Reflecting on my first year in Airalo

I remember it like it was yesterday. On June 4th of last year, I was on a trip to New York with my sister, mother and some family friends. It was noon and we were visiting the Statue of Liberty when I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. It was an email from Madison Farris, serendipitously delivered by an Airalo eSIM. Luckily, it was good news. Madison was offering me a role at Airalo.

I didn’t need a lot of time to think about it. The interview process had been conducted with a level of depth and empathy that I’d never experienced before. I was even able to do the final interview from my hotel room in NY — after all, why not? I was basically in the same time zone as most of the people I was talking to and after two full days of walking around the Big Apple, resting my feet and chatting for a while sounded like a great idea.

Once I’d finished reading my offer, with Liberty Island in the background, I immediately accepted the role and started imagining what life at Airalo would be like. Who could have known I’d go on to achieve so much more than I expected?

As a Social Media and Community Specialist for Brazil, I’ve been able to achieve some awesome stuff. The role has allowed me to bring my many years of learning and expertise into the technology space, helping me approach challenges and tasks with a unique perspective. For instance, I knew that relevant content delivered in a timely manner would be a great way to get people’s attention - and that’s how I managed to get three Instagram posts to organically reach millions of users during my first year.

But these results were only possible because Airalo is so committed to doing things differently. During my interview, Madison had told me that Airalo was a company that celebrated open communication, while still allowing for autonomy and accountability. And that’s something I see everyday. You can tell you’re working with an amazing group of people, who are confident and capable. I know not every organization is lucky enough to say the same.

On top of this, Airalo has no offices and all 300+ employees work 100% remotely across more than 50 countries. Trust and autonomy are essential elements for everyone to do a good job, but it’s still rare to find companies that don't micromanage their staff or monitor all of their activities with this model — something I can happily say is not the case at Airalo. Here, the only hurdle we face are those pesky things called time zones, but that’s the beauty of a global company.

One of my Airalo highlights has been meeting my colleagues at the company's annual meeting, which took place last year in Cancun, Mexico. It was an incredible opportunity to connect with people I’d only spoken to via Slack or in video meetings. Although remote work is the future, nothing strengthens your bond like connecting in the real world. I’ve taken advantage of every opportunity to connect that Airalo has offered me, whether that’s traveling for the annual meeting or connecting in coworking spaces with colleagues in São Paulo and even on a recent trip to Spain.

This doesn’t mean Airalo’s a perfect company. There are still processes that are being built from scratch while we find the best way to get things done. There are always ways to make things better, but the level we have reached, with over 20 million users trusting us and our work, together with the unicorn evaluation, proves that we’re on the right track to connect travelers worldwide.

I can’t wait to see what the future holds, so come join us, won’t ya?