For this edition of Meet Frontdesk, we spoke with Justin Knapp, Director of Technology. Justin started at Frontdesk 2 years ago as a web developer. After a year of owning it and proving his growth mindset, he took a promotion as an IT manager. This year, he was promoted again to Director of Technology. When he’s not working, you can find Justin learning Taekwondo, playing video games, or playing board games with friends and family.
Tell me about your role and what you do here at Frontdesk?
I’m the Director of Technology. I direct the direction of third party and internal software. I try to figure out what our internal team needs and get the software going in that direction. If the company needs the website updated for the booking engine, I work with our developers to get it updated to reflect that. I help decide on third party software as well as make sure support is running smoothly and pulling in developers to figure out what’s wrong if needed. I dabble with everything.
What do you enjoy most about your role?
I can really help make people’s quality of life better in their different roles by improving our technology and that makes my job very satisfying.
What were you doing before Frontdesk and what brought you here?
I was the head of support at an Internet service provider software company. Internet service providers would purchase our Saas and use it to run their equipment. I was head of support so I worked with the presidents of internet providers, keeping them calm and working through problems if something was broken. I had just finished my bachelors degree and wanted to use more of my dev skills and Jesse and Mike made me very interested in the company. Frontdesk was a good place to be a developer.
What has been your biggest learning experience since starting at Frontdesk?
It sometimes isn’t about figuring out the next best thing for the company as much as it is communicating the best next for the company. If I have the next best thing but I can’t explain why then it doesn’t matter. Communication has been my biggest learning experience. It’s important to know how to communicate better with all the other teams.
What advice would you give to others in your role?
Keep asking for more and trying to do more. This job is as much as you make it to be. If you want to figure out how to automate or investigate and do more than the basics, you can do that here. A go-getter attitude means everything to our company. It’s about what you make of your work. If you go above and beyond, the sky’s the limit here.
What surprised you about working at Frontdesk?
I went from a very hostile work environment to a very relaxed workplace. Frontdesk has a very relaxed nature, willingness to give feedback to each other, the helpfulness from the team.
What is your favorite Frontdesk city?
Jacksonville, I like Florida. I like the weather and there’s so much to do out there. There are some beaches 5 minutes away from our stays, shopping, restaurants, and breweries.
Bucket list place to visit?
Japan. I have a friend who lives over there and it’s been on my and my wife’s bucket list for as long as I can remember.
