WP Engine Employee Spotlight: Will Ruff, MDR Sales

In this blog series, we talk to WP Engine employees to learn more about their roles, what they love about the city they work in, and hear from them what they like most about working at WP Engine.

What is your position here at WP Engine?
I am a Market Development Agent. The team I work on is called called the MDR team, MDR standing for Market Development Representative, which is part of the sales team here at WP Engine.

How did you first learn about WP Engine?
I had seen them at SXSW a few years ago and they seemed like pretty cool people. At the time I had just left an agency that built sites in WordPress but I didn’t have much sales experience. After many odd jobs, and a year and a half selling phones at AT&T I saw WP Engine was hiring for sales, so I thought I’d apply.

Can you describe a typical day in your role?
It’s mostly making phone calls, sending emails, and researching businesses who are a good fit for managed hosting. But month-to-month our focus changes which is pretty refreshing. This role was brand new in October and my duties included taking leads generated from the marketing team and calling them up to see if we can learn a bit about their business. The other side of it is prospecting, which is what I focus on now — trying to find brand new companies who could benefit from managed hosting.

Did you have any odd jobs prior to WP Engine?
I did door to door sales years ago in NY in the winter, selling Verizon FiOS. I unloaded trucks at Target a few years back. In college I delivered wings until around 4 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

What are some of your favorite things about working at WP Engine?
It’s the people. Everyone’s got an entrepreneurial mentality, everyone’s really focused, and more than happy to help you grow. I didn’t like sales before this, but when I started here it was easy to get into it since more often than not, the biggest selling point for me is the people who work at this company.

What have you gained from working here?
I’ve definitely overcome the fear of rejection. When you’re picking up the phone and calling people to try and start a business conversation, it’s not much different from knocking on a door. But there’s a lot of cases where people appreciate it because we take the time to research their company and they like that we reached out to give them options.

What are some of your hobbies outside of work?
Acting and writing. I am signed with a talent agency in town and occasionally audition for commercials and TV shows. I’m also taking acting classes right now and in 2014, I self-published a novel on Amazon. Also, you can occasionally find me dragging people from WP Engine downstairs to do stand-up comedy at the Austin Ale House. FYI I’m not the only one here who’s done it.

What is one of your favorite things about Austin?
I like that there’s a lot of people who aren’t from here. You could be meeting people from Chicago or California or Alabama…everybody is really friendly and unique.

If you could paint this office any color you wanted to, what would it be?
Orange. Syracuse alum.

If you were reincarnated as an animal, what would it be?
A bald eagle.

What tv show/movie are you ashamed to admit you love?
Dog Soldiers – it’s a werewolf movie that’s completely ridiculous, but entertaining.

Where is your favorite place to eat in Austin?
Hut’s Hamburgers.

Can you tell a joke?
I don’t know. What’s the perfect Austin joke?

…

Let’s taco bout it over breakfast.

Any random facts you could share with us?
I won third place in a guitar shredding contest in college.

WP Engine is currently hiring for positions in sales. See here for the full range of careers WP Engine is hiring for: wpengine-careers.com