Meet Austin: the Leader Making the Sorenson Brand Look Awesome

Austin works behind the scenes in Sorenson Marketing to make sure that everything you see from Sorenson looks fabulous.

He shared what he does, the impact he hopes it makes for you, and how you contribute to the Sorenson brand.

TRANSCRIPT

Austin’s journey with Sorenson

Steven

Hello everyone, we're happy to introduce another person for our employee spotlight. Here we have Austin Balaich, and we'll let him introduce who he is. But first, I want to ask, what brought you to Sorenson, and what has your growth with the company been like over the years?

Austin

Yeah, I've actually joined Sorenson twice. So, the first time I was a college student and I needed some money. You know, I was a student, so there was a tech support position open, and many of my friends were working there. So, I applied and got the job and joined the team. That's my first experience.

Well, six months or so I worked there, I'm not exactly sure how long, but it was great to get that experience and see products that I could support and that I used every day. So, eventually I earned enough money and went off and did some other things.

And then in 2019, I was looking for a position related to video editing, and Sorenson had a position open. So, I had a contact that said, “Hey, you know, think about that.” So, I applied, and the leader at that time was my previous manager when I worked at Sorenson. So, it was nice to have that connection, and I got the job.

I moved back to Salt Lake City, and I think this will be my sixth year of working here. So, it's been great so far. It's been great to work here because there's opportunities to grow. I started as a video editor and I went on to become the Creative Director now.

What Austin loves about being Creative Director

Steven

What do you love most about your role as Creative Director?

Austin

Yeah, you know, every job has pros and cons, and it can be easy to talk about the cons, but talking about the pros, what I really love is my team.

As Creative Director, I deal with a lot of, you know, well, we've got many business strategies and goals. So, figuring out how we can convert them into something that is creative. I don't necessarily always have the answer, so that's where my team comes in where we can share ideas.

It's great, I love that part of the job: brainstorming and working together with them to create something that can connect with our audience, connect with our customers, and making those connections in the process of creation is just something I really love.

Steven

That's great, and it's always wonderful to enjoy the people you work with.

Austin

Yes, definitely.

Goals

Steven

As Creative Director, do you have any specific goals that you're hoping to achieve?

Austin

Yeah, I've got several. One of my biggest goals right now that I'd like to achieve is, you know, currently a big challenge, but also a big opportunity. It's to communicate, you know, with our customers and with the world in general, that Sorenson is growing.

We've acquired UK SignVideo, we've acquired OmniBridge and Hand Talk. So, we've acquired many businesses to help grow Sorenson's technology and capabilities, and it's incredible. So, I have a goal to communicate with our audience and our customers that all of those things that we've acquired will benefit us, and will help our ability to communicate and to grow in this world and to have a better experience.

So, I think that is probably my biggest goal right now.

Steven

Thank you for sharing that. It's a wonderful goal, and it's important to communicate with the community what's going on both internally and externally.

Austin

Yes.

Brand evolution

Steven

One of your responsibilities as Creative Director is to focus on our brand. What does our brand communicate to the community?

Austin

That's a great question. Our brand has been through many changes, it's evolved. Because, as a company, we've evolved. So, the brand should reflect not just the company, but who our customers are, and what they say about us. And honestly, as a brand, we have got many customers that love us, that support us, and are grateful for Sorenson, and that becomes part of our brand, and so one of our goals is to continue that, to continue that positive messaging and look at what our customers need, and to make sure that we are aligned with that.

That's a big part of our brand. And the other part is to make sure we're clear, and we emphasize the different services that we have. Not every service benefits everyone. It depends on their different needs. And so we've got all of these different sub-brands we've got for this specific service or that specific service that we have. So we're working on that right now.

The bottom line is, what our customers say is what our brand is.

New Sorenson Website

Steven

So, I know you had a big role in updating the Sorenson website, what were your goals for that?

Austin

The website was a big project. The previous website, you know, only focused on one business. We had another business, CaptionCall, that had its own website, and each service had its own. So it's been a challenge to figure out how we design a website that reflects all of our different services, but in one place.

So, if you will, I'd like to use an analogy of having a bag of M&Ms. We've got, you know, all of these different services, if you will, in our bag of M&Ms, and it can be confusing as to what’s what. So, we want to make sure that each service has the correct color, shape, size, and flavor, if you will, to make sure that is clear all within one brand.

