Today we’d like to introduce you to Megan Ranegar.
Megan, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I moved to Los Angeles right out of college in 2013. I had never been to LA and was coming from Iowa, but I was moving for a job offer I was excited about (joining the marketing team at Whole Foods Market) and I figured I’d give the city a try. Little did I know I would totally fall in love! I was immediately smitten with the culture, the weather, the food, and the architecture. I spent a lot of my free time exploring the different neighborhoods and really taking it all in. My team at Whole Foods Market restructured in 2015, so I decided to take a leap and move to Colorado to be closer to my then-boyfriend (now fiancé).
During my first go-round in LA, I worked with the Yelp Community Manager, Katie Burbank, and stayed in touch through my move to Colorado. She tipped me off to a Yelp Community Manager opening in Denver and the Regional Manager there took a chance on me. For someone who loves exploring and finding the best of the best in a city, it’s truly a dream job! I transferred back to our LA market in 2018 and current live, work, and play on the Eastside of LA. My day to day is always changing, but major parts of my day typically include planning events with cool local businesses, spreading the word about the Yelp Elite Squad, curating newsletters and digest emails, and answering any Yelp-related question a user or business owner may have. I manage a small team who packs a big punch!
I always think it’s kind of funny that I’m a Community Manager since it’s not a job or career route I’d ever even heard of growing up. It’s a role that takes many forms across different industries and one I believe will continue to evolve. My path has certainly had twists and turns, but I like it that way.
Has it been a smooth road?
The road hasn’t been smooth, but I’d say it’s been more winding than bumpy. When I accepted the Yelp Community Manager position in Colorado, I was still pretty new to both the area and community. I was learning a new job and a new city simultaneously. It definitely forced me out of my comfort zone and looking back, helped me make so many connections that I probably wouldn’t have otherwise. I tried new things, failed sometimes, learned a lot, and gained a lot of confidence. These days I’m pitching partnerships and dreaming up ideas that I certainly would’ve shied away from when I first started out in my career seven years ago.
Please tell us about Yelp. What should we know?
I’m a Community Manager at Yelp and essentially the “feet on the ground” on the Eastside of LA. I’m a real person who business owners can call up and say “hey, I have a question about this.” I’ll be there to greet you (preferably with a glass of wine) at a Yelp Elite event. While good portion of my work is behind the scenes (i.e. on my laptop from a coffee shop or my coworking space), a lot of it involves being out and about in the community, which I love.
Yelp will turn 16 this year and is definitely a household name at this point. Something I’m really proud of is how relevant the app still is today. We’re nearing 200 million reviews (crazy!) and there’s just so much to discover. Living in a huge city like LA where new businesses pop up all the time, I’m able to find hidden gems that I might never have checked out otherwise. I love supporting small businesses and having a reliable way to find them, share them, and save them (via collections, our new curation feature that’s seriously my favorite) is invaluable.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
At Yelp, it’s been exciting to be at the forefront as the company continues to make the app even more useful for day to day life. We’re more than just a review site these days. You can now schedule your haircut, get on the waitlist at your favorite restaurant, get a quote for new kitchen cabinets, and plan your upcoming vacation (with an aforementioned collection, of course) all on your Yelp app. As a society, we’re always looking for ways to make our lives easier and better, and I wholeheartedly believe Yelp helps us do that. I don’t have a crystal ball to know exactly what’s next, but I’m confident that Yelp will continue listening to its community to develop tools to help us live our best lives.
As far as Community Management goes, I think we’ll start seeing more businesses and corporations bring their community to the forefront of their mission. I think the title “Community Manager” will be more common than ever–maybe even to the point where someone growing up sets their sights on being one, just like they would any other job. I think Community teams will start shifting to the business and operations side of things, rather than just a subset of a marketing arm. And lastly, I think we’ll start seeing major brands and businesses add “CCOs” (Chief Community Officers) to their C-level teams to lead the charge in their community (or customer)-centered efforts.
Contact Info:
- Website: yelp.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @yelpla & @yasmegyas
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Yelp.LA/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/YelpLA
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/user_details?userid=lt7bNHl-TXziny4FETu8nA
Image Credit:
Sierra Voss, Marc Palanca, Matt Palanca
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