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: John McMillan here with another Vyral Marketing Employee Spotlight. Today we have Ashlee Boyce, a video editor who has been here close to a year, probably. Ashlee: Yep, I started here last November, so it’s been close to nine months now.
John: So, let’s go back to November. Why did you decide to join Vyral Marketing? Ashlee: Well, I graduated from UNO in May 2015 and, like any college student I guess, you just start putting your resume out there. Everywhere else wants two-plus years of experience, and you guys are taking people to give them that experience, so here I am.
John: Cool. Why don’t you describe your first impression? Ashlee: Well, I was nervous because it was my first big girl job, I guess. When I first walked into the office, Laura wasn’t here yet, so we didn’t have like a front desk or anything, so I just walked down the hallway and eventually saw your office and someone like texted you for me, so it seemed chill.
John: After nine months, why are you still here with us? Ashlee: I’m definitely learning a lot as I go. When I first started, there was a learning curve because I saw you had to use After Effects and stuff, so I gave myself a crash course in animation so I could do my own motion graphics. I enjoy the people I work with. I’m still learning things with different programs and I enjoy it. I can bring my dog to work, so that’s cool.
John: Where do you think you’re headed with your career, whether that’s here at Vyral or beyond? Ashlee: I don’t know. I have so many ideas of things I want to pursue. I’m an artist and a musician. I’m really involved in the local music scene, so I always thought it would be cool to do graphics and stuff for different bands. I’ve done some T-shirts and at one point I tried starting a magazine about the local music scene, but just by myself it takes three months to do one edition and I don’t really have that kind of time. So I don’t know. I’ll just go where life takes me, I guess.
John: Yeah, that’s totally acceptable. So you mentioned After Effects - what other types of things have you learned at Vyral? Ashlee: One thing I just recently learned was how to do masks in Premiere in case we need to blur something out of the background. So that’s a pretty cool thing to know now. I’ve learned a whole bunch of different things with After Effects, transitions, and different ways to go about different things.
John: Have you had any breakthroughs in your mindset? So maybe you came out of college thinking things went one way but realized they’re another? Working with clients is a big step. Ashlee: Yeah, I’m definitely a lot more confident. I’m not really big into html and coding and stuff, but now that I’ve taught myself animation, I feel like I could pursue that down the road. I would say that’s a breakthrough right there. Going back to the local music scene and some freelance stuff I’ve done, I’ve done motion graphics for some people here and there, whether it be music videos or movies, so that’s been pretty sweet to put in my portfolio.
John: So this is your first job right out of college. What makes us different from places your friends are working or places you have worked in the past? Ashlee: It’s definitely not retail, which is so awesome! I have such a hectic schedule so I didn’t really want to work weekends anymore. I wanted to work a really simple 8 to 4, 9 to 5 schedule. I think you even said in my job interview, this isn’t your typical corporate office space. The people are super laid back and cool, you just fill out a daily report at the end of the day, you don’t have people breathing down your back. I think more employers who do that for their employees get better results than being a jerk, I guess.
John: So, that’s some of the stuff we’re doing well; what could we do better as a company? Ashlee: I feel like no matter where you go, communication can always be worked on. But we still do have pretty good communication, whether it be in Slack or just between our team. I was trained pretty well and then I learned things as I went off on my own. I guess I would say communication. We’re still learning as the company grows.
John: You’ve mentioned the people being chill, so let’s talk about the people a little bit here. What do you like about working with the people here at Vyral? Ashlee: Let’s start with the fact that you’re wearing a dinosaur shirt. That’s cool. Everyone is younger here and pretty much right out of college, still getting that experience to move onto potentially bigger and better careers, so it wasn’t intimidating starting here. I felt like I fit right in. I wasn’t working next to someone who’s 30 years older than me, so it was a comfortable transition.
John: Any specific memorable moments you’ve had while working here at Vyral? Ashlee: Yeah, when I first started in November you wanted people to submit T-shirt ideas for the holidays. I didn’t have that much work yet, so I just messed with an idea. I think I was the only person who submitted an idea, but we wound up putting a graphic I made onto a Vyral sweatshirt, so that was sweet. The Christmas party was very entertaining when people exchanged gifts. Working in the lower level of Vyral, we’ve had some interesting plumbing issues, which just keeps things interesting.
John: Okay. Any time you can remember when you’ve created a video or motion graphic or anything and you’ve gotten feedback from a client, through them or through Maddie, saying that they loved it - can you name an example of that and how that made you feel? Ashlee: Can I name the client? Is that okay?
John: Yeah. Ashlee: For Jeff Mistretta, he needed a new logo and was kind of re-branding himself. Instead of having one of our designers do it, I wanted to do it. Maddie and I would get on calls with him and he would give me some ideas to play off of, and finally we reached a decision and he went with a logo we made him. So that was really cool, and I put that in my portfolio. There’s always certain clients that are kind of picky and you have to work a little more with, and that’s totally cool. It’s good to know what you want. I don’t mind making a video and then emailing it to them. “How's this look? What graphs do you want?” That kind of thing.
John: What would you tell someone who is thinking of working here at Vyral? Ashlee: It’s definitely a good place to come get some job experience, whether you want to be here a couple years and get that experience or move up within the company and become a coach. We’ve got an advertising side of the company that’s growing, too, so there are jobs to move up to. It’s a good place to figure out, “Is this what you want to do with your life? Or do you want to branch off and try new things?”
John: What are some personality traits of someone who probably shouldn’t apply? Ashlee: If you don’t like sitting at a computer all day - which, we can get up and walk around whenever we want. If you don’t like dealing with clients and want to do things just your way, that’s not going to work because when working with clients, you’re going to have to make edits and just deal with it, but it’s all right.
John: That was awesome. Thanks, Ashlee. Ashlee: Thank you.
John: Today we have Kristin Nietzel with us. She is in a junior coaching role, although her team is transitioning right now. Kristin, how long have you been with Vyral?
Kristin: I’ve been here about eight months. I started at the beginning of December.
John: Why did you come aboard in the first place?
Kristin: I was looking for a job with consistent hours. I worked inconsistent hours and really wanted something more consistent. The flexible, nine to five was pretty ideal for me.
John: Describe your first impression.
Kristin: It was really laid back. I came for my interview and actually ended up coming a half hour early. You just told me to come back in a half hour, so I did. Everyone was really nice and it seemed like a place people enjoyed working at.
John: After eight months, why have you decided to stick around?
Kristin: I’m learning so much. I’m still in school so the fact that I have this experience under my belt when I graduate, that’s nice too.
John: Where do you think you’re headed with your career?
Kristin: I would like to become a coach here at Vyral. I’m majoring in Marketing and having experience at a company before I graduate will put me ahead even if I do want to find a job at a different marketing company.
John: I’m sure it’s been a lot of different things, but what have you learned since you’ve been here?
Kristin: The main thing is communication skills. I didn’t really have a problem talking with people before, but learning how to professionally talk to people and bounce ideas back and forth in a professional setting. That’s been the main thing - disciplining myself to get stuff done. Learning how to organize your time well, that’s been another good thing.
John: What makes us different than other places you have worked?
Kristin: The scheduling. It’s not the end of the world if you come in a little late. Not knowing when I was going to be working bothered me so much. It's’ a more flexible atmosphere.
John: What could we be doing differently as an employer?
