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Our Annual Celebration looked a little different for Valicom this year. Instead of meeting at one of our favorite local restaurants, The Great Dane, or meeting for a night at The Comedy Club, we gathered at our computer screens, everyone to their own. Don’t worry, this isn’t the start of a sad story, I promise! It’s the start of one filled with gratitude.
What guides your decision making? When times get tough, how do you decide what is worth your time and what needs to be eliminated to maintain a healthy business environment?
At Valicom, having a set of core values is how we all stay on the same page, and make decisions that align with our company goals. How you treat one another, how you work together, how well you know your teammates - this creates the mold we need for success. Wouldn’t you agree? This all starts with having values that align.
Clearview looks very different today than it did 30 years ago. When I started the business in 1991, my office tools consisted of an Intel 10286 computer (100Mbps memory) which was a second-generation home (user friendly) computer, and word processing and spreadsheet (Excel) software. I used spreadsheets extensively to calculate pricing and perform long distance vendor cost comparisons based on the pricing schedules offered by AT&T and several other alternative carriers who had entered the marketplace after divestiture.
Overcoming challenges associated with a male-dominated industry came with many hurdles. Industries associated with technology, especially in the ‘80s and ‘90s, was vastly run by male ownership and operations. It was difficult to gain respect as a leader and successful business owner as a woman in the field of information technology. There were significant challenges being taken seriously with sales to clients, developing partnership with telecom vendors, attracting dedicated employees and involvement in making a difference with industry associations.
The foundational purpose, cause or belief (our why?) in which Valicom was started was based on the customer confusion in the marketplace and the difficulty experienced by alternative telecom providers to fairly compete. The same inequality still exists today.
Where did my entrepreneurial journey begin? I would say, from the day I was born.
My mother was a huge inspiration of mine growing up. She began the Mary Linsmeier daycares and preschools, during the late 1960s, when it was almost unheard of for women to be in the workforce, let alone owning a business.
