Written by Tom Eldridge

Meraki strives to provide a flexible work environment for working parents. On the Technical Support team, shifts can be arranged to help cater to working parents’ needs, and dialogue between individual contributors and managers is encouraged. Our management teams take the time to understand individual personal situations.

Deepti Padhye and Ana Voilo-Bolos, two key members of our US and UK Tech Support teams respectively, took time out of their busy schedules to discuss themselves, their reasons for choosing a Network Support role with Meraki, and how they manage their day-to-day responsibilities as working parents.

Photo L-R: Deepti Padhye, US Network Support Engineer, and Ana Voilo-Bolos, UK Network Support Engineer

Tell us a little about yourself!

Deepti: I came to the U.S. 9 years ago, primarily for my Master’s in Telecom. I returned to India for a short while, and then came back to the U.S. and got married! I pursued my CCNA, and got a job in Houston, where I spent 4 years. I then received this job opportunity! My son and my family are here with me, and it’s been a month and a half since we relocated from Houston. I don’t drive now, and don’t need to use my car anymore! It’s a different life, and I am liking it.

Ana: I am from Lithuania, and received my degree in IT there. I then went directly to the Czech Republic, as there was a new IBM Global Delivery Center that opened up. I worked mainly on Windows platforms, but I then switched to networking which made more sense for me. In University, I was studying a Cisco Academy course and it was very useful. I spent some time in the Czech Republic at AT&T and IBM, and then moved to the U.K. as a NOC Engineer at a small MSP Company, where I provided support for Windows and networking. Prior to my move, I married and had a son, and decided to move to London, as my sister lives here. Initially, I struggled to find a role that gave me the opportunity to have a flexible work schedule like Meraki provides.

Why did you choose Meraki?

Deepti: A lot of reasons really! I worked in Houston at a service provider, and I worked with lots of products. When Katelynn (Support recruiter) connected with me, I gave it a shot. I really wanted to be closer to my family. I read really good reviews of Meraki on Glassdoor!

Ana: I spoke with many Merakians during the hiring process, which made me feel comfortable and inspired to work with joyful and smart people. I also loved the concept of Meraki and the company values. Meraki was very flexible in providing me the kind of shift that worked for my personal life, too. Managers can be approached freely and are very understanding of personal situations.

How do you balance your personal life with your working commitments?

Deepti: Where I worked before, I was on-call every few months, and I didn’t like it. I worked a lot of maintenance after-hour windows, and it took away from my personal life/family time. This was one of the main reasons that prompted me to take this role. Balancing work and life commitments can be challenging, but Meraki provides good flexibility for working hours; and here we are supporting the product, which doesn’t have maintenance windows like I was required to do in my previous company. On weekends, I dedicate 100% of me to my family!

Ana: When I am out of the office, I cherish time with my family. It’s good that I have weekends free to spend time with family, and if there are any problems, my manager is always understanding of what comes up for me. We have a lot of offsite events at Meraki too, which is good for interacting with our team here!

Do you have a role model in your life?

Deepti:  I met Amanda (a recent Network Support Engineer new hire) who has a 4-month old son, and she is working. I look at all working parents as good role models, they are working hard and giving their best—if they can make it work, I can too!

Ana: My sister is a good role model for me, and I look up to her. She has been a great support for me in my life and she also combines her family/work commitments well, even with two kids. It can be hard to manage a career and family life, but essentially, compromise is important. My current environment and surroundings enable me to work efficiently.

Thanks to Deepti and Ana for sharing their personal stories.

Browse open positions at meraki.com/jobs and apply today!