Kristin: I think when people are onboarded, I think there needs to be a clear set of expectations of what you’re in charge of. I know we have the checklists on Trello, but I think there needs to be a list of what you are in charge of.
John: We talked about this a little bit and you said one of the reasons you like working here is the people. What makes the people fun to work with?
Kristin: Everyone is so nice and fun. Most of the people here are pretty young and everyone likes to have a good time, but get their stuff done.
John: Any specific memorable moments since you’ve been working at Vyral?
Kristin: I did the sand volleyball team and I didn’t go to that many games, but when I did it was really fun. Being able to hang out with people not in a work setting and have a good time. That was really cool.
John: You’ve been closely working with clients. Can you name a time where you really helped out or wowed a client?
Kristin: We have one client who is so sweet and thankful every time you do every little thing for her. When you do something above and beyond, she is so thankful. I think that’s a big thing. Talking to clients really makes you realize the bigger picture and how what you’re doing is going to help them and their company do well. It makes you want to do better since they are so thankful.
John: What would you tell someone who is thinking about working here at Vyral?
Kristin: I would say it’s definitely a great place to work. There are definitely trade-offs. Working at a bigger company might pay a little more, but it won’t be as flexible or casual a work environment. It’s a great place to get experience and a really fun place to work.
John: Any personality traits of someone who shouldn’t work here?
Kristin: You need to have some sort of communication and organization skills. That’s not my biggest strong suit, but it makes things a lot easier working here. Someone who doesn’t have the initiative to get things done and needs someone over their shoulder, I would say maybe this is not the place for you.
John: This is John McMillan, back again with another employee spotlight. Today we have Megan Holland, a project manager. You’ve been at Vyral for six months now?
Megan: Seven months. I started right at the beginning of January.
John: Why did you join Vyral Marketing to begin with?
Megan: I was just looking to get out of food service. My friend Kristin started working here before I did and referred me to the company.
John: What was your first impression like?
Megan: Pretty laid back. I walked in and wandered around until someone sent me down the hall.
John: How come you’re still here after seven months?
Megan: I enjoyed the work. There’s a regular amount of change, a lot of the same stuff over and over. The processes change on a regular basis so there’s always something new to learn.
John: Where would you like to head with your career, be that at Vyral or beyond?
Megan: I’m looking into taking language classes. I was thinking of being an interpreter. MCC has some language classes.
John: What have you learned since working here at Vyral?
Megan: I’ve learned plenty of stuff. Learning about databases, working with Excel extensively. Just building a rapport with clients is something that you guys talk about a lot. You email them every single day. Phone skills. If you’re not comfortable on the phone, you’re either going to get comfortable here or quit before you do. It’s really casual here, but it’s still a different environment than food service.
John: Have you had any breakthroughs in your mindset?
Megan: The flexibility of the scheduling has been the most mind-altering for me. I was used to having a very specific schedule that you keep. If you don’t show up on time enough times, you get fired. While we do encourage nine to five, people have lives and a big deal isn’t made of someone handling something in their personal time as long as they get their work done. I guess I’m spoiled by that.
John: What makes us different than your last employer or other places that your friends work?
Megan: It is younger. A lot of people are going to look for a big name company when looking for a job, but I would encourage them to work for a more local company that’s younger. They are going to have a much different experience. A growing company is a lot different than working for someone who has a lot of established standards and is less flexible.
John: What can we be doing better as a company?
Megan: I think because we are still young, we’re still growing into the human resources. I think there is a lack of training. Everyone knows that it’s there, but I think you guys are trying to look towards something more regulated. It is an issue as far as a standard of training.
John: Let’s talk about your co-workers. What do you like about working with the people here at Vyral?
Megan: Everybody is nice, everybody is young. I am kind of pushing the age limit and maybe a little older than everyone else here. It makes me feel like a senior in high school. It feels like a bunch of goofy kids sometime, but they’re actually doing work.
John: Do you have a most memorable moment so far here at Vyral?
Megan: I am guilty of going into work mode, and it’s really hard for me to get out of that. There’s been a lot of things posted to Slack that I’ll get a kick out of. Quinn also used to do his photograph sessions after he cleaned the refrigerator, and those were always good.
John: Have you ever had a moment where you helped solve a problem with a client and were thankful about how that made you feel?
Megan: The thing they are most appreciative of is the testimonial program. They don’t really know what to expect most of the time, but we send over these edited, fully transcribed testimonials and they are kind of shocked at how extensive it is. Most of the people who send in names for testimonials end up being really happy about the results.
John: We will have a lot of people applying for jobs watching these videos. What would you tell those people that are looking at Vyral as a potential place to work?
Megan: Go for it. You’re going to learn a lot about marketing, you might pick up some real estate knowledge, and a little bit of coding information. There are a ton of skills that even if you don’t hang around forever, you’ll be able to use at some point.
John: What are personality traits of someone who shouldn’t work at Vyral?
Megan: If you can’t motivate yourself to do the work. If you don’t like sitting in front of a computer, this is not the job for you. Anyone who has to have someone breathe down their neck should probably not apply, because it’s not how the teams function.
John McMillan: Alright, John McMillan here with another employee spotlight video. Today we have Christina Henderson, who is a project manager here. How long have you been with Vyral, Christina?
Christina Henderson: About eight months. I started in October.
John McMillan: So, how come you chose to join us here at Vyral?
Christina Henderson: Well, I saw an ad on Careerlink and it said administrative assistants wanted or whatever, and I was still trying to figure out what I wanted to do. Administrative assistant kind of appealed to me so I just kind of went for it, and that’s how I came here.
John McMillan: Cool. So what was your first impression?
Christina Henderson: Well, I remember walking in and waiting to meet with you for my interview, and I remember looking into one of the offices and seeing some bare feet hanging over the edge of a couch, and John Ryan was walking around in a bro tank and soccer warm ups and barefoot, and he had this legal pad with him, and I just thought it was kind of interesting, because on the phone when you called me to set up the interview you said that it was pretty low-key, laid back, and that you were going to be in shorts and a t-shirt or whatever. I showed up in like skinny jeans and a nice shirt and I still felt overdressed after seeing JR. Yeah, that was kind of my first impression of Vyral.
John McMillan: You know, I think JR has a lot of first impressions with people. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. OK, so why are you still here at Vyral?
Christina Henderson: Well I really like the people that I work with; Chris, my client manager, and Kristin, and Serena. They’re all really cool, really easy to get along with, and I think we make a really great team, so the job’s not hard, so I might as well figure out what I can learn from this.
John McMillan: That’s great, so where would you like to head with your career, whether that’s at Vyral or beyond?
Christina Henderson: I’ve kind of always had this picture of like my dream job would be to work for someone who has a big picture dream, and I would come up behind them and beside them to work on the details so they can focus on the big picture. I’m not really sure specifically what that looks like, but I would like to continue growing in different skills that someone would need to help assist someone else and grow their dream and stuff.
John McMillan: OK, got it. So talking about different things that you’ve learned, what specifically have you learned while being here?
Christina Henderson: Well, communication is one of the biggest things that I’ve learned. A few months after I started I had to call clients, which is not specifically a project management duty, and it freaked me out, and I didn’t like doing it, and I would put it off to like the last possible second. But after I kind of got over my fear and figured out that they’re just people and there’s nothing to be afraid of, it just kind of became easier, and now it’s easier for me. Like if a client has a problem over email, it’s easier to just pick up the phone and call them and solve the problem that way.
