Sharpen Technologies - Female Executive of the Year

Company: Sharpen Technologies
Company Description: Sharpen Technologies is the world’s first, truly agent-focused contact center platform built in the cloud for the cloud. Headquartered in Indianapolis, the omnichannel platform lets users work from anywhere, seamlessly moving between calls, texts, webchats, etc., all in real-time and in a single interaction. Sharpen has won numerous awards for innovation and was named to the 2020 Inc. 5000.
Nomination Category: Individual Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Female Executive of the Year – Business Products –11 to 2,500 Employees

Nomination Title: Pamela Hynes

Pam is responsible for the company's daily operations, including managing all customer-facing teams, handling all internal and external business operations, and promoting the vision and culture of the tech company. In sum, Pam is the face of Sharpen to our employees and customers.

She works with Sharpen's leadership team and Board of Directors to secure funding from investors and help shape the company's strategic growth plans. She is responsible for crafting plans to rapidly scale the organization while maintaining high-quality standards, rapid response times, and cost-effective operations.

With Pam as COO, since July 2019, Sharpen has:

Secured $25+ million in funding.

Increased revenue by 221%, bookings by 113%, and new customers by 180%, while expanding existing customer spending by 30% on average each quarter.

Launched a new product, Sharpen Performance Tiles, giving agents real-time visibility into their work, providing scoring metrics against specific targets and larger peer groups. Sharpen Tiles has been such a success that customers have reported an immediate return on investment with dramatic improvements in lower call handle times, improved call resolution, and increasing CSAT scores. One Sharpen customer saved more than $1.5M annually using Tiles.

Made the 2020 Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in America, with a growth rate of 137% over a three-year period.

Been named a "Best Places to Work" by both Inc. (2019) and the Indiana Chamber of Commerce (2021).

Won a Bronze and Silver Stevie for Tiles, with judges calling it "innovative," "intuitive," and a "game-changer."

In her 33-year career, Pam Hynes has been a leader in the tech community. She has been instrumental in building not one, but two successful companies. Software Artistry made history in Indiana by being the first software company in the state to go public. Her second, Interactive Intelligence, created thousands of jobs around the world and sold for $1.4 billion in 2016. She is now working her magic on a third, Sharpen. Stay tuned!

Pam is a highly respected Customer Experience professional and has brought both strategic vision and strong execution to every organization of which she has been a part. Many of her ideas have passed the test of time, and are still standard operating procedures today in the contact center space, including the creation of Client Success and Care teams and the development of systems to manage critical relationships to ensure customers remain clients for life. In 2016, she published Succeeding at Customer Engagement: 7 Game Changers and Stories from Companies Who Use Them, which was praised by industry experts.

In 2020, Pam was named a Woman of Influence by the Indiana Business Journal for her “integrity,” “leadership,” and “track record of accomplishment.”

In her 30+ career in the tech industry, Pam has continually succeeded in a profession not necessarily supportive of women, especially working mothers. In a business where 50% of women leave their jobs by 35, at a 45% higher rate than men, Pam stayed and succeeded in building two public companies. She did this all while raising three children with the help of her husband of 40 years. She is a true leader in a field where only 10% of women have executive roles. Again, Pam beat the odds to become COO.

When you combine her unwavering commitment to Sharpen's customers and employees, along with her leadership skills, attention to detail, and ability to hire (and mentor) great team members, you can see why she has been so successful at every stop she's made. "Everyone looks to Pam for help and guidance. She leads not by her title, but by her actions and empathy, earning the respect of every team member," said Sharpen CEO Bill Gildea, who has worked with Pam for 13 years. Noted Mike Simmons, Chairman of Sharpen's Board, "As an early-stage company, there is a continuing balance between customer expectation and the company's ability to deliver on those expectations. Pam has great relationships with our customers because of her ability to passionately represent their position internally while candidly setting reasonable expectations with them. Many have said they love working with Pam because of her unique combination of candor, empathy, optimism, and hard work."

Software Artistry first software company in the state to go public
https://medium.com/swlh/how-indiana-became-the-next-big-startup-tech-hub-258ea19bf017

Interactive Intelligence Sells for $1.4 Billion
https://www.indystar.com/story/news/2016/08/31/interactive-intelligence-agrees-14-billion-sale/89642374/

Succeeding at Customer Engagement: 7 Game Changers and Stories from Companies Who Use Them
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161123005075/en/Succeeding-at-Customer-Engagement-Book-by-Interactive-Intelligence-Now-Available

Pamela Hynes named a 2020 Woman of Influence by the Indiana Business Journal
https://www.ibj.com/articles/2020-women-of-influence-pamela-jo-hynes

Sharpen Secures $14 Million in Funding
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/sharpen-secures-14-million-funding-170000908.html

Sharpen Secures $12 Million in Funding
https://techstartupshttps://techstartups.com/2020/09/10/Indianapolis-based-tech-startup-sharpen-secures-12-million-funding-grow-agent-first-omnichannel-cloud-contact-center-platform/

Sharpen Named to the 2020 Inc. 5000
https://www.inc.com/profile/sharpen-technologies

Sharpen Named a 2019 Best Place to Work by Inc. Magazine
https://www.inc.com/best-workplaces-2019.html

Sharpen Named a 2021 Best Place to Work by Indiana Chamber of Commerce
https://www.indianachamber.com/best-places-to-work-in-indiana-companies-named-for-2021-chamber-will-announce-rankings-may-6/

Sharpen Wins a 2021 Bronze Silver Stevie by the American Business Awards
https://stevieawards.com/aba/product-management-new-product-awards

Sharpen Wins a 2021 Silver Stevie for Best Contact Solution-New Version
https://stevieawards.com/sales/2021-stevie%C2%AE-award-winners

50% of women leave their tech jobs by age 35
https://www.cnet.com/news/half-of-young-women-will-leave-their-tech-job-by-age-35-study-finds/

Women are leaving their tech jobs at a 45% higher rate than men
https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2017/02/28/why-women-leave-the-tech-industry-at-a-45-higher-rate-than-men/?sh=258026b64216

10% of women have executive roles
https://www.isemag.com/2020/10/telecom-the-latest-stats-on-women-in-tech/