The Hippo Pod: Christian
In this podcast, Employer Brand and Employee Engagement Manager, Tannum, talks about Golden Hippo’s exciting and unique company culture with the people who know it best. This episode, we spoke with Christian, who has been at Golden Hippo for 5 years and is currently a Senior Video Editor on the Storytelling team.
Here are some of the highlights of Tannum and Christian’s conversation:
Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
I video edit ads, but I’ve also taken on different tasks. For about two years, I became the audio recorder for everybody coming in, without having ever done audio professionally. I now do all the AI work and fake voices we generate. I transitioned from the Video Production team, which does more production shoots and long-form content, to the Storytelling team, which will spend more time on projects to experiment and predict what people might be interested in watching. When I joined Storytelling, there were 10 of us- now I think we’re at 40.
Golden Hippo was life saving and life changing. I joined as a massive introvert, and because of this being such a collaborative environment, I was forced to interact more. I had a mentor when I started. I went into that program knowing I wanted to be a manager eventually, but knew I couldn't do that if I wasn’t able to talk to other people. I started presenting during meetings and gave myself a lot of talking homework. Now, I honestly adore public speaking and talking to people, and I’ve come out of my shell since then. I’ve made amazing friends here, and the support system has been life-changing. I’ve made so many changes and improvements on myself as a person. This opportunity came at the perfect time for me and my personal and professional life.
How has the mentorship program you participated in positively impacted you?
My two mentors, Spencer and Alison, were amazing. Everyone I interact with is such a talent, that I wouldn’t be where I am without them. Lenna has been the blueprint for how I want to manage- she goes to bat for every person working under her and will make sure they get the support they deserve to do a project. I wouldn’t have been able to do half the amount of projects without her telling me to go for it.
Both the Video Editing and Storytelling teams are hiring - do you have any advice for jobseekers?
Make sure you send samples- that will be your biggest help. I love resumes, but after reading so many, you start to go by what’s pretty. For video editing, I can learn best by seeing what you’ve created. I want to make sure you have a passion for it that you’d need in your day.
Do not give up- it’s a tough market. The hardest part for me is knowing I can’t bring everyone in. You’re going to get ‘no’s,’ but it doesn’t mean you’re not good enough. The right job is still out there for you. And research the culture before applying, we’re a lot more relaxed than the traditional corporate job.
If you’d like to listen to the full conversation, click here!
If you’d like to view our open Video Editing roles, click here!