Meet a Helpful Human – Kelly Goolsby

Responsive, helpful, and dedicated in ways automation simply can’t be. We’re your team. Each month, we recognize one of our Most Helpful Humans in Hosting®. 

Meet Kelly Goolsby

Having spent nearly two decades in the hosting industry, Kelly Goosby has gravitated to the more technical side of sales with a career in Solution Engineering. After 15 years at Rackspace, Goolsby brings his talents to Liquid Web as the Director of Enterprise & Technical Solutions. His team guides customers through a complex product portfolio, helping to build solutions that make technical and business sense for each customer’s unique needs. He is passionate about enabling knowledge-sharing across teams to contribute individual experiences and expertise and improve the organization as a whole. Meet Kelly Goolsby.

Why did you join Liquid Web?

I joined Liquid Web because it offered a chance to work with people I had previous relationships with at Rackspace. Liquid Web was working to help organizations start their journey to the cloud, and I felt my knowledge could make the most significant impact on those types of customers. 

What draws you to the hosting industry as a career?

I like learning about new things and bringing those concepts to a sometimes non-technical audience. I've learned a lot about building efficiently-designed application infrastructures that let companies improve their business outcomes—not just to use the latest and greatest tech. We can design almost anything, but it has to make sense for a client's unique situation. One thing I always say is, "If it is something I couldn't explain the benefits of to my least technical family member, then I probably wouldn't offer it to a customer."

Is there something specific about Liquid Web you just love? 

I love being able to effect change. Liquid Web is big enough to offer scope and scale but still small enough that my efforts can help drive improvement noticeably. The small teams, as well as the ability to bounce ideas around with leadership, make Liquid Web a company in which you feel like your work really matters.People at all levels of the company structure are in communication about how to move things forward. 

In your eyes, what's the difference between Liquid Web and other employers? 

People will rally to fix issues and go the extra mile for a customer. This tenacity and perseverance to tackle hard projects for customers is unique among hosting providers.

For example, a client needed to launch a highly redundant and scalable solution. Liquid Web pulled together a team of nearly a dozen experts from across the business to build and launch the infrastructure, which resulted in a successful weekend launch, including real-time 24/7 expertise during the launch event. 

We had to speed up our process by a couple of weeks from their original deadline. The launch featured three, well-known brands and was mentioned on major network news. We pulled off the design early and without a hitch. 

Nearly every person who had worked with them during design and implementation spent the weekend checking in and offering their assistance and expertise if they could help. It was inspiring to see so many people invested in the real-time success of the customers we serve.

What is the biggest milestone you've accomplished? 

I was significantly involved in the launch of VMware Private Cloud. I had a firm belief that this product would be good for Liquid Web. We were able to launch our private cloud in just a few months by drawing from the industry experience we already had within our company.  It has since become a product that is really filling a gap in the market—we are one of the only cloud hosts that provides a VMware-ready private cloud solution that is scalable enough to compete with larger enterprises at a fraction of the cost.

Work aside, what are some of your hobbies? 

I like hiking and doing almost anything at the beach or river. Aside from that, I collect hard-to-find bourbon. I have a W.L. Weller variety that is hard to find, and the collection means a lot because it was a gift from a friend. I also have a Blanton's, which I was lucky to find because someone had hidden it behind another bottle (probably to come back and buy for themselves, but I can't prove that as fact). 

If you could have dinner with one famous person [dead or alive], who would it be? 

Probably Benjamin Franklin. I’m not sure there has ever been a more out-of-the-box thinker. This is someone who probably never said, "That is not my job." He was just interested in everything, and I find some of that in myself—just without quite as much success. 

We hope you enjoyed our series. Stay tuned for the next Helpful Human profile. You can read more articles by Kelly Goolsby here.