Welcome back to our Life at LetsGetChecked series, a sequence of features that offer insight into what it’s really like to work at LetsGetChecked.

This week, we speak with Brionn Coffey, our Operations Specialist.

Brionn started working at LetsGetChecked while completing a Masters in Business. What started as a part-time job developed to a full time career when Brionn decided to apply what he learned during his previous studies in Human Nutrition to the business world.

How long have you been working in LetsGetChecked? What is your current role?

I started here in March 2019. I began work in a Customer Solutions role while I was completing my Masters and then progressed into a role in Operations. I am currently working as an Operations Specialist for LetsGetChecked.

What is your day to day like at LetsGetChecked?

I am involved in numerous projects which means that my days are varied, no two days are ever the same, that's what makes my role more enjoyable and exciting!

My main responsibilities include product development, project management, procurement, vendor development and process optimisation, to name a few. I am fortunate enough to work in cross-functional teams alongside many talented people from the product, producion, quality, dispatch, marketing, medical, and technical teams. Getting such exposure to so many business functions and individuals is great for personal and professional development, something highly valued at LetsGetChecked.

What did you study previously?

I completed a degree in Human Nutrition, common career paths for those who complete this course may include academia or clinical practice, such as becoming a dietician, others would go on to work in the commercial side of things, though that path is more rare. Others might work in marketing teams for food companies.

I decided to pursue a Masters in Business and Food Business Strategy, which allowed me to expand on my food and science background.

Where did you want your studies to take you?

At the beginning I wanted to work with athletes, I have done so in the past, and I still do which is great, however, the more I studied and the more I experienced different industries, the more I realized that business was something I wanted to pursue.

I spent one year of placement with a large multinational food group and I was exposed to their marketing team quite heavily, writing and developing material for them.

Following on from my placement and during my Masters I realized that there were multiple opportunities out there and I wanted to pursue a business orientated role. That’s the thing with a degree like Nutrition, a lot of people believe that it’s quite specialized and niche but it’s actually not, there are so many roots that you can pursue.

What prompted you to apply for LetsGetChecked during your studies?

I was exposed to the goals of the business secondhand because a friend of mine was working at LetsGetChecked when I first heard of the company. I thought it sounded incredible.

After interviewing with LetsGetChecked, I secured a Customer Solutions Executive role. I found that the team was very accommodating while I was studying, so I used to do evenings or mornings to suit my university schedule, I always varied it, it was great. It gave me the ability to fund my time in college in a flexible way.

How did your role within the care team help to develop into a business orientated role?

I couldn’t have started in a better team because you work alongside each and every department including product, tech, marketing, dispatch, production and management, by doing that and by being engrained in that role you receive a much broader sense of the company and the customer’s needs.

How have you married your degree, which is rooted in science to suit a more business-orientated role?

Science teaches you to think critically, we were told to never just look at things as is. We were taught to question how they did it, why they did it, and the steps it took to get there.

In business, it’s about constantly learning and applying those learnings. If you’re approaching a new project or a new problem, it’s about trying to break that down and analyze it and that was very much ingrained in me through the science background, it was always encouraging me to ask why something was the way it was and that definitely helped. I think anyone can apply that way of thinking to any role, it’s beneficial. I think the reality is that your undergraduate doesn’t really matter too much unless you are studying for a vocational role.

How did your career progress at LetsGetChecked?

It was a breath of fresh air to join a rapidly expanding company, that was the main driver to starting here as opposed to somewhere else. While I was working part-time and completing my studies, I worked with HR, meeting with different departments and management to see what path would work best. Through getting more and more exposure, I realized that I would like to go into the Operations side of the company.

The biggest change between working in a customer support orientated role to moving into the operations side is that customer solutions is instantaneous, you talk directly to customers. In operations, everything is quite constant and then when you take a step back, you’re analyzing things and coming up with how you can improve processes. It does take some getting used to but I think at the end of the day, it’s all about your attitude, being open to different opportunities and being excited by them.

In your experience, have you seen an increasing trend for business models that allow consumers to have more autonomy?

I think that there is an increasing trend across all fields, not just health. Direct-to-consumer models are becoming more and more evident. The companies that are making an impact are the ones that are disrupting at the moment. We’re one of them, we’re changing the way that health is viewed.

LetsGetChecked is reforming traditional healthcare models in ways that only agile companies can, we’re very responsive, we’re very quick to changing trends. We’re able to build to respond to an environment that’s changing. Time is money at the end of the day, so if you don’t have to sit in your doctors, that’s brilliant. If you can get a test delivered to your door and take it when you have time to take it, without needing half a day off work, that’s for the better.

LetsGetChecked has a care team that is fully trained and can talk to customers, this adds a personal feel and touch. The brand’s presence is growing as well, and people are becoming more familiar, this is beneficial because the more and more people who become open to new tests and new concepts, the more people who will get screened.

What is your biggest milestone since you started working at LetsGetChecked?

Since I began working in the new role, I have been involved in many different projects, some of them are still yet to cross over the line, some of them are only starting, some of them are longer-scale projects.

One of my milestones involved the reconstruction of the test box. We implemented some small changes that will make a significant impact. It’s in the hands of every customer so at the end of the day, it makes up part of everyday user experience, and it was great to be a part of that project.

What advice would you give to someone who is hoping to apply for a position at LetsGetChecked?

When you enter into a company that is experiencing such fast growth like LetsGetChecked or any start-up really, I think you have to be open to change, it’s just not the environment that’s going to suit you if you’re not. Everything is rapid, everything is fast-paced.

You get a lot more responsibility from the get-go which is great if you’re a recent graduate looking to gain experience and progress your career. My advice is to be open to change, to be opportunistic and to be a critical-thinker, never look at something and think that’s fine the way it is, everything can be improved.

What three personality traits do you think someone needs to have to thrive on the operations team at LetsGetChecked?

  • Opportunistic
  • Self-motivated
  • Critical thinker

Written by Hannah Kingston