#OurNewNormal: Raquel and Romina

It is clear that a lot of things changed throughout 2020, and that people have been working on what their ‘new normals’ look like. So, we decided to share a some of these stories. You can check out Raquel Sanchez Martín and Romina Crepaldi’s below.

#OurNewNormal: Raquel Sanchez Martín

“I have not traveled since the first week of March 2020,” said Raquel Sánchez Martín, an EMEA Clinical Programs manager.

Since the pandemic hit Spain, Raquel has been working from her home office in Valladolid, the capital of the autonomous community of Castile and León in the north of the country.

She used to travel on business around half of her working time. While some months were busier than others, in general, Raquel would spend at least a couple of weeks a month away from her home.

She regularly attended medical congresses all over Europe, and during these events, Raquel would nurture her relationships with customers through face-to-face interactions, and the connection would continue on after as well.

“Now, it is a bit more challenging to keep all this up now that I cannot see the customers anymore,” Raquel said.

A lot of things are very different now since the pandemic. For example, all educational events have been canceled, postponed, or moved to a virtual platform. It is practically a brand-new world with new settings, new requirements, and new IT infrastructures that are needed, along with the increased amount of work that goes into the organization.

“I believe Cook is responding by working really hard to arrange more conferences and meetings in the virtual world,” Raquel said.

Before the pandemic, when she was not traveling on business, Raquel would work from her home office, which made working remotely during COVID-19 a relatively easy transition for her.

Keeping energy levels high

Like many others at Cook and around the world, her perception and use of time was affected by this long period of standstill. But even with all of the changes in her life, Raquel found new ways to keep her energy levels high, to motivate herself, and to look after herself as well.

Before starting her workday, Raquel exercises early in the morning. If the weather is good enough, she tries to run outside at least a couple of days a week. During the lockdown, she discovered fitness channels, too.

“Now, I am afraid we cannot find any excuses anymore with this whole virtual world!” Raquel said with a laugh.

After her morning exercise, she continues working until about 5:00-6:00 pm, depending on the calls and the number of tasks to be completed that day. Then, when her work day ends, she tries to make some time to relax.

As a very outdoorsy person, Raquel has found it hard to be in lockdown for so long. While Spanish citizens are allowed to travel, there are several restrictions in place where Raquel lives. Because of this, a lot of her outdoor plans are still on hold, but she is looking forward to them happening, hopefully in the near future.

“I miss you, folks.”

Previously, Raquel and her colleagues would meet quite often for work, at least twice a month. Over the years, they got to know each other on personal levels and became close.

“What I miss the most in this whole situation, is my colleagues,” Raquel said. “We spend a lot of time at work and we build relationships that are important to us, and so I miss those people and how much we would laugh when we shared the same location.”

Like many other teams in Cook, Raquel and her colleagues have virtual calls from time to time, but like a lot of people, she still misses the physical interactions that they used to have.

However, even with the distance between coworkers, she believes that a good atmosphere at work, which they have worked hard to maintain throughout the pandemic, is directly related with productivity and commitment with the company.

“Our relationships within Cook are very valuable to me,” Raquel said. “I have always had the opportunity to work with knowledgeable people and learn a lot from them, and I like to be part of a team because I can help others and get helped too.”

#OurNewNormal: Romina Crepaldi Costigan

Before the health emergency began in Ireland, Romina Crepaldi Costigan used to work from our EMEA Support Centre in Limerick. Like many Cook employees around the world, her work location changed as the COVID-19 pandemic worsened.

For the last seven months, Romina has been working from her son Luca’s former room. She shares it with her husband, Bobby, who is an IT engineer for another multinational company.

“I have been healthy and safe, and I have been able to do anything that was needed or planned work-wise,” Romina said. “I am lucky, I know it.”

Romina moved to Ireland more than two decades ago, when she left her family in Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of the northeastern regions of Italy. So when the pandemic changed the way people communicated with each other all around the world, Romina did not experience too much of a difference.

“I am used to talking to my relatives and friends via webcam. I have been doing it for so many years,” she said. “For me, the ‘new normal’ was already my normal. Over the years, we have shared celebrations and all kinds of news with each other virtually.”

“We found very good solutions to tackle this dearth.”

Thanks to her previous experience with long-distance relationships (and thanks to the availability of a stable internet connection in Ennis, the town where she lives), Romina finds that working from home has, overall, been a pretty positive experience so far.

Her interactions and relationships with her Cook colleagues have been growing stronger since the health crisis began in Ireland. They have regular virtual meetings to stay connected.

“The other coordinators and I have a daily 15-minute call,” Romina said. “We go through a checklist of actions first, but we also keep the call if no agenda is available for that specific day, to talk.”

Along with this, every two weeks, they have a virtual coffee session in which they share social and personal updates with one another.

“I obviously miss the incidental interactions that would punctuate our daily office routine; however, we found very good solutions to tackle this dearth, and we managed to keep in touch with each other, no matter how geographically distant we are,” Romina said.

When travel restrictions were lifted in Ireland, Romina and other colleagues met for a cup of coffee outside the office and relished in the in-person connection.

“A result of my new normal at home.”

As a mother of three, Romina’s children (Luca, 12; Lara, 8; and Rocco, 4) have often been on her mind during the pandemic.

“I noticed that my children went through behavioral changes for a while,” Romina said. “For instance, my youngest was emotionally rattled when his kindergarten closed down and he remained homebound.”

“The goal for me as a parent has been to help ease their discomfort, to make the new normal more bearable for my children,” she said.

With everything that has happened, and everything unknown ahead, Romina remains steadfast in her gratitude.

“I have been feeling more productive and focused at work, and I know this is a result of my new normal at home. I am grateful I can be present for my family, too,” Romina said.

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