Employee Spotlight: Steph Grimm
Meet Steph Grimm, Operations Assistant at KickstartAI. With a background spanning sports management, coaching, and administration, Steph brings structure, energy, and a people-first mindset to keeping our team running smoothly.
Let's dive into her journey, what drives her, and how her behind-the-scenes work supports the team.
What’s your role at KickstartAI?
I’m the Operations Assistant! In short, I support the daily operations of our COO and our management team.
Some of my responsibilities include scheduling meetings with external stakeholders and coordinating internal team events. My role also covers some accounting and HR functions, from processing invoices to onboarding and offboarding employees.
And as part of my office management tasks, I make sure the team stays fueled — keeping the snacks stocked and the energy high!
What’s your background?
I studied sports management and even competed in track and field and cross country in college. I started my career as a cross country and track and field coach, and from 2015 onwards, I moved into administrative and operational roles in different organizations, from universities to startups. Up until moving to the Netherlands, I also coached kettlebell group classes. I really enjoy staying busy in a variety of roles and typically work multiple part-time jobs during the week.
I’d say that my career background isn’t linear, but I like drawing connections between seemingly unrelated fields — and they always come together in a cool way!
What drew you to KickstartAI?
The mission! What stood out to me was that KickstartAI is a tech-centric non-profit. In these organizations, you often find people who are like-minded and genuinely motivated to make a positive change, but then there is this additional and integral component of technology and its place in our lives.
So for me, it wasn’t just about AI — it was more about working together with people committed to achieving a goal for the greater good.
What do you enjoy most about working here?
The work tasks are fairly straightforward — I love process improvement and checking things off lists; that’s very satisfying for me. What I enjoy the most is being around the team! Everyone is energetic and comes from different backgrounds, which I appreciated right away. I think that KickstartAI finds people who are good at whatever they set their minds to.
What drives you in your work?
I’m a helper and a fixer by nature, so supporting people really drives me. As an operations assistant, I may not carry the organization’s biggest responsibilities, but I have the ability to help other people achieve things without them having to worry about the small details.
The most rewarding part of my role is working with people who are very competent, smart, and genuinely cool humans.
What AI tools do you use in your job?
I mainly use tools like ChatGPT and Gemini for crafting emails. They help me a lot with checking the message’s clarity, identifying and emphasizing key information, and also adapting the tone of voice based on the audience. Another use case I’d like to explore is support with scheduling.
What’s something interesting you’ve learned about AI since you joined the team?
Before joining, my experience with AI was limited to ChatGPT. But working here has given me the opportunity to be exposed to inspiring and groundbreaking work that I wouldn’t have encountered otherwise. It’s fascinating to learn more about the projects we’re developing and listen to our engineers go into detail about the solutions they’re building.
Fun fact about you?
My husband and I really enjoy taking running vacations! I think it’s a cool way to explore other places and combine it with a physical activity we like doing together.
💡 Want to learn more about KickstartAI and our mission to accelerate AI adoption in the Netherlands? Check out our website, explore our open positions, or connect with Steph on LinkedIn!