John McMillan: That’s great. So that was kind of a big mindset breakthrough for you.
Christina Henderson: Yes, definitely.
John McMillan: Have you had any other breakthroughs in your mindset? I mean, in college you kind of picture the way that small businesses operate to be one thing, and you actually are doing it and it’s totally different. Anything like that?
Christina Henderson: I guess my idea of a corporate business was like you wear dresses every day, you get in suits, everything is super formal, everything has a whole bunch of rules you have to lay down, and you have to fit in this small cookie-cutter box, and here it’s not really like that. It’s kind of come as who you are, bring to the table what you offer, and I think just that mindset of a professional organization does not have to be a cookie-cutter place; it can be whatever you make it. Frank’s always talking about how entrepreneurs make business the way you want to make it, and he’s always about bringing in the rest of us to make decisions and stuff, and that was never ever imagined for me before I came here.
John McMillan: Got it, cool. So what were you doing before you came to Vyral?
Christina Henderson: I worked at a church. I was an intern for the youth director at the time, the youth pastor. I did a lot of graphic design work, a lot of organizing the attendance of the youth group, helping planning a lot of the events that we did, and then I also worked at a grocery store, so both very different things than what I’m doing now.
John McMillan: So I’m guessing working at Vyral is very different than a church or a grocery store. Anything specifically you want to share about that, like what makes Vyral different?
Christina Henderson: I worked with high school students at the church; I’m not working with high school students at Vyral. I think the biggest difference is we are making a product for the client. At a grocery store, you’re providing something, but it’s more like I was a cashier, I was a front-end supervisor, I was catering to the customers, but I didn’t have to provide anything other than customer service. Here, we’re actually building something for them, for the clients, we’re offering value to them. At a high school internship you are pretty much just building something for kids to come hang out at, and at Vyral, we’re building emails, we’re building blogs, we’re making videos, we’re helping other people build their own businesses, and I have never done that before.
John McMillan: Alight, so what can we be doing better as an employer?
Christina Henderson: As much as I love the flexibility and the kind of come and go as you please type atmosphere, I think it would be beneficial for us to have more of an HR department of what’s expected as far as like how many hours we need to work or how much paid time off or just like what’s expected or what would happen if we were late by like an hour every single day. More guidelines and a little bit more structure as far as me as an employee, how should I hold myself accountable and stuff.
John McMillan: Good, got it. And just so everyone out there knows, we are working on that. So at the beginning you talk about how you really like the people. What about the people here makes them enjoyable to work with?
Christina Henderson: I think it’s really cool that everyone is unique, that no one’s afraid to be themselves, really. Like we have a bunch of gamers that hang out in the meeting room at 5 p.m. on Fridays, I don’t know, there’s just so many different people that you really can’t get bored here. If you’re done talking to one person you can go across the hall and you can talk to somebody else. I just love that everyone is so comfortable being themselves and it doesn’t have to be like this formal "Oh hey I’m Christina, let me introduce myself" and have it be all awkward. It’s just really chill and really relaxed.
John McMillan: Any specific memorable moments that you have while working here?
Christina Henderson: I remember Chris wanted to play a prank on Reece when our office was downstairs, so Chris put all of Reece’s office supplies - everything on his desk, in his desk, everywhere - in trash bags. Even his computer, he put his computer monitor and everything in a trash bag and put it in the hallway as like a “Hey take care of your trash,” and Reece’s retaliation was putting birdseed and honey all over Chris’ desk, so I’m pretty sure Chris was still cleaning up the honey a few weeks after that. I remember other people coming into my office saying they wanted to put live birds in our office to add to the birdseed fiasco but they didn’t because me and Serena were in there and they didn’t want to bother us. So that was actually really memorable, really funny. I remember you kind of banned pranks after that, so we don’t do that anymore.
John McMillan: Yeah, things were getting a little out of hand. Now, I know you’re not working directly with clients all the time, but you’ve been here eight months, can you remember a time you were able to turn something around quickly, or just like, they wanted something specific and the client was very pleased with the work that you had done, and kind of how that made you feel?
Christina Henderson: Yes, one of my clients’ assistants contacted me asking me if we could update his screenshot on his blog, and he had one of the first blogs that we’ve ever designed, so it was pretty old. It kind of just didn’t look very good. I was like “Yes, we can absolutely do that, I was actually hoping to revamp your entire blog,” so we redesigned his blog and they were really super pumped about it; they were really pleased. We got a new header designed for them and they were just really shocked and really thankful that I was able to do that, and I was really excited that they were coming to me even just about changing the headshot because I wanted to change his whole blog, but didn’t want to say “Hey you suck, so change it.” So it was really cool that they were so impressed with me and my suggestion to getting things redesigned for them.
John McMillan: That’s cool. OK, so people who are thinking about coming to work here are going to watch this, what do you say to them? What do you say to someone thinking about working at Vyral?
Christina Henderson: It’s a really awesome place to work, it’s really laid back. Your ideas are heard. I don’t know, it has a lot of opportunities and I like working here.
John McMillan: There you go, good enough. So what are kind of personality traits of someone who should not work at Vyral?
Christina Henderson: I would say, someone who’s not willing to try something new, someone who is a little bit more set in their ways. If you’re not willing to try something new or you’re not willing to grow or if you’re not willing to even do something that’s outside of even your job description, you probably shouldn’t work here, because we change things all the time, and even just to take care of the clients, you need to be able to do things that maybe aren’t in your specific job description. If you’re not willing to do that, you should probably find somewhere else to go.
John McMillan: Alright, John McMillan with another employee spotlight. Today, I have Liz Nuncio who is a project manager, and you’ve been here, what, three, four months, Liz?
Liz Nuncio: Yeah, I think about almost four months.
John McMillan: Cool, so what drew you to Vyral Marketing in the first place?
Liz Nuncio: I saw a job posting for it on I think LinkedIn and the job description just sounded like everything that I wanted to do, wanted to learn, so I just applied for it, and I heard back from you guys pretty quickly.
John McMillan: So why don’t you describe your first impression of Vyral?
Liz Nuncio: I got here and I think I sat in the parking lot for like 10 minutes because I was so early and I didn’t know what to do, so I sat there and then I still wasn’t very sure what door to come in, and there were some guys standing outside and they pointed me in this direction and then I walked up and Laura was sitting there with her shoes off. So I knew right away that it was very laid back. While I was sitting on the couch people were walking by, and everybody said hi to me. Laura talked to me. And then our interview was super easy. You were easy to talk to, so it made me want to work here right away.
John McMillan: Cool, that’s great. So why are you still here?
Liz Nuncio: I just kind of want to see where Vyral can take me with my career. I’ve learned a lot so far already and I know there’s room for growth everywhere and I think there are a lot of opportunities within the company, so I just want to see how far I can go with it.
John McMillan: Cool, that’s great. What have you learned since working here?
Liz Nuncio: I’ve learned a lot about organization, time management, prioritizing things, and then just little things like Photoshop, HTML, and just a lot of different things.
John McMillan: Great, that’s awesome. Have you had any breakthroughs in your mindset? You were coming pretty much right out of college before here, correct?
