Meet Ali, our VP of Customer Experience…
Welcome to the second edition of Humans of Kinetic! Meet Ali Bott, our VP of Customer Experience. Ali’s journey from teacher training to a key role in higher education, and now at Kinetic, is truly inspiring. Her passion for enhancing customer experiences and dedication to the HE sector is evident in all she does. Read on to learn more about Ali’s incredible story.
Q: Can you tell us briefly about your background?
When I had to make the decision about going to university it wasn’t a natural step for me. It was my late grandfather who sat me down and said I’d ‘need a degree to go anywhere’ in life and looking at job specs at that time, he seemed to be correct. I decided to go for a course that would provide me with a career upon graduating and began 3 years of teacher training specialising in Primary Education.
In my 2nd year of study I took on a role as a Residential Assistant (RA) for the Student Housing Services team and little did I know at the time this would be the beginning of my career with the HE sector. I still graduated as a Teacher, so it was the best of both scenarios!
Q: Can you tell us what led you to Kinetic?
After becoming an RA (best job ever!), I completed summer internships and part-time work with the Accommodation team before taking on a full-time role after graduation. I naturally fell into Allocations/Systems/Operations roles and supported Welfare teams – like any role in student accommodation, you wear many hats! I was lucky to work with incredible talents in the student accommodation sector who greatly contributed to my personal and professional growth. Throughout my HE career, I was a super user of our systems, handling all configuration, development requests, and credit control, including Kinetic’s software.
Post-pandemic (if I can mention that!), after eight years of various roles and experiences, I was ready for a fresh challenge and joined the brilliant team at Kinetic, ready to work with the HE sector from a different perspective while staying close to the subject matter I enjoy most.
Q: What was your favourite memory from your time in the HE sector?
I have too many! Student requests and their individuality always stuck with me – from practicalities like pinboard measurements, colour schemes, and guests, to requests for emotional support treefrogs, finding hamsters and cats in bedrooms, to blunted axes and bamboo swords… there were a lot of good times.
The Summer and Arrivals weekends were always my favourite events and still are. Fast-paced, quick turnarounds, and amazing teamwork across all sites. Leaving on that final Sunday with the new arrivals in-house was always such a satisfying feeling – we’d pulled it off again! I still enjoy joining our community for these events to date; there’s nothing like it.
Q: What’s your role at Kinetic, and what does a typical day look like for you?
I’ve been with Kinetic for just over two years now and recently took on my new role as VP of Customer Experience this year. In this role, I work directly with our Customer Experience Managers, Training & Learning, Customer Support, and Marketing teams to deliver excellent service and experiences for our customers. My role truly holds that ‘every day brings something different’, and I love the variety. I might meet with our teams to progress and support new initiatives, meet with our community virtually or travel to campus to hear their experiences, goals, and feedback, and always plan what’s next. Having previously been a member of the Kinetic community, getting back out and onto campus is the best part of my role.
Q: What’s something you’re passionate about that most people don’t know?
So, these questions aren’t my favourite, and it’s a pretty generic answer… but travel it is! Getting out and seeing new places, cities, and cultures is something I’m grateful to be able to do. Aside from this, I’d expect my colleagues and nearest to say it’s anything random or out of the ordinary – a random fact, theory, or question to debate, I’m there!
