How a GoKart Led to a Career at Slickdeals

During our monthly Town Hall meetings, our People team sits down with individual employees for interviews that go beyond discussing their range of responsibilities at work, providing an opportunity for the entire Slickdeals team to get to know their fellow coworkers on a more personal level. 

We recently spoke with Senior Product Designer Ankit Shah. 

Ankit, we’re so excited to chat with you today! We want to get to know you a little better and have you talk to the team about it. 

I’ll introduce myself. My name is Ankit Shah, I’m a senior product designer at Slickdeals. I joined the team a little over a year ago. When I started, I was leading design on Mobile App, then slowly transitioned to Core product and also focused on Design System.

Can you tell us what brought you to Slickdeals and more about your background?

I was in my front yard and my neighbor came by to show me this great deal he got on a GoKart (similar deal here). 

He said, “I got it through Slickdeals,” and I’d never heard of Slickdeals before. So I looked around on the site because I was also looking for the same kart and I found a great deal for it through Slickdeals. 

It was $1500 and I got it for $1000! And I was like, “Yeah, this is cool,” so since then, I started using Slickdeals on a regular basis. 

I then found out there was a role for a senior product designer. Sure enough, I applied and ended up here.

The way I save money, I want to help others so they can also save, enjoy and celebrate when they shop.

You have an interesting background from your work in India that lends itself to your job today, right?

Back in India, I started as an interior designer and a graphic designer. I left that and came to the states with my family. Surprisingly, I was in software engineering as a tester at Premera in Seattle. 

They had a role open up for a UX Designer - I did not know what UX design was; but my former boss in QA was kind enough to let me try out the role for a month to see if I liked it or not.

I have always loved design, so I learned a lot in that month, enough for me to make that jump from QA to design. Since then I’ve never looked back; now about 10 years. 

What do you enjoy the most about being on the Product team?

I think collaboration is the key when I’m working with my team members. Whether it’s an immediate team member or cross functional. Also, respect for one another. Kindness.

And learning - whether it’s someone who is senior or not - everyone is learning from one another.

Everyone should have the same goal for the company. Ultimately, solving problems for our customers. 

Outside of Slickdeals, what do you enjoy as hobbies?

Lately I have been learning about indoor plants. We’ve been buying plants and learning about individual plants because they each need a different kind of care. 

We also love to cook. My wife and I love to cook from scratch. Most of the time if I’m not working, I’m in the kitchen cooking, or with my family doing some artwork or craftwork. 

You shared some artwork from your daughter, is she an artist?

She loves to draw, for sure.

She gets it from her dad.

I guess! Malisha (Ankit’s wife) likes to draw, too, so she gets it from her as well.

What are you most excited about for your future at Slickdeals?

I feel like I have a clear vision. When I think about Slickdeals, I see it as a place where shoppers feel comfortable and confident shopping.

And we want them to continue to have that trust.

Similar to how you go to Google, I would like to see every single shopper start with Slickdeals. And hopefully we have that place that becomes one-stop shopping. 

Thank you so much, Ankit, for taking the time to speak with the team today. We really enjoyed learning more about you and we appreciate everything you do!

To learn more about career opportunities at Slickdeals, visit here.