Liz Nuncio: I graduated in December 2014 from UNL, and I worked for a salon, I did their marketing. So that was a lot different than this. I didn’t have a lot to work with because we were pretty much starting from scratch with their marketing, so it was a huge difference. I guess I’ve just seen how the business works and how you guys do business-related things. I don’t know, nothing really super mind-blowing, I guess. I think one thing is being able to see results. When I do the opens and clicks and stuff, I am able to actually see that what we’re doing is working. So I think that’s awesome to be able to look at.
John McMillan: For sure. So you mentioned the salon - what makes Vyral and the environment here different than working at a place like that?
Liz Nuncio: Well with this, everybody here understands what we’re doing, where I was the only one doing it at the salon. If I wanted to talk marketing or anything like that, nobody had a clue what I was saying or trying to get at, and they didn’t see it from my perspective, whereas here, everybody is really open-minded and they understand what we do and how we do things. If anybody has an idea, it’s just nice that it’s not like, “What are you talking about?"
John McMillan: What do you think we could do better as an employer?
Liz Nuncio: I would say the training, which everybody kind of points out, but another thing I think is helping everybody just see their career path a little more clearly. Just to know right away that there are opportunities to move up. I think people know that but I think we could do a better job just being more specific with when we think this will happen and stuff like that.
John McMillan: Right, that’s a good point. Since we haven’t had the growth that we had last year, it was something that was constantly brought up last year. Our growth has slowed down a little bit. It’s not as apparent, but that’s a good suggestion. So let’s talk about the employees. What do you like about the people you work with?
Liz Nuncio: One thing really like is how much talent everybody has. Everyone has different backgrounds, whether it’s Alec who is really good at HTML stuff, or our graphic designers or our video editors or writing, any time I want to learn something, I can pretty much ask anybody and somebody will have an answer, or I’ll learn something from somebody. I like that about everybody. And everybody is just really nice. I’ve made a lot of different friends here that I would hang out with outside of work. That’s always a bonus.
John McMillan: Do you have any specific memorable moments that you’ve had while working here at Vyral?
Liz Nuncio: I think the kickball thing will always stay in my mind; that was really fun. It was nice to get out of the office and hang out with everybody, even though we lost. The lunches are fun on Fridays, just little things like that. Allison and Laura and I always have lunch together, so that’s good to do.
John McMillan: For sure. Can you name - and I know this is tough since you’re not working closely with the clients - maybe a time when you’ve wowed a client or a client has really appreciated the work that you’ve done and how that made you feel?
Liz Nuncio: Yeah, so we’ve had a couple times; they’re both pretty recent. A couple weeks ago, Amanda Howard sent us cookies because they were just happy with some stuff that we did for them last minute, so that was nice and we appreciated it a lot. It was nice to know that they valued us. And then Aesthetic Surgical Images, their lady Andrea sent you guys a really nice comment about me, so that made me feel good, and it was good to know that I was doing my job right for them.
John McMillan: That’s awesome. So a lot of people that do watch these will be looking to work here at Vyral - what do you tell them?
Liz Nuncio: I would say if you’re looking for a laid back job where you can throw your opinions in with no judgment and actually feel like your thoughts will go somewhere and that you can actually help out with something, that you should check it out. Everybody here is really easy to work with and you’ll learn a lot.
John McMillan: What kind of personality traits would you look for in someone who probably shouldn’t apply to work here?
Liz Nuncio: Probably if you’re a person who wants to be by yourself and work on things by yourself, it’s probably not the best spot for you. I’d say if you’re negative, probably not, and if you don’t have the best communication skills, probably not. That is one thing that I have learned a lot with.
John: Alright, so, John McMillan here with another employee hangout. Today, we have Andrea Neal, who is a client manager, recently promoted. You’re in probably, month two, month three of being a client manager?
Andrea: Yep, month two.
John: Cool, so how long have you been at Vyral? Eight months? Close to a year?
Andrea: I think this is seven months actually.
John: OK, cool. So why did you start with Vyral Marketing to begin with?
Andrea: I was looking for a job and I saw you guys had quite a few different positions open, so originally I applied for graphic design I believe, and I think right when I had my interview with you, I was also planning a trip to go to Colorado, so when I came back, there were certain jobs that were available and you said that you thought I would fit best in the project managing position, and I didn’t know if I wanted it or not for sure, and once I got in it, I really enjoyed it a lot.
John: Cool. So what was your first impression of Vyral?
Andrea: When I walked in here you guys were doing a Tuesday meeting, so there was a ton of people and I was just like “Oh my goodness, where am I right now?” And it looked really cool though. I was kind of stoked because it seemed like there was a lot of people my age here and our interview was really comfortable, so I kind of liked it.
John: Cool. So where do you think - obviously you got promoted, which is big and that’s probably one of the reasons why you’re still here - why do you think you’d like to stay at Vyral for the foreseeable future and where do you think you’re headed with your career?
Andrea: Yeah, moving up so quickly within the six months that I’ve been here kind of was exciting to me. It seems like there’s a lot of opportunities here, and this being a semi-new company it seems like there’s a lot of positions that are available and that are becoming available. For instance, just advertising in general, it seems like there’s tons of opportunities that are opening up, so it encourages me to stick around and see what happens.
John: Cool. So what do you think you’ve learned since you’ve worked here at Vyral? Probably a lot.
Andrea: Yeah, I definitely have. Originally, I graduated from college with PR and advertising so I did a little more emphasis on advertising and graphic design. I hadn’t really spoken with clients, so I think as far as learning goes, I’ve learned to kind of speak and consult people, and I think that’s an important skill to have, especially in my position right now or in the future. So that’s probably the biggest thing.
John: Cool. Have you had any breakthroughs, in your mindset since you’ve been working here - and I know you went to Tony Robbins as well, so that might have given you some insight there.
Andrea: Yeah, Tony Robbins was awesome. That was probably something that I really didn’t expect to have ever, and going there, I was very skeptical as I think other people usually tend to be, however, it blew my mind, and I feel so comfortable with just being able to step out of my comfort zone. There’s a lot of things I’m uncomfortable with as far as just speaking to people and not feeling confident in what I’m saying, and after going to that I definitely feel like I can just say whatever, and know what I’m speaking about, which is really cool. Other breakthroughs that I’ve probably had just being in this position are that this is a delegating position, and I am not usually very confrontational, and so it’s been a process, but I definitely feel like our team runs so smoothly, and it’s worked out a lot better than I thought.
John: Cool, that’s great. So you know, you came here right from college, but you have friends in the workforce, and you probably worked at some different places throughout college. What makes us different than other companies out there?
Andrea: This is so relaxed, and not in a way that you guys don’t care, it’s more like if you get your stuff done, you can definitely have the freedom to like, let’s so go on vacation or something like that. Whereas I know a lot of my friends, they have to wait until they start accruing PTO and things like that, and that’s really attractive to me working here.
John: Cool. So let’s talk about the people here. What makes the people here, you know, fun to work with, easy to work with? The kind of laid back stuff you’re talking about.
Andrea: Yeah, there’s so many people here that are very different, yet we all tend to get along really well, which I think is so cool. Just even on our team in general, JR is really quirky and kind of a goofball so he livens up our mornings usually, and Matt stays on track and is like “OK what do we need to get done today?” and it’s a really fun work environment just in our room. Currently our room is decorated; there are little streamers everywhere. So it’s just kind of fun.
