Juanita Díaz is an account manager on our delivery team at Wizeline, currently working on the Arc XP account. With just one and a half years of experience at Wizeline — and lots of discipline and dedication, she has grown into two new roles during this short period of time. In this interview, she shares how her personal values, combined with her love for creativity and innovation, took her from majoring in advertising at university to becoming a successful account project manager in the media and entertainment industry.

Following this motto, she realized that she needed to specialize in project management to succeed in her new role. Thus, she enrolled for two years in a project management specialization course at Universidad del Bosque, also in Bogotá, which allowed her to master her new position at Caracol Television and prepared her for a future career at Wizeline. 

With all these enriching experiences, Juanita faced the exciting possibility of moving to another company when she crossed paths with Daniel Castañeda, Wizeline’s current Operations Director in Colombia. “I knew Daniel when I was doing my apprenticeship, and I had the opportunity to work with him. He knows my skills and professional path, so he told me about a new position at Wizeline.” Even though she was very grateful to Caracol, Juanita knew this was the moment to try other paths and get to know different industries. So, after a successful application process, she accepted the offer. 

During our conversation, it came out that Juanita’s journey at Wizeline started just one and a half years ago, in June 2021. However, she has been promoted twice during this short period. She was first assigned to the Nextiva account when Carlos Cajina, her current manager, saw that Juanita’s experience in the media and entertainment industry could be incredibly useful on the Arc XP account. As soon as she entered, Juanita encountered another challenge: her fellow PMs resigned, and she was left with full ownership of the tasks. This inconvenience didn’t discourage her, though. On the contrary, she leveraged her organizational and prioritization skills to get the work done and continue improving the account, which has doubled in size since she began working at Wizeline.

To the question of how she managed to achieve this amazing progress, she explained her focus on previous learnings: a constant desire to improve every process to make it better. Another key factor for Juanita’s growth has been the relationship she has built with her colleagues: “I always try to go further, focusing not only on the job but also on the skills and talents of the person, to identify the opportunities available. I’m also completely open to anyone in Wizeline who needs my support.” In her current role as Account Manager for Delivery, she is in charge of 13 projects for the Arc XP Account; however,  Juanita continues to be involved with the team and the day-to-day activities. “For me, it’s important to be involved because it allows me to continue learning,” she explains.

From experience, Juanita offered a few words of advice to Wizeliners interested in growing their career: “If you want to differentiate from others and grow in Wizeline, you should focus on our values: ownership, innovation, and community. You have to think about innovating, taking ownership of any task or project, and creating and supporting a community. If you focus on these goals, success will come by itself.” She also recognizes the role of Carlos as a mentor for her growth at Wizeline, as well as the previous leaders she worked with on Caracol, and is grateful for the trust they have given her to propose and implement new ideas. However, great power comes along with great responsibility: “If people give you trust, you have to give back assuming those responsibilities, which is why the ownership value is so important,” she emphasized. 

Being so passionate about her work, one of Juanita’s biggest challenges is balancing her personal and professional life, especially while working from home. Another one has been entering Wizeline, which she describes as “a different and disruptive company,” something exciting compared to a traditional company such as Caracol, and that allowed her to access a world of possibilities. 

Regarding her hobbies and interests, Juanita enjoys traveling and playing soccer; before the pandemic, she was the goalkeeper on a team formed with her coworkers. On the other side, creativity continues to have a central role in her life, as she is fond of anything artistic, like painting, music, and movies. Her love for interior design inspires her to dream of buying a house and completely renovating it with her style. She says being in contact with this creativity helps her to think outside the box in her daily tasks, avoiding being stuck with an “only-business” perspective. She also enjoys the time with her husband and two beautiful cats named “Miel” (“Honey” in Spanish) and Oreo (yes, like the cookie!). 

Juanita continues to have big aspirations for the future. She recognizes both the fast pace at Wizeline, and the rapid growth of the Arc XP account demands her adaptability to new processes and team members. Her priorities are to continue learning more about the industry, business, and product and proposing constant improvements to improve things. She also aspires to enter a reflection stage that will allow her to make sound decisions and have the personal balance she has been looking for: “I think I have grown so fast during the last year that now I have to take it slower and calmer right now.” Just as it happened at the beginning of her early career at Caracol, Juanita is open to new possibilities and whatever challenges the future may come up with: “I’m completely open and curious to learn from other businesses and industries, and to continue growing my career at Wizeline.”