Spotlight on Powerhouse’s Sarah Zerr
While Powerhouse Planning (Powerhouse) may be an entirely virtual company, we still manage to find ways to connect with each other, ensuring we know each other and work well together. We may be spread out across the country, but we were doing remote teamwork well before it became a thing this past year. It’s part of what makes the Powerhouse Team Solution so successful. So, imagine our excitement three months ago when we were introduced to our newest team member, Sarah Zerr.
Sarah, like so many of us at Powerhouse, is a military spouse. She’s also a Marine Corps veteran and helicopter pilot. After hanging up her active-duty hat, Sarah decided there was no better way to start her civilian career than as one of Powerhouse’s stellar project managers. In her first few months, Sarah has slowly been getting acclimated to the way we do things and taking more of an observer’s role while she learns the specific processes and structure here. Her “outsider’s view” of things has already been making an impact, one we’ll be seeing much more of soon.
Initially, Powerhouse drew Sarah in because we’re primarily made up of military spouses and veterans. “Having been both, I know and appreciate what type of person it takes to serve in those ways,” Sarah says. Being fortunate enough to call our founder and president, Jessica Bertsch, a friend was icing on the cake. “I knew any organization [Jessica] was a part of, especially one she founded, was going to be a great place to work and spend my time,” Sarah says. With only three months under her belt, Sarah says she’s already found a work home that speaks to her, one that allows her to fit work in at her own pace. She can have a heavy workday one day and the next shift to a light one to focus more on her young family. “At my current stage of life with two young kids (and now a puppy), work is what actually provides balance,” she says. Finding a company that not only understands but also actively promotes that work/life balance for its employees is key.
Speaking of that young family, Sarah and her husband are the proud parents of Ellie, 6, and Jack, 4, as well as a teething, four-month-old goldendoodle puppy. “He’s fun and cute, but it’s a tad hectic with a new puppy and little kids who aren’t the most trained themselves,” she says. Having recently transitioned from her Marine Corps career flying CH-46E helicopters is a change for Sarah and her husband who were married shortly after their graduation from the Naval Academy. Her husband, a Marine Corps major, recently made a minor career change himself, when he transitioned to the Marine Corps Reserve. Having a little more stability in their home life is something the family is looking forward to enjoying, along with experiencing all those daily little moments.
“I love photography,” Sarah says, “It’s a bit of a creative release, but has been awesome capturing so many memories.” She started her amateur photography hobby when her oldest was born and quickly learned that having the ability to capture those everyday moments spoke to her. She says, “I love looking back at older pictures of the same activity and seeing the obvious changes, even in a photo that is taken just months apart.” Sarah says that her favorite photos aren’t the posed ones, but the ones that record those “tiny details [that] make me stop and appreciate them more.”
That passion for capturing still images is something Sarah also uses to speak for her. In fact, when asked to describe herself she replied, “I’m someone who hates talking about myself. I’ll just give you extra photos for the blog article instead.” What those photos show is a woman dedicated to her family and one who truly enjoys spending time with her favorite people. Being a mom, Sarah says, is satisfying, and she hopes one day she’ll look back on these years as one of her greatest accomplishments. But she also finds “managing an idea that turns in to awesome physical content is a great small win that I directly see and feel good about.”
Which is why Powerhouse is such a good fit for her, and it speaks to the best advice she can give: “Decide what it is you need or are missing. For me, I needed something to be able to point to and say, ‘I helped achieve that.’ Once you identify what you truly are missing to feel fulfilled, it may take some sacrifices in other areas to achieve it, but it is worth it.” For Sarah, that was why Powerhouse was such a perfect fit. It allows her to be involved in content creation, taking a client from that initial idea all the way through to the “beautifully developed product.” That she can also work with nonprofit clients is a bonus. “Helping the helpers also has some pretty high job satisfaction,” is the way Sarah puts it.
It’s clear Sarah will positively contribute to Powerhouse over the years, and she’s excited for the roll out of our new website. While not quite ready for prime time yet, the website is one of Sarah’s first projects with Powerhouse, and she can’t wait for everyone to see what we’ve come up with. “At Powerhouse, we have helped with the branding of a lot of companies. I think our new website and content brings our branding up to the outstanding level we offer our clients,” she says.
We couldn’t leave without asking Sarah to tell us something about herself not many people might know, especially her new colleagues at Powerhouse. She says, “Although I was a Marine Corps helicopter pilot, I actually hate roller coasters and most amusement park rides. I am not looking forward to when my kids outgrow the kiddie rides and I have to go on the big roller coasters with them.” Don’t worry, Sarah, now that you’re with Powerhouse, some of us will volunteer to go on those rides with your amazing children so you can keep your feet firmly planted on the ground. Which is honestly one of the things we love about you.
New Powerhouse Team Member
Emily brings her passion for helping others and experience in operations, marketing, event management, and customer service to every project and team. Emily served in a number of operational, logistics, event management, and client care roles in both professional and collegiate sports. Following her time in the athletic world, Emily transitioned into health care, serving in business development roles for both a hospital and a pharmaceutical company.