John: Give us a little tour with the webcam!
Andrea: Our door is shut so you can’t see the coolest part, but I’ll show you the ceiling at least. There’s streamers and then we also have this window so we can see the writers, which is pretty cool. So we have a good time. Originally they were just for Mikaela’s leaving, and then we were like “we should keep them up, it’s kind of cool!” So we left them.
John: Alright, so that’s nice. So can you name any specific memorable moments that you’ve had while working here at Vyral?
Andrea: Memorable moments...the first day I was hired - I was hired on a Friday - or my first day was a Friday, and you guys went to Beercade, which was pretty cool.
John: Oh that’s right! That was your first day!
Andrea: Yeah, it was just cool to see that there was outings, but everyone hung out outside and it seemed like a great turnout, so I just came by to say what’s up and everyone was so friendly to me. And they’re like "it’s your first day!” you know, just kind of explaining to me how things work, and I thought that was really cool. But as far as work goes, the first day I was here, it was really comfortable. I remember that everyone was just like “Hey, who are you” and not in a weird way where you’re like “uh, sorry, I don’t know what to say to you,” it was really comfortable. Everyone’s cool. So I don’t know specifically, I guess it’s kind of an on-the-spot question. I’m sure as it happens I can think of a million things.
John: No, those are good ones though. So you’ve been working with clients now for a couple of months, would there be a time that you can remember where you’ve really wowed someone or you’ve been on a call with someone and they’ve been like “Yeah that’s great, thank you!” and how that made you feel?
Andrea: Yeah, it’s happened a couple times, and actually recently this week I was kind of just brainstorming with one of my clients; he wanted a certain layout for his home tours and he had just gotten like four or five videos done for home tours, and he was like “Yeah I just want all of them to be on a channel on YouTube,” and I was like “What if we put them not only on a channel on YouTube, but also on your blog so we can have your clients go to that page as well and see so many other things that you want them to go to,” and he was like “Yeah, that’d be awesome!” We’re like really - I love the way he emails me, we’re kind of like friends on email instead, and he was like “TONIGHT” and spelled it all out and was just so stoked about it. It’s just so cool that he feels comfortable with me to say whatever and just be kind of silly. So that was really cool. Or with Lisa Burridge, she’s new and we definitely hit it off right away. I’m pretty sure she got a hold of Frank and was just like “Andrea’s awesome, I love her!” and that made me feel awesome because that was my first week of coaching.
John: That’s great. So what would you tell someone - because people that actually are looking at Vyral or are looking at applying here watch these pretty religiously, so what do you tell those people that are thinking about working here?
Andrea: Definitely do it. If I was looking for a job when I was in college, I would have done it sooner. I had three jobs while I was in college so I was super busy anyways, but any time it’s a great place to work. If I would have known about it, I would have done it way sooner.
John: Cool, that’s great. Who do you think shouldn’t work here at Vyral? Maybe personality traits of someone?
Andrea: Anyone who doesn’t want to speak to people. You know, if you don’t like working on a team, you could work here still. You could be a writer or something like that, and just stay - not that they don’t work on a team, because they definitely are team-oriented - but I think that’s one of our biggest core values here is team, and seeing people succeed and helping everybody. So you know, if you don’t want to speak to people or you don’t want to have a good time then it’s definitely not the place to work.
John McMillan: Today we’re back with another employee spotlight, talking to our Marketing Director Danielle, in the San Diego office. What brought you to join us at Vyral Marketing?
Danielle Mount: I was at a place in my career where I knew I wasn’t going to be able to go anywhere, so I started looking at jobs and came across Frank’s posting on Craigslist. I read it and thought it looked great, but didn’t think it was something I would ever get picked for. I sent Frank my resume and literally five minutes later he called me and we talked for about 45 minutes. I came to the office and met with him and Scott the next night and we hit it off. It happened very quickly.
John McMillan: Tell me about your first impression meeting with Frank and Scott.
Danielle Mount: They were super laid back, drinking a glass of wine. It was very warming and inviting. I’ve worked for a lot of big corporations so it’s definitely something different for me. It was great and I instantly felt comfortable. I wasn’t very nervous because they were so inviting.
John McMillan: How long have you been with us?
Danielle Mount: I accepted the position on December 22nd and started on January 18th. John McMillan: It’s been six months, how come you’re still here?
Danielle Mount: I love the environment. I love Frank, everyone in the San Diego office, and all the people I’ve gotten to meet in Omaha. It’s a great place to work. Everyone is so nice, I love what we do, and I love what we’re doing. It’s definitely a job where I’m introduced to new challenges and we’re always brainstorming and thinking of ways to grow. I don’t have a reason to want to leave, I’m very comfortable here.
John McMillan: Where do you think your career is heading with Vyral?
Danielle Mount: I know that from conversations Frank and I have had, we want to get to a point where we have a scalable marketing in all these different industries. We want to go into mortgage, chiropractor, recruiting, and have all these marketing systems that are kind of all delegated to other people and automated. I think that’s where we’re going, it’s just going to take time.
John McMillan: What have you learned since working here?
Danielle Mount: A lot. I’m constantly learning new things. I’ve read so many books since I’ve started. I’ve just really learned a lot about internal marketing and building out sales funnels. The design element of it has been the biggest learning curve for me.
John McMillan: A big thing here is that we generally have different mindsets than most people you’ll work for. What breakthroughs in your mindset have you had in the last six months?
Danielle Mount: I’ve worked for huge corporations. I worked for Mercedes Benz for four years. I worked for the Department of Defense. I would say that those environments are very close-minded in the sense that you don’t get to plan your own things. Everything is given to you and you do it. Here, it’s the ability to be so independent in my work. I’ve also never managed anyone before and here I have an assistant back in Omaha I work with, so that’s been a big breakthrough too; learning how to manage people and communicate with people you’ve never even met.
John McMillan: What can we be doing differently and better as a company?
Danielle Mount: I think our biggest thing is probably the communication. Not even between the San Diego and Omaha offices, but just within the San Diego office. There are times when we just don’t communicate the way we should which is ridiculous considering we’re right next to each other. It’s something we have to do as a team, but something we have to do as individuals as well.
John McMillan: Let’s talk about the people. What do you like about the people you’ve met?
Danielle Mount: The San Diego office is very close-knit because there are only five of us. I know if I ever need anything outside of work, I can call Scott, call Andrew, or talk to Frank about it. As far as the people I’ve met in Omaha, they’re all super fun, super nice, very welcoming people. It can be hard to work with someone in a different state that works for the same company, but it’s been good.
John McMillan: Have you had any memorable moments since you’ve started working here?
Danielle Mount: I’ve had quite a few. I’ve done a lot of traveling since I’ve started. The first three months I probably went on five different trips. Tony Robbins in West Palm Beach was fun. I went to New Orleans for KW Reunion and was able to have dinner with some of our clients. A lot of the traveling was really nice and really fun.
John McMillan: Talk about the success you’ve had at work and how that’s made you feel.
Danielle Mount: Frank, Scott, and I have been able to come up with some great ideas marketing-wise for our partner program. Andrew and I came up with a couple good ideas as far as helping build our referral base. These are all things I feel I was very proud of and Frank seemed to be on board with them, so I think he was impressed by some of the things we came up with.
John McMillan: What would you tell someone that’s thinking about working at Vyral?
