and moved to Ōtautahi (Christchurch) too. While job hunting, I came across Dev Academy, thinking it might be my chance to pursue my long-term interest in tech - so I signed up and relocated to Wellington for three months to complete the programme in person.
Because I was returning to Christchurch unlike most of my cohort - Josh, a co-founder of Dev Academy and director here at MadeCurious. (then Media Suite), introduced me to George, founder of MadeCurious. As if looking for a new job, in a new industry, in a new country wasn't terrifying enough for an introvert, George invited me to meet the engineering team at NodeConf which Media Suite was hosting. But thankfully I did enough to land an intern position, and the rest, as they say, is history.
You had a past career/s before you got into software development - tell us about that transition.
Switching from accountancy (and business analysis before that) to software engineering was thankfully not that bad - the analytical thinking, need for attention to details and looking for ways to improve things are all transferable. As someone who's always loved solving puzzles and problems - designing solutions and writing code gave me much more satisfaction than shuffling numbers and publishing reports.
What was exciting, scary but freeing at the same time - was adapting to a whole new country and culture while unlearning things you grew up with. I ended up being quite withdrawn for the first few years, often retreating into my spot at the back of the room. But the team were (and still are) incredibly accommodating and gave me the right balance of space and support - never pushed me too far too quickly, which made a world of difference during that transition, and I remain deeply grateful for it.
When you started, what was your role and what did that involve?
An intern software developer! I started out by picking up small pieces of work on ACC RoadSafetyRisk, Cruise Guide for Marlborough and Wordpress sites we took care of - while learning the craft and ways of working. There were a lot of energy drinks, technical banter and pair programming - especially with Mark and Matt (who were my mentors, and are both still at MadeCurious!). I'm just relieved I did enough to convince them to keep me after the internship!
How did your role evolve over the years?
Well, I stayed on as a junior developer on myWorksites, before taking on QA responsibilities too. As myWorksites grew, I became the support analyst, triaging tickets and working with engineers to improve the app. Then we started developing and maintaining more digital solutions - and my role expanded to become the application support manager across our managed services suite.
Most recently, if you can still call 2022 that, was stepping in as Abi’s chief of staff as she took the reins as our General Manager. (Here’s a shameless plug of my blog around my role at MC.)
Crazy winding path that no one was expecting - but it's been fun growing alongside the company with lots of learning, and has given me context and relationships across the business, which is helpful in my current role.
A lot has happened over the last 10 years, what are some highlights?
So much has happened - particularly in the past few years, it’s hard to know where to start!
Professionally, watching the team around me grow and succeed either at MadeCurious, or elsewhere as our alumni has been amazing. Helping establish our coaching setup alongside Abi to create spaces for the team to reflect and find their voice has to be one of the things I’m proudest of.
Watching myWorksites do well has been particularly rewarding - a project I've worked on in various roles since my early days here. Having navigated plenty of highs and lows, it's satisfying to see it now resting in good hands with talented folks continuing to nurture it.
Having weathered a pandemic, economical shifts and rapid evolution of technology together - it’s heartening that despite many things changing, our values are enduring and our care for our people remains intact.
On the personal front, giving up my Singapore citizenship to become fully Kiwi ranks pretty high up the highlights list - alongside getting married to Estella, and having our lovely daughter Sophie who keeps me in check all the time.
What about changes in the industry?
We’re quite lucky here at MadeCurious as diversity’s always been a big part of who we are - but the tech industry as a whole is becoming more diverse. That’s encouraging, though there’s still plenty of progress to be made.
Technology has evolved at a dizzying pace over the last decade - and accelerated after the growth in popularity of LLMs and GenAI. What hasn't changed is that successful digital solutions still rely on understanding human needs first.
The temptation to see technology as the answer to everything has grown stronger, and I often wonder if we as an industry have done a good enough job to help with the transition - potentially leaving lots of people behind.
The most successful projects I’ve worked on have balanced technical innovations with thoughtful change management and genuine care for the people using these systems. And that is what we at MadeCurious. refer to as ‘building the right thing’
What are your biggest takeaways or lessons-learned from the last 10 years?
Not writing people off, because people can and will change. It’s only because I kept being given opportunities and support, and a change of environment that I’m in a happy place right now.
I don’t always succeed - but I try to assume best intentions and remind myself and people around me that everyone is trying their best, with whatever resources they have, in the environment they're in.
If someone is thinking about working at MadeCurious, what would you say are the best parts about the job (and the company) itself?
The endless treats in the office, and hot chocolates down the street from our friends at The Cake Eating Company, where many coaching sessions happen.
In all seriousness, cliche as it might sound, it’s definitely the people and the space for you to be yourself - quirks, warts and all. Everyone at MadeCurious. is awesome in their own way, but the care for each other, the organisation and our customers is genuine and consistent. When navigating bumpy patches, like the past few years, it's the connection and trust we’ve built that’s pulled us through and kept us moving forward.
You mentioned "the people" as the best part of working at MadeCurious. - could you share a specific example of how the team has supported you or made a difference?
I had to work remotely from Dunedin for a year. It was gloomy (as you’d expect), isolating and challenging mentally - and I struggled badly. Having grown up in an environment where there’s often stigma around discussing mental health challenges - it didn’t even occur to me that was what’s happening.
But the team, especially Abi, somehow managed to piece it all together, and started checking in on me regularly, sending me care packs and even flying me back to Christchurch to be with the team frequently. It was also them who nudged me to talk to someone and made me feel safe enough to talk about it - something that most definitely went against my cultural conditioning.
That is the kind of workplace MadeCurious is - one that respects your background, while helping you grow beyond limitations and baggage you might not even realise you’re carrying. That culture’s definitely worth protecting and nurturing, and probably why I’m still here a decade later!
