Company News & Events
Aug 11
Team Member Spotlight: Craig Adkins, Sales Director
At Akorbi, we pride ourselves on our diverse and talented team. Today, we're shining the spotlight on one of our newest members, Craig Adkins, who has quickly become an integral part of our team at Akorbi. Let's dive into a candid conversation with him and learn more about his experiences, motivations, and a fun fact that involves...a bear?
Q: What is your favorite thing about working at Akorbi?
A: First, I’m just about four months into my time with Akorbi, time flies! Collaborating with colleagues worldwide to solve language issues for our clients is what I love to do, and Akorbi is providing a great platform to help serve clients well. Something that has clicked with me here is that we’re empowered as front-line employees to work within the organization to improve outcomes for our clients. The Executives that I work with really take a balanced approach of being involved but also giving the team the room and authority to consistently improve how we engage. From a service delivery perspective, Akorbi is great because the firm is big enough that there’s capability for serving clients across multiple sectors—while having specialized teams within that larger structure. So within our teams, we can help a global e-commerce brand translate their website, assist a law firm meet aggressive deadlines during litigation, and help our clients in patent prosecution manage their international filing spend—all with production groups that specialize in what they do.
Q: What does your day-to-day look like?
A: As someone in sales, I think of my job as matchmaking solutions with potential clients and solving language problems for them. And then working with internal teams to make sure we deliver. So one thing that has to be part of every day is learning about the problems our clients are looking to solve. A typical day could involve a conversation with a prospective client about a language and data annotation project, a patent client discussing differences in the Unitary patent and EP Validation, and reaching out to a client expanding into Latin America about timelines on their web localization project. Outside of clients, there’s internal collaboration: working with marketing to ensure our message reaches the right audience. Our production teams are very involved in the client relationships too, so connecting with them over upcoming client needs and how we can best serve clients is crucial. Working with the sales team—information sharing so we collectively keep track of what’s on our client’s minds and stay connected to the best ways to help our clients and each other. My day to day—a few things are routine, and the rest is working toward...
Q: Who motivates you?
A: It’s important for me that most of my motivation is self-driven, meaning that on a day-to-day basis I must be present in the day and do the best I can because that’s the right thing to do. That self-motivation also drives me to do excellent work for clients and strive to be a positive force in the world of those around me. Saying all that, I’m a Dad to two young children, and what I hope is that by being present in the moments that happen each day, and striving to do the best I can at whatever matters to me, they’ll take something from that.
Q: And then a fun fact about yourself?
A: Fun facts are tough! Like should I start with - hey, my first concert was the 25-year anniversary of Chicago and the Moody Blues, and my brother and I ignored the Moody Blues set?
During the last few years, my family relocated from the city (New York) to Northwest Connecticut. It’s been a really centering experience, it’s a naturally beautiful area with lots of nature. So it’s a good place for meditating and hiking, and I’ve done a lot of those since moving here. One of my biggest surprises since moving here is that on the first night in our house, we heard people on the street yelling, and we went out and realized they were saying “bear”! My first question was where, and the answer was “in your back yard”! No harm done, the bear ate some berries and moved on. But I’ve gone from the city to a place where the bears show up in town a couple of times a year.
From the bustling streets of New York to the tranquil landscapes of Northwest Connecticut, Craig's story has added a vibrant thread to the Akorbi tapestry. But our narrative doesn't end here. Join us next week as we unravel another inspiring chapter in our Employee Spotlight series.