Danielle Mount: I would say you need to come in with a very open mindset and you need to be ready to take on a new task. If this is something you want to do and make a career out of, be willing to help wherever you can and have that entrepreneurial mindset where you’re constantly wanting to build new things and make things better. I think Chris in the Omaha office is a really good example of the type of mentality you need to work here.
John McMillan: Who should not work at Vyral?
Danielle Mount: If you’re lazy or super-negative, this probably isn’t the best environment for you.
John: Today, we have Jack Haley, one of our most senior writers. How long have you been here, Jack?
Jack: I think we’re coming up on my two-year anniversary in a couple of days.
John: That’s great. So, why did you first join Vyral Marketing?
Jack: Well, I’d heard about an open position after college in 2014. I’d majored in Journalism and Advertising, so I was looking for something along those lines. It was tough looking for jobs, they all wanted people with at last two or three years of experience. However, Allison McMickell is my cousin and she managed to get me an interview here with you. The rest is history.
John: Excellent. Now you’re one of about 20 people that worked in the old office. What were your first impressions of working here?
Jack: Well, it was definitely not what I was expecting. I didn’t even know which building to walk into. The only thing I saw on the door was a sign that said, “This is not Vector Marketing.” When I walked in, it was one big room, it was super casual and people were wearing flip flops and shorts. It was casual and professional at the same time.
John: Alright and that was about two years ago. So why are you still at Vyral?
Jack: Good question. I like what I do and I like being able to stay with the company since it has grown. I’ve learned a lot about how to grow a business, and not just about copywriting. It’s been a well-rounded education for me.
John: In terms of your mindset, you came right out of college and probably thought businesses operated in certain ways and that you had to act in a certain way. Have you had any breakthroughs in the way that you think? Jack: Yeah, I think the biggest thing is that I took things too personally. I’ve learned that it makes no sense to get offended by someone trying to help me do something better. We all have the same goals and we’re all trying to get to the same place. John: In terms of your friends who are out in the workforce, what makes your job different than some of your friends’ jobs? What makes Vyral different?
Jack: I think a lot of it has to do with the freedom that we get here. They always have someone looking over their shoulder and breathing down their neck. I can go at my own pace and make sure that I’m getting everything done well and correctly.
John: What could we be doing better as a company?
Jack: People touch on the training a lot, and I agree. There isn’t much structure to it. I enjoyed my training and it did prepare me well, but it was kind of a baptism by fire. It worked then, but it might not as we get bigger and bigger. John: How about the other employees here? Do you enjoy working with everyone?
Jack: Compared to my other jobs, these are my favorite coworkers. Everyone is pretty much the same age, so it’s really cohesive. We all understand each other and we know how to have fun while working professionally. I’ve never run into anyone that I don’t like to work with.
John: Okay, and what are some of your favorite memories while working here?
Jack: One that I was thinking about is my first Friday of working here. At the old office, we worked right next to the VIP Lounge, and the guys working here invited me to come along. It’s an old dive, with leather recliners and sofas, and they had a free buffet with Swedish meatballs and chips and whatnot. It was nice to socialize with coworkers in a social setting, and that was when I knew that this was a place that I could work at.
John: Now this might be a little more difficult, but have you ever done something where you’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback from a coach or a client?
Jack: Yeah, some of our real estate nurture emails have gotten good responses from clients. We’ve been forwarded a lot of emails from happy clients, and luckily we get more emails about them being happy than upset with our work. I think that’s a good sign.
John: A lot of people that are thinking about working here will be watching this, so what do you tell those people?
Jack: I’d say that if it intrigues you, take the leap. This is a unique place to work. You have the freedom to make decisions and suggest changes that change our business. Upper management will listen to you. Multiple people here have had the opportunity to go off and start side businesses. That experience is invaluable and you can’t do that anywhere else.
John: So what kind of person should not work at Vyral?
Jack: Probably a loner that doesn’t like to work in groups. Everyone here is on a team and we have to coordinate with one another. If you don’t like working with other people, you probably shouldn’t work here. You probably shouldn't have a job in marketing either.
John: Alright, that’s it, Jack, thanks!
John: Alright, John McMillan here with another Vyral Marketing Employee Spotlight. Today we have Alec, and Alec you’ve been here for what, 3 months only or so?
Alec: Yeah, I little bit over I think at this point. John: Cool. So you came in and started in the project management role and now you moved over to working on the advertising team.
Alec: Yep.
John: Great. So what attracted you to Vyral Marketing, you know, in the first place?
Alec: Really it was trying to find a workplace that was - I’m trying to think of the best way to put it - that kind of fit my style of how I worked and just, the location is great for me too, so once I got in here and I did our interview and I spoke with you it just immediately looked like somewhere I wanted to be. John: Cool, OK. So let’s go to that. Let’s talk about that first impression, what did you kind of get from that?
Alec: Well, I walked in and saw a bit more of a relaxed office environment, and of course sitting down with you felt relaxed and that made me feel relaxed. And I saw, you know, a bunch of young people, I think when I walked in there was everybody sitting around a TV going over some Adobe Premier courses, so I also saw a place where I could learn new skills. John: OK. So it hasn’t been that long, what has kept you coming back to work? Why are you still here?
Alec: I think it’s thsat every day can present somewhat of a different challenge or new things come up. It always seems like there’s something different for me to do, even if it’s just finding a new problem to work out or helping people with coding issues, things like that. John: Cool. So, you’re an entrepreneur in your own right, was it you and your friend started a company in college?
Alec: Yeah, me and two of my friends.
John: Cool, so tell us about that. It’s kind of unique and interesting.
Alec: Yeah, so we make insect-based food products. The first thing we put on the market was a protein shake that uses crickets as its source, and then we also have a USDA grant coming in the next month for research into rice that’s been fortified with cricket protein that we want to use in aid relief and, also, because it just adds more protein if I want to cook something, like I make and eat chicken and rice most days, so it’s nice to throw in extra protein too.
John: Nice. That’s very cool. Go ahead and plug it. What’s the website?
Alec: Yeah, it’s bugeaterfoods.com
John: Nice, which also jives well being in Nebraska. So whether it’s here at Vyral or with Bugeater Foods, where do you think you’re headed with your career?
Alec: You know, it's changed a whole bunch, even in the last few years. I went to school for economics and now I work in advertising. I do design and web development on my own time, which are two things I really like doing. I think, because I’ve never had a super specific answer, the thing I like to do most is solve problems, so where I see myself is wherever I find interesting problems that I can solve or new things to try and figure out.
John: Cool, alright. So what have you learned since working here at Vyral?
Alec: I think I’ve learned a lot about - especially since I’ve been helping people with things like coding errors - is communicating things I know to other people. Sort of like teaching back things I had to get taught to me, and working more in like a close office environment, because for about the past year I was working at home alone, so it was good to redevelop some of those skills.
John: Cool. Have you had any breakthroughs in your mindset where you know, you’re an entrepreneur, but we’ve been at this for 7 years, got 60 employees, where you’re like, ‘Hey I think this is the way that I’d want to do things’ and then you’ve been here and you’re like ‘Actually, they’re doing things this way and I kind of like that’ or there’s one thing that you kind of thought about something about doing business and it’s kind of changed?
