For 13 years, Lissa Scott has played an integral part in the leadership at GRIT Marketing Group as creative director and COO. From her myriad graphic design and video skills to her operations savvy, Lissa was a key player in ensuring the smooth operations at GRIT. Now she’s leading the agency into the next chapter as its new owner and president! With GRIT Marketing Group officially under Lissa Scott’s leadership, it’s time to shine the spotlight on her once again to get to know her a little better and find out how it’s going.
How did you first hear about GRIT and what led you to your career at the company?
Julie and I worked together briefly at an agency before she started Moxie (now GRIT) and we had a good working relationship. At that time, we had kids in daycare together too, so we kept in touch. I had my eye on Moxie … I could do what I love (agency creative) close to home and knew I would mesh with the culture.
How did you come to the decision to buy the agency from Julie and take on the role of owner / president?
I’ve always been driven to push myself and I’m not afraid to put in some elbow grease. I had been considering what the next chapter looked like for me, so when Julie approached me about purchasing GRIT, I was of course honored, but terrified at the same time. This was no small decision for my family. Something was pulling me to take the leap– a combination of responsibility for the amazing team, the desire to see the unique culture we’ve created continue, and a calling to ensure we can deliver for our clients and still have balance for our families. I have the most encouraging and supportive family, and I prayed a lot. It was not an easy decision, but here we are! And, I couldn’t be more grateful for the overwhelming support of the team, our clients, and partners.
What are you most looking forward to in your new role?
I’ve spent a lot of my career working behind the scenes to create great looking marketing solutions for clients and on optimizing company operations. I’m looking forward to connecting more directly and meeting new people. I love the part of what we do when we get to hear others’ stories and connect.
What do you hope never changes?
We have such a strong team where each team member delivers on such a high level that there are no weak links. This is something that I will protect fiercely. I hope I am always blessed to work with such amazing people, both coworkers and clients.
What is your proudest moment and/or project at GRIT?
Wow, that is hard especially since I have 13-years’ worth of moments/projects to choose from. I am most proud of the designers I have had the opportunity to mentor over the years. Teaching and mentoring is fulfilling, and I have seen many of them grow tremendously in their careers and lives. I am proud to see them continue to be amazing designers professionally and just great people.
As far as projects go, most recently it’s getting to see the team put together a recruitment strategy and execute landing pages, digital and social advertising, and career fair materials. They put in all the work in a fiercely competitive market and suddenly … it works! It’s so awesome to see the leads roll in, knowing we’ve set in motion a solution to our clients’ challenge and then taking that moment to stop for a second to celebrate the win.
In this brief time since you’ve been the owner and president, have you had any interesting revelations or surprises about the day-to-day operations you didn’t already know?
I had an understanding of the operations of GRIT going into the transition and knowing there are so many moving parts to running a company, but until you’re doing it, you don’t really appreciate how much that really is. I wouldn’t say it’s a surprise, but it is definitely a revelation to truly appreciate the work that goes in to setting up and managing all the little things that make a business operate from licensing, insurance, taxes and accounting to benefits and payroll, etc. I can honestly say, I have a much deeper gratitude and appreciation for this opportunity now that I’m fully immersed in every detail of it, and I’m even more impressed with my team than I could have imagined.
Let’s throw it back to see how far you’ve come – what was your very first job?
My first job was working food trucks in the summer when I was 14. We traveled all over to street rod shows and craft festivals. I learned how to count back change, to shake fresh-squeezed lemonade, and man the grill for sausage and peppers, too. I’ll never forget, “Don’t lean … clean!” I worked long hours with sore feet, but it taught me the value of hard work, how to think on my feet, and to have fun while doing it.
What job do you think you would be terrible at?
I would be a terrible stand-up comedian. Enough said.
And not necessarily work-related: What is the most impressive thing you know how to do?
I’m a decent cook. I love trying new things and reading several recipes and adapting to something that fits my style and tastes. I’m not as practiced at baking, but I make a pretty mean chocolate truffle layer cake.
To come back to your new role, what would be your ideal hope for this phase in your professional career and the future of GRIT?
It is my hope that I can be a leader who makes a positive impact on my team and our clients. That’s really simplifying it, but I don’t want to just create great marketing and impactful designs, but to form long-lasting relationships and do things a little differently.
At GRIT, our company culture, and the team we built is the heart of our work. We care a lot about each other, our work, and our clients. To learn more about what we do, hop on over to the home page of our website now!!