Rebecca Brocton in Conversation with Envision Ecommerce

This week we caught up with another Magento extrovert, Rebecca Brocton. As someone who has been in the Magento world for over five years, Rebecca is known for her unconditional love for Magento. With a Magento certified solution specialist certificate under her belt, she works as a Partner Manager at Ingenico ePayments. She is one of the most devoted, youngest and passionate members of Magento community.

Magento certified solution specialist, partner manager, blogger, music lover and more, we wanted to know this lovely lady better and try to present her love for Magento.

So, without any further ado, please welcome Rebecca Brocton!

Envision Ecommerce: Rebecca, let’s start with your career journey. How did you enter the Magento world? How you came to the role of Channel Manager at Ingenico ePayments, the biggest challenges you faced throughout, and how you tackled them?

Rebecca Brocton: I was introduced to the world of Magento through a role as a junior web developer back in 2012, it feels like it’s been a long and random journey since then.

Becoming Channel Manager was all thanks to Magento Live UK 2016 and a pair of Beats. Ingenico ePayments were sponsoring the event and had a competition to win the headphones which I entered and won! I connected with the Channel Manager there at the time and a few months later he reached out about them looking for a new hire to work with him. The rest, as they say, is history.

The biggest challenges I’ve faced have always been either with bugs or with the client (usually because of the bugs!). Patience, honesty and good ol’ fashioned elbow grease is how I get through all the challenges I face, both professionally and personally.

Envision Ecommerce: Being a Channel Manager at Ingenico ePayments, what are your job responsibilities?

Rebecca Brocton: I prefer to use the term Partner Manager, as Channel Manager can seem a bit aloof and obscure. As Partner Manager, It’s my job to help current and potential partners across the UK provide the best payment solution to their clients and to advise on Ingenico products, services and values.

I am passionate about being more than a third party and instead being a new member of their team that is just as invested in their success as they are. I’m here give them access to the high-quality products and fast-track support that they need to help their businesses grow and together, we can offer merchants the ePayments that will help them sell more, sell globally, and protect their business.

Envision Ecommerce: Is there something you’d like to do differently if you were to start again with your career journey?

Rebecca Brocton: I wouldn’t change a thing now, but if I were to go down a different route it would have been one of film & video editing. When I was at college I studied film and television production and absolutely loved it! If I could pick another job I would go for music video editing or perhaps film scoring, music is another passion of mine and combined with video can have incredible effects on the viewer. Watch something without music and you may think it’s sad, add music and you will be balling your eyes out!

So yes, I could spend hours and hours in editing software, which is one of the reasons I started my YouTube channel, so I could exercise that creative muscle whilst still making it relevant to my work.

Envision Ecommerce: Being a Magento Certified Solution Specialist, what are the benefits of having such certification in your career? It would be helpful for students and young developers who want to pursue a career in Magento?

Rebecca Brocton: I would definitely recommend getting this certification, if for nothing else but to prove to yourself and others that you know what you are talking about when it comes to Magento, eCommerce and helping merchants.

Envision Ecommerce: How do you envision the future of Magento 2? What really excites you about Magento 2?

Rebecca Brocton: Magento has a huge footprint in the world of eCommerce platforms and Magento 2 has the potential to follow in those steps and create an even bigger dent. What excites me about Magento 2 are the endless possibilities, especially with the new technologies and legislations that are coming out like AI, Virtual and Augmented Reality, Conversational Commerce, PSD2, GDPR etc. that will really push companies to reach their full potentials when developing new products and services.

Envision Ecommerce: When you get stuck in your Magento project, do you Google first or prefer community? Our blog readers are eagerly waiting to know about the Magento learning resources you usually follow. Please share a book, a website or some other helpful resources with our audience?

Rebecca Brocton: Whatever the issue is my first reaction is to Google is and see which resource appears first, often its either the Magento Community Forums, StackExchange, Magento Docs or a post from one of the many awesome community members. If all else fails, I turn to my Magento partners in crime, Andrew Pemberton and Tom Williams.

Envision Ecommerce: Rebecca, as a tradition of our interview process, could you please share an image of your workstation or the best moment that you have captured in any events?

Rebecca Brocton: Here is my current workstation, aboard a Virgin Pendolino crossing some lovely countryside on the way to London town! The Ingenico ePayments offices are based in Paddington and so I am down there a few times a week which I really enjoy. I love the city!

Envision Ecommerce: As per your experience with Magento, what are the pros and cons of using Magento in development? How do you compare Magento with other popular eCommerce platforms?

Rebecca Brocton: At the minute Magento 2 is going through what Magento 1 did before 1.7(ish). Slightly unpredictable with heavy changes with each release. These changes are great and wouldn’t be there if they weren’t trying to make the platform better and stronger, but they do cause headaches for developers and users alike. I can’t really comment on its comparison with others as I have been a bit sheltered from them in my experiences so far. However, just looking at the market, even in its infancy Magento 2 outshines the others.

Envision Ecommerce: We got to know that you received “Swag Bag Haul” from Magento Live UK 2017. Please share your experience. How many such Magento-centric events have you attended till now? What are the benefits of attending such events?

Rebecca Brocton: That is a good question! I’ve not actually counted how many but this year I have been to more than ever before thanks to opportunities from Ingenico, which is AWESOME. I love connecting with the community face to face, you can build so much stronger bonds than over social media and it really helps solidify the passionate and friendly spirit behind the platform. It also helps you see that those Magento all stars are human, lovely and want to give and get support just as much as you.

Envision Ecommerce: Let’s get aside from work life and move to your personal interests. How you spend your time besides work? Tell our blog readers about your interests and hobbies.

Rebecca Brocton: THERE IS TIME BESIDES WORK TIME?! Haha. I spend my time with my beautiful wife, shooting arrows at targets and missing, travelling, listening to music, reading (or being read to thanks to Blinkist), and having as much fun as possible! I have also just taken to DIY, my most recent project being cutting down a banister in order to get a king size headboard upstairs.

Envision Ecommerce: Name some people who are the real cornerstones of your life and inspired you in your life?

Rebecca Brocton: My wife, family and friends that I have met through all walks of life, professionally and personally. Everyone in the Magento community have such good work ethic and passion that you cannot help but be inspired by them and there are too many to list! I’ve turned to Guido Jansen, Andra Lungu and, of course, our wonderful Community Manager Sherrie Rohde so many times for advice. I know I could go to anyone in our #Magento space and they would be happy and willing to help, just as I am there to help anyone else.

Envision Ecommerce: Who would you recommend being interviewed next on Envision Ecommerce? Could you please recommend some names of your colleagues, friends, or people who have a core love for Magento like you?

Rebecca Brocton: I like to hear from Magento employees about where they see the platform and their career going from the inside. Perhaps their latest hire, David Manners? He’s a great guy and has lots of interesting opinions and experiences!

Envision Ecommerce: As a closing remark, can you please share your future plan or lifetime goals (personal or business) with our audience?

Rebecca Brocton: My future plan is the same thing I do every night, Envision… TRY AND TAKE OVER THE WORLD.

Envision Ecommerce team would like to thank you for this interview and wish you good luck in your career. As for the rest, we will keep coming up with other inspiring interviews from more experienced industry leaders and well-reputed thought leaders. So stay tuned..!