Updater

By Jenna Weinerman

Published May 8, 2021

Updated Jan 18, 2024

Please say hello to our history and sushi-loving Director of Product for E-Commerce, Kristian Hansen. Kristian hails from Marin County, California, just across the Golden Gate, where they filmed the awesome Ewok scenes on Endor for Star Wars. 

Now that we know you know your Star Wars trivia, mind sharing two other tidbits people may not know?

I have a passion for history – I studied Art History and Archaeology in college – I even excavated a Byzantine Church in Turkey one summer. Another piece of information about me is that I love woodworking. I built all of the beds in my house. 

That’s awesome and probably means you’ve had to move them. Do you have a moving horror story?

Attempting to get a moving truck during the 2020 pandemic was a disaster. It took me about 10 different phone calls and lots of stress to get a truck. After I was able to secure a truck, then came the fun part of packing it up in a few hours and driving it a thousand miles over 36 hours. 

Woof. Out of that, what’s your best moving advice?

I’ve moved 17 times and my best advice is: plan, plan, plan. You can’t over-plan a move. Keep a checklist and if you can, verify it with a family member or a friend to see if you are forgetting anything. 

We love this advice. You just moved cross-country during the COVID-19 pandemic. What will you make sure to never do again?

Get professional movers ASAP. It might seem expensive at first, but it will help you focus on making sure your move goes smoothly and, in the long run, pay for itself.

We know an app for that… 😏 Speaking of Updater, where did you work before joining Updater?

Previously, I ran Ecommerce & Monetization at Crunchyroll, the world’s largest anime streaming website. 

What’s your favorite piece of Updater technology?

Very excited about more fully-digital end-to-end experiences. This is exciting since it will help movers more easily sign-up for the services that they want with less friction. 

What’s your favorite thing about working at Updater?

Building technology that scales to millions is hard work. No one has done it before and done it well. The pressure to deliver the best mover experience motivates and inspires me each day. I’m particularly impressed by the thoughtfulness, humility, and empathy that my team upholds.

Does anything else motivate you to come to work every day?

A few things motivate me each day at work. First, is the impact we can have on the lives of our users. We help make their moves easier which relieves stress and hopefully makes their moving experience pleasant. Second, scale – we affect the lives of millions of people. I love building products that can help millions of people. Thirdly, problem solving – there are so many different ways we can build out applications to better serve movers. I love tackling hard to solve problems – since every day is a new day with new problems to solve. 

Anything keep you up at night?

Making sure that my decisions are the best for the end user. We only have so many hours in a day and it is important to me that we constantly question our priorities and whether they are ultimately going to help us drive value. 

Zombies sometimes keep us up at night. It’s the zombie apocalypse – where do you hide?

Hop in the Land Cruiser – engage 4 wheel drive – ditch the zombies. 

Drive fast, my friend. Imagine that Land Cruiser was a time machine, but you can only make one trip. Where do you go?

Byzantium aka Constantinople aka Istanbul around 312 AD.

Since we’re on this strange topic of flying through time in fun vehicles, if you could travel to work every day on a vehicle without wheels, what would you choose?

Falkor.

And, if you could take Falkor to your favorite restaurant of all time – where would you go?

Creekside Pizza in San Anselmo, CA – Get the “Perfect Storm Pizza.” 

Enough about Falkor, what are the four things you can’t live without?

My family (wife + 2 kids + puppy), the mountains, fresh air, and coffee.

Jenna Weinerman

Jenna is Updater’s Head of Marketing and a published ReloTech expert. She’s an endless seeker of knowledge, a lover of craft brews, and a huge Philadelphia sports fan. Follow her on Twitter here.