Welcome to Documill – Cassandra Saikkonen

Documill has seen considerable growth during the past year and with new business come new faces. In this series, we will turn the spotlight on those who have chosen to join Documill to further their careers. 

You can’t grow a business without sales – so it was only a matter of time before Documill needed to bring on board a Head of Sales. With Cassandra Saikkonen, we’ve done just that.  

Despite her Finnish last name, courtesy of her husband, she’s very Mexican indeed. She’s originally from Mazatlán, Sinaloa. A place she describes as “an incredible place to grow up – about 800k people and very touristic. There’s a beach – and the most beautiful pink and purple sunsets. The food is among the best in Mexico and the people are all very open and friendly and lovely. Life there feels like a vacation. There are the palm trees, the beach, the sand, the ocean, the boardwalk. Some would say it’s the center of the universe.” 

Ambitions at Documill

Cassandra isn’t the only new sales professional to join Documill. She joined together with Account Managers Juuso and Mark, who will be tasked with taking care of existing customers as well as finding (and landing) new ones.  

However, before we go looking for new business, Cassandra’s initial focus will be on getting everyone settled in into a new team structure and understanding what on earth we’re doing at Documill. Her first challenge was to make sense of our extensive documentation; with over a decade of dealing with documents documented, it may make it hard to see the trees through the forest. Still, she’ll manage just fine. 

Cassandra: “In the beginning, everything came at me all at once and then at the same time I was getting to know the people and learning about their strengths and their motivations. Ultimately, the work will come down to time management and understanding the high-level strategy for the company so that I and my team can execute that.”

“In my previous company, I felt like I learned everything that I needed to learn. I did what I was hired to do. It took me 6 years and in the end the company got successfully acquired. Now I want to replicate that success and I want to transfer all of what I’ve learned to Documill.” 

 The fact that she’s ambitious, and determined, also shines through in the fact that she’s studying for a Master’s degree in “Strategizing in Organizations” at the same time. Her role at Documill perfectly enables her to put theory into practice right away. 

It’s not all about business

With so much going on, you’d be forgiven to think she sleeps at the office. Luckily, Cassandra does find time to unwind and relax. For her, that means getting creative either with a pen or with a spatula. 

“I’m very creative and artistic, and cooking is like an art to me” – Cassandra Saikkonen 

After moving to Finland, Cassandra realized how much she missed the food she grew up with and started her own cooking adventure. Since the bar was set so high by the quality cuisine at home, it meant that she took this avenue very seriously as well. These days everything must be made from scratch and in exactly the right way to recreate those authentic flavors that remind her of the palm trees and pink sunsets.  

As for the best Mexican restaurant in Finland, that’s Tacos and Tequila in Tampere, according to her. Though they can’t hold a candle to her own Baja-style fish tacos. “There’s a reason I make my own tacos and my including the handmade tortillas,” she adds while smiling. And it’s not because of the distance to Tampere.  

Welcome to Documill, Cassandra, we’re delighted to have you on board.