The VTS team consists of folks with a diverse set of personalities, talents, and perspectives, and we want you to meet them! That’s why we’ve created this #WeAreVTS blog series to highlight some of the many outstanding people we have at VTS, get a closer look at the dynamic lives they have, and continue to create an environment where each VTSer can be their authentic self.
Without further ado, here’s our interview with Maria Masiar – Head of Design!
In a sentence or two, can you explain what you do here at VTS?
Hi Louisa! I am the Head of Design at VTS and am responsible for the user experience across our four core products – Lease, Market, Data, and Activate. I ensure the products are efficient and delightful for our users.
Design is one part of the triad of Technology that delivers product outcomes. We share this responsibility with Engineering and Product Management.
Where are you based right now?
Vancouver, Canada. Although, I get to visit our other locations like Toronto, New York, and Chicago most often to coordinate with our teams.
Can you describe your professional journey and how it led you to VTS?
I have been in IT for 30 years – since the beginning of the internet. I’ve worked with every size of company that you can think of; from small to medium businesses and to very large ones like IBM.
After seeing a lot of different types of companies, I decided that my favorite environment to work in was somewhere in the middle of that company size and stage. I wanted to be in a company that was in a growth stage, but still had a lot of potential to create systems and structures to level up the next phase of operations.
Before VTS I worked at IBM which is at the other end of that scale. It’s a place that has had most of its systems already in place and had really good procedures set up. I learned a lot there in terms of what it takes to run global enterprise-scale operations, especially from a design function perspective. I saw how to take an organization that didn’t really have Design Thinking practices and how to scale that to global operations within the span of 5 years and really make it a strategic competitive advantage for IBM.
When I came to VTS, I thought I could make a difference here and apply some of that learning to help VTS in its next stage of growth and really create excellence in the Design function by creating the processes, procedures, and metrics that it needed to take the products to the next stage.
What excites you about what you do at VTS? Is there a moment in your time here that made you especially proud to work at VTS?
I love that the industry in general for CRE is in a transformation. I’ve seen that a few times in my career in certain sectors–and that is something that excites me. I’m a person that thrives with change and growth. I don’t like things that are too stagnant, and I think CRE has gone through (and is still in) the process of a massive transformation as an industry. It is going from a papered world and antiquated processes where things were not connected to what is now smart buildings and processes.
That’s what excites me at VTS–being part of the journey to redefine what the new world of work means in our decade. Its completely changed from what it used to be when I entered the workforce, and I think it’s really exciting to be a part of that and craft that journey with the biggest industry players in the world. We have clients like CBRE and Greystar, and it really does not get bigger than that in terms of partnerships to grow with. It’s exciting and extremely motivating to be able to craft that journey with them.
When talking about what makes me especially proud to work at VTS, it comes down to the people here. My moments of pride have been when my boss gave me the trust to run with my vision. When I first joined, VTS didn’t really have strong design operations, and it took a couple of years to get the processes in place. A moment of pride for me was just having my boss believe in me and saying “you got this–I trust you to do this and set the operational cadence and to make it right.” That is a moment of pride and a culmination of many years of experience coming together with the right type of leadership that empowers you to take that level of responsibility and trusts you.
Another moment was when I got a chance to be a part of the Product team taking the lead with our customers. We got into a room with one of our largest enterprise clients, and for the first time in VTS’ history the Product team actually led the sales conversation. That had never happened before, and it was a huge moment of pride for my team where we used the principles of Design Thinking and our new processes and procedures to solidify the contract with our client and help VTS meet the needs of the customers. Design got put in the “hot seat”, so to speak, with one of the most major clients VTS works with, and we pulled through for our client and for ourselves and won the contract.
On to more personal topics – what was your dream job growing up?
Growing up I really wanted to be a math teacher! I had a great role model–a wonderful, strong, and very intelligent woman who was amazing as a mentor and as a teacher. I fell in love with math, since numbers just made a lot of sense to me. I’ve always been someone who has had a very analytical brain but also a very creative side.
When things started evolving with the internet, the math strengths I had translated into coding, and when I first began in my role at IBM I started as a developer. Math and structure makes sense, and so does code, so that satisfied that analytical part of me. The other part, which is the more creative side, was satisfied by the UX [user experience] work where you speak with users, you have to empathize, and are trying to make their lives better and easier. Being able to combine that has been my dream job.
What do you like to do in your free time? Any hobbies?
Most of my free time is given to search and rescue in Vancouver. I have been a part of the busiest SAR team in North America for seven years now and I probably put in 500 volunteer hours a year doing essentially 911 for the mountains in Vancouver–everything from responding to avalanches to fallen climbers, to lost individuals in the woods, injuries, broken legs, twisted ankles, etc. All of my free spare time goes to this, and whatever I have left I like to spend in the mountains. I love being outside, I love mountaineering, climbing and backcountry skiing.
If you could wave a magic wand to solve any problem in the world, what would it be?
I think if people had deeper empathy for one another, that would solve a lot of problems in the world. I would wish that people become more empathetic, to have a deeper appreciation for what others are going through, and understand what the impact of their actions towards other individuals may be. The world could be a different place if we came from a deeper place of understanding in all of our lives and actions.
What’s your advice for someone who wants to be in a role similar to yours?
The best thing to do is to find someone that inspires you. Start listening to podcasts and find an amazing role models for yourself. Start on any project you can get your hands on, even if it’s volunteering. Donate your time to something that you are passionate about.
That is my #1 rule, to make sure you actually like it. It doesn’t matter what it is–doing something you’re passionate about means it’s not going to feel like work. Donate your time to it and see where those roads lead you.
My path to this role was not a straight line. I originally studied to be an Economist, did management and economics as a dual degree, and UX ended up being the thing I fell in love with. It is not always a straight line–find out what is true for you. If it’s a role like user experience, my personal journey has been founded in continuous learning and curiosity. It doesn’t matter how many courses I’ve taken – I will always take more and I will always read more. I think that is my core principle #1 – stay curious. As you go along that journey, you will find opportunities that present themselves and you can dive into them with passion. They will usually lead down a beautiful road that you didn’t expect and new doors will open.
Louisa is a Senior Talent Acquisition Manager at VTS.