EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT: Megan Lounsbury

John: All right, John McMillan with Vyral Marketing here with another Employee Spotlight. Today we have Megan Lounsbury and her dog! What’s the dog’s name?

Megan: This is Phoebe. She is our hall monitor here.

John: Keeping people in line downstairs?

Megan: Yes, absolutely.

John: Cool. So, how long have you been here, Megan?

Megan: I’ve been here about four months. I started in April.

John: Why did you decide to come work at Vyral?

Megan: Actually, I know Allison McMickell, our manager here. I had heard about it before a couple years ago, actually, on Facebook. It didn’t really register then. I was living in Spain for a while and when I came back, a friend said, “You should talk to Allison. She works at a really great marketing firm and you should try working there.” So I called, got an interview, and here I am.

John: Fantastic. Why don’t you describe your first impression?

Megan: My first impression of Vyral was that it was very laid back. I came in and we had a foosball table, a basketball hoop, and everyone was young and just wearing everyday clothes, which was cool. I just like the young culture. It’s nice to not go in and feel like you’re the new person there, you know? Maybe people are older than you or younger than you, but it’s just not intimidating.

John: Why after four months have you decided to stick it out and stay with Vyral?

Megan: I’m learning a lot. Every day I learn something new. The people are so great and welcoming, and everyone is helpful. They want you to succeed, you want us to succeed, everyone does. I really just needed some marketing experience, and this is a great place to get started.

John: Great. You mentioned learning a bunch of new stuff; what specifically have you learned since you’ve been here?

Megan: I’ve actually learned about HTML and coding, which I had never dealt with before. We didn’t do any of that in school, or at least I didn’t, and Brent has been really helpful with that. I feel like I’m getting faster at it every day, better at it, and we actually have a coding thing here that I started to join, and I’m going to learn a little bit more about that. Maybe learn some new tricks or something.

John: So you mentioned getting some experience. Where do you think you’re heading with your career, either at Vyral or beyond?

Megan: Hopefully for my career here at Vyral, I can move up to a client manager position. I’m pretty new and we’re not growing as fast as we were, but I hope sometime in the next year or so I can move up to a client manager position. I really would like to work with clients more one-on-one instead of just through email. You can learn more about them, know more about them, and see how everything works on a day-to-day basis as a whole rather than being just a small part.

John: Have you had any breakthroughs in your mindset since you’ve worked here?

Megan: Just learning that maybe not everyone is going to like the work that you do, or that you can’t please everyone. The only thing you can do is do your best work and hope that it’s enough. That was really hard for me because I’m a big people pleaser. I like everyone to be happy with me and like me, but in the work environment, that’s not always going to happen.

John: Why don’t you talk about the difference between this job and jobs you’ve previously held, or jobs that your friends have?

Megan: I worked in eye surgery for a while when I was in college, so that was pretty cool. That was completely different than here. It’s very structured, very scheduled, and all the rules need to be followed to a T. I mean, someone’s eye is on the line. I was also an au pair in Spain, so that was very laid back and a lot of child work. I did some food service work as well - I was a waitress. That’s similar to this job because it involves a lot of teamwork and customer service stuff, so that was awesome. I would just say that here, compared to some of the jobs my friends got out of college, it’s very laid back, you’ve got an opportunity to grow and learn, and I love that it’s kind of a startup company. You can see all of the changes that are happening day to day. When we have our meetings, you’re like, “This is what we were doing. This is what’s wrong. We’re going to change it. If anyone has suggestions, come to me.” That’s awesome, because starting here so fresh out of college it’s nice that you, as part owner, want our opinion. Other places are so set in their ways that they don’t want to hear it. They’re just going to go with what they think is best.

John: Those are things we’re doing well - what could we do better?

Megan: When I started here, training was a little crazy. I was bounced around from person to person every day, so I felt a little overwhelmed at first. But I know that we do have training videos that are coming, so that is going to be awesome for new people that are getting hired. Sometimes, just communication is an issue. If someone is going to be gone, it’s hard. Maybe we need someone to take over the work before we leave instead of just not showing up and leaving that on the rest of the team.

John: Let’s talk about the people. What makes working with the people here at Vyral enjoyable?

Megan: I think my first or second week, I had a group of people come up to me and ask, “Do you want to join the sand volleyball team?” And I was like, “Yes! Thank you, that would be so fun!” I love being included and I like to know the people that I’m working with instead of just coming to work, doing my job, and leaving. I like having a good relationship with people, getting to know them, what makes them tick, how I can help them, and how they can help me. Also, when I first started, my coach, Maddie, was like, “Can anybody help Megan? We need someone to train her.” And people were always volunteering. It was very welcoming. I like the people here a lot. They’re young and they’re my age - it all works.  

John: Do you have any memorable moments since you’ve been working here?

Megan: Probably when downstairs beat upstairs in kickball. But we do have a rematch coming up soon, so we’ll see. Maybe you guys can redeem yourselves.

John: Has there been any time when you guys as a team were working on something and a client was really happy or “wowed”? How did that make you feel?

Megan: Me being the project manager, I don’t have a lot of room to be creative just because the graphics people do our graphics, the video editors get to do any cool stuff in the videos. I kind of just follow templates and give everyone what they want. There are clients that, if you get it to them before or do something extra, they’re like, “Wow, this is great! Thank you so much!” We have a lot of great clients on our team. I also remember the first time I did my full routine without looking at my checklist, I was like “Yes, this is awesome!” I was so happy and then they were happy, and it’s a good feeling to know that you’re helping and actually contributing, and not being a nuisance like you kind of are when you first start.

John: What would you tell someone who’s thinking of working here at Vyral?

Megan: I would say go for it. This is a great place. I enjoy coming to work every day, honestly. I don’t ever feel like, “Ugh, I don’t want to go.” I’m always ready to come to work. My team’s awesome. I love my team and my coworkers. The work’s not bad at all. Once you get the hang of it, it’s great. Things could change every day, but you’re also doing the same thing. There’s a lot of room for growth here. There are a lot of things to learn, and people are happy to help you.

John: That’s great. Thanks, Megan.