Startup Stories: Q&A With Thrive Market Member Services Resolutions Agent, Nesly Trezile

Welcome to Startup Stories, a series that takes you behind the scenes to share what working at a startup is really like. Our mission at Thrive Market is simple: to make healthy living easy and affordable for everyone. But fulfilling our big dreams takes a team of dedicated, inspiring, funny, and tenacious people who show up to work every day eager to make a difference.

Today, we’re introducing you to Nesly Trezile, a Resolutions Agent for Thrive Market Member Services. Read on to get to know him and learn about his experience.

Let’s start with the basics! Tell us about your current role at Thrive Market.

I’m a Resolutions Agent for the Member Services team. I’m basically the bridge between our members, Member Services, and other departments at the company. I help implement change based on member feedback. As a whole, the Resolutions team provides technical assistance, corresponds with our couriers, and focuses on fraud control and prevention. That technical assistance is mostly with the app, which is always being updated with new features. Our members sometimes need help navigating the changes. Same thing for Autoship 2.0—members are finding their feet with that, and we work with them and the tech team to resolve any issues.

Tell us about how you transitioned into your current role.

I’ve been at Thrive Market for just about 3.5 years. I started on the phones, taking calls from our members and helping to resolve their issues. Then about a year later, I shifted to the Resolutions team.

What do you enjoy most about working on the Resolutions team?

I really enjoy the variety. There are so many different problems to solve and issues to fix. I also like being able to help—both our members and the Member Services specialists.

What’s a problem you worked on that you’re most proud of?

Our chocolate truffles! Last year, we re-stocked the item after the summer season, but our members were being told that it was out of stock, which shouldn’t have been happening. I quickly escalated a ticket to our tech team to resolve the issue.

Beyond that, I love being a team player, jumping in whenever my co-workers are on vacation or out sick. I keep to myself a lot during the day, but I really do love working with my team.

Tell us about what you do after work.

I like to go to the gym and blow off some steam. Some of these member problems can really get to you! It’s tough work, but I love it everyday. Going to the gym balances me. Then after the gym, I like to spend a couple hours listening to music and writing.

What kind of music do you listen to?

Arabian jazz is my favorite. I use jazz to get into my space. It’s movement music—mind movement, body movement. The entire world we live in is jazz. You just create movement with jazz. It’s thoughtful music, and I love that.

And what kind of writing are you doing?

I’m working on my first book. It’s about me and my culture, and about escaping and understanding death—very personal things to me.

But really it’s about a young woman wanting to escape her situation, her family, her neighborhood. She’s trying to remember her mother, but her mother’s face is covered in a shadow. It’s symbolic of uncovering potential childhood trauma. She wants to remember being happy with her mother.

It’s been a challenge writing as a female character. It’s easy to write how I think, and that’s how the book started, but it felt like a diary, so I changed the approach.

How far along are you?

I’m currently working on dialogue and rewriting bits and pieces. I started working on it 2.5 years ago. I just want to do it right. I wouldn’t say this is my talent, but it is my passion. My goal is to have a concrete draft this year. I will try to publish it when I’m satisfied. When I do publish it, just knowing that I can do this will give me such validation. And hopefully a publisher is interested!

Where does this passion for writing come from?

I hated reading when I was growing up! My old man wanted me to read the newspaper when all I wanted to do was go outside. I couldn’t stand reading, it was torture to me. But it was because I was being forced to read things I didn’t like. Once I found what I liked, then I couldn’t stop. I love books that stir my imagination, and I want to make someone else feel that way, too.

Which book lit that fire for writing?

“Sandman” by Neil Gaiman. I was fascinated by the fantasy of it and the fantastic journey. The main character, Dream, loses his powers and is trying to regain them. He goes to different universes to find his powers. Gaiman has the ability to take these real-life character narratives and infuse them with mythology, which really resonated with me, coming from Haiti. We believe in premonition and voodoo. You learn to synchronize two different religions—for example, in Haitin culture, there are Catholic saints but they represent different voodoo aspects, so you can connect with religious figures in a way that’s unique to you. I love how “Sandman” pairs the real world with magic.

What was it like growing up and living in Haiti?

I can’t wait to go back. I don’t remember it as being, what some people call, the “poorest country” in the hemisphere. I lived by the coast, so we’d always go swimming. I loved it. I came to the U.S. when I was 8. We lived in Miami, Los Angeles, and Boston. I’ve always wanted to go back to Haiti, but not just to retire. I want to go back and help the people there in the long term—give back whenever and however I can.

What do you appreciate most about Thrive Market?

The company is really doing what it says it’s doing. It’s fulfilling its mission to make healthy living accessible for everyone in a big way. As an employee, I appreciate all the opportunities here—from job opportunities to social things to volunteer events—we’re really working together to make the world better every single day.

What’s the best part about working at Thrive Market?

I love the challenges and appreciate that everyone here is so chill and gets their work done. I don’t think we give enough credit to our recruiting team—they really hires the right people. Everyone I’ve come across is just good to be around.

Last but not least, what’s your favorite Thrive Market product and why?

The Free-Range Turkey Sticks! They taste great and you can chop one up and add it to a salad, or just eat the stick. I also love our coconut oil—you can cook with it or use it as a moisturizer or lip balm. Coconut oil is the best product ever.