Andrea Faz and Growing her Career at Adobe

Since joining Adobe in 2014, Andrea has been able to grow her career. She first started out in an individual contributor as a Mid-Market Account Executive, and is now an Enterprise Sales Manager for the Adobe Document Cloud team. On top of that, Andrea has also welcomed a baby boy in her life! To learn more about Andrea’s career journey, she shared why Adobe is the go-to solution for customers, why change has allowed her to grow her career, and her experience taking maternity leave.

You’ve been with Adobe now for over 5 years. What initially drew you to join?

I was at Salesforce before coming here, and when I looked at Adobe, it was really interesting from a transformation standpoint. The team was leaner and I felt that I could affect change here. Since joining, that’s literally what I’ve been able to do here—impact change. That’s played a huge reason as to why I’ve been able to be promoted as well. The company is large, but it’s changing constantly and I wanted to be part of that.

Since joining, you’ve been able to develop your career a lot—from starting as an individual contributor to a manager role. Can you tell me about that?

You have to define your path, and help solve problems. A year after I started, I was managing. I later moved to a more enterprise-focused IC role, and while I was doing that, I knew I wanted to manage again. I was clear that it was my goal, and that helped a lot. I was transparent with my manager and numerous people in my organization. So when something opened up, the people around me knew to consider me for the opportunity. Adobe also allows people outside of their immediate role to solve additional problems that need to be solved. If you work with that mindset, the opportunities will come.

What other advice do you have for those looking to develop their career?

I believe that in order to grow your career, you have to help solve problems. Hone in on your skillset and find out how you can best create an impact for the business, and communicate that to the surrounding players—not just your manager. Also realize why it’s important for the company—not just yourself.

What does a day in the life look like as an Enterprise Sales Manager for the Document Cloud team?

I speak with lots of people daily, which makes my role very diverse. I communicate with customers and help solve their problems. I coach my team, because their success is my success. And I have conversations with various product teams, who help iterate on problems that my customers are having. It’s a lot of fun! At other companies, good luck changing anything product, marketing or customer success teams do. Here at Adobe, we’re always iterating on problems and it’s exciting.

What are some of your tactics for being a successful Enterprise Sales Manager?

The most successful folks are the organized sales folks. In addition to that, you have to consult. You have to understand a company’s business issue and the major pain points of their customers. From there, truly act as a consultant. Don’t just think about the products you’re selling too—at Adobe we have so many solutions, so it’s also thinking about how other products can help solve problems. Our ultimate goal is to be a digital transformation partner. Pitch that vision while also still showing what your products can do for them.

You’ve returned from maternity leave not too long ago. How was that like?

Gosh, I have to say, when I came to Adobe, I didn’t understand the maternity leave policy. I felt that 26 weeks paid time-off was too much time. But when the baby came, he wasn’t even sleeping through the night! I knew that even if I came back to work earlier, I wouldn’t be able to be a good contributing member. Honestly, Adobe was awesome, everyone was super supportive, and it was such an easy transition. It’s not easy in a sales role, but Adobe allowed me the space to fully come back and be ready to go. It was awesome.

Lastly, what’s one thing someone would be surprised to learn about you?

That’s a hard question! Well, my first language is Spanish. I’m first generation Mexican—both my parents were born and raised in Mexico.