Each week, we are bringing forward the humans behind the Signol app - they're a bunch of incredibly talented and diverse people that we hope you'll be pleased to meet. In this eleventh blog post, get to know Vanessa Munteanu, our Marketing Manager.

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Hi Vanessa, let’s start with your background before Signol.

Before graduating with my PR & Communications degree, I was working as an online editor for an app, and then for a lifestyle magazine.

At 22 years old I moved to London, during a boom period of the UK tech scene, with lots of startups sprouting up. I volunteered at a growth hacking event where I met my first boss, and then started working as a community manager for a creative AI business. As their first full-time team member not working on the product I wore many hats and witnessed all that goes into growing a tech-startup. After over 3 years of travelling the world and hustling for growth, I saw the highs and lows of running and working in a small startup.

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So, how did you get involved in Signol?

I met one of the co-founders at a networking event, and a few years later applied for a position. I was really intrigued by Signol’s mission. The company had just four employees back then, and it was certainly a big challenge, but I loved every second of it. 

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How has your role at Signol evolved over the past 2 years?

I just had my three year work anniversary at the beginning of the month, hooray! When I started I was doing the business admin and accounting, so there wasn’t much room for creativity. Over the years we’ve automated processes and have welcomed a brilliant dedicated ops team (Chris, Evie) to lead the charge on these critical processes.

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In 2022 the team had taken Singol into new markets and continued to grow. With a fresh COO (Tash) and CCO (Gavin) the processes and policies got stronger, the company culture developed beautifully, and I could step back into my creative shoes as the first Marketing employee at Signol. Now I’m working closely with the sales team (Gavin, Michael) and with our great comms expert Flora, and I feel like there’s lots of space to grow and execute! 

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Marketing is a very broad term, so what is it that you’re currently focusing on?

Indeed, the Marketing sector spans a plethora of activities, some more creative, others more analytical. I’m focusing on social media management, events and partnerships, and designing marketing materials to be precise.

We’ll always be guided by the audience and the landscape when developing our strategy and planning. It can be tricky to build a breath-of-fresh-air brand, but good timing and rigorous market understanding goes a long way. 

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Can you have a work-life balance in start-ups? What role does Signol play in it?

I didn’t prioritise having that balance in the past, and it eventually backfired in the form of burnout. Signol’s culture has matured during my time here, and I appreciate working in an environment where people can safely express themself and their boundaries, celebrate achievements, and understand the value in failure.

I feel lucky to be part of this brilliant team; my health has been a challenge recently, and it has been wonderful to have such a supportive work-family behind me. We treat each other fairly, and with dignity.

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What role does Marketing play for Signol right now?

Our marketing ensures that those in need of our solution hear about us.

It’s also about building trust and explaining how Signol works to improve their fuel efficiency, reduce their carbon footprint, and save them money.

Signol is a no-brainer solution to saving carbon emissions, and there’s solid scientific proof of that. So we’re focusing on getting the word out there and helping provide potential clients with the information they need so we can decarbonise even faster. 

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Finally, any messages for businesses out there looking for a climate solution?

Businesses can feel overwhelmed by the environmental solution landscape, and there’s a lot waiting for ‘the next innovation’ or the single perfect solution. I’d say, there’s simply no need to wait for the next innovation in any sector. There are brilliant tried and tested solutions out there now, helping decarbonise hard to abate industries today. 

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Finally, here's a little trivia with Vanessa: