HI, I'M BETH VANDERKOLK
I am a Voice of the Customer (VOC) and Product Support leader who turns messy customer feedback into better products. Over the past 12+ years at Google, MURAL, GitLab, and InVision, I’ve built the systems that connect millions of users with the teams that build the roadmap. I specialize in pulling signals from everywhere—support channels, community forums, Reddit, app reviews, and user surveys—and using AI workflows to spot major user pain points in hours instead of weeks. From pre-launch readiness to high-stakes incident triage, I bring Product, Engineering, Legal, PR, and Support together to
fix what’s broken and close the loop with customers.
My experience spans:
- Voice of the Customer (VOC) & Roadmap Advocacy | I pull together customer feedback across support tickets, community forums, Reddit, app reviews, surveys, and sales conversations—ranking the biggest user pain points and working directly with Product and Engineering to get them fixed.
- AI Workflows & Faster Insights | I design and pilot AI-powered support and insight workflows (using tools like Google NotebookLM, LLMs, and Zendesk AI) to automatically sort through thousands of user reports and deliver clear takeaways in hours instead of weeks.
- Launch Sentiment & High-Stakes Incident Triage | I track how customers react before, during, and after major product launches. When critical bugs or high-stakes alerts hit, I lead incident triage and "close the loop" across Product, Engineering, Legal, PR, and frontline Support.
- Global Support Scale & Proven ROI | I build self-service support communities and proactive content strategies that help millions of users find answers fast—driving over $58.7M in verified support cost avoidance across 50+ products at Google.
MY EXPERIENCE
2022 - present, Google, Remote
Product Support Manager, Social & Community (2025 – present)
Google Messages, Google Phone App, Android 1P App Experiences (Gboard, Files by Google, Personal Safety), Google TV, and Android TV
Manager, gUP Platforms & Devices Community (2022 – 2025)
Lead Voice of the Customer (VOC) strategy, AI-powered sentiment workflows, pre/post-launch tracking, and high-stakes incident triage across flagship Google apps—partnering with Product, Engineering, Legal, and PR to close the loop on top user pain points. Previously led a distributed team managing global support communities across 50+ Google products (306M+ annual visits), generating $58.7M in verified support cost avoidance.
2021 - 2022, Mural, Remote
As Director of Community, I built and launched MURAL’s online customer community from scratch in 12 weeks, growing to 2,000+ active design, product, and enterprise members in six months. Partnered across Sales, Marketing, and Product to surface enterprise customer pain points, run customer champion programs, and track adoption signals.
2020 - 2020, GitLab, Remote
At GitLab as Senior Manager of Community and Advocacy, I led a globally distributed team of Community Advocates across the US, Europe, and Asia, defining the company-wide strategy for how GitLab teams capture and act on user feedback across 15+ social and community channels.
2014 - 2020, InVision App, Remote
I spent 6 years serving product designers and enterprise design teams as InVision scaled through $235M+ in funding. Partnered daily with Customer Support, Product, and Sales to surface user feedback, ship release readiness reporting, and implement early AI support workflows (Zendesk AnswerBot & Content Cues) to improve self-service support.
2019-2020: Senior Manager, Community and Content
2017-2019: Manager of Community Support
2014-2017: Documentation Specialist
2008 - 2014, VRBO, Austin, TX
Launched 5 global Help Centers and relaunched existing customer Community forum with new design.
2012-2014: Manager, Community & Social Media
2010-2012: Knowledge Management Specialist
2008-2010: Copywriter
Connect with me on LinkedIn.