Passion Project (with Alaina Maracotta)

Welcome to operations unfiltered the podcast that takes you behind the scenes of influencer and talent management. This week, we're having a Mustang meetup with a friend and fellow alumni from Stevenson university Alaina. We'll share some fun memories from our times, working in the admissions office. Talk operations in her current career. And she'll share some advice for some incoming Mustangs. Don't worry. The advice is still relevant. If you aren't going to Stevenson. So without further ado.

So happy to be here with you.

Yes. Thank you so much for joining me. So what was your major and what year did you graduate? And then share a favorite memory from Stevenson.

I started at Stevenson and I was like, I want to be a therapist. And so I started as a, social services major, and quickly found out that I got too many of my own emotions to be anybody's therapist. So,

uh,

yeah. I was like, oh, excuse me. I was so confused. so wrong about this. And I switched, my major to business communication. And I graduated in 2016, but we're saying

this like we weren't in the same classes. We were the same major. We went through the trenches together. So yes, that is how we know each other. Yes.

And actually, I was gonna say, my favorite memory, with you at SU for me was, and I don't know if you remember this, but we had to take this class for our internship. And, one of our professors was like, yeah, you'll be lucky if you make 40, 000 35, 000 right out of the gate. No, she

said 35, 000. She definitely said 35, 000, ma'am.

Yes, and Zarina and I both looked at each other and we were like, who is this? Literally

the same thing. We both said who I remember that day. Yes. After both of us had just come from our jobs from internship and coming here slaving, yes, I will never forget that day. Yeah, absolutely not. No ma'am.

Absolutely not. And I absolutely never did. Because that was just not. An option, because, you know, as we all know right now, everything, life's expensive. Going outside is expensive, and even more so now than it was in 2016. So, it just, it was just an absolutely not, at that time. But, so, that's kind of one of the, I was just thinking about that today, when I was thinking about coming on the show. on with you today. I was like, Oh my God, that was so funny.

goodness. Yeah, we literally were in the trenches. I'm talking PT cruiser days. The purple PT Cruiser.

brown, girl. It was brown. Oh, it was

brown.

It was brown. Are you purple? I swear it was

purple. I might be, honestly. I might be. But speaking of making 35, 000 a year, which we both never did, absolutely not. What is your current role? What are you doing now?

So,, I have been venturing into the health tech space,, in the last couple of years. So my current role, I work for a company called Grail. we actually, just went public, a week or two ago. Yeah. We are a biotech company, a health tech company that, we have, multi cancer early detection, phlebotomy test, and it tests for signals of 50 different kinds of cancer just from a blood test..

Wow.

So, yeah, it's, it's amazing technology and I can't wait for it to be, more readily available, to the broader masses for sure. So what I do there is I actually. Work, on the sales operations side. I work our sales incentives. So our sales team that comes together, obviously sales people make a commission. So I work on their structures. I work on their policy to make sure that, you know, everything is fair and equitable to, the team, but also the company.

That

Yeah, so I am doing a lot of brand strategy for, mostly beauty wellness, brands. In Baltimore. So it's been really amazing. So far I'm, I'm really working on, elevating socials, you know, getting these businesses more involved in the community, raising awareness. For their brand and things like that.

Okay. I love that for you because I feel like knowing you personally, that really

So I'm going to talk a little bit. of crap because I use this sauna at work my full time job because, only because I have to. But.

Okay.

I, I am a click up stan and I don't know if you Let's get into it! ClickUp before, but, it was brought on, at my previous role which was a startup. So things were newer there, you know, we didn't have anything really set, in place in, one of our, marketing operations managers brought on. Click up and sort of use me in my, in my events and conferences role as a sort of guinea pig for the platform. And I just took off with it. And I just think that it's so intuitive. It's so easy.

free version of anything, especially as an entrepreneur and I don't even think of it as, you know, a bad thing that you have to use one, tool at work and one tool in your side hustle. I feel like it is. Actually great. It's helping you to build the tools in your toolbox. So shout out to you for learning how to use both. And hopefully one day you can get the paid version of ClickUp. Cause I hear it's wonderful. I myself am a smart sheet girly, please don't kill me, but I'm a smart sheet girly.

I'm so offended by

this. I love Smartsheet and it's be, it's probably because my background, I've worked in health insurance and then I worked in higher education. So I just love a good Excel sheet, but I hate that there's no automation and triggers. And an Excel sheet. Like I just, what am I going to do with this random row and random cells? So smart sheet comes along and baby girl has automation. Baby girl has forms. I can speak directly to the document. So I'm a smart, she girly through and through,

and I, and I will say as a person who went from, and I've had a lot of different roles, like I had five internships in college I am just not a person who's ever been really good or into school. It's just something that we've all had to do.

yeah, and the other key thing that I remember about our time at Stevenson and how it just transferred over Into the work that we do now Everybody who is doing something Spectacular now worked in the admissions office Okay. Either you were a tour guide or you were working behind that front desk. So shout out to everybody who worked in the admissions office. Shout out to Molly. Girl, I love you. Shout out to Zakiya. She worked with Mark Herrigan. I love her down.

