Meet Lye Cwan Ng, Vyond’s manager of customer success from the San Mateo office. As the manager of customer success, Lye Cwan manages the Customer Success team and helps them give our Enterprise customers the best Vyond experience.

What was your journey to becoming the manager of customer success?

Growing up in South East Asia, the professions that were thought of as most ‘ideal’ for kids to aspire to were being a doctor, lawyer, or engineer. My parents are both doctors and I honestly did not realize there was anything else out there until I went to Melbourne, Australia for college. I ended up studying IT but I graduated during a time where IT jobs were extremely saturated. I decided to go home to Malaysia for a while and my brother’s friend happened to work at a media company that needed salespeople. I ended up selling for a free-press street culture and nightlife magazine for 5 years and realized that I was good at account management. I loved client-facing roles because I really enjoyed working with so many different people. I then worked at a creative ad agency in China for a couple of years before moving to the Bay Area where I discovered Customer Success at Vyond and it’s exactly the right balance and fit for my personality.

What does your position entail?

I manage the Customer Success team and help them give our Enterprise customers the best Vyond experience.

Where is your hometown? What brought you to The Bay?

I’m from Penang, Malaysia, and went to Melbourne, Australia for college. I ended up living there for 8 years and then moved to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for my first job. I then moved to Beijing and Shanghai for a few years with my then-boyfriend/now-husband. His job moved him to the Bay so that’s where we are now!

Share an interesting fact or story about yourself.

I was a competitive swimmer in high school. I ended up representing Malaysia in a couple of competitions within Asia. Nothing brings out patriotism like seeing your country’s flag being raised on the medal podium.

What is your favorite thing to eat?

My favorite all-time food is Char Koay Teow and it is Penang’s signature dish. I have not found anything close to the original although I’ve tried many South East Asian restaurants here. I don’t have a favorite local restaurant but my family, especially my kids, really enjoy Mediterranean food.

^{Char Koay Teow}

What are your hobbies?

I love reading, specifically fantasy books. I haven’t had time to read as much as I would like these days because I have 2 little kids but my favorite authors are David Eddings and Terry Pratchet. Reading these books brings me into another world that I find just so extraordinary and creative.

Why do you love Vyond?

I love the culture and I can honestly say that I enjoy working with all the people here. I have awesome colleagues! More importantly, though, my job involves me teaching users how to create fun and engaging videos and I love that I get to do that every day.

What is your favorite feature in Vyond and why?

Continue Scene. It makes creating fluid scenes so simple and it also ends up making it easier to edit your videos.

There are various pathways that lead to careers at Vyond. Explore our current openings.

Meet Santhini Nambiar, Vyond’s product manager from the Hong Kong office. As a product manager, Santhini’s role involves guiding specific product initiatives that add value to both Vyond’s customers and its business.

What was your journey to becoming a product manager?

With an engineering background, I’ve had enriching stints across mobile, consumer electronics, and automotive domains with a particular focus on innovation and R&D. I worked with teams globally to launch some amazing product offerings in various markets. I am passionate about blending technology and design to create easy-to-use software that adds value to the customers. I am inspired by Vyond’s mission to put the power of video in everyone’s hands and I am really excited to be part of that journey.

What does your position entail?

The PM role involves guiding specific product initiatives that add value to both Vyond’s customers and its business. I help in setting goals, defining success, motivating the team, and being responsible for the outcome of new feature offerings on the platform. I interact with the leadership team, engineering, designers, quality, and other PMs to ensure that these new initiatives help to convert Vyond’s mission into a reality.

What are some of the bigger projects you are working on now?

I am the product manager for the Vyond Mobile app and all the AI-based initiatives that are being developed on the Vyond platform. I focus on how these two product offerings can add value to our customers and help them make their videos efficiently.

Where is your hometown?

I am based out of Hong Kong. Originally from India, I have lived and worked in Sweden, China and Singapore before moving to Hong Kong.

Share an interesting fact about yourself.

Growing up, I had a keen interest in acting. I had secretly auditioned for a TV series and later had to reject the offer as my parents wanted me to focus on academics.

What is your favorite thing to eat?

My favorite cuisines are Thai, Italian, Sri Lankan, Nepalese, and of course Indian! I recently tried a restaurant called ‘Pici’ and their truffle pasta and Tiramisu are amazing. If you ever visit Hong Kong, I highly recommend you to try it. I have a major sweet tooth and can literally eat anything sugary

What are your hobbies?

I love being outdoors. Hiking is a hobby that I’ve picked up in the last few years. It calms my mind to be with nature after a long busy week and the climb is always worth the view. HK has some of the best hikes, do check them out if you get a chance. Since I like being active, I try adventure sports like bouldering sometimes.

Why do you love Vyond?

I love Vyond’s products for their versatility of content and ease of use – practically anyone with any skill level can create a video within minutes using the platform, how amazing is that? We are a fun bunch of mission-centric people who push the limits every day to make the product better for our customers. Having said that, we take time to celebrate every little win along the way. After all, work should also be fun, right?

2021 Xmas celebrations at the Vyond office in Hong Kong

What is one feature in Vyond that you think customers should know about?

I love all the AI-based features that we recently launched. Using the Visual search feature, you can search for a prop, background or template based on a photo that you upload. The color detection feature will auto-detect all the dominant colors from a picture that you upload.

But one of my recent favorites is the remove background feature. It will magically remove the background of any uploaded photo making it transparent to re-use in your video. How cool is that? Give it a try and let us know your feedback.

There are various pathways that lead to careers at Vyond. Explore our current openings.

Meet Shari Bryant, Vyond’s director of program management from the San Mateo office. As the director of program management, Shari provides localized support for process development and optimization.

What does your position entail?

I provide localized support for process development and optimization and also coordinate and manage programs that affect the company as a whole. For example, Vyond’s information security and privacy programs are both managed by the Program Management Office. As social justice is a personal passion of mine, I also chair the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion @ Vyond program.

What are some of the bigger projects you are working on now?

Information security is definitely our primary focus most days. One of the core tenets of our program is “continuous improvement.” This means we’re always looking for ways to enhance our existing controls to better account for the ever-changing landscape of security.

Where is your hometown? What brought you to the Bay (if you are not from here).

I grew up in Orlando and moved out to the Bay for a job opportunity (and to be closer to my sister). I’m still a Florida girl at heart, but the Bay is truly my home.

Share an interesting fact or story about yourself.

Though my day job largely focuses on data security, my original areas of study in college were studio art and Japanese language. I love drawing portraits – I even did caricatures at Walt Disney World for a summer job – and I recently opened a small art studio in San Carlos.  

Other than that, I played bass guitar in a small rock band for a few years. The drummer was my twin sister!

What is your favorite thing to eat? 

I love Japanese food and Southern food. Thankfully there’s an abundance of the former out here in the Bay, though sadly not the latter. Yakitori Kokko in downtown San Mateo is great for yakitori and tapas, and Yuzu on 37th Ave is a fabulous little sushi joint. For Southern food, so far my favorite restaurant has been my own kitchen!

What are your hobbies?

I freely admit I have entirely too many hobbies. But I love writing, creating art, making music, and watching movies.

Why do you love Vyond?

One of my favorite things to do in Vyond Studio is to create gifs. It’s super quick to piece together a short vignette to spruce up an otherwise standard communication. Included are a few gifs I created a little while ago as part of a weekly book club reminder:

What is one feature in Vyond that you think customers should know about?

As an artist, my favorite feature is the character creator. There’s so much variety in the clothing and design, I love recreating my friends and family in the studio.

Learn more about Character Creator.

There are various pathways that lead to careers at Vyond. Explore our current openings.

Meet Queenie Lee, Vyond’s senior UI designer from the Hong Kong office. As a senior UI designer, Queenie’s role is to create user interfaces that are able to facilitate a user-centric experience and communicate the interactions smoothly.

What was your journey to becoming a senior UI designer?

My interest grew in graphic design when I was still in high school, but it was being a communication design major in university that gave me the opportunity to deepen my learning in typography, illustration, and publication design.

Soon after I graduated, I joined Vyond as a visual designer. It was never really my ‘plan’ to go into UI design as I was never trained specifically for it. However, I came to understand that developing visuals for a videography/animation platform and honing its interface for users are hardly separable. I went on to pick up the skills needed by reading related books and resources online and learned a lot from my colleagues along the way. Turns out there is common ground between what I have learned in school and this ‘new’ design realm that I am venturing into. Overall speaking it was definitely a fun journey.

What does your position entail?

My role is to come up with user interfaces that are able to facilitate a user-centric experience and communicate the interactions smoothly. I closely collaborate with UX designers to improve the product and bring exciting features to our customers. To keep the design consistent across the platform, I also help manage and maintain the design components library.

Where is your hometown?

I am from Hong Kong and have been living in this city since I was born. Hong Kong is a densely populated city and famous for its fast-paced lifestyle. Growing up in this city forces me to adapt to rapidly changing situations quickly –– live fast, eat fast, and walk fast.

Share an interesting fact or story about yourself.

In my childhood, I thought letters, words, or a phrase have their specific colors and the color relationship cannot be violated. Later, I found out it’s known as synesthesia, experiencing one of your senses through another and blending two perceptions together. Synesthetes can “see” music as shapes or “see” words as color. Do you also associate a color to a particular letter?

What is your favorite thing to eat?

I love a good plate of freshly cooked fried rice and one of my favorite places that serve this is ‘Yuk Kin Fast Food’ in Sheung Wan. My teammates brought me there when I first joined the company. Yuk Kin does a wide variety of fried rice so you will never run out of options. The shop also has an outdoor dining area where we can all have an enjoyable meal under the sun.

