My Resume, Explained

Zoe Zoeller

(210)602-9639 / zzoeller97@utexas.edu

EDUCATION

The University of Texas at Austin May 2020

Bachelor of Arts

Rhetoric and Writing, Women's and Gender Studies

Certified Clinical Medical Assistant through the American Health Association May 2016

EXPERIENCE

Semrush, Inc., Dallas, Tx June 2020 - June 2021

Customer Success Specialist November 2020 - June 2021

Gained an advanced understanding of website development, SEO, and Google best practices
Communicated effectively with customers via email, phone call, and live chat with complex technical website questions and simple subscription issues alike to ensure customer success
Led internal meetings as well as weekly customer demos to educate users and maintain customer relationships
Thrived in a fast-paced, demanding, and high throughput environment
Exhibited the tenants of honesty, empathy, and constant growth in the role daily

Sales Development Representative June 2020 - November 2021

Honed and perfected sales rhetoric to build strong customer relationships and ensure positive customer experience, assist with building an effective SEO workflow and provide ongoing support to ensure customer satisfaction
Performed daily sales demos to clientele, demonstrating the technical aspects of the software to diverse audiences
Maintained advanced knowledge of website development, SEO, and SEM
Warm called over 30 prospective clients a day

The League of Women Voters of Texas, Austin, Texas August 2017 - May 2019

Advocacy Intern

Wrote public relations statements, crafted emails managed social media content, and created educational videos
Actively lobbied and gave testimony in front of Texas Congress
Researched tax and income for lateral nonprofits and organizations
Developed the Voter Guide and public educational documents on nonpartisan voting issues

UT Call Center, Austin, Tx January 2019 - March 2019

Student Caller

Cold-called approximately 200 alumni or University associates a day
Used consultative skills to pinpoint opportunities, overcome objections, strengthen relationships and transfer cold canvassing into donations for the University of Texas

Computer Skills

Constant Contact
Canva
Buffer
Salesforce

Semrush
LinkedIn
Wix
Google Suite

Instagram
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube

Gong
Chorus
Conversica

COMMUNITY SERVICE AND INTERESTS

Volunteer, LWVTX
Volunteer, Texas Education Agency
Videographer, San Antonio Symphony
Volunteer, San Antonio Food Bank
Copywriter, Various

Hiking, Yoga, and Camping
Digital Marketing
Reading
Voter Education and Equity
Playing the Clarinet, Jazz, and Classical

Lobbying
Continuing Education
Blogging, Copywriting, and General Writing
Knitting

Customer Success Specialist

I transitioned into a Customer Success Specialist with Semrush in November of 2020. During my time as an SDR, I began to focus more on the demo process and continuing education and support for Semrush users, and because of this, I became a better fit for the Customer Success role. During my time as a Customer Success Specialist, I was not only expected to have a very intimate knowledge of our software and the SEO industry but I was expected to learn website development and diagnostics to assist users with technical site health questions. During my time in this role, I learned the basics of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Google best practices for technical SEO, and on-site SEO. I supported users via phone calls, live chats and emails, and received around 20 calls per day and around 30 email cases per day. I shifted my focus in this role to customer rapport and satisfaction, and I performed around two customer success demos per week and impromptu screen shares when necessary. The Customer Success team was focused on the tenants of curiosity, empathy, and constant growth, which I not only look to embody in the workplace but in my daily life as well. It was refreshing to work with a team that promoted asking powerful questions and jumping into cases feet first to promote consistent education. This role was the most educational and supportive role I have ever filled, and I was able to practice delegation and organization with the team in order to maintain customer communications rapidly and efficiently.

I worked as a Sales Development Representative for Semrush Inc. from June 2020 to November 2020, and I learned a great deal during my time with Semrush. SDRs at Semrush were required to make 30 warm calls a day, perform email and text message outreach, and perform sales demos for interested parties. We were expected to have an extensive technical understanding of the product and of the industry. Sales demos were our bread and butter - leading potential users through the powerful functions of the tool and building custom workflows to meet customer needs and resolve pain points. We also were expected to fully close deals and maintain customer relationships for three months to ensure customer satisfaction and to look for further sales opportunities before handing leads off to an account manager. Continuing education was a large tenant of being a Semrush employee, and asking questions was encouraged - something that I think is vital, not only for a company as a whole but to engage employees and create a growth-minded atmosphere. I was able to hone my sales rhetoric and my customer relations skills in this role, and the ongoing support of the management and staff allowed me to build my own sales techniques while simultaneously building up the team. I have always had a pension for persuasive rhetoric, but this opportunity allowed me to polish my objection handling skills and grow as a persuasive speaker with diverse prospects, from small bloggers to the CEOs of companies.