It's a really great experience too. I, I remember, so I was an owl, an orientation weapon leader. And I remember, like, my owls, at my, during my first, week of college and stuff. And I was like, I just, like, want to be an owl. And then I got to an opportunity to be an owl. And then you get to work and do tours during the school year, in the admissions office.

experience for sure. I was at the front desk. I was a guest experience assistant, and then I was an admissions fellow. So I was really in the office because I was not walking around that campus all day showing I'm not doing the tours. I wasn't doing all that walking, but working at the front desk, I really learned my people skills. I had to answer the phone and let me tell you.

You know, something you said really triggered a memory for me. And a really valuable skill that I learned doing the tours, though, is not every family is extroverted. And not every, family, wants to chit chat with you. So it is really, it is really a lesson in potentially having an hour of talking to yourself. For sure. You just learn this sort of, okay, I've, I've got a riff, you know, or there's gonna be some weird awkward silence. I also want to mention, silence is definitely okay.

having

some sort of conversation around

I call it Embrace the Awkward. Embrace the Awkward and honestly I could always tell and I would come back and warn y'all like oh man this is gonna be a quiet tour but you guys always rocked it and they would come back smiling from ear to ear excited about it so you did your thing girl. But speaking of roadblocks and obstacles, what are some of the roadblocks and obstacles you're encountering as you're going on this brand strategy journey? You're meeting with clients, onboarding new clients.

Things that we're trying to do is build engagement. How do we get new clients and patients? for sure and so i'm working with two brands right now. Yeah, so Yeah, so one of them is called house of aesthetics It's, two of my girlfriends, one of which who went to Stevenson as well. Um, and Oh, come on Mustang Meetup. Yes! Yes! and then the, uh, another one I met, post college.

Medical aesthetics. Love that. So,

yeah. Medical aesthetics. And, they, the two of them, I love them so much. They're very much about how can I give you a result that looks like you, but better.

Yeah.

And they, the two of them, I really respect them. They turn away clients. Somebody will come in and say, I want more lip filler. And they'll be like, no. Absolutely not. You don't need any more and I'm not going to give you any more because I want you to have a good result and I don't think anymore is going to do that for you.

We love an honest medical professional. Because some people will just take your money and have you looking like a puffer fish. So we, Love it when people are honest. We love that. And I feel like that's, they're being loyal to their own brand. They're being loyal to their work. I want people to look at you as a reflection of me and my business. So I'm going to be honest with you. I love that for them.

And the other brand I'm working with, it's called, melted wax and skin. Another one of my friends, Olivia, she, she's an esthetician. She's amazing guys. If you're in Baltimore and need a Brazilian, she is the fastest Brazilians in the West. I swear. 15 minute Brazilian. And then she also does, facial treatments, micro needling as well., and she's amazing. She has a location in, in Canton right now. She's opening up another location in August.

overload. Everybody is on tick tock. Everybody is on Instagram. It's content overload. So you really have to, as a business owner compete with that, be fresh. I always say your content can go quickly because there's so much choice out there. So yeah, you are definitely head on right there.

For me, it's, it's thinking outside the box of the content that we're giving, our clients and patients. And I think especially in this beauty aesthetics, space, there is so much choice as we were talking about people travel for their beauty. And we know, I know

it, people will travel for their beauty, which is hair as well. I've traveled, I'm afraid to admit how far I've traveled for some hair, three hours, but nevertheless, people will travel for their beauty. I get it. I get it.

So, and they have choice. And I think setting these, these brands apart from the ones that are around all the time, so for these House of Aesthetics, their thing is they're two nurse practitioners. They are medical professionals, and they want to give you a natural And listen, they will freeze your face if that's what you want. But they will not, not, not put more filler than they think is going to make you happy.

And there is a clientele that respects that. And I cater to that market and lean into it. I love that you guys are standing on business about your filler.

I

love it. I love it.

And I think with Melted, it's something that really sets Olivia apart is one is that her 15 minute Brazilians. I, I have never gotten a Brazilian from anyone else but Olivia,

but I will say. Men who are listening to this, men, if you don't understand, first of all, the Brazilian is so beautiful. It's such a sensitive experience. It is a bonding experience. So the fact that she can get in there, in and out in 15 minutes is, she's a magician at that point. So yeah.

