Information Technology may have seem to be a road less travelled for women in the 90’s; but for Jeri Zulueta-Ramos, this is the industry she knew she would successfully conquer.
Jeri, as fondly called by friends and colleagues, started working for Eastern Telecom as Marcom Specialist and moved to product marketing handling payphones and prepaid cards . She stayed in the company for four years before moving to Nexus Technology as product manager for BPO solutions. While at Nexus, Jeri dabbled in sales and perfected her client management style. She eventually moved into product management, brought record breaking sales and conquered new markets for the company.
Fast forward a few years later, one of her major clients, Rainmaker Systems noticed her rockstar performance and she was eventually hired as sales director for Asia Pacific markets and only to be promoted vice-president for worldwide BPO sales in seven-month’ time. And in 2014, another opportunity knocks on her door, to work for the fastest growing private company for USAs’ Inc top 500, Ultra Mobile, as vice president for Global Customer Services. At present, this is Jeri’s latest adventure.
Jeri is known for her quick thinking and has done a lot of project turn-around in the past. “I had my share of project failures before, and it’s from these that allow me to instinctively spot them easily, and prevent it from progressing” Jeri exclaimed. When asked about her management style “I see my people eye-to-eye, I lay-down expectations early on so output is managed” Jeri explained. She may look intimidating at first, but people she worked with would confess that Jeri is a “mother hen” inside and out. She’s a leader with the heart for people, just the right amount of strictness and friendliness.
“I am blessed because I get to meet and engage with people with diverse background, experiences and culture. It is truly amazing how much you can learn from them whether they are my teammates, customers, partners and colleagues”, Jeri’s replied when asked why she loves her job. For her, every day is a learning experience at work. When asked about her pet peeves in the office, Jeri has only one thing to say “I hate people being late!” followed by big laughs. “I value the time of the people I work with and I expect to be accorded the same respect”. As seasoned leader, Jeri believes she has matured overtime. “My mantra now is to take things slow, savor the moment and be grateful every waking moment in my life”, Jeri added.
While Jeri’s career seems to be at the fast-lane, this daunting mother to her 13-year old daughter, Alex, and a loving wife to her telecom executive husband, Armand; is equally upbeat and a very hands-on mom and wife. On weekends, Jeri makes sure that she goes out with her family, and their usual family bonding, aside from malling, is playing golf together, “This is my way of spending quality time with my daughter and husband” Jeri explained. And if her schedule would permit, her usual after office destination would be the gym for some circuit routines and Yoga. No wonder, Jeri is looking a lot younger for her age.
“Yoga helps me to relax and re-energize” Jeri said. Her new found passion helps her survive the occasional graveyard-shifts she would have with Ultra. As head for Ultra’s global customer support, Jeri is seen strutting and running the daily operations of her three outsourced call centers based in Malaysia, Dominican Republic, and in the Philippines. This is on top of her regular coordination in Ultra HQ in the US. Jeri said it’s the diversity of working with different people and in different locations that keeps her on her toes every day.
For her future plans, Jeri said “I want to be involved in something that would affect people’s lives; perhaps maximizing technology in this digital age”; while this is yet to be firmed up, Jeri is currently living the full life, with her family and friends on her side. This hard working mom and corporate leader, is sure to conquer whatever her heart desires.
Contributor:
Allan Catli – is a senior consultant of Muovere Veloce, Inc. and at present is working for Tao Community of Companies as Head of Marketing for Techbox International. He’s also the former marketing services head of Allphones, Philippines and previously worked for Globe Telecom under Small and Medium Business segment as Group Product Marketing Manager. Allan has a bachelor’s degree in mass communication from Adamson University, Manila.