Candace Zetter

My Alarm Goes off… my kids are my alarm clock! They wake me up around 6:30, but I don’t usually have any calls until 9AM CST, which gives us plenty of time to go to the park before I drop them off at Daycare.
I’m Responsible For… being a Sr. Solutions Consultant at Veeva, a software company that has built life science industry cloud solutions to provide data, software, and services. I specifically work with the sales team within Commercial Content – bringing our products to life to ensure our customers understand why Veeva Vault is the best fit for their needs. Vault PromoMats and MedComms are applications for compliant content review and digital asset management.
I Got The Job… just after completing the Mountbatten Program. I had the opportunity to start in a customer service role and gained experience across the board in a variety of positions such as training and project management, until I eventually landed in the solutions consulting team. I have been a Solutions Consultant for 7 years now, and it’s been my favourite role so far! The initial company I started with was acquired by Veeva in 2015.
My Typical Day… I have worked from home since I relocated to Texas in 2014, so I was already well adjusted to zoom life before the pandemic. I usually have at least one product demonstration per day – before the demonstration I will have had prep calls with the sales and strategy teams to align our messaging, and a call with the customer to understand their current needs and requirements. Then I will prepare the demonstration accordingly, which could take anywhere from a couple hours to a couple weeks! A typical demonstration is 90 minutes, but could sometimes span several days depending on the customer. The demonstration itself is the highlight of my day – turning features into Wow Moments and delighting the customer with our software.
The Culture Of My Workplace… I can honestly say that everyone is proud to be a Veeva employee (or “Veevan” as we call ourselves), passionate about what they do, and there is a genuine spirit of camaraderie. The CEO has been extra supportive since the pandemic began and provided reassurance to working parents with children at home that Family Comes First, which I was very appreciative of having returned from maternity leave just one week after lockdown began.
My Most Memorable Work Moment… There are so many to choose from! The day of the acquisition was memorable as I had never experienced an acquisition before and my prior product was deprecated so I had to learn the new one ASAP which was daunting, but then that year at our annual Kick Off Meeting, I won the Solution Consultant of the Year Award which was a highlight of my career.
My Role Models are… My mom, my aunt, and almost all the managers I’ve ever had. I have been really lucky in my career so far to have had amazing line managers for the past ten years who have all taught me so much and encouraged me to grow and develop into the person I am today. Hopefully one day I will manage my own team of solution consultants in the same way.
The Most Challenging Part of My Job… Sometimes the customer facing presentations are high visibility and can be high pressure. The Solution Consultant role is centre stage – you have to be prepared for every question that gets thrown your way, it can be unnerving not knowing what may be asked, but with practice, you eventually have (almost) all the answers, or at least know where to get them.
The Best Part of My Job… My team! We support each other, we help each other, we teach each other, we learn from each other. We all have different backgrounds and talents, so when we have a complex customer requirement to solve, it’s really incredible to see how we work together using all of our knowledge and experience to craft the perfect solution.
After Work… I pick up my kids and then start making dinner. I try to workout on my lunch break so I can relax in the evenings and enjoy a nice family meal. Then we put the kids to bed, clean up, make lunches, and Read a Book / watch MasterClass / or watch Netflix, then off to bed to do it all again the next day!
Plan B: If I wasn’t doing this, I would… own my own bakery. I love baking all things – sweet and savory, big and small – breads, cakes, pastries…