What is your background
I grew up in Australia, and I always wanted to be a veterinarian! I loved the structure of school and university and never considered another path. At 18, I met this wildly driven and creative entrepreneur named Sam Massa, through water skiing -a sport we were both involved in. Leaving my family and life as I knew it behind, I moved to the USA at 23. This was the very early days of Sam starting HiViz. I was still working in the veterinary field during my first few years in the US but left in 2015. HiViz was growing and needed additional hands. I am very structured, and Sam is very not! But we align on drive, ambition, work ethic and a love to serve. Both our similarities and our differences make running a business together both challenging and successful. We wouldn’t change a thing! We can’t wait to continue growing and serving the public safety industry, with a team of incredible people who I love spending my days with!
What do you do at HiViz?
Job Title: Chief Operating Officer
Start Date: I have no idea–2015 sometime!
Describe your work/day-to-day: Ultimately, my job as COO is to “Execute the vision of the CEO”. I am responsible for managing resources and timelines to help us do that on time, within budget and to the expectation that both Sam, our team members, our partner companies, and our customers expect! Sam has big visions, so I stay fairly busy!
What is your “why” at HiViz?
I have 3 “whys” and they make it a complete trifecta for satisfaction at work!
- We serve an incredible industry. First responders are typically good people, with big hearts and I love getting to work with them.
- Our team members are awesome–they’re smart, kind, passionate, motivated and many other things.They make me a better person, professional and leader. They teach and challenge me daily, and sometimes that is hard! But life isn’t meant to be easy.
- Our products are fun. They’re innovative, reliable and solve real world problems.
Hit us with all your ‘most likely’ ideas for the team
Sam – Most likely to derail a meeting. Most likely to be wearing a weird piece of clothing without any explanation.
Donna – Most likely to understand you before you understand yourself
Spencer – Most likely to be eating a food that is only white
Joe – Most likely to randomly be making snow on an average Tuesday night
Michele – Most likely to slip you some alcohol (she’s a cool mom!)
Lee: wow, so many options. Where would we even begin.
John: most likely to tell a dad joke
Morgan: Most likely to remind you of the rules in the handbook, but also the most likely to plan the best party ever
Jeane: Most likely to make sure stuff is in order!
What is a food combination people eat frequently that you can’t get behind?
I love combining foods, so I try not to judge. I’ll give you one to try. Vegemite and cheese! Ideally, eat it on white bread with butter on the inside of both pieces of bread.
What is the best advice you were given?
From my first boss: “Achieving your goals isn’t all beer and skittles, but nothing worthwhile ever is”. There are many privileges in running a business, and I am incredibly blessed. But, not many people talk about how challenging it is. It is tough and gritty, and some days it feels like we’re scratching and clawing our way forward. But you have to in order to make progress. There is always a period of discomfort in any kind of growth. On those days, I think about that quote and remind myself that it was never supposed to be easy, but it’s always worth it.
Would you rather smell like garlic or like a skunk?
Garlic. In fact, one time, I did. At the New Jersey Firemen’s Convention a few years ago, I bought some pizza from a store on the boardwalk to take back to the booth. I thought I would sprinkle some dried garlic on there, but the lid fell off and the whole shaker of garlic ended up on the pizza. But we’re not quitters – so we ate it anyway. The rest of the day, all the attendees and other vendors were asking why we smelled so strongly of garlic! Some still remember and enjoy reminding me every year.