Meet Rakky Curvelo (she/her), a Senior Marketing Manager who has been at HubSpot for almost three years. Based in Ireland, Rakky leads HubSpot’s marketing efforts in Brazil. Read on to learn more about Rakky, a typical day in her role, and the communities she’s a part of at HubSpot.
Tell us about your role as a Senior Marketing Manager. What do you do for HubSpot?
I’m a marketeer leading all of the demand and awareness plays for HubSpot Brazil – so, in HubSpot’s language, I’m a Regional Marketer. I guess to make it easy to explain what I do, imagine that if you see a blog post on our Portuguese website if you participate in one of our webinars or in-person events in Brazil, if you download a content offer or a business template, if you see a cool Brazilian meme published in Portuguese on our LinkedIn page, or if you see news about HubSpot on any Brazilian newspaper, I’m working behind the scenes to make this happen! I’m also involved in a series of plays to support the Sales and Success teams who work every day to help thousands of Brazilian businesses grow better using our solutions.
What does collaboration look like on your team?
I don’t think I ever worked in any company where collaboration was as strong as it is on the HubSpot marketing team. I sit in the LATAM & Iberia structure, and the collaboration and support of my peers who are working in Spanish-speaking markets are extremely important to help me do my job better. Our International marketing teams also play a vital part in my success, with inspiration, support materials, and hands-on support when needed. And of course, the International Champions, which is a team inside HubSpot Marketing that takes care of basically getting each play launched to our English-speaking markets and making sure that the Regional Marketers have all they need to launch those plays in a way that makes sense for each of our different regions. All of this incredible machine that is our Marketing Org is a very aligned engine, that allows me to bring the best of HubSpot, in language to our Portuguese-speaking audiences
What’s your favorite part of your job?
My favorite part of my job is that no day is ever the same. I’m a very bubbly person, and also super creative, and having the chance to always be working on something new and exciting is nothing short of incredible. I also love the fact that every HubSpotter is, on top of being a very qualified professional, an incredible person. I have no idea how Recruiting does it, but if you’re working at HubSpot, that means that you’re a good, kind, and considerate person. I feel like I do my best in my job because everyone around me is willing to help and give candid and accurate feedback, and everyone is working for the growth and success of each other and our customers.
What do you find the most challenging part of your job?
I wear a lot of hats. It’s challenging to be responsible for a market as dynamic and diverse as Brazil, but this is also one of the things I love about my job: Having to adapt our campaigns and initiatives to the “Brazilian way”, delivering content and brand awareness plays and making sure we present ourselves as a brand that’s closely looking at our customer’s needs. All of this drives me to meet amazing HubSpotters across different functions and means I learn something new every day.
What are a few ways you balance work and life? How does HubSpot’s flexibility/hybrid work style help with this?
I live in a medium-sized town in Ireland called Drogheda, which is one hour away from our Dublin office. The @flex work option allows me to work from the office once or twice per week and work from home for the remainder days. This helps me pick and choose the best ways to bring my best self to work. Because I’m based in Ireland and working within the LATAM Team and for the Brazilian market, I also deal with some different timezones, so I try to adapt my starting and finishing hours on the days I have important meetings, webinars, or other things I need to attend. The flexibility available to us all to make this possible is also one of the reasons why HubSpot is such a great place to work.
What are the top three things you love about your role and team?
1. I love how diverse our team is. We have people from all over the world and with great representation from Latin America and Iberia working with us (I’m talking Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Argentina, Spain, and Venezuela).
2. I love working with the teams in HubSpot: I have real partners in crime that will support my ideas and the execution of great things in Sales, Success, Support, Web Strategy, Product, Strategic Partnerships, Revenue Marketing, and the list goes on. Everyone is extremely genuine and hardworking and embraces each challenge with a smile and a positive attitude. There’s nothing we can’t do!
3. More than anything, I love working with, and for Brazil. I’ve been living in Ireland for a while now and I love being here. But having the opportunity to work for Brazil every day, and moving the needle to support Brazilian companies of all sizes growing their business, is extremely rewarding.
How are you able to bring your whole self to work every day?
This is another thing I love so much about HubSpot. One minute I can be talking to someone about MRR, GPA Goals, and Cluster Conversion strategies, and the next I’ll be talking about the latest in Ru Paul Drag Race and how heartbreaking it was when Skank, my favorite pop-rock band from Brazil, announced their final tour. You can bring your true self to work, and I know I will always be listened to and people will always be kind.
What has made your job at HubSpot different from other places you’ve worked?
The kindness of its people and the genuine investment from leadership in making this not only a great place to work, but a place where everyone can come in, bring their best selves, and do their best work.
Tell us about any communities at HubSpot you’re a part of.
I’m part of #latinx-at-hubspot, #pocah (People of Color at HubSpot), and #women-at-hubspot communities, and I’m a proud ally in the #lgbtqalliance.
What surprised you most about working at HubSpot?
I think anyone starting at a new company always has great expectations. What surprised me is that HubSpot keeps improving, and its culture and transparency with the employees are so rare it’s almost impossible to believe. There’s a lot of hard work behind the scenes and the Culture, People Operations and Leadership teams are always working to delight us – it works!
What keeps you at HubSpot?
HubSpot was always on my list of top five companies I wanted to work at someday. HubSpot Academy was my first contact with the brand, and I always loved its content. I come from a very humble family but always dreamt big. When HubSpot first contacted me through LinkedIn to talk about the position I occupy today, I couldn’t believe it – it was actually happening. I guess that’s why I was so happy throughout the recruiting process. HubSpot believed in me even before I believed in myself. I think what keeps me around is the certainty that I’m doing a good job for the Latin and Brazilian community of customers and partners and that my work has an impact I can see every month.
What is one piece of advice you’d give to someone wanting to become a HubSpotter?
Be yourself and believe in yourself. HubSpot values character and personality and I truly believe that one of the reasons I’ve passed my interview process is because of how excited I was about the opportunity and because I was never afraid to show it.
Thanks for sharing a look into a day in the life on the Marketing Team, Rakky. Learn more about opportunities on HubSpot’s Marketing team here, and learn more about all things HubSpot Life over on Instagram.
