While staffers Stephane Blanc, Alberto Moreno, and Goktug Gedik enjoy their jobs making Amazon Pay an even better payment solution, there’s one role they cherish even more: fatherhood. In this month’s employee profile series, the Amazonians share what they love about the most important position of all, from their favorite moments with their children to heartfelt advice for new fathers.
This Father’s Day, Amazon celebrates all the dedicated dads out there making a difference in the lives of their children every day. To learn more about opportunities to work with all the great moms and dads on the Amazon Pay team, visit our career site.
Stephane Blanc
Title: Head of Amazon Pay FR, IT, ES
City: Luxembourg
Children: Sofia (5)
What’s the most special memory you have with your daughter? The stars in her eyes when we went to “Frozen the Musical” in London earlier this year. Seeing the real Elsa and Anna was a fantastic experience.
What’s the most important thing you’ve taught your daughter? Respect (and don’t eat too much chocolate).
What’s the most important thing your daughter has taught you? Kindness.
What’s the funniest thing your daughter has done or said? Sofia had to choose a small present in a toy shop. She picked a cleaning set with a broom. Once she had it, she came to me saying she can now clean the house, and I will have to pay her to do so. She was 4 . . .
What’s the most fun or creative thing you’ve done for your daughter? Sofia LOVES drawing and anything about arts and crafts. I recently got her a real canvas, and she drew the cutest Peppa Pig on it, full of colors and love hearts. And she signed it, adding “This is for Mamie” (her French grandmother).
What do you think makes your daughter most proud of you? Probably the fact that I can carry her while running up the hill and singing “Baby Shark.”
How do you balance work-family life? I am present as much as possible, and when I am there, my phone is away, my laptop is turned off, and my family has the exclusivity.
What’s the best advice you can share with a new dad? I will share two: give all the love and time you can, and be a role model.
Alberto Moreno
Title: Head of Partner Platforms, EU
City: London
Children: Rita (7) and Eva (5)
What do your daughters call you (other than “dad”)? My daughters were born in London to an Italian mum and a Spanish dad (me!), so other than “daddy,” they also call me “babbo” (Italian) and “papá” (Spanish). They obviously use papá when they need my attention or when they have done something wrong.
What’s your favorite thing to do with your daughters? I love playing music in our kitchen via our Alexa device. This always ends up in crazy dancing sessions with the whole family. I also enjoy outdoor activities like bike rides or jogs in the park or our Saturday tradition of movie night and homemade pizza. I do NOT enjoy watching the same Disney films over and over again.
What’s the funniest thing your daughters have done or said? I don’t know about the funniest thing, but one that did make me laugh was when my youngest, 4 years old at the time, announced very seriously to the family her intentions to marry a pizza when she grows old. More recently, I overheard my eldest daughter explaining to her friend her dad’s job at Amazon “typing things in the computer.” Actually, that’s fairly accurate.
What do you think makes your daughters most proud of you? They are both at a phase where I am some kind of superhero to them. They marvel at the number of things I know (bedtime stories, songs, random nature facts, etc.), how strong I am (really!?), and things like that. I find this really cute and I hope it lasts for a long time still as it feels great.
What’s the best advice you can share with a new dad? Embrace the chaos. As far as I can see, parenting is messy and can be challenging at times, but at the same time is fun and really rewarding. Nothing tops hearing your child asking Alexa to play “your” favorite song.
Goktug Gedik
Title: Marketing Manager
City: Bellevue, Washington
Children: Atlas Sina (5) and Dennis Rumi (1)
What’s the most special memory you have with your children? I love to see their eyes light up when they learn something new. I love playing with them, showing them new things, or showing them how to do something in a different way. Their brains are like sponges, taking in everything around them. And I love experiencing this in person with them.
What’s your favorite thing to do with your children? I love building LEGOs and racing with monster trucks with my 5-year-old. But my favorite thing is when he takes a game and changes it into something else that I never thought of before. I love seeing him looking at things from his own unique perspective and I try my best to open up his mind as much as possible and join him while he’s doing so.
With my 1-year-old, it’s great to see him surprised with every new thing he learns because he’s been discovering the world around him every single day. I love seeing his facial expressions, his smile, and his little teeth when he smiles.
What’s the most important thing your children have taught you? They taught me to remember — once again — how fun it is being a child. Everything is about having fun, everything is a game for them, and they are having so much fun while doing those. More importantly, they are always in the moment, they are always present. While being with them, they help me stay present, rather than thinking about the future or the past. And I think this is a great gift to me from them.
What’s the funniest thing your children have done or said? I love when Atlas combines Turkish and English in one sentence. He uses the English sentence structure but adds in some Turkish words, which makes it super funny. And once, when I asked him to do something, he told me — while imitating that he’s typing on a keyboard — “Baba (dad), I am working, please do not talk to me right now.” Apparently, that was my response to him a few days ago. So my kid probably educated me very well with that response.
What’s the best advice you can share with a new dad? It’s not easy to share any advice because every kid is unique, but what I can share is to try to connect with your baby, talk to them as much as possible, and keep playing with them. They are going to change how you perceive the world around you.