haku New Hire Spotlight: Mackenzie McCutcheon

Our haku team continues to grow! The newest member is Customer Experience Representative, Mackenzie McCutcheon. Originally from Hershey, Pennsylvania, Mackenzie studied at Temple University and then found her way to South Florida.

She initially moved to Miami as part of a program called Teach for America and spent 5 years teaching elementary school children here. Beyond her teaching background, Mackenzie also has experience in the restaurant industry, as well. Let’s get to know her a bit more.

What is your role with haku?

I'll be working with our charity partners to make sure they have a great experience with our platform, ensuring that the customer experience is up to haku standards.

What are some of your biggest accomplishments, personally and in your career?

One of my biggest would be winning Teacher of the Year at my school. It is voted on by your peers so that definitely felt great. Moving to Miami and not knowing anyone, being fresh out of college and making it work, that’s an accomplishment in and of itself!

How would family and friends describe you?

I’m going to try to not sound too cliche and say that I’m passionate, but I think my family and friends know that I'm big on advocacy. I will back my friends and make sure they're treated well.

What do you enjoy most about living in Miami?

The weather. I get to be outside and play sports year round. That's a huge factor. I get to play beach volleyball throughout the year.

What are some of your long term career goals?

Long term I would love to open my own wine bar or event space. I have done a lot of waitressing and I'm trying to set myself up for an eventual role in owning or managing my own space. If you’ve ever been to Lagniappe (amazing wine bar here in Miami, look it up), that style of establishment would be so cool to own.

If your boss announced an unexpected day off tomorrow, how would you spend the day?

I would probably check in with my Whatsapp groups and see who wants to play volleyball!

Do you have any unique talents?

Beyond volleyball, I play the ukelele. I wouldn’t say I’m a big musician but I used to play the guitar and it was just too big for my Miami apartment when I moved down, so i switched to something smaller.

What is one (or some) of your guilty pleasures?

I love reality tv. I also love eating dessert for breakfast. Today I had chocolate cake and black coffee. I really only like sweets for breakfast, actually. Double-stuffed Oreos are the exception.

What would be the first thing you did if you won the lottery?

I had actually thought about this before, because I played sometimes. I would give a portion to each of my coworkers at the school I worked at. I believe teachers are so underpaid. I would pay off my student loans if I won enough. Definitely buy property because you can flip property for a great profit.

What attracted you toward working in a customer experience role? Is this the first time you've been customer facing?

What attracted me is that I have a natural ability to speak with people and I like to create positive experiences for people. This isn’t the first time in a customer facing role for me, because I have been a waitress in the past and I also think that being a teacher is sort of like customer experience because working with the kids' parents is one of the most aggressive forms of customer experience out there! I like to see the impact of what I’m doing and especially in a role where that impact can be almost immediate.

Who is someone you admire?

I would say my grandmother on the personal side and Ruth Bader Ginsburg as a professional or inspirational figure. Both of them speak their minds and are not afraid to go against the grain or against what's expected of them.

So there’s been a trend where all of our spotlights have had awesome stories around their nicknames. Do you have a nickname?

Well, I don’t think anyone actually calls me this as a nickname, but a lot of people say I’m like a chihuahua - everyone says that I'm all talk and no bite! I guess it’s because I always get involved and speak my mind. I'm very loyal, too. I will stick up for people, whether it's someone I’m really close with or not.

We are very excited to continue to grow our incredible customer experience team and having Mackenzie become a key part of the haku family. 

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Want to explore an exciting career at haku? We’re growing our team and always looking for talented and outgoing individuals to add to our incredible haku family. Check out our openings here.