For over two years, Kate has been responsible for the growth and development of buyer-facing features on Alibaba.com. Whether it’s conducting a buyer interview or building out customer personas, Kate is always striving to get to know our Alibaba.com customers a little better and find new ways to meet their needs. When she’s not busy developing new Alibaba.com products and services, Kate enjoys improving her piano playing and researching her genealogy. Find out why Kate loves working at Alibaba.com:

What brought you to Alibaba.com?

I was looking for something new and exciting. I was at my old company for about four years. I wanted to try something a little outside of my comfort zone while growing in my career at the same time. Alibaba.com offered me that.

What’s the most exciting thing you’re working on right now?

Building out our customer personas. It’s something we’ve talked about doing for a long time, but it was on the back burner for a while. We spend so much time speaking with buyers and sellers who use Alibaba.com, and we’re finally sharing those insights. I’m hoping this will be a valuable way for everyone at the company to get a better understanding of who our customers are and their needs.

What sets Alibaba.com apart from other ecommerce platforms?

Alibaba.com isn’t a traditional ecommerce platform. It really reflects what a B2B business is like. Buyers and sellers alike can turn to Alibaba.com as a reliable source for finding new products or potential customers. We’re providing a matchmaking service rather than forcing businesses to go through traditional B2C ecommerce processes.

What do you find most rewarding about your role?

The opportunity to talk to and learn from so many different people. Our customers are always so eager to talk to us. I learn something new every time we conduct an interview or survey. I’m also able to learn from so many people on our global teams. We have offices around the world and everyone comes from completely different backgrounds. So everyone brings something new to the table and offers fresh perspectives.

What’s your greatest accomplishment at Alibaba.com?

Watching the evolution of playing the long game. Your ideas don’t always get bought into right away. But they’ll begin to circulate after showing concrete research and proving the customer value. The initial work I did on the buyer journey is now getting implemented into Alibaba.com Freight. Being persistent leads to results, and I’ve come to really enjoy the entire process.