It's not a quick process, because we've got different legacies that we're trying to bring together, and we hope that our new website can communicate that, and show what we offer and how we differentiate each product and service that we have.

With the new website, we want it to be more modern and we want it to be mobile friendly. That's a big thing that we've recognized that people are using mobile all the time, and websites previously have not exactly been mobile friendly, so we want to make something that can fit that need.

Creative team diversity

Steven

Yeah, earlier you mentioned your Creative team. Would you mind sharing a little bit more about them, because I know they have varying backgrounds as well.

Austin

Yes, definitely. I've got a team with diverse backgrounds, diverse levels of experiences, years in this industry, and skills. And that’s wonderful.

So, I really have two teams. I've got the Studio team that focuses on filming. You know, they're right there, they're filming us. So, that's one part of the team that I work with, and I work with a Design team who work on making posts, fliers, and other kinds of graphics. So, we've got those two teams, three people on the Studio team, and two on the Design team.

For the Studio team, I've got a strong background in filming and editing. We've got three people there — a CODA, a hearing person, and a Deaf person — and it's a perfect mix because we serve all of those. And we know the answers are not all just one place, but we've got different areas that we can look at and draw from.

For the Design team we've got one person local, and one person in a different state, and we've got a CODA and a Deaf person. So, we have a blend of different backgrounds and understanding. At the same time, that’s really beneficial when working on something and we can say, "this is not my area of expertise, but somebody else on the team is really adept at that." So, it's great to rely on each other in that way.

Impact of Deaf leadership

Steven

What impact do you see from other Deaf leaders at Sorenson?

Austin

There are often a few things I see from Deaf leaders at Sorenson. I see, you know, their voice, and not really their voice, but you know, their sign. And that it makes a difference because sometimes in meetings, or in a room, as we're discussing, and there's a Deaf leader sharing a comment, it's great to be like, “Oh, I didn't think about that,” or, “I didn't realize that,” and that perspective is important. That's one big impact of having Deaf leaders.

Being involved in meetings and being the only Deaf person there, I know that sometimes my comments can help it be like, “Oh, you know, that's right,” and help shift the conversation. That’s one power we have as Deaf leaders. It's important to have that representation.

Often, I feel like as Deaf people we don't see that enough out there. And so, as someone in that position, do I consider myself as one of the few? Sometimes. And sometimes I feel like, you know, I look around and I want more because I see the impact that a Deaf leader brings.

We've got many Deaf leaders here at Sorenson, and it's great to see that. And we all uplift each other to help make our voice stronger. And, you know, I wish to see that happening more often outside of Sorenson.

What Austin wishes you knew

Steven

You are a member of the Deaf community and also an employee at Sorenson. You have the opportunity of seeing the company from both sides. What do you want others to know about what we do and who we are?

Austin

That is a great question. You know, I face that every day. You know, when I'm out in the community, people see me and recognize that I work at Sorenson and I'm like, "yeah, I do. Yes I do." And the reason they do that is because they care so much. They know what Sorenson means to the community, and they recognize that Sorenson has an impact.

What I wish they knew a little bit more about us and what we do here, though, is that we are pushing for large scale impact and change as well. The work to create an amazing product or solution takes a lot, and it doesn't happen overnight.

That's something that, you know, I wish they could see that we work one, two, or even three years on something before it's released, and for them, it's one day. But on the Sorenson side of things, it takes years to achieve that. So, that’s the perspective that I wish I could give to them, so that they could see that when we release something, it took a long time to build.

Steven

Thank you for sharing that. Is there anything else you'd like to share with our audience?

Austin’s advice

Austin

As a Deaf person in a world where there's barriers and challenges, I just want people to remember to never give up. You know, I try not to give up. Try to find a way, whether it's this way or that way, and here at Sorenson I make sure, you know, we share ideas on what we do and how we can approach that. You know, if people want to share that with us, please share something with us and share your ideas so we can make this world a better place.

Steven

Yes, we can always do our part to make the world a better place rather than worse. So, thank you for sharing with us and sharing what a Creative Director does here at Sorenson. I appreciate your time and your thoughts.

Austin

Yes. Thank you so much for having me here.

Steven

Thank you.

TRANSCRIPT END

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