The Most Skilled Candidate isn’t Always the Right Candidate - Haley Stracher - Episode #34

Haley Stracher is the CEO of Iris Design Collaborative, and an expert designer and marketing strategist. With more than 8 years of experience in graphic design and UI/UX, she has led creative teams at major publications and companies including the Chicago Tribune, American Osteopathic Association, and the University of Florida.

 

Discussion Points:

• What myth or bogus strategy do you want to bust?  2:20
• Tell us more about your experience and process. 3:41
• How do you facilitate the collaboration? 12:06
•  Do you have any tricks, tips, and tricks for maintaining the bonding between employees? 14:20
• How did you get into this business? 16:10
• What's the theme strength? 19:42
• How do you guys find clients? 21:10
• How did you overcome the fear of saying no to your clients? 25:12
• What are the best practices that have given you more accurate estimates in the beginning? 27:25
• How does your pricing model work? 30:22
• What would you say was kind of one mistake that you made. 37:07
• What keeps you up at night? 40:06

 

Takeaways 

• Platforms are always changing. There are new design softwares rolling out all the time. But, the eagerness to learn, the excitement and passion is really what makes most amazing team members.
• Hiring is hard, finding great team members is as hard; As an agency owner, you know, your team members are a huge part of what you do.
• Everything that you say yes to, you're saying no to something else. 
• Having the power to say ‘NO’ to your sales lead, having that strength to say, “No, I don't think we are the right fit” is a huge thing. It can help you win bigger deals, but not everyone thinks like that. - Varun
• With the pricing of the contract versus the hourly component of it, the best way to manage that is to know how long a project takes with some of the standards. And then the upcharge is the nice way to say that for when they want to add on things. 
• Set realistic goals for yourself because your team learns from you as a leader. 

 

Links 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/haley-s-04b29939/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/irisdesigncollab/ 
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/irisdesigncollab/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/iris-design-collaborative/ 
• Company website: https://www.irisdesigncollaborative.com/

 

Busted Myths:

• The most technically skilled person may not be the best person to hire onto your team.