People Don’t Believe My Boss Exists Part 12

James Scriven – Paid Search Specialist

Firecrackers Came First

After my first conversation with Annie, I quickly realized that she had a very candid and blunt dialogue. And if she ever had a filter, it was certainly long gone.

As the head of a marketing consultancy, I imagine she may rub people the wrong way sometimes. With her open-ended questions that are sure to stir the most erotic of conversations, or her sailor-mouth tone of voice that would be quick to make any nun run for the rosaries.

But not me. I enjoyed the open, honest and straightforward back and forth. It was a nice changeup from the standard black and white monotony that exists with so many other brand strategy consultants these days. Especially in Austin. I knew I had landed in a place where culture thrived and blossomed from open conversation and a clear rejection of societal guidelines. But I also knew I had landed in a place that was going to take some getting used to. And I couldn’t have been more excited. 

Expectations were clearly set and I haven’t felt better about walking into an employment situation in all my years of working with brand strategy consultants and media advertising agencies. I guess it helped that she was impressed with my pre-employment assessment. But then again, I imagine that anyone who doesn’t run for the door after their first encounter essentially passed the first part of their test. 

Trusting Her Gut

From day one, it was evident (to me, at least) that she had faith in my abilities. I was thrown right into the fire (I had maybe 50 emails when I logged in my first day. It was nuts). This was definitely a place where you couldn’t just sit back and fly under the radar. But under Annie’s watchful eye, I knew that my skills would be put to the test.

Annie designed her Austin marketing consultancy so that it required contributions from every member of the team to work properly. Which really made sense as I could tell that she handpicked every position on the team to enable better collaboration. She knows what kind of dynamics work best together. And she knows exactly how to motivate them to do their best work. Either in the form of extremely generous cash-bonuses or a searing hot cattle prod that I have only heard stories of. 

I was admittedly overwhelmed, but looking back, it may have been a test. I did my best to manage the workload and expectations, and it seemed as though I passed the test due to that initial faith turning into trust. Hopefully, that trust will turn into empowerment. While we’re not completely at the empowerment stage yet, you can definitely sleep easier knowing the CEO of an award-winning digital marketing agency has your trust. Annie is a bit of firecracker, unlike any CEO I’ve worked with, but she will definitely provide a platform to showcase your skills. If you’re worth it.

Like all firecrackers, the best part of the show is the Grand Finale. And now that I am a part of the team, I can look forward to seeing sparks fly every time we have a sit down with a client.

But be advised – if you stare at the lights too long, you might go blind. Sunglasses not included.