Emily grew up in a small town in Kentucky and is a graduate of the University of Kentucky. After graduation, she started her career in sports in California. Always up for a challenge and new adventure, Emily has had experience with teams and organizations across the United States, from the west coast to the southeast and a few in between. Emily brings her passion for helping others to her personal life as well. She served as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for children, working to meet the needs of children in the foster system of Kentucky. Outside of her professional and philanthropic endeavors, Emily is a newlywed who lives in Atlanta with her husband, Eric, and “fur babies,” Oliver and Brady.
LEADERSHIP SPOTLIGHT
The Art and Science of Marketing, Possibly According to an Actual Superhero
By: Julie Kirchner
If Spandex-clad, masked vigilantes just sprang to mind, you’re not alone. But do modern-day superheroes actually exist?
We contend that they do. Because we’ve met one.
Enter this trailblazer in the marketing arena. She is someone Powerhouse has been privileged to partner with over the last few years, and after witnessing her skills and mindset at work, we put Batman on warning.
“If I could be a superhero, I’d love to be Connector Woman. I love bringing interesting people together to see what magic we can create,” says Rissa Reddan, Marketing Leader for Demand Generation at Equifax. There couldn’t possibly be a more exquisite interpretation for marketing than “bringing interesting people together.”
Reddan recently stepped into her new role as Demand Generation Leader for the U.S. Information Services business at Equifax, which is a one-billion-dollar-plus business. “My goal is to communicate how we help customers solve for growing business challenges,” Reddan says. For the past two years, she served as Senior Vice President of Marketing for the Commercial Business at Equifax, and prior to that, Senior Vice President of Marketing for PayNet until its acquisition by Equifax in 2019.
Reddan says, “I am thrilled to be a part of Equifax’s transformation. At Equifax, our goal is to help small businesses access capital. We know that when the small business economy thrives, so, too, the U.S. economy.”
And she’s right. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy, small businesses account for 99.9% of businesses in the United States and provide nearly half of all jobs in its private workforce. (more…)
Did You Know?
Roughly 80% of small businesses are utilizing social media, however only 39% of them update their sites “as needed,” according to research published in The Journal of Marketing Development and Competitiveness. Yet how do most of us search for a business when we need a new or new-to-us product? We open Google and “let [our] fingers do the walking,” as the old Yellow Pages commercials used to say.
Now, more than ever, we are relying on our computers, tablets, and smartphones to help us shop, conduct business, and basically stay connected in both our personal and business lives. Our external communications are key to helping us promote our businesses, shape perception, gain more sales, and (bottom line) grow our businesses.
Various external communication tools exist such as websites, blogs, live events and conferences, email and newsletters, press releases, and the ever-present social media. Not only are these critical to promoting our brands, but they are also crucial in helping us build loyal customer bases and generate new leads.
If you feel lost on how to make the most of your external communications, Powerhouse Planning can help. We offer business development services that can help you bring your business to the next level. Contact us today for details.
3 Tips to Streamline External Communications
Let’s face it—growing a business isn’t easy. You may have heard that effective communication is key for your business to thrive. With many businesses working remotely these days, streamlining your company’s external communications strategy is more important than ever.
So how can you make the most out of your external communications strategy, whether you are using social media, email newsletters, blogs, or a combination to connect with your audience? We’re glad you asked.
- Create content that relates to your brand. A good communications strategy should build brand awareness. To save yourself time in the long run and give yourself the opportunity to create valuable content, take out your calendar and brainstorm themes and holidays that relate to your brand. Put all these ideas into a strategic communications plan to refer to when you’re creating content. Most importantly, make sure your content always ties into your company’s brand.
- Be relatable and authentic. Get to know your audience. Review analytics to determine what content gets the most engagement. Find out what your customers value. Use these as tools when creating your companies’ external communications. Your audience wants to see the authenticity of your company, and what better way to get your brand out there than by being uniquely you in all you do?
- Marketing collateral. When designing graphics and marketing collateral, you want your audience to be able to understand clearly what your company is all about. What is your company’s message? If a stranger looked at your content, would he or she know what your company is all about? A great resource for this is Donald Miller’s book Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen. The Powerhouse team found tremendous value in this read during a recent virtual book club.
Marketing or Messaging? Tips for Communicating as a Business with the Community
Not every piece of external communications from your company will be targeted advertising to gain new clients. External communication also includes messaging regarding what your company does, your values, and your engagement with the community that will tell the general public who you are. Not just potential clients, but current clients, business partners, and current or future employees. Consider how your company balances sales pitches with other forms of engagement. How do you show leadership in the community in addition to a solid product – through service, employment opportunities, civic engagement? Communicate these practices in your newsletters, website, and social media.
Plan for mistakes. Inevitably, your company will make a misstep in communication: an advertisement that falls flat, a poorly handled complaint, or a social faux pas when dealing with current issues. If you prepare ahead of time for how you will handle an internal review, public statement, and commitment to changing behavior, then when a mistake happens, your team can feel more confident that you can approach the situation fairly, calmly, and appropriately. Writing a crisis communications plan that makes the chain of communication, responsibility, and review process clear and available can help employees at all levels navigate their roles in guiding the company back to sure footing. (more…)