Employee Spotlight: Introducing Ocean, Our New Sales Development Representative

As we hire new talents at Bridge, we typically ask a bunch of fun and personal questions that we send out to the entire team in an effort to break the ice, as many other companies do. We thought we could go a step further and also share these with you, our clients and partners, because we appreciate so much the relationships we have been building together over the years.

I'm very excited to join the Bridge team. Being an immigrant myself, our mission resonates with me really well. My job here is to spread the word about what we do and help companies offer better international employee experiences, find creative ways to hire the best talent around the world and do immigration efficiently. From personal experience, I know that international employees face unique challenges that end up taking a toll on their productivity. My job is to shine the light on those issues and help our partner companies hire and retain employees with the unique skill set required to achieve their company goals.

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1. Where were you born? Burkina Faso, my village is called Mahadaga
   

2. When you were little, who was your favorite superhero? When I was little I watched neither TV nor movies. But the president of my country at the time was my hero.His name is  Thomas Sankara, and  he was a very charismatic leader.
   

3. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten? Bird nest soup. It’s basically solidified bird saliva harvested for human consumption. I had it once on a company trip to Thailand. I think I’d try it again if it weren’t super expensive.
   

4. What is the favorite city you have visited outside the United States? Taipei is my favorite city outside the US and my own country. I spent 4 years there and I still marvel at the ease of going around in the city, meeting really fun and nice people, and having all-you-can-eat hotpot. I also participated in the Tapei 101 Runup when it was still the tallest building in the world. The panoramic view of the entire city from the top was epic
   
   

5. If you could visit any place in the world where would it be and why? Iceland. I want to bathe in a geothermal pool and watch the beautiful natural lights. This is kinda weird because I don’t like cold weather. But there is a thing about hot springs in cold weather that I find irresistible
   

6. If you forget to plug your headphones in at work on Monday, what song are we most likely to hear? Gambia, by Sona Jobarteh. Sona is a very accomplished musician playing as many as 6 instruments including the African kora. She’s amazing.
   

7. What is the most recent thing you completed on your bucket list? Buying an electric guitar. I just want to jam weird sounds and make noise!
   

8. What is your favorite sports team? Golden State Warriors. I come from a soccer world and the first basketball game I ever watched was a warriors game. Even though I didn’t understand much about the game, I was blown away by their resilience, team spirit, and burning desire to win. They’re having a hard time right now, I believe it’s just a temporary setback. With the spirit of warriors, victory is never too far away.
   

9. What is your most used emoji? Smiling face
   

10. What is your favorite app on your phone? Audible. I love learning and audiobooks are the fastest way I’ve found for fast knowledge download into my brain.
    

11. If you had your own talk show, who would your first three guests be? Warren Buffet, John Oliver, Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Come to think about I wonder what these 3 people will actually talk about!
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12. What is the scariest thing you've ever done for fun? Wakeboarding. It’s thing I tried more than ten times in my life and failed to stand. Still working on it. I’m sure when I manage to get it, the thrill will be magical!
    

13. What is your favorite TV show of all time? Three Kingdoms. I watched 5 times over. Full of people too smart for their own good. Best case study on leadership and strategy.
    

14. If you could eliminate one thing from your daily routine, what would it be? Playing chess. I like to win so I end up playing a little longer than I should.
    

15. Besides working at Bridge (of course!) what is your dream job? Investor. I believe entrepreneurs have the power to change lives, make the world a better place or maybe lead us to a completely new world. I want to be able to empower them with the resources they need to make they visions happen.