Bringing with her a Masters of Science degree from MIT and a handful of patents, Monika joins Backblaze as a Software Engineer. She’ll initially work on the server side of our service and she’s already busy checking in new code. Welcome Monika.

How did you get into computers?
I took a Basic language course in high school and I thought it was more fun than some of my other classes.

What’s your favorite language to code in?
I have coded in many languages and it’s hard to pick out one favorite language. All languages come with some baggage and can be used incorrectly. My focus is to develop software that is simple and elegant.

How do you currently backup your photos, music, data, etc. on your home computer?
I upload my photos to flickr and upload some of my music and documents to dropbox but sadly till I became familiar with Backblaze, I didn’t back up all my data.

What attracted you to Backblaze?
People sometimes downplay the importance of file backup yet I know of so many people who have lost of thousands of photos and documents that were important to them. As we’re becoming “digitized” we need to make sure that we don’t lose this data because of a faulty drive or natural disaster. I want to make it easy for people to safeguard data that matters to them.

Where are you originally from?
I consider myself a citizen of the world. But I have been in California for the last 15 years of my life and I love it here.

Favorite place you’ve traveled?
Paris is still my favorite city. I lived there for one year and I still consider it the most beautiful place in the world.

If you won the lottery tomorrow, what would you do?
I would devote all my time to volunteering, especially working with kids.

The assembly of our kick butt Operations team continues with the addition of Ric. Keeping 40+ petabytes of customer data safe and happy takes talent and we went all the way to Sacramento to find Ric. Here’s his story.

Where are you originally from?
It may sound a little morbid, but whenever I’m asked this question, I’ve always answered “Born and raised in the Sacramento Area, and I’ll probably die there…”

What’s your job here at Backblaze?
My official title is DevOps Lead. My primary responsibilities initially will be coming up to speed on all things Datacenter (the Backblaze way), but have a few development projects already on my shortlist to help keep everything running smoothly as the server farm grows.

What attracted you to Backblaze?
I was first made aware of Backblaze by the blog post for Pod version 1.0 open sourcing… I have been obsessed with online backup ever since, and converted my entire family to Backblaze.

Tell us about your commute to work?
I live in Rocklin, and I’m pretty sure I have beaten out Zack for the craziest Backblaze commute. I’m about 140 miles one way door to door to the San Mateo office…

Where else have you worked?
Prior to Backblaze, I have had only three ‘real’ jobs in my lifetime (I don’t count my pre-adult years in fast food as real jobs); I started out with a mom and pop shop residential and commercial security company. I grew with the company for 11.5 years, taught myself Novell Netware (4.11 – those were the days!), moved on to a regional publishing company initially as their Netware Administrator, but that grew to ‘Systems Administrator’, a role which oversaw everything from networking and telephony management to web and application development, as well as help desk support for the company. I left there a little over 2 years ago to work for a networking VAR, where I specialized in telephony integration. Each place I have worked felt like home and my coworkers were my extended family. So far, it feels the same way at Backblaze!

How did you get into computers?
After a few ‘gifted program’ computer classes in the late 70′s, I bought my first computer (a RadioShack TRS-80 CoCo) in 1980, and have been hooked ever since!

Join us in welcoming Ric to Backblaze and to the “Backblaze Way”.

How long would you commute for your job, 30 minutes? An hour? 90 minutes? Well meet Zack, our newest member of the Backblaze Technical Support team. His commute is nearly 2 hours, each way, each day. Why? Let’s ask him…

Tell us about your commute to work?
I live in Napa now, so depending on when I leave, my commute can be anywhere from 1 to 2 hours. But hey, Backblaze is such a great place to work, it is well worth it.

Where are you originally from?
The Napa Valley, I grew up in Calistoga at the north end of the Valley. It’s a great little town, around 5000 people and only 2 traffic lights.

What attracted you to Backblaze?
It is a great, casual environment, the product is simple, effective and affordable, and the Company’s standard of transparency and honesty is refreshing.

If you won the lottery tomorrow, what would you do?
I would set myself up with a complete wood shop, and I would help my wife, Emma, start her own animal shelter. She loves animals of all shapes and sizes, and we have 2 cats, Tigger and Timon, and a bearded dragon, soon to be joined by water turtles.

Favorite hobby?
I love woodworking, and spent all 4 years in high school in wood shop classes. I especially like turning projects on the lathe, like gavels. For my next project, I’m about to start building a new enclosure for my bearded dragon Drako.

Favorite place you’ve traveled?
That would definitely be Honolulu, Oahu in Hawaii. My wife and I stayed on Waikiki Beach for a week on our honeymoon in June, and we both loved it there. Plus, it was only a 15 minute walk to my favorite restaurant down the street, the Hard Rock Cafe!

What achievement are you most proud of?
The achievement I am most proud of would be finding the woman of my dreams, and marrying her!

Let’s all wish Zack safe travels and a comfortable seat… Welcome aboard Zack.

For the past five years, we have grown our online backup service through word-of-mouth and the kindling that helps fuel it: PR, social media, events, and affiliate marketing. We have worked on these activities ourselves on a very lean budget and have built a bootstrapped and profitable company. But, last month we raised $5m to grow even faster.

Now we are looking for someone fantastic to help us blow this up. Is that you?

Why is this a fantastic opportunity for a PR expert?
* Online backup is a “feel good” product – we help people every day.
* Our customers love the product.
* We have some fantastic stories (e.g. Storage Pod blog post, read by >1 million people)
* We’re an open company: talking about an “almost acquisition“, “5 years from the inside“, “why we took funding“, “explicit datacenter needs“.

We’re open to hiring a full-time in-house person, a part-time consultant, or an agency. To apply, if you are not yet a customer please install the free trial of our online backup service (since, obviously you should know what we’re doing) and then fill out this form. While there are a number of questions here, if you keep your answers concise, I hope this will not be too time consuming.

