People Behind Visier: Paula Russell

Name: Paula Russell
Title: Event Manager
Residence: Vancouver, BC
Hometown: Dublin, Ireland 

Meet Paula Russell, Visier’s Event Manager! Paula has been at Visier for almost three years, planning and executing on various company events, which includes anything from employee events, health and wellness programs, sales training sessions, games tournaments, company-wide events, incentive trips, and more. Her goal is to create meaningful experiences for our employees and strategically align our events to our company goals—she embodies Visier’s Be Proud value by hosting great events for Vizzies! 

Hi, Paula! Let’s start off with some work questions. What motivates you in your job? 

I like to create interactive, engaging experiences for people whether it’s learning-based or in a social context! I truly believe there is value in creating connections and shared experiences no matter what the objective is.

What’s important to you about people analytics?

I have always been a big believer that knowledge is power, and when data is sourced correctly, you cannot go wrong. In event management, it’s important to make data-driven decisions so you can create experiences and initiatives that are specific to your audience. 

What’s most exciting about your job?

Pre-COVID (and hopefully post-COVID), I got to do some travel for site visits and ran out-of-town events. Not only do I get to scope out awesome locations for our team and stay in hotels and basically live out a Kardashian lifestyle, in my spare time, I get to experience different places, cultures, and people which is a pretty great thing to do because of my job!

What’s your favourite Visier memory?

August All-Hands in 2019 because it was the first company-wide event I planned for Visier. It was the first time I got to meet everybody in-person because they all flew into Vancouver. Seeing everyone playing like kids in Stanley Park is one of the highlights of my career at Visier to date, closely followed by watching some of our executives on their knees racing armadillos at SKO in Dallas in 2020.  

Now switching to some personal questions. What’s one hobby you’d love to get into?

Solo skydiving! I’ve been tandem skydiving a couple of times and while I can’t fully explain the level of adrenaline you feel when you’re falling through the sky, I can say, it’s really incredible. After doing my last jump over the Rockies, I now think that it’s the perfect way to sightsee, so why not learn so I can do it everywhere I go?

What book are you reading now?

I have blown off books for True Crime podcasts and shows lately, but I just started “The Burnout Epidemic” by Jennifer Moss as I am busy building out our Health & Wellness program for next year. This book focuses on helping companies create anti-burnout strategies based on prevention and not perks. Perks are great, and Visier has some of the best, especially around health and wellness, but after a turbulent couple of Covid years I want to try to build a program of real value that can help our employees in a different way….so that’s worth missing a few murder podcasts. 

What’s your dream travel destination? 

New Zealand. I would love to do a road trip across the islands because I think it is one of the most beautiful places on the planet. It’s green like Ireland and picturesque with oceans and mountains like British Columbia..It’s the perfect combination of the two places I call home. 

What was your dream career as a kid, and does it relate to what you’re doing now? 

Until I was teenager I always wanted to sing! Since I’m working in event management now, I guess you could say that I just like to entertain and make people smile! 

What is your favourite dish? 

My mam’s Sunday dinner. She pulls out all the stops with roast chicken, roast potatoes, stuffing, gravy, carrots, peas, and her strawberry and kiwi topped pavlova for dessert. She makes it for my birthday every time I go home to Ireland—whether it’s my birthday or not! 

Last question. What’s the best advice you were ever given? Who was it from?

“It costs nothing to be kind or polite so you should always be both” – Margaret Russell (my mam)

My parents raised me, my brother,  and my sisters on this value. It’s important to always say please, always say thank you, and always treat people with kindness regardless of who they are or how they treat you. Since getting older I think they were unknowingly preparing me for the negotiation and conflict resolution side of my job as I have been told that people find it very hard to argue with me when I am nicely telling them the ways in which they are wrong. So I guess the advice has served me well.