2021-September-27

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“If You Put the Time In, You’ll Get to Where You Want to Be”

BY MAJKA KLEMMER

The impressive collection of Transformers in Mariuska’s home office.

If you attend a Webex meeting with Systems Engineering (SE) Leader Mariuska Manaure, there’s a good chance you’ll be a little distracted by the impressive array of Transformers in her home office.

“It’s my husband’s collection, but it’s definitely a conversation starter,” she laughs.

Mariuska has something in common with these mighty robots — her passionate belief in the transformation of Cisco.

She joined Cisco in 2006 as part of the prestigious Cisco Sales Associates Program (CSAP) — one of her proudest accomplishments.

Now an SE lead for the sales organization based in Mexico City, Mariuska reflects on her action-packed career, what she’s learned about herself, and her future dreams.

Q: Tell us about your career path at Cisco. How did you become an SE leader?

Mariuska: My career journey has taken me around the world — from Amsterdam to Venezuela to Costa Rica to Mexico.

Amsterdam was my first stop — headquarters for emerging markets at the time. There, I learned my job and worked with people from more than 50 countries. It was one of the best years of my life.

Then I went back to Venezuela, where I’m originally from. I better understood the SE role and applied what I learned in Amsterdam as I worked with mid-size businesses and financial customers.

Next, I moved to Costa Rica, still in an SE role, but focused on partners in Central America. I learned a ton about the partner organization. I made sure the solutions we pitched made sense for their business and they were ready to face different challenges.

Now I’m in Mexico City, where I became a public sector SE, and eventually an SE lead.

Q: What are some of your proudest moments as an SE?

Mariuska: I’ve loved working on some of my biggest transformational accounts — the electricity company and the presidential office in Mexico.

Mariuska and her family — husband Alejandro and sons Gabriel and Daniel. They are a Cisco family — Alejandro works at Cisco too!

We pitched the Smart Grid Architecture to transform and digitize the electrical operation in the country. The electricity business in Mexico will take years to transform, but I was there when they started digitizing. I’m a part of that history.

In fact, I’m just starting a new role — still an SE lead — but this time on the Meraki Sales team, working with mid-market customers from Latin America, the US, and Canada. I’m excited to apply what I know to a broader market.

I’ve lived in different countries and learned about different cultures. I’ve worked with customers large and small, and become familiar with a lot of different technologies. I believe all those experiences prepared me to be an SE Leader.

I’ve met so many people during my time at Cisco, and I have a piece of my heart in all of these places I’ve lived, thanks to Cisco. Knowing the right people helps you solve problems in a more innovative way.

Q: What at Cisco excites you the most?

Mariuska: Every day, I see how our customers are changing and how they need more from us. They need to turn every investment around more quickly than ever before.

Cisco’s strategy to move away from being seen as only a hardware vendor is the right one. Our portfolio is on the right track. Helping our customers transition to the Cloud, focusing on software, offering lifecycle selling — these are critical things for us to stay relevant.

We’re not just selling products and then saying, “Good luck.”

We’ll be there for our customers and make sure they adopt our technology that’s relevant to their business.

Q: What was the transition from individual contributor to manager like?

Mariuska: I always wanted to be a leader. I’m a people person and I love getting the best out of everyone. I was doing shadow programs, mentoring, and taking development courses.

Mariuska (second from right in the front row) and part of her team supporting La Cruz Blanca, an organization in Mexico City that helps kids from low income families or foster homes with nutritional issues.

But when I became a manager, it was like a roller coaster ride! I realized how little I knew. I had to understand the business and different relationships. I had to get to know my team to figure out what my place was.

I learned to lead by example. If I were to ask something of my team, I had to be the first one doing that very same thing. I had to be self-aware of the image I was projecting — how I speak, the words I use, the message I’m trying to deliver.

My tips for other new managers — be open-minded and surround yourself with people who give good advice. It also helps to be able to read the room and ask for feedback so you know what to keep doing and what to stop doing.

It’s really been an opportunity to get to know myself better. It never crossed my mind the role would be about me as well as my team.

Q: What are your future goals?

Mariuska: I recently participated in the RTP Executive Shadow Program virtually. I would love to be a Cisco executive and be part of an innovation office.

I want to align our innovation to what the world needs and ensure we have a sustainable future as a company.

Q: Any career advice?

Mariuska: You have to work for your dreams. Sometimes you get absorbed into the daily routine and forget to ask yourself what you want to do and where you want to go.

Maybe you want to keep doing what you’re currently doing. That’s perfectly fine too.

We need to invest the time into our careers and our dreams. At Cisco, I believe it’s possible — we have the tools, programs, mentors, and sponsors to take advantage of.

That’s not to say there won’t be challenges or it will be easy.

But if you put the time in, you’ll get to where you want to be. Go and pursue your dreams.