The team here at Wish is made up of so many great people with diverse backgrounds. Get to know some of us with our Employee Spotlight series.
Name: Shawn Pfunder
Title: Director of Internal Communications
Days employed at Wish: 30 days
My name is Shawn. I’m Head of Internal Communications at Wish. I’m in Phoenix, Arizona, but I’m anxiously planning my next adventure. I like to travel and work remote for weeks at a time. I don’t know what’s next, but Slovenia, Nicaragua, and Poland are looking real good these days. C’mon COVID, give us a rest.
I’ve been at Wish for almost a month. I’m super new here, but I’ve been working in communications for 20 years. Prior to Wish I was at GoDaddy for 17 years. I did a ton of stuff there. I led internal communications, learning and development, social media, content marketing, and field marketing. I had a show on YouTube about business failures and they put me on a Steve Harvey TV show for 12 episodes. It was a lot of fun.
I’ve done a lot of different kinds of communications work, but internal communications is my favorite. It’s basically marketing, except the connection to your audience is immediate. Done well, it helps create a positive employee experience. It builds rapport and relationships. It’s my job to make sure people know what’s going on: Wish’s vision and mission, goals, announcements, product updates, org changes, marketing campaigns, employee events, and that one time the head of social media nailed We Belong by Pat Benatar at company karaoke night.
Why did I choose Wish?
Potential. I love a good transformation story. I love an underdog. For people who like to build and innovate, now is the perfect time to be at Wish. E-commerce continues to grow worldwide. Small businesses are looking for affordable and unique ways to reach people. The opportunity is huge. Wish is already established as a player in those spaces. Even better, Wish is a player with personality. I think that as we make changes to build more consumer trust and diversify what and how people buy cool things in 2022, we’re going to make some big moves.
How do I keep learning?
I read a lot. I study why some sentences work and other sentences don’t. I teach a writing, storytelling, and design class each week at a local non-profit. That keeps me fresh and up to date. In some ways, internal communications evolves quickly because the way we communicate changes quickly. (I still haven’t caught up with emojis and the proper way to sign-off on Clubhouse.) In other ways, it’s the same as it’s been for a thousand years. Go to where people are and tell them what’s happening, and do it in a way that’s honest and engaging.
Charting my career at Wish
Geez, I don’t know yet. Talk to me in six months. My gut tells me that we’re going to do some really creative and innovative work: super short video clips, podcasts, and haikus.
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