Homegrown Heroes:
Crescendo Team Spotlight
We put in a lot of hard work to make our clients succeed. However, that work is built upon a foundation of collaboration, camaraderie, and mentoring within our own team. At Crescendo, there’s no long, convoluted path to success. If anyone on our team wants to get better at what they do or learn new skills, all they have to do is ask. There’s always someone willing to share their time and expertise to help others grow.
Get to know what it’s like to work at Crescendo as we highlight the people that power our commitment to clients, motivate us to excel, and put the fun in meeting challenges head on.
Homegrown Hero of the Month
Yuki Sakakibara
Born and raised in the Philippines and hailing from Manila, Yuki Sakakibara is one of Crescendo Collective’s dynamic producers. She joined the team in February of 2021 and has been a driving force ever since. Apart from her role at Crescendo, she is a busy mom of two wonderful, high-energy boys, ages ten and four. She loves spending time with her family, grocery shopping (to relieve stress) and cooking. In our conversation, Yuki tells us what it’s like working as a producer at Crescendo – the challenges, the joys, and everything in between.
Talk a bit about your role. What’s a day in the life of a producer at Crescendo?
As a producer, I consider myself the bridge between our team and the client. All communication goes through us, and we are responsible to make sure that what the team delivers is aligned with the client’s priorities, timeline, issues, and updates. There is hardly an idle day for me as a Producer. That’s what makes this role exciting and challenging at the same time.
How would you compare working for a global company such as Crescendo to other experiences?
Working with different cultures is not new to me, but the opportunity that I get with Crescendo is on a new level. In a day, I am able to meet people from different continents! I’m all around the world within my 8 hr work shift. :)
What do you look for in your team to produce great results? What do you demand of yourself?
Top of my list is efficient communication. I will say this over and over again, but this has been the holy grail of our team’s success. I have a team of dedicated and talented individuals, but building a high-performing team requires more than just pulling together a group. Communication is vital for us to keep track of progress and work together efficiently on our deliverables.
I want to keep having high expectations of myself and my team. It is not easy, but I know in time we will reap what we sow. As a producer, I want to be a role model to the team to always do our best. It pays for setting the bar high enough that our customers treat us as partners — not just vendors.
How do you ensure that client goals are being achieved?
First thing would be to ensure that the goal is realistic and that the plan and timeline was set collaboratively and agreed with both the clients and the team. During development, it is important that we do regular alignments to give updates and communicate any challenges that the team is encountering. There will be hurdles along the way, and it is very important to know how to communicate them the right way to our clients. We can’t just tell them that there is a problem or delay without having a solution/plan at hand. I’ve learned to find a way to give something if they are going to lose something. This way our clients will always feel that we are not losing track of the goal.
We must actively address client pain points and resolve them quickly. We must never wait for our client to come and escalate issues. From the start of the project, I’ve learned to always try to put yourself in the client's shoes and identify the problems they are facing and address them as efficiently as we can. This builds trust and confidence from our clients.
What do you like most about working at Crescendo?
Aside from the endless opportunities and great team behind me, I am very fond of Crescendo because of our leaders. They lead the way, show empathy, and work for their team — not the other way around. They are the kind of leaders that inspire the team to do more and be better.
What’s next?
For me, it is continuous learning and growth. I may be put into another project, but my goal is to keep learning and continue to strive to get better on what I do.