Ivo Rožić lived in Salta, Argentina, his entire life (or let’s say most of it.) It was 2020 when he met and joined Avature as part of Product Marketing, a big global team with lots of members in Buenos Aires. Still, as big as his team is, Ivo was the only member of PM (and Avature!) who worked from Salta, so he quickly felt the need to be in touch with his peers in a different way, apart from their day-to-day activities or meetings. That’s when Kitchen Talks and AvaMemes came into his life.
For now, I’ll leave you wondering what both of those things are and how Ivo’s story developed so you accompany me through this fantastic interview with a fantastic colleague—spoiler: humor and good vibes are involved at all times when talking with him.
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When and how did your Avature journey begin? What were your first thoughts as soon as you became part of the A-Team?
My Avature journey began mainly thanks to one of my friends from college, Nicolas Scala, A.K.A. Colin. He’s part of the Technical Writing team and he’s the one who told me about Avature, how cool the company was, and that they are constantly looking for people to join the team. He was kind enough to refer me and I joined the A-Team in 2020 as part of Product Marketing.
And my first thoughts as an Avaturian? Well, I was excited to be part of Avature, but kind of afraid as well. I’m a big fan of technology and the software industry, but coming from a social sciences background (I hold a degree in international relations), I had doubts about practically everything. But Cari Lacour (my manager for over two years) and the Product Marketing team saw the value in me and taught me all I know. Like whenever you face anything new in life, the learning curve is challenging, but we set objectives, were honest with the things I could improve, and capitalized on the things I enjoyed the most. All of that made me comfortable in my own skin, and with time came knowledge and experience. Definitely worth it!
How did you manage to stay close to other Avaturians while working remotely?
When I joined Avature, I lived in Salta, which is quite far away from where most of my teammates were located—and from anyone to be honest. I was the only Avaturian in what I ended up calling “AvaSalta”.
At first, being physically away from my colleagues felt like a challenge I would have to take head on. I could see all my friends who worked onsite sharing in-person experiences with their peers and it made me feel I was going to miss that. But the feeling went away pretty soon since my teammates and I put in the effort to spend time together and get to know each other in a different way: we started arranging virtual after-offices where we played games and also setting up regular meetings just to see each other's faces and catch-up. One of those meetings earned the name of “Kitchen Talks”, which is a sort of an early Monday morning meeting where we have breakfast together and share updates about our lives as if we were in the office kitchen. It’s awesome.
You recently moved from Salta to Buenos Aires, right? How was that big change? Did it have an impact on your relationship with fellow Avaturians?
Yes! I recently left AvaSalta and it was scary at first, but it also felt like the right move. I had my girlfriend, friends, many teammates, and an office all in Buenos Aires, so I was a very fortunate person because I got to move to a place where I was almost being expected. Working at Avature really helped in making that decision. I knew I was going somewhere where I could get to share new experiences with all my colleagues, some of which I had the pleasure of meeting during my first remote year, so I was pretty excited.
Now, I get to go to the gorgeous office and walk in with a could-be-warmer coffee, collaborate with everyone in person, go to afters (when I don't feel too introverted), and enjoy things such as the local end of year celebration (which, to be honest, I was super jealous to miss twice!)
How would you describe AvaMemes to someone who is not part of Avature? How did you end up being the ambassador of the group?
This is a really cool thing. So AvaMemes is an official memes group we have on DNA, our internal social network, where everyone can post a meme related to Avature and our #LifeAtAvature. In this group created by Avaturians for Avaturians, we have lots of competitions and meme trends. It’s like our own separate universe of fun.
I became the ambassador because I basically annoyed everyone into thinking I was funny, or just posted enough to get the attention of our previous meme ambassador. When he left this world (I mean, the Avature world—thankfully he still exists in the outside world), he invited me to become the admin of the AvaMemes group. It really was an honor, because it’s a deeply worshiped space for Avaturians and now I get to look after it and all the wonderful creations everyone comes up with. I love it.
What do you enjoy the most about the Avature spirit and culture? How does humor contribute to that?
What I love the most is exactly that, the fact that there's room for humor. Humor always has its limits, of course, the idea is never to hurt anybody, but for me, it's actually an awesome tool to humble yourself and lighten situations around you. As I got to know the Avature world and its people better, I noticed everyone respected each other immensely in a very friendly way. And then, I learned there are ways to get the job done while also having fun, and people at Avature are really up for it. Every time I have a meeting now, I try to take two things from it: next steps, because of course, and a laugh out of someone.
What would you say to someone who’s about to join our team about life at Avature?
It could be challenging at first because there’s a lot to learn and it’s a really dynamic environment, but you will not be alone, at all. People here are incredibly friendly, super respectful, and always available to give a hand. We will ensure you feel part of the team from day one and you’ll always get your chance to shine—and laugh.