Working From Home With: Vera Koch, VP of Global Marketing at eSalon

We absolutely love everything that eSalon has accomplished this year, including winning LA Business Journal’s 2020 award for Beauty Brand of the Year. Today we got the chance to chat with their VP of Global Marketing, Vera Koch. Vera shares what she has learned during the work-from-home switch, including some really great personal time insights.

What is your company’s work-from-home (WFH) policy for COVID?

All employees who can work-from-home will continue to do so until at least Q2/2021. Due to the sudden switch, many employees did not have a home office set-up. To help, we have provided all employees with the tools needed to work properly and comfortably at home.

For our production and R&D employees who cannot work from home, we’ve implemented several safety measures to ensure we meet all COVID-19 requirements. This includes temperature checks when entering the office, facemasks, gloves, air purifiers, several hand sanitizing stations and new physically separated, semi-enclosed packing stations.

Did you have any WFH policies before COVID? 

Yes. Our policy allowed employees to work from home two days each month. Employees could split this time between multiple days, working with their team lead to coordinate schedules.

Any successes/insights that you’ve gained from the WFH switch?

Yes, I definitely see a lot of benefits. I set aside about one hour every day because I don’t have to commute, and I love to have that extra time. I find it very effective to have a set start time and breaks during the day. My husband works from home as well, so we also do our lunch and coffee breaks together. We’ve also invested in designated and well-organized workspaces for each of us. This arrangement has proven effective and helps us to cut down on distractions and be more effective.

What are the major challenges you’ve had since switching to WFH and how did you overcome them?

I love our eSalon headquarters in El Segundo. Our open floor plan is designed to encourage a collaborative culture and interaction, and I miss seeing my team in person every day. Pre-Covid we did a lot of fun things like lunches, team building events, or creative brainstorming sessions together. In addition, with eSalon expanding, my team has grown from 8 to 22 team members. So, it takes a conscious effort, coordination, and attention to stay connected. Zoom, Slack, Jira, and Google Documents work best for us to stay organized.

Every Monday morning we all connect for a team touch base. Every team member briefly shares their biggest success from last week, their most memorable moment from the weekend and their top priorities for the coming week. Celebrating and sharing our successes boost confidence and helps everyone in the group realize how much we can accomplish as a team; we acknowledge successes, rather than just rushing on to the next task. These memorable moments help us stay connected on a more personal level. We share fun anecdotes, tips, or memories. Moments are not always positive, so if a team member is going through a difficult time, they’re able to share what’s on their mind – it’s not always easy, but important for us to create a safe space. When we’re all in the office together, it’s much easier to notice when someone’s feeling stressed and to check in with them, offer support, and find the right way to approach them. Last but not least, sharing our top priorities for the next week is a fun way to ensure everyone is maintaining focus on the individual and team goals.

What does your typical WFH day look like now?

My daughter and I take time to play together in the morning. I am focused on work all day, so these moments we have together are important and help us bond as mother and daughter. I also think that creative play is one of the most fun and inspiring ways to start the day.

Then I start my workday by taking a few minutes to review my top priorities for the day. I always end my day by writing down the most important tasks for the next day, and I make sure to pick up top priorities in the morning and avoid getting distracted. Only after checking my top priorities, I take a look at my emails and start my first Zoom call.

In the evenings, I love reading bedtime stories to my daughter. She is at an age where she is learning to build friendships, so we read a lot of stories about the importance of empathy, kindness, and courage. I also love to do spinning or yoga to relax. I am usually an active, social person and I love traveling, so during this time it’s been helpful to spend time outside on the weekends. The best place to find us on weekends is at the beach, building sand castles and exploring. 🙂

You can find Vera on LinkedIn.