Louise Breccione-Mattuci is a real foodie. She lives on a property of five acres outside of Melbourne where she can grow her own food, has a menagerie of animals – chickens, ducks, sheep, a dog – and makes salami annually with her Italian husband. She’s also the Global Enterprise Manager at NetApp, who offer cloud storage services, and we spoke to her about how she balances all her passions.
Thriving in a sales strategy role
As the Global Enterprise Manager, Louise leads her team to achieve the goals and targets for their enterprise client – a large bank. Prior to joining NetApp three years ago, Louise spent a number of years in sales management roles. She moved away from that due to and the distance she felt from customers.
“I made a decision that I wanted to find a company that allowed me to manage an account from a sales strategy perspective, and that had a suite of products that enabled me to sell. I also took a long hard look at the culture, because that is very important to me.”
Louise is proud of NetApp’s product suite: “NetApp once upon a time was a hardware company. We’ve evolved and transformed, and now the organisation is more of a software/cloud company. NetApp has evolved at the pace that our customers need us to.”
In her team, Louise knows that success isn’t always measured just in dollars. She is proud of her team and their mature approach to their client. She works closely with a Technical Strategist, joking that her DNA is sales. There are onsite residents, specialists who come into projects when required, a program manager and professional services who are physically involved in delivering the solution.
“We don’t just sell a box and disappear. We actually sell an outcome and get it up and running.”
Choosing a company for its culture
Culture was a key criteria for Louise when she was deciding whether to join NetApp. Now she’s surrounded by talented, educated, highly energised people. “Everyone is easy to get along with, helpful, and here to make a success of everything they do.”
They have a culture of innovation at NetApp, and they have been successful in evolving to meet market needs. Louise puts that success down to the people.
“I honestly think it’s the people and passion. It’s led by the strategic direction from the top, and it works – it resonates with customers.”
Louise gets a lot of satisfaction from her work and wanted to work somewhere the culture would support her to thrive. She found that in the team at NetApp.
“Everybody works together to help each other succeed. There’s a very good can-do attitude and it starts with my manager; he was absolutely an element that attracted me to the company. The culture is that you’re not alone, there’s a team here to help you. It’s non-competitive – it really is a great feeling of people enabling people to do their job. They absolutely give me every chance, resource and everything I need to get what I need done.”
NetApp is a company that sets people up for success. Louise has been supported in her time there, and when she was new to the team people would regularly offer to assist while she was learning.
Louise has the flexibility to work from home, work interstate so she can see her daughter, or work in the office. NetApp have Zoom-free Fridays, and support remote workers with home ergonomics checks, additional pandemic days off, and have done everything they can to make people feel comfortable and connected.
Louise herself prefers to work in the office, create connections and see people face to face.
Did you know NetApp is open to discuss flexible working options at the interview stage and Work anywhere (remotely) is one of them?
Find out how else NetApp supports their employees’ professional development.
Career tips and figuring out what you want
Louise has taken a journey through her career to determine what she wanted to do and what she wanted from a workplace. She loves the sales role and appreciates that at NetApp she can have a thriving career as a sales specialist.
Now she is proud of the aligned thinking and ability to have a unified conversation with her customer at NetApp. She understands customers’ challenges and works with her team to determine how best to support the client.
We asked Louise for her career advice to people on their journey and she shared:
- Understand what you want. “Figure out what you really want to do, and don’t let your ego get in the way. Everybody shouldn’t think they need to be a manager as that’s not always your strength.”
- Find a culture where you fit. “Find your tribe. Find where you fit in, feel at home, feel welcome and have the opportunity to be successful.”
- Know why you’re doing it. “Be really clear about what you want out of your workplace, whether that’s financial reward, or friends.”
As NetApp continues to grow and provide new opportunities, and in a team that is positive and supportive, Louise has found exactly what she needs at work.
