Her Story
About Raquel
Raquel Calhao is a Customer Success Leader who has spent the last 4 years working with B2B SaaS companies in Silicon Valley, primarily at Odoo where she has led territories and portfolios valued at $4 million. With a total of 10 years in marketing, she transitioned into customer success after completing a double master's degree, first in international marketing in Boston and then in business analytics in San Francisco in 2021, which helped her pivot her career internationally upon moving to the United States. As a bilingual professional fluent in Portuguese and English, she proudly led an entire territory, growing accounts from 35 to 200 and supporting the opening of an office in Brazil by training new team members. Raquel attributes her success to her ability to listen, a commitment to never stop learning, seeking mentorship from colleagues and leaders, and consistently going beyond her duties. She advises young women entering the field to never take no for an answer and emphasizes the importance of positioning oneself strategically amid AI-driven changes in customer success roles, focusing on being the mind behind the machine while staying updated on new solutions.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Raquel
01What do you attribute your success to?
My hidden power is listening. I think learning and listening, never stop learning. I've always been learning from the people around me, always seek mentorship from the ones who are surrounding as co-workers, directors, managers, just seeking that interest beyond what are your real duties is what I think has attributed my success to everything I do. For a little bit more than what they were asking me.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Never take a no for answer. Never take no for an answer.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
With AI, the customer success role is shifting over the last two years. For the next year, we're gonna see a lot of changes in terms of ERPs, SaaS companies, and all that comes with all this wave of AI that we're facing right now, so really understanding how to position yourself as someone who will dominate the machine, instead of letting the machine take over your work. It's really important for you to update yourself with whatever news or new product solutions are out there but also really trying to focus in being the mind behind the machine and the strategic mind.
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