Porto, January 3rd, 2017

Based in Porto and Germany, VentureOak was founded by a small team of very experienced technically savvy engineers in 2013. Today it boasts more than 25 core engineers and it claims to be one of the fastest growing tech businesses in Portugal.

In order to achieve this success, a digital company needs to have agility as well as robustness, but at the core of all is having the right people at work.

VentureOak is a provider of high-end web and mobile solutions. Its portfolio includes multiple ecommerce and cloud platforms for blue chip enterprises and startups.

We spoke to VentureOak’s HR and Financial Manager Juciely Pimentel to find out how this thirty-year-old Brazilian lady manages VentureOak’s growing team.

How did you get started in the industry?

I started working in the IT industry 4 year ago at Rocket Internet Portugal. Initially it was a small 20 people team, that soon was transformed in a 150 people team. It had that amazing start-up spirit and an astonish ability to grow, to create, and to reinvent themselves. It was truly inspiring and it was a great opportunity to learn and grow as more than just an HR professional.

Can you describe your agency in three phrases?

Digital transformation. Dedicated teams. Best in class delivery.

What is the best way to earn trust from customers?

Throughout the years we have won the trust of our customers thanks to tireless delivery and focus on detail. Our reputation brings us many new projects and clients and we stay committed to always please our new clients by delivering to our highest standards.

One of our secret sauce ingredients is giving each client our full attention. To achieve that we build a dedicated team for each client.

How did you build your team?

We were just a small team of trusted and experienced professionals. With time we built around our core team and grew the employee numbers tenfold to create our current professional organization with over 30 people.

What is the communication style within your team? Do you use any apps or tools?

We apply all the latest communication tools. Actually we have no other choice as our clients are all based across the globe and we have to do our best to stay as close as possible to them. Whether this is through Hangouts, HipChat, Slack or any other means we are open to adopt it for each new client.

What do you love the most about your job and what part you don’t like

What I love the most about what I do is to be able to work directly with people every day. Is very challenging and sometimes really hard, but it makes you develop your skills in a way that many hours in front of a computer desk wouldn’t.

I think the only thing I never enjoyed in my work is archiving. I just hate to deal with papers all the time, so I’m really grateful that know I have someone in the team that actually really loves it and doesn’t mind to have it delegated to her.

What inspires you in your work?

What inspires me the most right now is playing the game of being part of a growing team. To actually see what I’m doing every day reflected in our office, in our team, as part of something bigger than me. Being able to help projects gain structure and become something bigger and better.

It’s so amazing to see how much we have done from last year to know, that I just can’t wait to work hard and see how far we will be in one year from now, five years, ten years. I believe VentureOak will be everything we want it to be.

Are there online publications, professionals, industry leaders you follow?

I read The Economist News and IT Insight newsletters and follow Charles Arthur and Rachel Kalmar for some industry insights.

Please list a few of your favourite digital brands:

Amazon, Netflix and GoPro

What do you like doing in your free time?

Read, play volleyball and cook.

What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

It’s funny; when I was young I always said I would be a teacher. Then I came to Portugal 12 years ago, and said I would work as a tourist guide, to share with others all the beauty I’ve found in Porto. I’ve ended up embracing the HR professional challenge, so, as you can see, I’ll always be happy if I can work with many different people.

But I can’t think of a different profession, I’m really in love with what I do now, but who knows? Maybe get back to the old childhood dream and start teaching! It would be definitely interesting.

Thanks Juciely!

By Geny Caloisi.
genyc@topinteractiveagencies.com

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