I will absolutely read every response and am very much looking forward to finding someone amazing to help us for years to come.

UPDATE: Thanks for your interest! We’ve now found a spectacular partner to help us with this.

Joining our customer support team is Christopher. He collects body art, brews his own beer and knows a whole lot about Macs and PCs – a perfect fit. Welcome Chris.

Have you always been in the San Francisco Bay area?
I was born in Oakland, California, but when I was young I lived abroad as my father was in the military. I moved back to the Bay area to be near family.

How did you get into computers?
I was fortunate in that I grew up in a family of computer engineers. My grandfather was doing data entry with punch card systems decades ago and two of my uncles work in the field as well. I grew up with computer parts around in abundance and built my first system at the age of 6.

What attracted you to Backblaze?
I had heard of Backblaze from a friend, interviewed with several of the founders, and decided I really liked the company’s commitment to easy, affordable backups and transparency.

How do you currently backup your home computer?
I have an iMac and a Windows tower that are both backing up locally to a linux server in my home, as well as using the Backblaze service for offsite backups.

Favorite hobby?

I have a few… I play bass, enjoying gaming in its many forms (PC, tabletop, card, pen and paper, and even a bit of console), gardening, attending live music concerts and festivals (I usually end up at least 2 or 3 a month), and have recently taken up home brewing. I also collect body art in the form of tattoos and can measure my time “under the needle” in days.

Which achievement are you most proud of?
I earned the rank of Eagle Scout as a teenager, carrying on a 3rd generation family tradition.

Yes indeed a perfect fit. Welcome to the team.

Please help welcome our new Datacenter Technician, Dave and his four-legged sidekick Louie. Dave started as a contractor a few months ago and has decided to join the Backblaze online backup operations team full time to provide our over 300 storage pods the TLC they deserve.

Where are you originally from?
Just up the road in Woodland, California.

What brought you here to the Bay Area?
I first came to the bay area for a job. Now I’m in Oakland because my girlfriend found a beautiful apartment on Lake Merritt.

What attracted you to Backblaze?
Hard to say which is better… the product or the people!

Where else have you worked?
I’ve worked at law firms in Sacramento and the East Bay, and also for the Hawaii State Legislature.

Tell us how you currently backup your photos, music, data, etc. on your home computer?
Thanks to my girlfriend Cara who did a few fun videos for Backblaze a few years ago, I have been using Backblaze for a couple years now. I have a few other things stashed on USB drives.

Favorite hobby?
Rock climbing

If you didn’t have to work, what would you do?
I would live in a motor home and travel to climb and surf.

Tell us about Louie.
Louie is a Rat Terrier and is the noblest of the breed. He likes Greenies, people food, online backup and working at Backblaze. If he didn’t have to work he’d be chasing rats and squirrels.

We’re glad Dave and Louie decided to join us here at Backblaze, it should be better than chasing rats and squirrels out of a motor home…at least we hope so. Welcome aboard.

Welcome Natalie, our very first intern here at Backblaze. Natalie brings her youthful enthusiasm to our marketing department for the summer.

Where are you originally from?
Born and raised in Fremont, California. Currently going to school at UC Davis, and loving it. Aggie Pride!

What are you studying in school?
I’m currently an undergraduate pursuing a double major in communications and political science.

Favorite place(s) you’ve traveled?
Spain, Italy, Denmark. I hope to travel around Europe after I graduate college. I love everything about Europe, and how every city has something completely different to offer. There are still so many places I would like to visit: Greece, Ireland, South America, Japan, Thailand, Australia, India, and the list goes on.

Favorite hobby/interests?
Snowboarding, being active, traveling, exploring new places, water sports, bike riding, cooking, going to festivals.

If you didn’t have to work, what would you do?
I know it sounds cliché, but I would travel the world and attempt to learn multiple languages. Something like a permanent vacation sounds nice…

My favorite expression is
“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” –Gandhi, and “What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?”

The first thing we had Natalie do was install Backblaze on her Mac. Her classwork, papers, photos, videos, music and more were backed up before she went home that first day – a good day’s work. Now on to marketing greatness.

Adam—Backblaze’s own Mac Genius. Like the rest of us, Adam has been a loyal customer to Backblaze. After nearly three years of an intense love affair and a shared interest in making your life easier, Adam and Backblaze have officially tied the knot, as he is now on board the Backblaze team. Welcome Adam!

Where are you originally from?
I was born and grew up in Davis, California. I spent a few years in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara while my girlfriend (now wife) and I attended school.

Favorite place you’ve traveled?
Kauai, Hawaii. I love the laid back, low-key culture on the island. The combination of amazing natural beauty, weather, and local food makes me always think fondly of it.

Favorite hobby?
I recently picked up brewing my own beer at home, and have been enjoying the process and in particular, the results.

Of what achievement are you most proud?
My wife and I welcomed our first child, Jack, this past May. The sense of accomplishment when he discovers something new is so refreshing and exciting.

How did you get into customer support?
Learning to troubleshoot my own technology, and then assisting family and friends with theirs naturally lead its way in to a career of support.

Where have you worked?
I previously worked at Apple as a Genius for four years. Prior to that, I’ve worked at a few independent Mac repair shops.

Tell us how you currently backup your home computer?
I have a Time Capsule to do local backups and Backblaze for remote backup.

What attracted you to Backblaze?
I’ve been a customer for almost three years (since the original Storage Pod blog post), and I’ve always admired Backblaze for the transparency of how they operate, and how Mac-friendly they are. When the need for a support person was put on the blog, I knew I wanted to be that person.

Thanks Adam for your support! We’re lucky to have you on the team.