Welcome, Brian Rizzo and Jennifer Kaite to the Cypress North Team

We are continuing to expand here at Cypress North and have two new members on the team here in Buffalo. Our exciting new additions are on both the marketing and development teams and will help to better serve our amazing customers.

Not only will we be introducing our new teammates here, but we subjected each to our "Take 5" questions so you can hear answers directly from the source(s).

Brian Rizzo

Software Developer

Holding two degrees (one in Computer Science & one in Communication), Brian is a talented guy that pushes himself ahead. He comes onboard with large amounts of  PHP programming and has worked for some of the larger retailers in the Buffalo area including KegWorks and Dave and Adam's Card World.  He'll be helping clients with front & backend development and has experience working within large-scale MVC frameworks.

View Brian's Full Bio

Take 5 With Brian

• How did you get your start in Computer Science?
  I was interested in computers from a very young age. I quickly became the person all my friends and family would go to for help with their computer questions. I became interested in programming and web development when I was in high school. It was something that I just really enjoyed learning. The fact that I enjoyed learning, exploring, and figuring it out told me I should make a career of it.
• What do you think is the most interesting thing in your field currently?
  The emergence of blockchain technology and its potential to disrupt the current client-server model.
• Give us one of your current favorite things you do on the internet.
  Twitter. Sometimes it's ugly, but it’s entertaining.
• What is something that very few people know about you?
  I make a pretty delicious meatball.
• What is one recommendation (in life) that is applicable to anyone?
  Don’t just find something you enjoy doing, find something you also enjoy learning.

Jennifer Kaite

Digital Marketing Coordinator

Prior to coming on-board full time as a Digital Marketing Coordinator Jenn has worked right here with the Cypress North team as a Digital Marketing Intern. She did have a life pre-Cypress North as well, as she previously worked for the University of Buffalo Careers Service and 1st Source Servall.

Jenn is AdWords and Google Analytics qualified, well seasoned in customer service and loves to solve a problem. She will be a welcomed piece here helping with reports, campaign management & monitoring as well as keeping our social media accounts fresh!

View Jenn's Full Bio

Take 5 With Jenn

• How did you get your start in marketing?
  I had my first experience in marketing when I was a junior in high school. The program I was in “the academy of Finance” had a mandatory internship program to help students decide what career in business they would want. Not knowing what I wanted to do, I did what any teenager does, I asked my parents. My dad, being an accountant, told me to try out accounting- so I interviewed at only accounting internships. Then my internship teacher pulled 3 students aside and told us about a new company that joined the internship pool. She pulled me aside and told me that this opportunity was a better fit for me and would have me doing more creative thinking and ability to work with others. It sounded better to me than sitting at a desk all day talking to no one and working with numbers so I went for the interview. The job was for a marketing intern for the Eastern Hills Mall in Amherst, NY. I ended up getting the internship with another student and it was an amazing experience. I worked closely with the marketing and assistant marketing managers creating brochures, signage, and helping with the creation of display cases throughout the mall. I gained more experience with tools like photoshop, Microsoft office and develop skills talking with people when passing out memos to the mall tenants. After that I decided that I would pursue marketing in college and graduated from the University at Buffalo with a B.S. in Marketing and a minor in Studio art. I also had two internships during my college career and experienced different aspects in the marketing field like, social media/content marketing in the Career Services office at UB to even setting up an Instagram account at my part-time job at JCPenney (Eastern Hills) to increase their social media presences and attract customers to our store rather than others in the area. I even got a taste of digital marketing at 1st Source Servall an appliance company located in Cheektowaga, NY. Now, I have a full-time position in digital marketing at Cypress North and am gaining knowledge and experience every day and loving every minute of it.
• What do you think is the most interesting thing in your field currently?
  I really love Instagram and the power it has on social media marketing. I read/heard that people are becoming more visual with dwindling attention spans and that technology is a direct reason for this. With over 300 million people scrolling through Instagram and seeking aesthetically pleasing photos, it’s amazing what having a good Instagram presence can do for a brand. For example, brands like Brit + Co. started as a DIY media company for woman and have grown their content to inspire women’s lifestyle in beauty, fashion, parenting, food, news, etc.  It’s not just Instagram, any social media has the power to increase brand awareness, improve brand loyalty, help to engage with your customers directly and so much more.
• Give us one of your current favorite things you do on the internet.
  Since I was in 1st grade I’ve always loved art. So, in my spare time I really love researching artist and watching YouTube videos to try and learn techniques from painters as old as the renaissance to contemporary artists. I also love to follow companies Instagram’s (per question 2) to study different social media techniques and how they visually depict their brand.
  
• What is something that very few people know about you?
  I think I mask a lot of who I am with humor. I love to smile and have fun but inside I’m always thinking about the bigger picture, like ways to improve myself or how I can grow as a person both personally and professionally. I’m a bit of a perfectionist wanting to do things right and I will work on it until I’m pleased with the end result.Oh, and not many people know, I can lick my elbow!
• What is one recommendation (in life) that is applicable to anyone?
  I think one recommendation I could give to someone about life is to not stress/worry. If you work hard and really try your best, whatever goal you’re working towards it will happen and if it doesn’t, it just wasn’t meant to be. I know this is probably one of the hardest things to do (because I am even guilty of overthinking and worrying) but life will be so much better if you focus on your own happiness and what’s happening in the present, rather than worrying about what’s going to happen or what did.

Welcome aboard Jenn & Brian, so glad to have you on the team!