Meet Point B’er Kirsten Markley

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Meet Point B’er Kirsten Markley

Get to know Kirsten, a Customer Executive based in our Portland location.

Kirsten Markley

Customer Executive, Consumer & Retail

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Meet Kirsten Markley, a Customer Executive who has been a vital part of Point B for over 11 years. Based in Portland, OR, Kirsten is known for her passion in helping grow Point B by building lasting relationships with customers and offering innovative solutions to their challenges. With a strong focus on creative problem-solving, Kirsten is dedicated to helping both Point B and its customers grow further and go beyond.

What makes you proud to work at Point B?

I truly believe in the integrity and the excellence of our people and products at Point B, as well as our methodology to help our customers solve problems.

Describe the work you do and your areas of expertise. What do you love most about your work?

At this point in my career, my job is to grow our consumer & retail business at Point B and contribute to decision-making about our growth strategy and offerings based on industry and customer insights. I do that through building trusting, enduring relationships with our customers and with my team, and leaning into curiosity and creativity. I’m able to listen and be a thought partner – helping others consider how they might solve their most pressing challenges.

What I love most about my work are the opportunities to “get on the whiteboard,” figuratively, to creatively problem-solve, both with my own teammates and with our customers. It gives me energy to see people realize that their problems are opportunities and are addressable – there's a way we can help. I love being able to uncover what needs to be done and how to do it. And the icing on top is when a customer decides they trust you enough to choose you as their partner, to help lead through the change.

Let’s dive into a memorable project.

Some of the most interesting problems I got to help solve this year are related to our (Point B’s) growth strategy. I had the opportunity to work with a small team to think through and answer questions such as:

“How are we going to grow in the marketplace and the journey we’re on?”
“Where is the market growing? Why?”
“What are the products we need to bring to the marketplace?”

Then, I had the opportunity to help spearhead a couple of efforts related to growth and expansion: our budding Microsoft partnership and a potential acquisition. It’s been exciting being involved in evolving our strategy and being a part of Point B’s growth story. It's been one of the most fun years I’ve had at Point B!

How is Point B helping you grow your career?

At Point B, I’ve always felt comfortable articulating what I wanted to do or what opportunity I wanted to take to help further my career – and I’ve had the support to be able to do those things from leaders and peers.

The firm has allowed me to work on various problems and challenges, internally and externally, allowing me to move around in different positions and do different things. There are many careers in one company here, and there are a lot of opportunities for mobility.

The firm has also sponsored me to be a part of an executive women leadership cohort this year, which is providing me with a very focused development path.

Describe Point B’s culture.

The first word that comes to mind is collegial. We have incredible people at this firm and at our core, we are here in service of others. We enjoy each other and we value each other’s perspectives. I believe we all agree that we are better together, and we often work across disciplines with genuine intention to figure out the best pathways to take to solve challenges.

We’re collectively trying to figure out how to do something better, different, and more effective. We’re in it together, and our culture comes down to its people.

One of our core values is “Own It.” Can you describe a time you’ve come together with others at Point B to find solutions that benefited our customers and/or the team at Point B?

While reflecting on this value, I thought about the difference between being an owner versus a renter. When you rent something, you don't care about it as much and the condition it’s in. If it breaks, you give it back, and it's not yours to worry about anymore.

As an owner, you see any part that is not working or needs improvement, and you take the initiative to fix it. That’s the mindset of Point B. We’re at our best, and we’re focused on building, growing, and caring for this company because we own it. We all benefit from building up the firm and creating value for ourselves and our clients.

I very much felt like an owner during the process of due diligence with a potential acquisition target. I knew the significance of the potential for both companies and wanted to best represent our firm in all of its amazing history and bright future in a way that was "us”: people-centered. I focused on relationships and culture, growth objectives and offerings, alignment of processes and responsibilities, and mindset around possibilities. I was proud to represent such an incredible firm and have the chance to carefully consider and weigh in on an expansion opportunity for our companies.

One of our core values is “Respect and Care for all People.” In what ways do you create a work environment around you that is respectful, empathetic, and supportive of others?

For me, I want to build relationships with people, as well as care for them and their whole self. I feel like that is a big part of the heartbeat at Point B. We work together and spend a lot of time together, and we should enjoy it.

I like to start conversations by looking at people in their eyes and taking time to learn how they're doing and what they’re thinking about. Sometimes, that means spending an entire meeting without getting to “the agenda.” It’s important that we treat each other with care, seeing each other as valuable for who we are and not only what we do.