Meet the Team: Ryan, Elyse, and Dan

Learn some surprising facts about the Bodyswaps team

Introducing: Ryan, Elyse, and Dan - three more members of our team, who all have different roles to play in creating the Bodyswaps platform and ensuring the success of our customers. In this post you’ll get to meet another member of our Customer Success team, as well as some new roles!

Ryan - Senior Fullstack Developer

Ryan started with Bodyswaps in May 2023

Prior to joining the team, Ryan worked as a software engineer for a large e-commerce platform. He worked on two different teams, helping to support the services on both the front and back end. Now, as Senior Fullstack Developer at Bodyswaps, Ryan helps to oversee and support the cloud infrastructure services that we provide. To ensure we meet the growing demand for our immersive learning content, we are looking at possible expansion and scaling opportunities for both the team and the software - both of which Ryan is involved in and something he’s very excited to be supporting with

What do you most enjoy about your job?
I enjoy working with the team to find solutions to the unique software problems that are presented to us at Bodyswaps - I like working with the team to find the solutions and implement the solutions.

It’s likely not too farfetched to guess that soon some of these solutions Ryan and the team implement could be rooted in the use of AI. The use of AI, and ChatGPT in particular, is what Ryan mentioned when we asked what he admires in the tech industry - as it’s opening up some very exciting paths for us.

Ryan at our Team Day in May 2023

When not taking care of our cloud infrastructure, you’re most likely to find Ryan coaching his under-8s football team. With training in the week and matches at weekends, he spends a lot of time creating future football stars. When not with the team, he’s probably out exploring Northumberland - in the forest, on some mountains, or on the coast

Finally, what’s something we’d never guess about you?
I think most people assume I’m British because of my accent but I’m not British. I was born in Malawi and I have lived in over 9 countries across 3 continents. One of my favourite places was Mauritius - a lot of my childhood was in Mauritius and it was great, so much fun. And I really enjoyed coming to England, I enjoyed the culture and I enjoyed the friendships, I guess, because it was much later on in my life.

Elyse - Customer Success Executive

Elyse started with Bodyswaps in December 2022

Before Bodyswaps, Elyse worked as an occupational therapist - first in Canada and then in the UK when she moved over here four years ago. Elyse worked primarily in rehab, working with clients who had quite significant injuries like spinal cord or traumatic brain injuries. Alongside the actual therapy, the role also required Elyse to work with families and with equipment vendors to get her clients the equipment they needed.

In our interview, Elyse drew parallels between the requirements of an OT and what she now does at Bodyswaps: in both, the journey she takes with clients and customers is very similar - building relationships, getting to know them, trying to figure out their goals and then figuring out how to implement the interventions needed to get them to those goals. As a Customer Success Executive at Bodyswaps, Elyse’s main focus is on supporting our customers’ journeys with Bodyswaps - to build strong and long lasting relationships by helping them achieve their goals. Some of Elyse’s responsibilities include onboarding new customers, providing training and support, troubleshooting challenges or technical issues, and gathering feedback for product and process improvement.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

I would say the workshops or the visits we get to do in-person. I just love getting to meet customers. There’s a kind of screen fatigue when you’re constantly meeting people on Zoom or Google Meets and I feel like when you get to meet in person it just helps to deepen the relationship.

It’s also fun to see the campus and the different facilities that they have in terms of where they have their VR equipment or where they would host workshops for their own students. So really getting a sense of what are some really good positives of what they have and what are some potential challenges.

I also love hearing the success stories that our customers have as well. I think for me it’s seeing the success and seeing the impact that our software has.

Elyse at our Team Day in May 2023

When we asked Elyse what she most admired in the ed-tech industry, she highlighted its fast-paced nature - how there’s always something new to learn and adapt to. Like Ryan, Elyse brought up ChatGPT and its impact on the industry - how new innovations appear that can solve problems or simplify current processes.

If she’s not at work supporting our customers, Elyse is most likely travelling, hosting dinner parties, or somehow staying active - Crossfit, biking, hiking, running, depending on the day. Travelling is perhaps Elyse’s favourite thing to do - it was actually a key factor behind her and her husband’s move to the UK: to travel within the UK and also be in close proximity to Europe. Recent highlights include her trip to Oslo, as well as travelling South America - visiting Machu Picchu and biking the death road

Finally, what’s something we’d never guess about you?
I’m Canadian!

Dan - Content Integrator

Dan started with Bodyswaps in September 2022

Following a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Games Technology, Dan worked in customer service and sales at an online mobile phone retailer for a couple of years. At the same time, he worked on an art portfolio which catalogued his personal projects, such as 3D environments and characters, to help him pursue a different career path. Having always wanted to use his degree to its full extent, Dan joined the team at Bodyswaps.

As a Content Integrator, Dan’s main responsibility lies in creating our immersive modules. But at Bodyswaps we always aim to provide our team with opportunities to learn and grow - for Dan, this came in the form of creating the avatars within our modules, something not originally in his job description, but something he’s taken to with great enthusiasm and skill.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

The variety. I do a lot of things, I’m very back and forth on everything which is always nice, you know, it’s good not having to do the same thing all the time. Keeps it fresh.

And also the creative side when it comes to making the avatars as well - it’s nice to have a creative outlet at work as well which is cool.

When we asked Dan what he most admired in our industry, he brought up the overall mission of the tech industry. More specifically, how tech can help people - joining the team at Bodyswaps brought an awareness for Dan in how tech like VR is now being used to help people overcome performance anxiety and other challenges with soft skills. In his own words, “I find that working to help people overcome their struggles just to be a very noble pursuit in general.”

When not at work making magic, you’re likely to find Dan hanging out with friends - both in-person and online, out longboarding, or out for a walk. There’s also the chance you’ll find him playing a good video game

Finally, what’s something we’d never guess about you?
I saved someone’s life once. Inadvertently. Sort of inadvertently. I say inadvertently - it was very strange. It’s a long story.

It certainly is a long - and extremely interesting - story with twists that could rival any good crime drama. And if you’d like to know more… well you might have to ask him yourselves.

Looking for a new role?

Are you a self-starter with the desire to make a difference in your job? Want to work with a talented and varied team to work on an immersive learning platform that’s helping institutions develop their students’ soft skills? If you do, and you’ve got a passion for education and technology to boot, then take a look at our job vacancies.

Browse our open roles today!