Name With the Face: Svetla Yankova
Job Title: Product Marketing Manager
Organization: Telerik
URL: sitefinity.com; telerik.com
Job Function
In her role as a product marketing manager for Telerik, which offers a web content management (WCM) platform that lets businesses personalize web experiences, Svetla Yankova’s primary remit is, as she puts it, “to find the product for the market and the market for the product, all the way from strategy to execution.” This covers the spectrum from strategy-centric tasks such as market research, positioning, and persona building, to actual execution by communicating roadmaps, implementing launch plans, creating marketing plans, and providing sales support.
“To support those efforts, we create resources like thought leadership pieces, collateral, webinars, videos, and presentations,” Yankova says. With her background in sales, she stays close to client needs and requirements by participating in sales calls.
In a Day’s Work
At least 3 days a week, Yankova gets to work early for meetings with team members in Bulgaria and Boston before diving into her email backlog. “The time difference means that you wake up to a good amount of emails,” she says. “By noon, I look at our Kanban board and pick a track of tasks like writing, research, strategy, or meetings with customers, and then go with one.” Her afternoons in California are usually quiet and are the best writing time.
Most Memorable Customer Encounter
“Once, we were in a meeting with a customer and one of my coworkers was speaking in his calmest, most presentation-ready voice. Midsentence, using the same voice, he said, ‘I have to walk away from the room now because there is a giant bee and I am very allergic.’ Then we heard the sound of a phone dropping and a door slamming.”
View From the Desk
“On my right side, I have a view to a parking lot right by University Avenue in Palo Alto, so I can see the parking attendant coming before they write me a ticket. I also have a glass wall to look into the open space and two walls painted in whiteboard paint and scribbled with mind maps.”
Outside Interest
“My hobby is, ‘Travel to San Diego every weekend. Repeat until poor.’ I am still new to California, so I enjoy exploring, and I love San Diego. I love to spend time at home too, especially since we recruited a Chief Puppy Officer.”
If Not Econtent, Then What?
“Definitely data. I would probably go for a role as a data scientist.”
