Behind the Box: Meet the Team Powering the Imperfect Movement
Behind every pound of food that we recover and every box of produce that we deliver are some truly exceptional people. We’re delighted to be able to provide over 1,000 good jobs across the country and think it’s important to tell the stories of our employees so the world can understand the work they do to advance our mission. Whether you’re curious about what it’s like to work at a company like Imperfect, or hunting for advice to get ahead in your career in sustainable food, we hope these stories help enlighten and inspire you!
This week, we’re taking you behind the scenes of Imperfect with Nataki Jefferson-Sauceda, our beloved San Antonio Production Manager, and Amy Corstorphine, our superstar Customer Care Manager!
Nataki Jefferson-Sauceda, Production Manager, San Antonio, TX,
Imperfect Produce: How long have you been with Imperfect?
Nataki Jefferson-Sauceda: 2 and a half years.
IP: Why did you join Imperfect initially?
NJS: I joined Imperfect to get back into the workforce and be able to take care of my children when I moved back to California after my mom passed away.
IP: What do you like most about working at Imperfect?
NJS: My favorite thing about working here is how we operate more like family than a business. I also love our mission!
IP: How have you have advanced in your career at Imperfect?
NJS: I was hired as a warehouse employee and within a couple of months I became the Backstock Lead. Seven months after I was hired, I was promoted to Pack Supervisor and held that position for a year and a half. During my time as a Supervisor, I transferred to San Antonio, TX to help start and run our Texas pack center. In March of this year, I was promoted to Production Manager.
IP: What advice for success do you have for people interested in working at Imperfect?
NJS: Come to work every day with a great mindset. Be diligent, dedicated, hard-working, stay productive, and always strive to improve.
Amy Corstorphine, Customer Care Manager, Tucson, AZ, 2 years, 8 months
Imperfect Produce: How long have you been with Imperfect?
Amy Corstorphine: 2 years and 8 months.
IP: Why did you join Imperfect initially?
AC: I joined Imperfect because of the mission and culture. I studied Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems at UC Davis, and my senior capstone project was on food waste. The company felt like a perfect fit for my interests when I found out about it. My major in college was really new for UC Davis, so I didn’t have many examples of potential careers while I was in undergrad. Most people ended up going to the Peace Corps, Food Corps, helping at school gardens or doing other interesting professions within the nonprofit sector, but I didn’t see many career opportunities that blended an interest in startups and technology with the sustainability lens while I was in school.
Before I toured the office, I checked out the website, and at the time, there were photos and bios of all of the current employees and advisors. Everyone was smiling and seemed so friendly, and there were some really interesting advisors that I had studied previously. When I toured the facility, I could tell that it wasn’t just the website — there was a sense of family within the team, and it was something that I wanted to be a part of. After I toured and interviewed, it felt unreal that an opportunity like this existed for me.
IP: What do you like most about working at Imperfect?
AC: It remains the same — the mission and the culture. Working for a mission-based startup means that we have such an amazingly diverse team with so many backgrounds and ideas, but we all have a common thread that brought us to Imperfect, which is the mission. Our team has come to Imperfect from many industries and can bring those experiences to help us continue to grow the company in new and exciting ways. Being a nation-wide company, it can be difficult to maintain the culture as you scale, especially as quickly as we have. But what’s been amazing is that at every Imperfect facility I’ve visited, it still feels like family when you walk in the door, even if you’ve only talked with their team online.
Loving the mission also means that when you’re having a hard day, you can always lean on the fact that what you’re doing, no matter what department you’re in or what task you’re working on, you’re working to help fight food waste and build a better food system for everyone. And that’s pretty cool. Not many people can say that about their jobs.
IP: How have you advanced in your career at Imperfect?
I started out as the first full-time Customer Care intern in September of 2016. Folks from across the company were helping out in the Customer Care department at the time, as we had recently undergone an expansion from just delivering to the East Bay to suddenly delivering in markets across the Bay Area, and all of the sudden had a spike in customers (and emails!). Our Customer Care Manager, now Head of Customer Care Operations, Kelsey Mackin, was the only full-time Customer Care employee at the time. After interning for a few days, I realized that I wanted to apply for the full-time associate role that they’d opened up, and I was offered that position after about two weeks of interning. From there, I worked with Kelsey to continue to hire out the team — hopping in interviews just a few months after I’d started — and I helped hire and train my peers.
In May of 2017, our team grew to the size where we needed a shift lead, so I was promoted to be the first-morning shift lead for the Customer Care department. Shortly thereafter, it was announced that the company would be expanding to Portland, Oregon and that we were going to be growing a team at that warehouse. Kelsey knew I wanted to move to Portland and offered me the opportunity to move up there to grow that team.
I moved to Portland in August of 2017 and worked on hiring my team. Over the next three months, I hired a team of 10. In late October of that year, I was promoted to Manager of the Portland team. In April of 2018, it was announced that our department (at the time, three independent teams spread across Portland, SF, and LA) would be centralizing to Tucson, Arizona in the summer. I was offered the opportunity to relocate once again with the company to manage and begin hiring the soon-to-be rapidly growing team. I went from having a small team of 10 in Portland in April to interviewing, hiring, and managing 51 Customer Care team members from May to September of 2018.
I’ve now been in Tucson for about 6 months and am often amazed by the fact that my current office is larger than our first warehouse. When I started, I was sharing a small Ikea desk with CEO and Co-founder Ben Simon. I have my own desk now!
IP: What advice for success do you have for people interested in working here at Imperfect?
AC: Expect the unexpected, be ready to learn and create, own up to your mistakes, and take every opportunity that comes your way.
