George B. Thomas
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Victoria Harkes does not show up as the loudest voice in the room. She shows up as the person who can walk into a messy situation, stay calm, and figure it out.
In this Women of HubSpot episode, I sit down with Victoria Harkes of Diaz and Cooper to talk about the path that led her into HubSpot work, and the moments that almost knocked her off it. The conversation moves fast, but it stays real.
Career pivots. Identity pressure. Getting fired. Rebuilding.
If you have ever felt like you were forcing yourself to fit a role that did not fit you, Victoria’s story will feel familiar. And if you build in HubSpot, support teams, or lead people, you will walk away with practical clarity and a little more courage than you had five minutes ago.
The moment that changed everything
Victoria did not romanticize her early career. She talked about it like someone who finally gave herself permission to tell the truth. At one point, she was in a role that looked fine from the outside, but it drained her from the inside. She pushed, she tried, she did what she thought she was supposed to do.
Then reality hit hard. The work did not match who she was, and the longer she stayed, the more it cost her.
Her words land because they are simple and unfiltered: “hated it with a fiery passion.” That line is not just about a job. It is about what happens when you ignore your own wiring for too long. When you keep performing instead of building. When you keep chasing approval instead of choosing alignment.
And then another turning point came, one that many people never talk about out loud.
Victoria shared that she has been fired, not once, but twice. Not as a dramatic confession, but as a real data point in the story. Those moments forced her to make decisions fast and to stop pretending a situation would magically improve if she stayed quiet.
What changed everything was not the setback itself. It was the choice that followed.
Victoria stopped trying to force a path that kept fighting her. She moved toward work that rewarded curiosity, problem-solving, and depth. That pivot is where her HubSpot chapter really began.
How she leads, builds, and uses HubSpot
Victoria describes herself as a HubSpot strategist, problem solver, and troubleshooter. And she means it in the most practical way possible. She steps into real business constraints and helps teams build systems that actually work, even when the request sounds impossible.
She discussed everything from tracking parts and operational details to building creative solutions when tools do not naturally integrate.
Her mindset is simple: figure out what matters, then find a way to support it. That is where she shines. Not in theory, but in the reality of deadlines, data gaps, and teams who just want the system to behave.
She also made something clear that every leader needs to hear. Variety is not a nice-to-have for her. It is fuel. She wants work that keeps her learning, stretching, and solving new problems, because that is where she does her best thinking.
When I asked what is exciting her in HubSpot right now, Victoria pulled the conversation into a grounded place. She sees the value of artificial intelligence tools, but she does not treat them like magic. She is watching how they support teams and where they still fall short. She also called out how much more powerful HubSpot has become for service teams and for building helpful resources that scale, like knowledge content that supports customers without adding pressure to your people.
Underneath the tools, her leadership style shows up in how she approaches community. She does not wait until she needs help to build relationships.
She builds connections early, because she knows careers change fast and support matters. Connect with Victoria Harkes on LinkedIn.
The lesson she wants you to carry forward
Victoria’s story keeps circling back to one idea: confidence is not handed to you. It is built. She talked about how external validation can help, but it cannot carry the whole load. You can collect compliments, certifications, and titles, and still feel like you do not belong.
The shift happens when you decide to trust your own experience and stand on what you know. Her line says it best: “It still has to come from within.”
That lesson is bigger than HubSpot. It is about boundaries. It is about identity. It is about choosing work that fits your strengths, rather than shrinking your strengths to fit the work.
It is about finding a community that helps you grow, and refusing to stay in spaces that only measure you by pressure.
