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I started at Mozilla about a year and a half ago as a Global Accounting Manager, and had the chance to work on several projects. At the time, we were transferring knowledge from the accounting department in the U.S. to our teams in Europe and India, which was a big challenge. We also changed the way we build the book of revenue, to make it more transparent across the organization. And we streamlined the month-end close process, where we tie up all the financials and say, \u201cOkay, this is the result.\u201d I got to create a calendar that made it very clear who\u2019s doing what and when. Then just recently, I had the opportunity to move up into my current role.<\/p>\n
One of Mozilla’s operating values is welcoming differences. How has that played out in your experience?
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We do work across time zones, but we\u2019re well-positioned here in Europe to work with both India and the U.S. We try to schedule meetings that really work for everyone, so we\u2019re not staying too late and our colleagues in San Francisco aren\u2019t getting up too early. It\u2019s just a matter of finding the middle ground and being respectful and understanding of each other\u2019s situations.<\/p>\n
Communicating cross-culturally is a learning experience. We realized recently that every single person on my team has a different passport \u2014 and that\u2019s wonderful. It gives us the perspective to see how something like payment methods might need to change for our users in one country versus another, and helps us be a truly global organization. But it also means we need to be mindful of how we talk and email with each other. We tend to be very direct in Europe, for example, which isn\u2019t what our colleagues in the U.S. and India are used to. My manager, Matt Becker, is from the U.S., and I remember he used to help me rephrase my emails and I would think, \u201cBut I said it right!\u201d Now I understand how helpful that was, and I coach my team the same way. Erin Meyer\u2019s book The Culture Map<\/i><\/a> has been extremely useful, too \u2014 I think our whole department has read it. [Ed note: Erin Meyer spoke at the February 2020 Mozilla All Hands event, our last time gathering as a company since the pandemic.]<\/p>\n We just started going to the office recently, and I\u2019ve never met a lot of our overseas colleagues in person, but I actually feel very connected to the team. And our European leadership team (the ELT) is doing great work to bring more attention to Europe. That\u2019s something we\u2019re still working on, across Mozilla, as the team here grows. A quarter of our total workforce is in this region now; we\u2019re a big part of the company.<\/p>\n Part of the Mozilla mission is to put people first \u2014 including the team. How does the company support you outside of work?<\/b><\/p>\n The culture makes a difference in more difficult situations, too. My mom is with me in Berlin right now; she\u2019s a refugee of the war in Ukraine. I have classmates and friends displaced all over Europe. It\u2019s painful seeing what people are going through. But there\u2019s a lot of support here \u2014 and it\u2019s the right amount of support. My colleagues aren\u2019t invasive, but I know they care. They ask how I\u2019m doing. I was also invited to talk during European All Hands about what people can do to help, and we were able to collect donations to help a local volunteer group that\u2019s helping provide food and other necessities, which was very rewarding. I can\u2019t end the war, but I can help the people affected.<\/p>\n What does the future hold for you and your team at Mozilla?<\/b><\/p>\n In terms of the team, there\u2019s so much we can do. We\u2019re looking forward to implementing new accounting software later this year, along with some other improvements on the operational side. For me, I hope to make a bigger impact here as the years go by, and to one day become a director. I\u2019m a believer in owning your development\u2060 \u2014 if you know what you want and you\u2019re asking for opportunities to follow that path and grow, your manager will see that. So I do a lot of research, and I learn by observing \u2060\u2014 seeing what my manager and other leaders do. I\u2019m also working with a mentor, Katherine Bose<\/a>, who\u2019s Mozilla\u2019s VP of business and corporate development, and I\u2019ve been really grateful for her insights. We meet once a month, and she helps me understand the things she\u2019s thinking about \u2014 like how departments can work better together and how to make the most efficient use of our resources.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a lot to learn and a lot of skills to develop, but I hope one day I\u2019ll be equipped to work at that level. I know I\u2019ll have failures and make mistakes, like anyone else. But like I tell my team members, you don\u2019t have to be perfect to grow your career. You just need to be determined and ready to learn.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/careers\/files\/2022\/05\/xenia3-150x150.jpg\")
It\u2019s a very human, very understanding environment. I\u2019m a mother of two, and I\u2019ve certainly never been discriminated against because of that, or felt like people worried I couldn\u2019t be both a manager and a mom. It\u2019s just not a concern. There\u2019s a lot of flexibility, as well \u2014 this afternoon I have one meeting, then I\u2019m going to pick up my child from kindergarten, then I\u2019m coming back for more calls. And if something\u2019s happening like a school event or tournament, work rarely gets in the way. Vacations are actually vacations, too. I\u2019m about to go out on two weeks of PTO, and I do not intend to take my laptop. I try to set a good example for my team by using my time off and encouraging them to do the same. We have to take opportunities to recharge our batteries, mentally and physically.<\/p>\n