Aprill Allen
in conversation
with Brendan Cullen
What is your current job title and industry and what do you enjoy the most about both?
My greatest joy is helping support teams improve their satisfaction at work. The way I do that is by focusing on improving knowledge flows. As Managing Director and Principal Consultant at Knowledge Bird, I advise startups and scale-ups on how to improve their customer service and success operations; and I help enterprise teams lift their knowledge management capabilities through Knowledge Centered Service consulting and training.
How long have you been an itSMF Member?
In 2011, I joined the ITSMF and attended my first conference, which was held in Perth.
What itSMF Membership Benefits do you get most value from?
Professional Indemnity Insurance Discount
Meeting other members
Opportunities to participate in the Conference
What do you enjoy most about being an itSMF Member?
The friendships I made early on have deepened over the years, and my community has expanded, connecting me to generous and friendly people around the world.
Has being an itSMF Member benefited you professionally?
There are three areas the ITSMF has directly impacted my professional life:
- It’s where I developed my confidence as a public speaker, contributing to my certifying as a KCS trainer
- It’s provided a pathway to board participation, encouraging me to follow through with obtaining the AICD accreditation and actively seek advisory roles with startups.
- And, the network I mentioned earlier, has connected me with work opportunities and other boutique consultants whom I’ve teamed up with on collaborative projects.
What ITSM related certifications do you hold, if any?
ITIL Foundation – v3 in 2011, ITIL4 in 2019
What has been your biggest workplace or career challenge and how did you face it?
My biggest challenges appear when I don’t have a strategy that I’m working towards. I’ve worked in a place for too long—where my contribution wasn’t linked to any organisational or team outcomes—so I felt lost and unsupported. I talked to a few people in my orbit, but they didn’t have the influence I wished they did. If I could go back in time with what I know now, I would have asked more questions before I took that job. I would have taken more control going in, and I would have asserted some strategy of my own.
Have you ever applied your ITSM skills outside of work?
All the time. Life is an endless series of problem solving, process improvements, and managing relationships and expectations.
Really, it’s the other way around. Life skills apply to ITSM.
What do you see as the biggest challenge or ‘next big thing’ for ITSM professionals over