At Smartsheet, our colleagues inspire us every day, and we love to celebrate each other’s successes big and small. That’s why, each quarter, we honor team members with our Brightspot Awards, an initiative that recognizes those who go above and beyond for their job, exemplifying Smartsheet’s five core competencies. Peers nominate their colleagues who drive results, take accountability, earn trust, value and leverage differences, and continuously learn and adapt.
We’re thrilled to celebrate this quarter’s five Brightspot Award winners! Read more about each winner and what their colleagues have to say about them.
Alyssa Levine | Value & Leverage Differences
A Project Manager on the People and Culture team, Alyssa is recognized for valuing all of our differences and fostering inclusivity across the entire Smartsheet community. Whether she’s leading complex, cross-functional projects and developing resources to take programs from ideation to execution or supporting the Asian & Pacific Islander (API) Employee Resource Group as its Communications Lead, she’s noted for always asking the right questions and expertly managing team dynamics with her natural empathy and emotional intelligence.
What does this award mean to you?
"I’m so honored and grateful to have been recognized by my peers for this Brightspot Award! I feel so lucky to work for a team and company that embraces and showcases their employees’ work and talent. I wouldn’t be able to do the work I do without the amazing teams and people I work with daily. I love learning from every one of them and can’t thank them enough for their support, encouragement, collaboration, and mentorship." — Alyssa Levine
What do Alyssa’s coworkers say about working with her?
“Alyssa is a highly collaborative and supportive partner,” says one team member. “She easily gains the trust of those she works with because of her follow-through and integrity. She's always thinking several steps ahead, and I truly don't think our projects would run as smoothly without her! Plus she's just a kind and genuine person and is so easy to work with.”
One nominator adds, “She goes the extra mile to make sure meeting agendas are organized so people can leave, follows up to make sure that lessons learned are organized and actions are called out for the next time. She leans in to understand the complex details of the work so she can draw connections and drive progress. She always has a smile on her face and approaches even the hard conversations with focus and genuine care for the outcome.”
“She is a beacon of Can Do spirit and filled with positivity in everything she does,” says Alyssa’s manager. “When it comes to change management or crisis management, I consider these to be some of her best skills. She is always able to realign stakeholders or transfer knowledge of intention confidently when conflicts occur.”
Jesse Pope | Continuously Learn & Adapt
Jesse is celebrated for their positive attitude towards learning and always striving to become the best version of themself. Jesse began making an impact at Smartsheet as an intern. Now a Software Engineer I, Jesse is involved in a wide variety of the Smartsheet technology stack, from support of development environments, app-core deployments, Java software development, database management, and more.
What does this award mean to you?
“As a recent career-changer, this is a whole new world for me. Smartsheet has offered me a welcoming community in which I can be curious and imagine new possibilities for myself, my skills, and the things that we can create together. This Brightspot Award is an important reminder that our community values creative problem solving and growth. I thrive in this environment because I am surrounded by people who encourage me to step outside of my comfort zone while supporting me along the way.” — Jesse Pope
What do Jesse’s coworkers say about working with them?
“Jesse is an all-star! In addition to their rapidly growing technical skills, Jesse also has the most wonderful, positive attitude and throws themself heart and soul into whatever they're doing,” says Jesse’s manager. “Everybody enjoys working with Jesse, and many often comment on the contagiousness of their cheerful, respectful, ‘get things done’ attitude.”
“Going above and beyond learning for themself, they created detailed documentation and helped engineers across the pillar adopt a new system, teaching engineers from SE Is to senior engineers and sharing that knowledge!” says Jesse’s nominator.
Marvin Eberhard | Take Accountability
Marvin is one of our DACH (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland region) Large Enterprise Customer Success Managers, managing some of Smartsheet’s largest European accounts. He’s recognized for helping drive the growth and development of the DACH market with new team members. A go-to person for problem-solving, Marvin is known for his ability to absorb information and quickly develop next steps.
What does this award mean to you?
“I feel honored to be recognized with a Brightspot Award by Smartsheet and my peers. I want to thank my colleagues as I am so grateful to work in an environment where I am able to be my true self. Bringing your best self to work is easy when a team is so great to work with. Thank you for this wonderful recognition.” — Marvin Eberhard
What do Marvin’s coworkers say about working with him?
“The phrase ‘it's not my job’ is not in his vocab! Marvin is a definitive team player who has a passion for making everyday experiences better.”
“Marvin has been the colleague that people wish for. Since I started, he’s provided me with all the knowledge, best practices, and engagement, making sure I understand Smartsheet and how I can approach clients. Whenever I need help, he’s always up to jump on a call, no matter how stressful his day or week is.”
“There has never been any question that he didn’t know the answer to. Even when he’s not sure, he provides the best links and information so I can learn myself.”
Daniel Allenby | Earn Trust
An account executive in our Sydney office, Daniel is celebrated for earning trust — from internal team members and cross-functional departments to customers. Noted for truly having his customers’ best interest at heart, Daniel is transparent with customers and ensures he manages their expectations at every stage of the sales cycle. His team appreciates his open-door policy and willingness to help others.
What does this award mean to you?
“The irony of being recognized for ‘Earning Trust’ in a sales role is not lost on me. I'm incredibly humbled by the feedback from the APJ team and lucky to work with such a diverse group of talented people. It's refreshing to come to work at Smartsheet without compromising who I am as a person. This award shows that you can take a different approach to sales and how you choose to interact with people, but still be recognized and celebrated for your success.” — Daniel Allenby
What do Daniel’s coworkers say about working with him?
“To his peers, Daniel is a steadfast supporter. He strives to help his team succeed alongside him, and knows the importance of celebrating the wins, big and small,” says one team member.
His manager says, “He’s my go-to person on the team for most things. He can be relied upon for an honest opinion, to find last minute annual renewing revenue for himself, the team or the wider APJ team. There are multiple examples of him finding 11th hour deals that are great wins for the organization.”
Victoria Lichtenshtein | Drive Results
Director of Program Management, Victoria Lichtenshtein, is celebrated for her relentless drive to get things done — and get them done right. She is nominated for scheduling countless meetings with the right people at just the right time; working with many across the product, product marketing, and creative teams; acting as liaison for customer keynotes — consistently pushing for a quick turn of assets — to bring two keynote presentations to life for our annual customer conference, ENGAGE. Victoria is also known for standing up tools within the organization to drive results — most notably, Resource Management by Smartsheet, which has helped the marketing team more accurately plan projects and build the right teams to get them done.
What does this award mean to you?
“I’m honored to be recognized with the Brightspot Award, but I really owe it to the members of my team! I was only able to spend less time on my day-to-day because they pitched in and cleared the way for me to focus on the ENGAGE keynotes. It couldn’t have happened without their support!” — Victoria Lichtenshtein
What do Victoria’s coworkers say about working with her?
Victoria’s nominator writes, “Sometimes we say ‘We couldn’t have done it without you'" as an expression to thank or congratulate a colleague for all their work. When it comes to Victoria’s work on the ENGAGE keynotes, this is just a fact: we could not have done it without her.”
“She sweats the details, and refuses to overlook the little things that add up to a great experience for our customers,” her nominator says.
Her coworker adds, “Victoria's relentless drive to get things done, and to get them done right, combined with her ability to learn quickly, and earn the trust of those she's working with helps her pivot quickly to take on anything that comes her way.”
Congratulations to all of our Brightspot Award winners this quarter!