My Veeva Life as a Working Mom
By: Evan Shah, Practice Manager
As a Gen-Xer who did not grow up on social media — I can’t even explain what hashtags are other than a pound sign followed by a bunch of words cobbled together — I do not post anything personal on a public forum. But as we are starting to gain some resemblance of “normal” life, I feel called upon to reflect on what a year 2020 has turned out to be and to express gratitude for how Veeva Systems has supported me, not only this year but throughout my Veeva career. When the world abruptly came to a halt in mid-March — as COVID cases and unemployment skyrocketed and the economy took a nosedive — working for Veeva has been a blessing I do not take for granted.
I joined a little-known startup named Veeva back in January 2012 as the company’s training manager #2 to develop and deliver Veeva Administrative Training. The job required extensive travel. But when I returned from maternity leave after giving birth to my first child, I no longer wanted to be on the road every other week. Veeva accommodated me by offering me a role in which I could work entirely from home; I became a Managed Services Consultant, and I could support customers remotely.
A year later, when I attended a Bay Area Veeva customer event and ran into industry friends, I realized how much I missed face-to-face interactions with customers. Veeva then presented me with another opportunity. We were starting our customer success team, and I became a CSM (Customer Success Manager). Shortly thereafter, I began advising both enterprise and SMB customers on the West Coast. My new role provided the perfect balance between working from home and visiting customers locally. Additionally, I had the option to work from the Veeva office in downtown San Francisco. After having my second baby, I found that my flexible work schedule and renewed connection with customers and colleagues suited me very well.
Fast forward to the summer of 2019. I was in my sixth year as a CSM, and Veeva had become a public company with over 4,000 global employees. My husband and I made a big life change and relocated from San Francisco to Salt Lake City to raise our kids. While moving is stressful for anyone, I was incredibly thankful I had the ability to stay at Veeva, in the same role. This gave me and my family the stability we needed while everything else in our lives was upended.
In July, amidst the pandemic, I made my fourth job transfer in eight and a half years at Veeva. I went from advising and supporting our customers to managing a team of over twenty associate consultants. I’d expected learning the ins and outs of my new role and shift of focus from customer success to employee success to be a Herculean effort, but it was even more difficult than I’d imagined. But again, Veeva and the leadership team provided the guidance and resources I needed to make a tough transition a smooth one. Now that I am ten months in, I have loved every minute of my new role. Mentoring consultants just beginning their career, grooming them to be the future leaders at Veeva, and discovering talent to join #GenerationVeeva has been vastly rewarding and fulfilling. I’m giving back to the company that has given so much to me.
Reflecting on my nine years with Veeva — longer than with any other of my previous employers, I am very grateful to be working for a company that truly cares about its employees, gives much-needed support to working parents, and offers options as we navigate through life events, all the while providing ample opportunities to grow professionally. Since most of us have been working from home for years, Veeva already had a remote working infrastructure in place when the pandemic hit; it was business as usual for us. We were also encouraged to block time on our calendars for parental duty, relieving us of any potential guilt for putting our families first.
Thanks to Veeva, I’ve found lifelong friends in colleagues and customers who have helped me along every step of my journey and who’ve been unafraid to correct my occasional missteps, as true friends do. Thanks to Veeva, I can continue to contribute while providing for my family. Thanks to Veeva, we can still have some shred of normalcy during this unprecedented time of chaos and uncertainty.
