Brainbase Continue to Grow with Two Key Hires
Brainbase has welcomed its two newest Senior Customer Success Managers, Courtenay Schreibeis and Thomas Rickard.
Courtenay is a licensing management platform pro. She has experience bringing success to hundreds of licensors, licensees, and agents, most recently at OpSec.
Thomas is joining Brainbase after making customer experiences stellar at Paypal, Oracle, and LinkedIn.
Give a brief history of your previous experience and what made you decide to be a part of Brainbase.
Courtenay: I’m a certified Qualified Licensing Practitioner from Licensing International and I have 10-years of brand licensing experience. I first started working on the Licensor’s side and then progressed to working on the License management side.
I’m passionate about Brainbase because every team member comes from a unique background, most of which isn’t licensing, and not many can say that the CEO started a technology company at the age of 19! The creativity is endless!
Thomas: I began my career the financial services sector working for one of the largest institutions in the UK & IRL. This was during the recession which started in 2008, and was a huge learning experience trying to thrive in such a challenging environment.
As with many others at that time, I was made redundant and my journey lead me to work with one of the largest commerce companies in the world. It was a huge learning experience to manage a book of business, but really what I realized I loved was talking to people, helping customers with their problems, and building those relationships.
Why Brainbase you ask? It was simple! After researching Nate and the information that I could find on Karl & Nicolai and their vision and plan for Brainbase, not to mention during my initial interview stage what Todd and Blake had said, I was sold. I knew very little about the world of licensing, but I found Brainbase to be very appealing. Being part of this journey and being part of real change and having an impact is what I was looking for, and I found that in Brainbase.
Are there any upcoming projects you’re excited about?
Courtenay: Working with great enterprise-level customers!
Thomas: We are only skimming the surface here at Brainbase, not only from our platform’s point of view but also the direction we will take with Customer Success and cross team collaboration. I am very excited to bring some ideas to the table and see how we can integrate these this year.
How do you think Brainbase is changing the licensing industry?
Courtenay: We are dedicated to supporting and automating the IP industry. Our platform can help customers prepare for today and plan for the future!
Thomas: In a positive way, Brainbase is disrupting the industry: changing the old, tired, laborious data entry approach to a more creative, dynamic, and collaborative platform in which you can manage and monetize your intellectual property. In my short time in the “halls” of Brainbase, I have heard so many “aha!” moments from our customers. They are the best advocates of our platform. Hearing these comments, and seeing the platform provide true value to them is a reminder that what Brainbase is doing is needed!
What motivates you?
Courtenay: Mentoring and coaching others and leading a team to success. Helping organizations promote themselves, improve operation and develop/grow business.
Thomas: Most definitely making a difference in an organization and driving growth. I am very lucky to be surrounded by some incredible inspiring and determined people, which is extremely motivating coming to work every day.
How do you measure success?
Courtenay: Accomplishing high satisfaction level with all of my customers, through good communication and transparency. On a personal level, being happy and fulfilled by learning new things like a new recipe or new hobby, like zip-lining.
Thomas: In customer success, the most important aspect is how happy our customers are with Brainbase and the platform. If we can contribute to customer growth that’s also a huge win for us.
The best part of my role is when you really build a trusting relationship with a customer, so much so that they value your opinion and seek it. This is key to customer success. My moto has always been, “Meet their needs and exceed their expectations.”
What’s an interesting or unique experience from you career you’d like to share?
Courtenay: Not many people can say, that they’ve worked with three license management platforms and been the point of contact for 21+ Licensors, hundreds of licensees and 10K+ SaaS software users.
Thomas: I have had so many interesting experiencing during my career, however one sticks out. Before the pandemic, I travelled a lot for work. I was on the road every 2-3 month traveling throughout Central and Eastern Europe. One trip, I accidentally booked a stay in an apartment instead of an hotel. When I arrived, it was late at night, and I asked the front desk, “Is room service still open?” …to which I received a very confused look. In my defense, the apartment was advised as “ApartHotel”!
Do you have any after-work hobbies/activities?
Courtenay: I have several. My favorites are baking and birdwatching, and playing with my 7-month-old golden retriever, Hunter.
Thomas: I am a Dad to two young boys so my hobbies generally include playing Legos, having Nerf gun battles, or riding bikes around the park. Playing golf is my biggest hobby outside of work and Daddy duties.
Anything else you’d like to say about yourself?
Courtenay: I am energetic, experienced, creative, hardworking and honest. I will always put my family and friends before myself. I am always looking to establishing more friends in the licensing industry and be a great customer advocate!
Thomas: I think this about covers it all really. I cannot wait to see where Brainbase is in the next 18-24 months. We have some huge plans and a great platform with so much coming down the pipeline- it’s an exciting time to be here!
