Resolverite Spotlight: Julie Garcia

We are excited to chat with this month’s Resolverite Spotlight, a member of our global sales team, Julie Garcia. Julie is an Account Executive working in Austin Texas, and she has been working as a remote employee with Resolver for eight years! As more companies continue to experiment with working from home, it was great chatting with someone who has been working remotely for most of her professional career. Julie has shared her work from home best practices with our Resolverites, and she is excited to share some tips with you too!

Miriam: We have our Culture Critter quiz based on our values, what’s your Resolver Culture Critter? 

Julie: I am an Ambitious Alpaca! 

Miriam: I am sure being ambitious has contributed to your success as a sales professional. What is a piece of advice you would give to someone looking to start a career in Sales? 

Julie: Sales is a high risk, high reward environment. Having a sense of empathy is helpful, being able to put yourself in your customer’s shoes. It’s a very consultative environment, and you do need to have a thick skin sometimes. I hold onto my wins as long as I can, and I hold onto my losses until I have learned from them. 

I also think it’s important to be open to things that aren’t necessarily on your plan. I worked for myself for about 7-8 years doing freelance marketing and public relations and then I went into sales. It was something I never thought I would do!  We talk about a lattice career path at Resolver, and it’s so true–careers don’t necessarily have to follow a traditional ladder.  

Miriam: So, what does a typical day look for you? 

 Julie: I usually start my day by reading the news as there is a certain amount of research that is involved in prospecting for new customers. It’s important to understand what’s happening with the different companies that I may be reaching out to in the future. After I’ve finished my research, I move on to a variety of tasks! I build and participate in presentations for pricing and demos. When I am prospecting for potential customers, I send out a lot of emails. I reach out to sales leads, and I may sit in on professional service calls. I often facilitate discovery calls to determine if a potential customer is a good match for such.

Miriam: Wow, it sounds like you get a lot of variety in your day! What’s the best thing about your job? 

Julie: There are lots of things I love about the work I do. I get to engage with a great group of people – I get to work with amazing customers and potential customers. Problems or objections may come up as we are going through the sales cycle but being able to collaborate with fellow Resolverites and solve problems is rewarding. Each day often looks different, and there are always challenges and opportunities to learn!

Miriam: What’s the best thing about Resolver? 

Julie: I would say the people. I have worked in a few different companies and environments. Resolver is an extra-ordinary company. We have a great leadership team, and great people work here. There is a strong drive always to be improving. The resources that are available to us are incredible; we get great support from the marketing team. As a remote employee, I love being able to feel connected despite the distance. 

Miriam: Staying connected is very important – what other tips do you have to share that might be helpful to people that are new to working from home?

Julia: Here are my top tips on successfully working remotely:

1. Have a set space, no matter how small – I have a great desk in my place. It helps keep me focused and more importantly, it keeps my work and my home life separate.
2. Stay connected – It’s important to connect with your co-workers and have that “watercooler” engagement to talk about things outside of work.
3. Take breaks– Get out and be social, if possible, meet someone for lunch. I try to work out in the middle of the day to make sure I step away and take a break. It’s easier to just keep working while at home, but you need to take those breaks!
4. Set boundaries– This is very important if you live with people. They may be home while you are still working and that can be challenging if you haven’t set the parameters. 
5. Set an end time– It’s easy to keep on working even when you are finished for the day. Be willing to step away from the desk while still ensuring you’re able to answer urgent emails and messages as needed.

Miriam: We are going to shift things a little bit as we prepare to finish this spotlight. What do you like to do when you’re not at your home office? 

Julie: I am a social butterfly! That may be my real culture critter!! When I am not working, I am out with friends or I have friends over. I love being active and workout a lot. I have a monthly cocktail club where I cook dinner as well. I like puzzles, I am big into film, I have been to a bunch of festivals – TIFF and Sundance are on my bucket list. Of course, the way I socialize has temporarily changed now that we are practicing social distancing to reduce the impact of COVID-19, but I am glad that we have great technology to keep us connected to friends and loved ones.

Miriam: What’s next for you at Resolver? 

Julie: Every year, my goal is always to be the top salesperson at Resolver! I love my coworkers – and while where are all competitive, we are all very respectful of each other, and we work collaboratively. As we continue to grow, things are often changing, and there is never a dull moment!

Thanks for sharing with us, Julie! If you liked getting the inside scoop on what it’s like to work at Resolver, be sure to come back next month for our next spotlight.