Seattle is the right place for Peterborough’s Elina and Adrian

Elina, who works at Amazon’s fulfilment centre in Peterborough, and Adrian who works in the delivery station in the city, took part in the week-long trip with 16 Amazon colleagues from across the UK and Ireland as part of a programme called I Found the Right Place.

I Found the Right Place is open to Amazon employees in the UK and Ireland and asks the simple question – ‘what makes Amazon the right place for you?’. Employees are invited to talk about why they love working at Amazon and the best stories are selected by a judging panel, with the finalists taking delivery of a boarding pass for the trip of a lifetime.

More than 2,000 Amazon employees submitted their story as part of the campaign and Elina was selected by the judges as one of 18 people who boarded the plane to Seattle.

Elina, Adrian and their colleagues had an action-packed week in Seattle, where they toured Amazon’s global headquarters, saw the latest Amazon technology during a fulfilment centre tour and enjoyed the sights and sounds of the city’s Pike Place Market, Space Needle, Museum of Pop Culture and more.

Adrian Surley is from Peterborough and works at the Amazon delivery station in the city as a Sortation Associate. He has been with Amazon for four years.

After graduating from the London School of Economics in 1993, Adrian's career took him through various industries. He spent time working in pubs in central London, tried his hand as a self-employed financial adviser, and eventually joined Deloitte in 1999 as a loss assessor on a pensions review project. During 13 years at Deloitte, he progressed to become Compliance Manager of its Employee Benefits and Pensions Actuarial advisory arm, before moving to Punter Southall Group as Corporate Compliance Manager.

Looking for a career change, he began training to be a secondary school Maths teacher until Covid hit and derailed his plans. After a long period of unemployment and illness, Adrian was selected for the I Found the Right Place trip to Seattle after sharing his deeply personal story about how Amazon has changed his life.

“When I was first told I was going to Seattle, I was mostly just in shock,” he said. “It didn’t seem real. These things simply do not happen to me. Then I felt excited and a little bit proud of myself. My story was very personal, but I also felt it was important to share. I'm a strong believer in being more open about mental health, and I'm glad that was recognised by Amazon.”

What was his highlight? “Spending that time with such a wonderful, fantastic, inspiring group of people - my new family,” he said. “Yes, visits to Amazon’s corporate headquarters with the Spheres was fantastic, and I particularly loved the fact Amazonians are taking their dogs to work with them! The prototype fulfilment centre site was also an amazing experience, but ultimately it comes down to the people I was with.”

A trip to Seattle aside, what's Adrian's favourite thing about working at Amazon? “The great people I work with,” he said. “Amazon has genuinely changed my life. I joined Amazon on a whim after being in a bad place, because I just had to do something to get out of the rut I was in. Now I have something to get out of bed for, and look forward to my working week.”

Elina Malinauska moved from Latvia to the UK in 2009 at the age of 19, straight after secondary school. Her first three years in the UK were spent working as a picker on a strawberry farm. In October 2011, she joined Amazon in Peterborough on a temporary contract and by 2012, she had secured a permanent position.

“I worked all over the outbound department, picking, packing and sorting customer orders before they're shipped out,” she explained.

In 2014, she enrolled at Peterborough College for an English language course. The following year, she took an even bigger leap, joining the Open University to pursue a BA in International Studies. Elina continued with her education while working at Amazon.

“It was a broad course covering things like the economy, the environment, geography, politics - a worldly perspective that I think has benefited me in my current role in HR. I learned about communicating with people from all kinds of backgrounds, adapting my language to suit different contexts.”

Between 2015 - 2016, she juggled her English course and her first year of university while maintaining her Amazon responsibilities. Taking the part-time route, it took six years for Elina to graduate with a Bachelor’s in 2021.

“It's been a wild ride, but at the end of the day, this is what I wanted to do - and I did it!" she said proudly.

Her dedication paid off in 2017 when she joined Amazon's HR team, where she continues to work today. Her journey to HR professional exemplifies the career progression opportunities Amazon offers to those willing to take advantage of them.

When she applied for the I Found the Right Place programme, Elina almost missed finding out she’d been successful. “I was told I would hear back before the 15th of June, and if I didn't hear back, I didn't get it. I was actually at a concert in Prague when the deadline passed, so I just assumed I didn't get it.”

“My managers invited me for a meeting to give me the good news. I really didn't believe it until I had the plane tickets confirmed that it sank in - this is real, I'm really going!”

The Seattle experience reinforced what she already knew about Amazon's culture. “My highlight was meeting new people - I think we all got along really well. It was the people that made the trip special for me. I also enjoyed getting to see a side of the company that we wouldn’t normally see in the fulfilment centre.”

Looking back on her journey from strawberry picker to HR professional, she's grateful for the support that made it all possible. “The biggest thank you goes to my husband, who has been the most amazing support throughout everything. And thank you to everyone at Amazon who made the trip possible.”