Why Two ‘Boomerang’ Employees Returned to Lob — and What It’s Like to Grow There

Why These Employees Decided to Return to Lob

Pam Rim was so impressed by the culture and opportunities at Lob that she felt compelled to join the company — twice. 

After joining the direct mail platform provider in 2024, she served as head of corporate strategy for about 11 months before stepping away to launch her own fine art print shop.

As Rim’s venture quickly gained traction, she realized she needed more “under-pressure experience” to manage massive print volumes, and she knew that Lob would give her the skills to strengthen that muscle. 

So she came back to Lob and became a senior supply chain optimization analyst, which is the role she currently holds today. 

“The people were the primary ‘pull’ factor,” Rim said. “I missed the collaborative spirit of the operations team; everyone here is deeply aligned on our mission to deliver mail on time and cost-effectively.”

Rim isn’t the only one who has joined Lob twice because of its people. Sam Melero joined the company in 2021 as an enterprise solutions engineer, a role he occupied for about two years before stepping away to work at another company. 

In 2025, he rejoined Lob as a senior solutions engineer, motivated by the strength of its people — and its growth trajectory.

“This is a place I felt like I would be supported throughout this growth journey, which is rare to find,” he said.

How Lob’s Leadership, Metrics and Cross-Functional Alignment Have Evolved

A lot has changed about Lob over the years, including the maturity of one of the company’s most important tools: data.  

Before Rim left the company to build her fine art print shop, she and her teammates drafted key metrics for each department. But when she returned, she discovered Lob now operated on detailed, automated executive dashboards created by the company’s data team.

“It represents a level of departmental alignment that allows us to move so much faster,” she said.

Rim shared that the alignment within the executive leadership team has also gotten stronger, thanks to the arrival of new leaders from the logistics industry, a critical development that will help achieve the company’s goal of doubling its volume through Lob Logistics. 

“It’s exciting to see leadership that understands we aren’t just a SaaS company; we are a technology enabled mail supply chain business that wins through network efficiency,” she said.

 

“It’s exciting to see leadership that understands we aren’t just a SaaS company; we are a technology enabled mail supply chain business  that wins through network efficiency.”

 

Rim has also seen improvements in how the company defines its ideal customer profile and subsequently, its product roadmap.  

“Seeing that transition from chasing industry verticals to understanding a customer’s place in the broader omnichannel marketing strategy has been a game-changer for how we build products,” she said.

With fewer silos, leadership makes an effort to invite cross-functional partners to offsites and planning sessions. For instance, during Rim’s first week back at Lob, she participated in a process-mapping exercise with the product team, working with them to automate operationally intensive routing processes, therefore directly linking tech development to real-world cost optimization.

Melero has noticed leaders providing an even greater level of support since rejoining the company. When he and his peers encounter problems in their day-to-day work, leaders step in quickly — and eagerly — to fix them. 

“This creates a ton more cohesion from top to bottom,” Melero said. 

Overall, Melero feels as though he came back to a company more focused on high-performing work.

“This time around feels like we all want to grow, move quickly, and grow one another,” he said. 

 

 

How Lob Supports Employee Growth and Skill Development

As Lob has evolved, so has Rim’s job responsibilities. She described her current role as much more tactical and high-velocity than her previous one and focuses primarily on managing the daily mail routing for the company’s entire network. 

“We’re talking about millions of mailpieces a day, which requires a level of urgency and precision that is incredibly rewarding,” Rim said.

Rejoining Lob has proven to be the ultimate “stress test” for her operations skill set. While Rim’s earlier career began with more traditional business operations skills such as coding and data modeling, her current role has offered her more boots-on-the-ground experience, which is exactly what she needs as an entrepreneur. 

“Managing massive print volumes, solving problems in real time and hunting for cost savings in the fine details is invaluable experience,” she said. “Being both strategic and tactical makes me a much more well-rounded leader.”

Melero has also experienced a renewed focus on honing his skills for the long term. 

“I get feedback from my manager that is focused on my growth, not just getting through the day,” he said.

 

 

What’s Next for Lob — and How Employees Contribute to Its Long-Term Growth

Looking ahead, Melero is eager to see the company’s long-term strategy take hold. 

“Once we start to see early indicators of success and the hard work paying off at scale, we will only get more motivated,” he said. “Solutions will get more efficient, and this team will be a strategic resource to help grow deals and demonstrate value, helping us grow our skill sets and abilities.”

 

“Once we start to see early indicators of success and the hard work paying off at scale, we will only get more motivated.”

 

Rim said she’s excited to help bridge the gap between manual operations and automated technology. Over the next few months, she’ll be working with the tech and product teams to build a new operating system for mail routing, which feels like the perfect application of her industrial engineering degree. 

“It’s a full-circle moment: using my technical background to automate the tedious parts of the job so we can focus on the next phase of scaling,” Rim said.

Rim feels as though she and her teammates are truly living the company’s “Go Together” value. Supported by a culture that encourages curiosity, she’s empowered to ask questions and share her “wild” ideas, which fosters an environment in which passionate individuals have endless opportunities to make an impact. 

“Anyone who is a ‘builder’ and enjoys a high-feedback, high-respect environment would thrive here,” Rim said. “It’s a place for people who want to see their work result in tangible outcomes.”

 

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