Vyral Employee Spotlight: Maddie Huerter

[Full transcription below]

John: John McMillan here with another Vyral Marketing employee interview. Today, I'm talking with Maddie, who is one of our newer coaches. So you've been in the coaching position for how long, Maddie?

Maddie: About four months now.

John: So what brought you to Vyral Marketing in the first place? Why did you join us here?

Maddie: I had graduated the year before, and was looking to get some experience. On our school website, we have a career site and I saw something for Vyral Marketing. It looked perfect for me and the experience I wanted to get. When I came in for the interview, it just seemed like a right fit. It went really well, and I decided to come on board.

John: Cool. Why don't you describe your first impression?

Maddie: I'm sure this is a really common one, but I would say it was a very laid-back, positive atmosphere. I think the average age of people that work here is around 26, 25. I noticed that, and that's something I wanted, too, just coming out of college. It's kind of nice to work with people your own age, so I really liked that. Right away, I felt welcome, which is really important wherever you work.

John: Okay. So how long have you been here, then?

Maddie: At the end of this month it will be a year, which is crazy.

John: That's great! Why'd you stick around?

Maddie: A big part of it is the people, obviously. Also, at Vyral there's a lot of opportunity to grow, which is big for anyone, especially after getting the experience it was nice to stay around, grow my skills, and move up from a project manager to a coach. That was really awesome, and it attracted me to the company that I could move up that quickly. That was a big one.

John: Okay. So it's been a year. You probably started here right after we got into this space. What do you think about the kind of growth that we're going through? We've added probably 20 people since you've been here.

Maddie: When I first started working here, the project manager position was actually kind of new, too. So once I started, it almost seemed like the number of people in my position doubled, and just the company itself. Last summer, we just grew like crazy. We were getting clients by the day, crushing all of our goals week by week - it's just crazy how fast our company has grown. The amount of new positions that have opened up just opens the door for people to move up. When I started, I think we were at 200 clients and now we're at 456. I feel like it's exploded since I've worked here, which is really good.

John: Cool, okay. So where do you think you're headed with your career here? Obviously you've gotten to the coaching position, but where do you want to go next?

Maddie: I would just hope to move in the direction of being able to help out with Vyral Agency, or with the advertising. I would like to continue growing my skills. Obviously going into the coaching position was huge for me to move up, but I think I would just like to continue in my role as a coach and hopefully expand as much as I can as new opportunities come up. I really want to become just a well-rounded marketing professional.

John: Okay. So going with that, what are different things that you've learned since being here?

Maddie: I think a big one has just been organization. It's a big part of handling a lot of clients, even being a project manager and handling all the work that goes with getting clients launched, emails sent out. Just marketing in general, I've learned so much coming out of college. I've learned a lot about email campaigns, social media, SEO, and things like that. I've learned a lot more about what I learned in school. I've just expanded on that, which is huge. I've just learned so much coming into this company. Even client interaction, learning how to professionally talk with these people and learning things from them. They have questions that come up, and I learn more by finding the answer to those questions.

John: Have you had any breakthroughs in your mindset while working here? Anything like, "I assumed this, but it's actually like this,' or anything like that?

Maddie: Yeah. I keep talking about moving into the coaching position, just because it's a big jump for me, but you kind of assume it's a lot to move into a management position just coming out of college. I assumed it would be tough talking to clients, forming relationships with them and getting to know them, but I love a lot of my clients. I feel like I've grown with them, and we've formed relationships. I'm here to help them on the business side, but we've also formed personal friendships. So it's almost like a partnership, which is nice. I didn't expect that out of it, but I've been really pleasantly surprised with that.

John: That's great. So what were you doing before you came on board here?

Maddie: After I graduated, I waited tables. I did that for half a year. That's when I found Vyral, so I left that job and I was happy to move on.

John: So, this might be a little bit difficult, but in terms of what makes us different from other places you worked - and you can even go, I'm sure a lot of your friends have graduated college and you talk about your jobs, so what makes Vyral different?

