Building Prequal: The Team | Edition 03
By: Andrea Mac | July 5, 2023
If you can only take me in small doses, here’s what’s new:
What I am working on this week: Three day-work-week means I have approximately 1,776 meetings scheduled in those three days. Don’t be jealous.
Something interesting: I had a call with Obama’s/Biden’s/Harris’s speech writers on Friday for possible support in writing a TedX talk. (Note to self: I must secure the aforementioned TedX talk before hiring speechwriters)
Fingers Crossed: I submitted two proposals to speak at NAWBO in October. They didn’t accept my proposal last year, and I can’t understand why they aren’t obsessed with me yet.
Building Prequal (#3): The Team
Being an entrepreneur can be challenging. If it weren’t, everyone would do it. That’s what my teammate Amy said at our last team planning session. And she’s right. It is tough. But there are perks, and the best one I’ve found so far is this: I get to build the type of company I want.
I get to create a place where I want to go to work every day and work with people who are mission-aligned and focused on creating an impact for others. There’s a certain kind of magic when you surround yourself with experts in their craft and whom you trust inherently.
I can’t get too far into the Building Prequal story without talking about the people who are a big part of Prequal. It might not be evident on the front end, but an entire team of incredible, passionate, smart women is working with me to build this business.
I’ve been interviewed a handful of times about my entrepreneurial journey, and I’m always asked what I’m most proud of so far. It would be easy to say a revenue metric - that I hit high six figures my first year in business, that I’m building a brand I love, making an impact… All those things are true, but I’m most proud that my whole team has worked for me in the past. And they’re all at Prequal now because they proactively said they want to come aboard and do what I’m doing.
Let’s be clear, I didn’t poach anyone. They followed me. They left their previous employers or endeavors at separate times to join me at Prequal because they believed in the mission and wanted to work with me again.
So, it’s only fitting that I take a moment to introduce you to the people helping me build this vision and decided to go on this journey with me. If this were a concert, we’d be at the part where the lead singer steps back and lets each band member do their thing in the spotlight. Without further ado, meet the Prequal team.
Alina was the first to follow me over to Prequal. We’ve been together for what feels like a hundred years. Our paths first crossed when she interned for me while she was a freshman in college. She worked at the office in the summers and remotely when she was at college, doing various activities to support my marketing department. Anyone who knows or has met a college kid knows how much discipline that takes. When Alina graduated from MSU in 2016, there was a place waiting for her in my marketing department. The other day I texted her and said we should pick an anniversary and start celebrating it because we have been together that long.
I cannot imagine Prequal without her. Alina is responsible for all the digital influence and technology at Prequal and many of our clients. Today’s digital marketing world includes managing website and tech integrations, running webinar platforms, advertising, social media management, and CRM oversight. It’s a lot, and she ensures it all runs smoothly. She does CRM, web projects, and social media for Prequal clients, using her talents to improve and create efficiencies and alignment. On top of being one of the most resourceful people I’ve ever met, she’s reliable and lovely to be around.
Katie came aboard Prequal after Alina. Our professional careers first overlapped in 2017 when Katie was responsible for managing client and employee experience at the law firm we both worked at. Her office was right outside of mine, and I quickly realized she had a skillset that went far beyond the duties outlined in her role. I dragged her into marketing and business development projects whenever I could.
She’s a gem, a rarity, and has skills no one else on our team has. Katie’s the most fantastic project manager I’ve ever met. She can distill the messiest of messy into action items and a to-do list with responsibilities, deadlines, and key metrics. It’s a skill set that’s served Prequal and its clients well. On top of that, she’s intuitive and has an excellent eye for our brand and how everything works together. Across the board, she is a treasure for the team because, better than anyone else, she keeps the trains moving.
Amy Royce joined us full-time at the start of this year. We first worked together in 2015 when she had one kid, and I only had two. We’ve since both doubled our brood. She and I worked closely together for nearly three years before Amy Royce decided to modify her work arrangement. She left full-time work and started a freelance marketing business when she had her second child. She gained gobs of experience alone and then as a full-time marketing director for another digital brand and creator, building up her digital empire.
Amy Royce has valuable insights into designing, marketing, and managing digital and passive revenue streams and how those systems come together. I’ve always been in awe of her immense writing talent and ability to turn out great content quickly. She leads our communication, writing, and client relationships and ensures content streams flow and flow well. As if that wasn’t enough, Amy has incredible judgment and really rounds us out.
Freelancers
We have a handful of freelancers who’ve worked with us in the past when we were employed together full-time. We could not run Prequal as effectively without our web and graphic designer, Kristen Onesti, who works on client projects and Prequal initiatives. We also rely heavily on our writer, Christine Organ, a subject matter expert in legal and online publishing.
In summary, there’s not a lot that we cannot do.
To bring this full circle and tell you why this team means so much to me, I will say this: I don’t pride myself on being a good manager of people. I tend to be the opposite of a micro-manager. If anything, I’m too hands-off. I can be abrasive, and there’s a learning curve to understand how my brain works. I often describe myself as “a bit much.”
It makes me proud that people who know firsthand what it’s like to work with me have chosen to come along with me and my weird brain. They want to work with me, like me (at the very least, tolerate me), and see the vision as I see it. They made sacrifices and loyalties, each in their way, to fulfill Prequal’s mission and make the world better for other women. Every day, they help me work toward what is my life dream. I feel immensely proud of these professional relationships and how they have become a part of my entrepreneurial journey.
To put it very plainly, I love working with these women. I feel beyond fortunate to have such brilliant, talented people around me.
Here's to your sales success,
A.
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