Embracing the Change: How I Transitioned from Independent Operator to Employee
So how does that break down geographically and how do you put the hat on of VP of Technology and Cybersecurity at Interlaced versus Running Grove and is there a process you’re heading toward where. Everything is under one umbrella ultimately.
Owner operators tend to become very bad employees because they are just aren’t used to working under a construct that they don’t have any control over. So I certainly went through that and still am going through that sort of transition. The one thing that’s been very helpful in that transition is the autonomy that I still have in terms of running the business or the book of business here in the DC area.
So I’m still running. The day-to-day operations, I’m still meeting with the clients on a regular basis, and I’m still actively taking on new clients and then being charged with maintaining the DC market and overseeing the business as a separate entity. A branch of Interlaced, right? Grove Technologies powered by interlaced.
But the, essentially trying to draw some very clear lines, right? They’re very good at running their business on the west coast and the West coast market, but they don’t know a lot about the East coast market. So the last thing they want to do is come in and impose a lot of change to the clients right after acquiring the business to bring or introduce uncertainty.
So I’m here to continue to maintain growth and stability in this area, but to promote the larger offerings that we have, right? So the way that we approached it with our clients was we are the same company. We have the same technicians. We’re gonna approach technology in the same way that we have in the past, which is a very relationship heavy and relationship focused approach.
One of the main reasons why I chose Interlaced was because that’s also the same way that they run their business when you’re looking at being acquired or selling your business or whatever, it’s not really about you and the money that you’re gonna get. That’s a great byproduct of the sale or the acquisition.
But, I was really focused heavily on how will my clients be impacted? Because at the end of the day, if I sell the business and the clients aren’t happy and they leave, then what have I built? What have I been working towards? The goal here is to continue to serve my clients and to do right by them.