Maddie: What I love about Vyral is how open the environment is to talk about issues. Positives, anything. You can bring anything to the table you want to learn more about or think we should change. Everyone's able to give their opinions, and a lot of times those opinions are taken into consideration and we move forward with them. Everyone here really has the chance to voice their opinions and if they want to learn more things about our company or other positions, especially upper management, you guys are awesome. "We'll help you get there, we'll help you do it. We'll help you learn and go in whatever direction you want to go." You guys are also open about, "If you want to move forward in your career and get somewhere else, we're happy to help you guys get there." So I think what's huge is how willing you are to help everyone here be successful.

John: Great. So what could we be doing better as a company?

Maddie: That's a tough one.

John: Better tough than easy, from my seat at least.

Maddie: I think a lot of people want to make more money, but I think that's ultimately up to the person. I was in that position. I think we just need to continue searching for opportunities to help people make more money. A lot of people here are young professionals, but I know everyone always wants to pay off debt or student loans, so I think continuing to explore that option and make sure everyone feels comfortable living life is good. I don't think that's a terrible thing to work on. I'm generally really happy with this company. I think it's awesome. I think anyone would be happy working here, you just kind of have to find your spot. So yeah, I would say that.

John: Great. Okay, let's talk about the people. What do you like about your coworkers?

Maddie: Well, everyone keeps it new every day. It's been kind of fun lately, there's been some pranking going on, which I know you're not too happy about, but- [laughs]

John: Yeah. [laughs]

Maddie: But there's so many people here who have a great sense of humor, which really helps during the work day, especially if you're stressed out. It's nice to just laugh and de-stress. There's so many characters at our company. Even though we're in the bottom floor of our building, it doesn't matter. We still have all our meetings upstairs, and everyone gets a chance to talk.

John: Memorable moments. Do you have like a memorable moment here at Vyral that sticks out?

Maddie: I mean, there's a lot of memorable moments. I would say the first office I was in, I sat with Mike, one of our writers, and a few other project managers. Mike was really into this show called Fish Center. He would update us a lot about that, and it's a really ridiculous show, but at the end of the day on Friday, that was his thing before he'd leave work, and it was just hilarious. And it's right next to your office, so I'm sure you've heard about that.

John: So in the coaching position now, you've gotten a chance to work closely with clients for about 4 months. Can you name a time when you really wowed a client, and how that made you feel?

Maddie: I know Joe Mendoza, he's one of the first clients that I had. At the beginning, he was kind of having a tough time with videos. As we kept going, even just the third video shoot that we had, he started getting it right away. We started getting these video shoots done a lot faster. He was so thankful for that, and I think a big part of it was we changed the style of how he was shooting the videos. He was so thankful for that, and so happy. We also sent out that seller lead recently that Frank wrote, and he was seeing stellar results. He just has been thrilled with our company and how things have been going. There are a lot of different times I could think of, but he's honestly one of the first people that comes to my mind.

John: To expand on this, you're not getting paid any extra if clients do well. When it's your advice, your consultation, different things that you're doing and trying with them, and they're getting results, how does that make you feel?
Maddie: It makes me feel great. A lot of times clients ask, "How can you be so patient? How can you do this all day?" I tell them that I really like seeing people improve. They say, "Oh, sure," but I really do, because it helps both of us out. It helps them get better and more successful. I think that shows in the results, as you get better on camera. There's been times where if we ran out of time I made sure the next day that we schedule for another time that week, just so we can get it done and be consistent. I really do enjoy seeing clients improve. I love being able to help them in any way I can to do that.

John: Cool. All right, so what would you tell someone who's thinking of working at Vyral?

Maddie: I would say be prepared to learn a lot, and take as many opportunities as you can as they come in this company, because there are a lot. You just need to go for it, even if you're really new here. I would also say if you aren't making the money that you want, just hang in there. There are other opportunities, and there is a lot of room to grow in this company, which is great.

John: Great. Who should not work at Vyral Marketing? What are personality traits of people who should probably stay away?

Maddie: Like, a wet blanket. You shouldn't work here. I would just say if you are an unmotivated, lazy person, you should not work at this company. Because we're fast paced.

John: Yes we are. Cool. Well, thanks Maddie.

Maddie: Thank you.