Dime of the Month: Laura Jackson

Our May #dimeofthemonth is Senior Operations Coordinator, Laura Jackson! Laura has been with the team for nearly four years, and is the kind of person who just knows everything. If there’s a question, a weird edge case, or something completely broken, odds are Laura already has the answer (or had it fixed 10 minutes ago). She’s the ultimate go-to and somehow manages to make even the messiest situations feel under control, all while making the rest of us look way more organized than we actually are. Her impact is everywhere, from untangling complex issues to quietly leveling up how the entire team operates. Away from work, she’s usually hanging with her dog, spending time with her sons, or fully embracing the cold somewhere in the nature of Nova Scotia, probably somewhere scenic, peaceful, and significantly less chaotic than our Slack channels.

What makes Cents different from other places you’ve worked?

The intersection of hardware and SaaS. Most companies live cleanly on one side or the other. Being inside that tension, where physical operations and software economics have to coexist in the same P&L, keeps the work interesting in a way that a more homogeneous environment wouldn’t.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Document everything. Your instincts are good — but an instinct no one can see doesn't exist. Build the artifact, write the analysis, own the work. Competence that isn't legible doesn't compound.

What is your secret to making progress each day?

I work best alone and quietly, so I protect that time fiercely. I do my real thinking before the day gets loud. Everything else is execution.

A typical weekend for me is…

Laid back, always. I live in Nova Scotia, so there’s no shortage of reasons to be outside – clean air, trees, fresh water and salty. It’s my paradise, honestly. Walks on a beach or in the woods, kayaking on our river, or braving the sea waves in our little boat. The day isn’t complete without a campfire – the best ones surrounded by snow.

If you could switch your job with anyone else within Cents, whose job would you want?

Hardware engineering — they’re working on the physical thing, the product that physically exists in the world and either works or doesn’t. The software and hardware have to work together and I’m drawn to that kind of complex dependency.

And if I’m being honest, I’d also want time in finance. I know enough to want to know so much more – it’s the piece that would complete the toolkit.

Motto or personal mantra/Words to live by?

Precision over volume. I’d rather say one true thing than ten approximate ones.

And “it is what it is”. Because sometimes that’s just the most honest answer available.

What is your proudest career moment and why?

I genuinely struggled with this question, because my answer isn’t a single moment – it’s a pattern. I’m a deliberate jack of all trades. I’ve always believed that broad understanding is its own kind of expertise – the ability to understand what the important pieces are in each team’s puzzle, connect the dots across departments, and keep things cohesive when the focus is on their own lane. Seeing the forest and the trees isn’t just how I work, it’s what I reach for.

What Guiding Principles of Cents do you feel like you identify with?

Self Awareness and Stay Curious are probably the most honest answers. I’ve built a career on knowing what I don’t know and treating that as information rather than a liability. The two tend to reinforce each other — the more self-aware you are, the more genuinely curious you become, because you stop pretending you’ve already figured it out.

I’d also claim Work Fast, Work Smart, but with a caveat: I think speed without precision is just noise. The “smart” part has to lead.

What gets you out of bed every morning?

Honestly? The problem I haven’t solved yet. I’m a systems thinker — I go to sleep with something half-figured-out and wake up wanting to finish the thought. There’s usually a process or a structure that’s been bothering me, and mornings are when I’m sharpest. It’s definitely not my dog Hamish — he has impossibly soft fur and anticipates the exact moment my partner John gets out of bed so he can sneak in and cuddle up. Who doesn’t love snuggles with their pets?