How Montco’s Phenom People lured a former Salesforce exec

Burlington, Mass.-based software executive Debbie Louis, who’s been working operations and management roles in tech for the past three decades, was working for ecommerce company Demandware in 2016 when it got bought by Salesforce.

In the aftermath of the $2.8-billion deal, Louis spent just over a year at the California-based SaaS giant in a VP role.

But last month Louis made the next move in her career, joining Ambler, Pa.-based Phenom People as its VP of Customer Success.

Though she’ll remain based in the Boston area, she will now commute once a week to the Philly suburbs to help steer the company’s global growth plans.

“Phenom People is a cutting edge company with a unique vision of success,” Louis said in an email. “Its purpose is to help a billion people find the right job, and immediately I connected with such a humanitarian and socially responsible purpose. First and foremost, I wanted to work with a team on a mission.”

Outside of the initial connection to Phenom People’s mission, Louis said she was drawn to the company’s approach to diversity.

“It’s amazing to see a software company with other women in leadership and executive roles,” Louis said. “Bottom line, I loved their vision, their culture, and I really believe in the product; all those things combined into an opportunity I couldn’t turn down.”

Cofounded by Brad Goldoor and Indian immigrants Mahe Bayireddi and Hari Bayireddy (two brothers who spell their last names differently due to a paperwork error) the company makes a HR-tech platform that helps companies attract talent. In May, Phenom People announced a $22 million Series B round aimed at expanding its operations to Europe and the Asia Pacific and building up staff count at its local headquarters.

“My expertise lies in creating high-functioning customer success teams, scaling them to a global level, and embracing and overcoming the challenges that come along with all of it,” Louis said. ” I plan to spend a lot of time in Philly building a strong dynamic with the existing customer success team. As that grows on a global level, I’ll eventually slow down my travel to the area, but for now, it’s important that I’m here in the infancy stages of my time with Phenom People.”