Mandy Parmer—
Over lunch we uncovered the unthinkable—gasp! we are both introverts.
Unfortunately, I went into this thinking Erin (you all know Erin, bubbly and outgoing and funny and sometimes loud) was the extrovert and the natural for business development. All my career, I’ve been the behind-the-scenes person—a mathematician born and bred that is perfectly happy with my nose in a spreadsheet. Sadly, Erin seemed to be under the impression that I was the extrovert… and that I, horrors, would be the face of the company out there in Business Development Land.
Mandy and Erin at the 2018 ACS Fall BBQ. Learning how to deal with challenges and setbacks is critical to a strong business and strong partnership.
Over lunch we had a conversation that probably should have happened earlier. And we did what any logical duo would do—we made a list of all corporate responsibilities and divvied them up. Some by strength of personality and knowledge (I get finance and Erin gets personnel) and some just by necessity (yep, you guessed it, I got business development).
And, yes, there were some contentious items in the conversation, but the mutual respect we have for each other meant that, at the end of the day, we had a business plan, assigned roles, and a rock-solid partnership likely made stronger by our first “oh crud” moment. It might have been easier doing rock-paper-scissors, but easy is not where the goodness lies.
The moral to this story is that communications, compromise, and clarity are key to owning a small business. We missed a step, learned from it, and used it as an opportunity to formalize our approach to business—a theme that resonates across all we do at ACS.
Side note: As a funny codicil to this story, Erin and I both have to “extrovert” on a daily basis. It’s just part of the job. In the last year you may have seen me on the Project Geosptial podcast, and Erin was a guest speaker on Gene Hammett’s Growth Podcast, and she presented some of the #ACSOrigins story as the keynote speaker to an MBA cohort at American University’s Kogod School of Business.
Tune in as Erin shares what formalizing a business really means, why we do what we do, and our commitment to viewing the world slightly askew.
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Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Reston, Virginia, Assured Consulting Solutions is a well-respected and trusted partner, domain expert, and provider of expert-level support. ACS is a certified Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB) that delivers advanced technology solutions and strategic support services in support of critical national security missions for Intelligence, Defense, and Federal Civilian customers. Learn more at www.assured-consulting.com.
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