As part of the Industry Solutions team in Sydney, Melissa works with professionals in the home remodeling and design space, helping them build their brands and connect and collaborate with homeowners. In her free time, Melissa loves shopping and finding the best Italian restaurants to visit.
What brought you to Houzz? Through my love of all things design, I found Houzz when it had recently launched in Australia. As I was looking for a new challenge at the time, it seemed like an exciting opportunity to be able to grow with the company as it expanded within a new market.
What do you enjoy most about your role? I love building relationships with my clients, some of which I’ve been working with for many years now. One pro had been working in a full-time job when she launched her own interior design business on the side. She joined Houzz’s local marketing program and a few months later was able to quit her full-time job and focus all her time on growing her own business. I was really proud that Houzz helped her achieve this.
Seeing pros’ businesses grow and develop is really inspiring. When a potential new client finds a pro I work with on Houzz and they win the project, it feels like a win for me, too!
What is your favourite Houzz feature for pros? The dashboard is my favourite feature, as it uses powerful analytics to give pros insight into what homeowners are engaging with most on their profile. They can monitor their performance, empowering them to make updates and changes to their profile based on what’s resonating with the Houzz community.
What is a typical workday like for you? To start, I log straight into my emails and look at my calendar so I can plan for my meetings that day. I prepare by writing notes and planning the recommendations and updates I will suggest to my clients. The rest of the day is spent in meetings checking in with clients, talking through my suggestions and guiding them to get the most out of their presence on Houzz.
What’s something that has surprised you about working at Houzz? How quickly Houzz has grown – when I first started, the Australia and New Zealand team was less than 20 and we have more than doubled in the time I have been here!
What qualities best reflect your team? We are collaborative, supportive and have the best dynamic as a team. We’re constantly bouncing ideas around and asking each other for advice.
How have you used Houzz at home? My husband and I bought our home “off the plan” two years ago and didn’t really know what to expect from the drawings provided by our builder. We created lots of shared ideabooks and found that looking at similar new-build homes on Houzz helped us visualise what we wanted to do with our space when it was built.
