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Justin Riray
A Force of Positive Energy for Sales Enablement & Executive Communications
Professional Background
Justin Riray is a multifaceted and dynamic professional known for his adaptable leadership style and a strong can-do attitude. He has built an impressive career characterized by his ability to create positive environments and boost team morale. Over the past several years, Justin has honed his professional skills at Cisco, where he managed communications for numerous executives. This role has equipped him with the ability to think ahead and devise creative strategies for leaders to effectively deliver their messages to diverse audiences.
In his tenure at Cisco, Justin has excelled as a sales presenter, where he learned to customize presentations and demonstrations tailored to meet the specific needs of each customer. His strategic management of sales programs has highlighted the significance of cultivating personal relationships in business, granting him insights that are invaluable in today's customer-driven marketplace.
Justin's contributions to Cisco are not limited to sales; he has presented to over 2,000 individuals both within and outside the company on critical topics such as Cisco’s history and strategy, as well as on his personal branding and networking platform, "BEN: Brand Yourself, Evolve, Network." This platform reflects Justin's dedication to empowering others through effective branding and networking practices.
Education and Achievements
Justin's academic journey is marked by a commitment to learning and professional development. He studied various subjects at Diablo Valley College, including psychology and English. He then pursued higher education to hone his business acumen, earning a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Santa Clara University, where he achieved an impressive 3.5 GPA. Justin also holds a B.S. in Broadcast Journalism and Psychology from San Jose State University, demonstrating his diverse interests and academic prowess.
Throughout his educational experience, he was actively involved in various roles, such as a student assistant at San Jose State University and an intern at the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce. These roles allowed him to blend academic theory with practical experience, preparing him for the challenges of a fast-paced work environment.
Leadership Experience
Justin's professional journey began in retail, where he served as an Assistant Manager at Abercrombie & Fitch. In this role, he learned the importance of working smarter and maximizing available resources. Justin managed a team of over 100 employees, training five assistant managers while ensuring high-quality visual standards and customer service. His early experiences in leadership emphasized the value of creating a culture of trust and respect, a principle he carries into his current roles.
Later, as he progressed in his career at Cisco, Justin took on various roles that capitalized on his communication skills and leadership qualities. As the Audience Experience Manager, for instance, he played a crucial role in curating engaging experiences that resonate with audiences. His experience as an Executive Communications Specialist allowed him to refine his message delivery skills, ensuring that executives’ communications were impactful and well-received.
Currently, Justin brings his wealth of experience to his role as Executive Engagements Program Manager at Tanium. In this capacity, he continues to strengthen his leadership capabilities while creating substantial positive impact within the organization.
Notable Achievements
Throughout his professional career, Justin has consistently demonstrated a commitment to excellence and innovation. His track record of developing and delivering engaging presentations showcases his ability to communicate complex ideas effectively. By reaching over 2,000 people with his presentations, he has established himself as a thought leader within his industry.
Furthermore, his development of the "BEN" platform indicates Justin's forward-thinking approach to personal branding and networking. This initiative not only reflects his desire to uplift others but also underlines his commitment to cultivating essential skills that drive career success in today’s competitive environment.
Justin's broad experience, combined with his strong educational background and leadership skills, positions him as an invaluable asset in any organizational setting. He is dedicated to fostering environments where creativity and strategic thinking thrive, contributing to both individual and collective success.
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Justin Riray's Background
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Clay works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Clay offers several powerful features including:
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
- Home Feed: Displays updates about your network including job changes, news mentions, and birthdays
- Groups: Organizes contacts into meaningful categories
- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Clay is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Clay is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Clay as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Clay offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
Clay takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Clay encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Clay work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Clay is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Clay is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Clay is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Clay offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Clay offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Clay for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Clay accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Clay offers extensive integration capabilities. Clay introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Clay supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Clay also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Clay is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Clay stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Clay excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
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Clay offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Clay's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Clay has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Clay is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Clay beneficial.
Clay offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Clay offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Clay's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Clay offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Clay focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Clay also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Clay offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
Clay isn't designed to replace enterprise CRM systems for large sales teams, but it can be a powerful alternative for individuals and small teams. Many people use Clay instead of Salesforce, Hubspot, and Pipedrive. Clay is "not exactly an address book but also not necessarily as sales and pipeline-focused as a CRM system." The founders refer to their app as a "home for your people," carving out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. For solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small teams focused on relationship quality rather than sales pipelines, Clay can absolutely serve as your primary relationship management tool.
Clay is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Clay's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Clay has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Clay a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Clay's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Clay's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Clay has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Clay's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Clay as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Clay eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.
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