The Humans of smrtPhone

This month’s featured “smrtie” is one of our newer additions to our Client Success team who has been a part of the extended smrtPhone family for a long time.

Name

Bianca Vîlea

Title / Role in the Company

I’m part of the Customer Success team. I talk with potential clients and new clients to teach them how the system works. 

How long have you worked for smrtPhone?

7 months. But my husband works for our sister company, REIvolution, so I have been familiar with smrtPhone for a long time. 

What’s your background?

After I finished high school, I went to two universities in Romania at the same time. At one, I studied foreign languages, which is one of my passions. I studied English, Spanish, and French. I also spent time teaching myself Italian and even some Portuguese. 

I also went to a sports university on a scholarship because I have been alpine skiing since I was five. I thought it would be really easy and practical, but it was more work than I expected including courses in anatomy, kinesiology, and a lot of theory. 

Going to two schools at the same time nearly killed me. From morning until night, I was on the move, sometimes having to skip classes from one school to be at the other. Once I got a car, in my second year, it was much easier to balance. 

I moved on to get a Masters in Sports and was working as a P.E. teacher and teaching alpine skiing, but to mix things up, I moved to London. I ended up taking a job at a restaurant. I never imagined that I would stay there for three years, but it was an incredible experience. 

After I moved back to Braşov, I rotated through several different support positions in various call centers including working for Xbox support over the phone and providing content moderation in online forums. All of the customers I worked with were in the United States or Canada.

Bianca Vilea loves to ski

What was your first job? 

My very first job was over the summer when I was 17. A group of us, all the same age, worked for a company who was moving their archives. We had a great time, listening to music, sorting and categorizing all of the dusty documents. 

What do you like about working for smrtPhone? 

I like the people. We talk a lot about it feeling like a “family” and it’s true. In other companies you don’t get that feeling. But here, everyone is nice and cares about each other. We don’t just come in, work, and go home. Here, every time I ask for help, the team is there for me. And we get together and enjoy each other’s company, too.

 I also like the meetings that I do as part of my job. It’s weird because I’m normally shy, but I really like them. I like talking to new people, getting to know them, and showing them the system. I really like when they say, “Oh wow! This is nice! I can do all of these things?” They are looking for a solution and I have one to share, and they are happy.  

Describe smrtPhone in 3 words: 

Family. Friendly. Comfortable. 

Bianca Vilea smrtPhone client success team member loves to travel

Is there a particular moment/project at smrtPhone that stands out and makes you feel proud?  

I feel a bit proud after every meeting, but my first one really stands out. I was really nervous. I think I said hello and asked how they were doing twice. But then after the meeting, they signed up for an annual plan. That felt great! 

What do you like to do in your free time? 

I just finished up a one year course in nutrition. 

During the winter I like skiing, skating, and all the winter sports. Sometimes I feel sorry that I don’t have as much time to do them. I still teach skiing when I can, too. In the summer, I like cycling. I just got a new bike with a basket that makes me happy. I take it out to go shopping. 

I like writing by hand. I’m always writing things down. I like notebooks, pens. I’m keeping track of what I have to do, what happened in a meeting, new ideas. I also love to read, but I haven’t had as much time lately – I need to fix that! 

I really like watching videos with different accents. Not just the major languages, but specifically dialects. I’m constantly watching videos in English differences between US, UK, Australia, New Zealand. It’s like music to my ears. 

I love coffee and food – especially seafood, even if it’s not that common to eat seafood in Romania. 

Bianca cycling

Name something that is on your “bucket list”

Definitely more travel. I would like to travel all throughout Europe by train or by car. I would love to go to the States. And also South America. Especially Brazil, I would love to go. 

What is a fun fact people might not know about you?

When I was between the ages of 10 and 14, I entered and won a lot of ski competitions.My father was my coach and he’s still teaching to this day.  In a national competition here in Romania I came in 1st place. But, I don’t like the competition part of skiing. It was so stressful. I realized I was on top of the physical part, but I need to work on the psychological part. 

Also, I love traveling, but I hate flying. I force myself to go. I’m scared but I still do it. I used to watch documentaries about plane crashes. When I first get on a plane, deep inside I’m tense. But I learned that the first minute is the biggest risk, so once that minute has passed, I relax. 

Bianca Vilea loves to travel