Alec: Yeah, especially on the bringing in employees, because it’s something that my company’s been planning to do, and looking at ways to do it that I had no idea how to manage, so seeing how this office works and sort of how things are set up for employees to do it has been super helpful for my own future planning.
John: Cool. You pretty much - when did you graduate college?
Alec: I didn’t, I actually dropped out to start running my own company.
John: Ok, cool. So when was that?
Alec: That was last summer, or at the end of spring semester last summer.
John: OK, so you might have had some different jobs, you know, odds and ends jobs in high school and college. What makes Vyral different from either those or you know, you’ve got buddies in the workforce or whatever, that when they talk about their jobs. What makes this different?
Alec: It’s really how relaxed I can feel coming into work where my other jobs always required some sort of uniform or were far more professional in dress where I didn’t always feel comfortable, where I was having to sit at a desk all day or moving around. That’s a really big thing that I think is sort of - I don’t see from my friends in a lot of their work environments. They either have to be in a suit and tie or whatnot or all have to be really business professional dress. But that’s probably a side effect of knowing mostly people that went to business school.
John: True. OK. What can we be doing better as a company?
Alec: I think the main thing is what I’m working on, which is management of all our computers, and that’s because I have experience doing it. So I think that’s the biggest thing I see. Anything else, you know, we’re updating blog and email templates and sort of modernizing things, that was basically the only thing I saw that I wanted to update when I did our initial interview and sort of looked over the product beforehand.
John: OK, so let’s talk about the people here at Vyral. You know, what do you like about working with the other guys and gals here?
Alec: They’re all incredibly nice and everybody is willing to help each other out. If I see someone send an email or a message in Slack like ‘Hey, so and so is out today, I need help’ like 4 or 5 people just jump on. So, it’s really a collaborative workspace and everybody seems to feel comfortable and likes each other. John: Cool, that’s great. It’s only been 3 months, but do you have any memorable moments that really stick out to you so far?
Alec: I think probably the most memorable thing, it’s just maybe even a side thing on its own, was the first time the internet went down and we got to play Smash Brothers during the day. That helped calm me down because it was like my first week there, I was still unsure about a lot of things, so I got to do a little stress relief and go right back into work. John: Nice. So a lot of people will watch this that are thinking about working here. I hear it all the time in interviews. What do you tell those people watching the video?
Alec: I think if you just come in with a mindset of wanting to make cool things and also wanting to work with other people, that you’ll find a great environment for that here.
John: OK, so what are maybe some personality traits of someone who shouldn’t be working at Vyral?
Alec: If you’re a solo person and you want to do everything yourself, I wouldn’t recommend it necessarily. If you’re not good at delegating tasks out, I wouldn’t recommend it either, but really those are the big things. I think a lot of people do have the mindset of wanting to work together and work with other people, so it’d be tough to find a bad fit, or so far in my observation. John: Yeah for sure. Cool man, that’s it, thank you.
John McMillan: Alright, John McMillan here with another employee spotlight hangout. Today, I have one of our San Diego employees, Andrew. How’s it going, Andrew?
Andrew Alix: It’s going very well. Thank you very much for having me John. John: So we are still coming up with a name for Andrew’s position, but he is basically the direct trainer and I don’t know, supervisor, manager of the client managers, whose name might change as well. So, it’s kind of a position and you been doing it what, two, three weeks, like pretty much full-time at this point?
Andrew: Probably two, three weeks, in some capacity, at least six probably. But yeah, transitioning out of the sales consultant role into this particular role to try and work with the client managers and try to help them out with basically every facet of their job.
John: Cool. So it’s just kind of another support that we’re putting in there for that role, which I think will help kind of bring these guys to the next level. So Andrew, why did you join Vyral Marketing in the first place?
Andrew: That’s a good question. OK, well, I’ll start from the top there. Scott Sillari who is our VP of business devolvement, is my cousin. For those of you who know him, we look very similar, we kind of talk very similar. I think yesterday we were actually finishing each other’s sentences in a very bizarre way. So he and I used to live together in Washington D.C. He left D.C. to come out here, and found Frank, and ended up at Vyral and has been working here for a couple of years, doing very well, helping the company grow. He told me about the opportunity to come out here and work with him in his sales department and new business department, so I kind of took a leap of faith to trust my cousin and come out here and join Vyral, like I said in the sales and consulting role, onboarding new clients. So I had done that with them for about 5, 6 months, and then a few months ago worked with Frank to kind of realize the fact that we definitely need somebody in this position that I’m currently occupying, which is how I”m in the position that I’m now now. But basically came from D.C. because Scott recruited me. John: Cool. OK, so I’m going to ask for a couple different first impressions here. So you first impression of you know, Vyral, meeting Frank and all the people in San Diego, and then, you were recently in Omaha a few weeks back, so your first impression of coming into this environment.
Andrew: So my first impression with meeting Frank and the San Diego crew was actually when I was still working at my old job back in D.C. I had been putting on a conference in Austin, Texas and Frank and Scott flew me in from the end of that conference to come check out Vyral in San Diego. I would say probably the thing that jumped out most was Frank trying to basically sell me on San Diego, which involved taking us out to lunch and then promptly jumping in the ocean immediately after eating lunch like a maniac, telling Scott to hold his shirt and shoes, and then he ran into the ocean. That was probably my first impression. But it was good, it was solid. It was very different than what I’m used to, or what I had been used to before in my professional career, which was a lot of ‘show up, work your cubicle, do your job, go home, leave everything’ 9-5 type of thing. The reason why I was interested in doing this job was because of the impression that they gave me, which was that this is a place where you’re going to be able to build something and you’re going to have opportunities available to you. We’re going to listen to what your ideas are and you’re going to be able to make them grow. And that was basically my first impression of San Diego. The reason why we came out to Omaha was because it was like our initial idea for ‘hey, some of us should go to Omaha to do a training.’ Because initially, this was basically about doing a sales training for the coaches to see if they could sell additional services, but then it basically turned into a different type of training, which was basically client relationships. So Scott and I flew out to Omaha....and what was my first impression with the Omaha office? Well, younger. A little bit younger than what I am used to, but it’s a good thing, because there was a lot of excitement and energy. And I was very nervous; I had never trained people before, but basically we came up with a curriculum to try and work with everybody, try and pass as much information as we knew was correct. While we were doing it, I felt kind of like ‘oh God, I hope they’re taking this on,’ but they were, and they were hungry and enthusiastic in a way that I was not prepared for, and I was surprised - pleasantly surprised with the enthusiasm that I found in Omaha.
John: Cool, that’s awesome. Alright, so, where do you think you’re headed with your career at Vyral?
Andrew: Well, that’s a really great question. I mean, I sit next to Frank, which means there’s constantly new ideas being dripped on me every single day. I would say for the foreseeable future, I would like to continue working with the client managers, that position, because of the feedback they’ve given me, they seem to enjoy working with me and I certainly enjoy working with them, trying to work with them on sort of their leadership training, client management strategies, and things of that nature. So I’d like to continue doing that. But ultimately the San Diego office is the business development office, so you know, as much as I enjoy the training, some sort of way of building that into new business would be somewhere where I’d like to go, particularly in trying to help us get into new industries. John: Cool. Alright, great, so what have you learned since working at Vyral? And I’m sure you’ve had a lot of the breakthroughs in your mindset, like working directly with Frank.
