Introducing Chris Hill - Business Development Manager - EMEA at KangaTech
What motivates you?
Well, there’s a lot that I could say on this but I’ll keep it relatively short: Being involved, recognised and valued for my efforts. I need to feel that I have achieved something and left a positive impact. Then there are factors like getting the best out of myself, financial freedom, fulfilment, positive social interactions, looking and feeling good, new experiences, pushing boundaries, proving people wrong. Experiencing fun, enjoyment and happiness is as many things as I can.
What does a day in the life look like for you?
It just depends on so many things.
I’m pretty sure there is nothing all that ground-breaking or innovative about anything I’ll share here! My focus is usually centred around “What can I do today that will make something that I want to happen, happen”, moving on to “How can I do this and what’s the best, fastest, most effective way to do it?” As a general kind of rule I try and break the day down into ‘external v internal’ and ‘reactive v proactive’ and I’ll try and attribute 80% of my time the 20% most important and urgent of these. By nature I’m much more of a ‘do-er’ than a planner or thinker.
Commonly, I’ll have 3 things that I have to achieve that day, at all costs. These don’t have to be big, complicated, or time consuming but they have to be done because I either gave myself my word or somebody else my word.(This ‘meet the team’ profile being one of them!).
Monday to Friday very much depends on whether I’m working from the office (remote) or out and about meeting clubs and practitioners. Let’s be honest, 9-5 doesn’t really work anymore, particularly when this doesn’t work for your clients and the industry in general. Added to that we all need to work across UK, Australian and US time zones too.
So long as my days are productive and I achieve what I wanted to do, I’m grand. I don’t need to have every hour of the day mapped out. I can’t stand to see a diary blocked out all day, that’s stresses me out. I’m far more productive and happy taking a flexible approach. I need to freedom to be creative and the space to be agile and reactive.
Ultimately, I know what my role requires and what I have been brought in to do, and everything is geared towards making that happen.
What drew you to working with KangaTech?
The quality and potential of both our technology and our people. If you can buy into this immediately, it’s a great start, and if you understand the role and the direction of the business, it’s probably going to be a very good decision long term.
I knew some of the guys from a previous role and felt very confident that I’d fit in well with the existing team. I’d spoken to some KT clients and been out to visit them with James Evans prior to joining so I knew the type of business that I was joining. Our CEO Steve, was what I’d refer to as a genuine, solid, straight up Aussies bloke and these types of people are great to work for, and with, in my experience. I’d never worked with him directly before but a number of my old colleague spoke very highly of him. In fact, an old boss of mine actually made the initial connection.
It’s also a big draw to join a company at a relatively early stage where you can have a bigger impact and ultimately feel that you’ve made a difference.
What do you think is the number one reason customers choose KangaTech KT360?
Trust, in our hardware, software and people. They know that our solution does what we say it does and they are confident that we can help solve their problems.
Which resources do you use to keep up with industry news?
Network and word of mouth, SportsTechie, Training Ground Guru, LinkedIn, Sportsmith
What are you most looking forward to in the next 12 months?
Professional
Success; having a meaningful contribution to the business. Whilst I have revenue targets and other KPI’s to exceed, I’m also very passionate about my broader contribution to the culture of the business, our identity and how we do things.
Personal:
Doing cool fun thing with my family like teaching the kids to cook and playing lounge football with my boy every single day, our first camping trip. Coaching our Mustangs U7 football team to the Garforth U7 League title, IRONMAN Italy, possibly IRONMAN Spain too, long distance swim event in Ullswater, come dine with me’s (with our mates), going to the Ryder Cup, some new tattoos, weekend in Ibiza with the missus, family holiday to Canada to see family, investing in a rental property, taking some more footy coaching qualifications, next series of Masterchef….loads of stuff to look forward to.