What are your hobbies?

I am really into Japanese comics, animation, and music. With Japan’s unique history and culture, the traits of all the book covers, character design, and music videos are aesthetically pleasing to look at. I always found it inspirational in many ways when reading manga, background settings broaden my imagination, character development touched my heart, and the storyboard compositions were outside the boxes!

Why do you love Vyond?

I was fascinated by the amount of content provided by Vyond! You can compose a story from scratch or get inspiration from the templates. With countless character actions, you can animate many scenarios to convey a message. I really enjoy applying different colors, customizing characters’ outfits, moving around all the props to build an original scene.

I learned the importance of diversity and accessibility from Vyond. I love how Vyond recognizes and cares about those aspects when designing features or creating content. Hoping the product can attract customers from different countries or cultures, and be able to enjoy the same delightfulness from making animated videos.

What is one feature in Vyond that you think customers should know about?

Asset View and Global Edit! With a few magical clicks, you can update the props’ color or replace assets across scenes. It saves a lot of time and effort to update the assets one by one.

Check out how to use global edit here.

There are various pathways that lead to careers at Vyond. Explore our current openings.

Meet Jordan Thinathin-singtalay, Vyond’s senior marketing and events specialist from the San Mateo office. As a marketing and events specialist, Jordan manages the logistical operations for all of Vyond’s marketing and community events.

What was your journey to becoming a marketing and events specialist?

I was offered a job as a video producer at a cybersecurity company. My job there was to film testimonials and create conference recap videos for campaigns and other marketing initiatives. I would travel to different cybersecurity conferences all over the world and I got a sense of what it took to plan an event. 

Eventually, I was offered the event’s role at the company and enjoyed it. I found it similar to video production. There is a lot of planning involved when you are working with a  team of people to create something that is bigger than yourself. Seeing customers happy at our booth or at an appreciation event gave me the same satisfaction as seeing one of my films on the big screen.

A few years later, I found Vyond and I was very excited when I saw the product. It meshed with my background and I didn’t know technology like this for video existed. I downloaded a free trial and made my cover letter in Vyond. I submitted the application and the rest is history.

What does your position entail?

I manage end-to-end logistical operations for all of our marketing and community events. This involves negotiating sponsorship contracts, booking flights and hotels, working with various vendors to build our conference booths, ordering all the cute swag we give away, and so much more. One of my favorite things about my job is being able to travel and talk to customers around the world.

Where is your hometown? What brought you to the Bay?

I grew up in San Jose, California, but I also lived in Las Vegas and Oklahoma before coming back to the Bay and living in Milpitas. I actually just moved back to San Jose again, so I guess it’s all come full circle.

Share an interesting fact or story about yourself.

Before I entered the tech/marketing space, I was an Airman with the United States Airforce. My job was to refuel military aircraft, mainly C-17s and KC-135s. It was really cool being an 18-year-old on the flight line, working next to these huge planes. Sometimes when I’m on a flight to a conference and I see the plane being refueled from the window, I get that nostalgic feeling of those warm summer nights on the flight line, with the sounds of jet engines roaring and the smell of jet fuel in the air.

What is your favorite thing to eat?

I am absolutely in love with sushi. If I could, I would eat sushi every day. Some of my go-to’s for a casual sushi experience are Tomi Sushi on Moorpark in San Jose, Sushi Sam’s in San Mateo, Kazuma Sushi in Fremont, and Sendai Sushi in Milpitas when I’m hungry for rolls. Some of the best/most memorable sushi places I’ve been to so far have to be Shiro Sushi in Seattle and Sushi Dai in Tokyo.

What are your hobbies?

I still write film scripts here and there. I enjoy writing sketch comedy. My buddies and I like to act them out and record the audio, mostly for fun and to blow off steam. One of the bigger scripts that I’ve been working on for a few years now is a full-length movie about an amateur Bay Area rapper meeting a professional Japanese violinist. Maybe one day you’ll see the rest of the story!

Why do you love Vyond?

There are many reasons to love Vyond. I’ve seen first-hand what the product can do. For me, it was landing an interview when I used the platform to make my cover letter. For others, it’s creating videos that impress their colleagues/bosses, help them advance in their careers, and just make their job role easier. It’s rare to go to conferences and have people stop by the booth just to say they love using your product but at Vyond, it’s a common occurrence.

I also love the people who work here. I really feel like I’m working amongst friends, rather than co-workers and I haven’t had that feeling at any other organization I’ve worked with in the past. 

What is one feature in Vyond that you think customers should know about?

Use quick access! If you frequently use the same colors, characters, props, and actions over and over again in different videos, save those assets to your quick access bar. It’ll save you so much time. 

Check out how to use quick access here.

There are various pathways that lead to careers at Vyond. Explore our current openings.