Meet the Aries Team: Victoria Beaulac, US Client Services Manager
Tell us a little about yourself – how long have you been working for Aries? What did you do before joining Aries?
I joined Aries in November 2015 as an Account Coordinator. I started my career off at a marketing company as an Editorial Assistant writing and editing content for higher education print publications. After three years, I moved on to become an Editorial Project Manager for a communications company where I managed custom editorial projects for a variety of business clients. I would recruit, hire, manage, and train freelance writers and editors and oversee the project workflow from the beginning stages to completion.
What have your roles at Aries been?
I started at Aries as an Account Coordinator within our Client Services department. Three years later, I took on some of our larger customer accounts and became a Senior Account Coordinator. About a year later, I transitioned into my current role, US Client Services Manager, in which I manage our US team members rather than managing clients directly.
How have your previous roles helped you in your current position?
Prior to working at Aries, the foundation of my experience was in the publishing space. Having this previous knowledge definitely helped with understanding customer needs and workflows within Editorial Manager almost right off the bat. I had never worked for a software company before, so a major learning curve coming into the position was understanding the technical aspects of the system and becoming familiar with the industry processes.
How do you stay up-to-date with customer needs?
Being a part of the Aries Client Services team, staying up-to-date with customer needs is a big part of my job. Having direct contact with customers on a daily basis allows me to stay in the loop of customer pain points and concerns. In addition, regular meetings and conversations with customers often lead to hearing about the latest industry trends and help to ensure we are going in the right direction to address those needs and trends.
How do you collaborate with other departments within Aries?
In my position, I collaborate with almost every department within Aries. On a weekly basis, I work with the Aries Product Management and Quality Engineering (QE) teams to discuss bug priority and escalations. I work very closely with the Marketing team on an ongoing basis assisting with customer communications for a variety of notifications. In addition, I work with the Sales team assisting in any questions they might have from potential customers, as well as assisting them in on-boarding new customers once the contract is completed and signed.
Tell me about your department and the people you work most closely with.
The Aries Client Services department is made up of some really great and intelligent people operating from across the globe. Because I am the US Client Services Manager, I mainly work with the US based team. However, I also work very closely with the other managers of the CS team on projects, bug escalations/priority, and everything in between.
Describe your typical workday.
I would not really say I have a “typical” workday, but that is what makes it enjoyable! Over the past years working with software, I have learned that things can pop up at any time and priorities may need to be changed on a whim. So, each day is different from the next and really dependent on those unexpected cases that need addressing. In addition, like most of us, a large part of my week is spent attending meetings or prepping for them. Even though the amount of meetings I attend can seem overwhelming at times, it helps me feel better connected to my colleagues while in a remote working space.
What do you most enjoy about your job? What do you enjoy most about working for Aries?
The best part about my job and working for Aries is definitely the people! I can honestly say that many of my colleagues have also become friends, which is helpful when times get stressful. Our team works well together and is truly one big support system for one another. In addition to the Aries people, I appreciate the customer relationships I have created over the years in my various roles. I enjoy being able to support our customers whenever I can in helping to address their questions or concerns and demonstrate Aries’ commitment to delivering best-in-class service.
What are you currently reading, listening to, or watching?
To be honest, I have not had time lately to read as much as I would like. These days, my extent of reading consists of books like Goodnight Moon or The Very Hungry Caterpillar to my two-year old. Prior to motherhood, I enjoyed reading anything by Jodi Picoult or Elin Hilderbrand. My guilty pleasure is reality TV and I have been a long-standing fan of shows like The Bachelor and 90 Day Fiancé – they are just so bad that they are good!
Tell me about some of your hobbies/interests outside of work.
I really enjoy spending as much time as I can with my family and friends. I have a very active two-year old son, Jacob. Because he was born in the middle of the pandemic, he now really enjoys being able to be out and about – no matter where it is. We spend most of our weekends running errands (mostly going to Target), going to the park, or visiting family.