The warm glow of the Abu Dhabi sun floods through Nada Gasim’s window as she logs on for work.
Gasim is a product strategy manager for Eventus, and her day begins as many of her stateside colleagues wind down their days on the other side of the world.
As the only Eventus employee based in Abu Dhabi, Gasim may be a world away from some of her cohorts, but she sees it as a unique opportunity to provide immense impact for her company.
“When I started with Eventus, I was able to add value straight away by offering local support to our clients in Abu Dhabi,” Gasim told Built In. “I aimed to start raising brand awareness with prospective clients in the region.”
Since joining the trade surveillance and market risk company, Gasim has grown her product management expertise from the ground up. Built In sat down with her to learn more about how Eventus creates space for homegrown subject matter experts to excel — no matter where home is.
Give us a snapshot of your career at Eventus.
I joined Eventus a little over one year ago as a Validus trainer under business solutions. The focus of the role was to work closely with Validus clients, support their training needs on the platform and collaborate with the client success team. In addition, the role involved performing Validus demonstrations, explaining product functionality and answering pre-sales questions.
This was a great starting point in the company. It allowed me to fully understand our products and how clients use them — and become a subject matter expert. This role has offered me an excellent foundation for other roles within the company.
The following winter, my team took on the additional role of account management, which meant driving upsell opportunities and negotiating with clients on costs for additional services. It allowed me to improve my selling and negotiation skills and strengthened my relationship with my clients.
Not only was I responsible for training, but the role also opened up the avenue of growth with our clients. It was important to be a client ambassador or partner, instead of just a service provider.
I jumped at the chance to switch teams and embark on a new journey at Eventus.”
Last summer, I was given the opportunity to become a product strategy manager. It was an exciting opportunity to be at the forefront of new product developments, be a part of the product vision and define the strategy and future direction of Validus products.
I jumped at the chance to switch teams and embark on a new journey at Eventus. I was also given the flexibility to keep some responsibilities from previous roles. I am now working on a very exciting project, looking to launch a new product next year and involved in the end-to-end go-to-market strategy for that product.
How does working for Eventus help you make progress toward your career goals?
I have always been product-focused, but working in product strategy has allowed me to hone my product management and product marketing skills. The ability to work on the end-to-end product lifecycle — from the initial product vision to delivery and client adoption — helped me gain confidence in my abilities.
What makes Eventus a unique place to work from a professional development perspective?
Eventus offers a lot of flexibility and support. Being a young company — under 10 years and with just over 100 employees — you are more visible to the executive management team. You have the opportunity to add a lot more value than if you were in a large organization.
This allows your strengths to be noticed. You may be approached to work on new projects or areas — or in my case encouraged to express interest in a change in role. It is a close-knit company, where everyone works together effectively to achieve the same goal: growing our products and client base.
The fact that it’s a fully remote working environment means that you are not tied to any particular location and can truly work with global teams.
How have you grown professionally at Eventus?
I have learned about the compliance industry, including surveillance and anti-money laundering strategies. Having come from the front-office world, this was all new to me.
I have also developed skills in leading the go-to-market strategy for products, managing the implementation pipeline for these products and delivering on goals. I previously hadn’t been exposed to defining pricing structures in the past, so the ability to develop commercial packages and pricing models and get buy-in within the firm — and rolling it out to billing and invoicing — was a valuable skill.
I am now a more confident professional able to work with all departments within the company.
I also enjoy being a buddy to new employees and supporting them in their journey at Eventus.
What professional development tools and resources have you utilized?
- Professional courses in AML
- CRM tools such as Hubspot
- Work management tools like JIRA
How are managers involved in the career development of direct reports?
They act as mentors, offering advice not only in day-to-day activities, but also personal advice when faced with difficult situations. I have been lucky to have three great managers who pushed me to make moves to different roles — all while thinking about what was best for my career and personal development.
How has joining Eventus positively impacted your professional and personal journey?
It allowed me to stay in the United Arab Emirates, where I had chosen to relocate, having previously lived in the United Kingdom. The decision to relocate has had such a positive impact on my life and my immediate family. It allowed me to use my personal and networking skills to develop a name for myself and promote Eventus.
