Ruby Opens a Second Office in Beaverton!

By Katie Wilson | 05.10.2013 |

It is with great pride, pleasure, and excitement that we have opened a second office in nearby Beaverton, Oregon! It’s all thanks to our amazing clients for spreading the word about Ruby and helping us grow so that we can make stellar first impressions for even more businesses!

Yesterday, Ruby Founder & CEO and Beaverton Mayor Denny Doyle cut the bright pink ribbon to officially open our new office, followed by a spectacular open house filled with Rubys, clients, and friends.

Ruby Receptionists CEO Jill Nelson and Beaverton Mayor Denny Doyle cut the ribbon

Ruby Receptionists Beaverton Office Grand Opening

There’s no better office warming than celebrating with our clients and friends!

We’ve been settling into our new office for a few weeks, making sure that conditions were perfect to deliver our knock-your-socks-off service, and are thrilled to officially call Beaverton home!

See more photos in the Portland Business Journal here, and follow us on Facebook for more pictures over the coming days!

Photo via the Beaverton Chamber of Commerce

Happy Secretary’s Day!

By Katie Wilson | 04.24.2013 |

Ruby Happenings

Secretary's Day 2013

Today is one of our favorite holidays of the year: Secretary’s Day! We’re celebrating our stellar virtual receptionist team by dressing up in Mad Men chic, holding a bake-off with plenty of homemade treats, as well as a few other surprises. Check out the Ruby Facebook page here for more photos of our office celebration.

Cheers to all the other hardworking administrative professionals out there!

Who is Ruby’s Culture Champion?

By Amy Lix | 04.17.2013 |

Ruby Happenings

Amy Lix, Ruby Receptionists Culture Champion

“Desperately Seeking Ruby!” the email from Ruby’s CEO, Jill Nelson, announced. Skimming the text, my eyes flew across the phrases “newly-designed position,” “the living embodiment of the Ruby mission, vision and values,” “fearless protector of culture,” “master story-teller & curator of Ruby lore,” “passionate about spreading the Ruby mission” and “thought leader on workplace culture.” My eyes widened and my heartbeat quickened: That’s me! She’s talking about me! Four hours of interviewing and a lifetime of preparation later, I was chosen to be Ruby’s Culture Champion.

As Fortune’s #1 Best Small Company to Work For in America, our positive culture is an important element of our business and crucial to creating the phenomenal customer experiences for which we’re known. In order to nurture our unique culture, and ensure that it only gets better as we grow, it’s essential that we have someone who is responsible for the wellbeing of our company’s culture. I introduce new employees to Ruby’s culture, develop quarterly incentive campaigns, attend our leadership team’s monthly meeting, and lead the “Culture Club,” an employee-based group that meets bi-monthly. Through these means, I’m able to assess, protect, and foster Ruby’s culture.

I first fell in love with the idea we are designed to live in community through studying Marx and Jung while earning my bachelor’s. “We are what we do” hit home for me, leading me to work with troubled and homeless youth as a social worker for several years. Working at Ruby has allowed me to invest in people in a similar way: fostering happiness, creating community, practicing Wowism, and helping people grow and innovate…this is how our culture allows us to provide such excellent service! We work not only to answer calls, but to preserve and perpetuate meaningful connections. As Culture Champion, I get to inspire and share this sense of meaning, in the midst of what threatens to become the everyday grind.

While your office may be a bit smaller than Ruby, you can still foster a positive culture! Have someone be accountable for keeping their eye on culture; keeping note of the atmosphere, tone, phrasing, and creating traditions to celebrate and create community are simple steps any company can take to keep their finger on the pulse of their company culture. After all, happy employees lead to happy customers and a happy business!

What do you do at your office to protect and reinforce your culture?

Ruby is at the ABA TECHSHOW in Chicago!

By Diana Stepleton | 04.04.2013 |

Ruby Happenings

Ruby CEO Jill Nelson, Sales Associate Ashley Fisher, Director of Marketing Kevin Gillam, and I are representing Ruby Receptionists in Chicago for the annual ABA TECHSHOW! We had a fantastic time last year and were delighted to meet many of our clients in person. Looking forward to seeing some now-familiar faces as well as a few new ones this year!