Sales Development Representative

Serving

I entered the workforce as a server in 2014 when I was 16 years old. Since then I have retained many different serving jobs, learning the unique structure of the food service industry, practicing my sales skills, honing my people skills, learning how to maintain a poker face and being able to stay calm during a crisis. While each location has its own set of challenges and rewards, working in environments from upscale to casual dining opened my eyes to the attitudes and expectations of many different types of folks. Not only do servers gain leadership and teamwork skills, we also understand a distinctive part of American culture. I believe that this foundation supports my public speaking skills, confidence in business, leadership mentality, teamwork delegation, and helpful disposition.

Medical Assisting

This was single handedly the most invigorating and unique job that I have ever had. I had the opportunity to work in a low income community, which is a universe of its own when it comes to healthcare. I understand how to work within medical charting applications, navigating insurance claims, front desk work, and scribe work. I also have two years of experience in doing minor procedures such as phlebotomy work, minor stitches, cyst removal, wound care, injections, and assisting medical staff with more difficult procedures. Being a CCMA requires a certain amount of empathy, objectivity and flexibility if one wants to connect to patients, gain their trust, and understand how to treat them effectively. Low income populations, populations relying on medicare and medicaid, non-english speakers and other unique communities have specific needs. A CCMA must be open to understanding new and different populations so that they might grow, connect with and understand the difficulties that these communities face. Every day I came away with new friends, new connections, and new experiences that would blow my mind. Each day was full of learning with a quick and emergent pace where, if a staff member makes a single mistake, someone could be seriously injured or even die.

Music

Both of my parents are musicians and I have been exposed to music for my entire life. My mother taught marching band while pregnant with me, so you could say I was a born musician. I have worked with the San Antonio Symphony's Brass Band camps for two years, filming and interviewing staff for camp archives. Even before this, I have filmed, photographed, interviewed, and archived classical and jazz musicians in San Antonio ever since I could hold a camera because of my inherent relationships with musicians in the city. I have played the clarinet for around 10 years, understanding the ins and outs of jazz and classical bands, competitions, organizations, and even the industry in which they work. I have experience playing in competitions, clarinet choirs, ensembles, churches, and just for fun. I do believe that reading music is like learning another language. I believe that practicing music can be a meditative experience that builds discipline and an appreciation for the arts that can seldom be found elsewhere. Understanding how to operate as one piece of a larger ensemble promotes teamwork skills, respect for peers, self-discipline, and a type of friendship that only band nerds can relate to.

While I do have a great deal of sales-related experience such as serving, fundraising, advertising, and writing persuasively, cold calling is the most straightforward and harrowing of my sales experiences. I had the opportunity to work for my university, calling to raise money and effectively sell the school to alumni, "associates", professors, parents of students, and others. Getting to know people in just a matter of minutes over the phone and thus inventing rhetorics to convince them to donate money to a school that they've probably already given tens of thousands of dollars to is quite a challenge. Creating new tactics by using information learned on the spot as well as referencing past experiences to fabricate a comforting and trusting environment on the phone was key to raising money for the university. When cold calling, I might hear a lot of heartbreaking things, even things as extreme as death threats from angry recipients who are upset at finding out that they are being asked for money. Taking rejection can be very disappointing, and over time it is easy to let this get to you. Steeling yourself against these words and allowing yourself to grow from such negativity can only benefit those who are interested in sales positions. Sales is not just about the product but about the client, understanding their motivations to interact with the product, and realizing which strategies can benefit everyone.

Cold Calling

Nonprofits

If you can't tell by now, I loved my internship. I was blessed enough to be able to work with the League of Women Voters of Texas as an Advocacy Intern from 2017 to 2019. I was given the range to manage their social media via Buffer, manage their member base via Constant Contact, create content via Canva, and manage some aspects of their financial organization via Kindful. I had the opportunity to write diverse kinds of copy related to nonprofits such as mass and individual emails, action alerts, social media posts, mass text message alerts, website content and more. I wrote content for and performed in educational videos for the LWVTx concerning voter education and empowerment. I was able to contribute research on behalf of the League's website and create portions of the website for a more user friendly experience. The LWVTx also provided me lobbying experience, allowing me to watch how others would write testimony and granting me the opportunity to give that testimony with other lobbyists at the state capitol. I learned so much about politics, modern feminism, the organization and power of nonprofits, how to write for and manage nonprofits, and more during my time with the LWVTx. I have made lasting friends through my experience with LWVTx, maintained career role models, and was given room to grow and explore how my skills fit into the world of nonprofits. I also was able to take a course in college that taught me how to write for nonprofits, examining the specific needs, audiences, effective rhetorical strategies, communities and resources available to ensure an effective message. The League of Women Voters empowers voters and defends democracy, but also allows members to empower themselves and defend their communities.