Sia

My background

I was born and raised in Sofia, Bulgaria and I now live here with my family. I have a younger sister, and we both love the place where we grew up, because its near the mountain.

We love to take walks in Vitosha, just the girls: me, my mom, my sister, and my dog, a Labrador called Aira, who absolutely loves mud and dirt.

In high school, I studied a lot of math, informatics, English and German. After I finished high school, I went to the Technical University of Sofia, to study Math & Informatics, but I wasnt really passionate about it; there was way too much math. At the same time, I got an invitation to apply for an open position at ZigiWave, so I decided to give it a try.

Before my interview, I was really stressed and anxious: this was my first job interview ever, and I definitely didnt have a lot of confidence in myself. However, it went much better than expected, and I got the job. This was 2 years ago.

I continued to study, but at some point, I decided that either Id study hard or work hard, so I stopped my studies and concentrated on my work. I wanted to give it my 100% and improve my performance as much as I can. This is something Im fully devoted to, and always look for ways to do more.

My role at ZigiWave

Currently, Im an Integration Consultant Lead. This position includes a lot of work with customers, so a big part of my work is centered on the customer success journey, from POCs to product support.

I introduce potential and new customers to our platform, explain to them all its features and functionalities, show them around the UI, and answer their questions. I also sort and handle all incoming queries from our existing customers to distribute them between myself and the team. Whenever clients need a new configuration or more complex mappings, I assist them with that as well.

I really enjoy talking to customers, getting to know their use cases and requirements, helping them get exactly what they need, and, of course, learning that theyre happy with what we have accomplished together.

The Zigi team

Were a small company with a big heart. I love my team, theyre all super friendly. We always help each other out and have each others backs.

Everyone helped me a lot when I first started working at ZigiWave. There was no support team back then, really: everyone did everything. Right now, theres three of us, and someone else will join us shortly. Were a small team, but were constantly growing.

I started with no experience in IT. Lyubo, Yasen, Kamen, Dani, and the entire team helped me get up to speed and understand the different systems and the product. At first, I spent a lot of time simply playing with the platform, in order to understand it better. No-one can explain you something in the same way that youll understand it: you need to put in the effort yourself. I did that, and afterwards everything was easier and made sense.

Every day were expanding: were constantly adding new systems and features, and exploring new integration techniques and methods. The job is very dynamic. You can never know everything.

If someone is just starting at Zigi, Id tell them theyre joining a great team, but also that theyll need to study hard, especially in the beginning. The work is super nice, if youre open-minded and ready to learn a lot of new things.

The most important lesson Ive learned from my work at Zigi is how to work with a team. I did not have experience with this in the past. Here, I learned what teamwork actually is.

How I deal with difficulties at work

Im too emotional and I know it. Sometimes I just need to take a 5-minute break, get out, get some fresh air, chill a little, and then get back in and fix everything within a few minutes. Basically, I just light the fire inside me for a second, then I need a few minutes to cool down and after that, I get back to work. Everything works out well afterwards.

... And in my life, in general

It depends on the situation, of course, but I love to walk; this really helps me. I love to spend time with my sister and my family. Also, I play video games sometimes, which helps me shut down my brain for a bit. Sometimes I just go out with friends. And if they criticize me, I always appreciate that and listen, because I know they want the best for me.

My favorite activities

I love sports, but unfortunately right now Im not able to do sports as much as Id like because of Covid.

I love boxing. First, I started with Taekwondo, and then signed up for boxing classes. At the first training session, I started doing my guards, and someone just jumped on me, so I started kicking him, as you do in Taekwondo. So, now Id love to switch to kick-boxing: after learning how to use my legs, and then my arms, now I want to do both.

My sources of inspiration

I love to draw and write. Im very open-minded, and I love lots of different things, so everything thats beautiful, that catches my eye, can be a source of inspiration.

I dedicate time every month to look into the things that I have achieved. If I have a lot of things to say, then thats great, but if there are only a few, this is not a good sign. If Im like that for another month, this means I have stopped growing. I always aim to learn more and make progress in different areas. For example, in the past few months, I started keeping track of the things I eat and drink: I dont drink enough water, so now Im trying to change that.

At work, I try to find solutions for everything: I like to look deep into problems, and always try to fix them or find a workaround. In order to do this, I check different resources and read a lot. In the past month, I read a lot about payloads, for example.

My favourite place in the world

My favourite place in the world is home. I love travelling; for example, Id love to go to Iceland, but I want to go for a week and then come back home.

When I was little, I really wanted to go to Paris, but in the 12th grade, I worked on a project about Paris, and learned how many people visit the city every year, so I decided against it. I definitely prefer less crowded places.

Books & movies I like

I like all kinds of movies, especially adventure or drama. Regarding books, its mostly the same: adventure, novels, or also philosophy books. My mom is a psychologist, so I learned a lot from her. She opened my eyes to a lot of things. I grew up around books, basically.

To destress, I...

Before, I just used to go out and walk alone. Now I need a few days to get out of the city. Either way, I love to challenge myself: I get out and walk 10 km, for example. And I also love spending time alone.

I definitely prefer nature to the city. As I live near the mountain, nature is my playground, and Id choose it over the city any day.

On celebrating success

I dont like to do anything special when I achieve something. I want to keep myself grounded and stay humble. If I achieve something, thats great, but if I make it a big deal, it might cost me future achievements. I prefer looking into the future rather than in the past.

A day in my life

I wake up, grab a coffee and get out to play with the dog. Then, sometimes I help my family with stuff (grocery shopping, for example, or I take my mom or my sister home from school or from work). Then its time to start working. When I finish my workday, its already late, so I either just go to bed, or play a game on my computer to destress.

I'm most looking forward to...

Im most looking forward to being with my family and just having more time with them. My sister is always saying that Im working too much, so I want to spend more time with her.