Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Speaker A: Hello and welcome to Lang Talent. My name is Eddie Arrieta. I'm the CEO at Multilingual magazine.
I'm joined by Nicole Spyt-James, Vice president of People and Finance. I thrive at the intersection of strategy, culture and financial excellence. With a proven record in driving organizational growth, I combine a people first approach with financial acumen to create sustainable success.
Today we're going to be talking about a vanpages culture. Why the team is growing, what does talent at the company look like, what is the culture like at a vanpage? And of course, any recommendations that we might find interesting for those that are applying for roles at Advantage. Nicole, thank you so much for joining us and sorry for that big monologue on this show.
[00:00:58] Speaker B: No, it's great. Thank you so much for having me, Eddie. I really appreciate it.
[00:01:02] Speaker A: Fantastic. And getting into it. AvantPage, what's Avant page all about? Could you tell us about the company, A bit of the history and what the company is like in its cultural elements?
[00:01:16] Speaker B: Yeah. So avantpage is probably one of the most unique companies I've worked for. It is a long standing company. We've been around for over 27 years. So our founder, Luis Miguel is the CEO and founder and he has had a very clear mission from the start.
As an immigrant to America himself, he experienced a lot of the difficulties that immigrants experience upon arriving here.
He was fortunate in that he had some English language skills, but a lot of immigrants in the United States arrive with no spoken language or written or so basically from from the start, in the foundation of the company, he really wanted to provide language, accent, language access to immigrants that are trying to achieve their American dream as a business owner, as a successful business owner, he's been able to do that and I think that that really permeates throughout our culture. You know, I think it's hard these days to find a company that is truly mission driven and I think when you do, it's something that feeds your soul. Right? If you can come to work and know that the work that you do is really impacting the user, the end user of the services that you're providing, it provides a community that is based on service. And I think that's truly one of the unique aspects of working at AvantPage is that we are very service oriented. Our focus is to do the right.
[00:02:49] Speaker C: Thing by the client so that they.
[00:02:51] Speaker B: Can serve the immigrants in this, in this country.
Our primary clients right now are US based. However, we're working now in Europe as.
[00:03:01] Speaker C: Well in the life sciences industry.
[00:03:03] Speaker B: So I should say it's really anybody That's a non native speaker to whatever language they're trying to get resources in. And you know, we all share that focus. I'd say our values are uniquely something that we didn't just write down on a paper and something that we say in company presentations. It's something that we use to vet our candidates. It's something that we use in performance reviews. And those are empathy, opportunity and rigor. And the right person that works at AvantPage and is successful here has kind of a good amalgamation of those three values. Some people are a little bit stronger perhaps in empathy than opportunity. But ideally we have a good mix and rigor is kind of the thing that holds us all together because we really care about the products that we're giving out to the immigrants. Right. I mean, if we're translating medical documents, we want them to be accurate, we want them to be timely, we want them to be as digestible by that person that really needs to receive them. So I'd say that that brings in a lot of mission driven people and that's what kind of makes our community so strong, I'd say.
[00:04:21] Speaker A: And it's great to hear because it's the community that actually embody the values and you see those reflected in the people that stay at the company and the build the organization. So empathy, opportunity and rigor. And over 27 years you've been building that and now the team is growing, so you need to add more people that have those values. Why and how is the team growing? What are some of the challenges there for you as the team is growing?
[00:04:53] Speaker B: Yeah, so we've had some great fortune in that. The sectors that we're in, primarily medical government, have been growing themselves, some due to regulations, but mostly I think we've had long standing client partnerships and our.
[00:05:10] Speaker C: Partnerships with some of our largest clients.
[00:05:12] Speaker B: Have been growing due to the fact that we provide great services. And I think the feedback that we get from our customers is that we're a real partner. And I think that's really the secret sauce in this day and age, right? With AI, the advent of AI and machine translation enhancing, you need somebody that's an actual person. You know, how many times have you called a call center and you get the stupid, you know, phone operator and you can't get, you can't pass through. You need somebody that's going to pick up the phone and say, Hi, you know, Mr. Whatever, how are you doing today? And really receive a client's requests and needs. So we've been growing sort of organically, but also through the building of a sales department.
And we've been fortunate to have pretty.
[00:06:02] Speaker C: Aggressive growth in the past three years.
[00:06:04] Speaker B: So I would just say that it's kind of a organic thing in that we've been able to serve our clients.
[00:06:10] Speaker C: Well and they trust us.
[00:06:11] Speaker B: And that trust continues to grow along with some new business coming through.
[00:06:17] Speaker A: Thank you. And this is very exciting, especially when companies are growing like that and you add a lot of new and exciting energy to the team.
The talent that's currently at advantage and those that are coming on board, what does the future look like for them in terms of their roles and perspectives for growth, et cetera?
