At Ontra, growth is more than an individual journey — it’s a shared investment.
Our culture is rooted in collaboration, where candid and empathetic communication ensures we serve and support each other in achieving meaningful success. With great people by your side, we empower our team members to take ownership of their careers and pursue impactful growth.
In this quarter’s success stories series, we highlight four individuals who’ve embraced these opportunities and advanced their careers at Ontra. Read on to learn more.
Sara Eng
VP, Product Operations
CA
“I like to think about my career at Ontra as the best, worst decision I’ve ever made. In 2017, I was 10 years into a career I enjoyed with people I respected. I was progressing at a healthy clip, maybe not learning as much as I would have liked, but getting good foundational experience in operational support, developing individual performers, and managing teams remotely. As someone who watched the 2008 recession unfold in real-time, I always felt lucky to have a good, stable job with an established company.
When I met the founding team at Ontra, however, I was immediately inspired to become the least likely version of myself: a risk-taker. This 10-ish-person company, despite its very small presence, thought bigger and with sharper instincts about the future of the legal industry than any of the lawyers and legal professionals I’d encountered. They wanted to change the industry using AI and natural language processing; although these concepts are widely known now, this was 2017, a full year before OpenAI would release its first version of GPT. I have always opted for the stable, known path, but Ontra’s founders knew that they were skating to where the puck was going, not where it sat currently (a Wayne Gretzky quote oft-referenced by our chief product officer), and isn’t being the disrupter the more stable option than getting disrupted?
My career at Ontra has taken many forms in the years following my best, worst decision — too many to recount here. After seven years, I’m just so grateful that every day is an opportunity to take risks, collaborate with smart, interesting people, and challenge myself to envision the puck’s next destination.”
Marissa MacLennan
Account Executive
CA
“For me, Ontra has been a place to grow my career since my first day as a business development associate (BDA). The excitement at Ontra is infectious. When I got here, stories about the Sales team stood out to me. This team truly enjoys the ride of closing deals with some of the biggest private equity firms and investment banks in the world. I watched and learned from our sales directors, who are absolute forces of nature at driving revenue, and I thought to myself — that is exactly what I want to do.
From there, I started talking with closers, BDAs, and managing directors on my team about my goal of becoming an account executive. Ontra is a place to have a career because each person I spoke to listened, extended a helping hand, and rooted for me. I had so much support from the Sales team as a whole and even from colleagues across other departments who learned of my goal.
This past June, my new manager called me and offered me the role of account executive. I had finally reached my goal. I was proud of myself and the work I put in.But most of all, I was grateful to work at Ontra, a company that I believe in and that believes in me back. I’m grateful to my colleagues and managers, who challenge me because they know I can do hard things and do them well. I’m grateful for the continuous opportunity to achieve my personal and professional goals while loving the people I get to work alongside every day.”
Elliott Pennebaker
Customer Success Associate
TX
“When I joined Ontra in October of 2021 after graduating college, I had no idea how much I would grow, both professionally and personally. Ontra was my first full-time job, and it’s been an incredible place to start my career.
I began on the Sales team as a business development representative (BDR), where I focused on bringing in new business and helping the company expand its reach. Over time, I had the chance to take on more responsibility and ended up finishing my time as a BDR on the Growth Sales team, learning how to engage with current customers in more meaningful ways.
Thanks to my experience in Sales and Ontra’s support for internal mobility, I was able to transition into a new role on the Customer Success team as a customer success associate (CSA). It’s been a fantastic transition that has deepened my understanding of Ontra’s operations and expanded my knowledge of the financial services industry. Going from opening doors with potential customers to fully understanding and addressing their needs on a daily basis has broadened my perspective in ways I’m incredibly grateful for.
The leadership and resources here have been top-notch — Ontra truly invests in its people. The culture is unlike any other; the people are supportive, collaborative, and genuinely want to see each other succeed. It’s rare to find a company where you feel like everyone is rooting for you, especially in such a competitive industry.
Looking back, the opportunities I’ve had at Ontra have been invaluable. It’s been a transformative experience, and I’m eager to see what the future holds.”
Kelly Pineda
Senior Enablement Specialist
PA
“In August of 2021, I joined Ontra as a customer success manager (CSM). Quickly, we recognized a business need to further support the freelance Insight lawyers within our Legal Network, and I was given the opportunity to step up to that challenge. As our products and internal teams grew, I pivoted to focus full-time on supporting our largest Insight customers as a senior CSM. Through these roles, I honed my skills in training, managing expectations, and building strategic partnerships.
I’m fortunate to have had multiple managers at Ontra who have invested a meaningful amount of time into helping me discern what aspects of my role energized me and where I had the most impact. After quite a bit of introspection, I found that the common thread in my first two roles was finding joy in teaching others — more specifically, telling people about Ontra’s great products and processes. With the support of my manager, we explored how this might align with a role on Ontra’s Go-to-Market Enablement team, and in January of 2024, I was thrilled to join that team, focusing on the work I love most.
Ontra’s culture is one of high performance and personal respect: I’m seen as both a human individual and an impactful employee. This combination of always extending care while relentlessly pursuing excellence is what makes Ontra special to me. In this way, Ontra has allowed me to feel a deep sense of fulfillment both within and outside of my work.
I’m grateful to the leaders who’ve invested in my growth, and I’m excited for the future of my career at Ontra.”
