Sara Varela Redondo has cooked up an exciting career working with people and technology to help the planet. Her love and respect for nature and the outdoors paired with her technological know-how have yielded the perfect recipe for success as a product manager at ReCollect.<\/p>\r\n
Behind the scenes at ReCollect, Sara works between developers and users, \u201cbasically just checking that things work and that, you know, what we developed is what people \u2026 actually want.\u201d<\/p>\r\n
Like many folks, she begins her workday making sure everything is working properly and that customers are not having any issues with their tools. She is still relatively new to the ReCollect team, so she also spends some time collaborating with coworkers, learning the ropes, and getting up-to-speed on everything ReCollect and its parent company, Routeware<\/a>, have to offer.<\/p>\r\n Sara holds a master\u2019s degree in essentially the usability of technology, and a bachelor of engineering in telecommunications engineering, but she landed her role at ReCollect by chance, she says.<\/p>\r\n The Spain native had worked in biometrics and enjoyed working in technology, but when she moved to Canada, she left the industry and worked as a chef.<\/p>\r\n \u201cI came here (to Whistler, British Columbia) 12 years ago just (to) do a ski season and just kind of, like, take a break, and it’s been 12 years,\u201d Sara says. \u201cI haven’t really moved; (I) just came here and was like, oh, this is awesome \u2014 I’m staying here!\u201d<\/p>\r\n While in Whistler, she changed jobs a few times, but nothing seemed to be the perfect fit. One of her best friends is a recruiter, and told her he had found a job that had her \u201cname on it.\u201d<\/p>\r\n \u201cI was like, no, no, no \u2014 I’m not ready,\u201d she says. After looking into it, though, she thought, \u201coh my God \u2014 this actually sounds amazing. So, yeah, here we are.\u201d<\/p>\r\n While she had always enjoyed working in technology, she says its purpose or the end result of its usage never quite aligned with her values. With ReCollect, \u201cit’s the opposite. It’s like, oh my God, it\u2019s actually something that I really agree with and I really want to work with, and I feel like my work is doing something for the environment, for our world, for our society,\u201d she says.<\/p>\r\n \u201cI’m super happy to be here.\u201d<\/p>\r\n Spain, Sara says, doesn\u2019t have a very good recycling culture. \u201cThere is a lot of, like, skepticism,\u201d she says. \u201cHere, I find it different\u2026I live in the forest basically,\u201d she says, \u201cso you get a lot more conscious about that.\u201d<\/p>\r\n She also is a very outdoorsy person, so recycling, reducing her waste as much as possible, and being more aware of what she is purchasing and what it is wrapped in comes more naturally to her.<\/p>\r\n \u201cI guess it’s driven by the fact that I want to have this outside,\u201d she says, gesturing to lush trees. \u201cAnd the winters are still being winters and not having fires and everything. I want to continue playing outside in a place that is not full of garbage and is not too hot.\u201d<\/p>\r\n