If you’re attending, stop by Booth #417 — we’d love to meet you!

Longtime Ruby fan, Sam Glover, me, and Ashley Fisher at the ABA TECHSHOW

My Ruby Sabbatical: Empowering Women in Technology

By Heather Q Brackett | 03.26.2013 |

Ruby Happenings

Missing Robot Parts: Heather Brackett's Ruby Sabbatical Project It’s difficult to express the rush of emotions you feel when your awesome job gets epically more awesome. When our CEO Jill Nelson announced the Ruby “Five at Five” sabbatical program, I had just started my sixth year with the company. Five weeks of paid time off, a $1,000 grant, and coaching with Positive Acorn were just waiting for me to decide what I wanted my sabbatical to look like! And that was the hardest part. I am a woman of many, many projects, so I would have been lost if it weren’t for the Ruby Core Values.

Create Community is a strength that I didn’t know I had until I started working here. Whether it’s making soup for the whole staff on a cold winter day, or teaching people how to reuse scrap paper to make notepads — I love bringing people together. My heart belongs to making the world a better place through growing knowledge, group cooperation and communication.

My sabbatical project is a glorious aggregation of what I’m passionate about: I wanted to work on a film project. I wanted to use all of my artistic skills. I wanted to ignite curiosity and growth in the next generation.

Then, I discovered FIRST Robotics. Our communications platform vendor, Interactive Intelligence, works with this organization, and I was instantly enamored with it. Kids making robots? This is perfect! But it wasn’t complete. It needed something more.

After starting as a virtual receptionist and working for many years in the Client Services Department, I feel lucky to be a Systems Analyst in Ruby’s IT Department. I specialize in telephony; I’m a nerd who gets to work on fun technology in the happiest company on earth (OK, we haven’t gotten that title yet, but it can’t be far off). Working in a predominantly female company, it always stood out to me when I worked with our vendors and partners…there are so few women in technology. While the men I work with are fantastically talented and I adore them, it’s sometimes a stark contrast to working with the dozens of women at Ruby. It was this piece that was waiting to sink in. What I wanted to do was open IT’s arms to the next generation of women in technology. Bring the Ruby Love Fest™ to the girl nerds out there. Finally, with Jessica Austin from Positive Acorn’s guidance, I had my idea!

Ruby Sabbatical Program

+ Create Community

+ FIRST Robotics

+ A creative and nerdy woman

= Make a documentary featuring the women and girls of the Oregon FIRST Robotics program, to encourage girls to pursue technology.

It’s just that simple. And just that exciting!

I have been filming the documentary since the beginning of January in my spare time, and am currently in the middle of my sabbatical, filming the competition season. I’m looking forward to following a phenomenal group of Portland kids to the National Competition in April to complete my film. I’m so thankful for this opportunity and am excited to see my film taking shape!

Rubys Rocked the Shamrock Run!

By Whitney Martin | 03.22.2013 |

Ruby Happenings

Engulfed by an inspirational, sea of green! Thanks to the idea of one of our virtual receptionists, that’s how a team of over 30 Rubys and friends began their St. Patrick’s Day, at the 35th annual Shamrock Run. With over 35,000 participants, did you know that this is the largest running and walking event in Portland, Oregon? This was Ruby Receptionists’ first year participating in the run, and we had a blast! Fostering Happiness, Creating Community and a good time for all. But what do Rubys love above all these things – fostering a good cause. Besides complimentary beer, salmon chowder and a stimulating 5k walk or run, we were delighted to support Doernbecher Children’s Hospital Foundation, the leading beneficiary of the event. We can
think of no better way to celebrate than by giving back to our community and
are thrilled to have participated.

How are you WOW-ing your community this weekend?

Ruby is a Top 3 Medium-Sized Business to Work for the 3rd Year in a Row!

By Whitney Martin | 03.04.2013 |

Ruby Happenings

“’Coming to work is like being hugged by 100 wonderful people all at once!’ said one employee…Asked how the company could improve, workers are hard pressed. ‘Water slides!’ suggests one.” There could only be one company with survey responses like these.

The crowd began to erupt into applause and peels of delight. “Ruby Receptionists is the #3 best medium-sized company to work for in Oregon!”

