In this series, we are featuring Team8s who worked at 8x8, left to pursue other interests, and then returned to our team. We’re so excited to welcome back Justin Robbins, 8x8 Evangelist.

Justin is based in Wilmington, NC, but his role at 8x8 keeps him mainly on the road. You can catch him at conferences, user groups, and other CX industry events. Watch this video message from Justin and read the interview to learn more about him and what brought him back to 8x8.

8x8: Justin, welcome back to the team! To get us started, can you tell us a bit about what you do at 8x8?

Justin Robbins (JR): I'm 8x8's Evangelist which means that I spend a lot of my time connecting with our customers, our partners, and the customer experience community at large to spread the word about what we're working on at 8x8, where we believe the future of customer experience is heading, and how business leaders can best overcome their current customer communications challenges.

8x8: That sounds very exciting! Did you always know you wanted to pursue a career in this field?

JR: If you talk to many customer experience or contact center leaders, I doubt that any of them will tell you that they've always wanted to pursue a career in this field. It's something that many just fall into. That's the case for me, too. I've always worked in some sort of customer experience role, whether it was in hospitality front of house, contact center operations, training and development, industry analysis, or one of the many other hats I’ve worn.

8x8: Was there an “Aha!” moment for you at some point in time, a moment when it became clear that you wanted to follow this career path?

JR: Actually, I do distinctly remember the moment that I decided that this field was where I wanted to stay. I was the Manager of Training and Guest Experience for Hershey Entertainment and Resorts and found myself fortunate enough to be a speaker at numerous contact center events. At the time, I was sharing lessons learned from our journey of transforming technology, processes, people management, and much more in our quest to improve the customer experience. I loved being in the room connecting with others who did what I did and genuinely wanted to continue improving.

What stood out to me the most, however, was the number of people I encountered that were all dealing with the same challenges and yet thought they were alone. I realized the value and importance of community through those experiences, and from that moment I started seeking out opportunities to help contact center and customer experience leaders, whether that was through training, consulting, or conference presentations. That eventually led itself to roles that had me "evangelizing" how businesses could best improve their contact center and customer experience operations.

8x8: What have been some of the most valuable lessons you’ve learned throughout your career so far?

JR: Relationships matter: invest in others the way you hope for others to invest in you. Be a person of your word: keep promises and own up when you fall short (we will all fall short some time). Do the hard work: it is ALWAYS worth it. And stay curious: it keeps work (and life) interesting.

8x8: What encouraged you to return to 8x8?

JR: I was inspired by the leadership team's vision for enabling businesses to connect and communicate with their customers, as well as the opportunity for me to play a role in helping customer experience leaders achieve their goals.

8x8: What did you miss most about 8x8?

JR: My Team8s!

8x8: Where is someone likely to find you when you’re not at work? How do you like to spend your free time?

JR: I'm in a phase of life where a lot is happening outside of work. Between soccer tournaments, dance recitals, basketball games, and school events, you can bet that I'm almost anywhere but home! I love spending days out on the water with my family, taking spontaneous road trips to new towns, and sharing meals with friends.

8x8: Is there something that you’ve always wanted to learn or try outside of work?

JR: While I've been a musician for most of my life (a drummer since age five and classically trained vocalist), I've always wanted to learn how to play the guitar. I finally decided to pursue it this summer and began the process of teaching myself how to play. (Stay tuned on how that turns out!)

8x8: What’s something surprising that not many people know about you?

JR: I'm a certified competitive barbecue judge through the Kansas City BBQ Society. I also had a period of time in high school when I contemplated becoming a professional mascot. (After all, someone’s gotta do it.)

8x8: Justin, one final question: looking back, what is the most enjoyable or interesting thing that has happened to you this year?

JR: As cliche as it might be, I'm really enjoying being a dad. I have four kids (ages range from two to 13) and there's a lot of fun, chaos, and growth happening in our house that's been great to experience.

8x8 is made up of a diverse bunch of more than 2,000 highly driven Team8s determined to shape how businesses communicate and work in today's rapidly changing world.

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Read more stories in the Welcome Back Team8s series: