Get to Know… Charles!

What is your role at Vovia?

I am a SEM & Paid Social Specialist, which means I get to dabble in the dark arts of Search Engine Marketing and Paid Social advertising. In other words, I develop and work through four big life stages of the digital marketing campaign: Planning, Setup, Optimization and Reporting.

How did you end up in SEM?

I like to think SEM chose me rather than the other way around. I have a very eclectic academic background, with a B.Sc. in Biology and a M.A. in International Relations, and yet somehow ended up practicing digital marketing! Though I was a Jack of all trades, I am also a quick learner, and a family member eventually encouraged me to get trained in digital marketing and to apply to Vovia multiple times. After a further certification in Digital Analytics and a bit of perseverance, Vovia finally gave me a chance to prove myself. I’ve been loving marketing ever since!

What’s the best part about your job?

I love how numbers talk. Receiving continual feedback about how one does his job is immensely satisfying. You just know your efforts are paying out when all your KPIs and metrics point towards great performance. There is, however, another side to this coin. Performance, for better or worse, sometimes comes from factors outside your grasp or control; such as seasonality, landing page and/or CRO changes and issues. That said, the fact that we can see these changes and effects in real time is absolutely thrilling!

What do you do when you are not working?

You’ll surely find me in the mountains! My passion is mountaineering, with a penchant for international high-altitude summits. My personal record was high above Camp 3 on Cerro Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Americas, where we reached an altitude of 6,460m. Unfortunately, avalanche hazard forced all expeditions to turn back from their summit bid. I’m slowly working my way up higher and higher, with serious 8,000m+ Himalayan ambitions. In the meantime, I further my skills in the world-class playground that is the Canadian Rockies. See you up top!

Tell us something about yourself that would surprise people.

I own about 5 unicycles! When I was young, my mother bought an unicycle as a Father’s Day gag gift. Nobody would have guessed that I’d pick up the art, never mind convince two of my friends to learn it as well! While nowhere as efficient nor fast as a bicycle, it is a tremendously fun way to get around short distances. I can even perform a few tricks: wheelwalking, pedaling one-footed, riding stomach on seat, leg-wrap mount, bunny hopping, to name a few!

What do you like about Vovia?

The positive energy! Everyone at Vovia loves their job and shows up every morning with a bright smile ready to take on the day’s challenges. Such challenges always feel easier to surmount when you have an accessible and driven team to back you up and share their expertise. I try my best to keep things light on a day-to-day basis by squeezing laughs out of whoever sneaks into our department. Let’s just say raucous laughter and good-natured shenanigans have become the specialists’ signature here at Vovia.