Ruby Receptionists is the #3 Best Medium-Sized Company to Work for in Oregon for 2013

Founder & CEO Jill Nelson led 80 overjoyed Rubys to rush the stage to collect our Oregon Business “Best Company to Work for in Oregon” award. Our fourth consecutive year on the list, and our third time in the top three in the medium business category, we couldn’t be happier! The list was generated from over 13,000 employee surveys, supplemented by a benefits report from each company, and not only are we #3 this year, Ruby ranked #1 in the category of Benefits and Compensation!

We may not have waterslides, but we did add new benefits like our “Five at Five” paid sabbatical. Ruby also grew significantly in the past year, earning the coveted Portland Business Journal Lighthouse Award for five straight years on the “Fastest Growing Companies” list, and it’s because of our unique company culture that Ruby is thriving!

We’d like to thank our fantastic clients and vendors – we love working with you, and getting to connect with you every day makes Ruby a great place to come to work!

WOW Story of the Month: No Gesture is Too Small

By Ellie B. | 01.08.2013 |

Ruby Happenings

Photo by Robert Couse-Baker

Kenneth Brown at Vehicle Occupancy Detection Company out of California probably didn’t realize that he had “WOWed” me when he was accepting his phone call from me one sunny day, but he certainly did! It was a simple call; I read the company greeting, tried his line, and introduced the call: “Hi Ken, this is Ellie with Ruby. I have Bob on the line; would you like the call?”

It was how Ken thanked me by name and enthusiastically accepted the call that made all the difference in our interaction: “Thank you, Ellie! I’ll talk to Bob!” I could hear that he was smiling.

After connecting the call, I couldn’t help but think to myself, “That guy is so nice!” And I’m not the only one. Another day, I had a new Ruby sitting with me, learning a few of my phone answering tricks, when I had the pleasure of taking a call for Ken. Once again he thanked me and called me by name, all with the utmost sincerity! After the call ended, the new Ruby turned to me and said exactly what I was thinking, “Wow, that guy is really nice!”

I decided to send Ken a notecard to compliment him and let him know how much I appreciated our brief but memorable interactions. I included a little picture of Charlie Brown and noted, “You’re a good man, Mr. Brown!” and sent the card on its way.

It was a while before I received another call for his office, but when I did, my face cracked a smile from ear to ear! I dialed his extension and, my voice quite exuberant, I introduced myself and his caller. I could hear the big smile on his face as he laughed and asked how I was doing. Ken explained that he got my card and even took it home to his wife to show her at dinner! It now has a home on his desk by the phone. I transferred the call to him and sat back in my seat, brimming with happiness.

Now, every time I speak with Ken, my grin grows, and I can tell he has left the call with a contagious smile as well. And I’m sure whomever we speak with next, feels that joy as well. Although it started as a passing verbal exchange, small gestures solidified our connection and brightened everyone’s day.

Photo by Flickr user Robert Couse-Baker

Ruby Receptionists Resolutions for 2013

By Katie Wilson | 01.02.2013 |

Ruby Happenings

Photo by Virtual Receptionist Erin B.

In the spirit of the New Year, we asked our virtual receptionist team what they’d like to accomplish in 2013! Here’s what our team has planned:

Virtual Receptionist Erin: My mom got me an amazing grateful book, and my resolution is to write in it every day for a year!

Virtual Receptionist Jessica M.: I’m looking forward to saving to buy a new house!

Office Champion Claire LaRocca: To keep a list of every book I read this year.

Sales Associate Ashley Fisher: To be able to do a pushup while in a handstand!

Virtual Receptionist LeAnna: To live by this quote: “You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” The first thing I’m doing is training for Portland’s half marathon this October!

Virtual Receptionist Emily M.: Buy less! Experience more! Be a better housekeeper!

Executive Assistant Mercedes Salles: Same resolution as last year: to cook more at home!

Virtual Receptionist Holly S.: To become a superhero, saving Portland from anything too normal. I will have a cape and a mask, of course!

What are your resolutions for 2013? Share in the comment section below!

The Watercooler.

Keeping it personal in a virtual world.

Category: Ruby Happenings