Career Close-up is a new video interview series where we chat to senior employees in Ireland’s leading multinationals about their career journeys. This week, we talk to Julie Kinsella, global head of sales development at Asana.
Welcome to episode seven of our new Career Close-up series. In partnership with IDA Ireland, we sit down with senior figures from some of Ireland’s most innovative international companies, to get a sense of their exciting career trajectories.
In our seventh instalment, SiliconRepublic.com editor Jenny Darmody chats with Julie Kinsella, global head of sales development at Asana, who leads teams here in Dublin, across the US, in Japan and in Australia.
Having started working in retail at 15, Julie gained a passion for customer service and hitting targets from a young age. She then went on to study management and marketing, which gave her many practical learnings that she still draws on today.
“That was a very practical course, so work experience gave me a real taste of what it was like to work in the corporate world and some really practical learnings that I still draw on today in my leadership role. So, that was a great foundation for me.”
Being in a global role, Kinsella travels quite a lot. “I could be away for a week to the US every month. But typically, I’ll start some days early for my APAC and Japan teams, I could be on calls around 6am. Some evenings, I’m working with the west coast through to later hours. But I do try to come into the office three days a week. At Asana, we come in on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I really enjoy that. I love being with the team here in Dublin.”
In such a busy role, Kinsella work-life balance can be tricky she says, so she makes a conscious effort to get that right.
“On the days that I can, a couple of days a week, I try and walk my kids to school, and I really enjoy that time with them before their days kick off. I do try and do that as much as possible. And then we try to have dinner as a family a couple of nights a week as well.” She also enjoys the commute to the office from Dún Laoghaire on the dart because she says it gives her a little time to herself.
“It can be tricky. I’ve taken on a lot, I’m also studying at the moment with the Institute of Directors, doing a course in company direction,” she says. “But what I love to do when I have the time is spend time with the kids, hosting other families, getting out for walks with the family, and just spend as much time together as we can.”
As for career learnings, Kinsella says it hasn’t always been plain sailing, and that her career hasn’t always taken a straight line. “I think what I’ve learned from that is that when one door closes, another one often opens. It may not feel like that at the time, but I’ve had some really great learnings throughout my career. Going for promotions and maybe not getting them or hoping that something was going to happen for me work-wise and it didn’t actually transpire, there have been a lot of situations like that. I’ve learned that being able to overcome those challenges is really key.”
Having spent many years working in San Francisco, Kinsella says she was always drawn back to Ireland. “I went from being an SDR to a VP of North America in six years, and my career trajectory was really going in a great direction. But when I had the opportunity to move back to Dublin, I had to just grab it. It was seven years, four roles and two children later. As hard as it was to leave California, I took the opportunity to come back to Dublin.”
And she has no regrets. “It’s such a great place to bring up children. The talent pool is amazing here, the people are wonderful, the restaurants and coffee shops have really upped their game. So, it’s a really wonderful place to live. I live by the coast, and I just love it.”
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