When I was invited to write an article for the blog to share my Avature journey I thought it would be a simple task. But looking back a bit and reflecting on it, only one thought came to my mind: Where to start?
"Duh, at the beginning" many will say. But which one of them? My story with Avature begins back in 2019 when I went through the entire process to become part of the Product Marketing team. Various factors, both personal and professional, led me to decline the offer they made me. Back then (although it was not so long ago), it was another world in which full remote work was not as common as in these post-COVID times.
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You have to keep in mind that I don't come from the talent or software world and much less from a regular office job. Yes, I had a brief stint in mass consumption companies in my college years, but later I spent more than a decade working in urban mobility in a consulting project with extreme autonomy to work, and I even dabbled in woodworking and furniture design in an independent way. So when I declined that first offer, I was very scared of losing my freedom, not only in managing my time, but also in the way I worked and made job-related decisions. Although stability-wise I was looking for a corporate job, joining such a large structure and with many processes to adapt to was a great challenge in my mind. For a long time, the scales leaned more on the side of freedom and autonomy than on stability.
But, and there is always a but, the news that we were going to be the parents of our first baby girl changed the weights in the scales. So there I was again, in February 2022, browsing through every job board you can possibly imagine trying to find the ideal fit for me. To my surprise, my path was crossing again with Avature’s, now with the opportunity to join the Account Management team. The stability Avature could give me hadn't been a deal breaker for me in our previous encounter, but now that I found out that I was going to be a dad it certainly was. Also a key benefit like the extended parental leave was a major Plus (yes, with capital P), but I will circle back to that in a few more lines below. The most important thing for me that pushed me to take the leap and click on that “Apply” button was that the pandemic had impacted the way we worked, and now full remote working was on the menu. I didn’t have to feel constrained to a specific office location, and one of the dreams we had with my wife was to be able to raise our children in Bariloche, the greatest place on earth (it's true, there is no bias in my statement), so we could fulfill that dream, and I could also do my job looking at the lake and the mountains from my window, just like I’m doing right now.
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After the big yes and joining the Account Management team, the first step was going through the onboarding process, which went to a full stop after only two weeks when my baby girl was born and I started my extended paternity leave. In full honesty, being able to share those first weeks with her, while also supporting my wife after giving birth, was an incredible gift. Having the opportunity to dedicate yourself fully to adjust and enjoy this life-changing event is priceless. After being a fulltime dad for 4 weeks, I resumed my onboarding process and started working with my assigned accounts.
I like challenges, but what I enjoy the most is solving problems. What I loved the most about my previous jobs was that I had the chance to analyze my customers’ needs, goals, or problems and find the ideal solution to them. It was never about the sale, but rather about the purpose of building a trusting relationship. As an Account Manager in Avature I get to do exactly that. Our main goals are to build a partnership with our customers, nurture it, and make sure that they are making the most out of our Avature solutions to achieve their goals and objectives. We are there to liaise with customers across the business, advocate their priorities, anticipate their needs, and act as the ultimate escalation point in order to guarantee a successful partnership. The discovery process that comes out from everything I stated above is what I believe we members of the Account Management team enjoy the most. But the best part of all of it is that since each customer has a tailored solution, there is no cookie-cutter approach to determine what we can bring to the table. The unique traits each member of the team has are the differentiating factor in the versatility of how we work with our accounts.
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Taking the leap into the Avature world took me a while and definitely meant to step out of my comfort zone, but when I eventually joined the team, I realized I became part of something bigger. After being a lone wolf for so long, now being part of such an awesome team with not only top-notch professionals but more importantly great people, makes me want to be able to join them in the BA office once in a while. The good part is that every time one member of the team that works from different parts of the country travels to the BA office, it’s a celebration.
I finally found my place within Account Management and I still feel free. Doing my job with full flexibility is the key to achieving that feeling. So remember, a wise wizard once said, “not all those who wander are lost”, so take your time, but just make sure you take the leap when you find your destination — and enjoy the discovery.