There are so many reasons to make a change in your career path. Whether it’s an opportunity for mobility, a role change, or even a change in environment. Wix is dedicated to helping all of our driven employees grow with us. Our people are ambitious, and sometimes finding their next challenge means growing outside of Wix, too. Some of our employees have experienced both sides of this coin by going out on their own and coming back to us. One of our “boomerangers” is Eric Sonnenberg. We spoke with him about his career journey to learn more.

Tell us about your Wix journey before you left.

I started working for the Customer Care German team in 2014 as a part-time employee. I figured out really quickly that I liked the company and the product and knew I wanted to join full-time. Customer Care really enabled me to grow my expertise, helping me learn so much about the product and how it worked. I started managing the German team and helping create more care teams outside of Israel in places like Ukraine and Dublin. Eventually I began managing multiple language teams such as Portuguese and French. I discovered what I loved most about my job at the time was the operational aspects. I was able to create the first Operations team within Customer Care, which was the Product Support Group. 

After about 6 years, I felt like it was time for me to leave my comfortable Customer Care nest and try something new. I moved to the Global Markets department and worked there another year and a half. 

After a total of 8 great years at Wix, I realized that in the next step of my journey I needed time for personal development. I took a year to work on some personal projects I had wanted to achieve, I traveled and got married. 

What made you want to return to Wix? What was it like coming back?

At the time when I wanted to come back to work, I heard about an interesting opportunity that had opened up in the Product Localization team. I knew I could add a lot of value in a role like this with the expertise I had gained prior. It really seemed like a perfect fit.

What was great about returning to Wix was that everything really felt “plug and play.” There were so many familiar faces, I knew the company and product really well, so I got to focus on my new role and learning the expectations.

I was excited about coming back, but I was also pretty nervous. I didn’t know what it would be like, if it would be the same or really different. Ultimately people remembered me and coming back ended up feeling like a warm hug.

"I was also able to reflect on what working at Wix meant and still means to me. Wix gave me community and friends. Being such an international company, I was able to really find my people. I realized Wix was never just the place I came to work – it was always way more than that."

Did you learn anything in your time away from Wix that helped you develop personally or professionally?

Yes, absolutely. Stepping out and coming back really changes your perspective. I also appreciated the company and its benefits.

I was also able to reflect on what working at Wix meant and still means to me. Wix gave me community and friends. Being such an international company, I was able to really find my people. I realized Wix was never just the place I came to work – it was always way more than that. 

What seemed to change at Wix during your time away? What stayed the same?

Wix has grown so much in scale since I first started almost a decade ago, and the year that I was away it seemed to grow exponentially as well. The biggest change was definitely the move to the new campus.

Overall I’ve always felt the culture has been really consistent at Wix, despite our growth and changes throughout the years. Same atmosphere and values, just a bigger group of people and bigger company dreams and goals.