Words to live by | Be good. Work hard. Have fun.
Meet a Veevan is a series that looks at the employees who bring us life. For this edition we spoke to Julia Baron, Director, North America Crossix. Julia balances her deep industry knowledge of healthcare with a lifelong commitment to building meaningful relationships with her customers. She channels a naturally competitive and independent spirit into all her pursuits to raise the bar whenever she sees an opportunity.
What is your personal and professional background and how did you get to Veeva?
Julia: I am the daughter of a military family and in many ways that set the stage for who I am today. My father’s work as a family physician in the Navy sent us all over the U.S. until fourth grade when we landed in Pennsylvania and stayed through my high school years. I have two sisters and my older sister was a great role model academically and athletically.
This type of upbringing made me comfortable with change, open-minded, independent and often in a situation where I had to figure stuff out on my own. Our guiding principle was to be good, work hard, and have fun. I’ve carried this philosophy forward into all my pursuits — today working hard on behalf of customers but getting to know them, creating lasting relationships along the way.
My high school years were amazing and filled with team sports like field hockey, track and soccer. I was super competitive. I was interested in the health field due to my exposure to the work my father did and at one point in time, I told my father I wanted to go to medical school. He took me on a hike to discuss what would be ahead if I made this choice and I began to think about an alternative path. That path was, in fact, completely different and was influenced by my weekend trips to NYC with my mother, a seamstress who took us into the city to buy fabric. I started to think about the fashion industry and felt that I belonged in New York.
I attended Hofstra University so I could access NYC and kick off a career in fashion public relations. The first summer after college, I worked five jobs to pay the rent so I could live independently and be in the city. My first full time job was for a media company, but my role was in human resources interviewing sales candidates. When I saw the salaries, I realized that I needed to make a move into sales and reached out to apply for a sales assistant role. I was eager to learn as much as I could and move into new roles, but came up against a system of tenure. So, I started to network aggressively and landed a sales planning job at a company in the digital healthcare content space.
Things moved fast and I quickly moved into sales and then helped build a team. It took me into the heart of the healthcare system — calling on hospitals and other providers and selling media related to different medical conditions. When I exhausted what I could do in this entity, I began to look casually at other opportunities and interviewed at many leading software companies.
Crossix had already been on my radar screen from another point in my career. This time, when the recruiter reached out, I was more convinced about entering the pharmaceutical space. I was intrigued that Crossix was measuring 70% of the spend in life sciences. At this point, Crossix was part of Veeva, so I had to be certain I was getting into the right type of environment. My conversations with Laura Moran, really helped me understand the Veeva way — basically carving your own path. If I hadn’t already been convinced about my decision to join Veeva, my move into this area became highly personal when my mother was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer. She was a candidate for a drug that has saved her life. At Veeva Crossix, we aim to help our customers get the right ads in front of the right patients and healthcare professionals at the right time. I know that what I am doing does matter.
I have now been at Veeva two years selling enhanced Veeva Crossix capabilities to our existing clients. I see my role as highly consultative — listening to our customers to be sure they are getting the most value out of the products and overall relationship with Veeva Crossix. Our current efforts are focused on expanding to enterprise-wide licensing opportunities.
My activities outside of work also keep me busy. I’ve always enjoyed traveling and outdoor sports. But now I do it with my young family — going hiking and to the beach with our two children.
What’s unique about the work environment and culture at Veeva?
Julia: When I joined Veeva Crossix, the acquisition was still relatively new. As I had been through a major restructuring event with my former employer, I was impressed with the thoughtfulness of this transaction. Veeva’s CEO is deliberate about how he runs the company and it trickles down to all the employees. The CEO of Crossix was equally deliberate in selling to Veeva. The way the transition went was my first insight into the culture.
Now that I have been here for a few years, I am experiencing just how fast things get done. I actually didn’t know this was possible. I embrace the decisiveness and the level of autonomy with which we operate. I also appreciate the access to the leadership team and the vast knowledge of the industry and technologies behind Veeva. As I am always looking out for customers and problem solving, I have been able to set up brainstorming and strategy meetings with people from across the organization with an ease I have never experienced before.
For Veeva, the customer is the most important person and they often reinforce that no one can deliver what Veeva delivers — the way Veeva does it. Veeva’s principle of doing the right thing for customers and each other dovetails nicely with those with which I was raised.
How will Veeva help you grow?
Julia: There’s so much to learn. After two years, I am comfortable with all that Crossix offers, but learning about Veeva is another layer. But I feel that the Veeva world is my oyster and all I have to do is ask, to learn about something or pursue new avenues within the company.
Beside learning, I am also interested in giving back by sharing knowledge about sales for people new in the field. I’d like to share tips and tools about how to manage expectations around big wins and losses. There’s a lot of room for practical advice to help guide people in the field.
What would you say to someone who was thinking of working here?
Julia: If you want to learn fast and grow quickly at a software organization that will be there for a long time, you need to join Veeva now! It is the best work experience I have ever had.
