Every month we sit down with a team member at Digistorm to talk about their life, their career before Digistorm, and what their experience has been since working here. In this interview, we chat with Clay, our Australian Sales Manager here at Digistorm. We cover Clay's Canadian roots, his hobbies outside of work, and how he once starred in a Bollywood movie...
Tara: Tell us about yourself and your new role at Digistorm!
Clay: My name’s Clay and I’m the Sales Manager in Australia for Digistorm. Part of my role involves managing our sales team and growing our company, but my favourite part of the job is providing resources for the team to make their job easier.
Tara: Where are you from and how did you end up on the Gold Coast?
Clay: I’m originally from Toronto, Canada – in the big city. I lived there for quite a while until one day I just decided that I need to go and see the world. So I quit my job and started travelling for about a year across Europe and Asia before ending up in Australia.
I landed in Sydney, moved to Byron Bay for five years and now here I am on the Gold Coast, I’ve been here for about three years now. I officially became an Australian citizen on February 14 2020, which was pretty amazing. It’s one of the easiest dates to remember so Australia will always be my Valentine.
Tara: What was your journey into Sales like?
Clay: My journey into Sales is quite interesting because I started as a door-to-door salesman when I was 13. A friend of mine had a van and we would sell household items to rich neighbourhoods in Toronto. After that, I did a little bit of manual labour during University, but I’ve always been in the Sales and Marketing industry. It seems to have just forged its path naturally.
Tara: Why did you join Digistorm?
Clay: One thing that caught my eye about Digistorm is that we’re in the education industry and I’ve always thought that the K-12 space needs help to bring them up to speed with technology. I learned that Digistorm was making some cool products and I wanted to be a part of it.
Tara: How would you describe Digistorm to others?
Clay: I would say Digistorm is a group of young, talented individuals who love what they do and make great products for schools.
Tara: What do you love most about working at Digistorm?
Clay: It’s 100% the people. It makes coming to work so much more enjoyable. I love that everyone is so professional but a good bunch of people. I’ve made some really good friends who I go fishing and surfing with – it’s been incredible.
Tara: Why do you think schools choose to work with us?
Clay: I would say the biggest difference is the fact that we’ve been in this space for a very long time. We’re young, but we’re almost a pioneer. I think schools work with us because we take the time and effort to create as much value as possible in our products for our clients.
Tara: What do you get up to when you're not in the office?
Clay: I love surfing, fishing, exercising, and going out with friends to enjoy all of the amazing restaurants we have on the Gold Coast.
Tara: Who is your greatest inspiration and why?
Clay: One of my most recent inspirations is a guy by the name of Ray Dalio, he has created some of the most amazing companies the world has seen and now the knowledge he’s giving back to the community is just fantastic. If you haven’t heard of him you should check him out.
Tara: What piece of advice would you share with your younger self?
Clay: That life goes on. It constantly moves regardless of what you think.
Tara: What are you reading right now?
Clay: Right now I’m reading Anthony Kiedis’ biography Scar Tissue, which is like wild so I’d recommend that one. He has lived a crazy life, you couldn’t make that up.
Tara: What's something people might be surprised to know about you?
Clay: The one thing people are always surprised to know about me is that I’ve competed in Muay Thai fights. They’re all amateur fights, but I’m currently undefeated.
Tara: Have you ever had a brush with fame?
Clay: The closest I’ve come to fame was when I was in India, they put me in a Bollywood movie. I have no idea what it’s called, but we were on set for two days and it was pretty cool. We saw people on the beach filming and they asked us to be extras in the background and paid us 500 rupees which is nothing haha.