Three years ago Maria came across the IZEA logo and it quite literally stopped her in her tracks. After looking into the company, she decided that it was something she wanted to pursue. Intrigued by the unique logo she decided to look more into IZEA and take a chance. She applied for an internship and before she knew it she was a full-time employee. Maria’s clever idea to apply with a blog post format resume helped her stand out and landed her a spot on the team. Maria started as an intern and quickly learned the IZEA way. As time went on she promoted to an Account Manager where she got to work with different brands and brainstorm plans of action for them. This job influenced her to take a chance and apply to be a Client Strategist, her current role at IZEA.
As a Client Strategist she has the opportunity to work with a variety of brands and projects. Her day-to-day consists of brainstorming sessions, researching brands, collecting data and analysis, and coming up with innovative ideas for our diverse clients. Her outgoing, fun loving ways fit right in at IZEA and her infectious personality makes everyone excited to work with her. She fell in love with IZEA because of the company’s culture and openness for creativity. “Some workplaces force you to shut down your creativity, but here they encourage it.” The company culture is one of a kind and you can’t compare it to any other work place. It’s truly a family and a lot of the people she’s worked with have become her close friends. Not to mention, she also gets to work with her actual family. Maria’s sister, Vanessa, works at IZEA also and she loves having the opportunity to watch her grow and succeed in the workplace.
Maria spends a lot of her days on video chat, because most of her team is remote. Her boss works from LA and some of her other team members work from Toronto. She spends about 90% of her day brainstorming and coming up with great ideas for her team. While her team is remote, she prefers face-to-face interaction. “Video chat lets you see how people are reacting. You can push people if they look like they have something to say but are reluctant. You can also see people’s emotions on how they feel about something, which is very important.”
Before a brainstorming session Maria likes to be well versed on the company she’s looking into. She does research on the company and jots down ideas that start popping into her head. She prefers having odd numbers in a brainstorm because if two people are stuck between ideas, a third person can break that up and help solve the problem. One of Maria’s biggest tips is that it’s important to let others voice their ideas and be open to those ideas. Getting other people’s perspectives can make an idea even better than it was before. They can bring something to the table that you may not have thought of. “It’s important not to shut someone’s idea down. Whether that person’s idea was great or not, being negative towards them won’t get you anywhere. You could end up causing that person to shut down and not want to share an idea ever again.”
Maria is an essential member of the IZEA team. She’s gone full circle from Intern to Client Strategist and has been able to see the full picture. Her excitement about the company, passion for her job, and fun-loving personality is everything anyone could want in an IZEAn!
