eLife Employees Planning & Management Consultant Joined the company in 2015

Main Job at eLife

As a consultant, I am in charge of project direction which facilitates the smooth running of the project.
My responsibilities vary from community management (owned/social) to various campaign/operation planning. Although the workload and scope of work differ depending on the project, I am involved in developing and managing the client and team while providing and executing consultation services.

Why did you join eLife?

When one of my former employers learned that I was leaving to move to a rural area for family reasons, he introduced me to eLife. My two daughters were still in preschool at the time, so I was very grateful to be able to continue working from home.

I remember thinking to myself that I wanted to join this company no matter what.
This is because after talking with the people who worked for eLife,
I felt that everybody was extremely unique and competent, as well as their work was interesting.

What were some of the challenges you faced when you joined the company?

Having worked as a consultant at a department store for 10 years, eLife was a continuous culture shock for me at first. What I found particularly difficult was the transition from work mode to enjoying my personal life. Although telecommuting and remote working have become a hot topic in recent years, eLife has been encouraging this way of working since the company was founded, so from time to time I have thought to myself about how I should manage my time.

I feel that you need an independent mind to work in eLife as
eLife values each individual's method of working. You must always think about how you can improve, how to increase productivity and how you should always be aware of the issue at hand.

The scope of work for each individual varies according to the capacity, ability, and skills of the individual at that time. This is because the characteristics and scope of work for each project can differ sharply. Initially, I felt pressure concerning this way of thinking. Conversely, however, if you do your best in your own way, you will be evaluated positively and your motivation will increase.
In other words, I feel every day that it is up to me to turn hardship into confidence.

ONE DAYA Day at eLife

6:00a.m.-7:00a.m. Wake up, prepare documents, etc.: Since there is a lot of communication with project teams and client correspondence during the day, early mornings are more efficient. In addition, there are times when I am unable to work in the evenings due to housework or other commitments, so my morning hours are especially valuable.
-9:00 a.m. Housework, preparing the family for departure, walking the dog, etc.: I have two elementary school children, so mornings are especially busy. I also love dogs so much that I could say it is my hobby, so spending time with my dogs is very important to relieve stress.
- noon Mainly for communication with the management team, internal meetings, and preparation for meetings with clients.
noom-1:00p.m. Lunch, housework, etc.
-6:00 p.m. Meetings with clients and internal meetings for assigned projects as needed: Basically, all meetings are conducted remotely. However, we may come to the office or visit the client's site for a meeting if we determine that a face-to-face meeting would be smoother.
- 7:00 p.m. While preparing dinner and doing housework, I try to briefly organize the next day's tasks in my mind.

What do you feel you have grown since joining the company?

I was not originally familiar with marketing or digital commerce, but through on-the-job training, I have been able to learn widely from sales to operation while observing the work of excellent senior staff.
Rather than basing its work on so-called marketing industry manuals, eLife is unique in that members in various areas of responsibility, including sales, systems, production, and operations, work together to think about and implement what the best proposal is for each client.
As you gain experience in this environment, you will gradually acquire not only general knowledge but also the ability to make proposals and put them into practice.

What would you like to try at eLife?

To be honest, our corporate culture welcomes any challenge, no matter how big or small, so I think I can do anything if I want to (laughs). In my work, there are no restrictions on the scope of my role, and I am often allowed to take on sales-related challenges while managing projects.

The company culture also places a great deal of emphasis on what people do in their time outside of work, so I believe that people are challenging themselves in all kinds of ways, including hobbies and self-education.

Previous Job

At the department store where I joined after graduating, I was in charge of foreign customers, managing the duty-free counter and customer service sales throughout the entire building.