[00:06:37] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. It's a fantastic time to join. So I really recommend that people look out for job opportunities on our website or through LinkedIn.
And the reason for that is, you know, when I started eight years ago, we were a team of maybe 18 to 20. Now we're at 120.
So naturally what happens, right, is, you know, you might have a small team.
[00:07:03] Speaker C: That does kind of everything. And as you scale and grow, especially.
[00:07:06] Speaker B: At the rate that we're growing, and.
[00:07:08] Speaker C: We'Re slotted to maybe reach 175 by end of year.
[00:07:12] Speaker B: So naturally, you need more management sectors.
[00:07:15] Speaker C: To kind of support the team's growth. You can't have one person managing, say, 20 roles. What we've done is we've created smaller teams so that everybody has dedicated supervisors.
[00:07:25] Speaker B: And that they really have that high touch feel internally.
So in order to come into the.
[00:07:34] Speaker C: Team, there's a lot of great and.
[00:07:36] Speaker B: Unique positions that we're recruiting for.
[00:07:38] Speaker C: So if you have a weird talent.
[00:07:40] Speaker B: Set or if you're interested in a role that you see on the website, but you might not fit exactly, like.
[00:07:46] Speaker C: Please do reach out to us. And I do encourage. Cover letters are great for that.
[00:07:50] Speaker B: Explain why you might be interested in fitting yourself into this position.
Now, for the people that have joined us or that have been with us, it's great because we prioritize internal growth first, right? If I know that somebody on my team that's a project coordinator is ultimately looking to become a quality manager, we.
[00:08:12] Speaker C: Have a program called Avant Growth Internally.
[00:08:14] Speaker B: Where one of our people, ops team.
[00:08:16] Speaker C: Members sits down with every single person.
[00:08:18] Speaker B: In the company and we establish those plans.
[00:08:21] Speaker C: So we'll say, if you want to become a quality manager and you're a.
[00:08:24] Speaker B: Project coordinator, let's do a comp. A Compens. Sorry, competencies analysis.
See where you're at right now, See what a quality manager might need for.
And we'll get you there, Right. So people are put in positions where they're ready for the next role that comes up.
We're doing a little bit more this year.
[00:08:49] Speaker C: We're building out an intranet that has a training and development section where everybody.
[00:08:53] Speaker B: Will have their own sort of learning.
[00:08:55] Speaker C: Path identified for them and more resources.
[00:08:58] Speaker B: Available to them to upskill.
[00:09:00] Speaker C: It only serves us as a company to have the best people on board and it only serves our humans right.
[00:09:07] Speaker B: To continue to learn and grow and stay engaged. So we really want to hear from.
[00:09:11] Speaker C: Everybody and try and create the opportunities internally. Hence our value opportunity.
[00:09:17] Speaker A: That is fantastic. That is fantastic. I'm sure a lot of these that we've mentioned are going to make a lot of great snippets. For those that see some of the bits in social media, for those that are listening, I'm sure it is going to be very insightful either if they are leading human resources team or if they are looking to join a company like a vanpage, or even if they just want to change their own individual teams. I had one question just out of curiosity and is you joined when the team was really small, what has been other than growth? Because I'm not sure if you thought, okay, we're going to 10x this, but what have been surprising for you as you have joined the Advantage team?
[00:10:08] Speaker B: I was fortunate. I started as an office manager at.
[00:10:11] Speaker C: Wantpage and I came from the world.
[00:10:13] Speaker B: Of Silicon Valley where with fast moving startups. So I came with that mentality, right, like what are we going to do here? How are we going to build ourselves to be great, you know, And I think one of the most interesting things is that anytime I've raised my hand with a crazy idea, our CEO has been gracious enough to let me kind of go for it, you know, and I think that's really something that has continued on. I think that we have a real.
[00:10:47] Speaker C: Listening culture, right, where people can raise.
[00:10:50] Speaker B: Their hands with initiatives and that's also.
[00:10:52] Speaker C: What helps us continue to grow and helps people feel a part of the community.
[00:10:56] Speaker B: Not just that, you know, we're rolling out initiatives and this is what it is, but really that you get to take part in the culmination and the.
[00:11:04] Speaker C: Growth of this company.
[00:11:07] Speaker B: And I think another surprise has been, you know, we have a lot of people that have been either with me on this journey for the whole eight years or even our older Avant pagers and I think that's rare these days. Like we have a lot of what we call Avant Page dinosaurs, you know, that have been around for 13 10, nine, eight years. Years. And I love seeing that because we're a youthful, vibrant community of people that have given their lives to, you know, to this mission that we're on to serve immigrants. And yeah, I think that that's just really cool because that speaks to the connection that we have to the mission and how we're all sort of building this together even as we scale. That seems to only strengthen, really. And we're lucky that we've been able to recruit people that really fit in. But it's easy when you're authentic, right? Like when you know what you're doing, what you want to be doing, how you want to live, like in service. It's easy to bring people in that align with that area has been for us. So we're fortunate.
[00:12:20] Speaker A: Great.
I am sure that a lot of people that are listening to this that align with it will probably apply to some of the jobs that you have. So can you tell us about those? What areas is the company going to grow into and what roles are you looking for right now?
[00:12:38] Speaker B: Yes, like I said, we've done a good job of filling sort of our.
[00:12:43] Speaker C: More standard roles of Project Coordinator and Project manager, although those are kind of.
[00:12:47] Speaker B: Always open for us because that's when we have more demand, that's the positions that we need to fill. So if you're new to the industry, please look for a project coordinator opening. That's your best foot in the door and then you can really grow in a lot of different avenues.
We're looking for business development managers and representatives as well as account managers to.
[00:13:09] Speaker C: Kind of serve our clients more holistically.
[00:13:13] Speaker B: More hands on deck there and a.
[00:13:16] Speaker C: Lot of unique roles like we have.
[00:13:18] Speaker B: Localization or sorry, training and knowledge base coordinator which is for the operations team. That's really somebody that is going to help all these newly onboarded people succeed in getting upskilled and learning and understanding.
[00:13:36] Speaker C: Our processes and procedures.
[00:13:38] Speaker B: We're also developing a lot of systems, sorry, technology projects internally. So we have some front end developers, backend developers that are joining our ranks.
[00:13:51] Speaker C: And then for my team, special shout.
[00:13:53] Speaker B: Out is we're looking for a recruiter.
[00:13:55] Speaker C: A training and development coordinator, a compliance manager.
[00:13:59] Speaker B: So if you're into compliance, please join us. And then also, you know, people, operations solutions coordinator. So there's many different roles, I think I, I'm just saying some out there, but please do look because there's really every sort of aspect of business is represented in the roles that we're recruiting for and we'd love to see you join Us.
[00:14:24] Speaker A: And that's fantastic. For those that are then into any of those roles. What would be your recommendation? You've gone through the process a long time ago and I'm sure the process have changed significantly. But what would you recommend for those that find this as an appealing option for them?
[00:14:41] Speaker B: Yeah, let me. So when I joined this company, I have always been kind of, I guess a type A personality. So when I applied I sent my resume a cover letter and you know, two letters of recommendation from my prior managers. And what I look for is people that are going to stand out or that if you want to join us, show us that you want to join us.
[00:15:06] Speaker C: You know, cover letters are great.
[00:15:07] Speaker B: They're kind of old school, right. But it's a great way for you to really share a part of your.
[00:15:14] Speaker C: Story, share why you're connected to our mission.
[00:15:17] Speaker B: I love seeing well thought out cover letters. It really shows me how much you care.
[00:15:23] Speaker C: You know, we're such a fast moving culture. If you sit down to write a.
[00:15:26] Speaker B: Nice letter, that's fantastic.
Any sort of references or referrals, you know, reaching out to one of our people Ops members on LinkedIn and telling a bit of your story. We just get so many applicants that really the key here is stand out. You know, part of our values is rigor. So do make sure that your resume is well written, that there's no grammatical errors. We're in the language or we're in the business of language translation and written services. Right. So it says a lot to make sure that you have a very well produced document that you're presenting to represent yourself. That's just a key indicator of your attention to detail. So the little things matter.
[00:16:14] Speaker C: Show us why you're interested to join.
[00:16:15] Speaker B: You know, we're, we'll always take the time to, to read it about you.
[00:16:21] Speaker A: Thank you for sharing, Nicole. And of course to everyone who's listening to us, we have had a conversation with Nicole Spite James, Vice President of People and Finance and a Van page at a Van page translations. Nicole, any final messages, thoughts, good feelings you want to share with those that are listening to us today?
[00:16:45] Speaker B: Hi. You know, I think we're just at a place in this world where to.
[00:16:49] Speaker C: Be of service is kind of the.
[00:16:51] Speaker B: Best way that you can live authentically. And I hope for all of you.
[00:16:57] Speaker C: Whether you join us at a vampage.
[00:16:59] Speaker B: Or you find another company that you get to really live in alignment with your values.
[00:17:05] Speaker C: It's such a freeing place to be.
[00:17:07] Speaker B: So I just hope that for your listeners and I look forward to seeing some more resumes come through.
[00:17:15] Speaker A: Thank you, everyone, for listening to us. This was a Lang talent conversation with Nicole Spite James, vice president at Avant Page Translation. My name is Eddie Arrieta. I'm the CEO here at Multilingual Magazine. Thank you so much for listening.
[00:17:31] Speaker B: Goodbye.
