Cimplifi Conversations | Featuring Alison Ciaramitaro

We know the importance of building a company and culture that empowers people to thrive. We offer an environment where you can make an impact and grow and be recognized for the value you deliver.

Welcome to our series, Cimplifi Conversations, where we recognize a team member honoring our company values – courageous, reliable, inventive, and adaptable. At Cimplifi, we believe in empowering our people and providing opportunities for professional and personal growth. 

Recently, Amy Hinzmann, president of Cimplifi, sat down to chat with Alison Ciaramitaro, director of training and product development. Going on three years at Cimplifi, Alison is our Zoom queen, spending most days giving demos of our client-centric experience and ecosystem to prospective clients. Alison also provides training across the Cimplifi platform to new and experienced users. We hope you enjoy getting to know Alison and learning about Cimplifi through her eyes.

Amy: Hi Alison, so nice to chat with you today. You have an interesting background that’s not based in legal technology – tell me more about it!

Alison: I, like many others, sort of fell into eDiscovery and have loved every minute in the industry, but you’re right, my background is unique. I’m a degreed meteorologist and prior to eDiscovery worked on-air in at a television station in Texas.  It was an amazing experience where I got to do cool things like ride in a hot air balloon, throw out the first pitch for the Oakland Athletics Double-A affiliate, and see countless tumbleweeds. But I always thought eventually I would retire as a math teacher.  Fast forward to when I decided to leave the meteorology industry, I moved back to the Boston area and got an interview for an entry-level support position at a service provider.  Five months later, I earned my RCA (Relativity Certified Administrator) and you could say at that point I was a lifer.

AH: I can totally see you as a meteorologist! And being from Texas myself, I have seen a lot of tumbleweeds across West Texas! Sounds like you had fun, but we are so glad you made it over into this industry and are at Cimplifi!  Tell me about a typical week in your life at Cimplifi?

AC: A typical week involves providing demos, training, and onboarding clients, and fielding questions on how to use any of the tools. With my spare time, I focus on process improvement in terms of building out better documentation. I spend a lot of time with new clients, making sure they have the skills they need to be successful, and the goal is for that to wane over time because they’re feeling more confident to tackle it on their own, which means we have done our jobs! No two weeks are the same, which is why this industry is so great. There’s always going to be new challenges to solve, new technology to learn and implement, and new users to train!

AH: It’s so important for our new clients to have a meaningful and positive experience as they learn how to use our tools and platform. Thank you for ensuring they do! Could you describe yourself in one sentence?

AC: Always striving for excellence.

AH: I love that excellence is a common value among our employees. Tell me what made you want to work at Cimplifi?

AC: I would say it’s because of our CEO, Marc Zamsky, and the culture.  The Marc I met three years ago is still the same Marc today, even after all the growth we’ve experienced.  He cares and values his employees.  I saw that right away – and that bleeds into the culture of Cimplifi.  Employees are not just button pressers and bodies that respond to emails.  I’d like to think we’re all thought leaders who influence the executive team.  Have an idea? Someone will listen. It is my sense that capturing the genius of everyday employees gets lost at larger eDiscovery vendors.

AH: You are speaking my language! I, too, am drawn to this community-minded culture at Cimplifi. How would you say Cimplifi has helped you in your career?

AC: Cimplifi has helped me immensely to get where I am today.  Cimplifi took a chance on me – I didn’t have the ‘on paper’ experience of giving demos.  I came from the project management side of things, performing tasks in Relativity, so a slight shift in my daily practices – but I feel like I was made for the position I’m in today.  I love showing potential clients our suite of technology and I love training users on how to get the most out of the tools.

AH: Your enthusiasm can be felt through the any virtual meeting! Along with that, what other personality traits do you have that have enabled you to excel in your role?

AC: When I care about something, I really care about it.  I hope my genuine excitement for the tools transfers to the clients I train.

AH: I’m sure it does! What else keeps you motivated to push through the weeds or go beyond to deliver excellence?

AC: I’ve been given some great opportunities in life and making sure I don’t take that for granted is a big motivator. Working hard definitely pays off.

AH: That’s so true – as they say, luck is the intersection of preparation and opportunity. Tell me about your proudest professional accomplishment.

AC: I think the thing I’m most proud of is leaving the news industry – it wasn’t easy to start fresh, not knowing what was next, but it also led me to where I am today.

AH: Oh yes, that leap of faith can be everything. Now that you’re here and thriving, what’s next for you?

AC: That’s an interesting question – I don’t like to plan out what’s next – I’m more ‘strive to be the best I can be’ and everything will fall into place.  I’d like to think the next logical evolution would be to expand the training & development team as Cimplifi grows.

AH: That’s great. Speaking of scaling, tell me about a time Cimplifi went through a big change and how you adjusted.

AC: I’d say over the last 12 months we’ve seen a total shift, welcoming some amazing people to the leadership team and we’re seeing that positive ripple effect.  ‘Change’ isn’t easy – and sometimes it’s hard to see the bigger picture – but if you see the vision, it’s really exciting.  Change spices up the day to day!

AH: Absolutely! I agree with you on seeing the positive ripple effect and the exciting things on the horizon at Cimplifi. Is there anywhere in your role that is a challenge or any news skills you look to attain?

AC: Breaking down the barrier of daily use of AI.  It’s not meant to be a scary black hole – it’s designed to make clients lives easier.

AH: I agree, transparency with the application of new technology is critical to adoption. Given our focus on transparency and scale, what do you think the future holds for Cimplifi?

AC: I get excited when I think about the future at Cimplifi.  I love what we’re doing today, and I just see us continuously providing our clients the best service as possible, continuously striving to solve problems in the industry and expanding our footprint into the international space.

We are always looking for knowledgeable and passionate people to join our team.  Explore our job board to learn more.  Attorneys, data experts, project managers, sales pros, and IT whizzes: this is your opportunity to thrive!

Until then, we look forward to introducing you to more of our talented team members that shine and bring dedication and creativity to their role at Cimplifi.