And I think that, you know, you just hit on something else that I think is, olivia's sort of superpower is the fact that she just really, makes people feel comfortable because it is a very intimate experience with another human who, I mean, the first time, and even the couple of times after that, it can be a little weird. You're like, I don't know. It's

extremely weird. Yeah.

It's,

If you, if you don't know, it's, it's very intimate. Yeah.

And I think you just have to go to your clients and you say, all right, let's figure out what your superpower is and capitalize on those. What's setting you apart from all the other people. Then, incorporating those things into their socials, into their newsletters, into, what events we're having them attend,, in the area. And we are telling clients, what we are going to give them is different from what you're going to get somewhere else. And let me tell you why.

I love that approach. And I feel like there's a sense of authenticity that people want nowadays that people are craving. And the more that you deliver that, the more successful you'll be. And Leaning into what makes you uniquely you. So we all have this mission, this vision for where we see ourselves in the future, what we want to accomplish. These are our passion projects after all. Who is your dream collab, your dream partnership, your dream business? Who would you love to work with?

You know what I'm about to say something so lame. It is, it is lame. I just love working with my friends and seeing It's so like, I just seeing my friends win and how I can hitch my wagon to them But also be an asset. So I think I will say I think My biggest thing in my personal life and in my business life is I lead with relationships first.

Yes, I love a girl's girl. Because who wouldn't want your team, the people on your team to want what's best for you and want you to succeed. That's a good dream of collaboration and partnership. I love that. Absolutely. Oh

my

gosh, Alayna.

I just, one thing I was going to say is, you know, I had a meeting with the girls from Melted. Melted is also a mother daughter duo. So Olivia is Obviously, she does all the services and things, but she works in this collaboration with her mom, Ruth. Ruthie is my girl. And she really runs like, I know. Hey girl, today's her birthday. So happy birthday, Ruthie. Oh, happy birthday, Ruth. We're filming on

her birthday. Go girl. Yes.

And I was talking with the two of them, the other day. And I was telling her, you know, Nobody is going to care about your business as much as you. No one ever. But I think something that's so important is having people in your corner and on your team who are second in line to that. And if they're not,

you don't want those people on your team. 100%. That is the part that people miss. And the part that I always stress and why I say operations is truly the right people, the processes and the tools and technologies. So you hit it spot on. So tell us what's the passion behind this project?

I think that I am. Since I moved into this role that I'm in now, it's a lot less creative. It's way more logistics and math and things like that. And I you know, I love socials. I love products. I love beauty. And I think just being, there was, it came from this need to be involved. And I was just how can I do that? And having this sort of epiphany that I, I need to get started today. And what does that mean? And what do I need to do? And I think this is weirdly, the stars aligned and

I

started with House of Aesthetics and I was just Ladies, I just I need to be with you. I don't know what that means. But you took a deep

dive, a leap of faith. For sure.

I did. I did. And I was you know, I it fully being, fully being I mean, they're my friends, so they never, never tell me to kick rocks. But for them to be well we, I mean some

friends will absolutely tell you to kick rods, but that just a, is a testament to you and the friend group that you have curated. So, because I know some, some quote unquote friends that will absolutely tell you to kick rocks.

Yeah, and I'm just surrounded by all of these, powerhouse women, and it just fills up

a part of this.

And I, well, you created a way

you created a lane love that so much. Well, thank you so much for taking time to chat with me you truly got unfiltered with all of your operations. Because this is a Mustang meetup, I want to close this out with what piece of advice would you give a freshman starting at Stevenson?

Cool. Yeah. I think number one is get involved and I know that everybody will tell you that and you don't even really know what that means because I didn't get as involved until probably the end of my sophomore year going into my junior year and I wish I had more of that, I became an owl the summer before my junior year. I joined Phi Sig, the, fall of my junior year. You know, I think it's the sorority.

I know people are like, what are y'all talking about? Fisig is a sorority at Stevenson. It's a very small school. I hope after you guys listen to the show, you will go do your research about Stevenson.

Yeah. And I think My college experience got that much better. And I grew a lot as a person during that summer into my junior year. And you will no matter what, but I think starting earlier and doing all of the extra things without burning yourself out.

Yes. Burnout is real.

Burnout is real. And just making sure that you're really doing things that align to You know what you're interested in and and even trying new things if you're not sure because I get it you're 18 and you go Oh my god, i'm i'm out here

new world it is

Yeah, and I think it's so good to be able to find pockets of community in places that maybe you didn't Really know about before. So it's really great.

You wrapped it up really nice and pretty for me, because essentially saying, make sure you have the right people, processes, and tools when you start your journey as Stevenson, and honestly, it travels even when into your professional life. So thank you so much, Elena, for joining and thank you guys for listening to operations unfiltered, the Mustang meetup edition. See you next time. Thanks.