Get to Know… Nic!

What is your role at Vovia?

I am an Account Manager at Vovia by title, but in practice, I’m more like a digital interpreter.

Digital Interpreter?

Yep! I always wanted to be an interpreter when I ‘grew up’, but it turns out the demand for English to English interpretation is actually quite low… In the office, I act as the medium between our clients and our specialists. I make sure that the specialists have all the information that they need to do a great job and I also ensure that our clients understand the value we bring.

What is your favourite part of the job?

I love my job because I get to interact with everyone and see both sides of the coin. On the client side, I learn about their business and what drives different industries. Internally, I learn something new about digital every day. I also get to look really smart in front of my clients when the specialists knock one out of the park, which is often; thanks guys!

What do you do on the weekends?

Whenever I have the opportunity, I like to pack up the wife and kids and head out of the city. Whether it be camping, skiing, or hanging out at the lake; they all offer the chance to enjoy time with the family and forget about the stresses of “real life”.  No matter how busy my life gets, I can always count on good ol’ Mother Nature to chill me out.

What was your most memorable camping trip?

Well, when I was younger my best friend and I decided to hit the road and do a cross country trip. We travelled across Canada from coast to coast with little more than an old Chevy and a three man tent. Now, despite what tents claims to hold, a three man tent is NOT big enough for two grown men. I won’t get into the details, but let’s just say I woke up in at least one awkward cuddle session…

The trip itself was amazing and it made me appreciate living in Alberta that much more. We are truly blessed to live in such a geographically diverse and beautiful area. If we could somehow migrate the East coast kitchen parties into the prairies, this would be absolute paradise!

What are some things about you that would surprise people?

I am a living, breathing hockey jersey encyclopedia.

Huh?

Admittedly my skills have slipped a bit in recent years, but for no apparent reason I have an uncanny ability to name pro hockey players based on their jersey numbers.

So… Has that ever come in handy?

This is probably my most valuable skill, it even won me a beer on a bet once! Truthfully, these useless stats just seem to be taking up space in my head that could otherwise be used for something important.

How did you get into Marketing?

For the longest time I held on to the dream of reaching the 6 foot, 200 pound mark and parlaying that into a career in pro sports. One look at me now and you’ll see that it was a good thing I had a back-up plan.

Following my love of sport I enrolled in Kinesiology in university but, after doing some soul searching, I realized that business had the potential to open more doors for me. I decided to pursue that instead. Business led me to a marketing internship at Lafarge. I found the marketing of concrete exciting (believe it or not), so I figured that a career in Marketing was definitely for me! The rest is history as they say.