Andrew: What have I learned since working at Vyral? Well that’s a good question. I think I’ve learned a lot. I wasn’t in marketing when I took this job. I was an event planner. Before that, I was in higher education lobbying in D.C., so I did a lot of jobs where I spoke and dealt with people and had client relationships experience, so that always existed, but I hadn’t done marketing before. I had a vague idea, and so what I’ve learned so far is the necessity but also relative simplicity of what is required of people to market their business and get there and see results. We talk about it all the time when we’re trying to bring on a new client, which is nothing we do here is rocket science, but what we do we do very effectively, and systematized in a way that brings great value to people who work with us. So anyway, I guess the answer to the questions is I’ve learned a lot about marketing, I’ve learned a lot of about entrepreneurship, which again is something I had no experience with coming from D.C. I mean, in D.C. I was working with major organizations and institutions that have been around for some hundreds of years. So working for a company that is what, 6, 7 years old at this point that primarily deals with people who are their own personal entrepreneurs is a completely separate skill set and a completely separate mindset than what I was used to.
John: Cool. Alright, so you kind of touched on a lot of these, but what are the big differences here with Vyral as opposed to your last employers?
Andrew: So, I used to work for a professional association of marriage and family therapists, and I was their in-house event planner. It sounds extremely specific, and it was extremely specific, not that there’s anything wrong with it, I actually very much enjoyed working for them. It was a great organization with great people there. But what is very clear when you come from an organization like that or an environment like that is you are constrained by the limitations of the position, the limitations of the organization and their flexibility to allow you to take on more work and more responsibility. So, at that organization, I did my job, I think I did it pretty well, and I always liked to think I could bring something to the table with new ideas; I was still relatively a new person there, relative to everyone else at the company, but their flexibility and their ability to take in new ideas and run with them was very limited. Before that I worked for a higher education institution and they were even more constrained. And so the difference in the environment was here - and this is what I recognized when I met Frank and Scott and everything in California - was the ability to have the flexibility, was ‘hey we want you to come here and do this job but if you have a different idea, we’ll run with it. Show us that it works and you can own a whole new division here.’ You know, I was watching Leah and Lindsey create the advertising program, which was they took the initiative to study and learn how to do it and do it really well, and now they own that entire division within the company, which was not something I had seen before. You hear about it, but I was first exposed to it here. Anyway, that’s the major difference.
John: Cool, OK. So, what can we be doing better as a company?
Andrew: What can we be doing better as a company? Well, I think a major - and I may have blinders on just because of where I am just saturated with this - but where we can do better is with the exact reason why we kind of created my position, which is to train and bring people up to speed, particularly new hires. That process hasn’t really been created yet and we’re working with some really great people to try and develop some training material so that as we continue to expand, or if someone leaves us and we have turnover from within, we need to make sure that we can bring someone on quickly and efficiently and train them appropriately. Right now it’s not quite there, but again that’s one of the responsibilities that I have here. It is a cop-out to say that one of the things we need to make better is the work that I need to do? I feel like that’s a cop-out but I’m going to take it.
John: Well, I get it a lot - training. That’s one of the things that I hear a lot on these. Alright, let’s talk about the people at Vyral. What do you like about working with them?
Andrew: Well, what I would say what I like about working with people here at Vyral is, it goes back a little bit to what I touched on when I went out to Omaha, which was they’re young, they’re enthusiastic, the people that I’m talking to mostly, the client managers, are very excited about their position. They’re excited about the opportunity they have there, they’re excited about the fact that they manage clients and they have all these opportunities for growing their team and learning. They impress me more and more because I get to have one-on-one meetings with all the client managers every single week. They continue to impress me in a way that I’m not expecting, and they often take my feedback with less of a cynical point of view that I feel like I might if I was in their position, if someone was Skyping me ideas about how I should do my job better. They sincerely seem to take that criticism and those ideas that I have, and implement them, and are enthusiastic to get back on the phone with me. I don’t know if I was their age a few years ago and I was in that position if I would be as gracious.
John: OK. Any memorable moments that you’ve had while working at Vyral?
Andrew: Lots already, I can say that. Definitely coming to Omaha is a major one. Being introduced who I had only seen through a computer screen was great. Meeting you, meeting the team in person was huge. Memorable moments, I’d say Omaha is definitely number 1, and then I would say when we went down to Florida a few months back to go to Tony Robbins was pretty amazing. We went with a few client managers, a couple people from San Diego, Frank, and that was an experience I wasn’t expecting, but it was very very good, and it was actually my first chance to meet some of the Omaha people outside video conference, so that was really excellent. I’m really excited because we actually have five people from Omaha joining us in Las Vegas in a couple weeks for a mortgage event. I’m not going to be there for the full event, but for the three days that I am there, I anticipate that being a really good one, because I’m excited for those people to meet some of our clients and potential clients in person.
John: Cool. Alright, so, honest to God, I ask people who are thinking about working here ‘hey did you watch those employee spotlights?’ and they do, so what do you tell those guys that are thinking about working at Vyral?
Andrew: People that are thinking about working for Vyral?
John: Yeah, what do you tell them about this job?
Andrew: That’s a good question, because I did tell someone, because I did hire my replacement here. So, I guess I’ll have to say what I told her, which is that it is a different work environment if you’re used to something very run of the mill, 9 to 5, that kind of thing, like a very traditional model. If you’re used to that, this is going to be a shift and a change in probably a good way for you. It’s going to challenge you to take on more responsibility and hold you to the things you take on to make sure you are being successful with them. So, I would say it’s challenging, it’s different, it’s exciting. So if someone was, let’s say someone who was looking to become a new client manager or someone who is looking to become a graphic designer or whatever in Omaha, what I would tell them is as somebody who has spent about a decade in a very traditional office environment of corporate structures and needing approval for implementing your ideas and kind of holding onto that idea that if I just do a good job, all of my work will be rewarded eventually - coming from that world, this is something that’s far more exciting that holds far more promise, and I feel like I’m in much more control of where my career is going right now than if I went a more traditional career route. So that’s something that I think not everybody understands, and I try and impart that wisdom into the people. I mean, I keep saying ‘if I was their age’ but they’re only like 5 or 6 years younger than me, but still, those 5 or 6 years are huge, like I made some pretty big career decisions when I was 22, 23, 24 that weren’t necessarily the best ideas, but yeah anyway, that would be my message to that person that was thinking about it. John: OK. So who should not work at Vyral? You know, what are personality traits that of those people?
Andrew: Oh boy. Who should not work at Vyral? I would say somebody who is just looking for a paycheck, who doesn’t want to expand their role in whatever they get hired for. So, I mean, honestly you can get hired for any one of the positions here. Let's say you get hired as a project manager, and if your expectation and what you want out of that job is to show up, do the work, and collect your paycheck, and go home, and just do that without any expectation of personal growth, personal development, if you don’t want to attend conferences, if you don’t want to learn about the businesses we work with, if you don’t want to learn about what makes an entrepreneur successful and how to relate to them, if you don’t want to get on the phone with our clients and act as a consultant and talk with them about their product and their business and how to make them do better business - if you don’t want any of those things, you could do the work that we offer anywhere else, OK, but, the opportunities that we have here are for people who are curious and want to grow themselves professionally, and want to invest in themselves through their work so they become more valuable here or in their future career. John: Cool. Well that was great. Thanks Andrew.
