Employee Spotlight: Thomas Goepfert, The Force Behind Our Community

At Carly, building a strong community takes vision, patience, and leadership. Thomas Goepfert, our Head of Content and Community, has brought all three to the table. With a unique background that blends technical expertise, team development, and a passion for creating user-focused solutions, he’s been instrumental in shaping the way we connect with our customers. Want to know more about his journey and the milestones that he has in Carly? Keep reading to dive into his story and the lessons he's learned along the way.        

What sparked your initial interest in the community, and how did Carly meet this passion?

My interest in community engagement grew from a personal passion for travel, where I first experienced the power of communities. Professionally, I’ve always believed that communities are 'gold' for companies, offering not only cost savings but also the potential to bridge gaps and generate revenue—especially in Germany, where this concept is still underutilized.

My passion for communities grew over time, and at Carly, I’ve found alignment with the company’s vision. Carly’s leads team also shared a vision of the community becoming an important part of the business in the future. It was inspiring to encounter a team so unified in their forward-thinking perspective on community's potential. Despite back then Carly did not have prior experience in community-building, their collective understanding of its strategic value to Carly's growth was clear.

That was enough to convince me of the opportunity ahead. As we continue to develop and expand Carly’s community, I’ve learned even more about how crucial it is to integrate community into the heart of the business strategy, and how it can shape the future of our company.

What has been the most significant challenge in building and managing Carly’s community, and how did you overcome it?

The biggest challenge for me in building Carly’s community was initially the technical side. I'm not an engineer or product manager by training, so I had to quickly learn how engineers think and operate, especially since we built our community software from scratch at Carly, rather than purchasing it like I had in the past. Thankfully, the team was incredibly supportive and helped me navigate this learning curve.

Another challenge was understanding every single metric related to the community. At Carly, we are deeply data-driven, and I had to get comfortable with tracking and analyzing all relevant numbers, which isn’t always the norm at other companies.

Lastly, learning how to integrate AI into the community was a significant hurdle. We had ambitious goals to build the community using AI, and figuring out its impact on SEO, user engagement, and content was an ongoing learning process – and here, too, the team’s support made a tremendous difference.

What’s the most rewarding part of your role as Head of Content and Community at Carly, Could you share an example of a particularly rewarding project or initiative you’ve led since joining Carly?

While the community initiative itself has been highly rewarding, what I find most fulfilling in my role at Carly is leading the content and community team. Leadership is one of my greatest passions, and I take pride in my personal leadership philosophy. I love working with people, coaching, and helping them grow and develop.

Since joining Carly, I’ve had the opportunity to guide the team through a lot of change, including restructuring and onboarding new team members. In just six months, we went through four major transitions, which was challenging for everyone, especially for the long-standing team members. I was continuously impressed by how well the team rose to the occasion, showing remarkable resilience, flexibility, and support for one another. Their commitment and positive attitude were key to making these transitions successful, and guiding such a dedicated team has been incredibly rewarding.

What I value most is the trust leadership places in me to lead the team. It’s an honor to have a direct impact on the personal and professional development of others, and to see how that positively influences the company’s growth as a whole.

Can you share a memorable experience of working with teams or partners that significantly contributed to a project’s success?

One memorable experience of cross-functional collaboration was the launch of our first community version last November. We worked closely with the Cloud team, who had already been developing the community infrastructure since early 2023, even before I joined in May. After I returned from parental leave in September, we finalized the landing pages and the community structure. The launch itself was a great team effort—despite it being late in the day, the Cloud team stayed beyond their usual hours, driven by excitement to see the project go live.

What made it special was the sense of shared excitement. On the day of the community release, even though it was a little later than our usual release time, we stuck around to complete the release and make sure everything went smoothly. We grabbed some beers and sweets, and celebrated the launch together. It was a fun moment that showed how dedicated and excited the whole team was to see the project come to life.

What do you think sets Carly apart in terms of creating meaningful connections with our customers through our community?

At Carly, what sets us apart in building meaningful connections with our customers through our community is that it’s fully user-oriented and largely powered by AI. Our goal is to provide the best quality content and the fastest solutions without any unnecessary distractions or off-topic discussions, unlike many other communities where the answers are often buried in irrelevant conversations. We strive for clarity and efficiency.

While AI plays a crucial role in speeding up processes, we prioritize quality by manually reviewing and refining everything. AI helps us analyze issues and reach solutions more efficiently, and it’s our expert teams who ensure that the final outcome meets our high standards. It’s this blend of AI-driven efficiency and human oversight that allows us to offer accurate, reliable support to our users.

Looking back on your journey at Carly, what advice would you give your younger self when you first started in community and content management?

Looking back, the advice I’d give my younger self would be to stay patient and focused. When you have a clear goal and vision, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by unexpected challenges or spontaneous issues that arise. Through coaching, I learned a lot about resilience, but more importantly, I learned to better understand myself—specifically, how my impatience was affecting my performance. This self-awareness helped me regain my patience and feel more aligned with myself. Now, I can navigate challenges with more calm, knowing that as long as I stay focused on our clear goals and adhere to our company values, we’re on the right path. It’s also taught me how to manage impatience, both in myself and when working with others.

We all enjoyed your Apfelkuchen made of the apples from your lovely garden. What is the one thing that probably Carly people don’t know about you? 

 I know some of you probably think I’m kidding, but it’s true—I’m a farm boy. I really do live on a farm! We’ve got apple trees, cows, and the whole deal. What makes it even funnier is that I grew up in a pretty unusual mix of worlds. On one hand, I was surrounded by fields and animals, and on the other, I was hearing about taxes and finance. And then, to add even more flavor to the mix, my mother’s side of the family is well-known in the medical field. So, I grew up with one side of the family wanting me to become a doctor and the other side pushing for me to become a tax lawyer. But in true "Thomas style," I said no to both and chose my own path.

Last question, Is there anything you would like to share with us?

What I’d like to share is my strong belief in Carly’s company culture and approach. What truly stands out to me is how much Carly invests in its people, something I regularly highlight to my team. It’s often only when people step outside the company that they fully realize how special and supportive this environment is. Carly’s culture is unique in the way it fosters long-term growth and prioritizes the well-being of its employees. It’s a healthy, forward-thinking culture that I feel privileged to be part of.