Splunker Stories: Emelie Szybanow

In the latest edition of our "Splunker Stories" series, we meet one of Splunk’s Regional Sales Director of Sweden and Finland, Emelie Szybanow.

We sat down with Emelie to learn more about her journey to Splunk, celebrate her recent win of the Sales Rising Star award, and learn more about her work with Splunk’s diversity projects in the Nordics.

What did you do prior to joining Splunk and how did you end up at Splunk? 

Prior to coming onboard with Splunk, I was a Senior Account Executive at Salesforce. I was recommended by people I knew and found Splunk was in a really interesting growth phase with so many customers loving the platform. I was excited to join Splunk in this early stage of their journey. 

I have spent my entire grown-up life in tech sales of some sort; starting at the bottom working my way to a Regional Sales Manager, and recently enjoying my new role as a Regional Sales Director of Sweden and Finland. This is an ever-changing industry and a really high paced environment to be in. I'm really passionate about what I do even through the challenges we all face. 

Tell us about your story. What experiences made you who you are today? 

I understand it's important to take care of yourself in order to always be the best you. I think that's the most important knowledge I've gained over the years and it's important to remember. 

Often in terms of being successful at your job; I’ve learned the best skills to have are being curious, humble and working as diligently as you can. (Being a bit fearless can also help sometimes!) When working with innovation you never really know what the next big thing will be, so it’s always better to just throw yourself into every challenge which comes along! 

How have your unique experiences and insights made you successful in your career, and at Splunk? 

Most of my success simply comes from hard work. I have also been lucky enough to have managers here at Splunk who have seen my passion and have invested in me for further career development. 

I’ve grown so much over the years (both in terms of promotions and education) by gaining more experience working with new technology and different customers. I find it's the understanding of the challenges customers face and finding ways to solve them which provides a lot of my satisfaction on a day to day basis. 

The last (but perhaps the most important piece) is the team I have around me. I always strive to take care of my peers, because I know real success comes from collaboration. 

What do you enjoy about working at Splunk? 

Splunk is a fast-growing and ever-changing company. We have high ambition and we continuously invest in the newest innovation. Plus, we have really dedicated and cool customers that I get to work with every day!

Splunk's vision is "A world where data provides clarity, elevates discussion and accelerates progress". How does your work contribute to this? 

My team and I help customers identify unanswered questions and key challenges their organisation faces. We work to help them understand how to make sense of their own data. We are always aiming to maximize the value out of customer data to support their main objectives across all work centers.  

Splunk's mission is to "remove the barriers between data and action, so that everyone thrives in the Data Age". What does this mean to you? 

I want to ensure everyone is able to have a data driven approach to any decision being made. Splunk easily shows our product users how they can read and correlate their data into answers and action based solutions.

Which Splunk Value (Innovative, Fun, Disruptive, Open, Passionate) resonates most with you? 

I love all our values (and I think this is key when picking your employer! If a company has values that don't resonate with you, I would suggest working elsewhere!):

• Having fun while being at work has always been important to me. 
• Passion for what I do and sales especially is just a natural part of my life. 
• Innovation is what is expected from the Splunk platform.
• Being in an environment where you are encouraged to be open is key for both you and the company's success. 

All our values are also seen in our customer interactions, and Splunk sees our commercial relationship more as a future partnership. 

Anything else that you'd like to share that you haven't already? 

At the moment I'm involved in a diversity project in the Nordics which is close to my heart. It comes natural to me and it's related to a global initiative at Splunk. 

Building organisations with diverse cultures is very important and has always been an interest for me. It’s been truly fascinating seeing the evolution from when I started in this industry, as inclusion across the globe was not a heavy focus for most employers. I have had so many experiences which reinforce the need for diversity to be on the top of the list for any employer today!

What can we find you doing outside of work? Hobbies or interests? 

I am a social bird so my hobbies and interests are a little bit of everything! Rarely would you find me sitting at home (I don’t even own a tv!) and am (before covid) you could always find me out and about meeting people!

I love to travel, preferably somewhere where I can meet one of many of my friends living abroad and have an opportunity to do lots of diving.

I have played sports all my life, and I love dancing! The last course I took was in salsa but since I visited Brazil I think samba should be the next one I learn, it looks epic!

If you’d like to join us, check out Splunk Sales Jobs or visit Splunk Careers to learn more about bringing your passion to Splunk.