For this month’s blog, we’ve decided to interview our co-owner and COO, Priscilla!

Priscilla graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a B.S. in Cognitive Science & Psychology and a M.S. in Management, Marketing for New Product Development. In 2017, she moved to Maine and began working for a marketing agency in downtown Portland. After working for a year, she decided to quit her job and join EID Visions as co-owner and COO. 

Priscilla is well versed in approaching marketing from a diverse perspective. She studies how consumers interact with marketing and learns what strategies to use to effectively market any business. As an entrepreneur herself, she is able to put herself in the shoes of other small businesses.

When Priscilla is not working, she loves staying at home and watching TV or playing video games. She enjoys trying new craft beers and would also consider herself a foodie. 

Enough with the introduction, on with the questions!

Q: What made you want to join EID Visions?
A: I was getting tired of being unable to make changes in the workplace. Suggestions were usually met with a “but we’ve always done it this way!” response. This culture made work harder, less-efficient, and not fun. I had learned all that I could from my previous position. Orlando asked me to join EID Visions full time, where I could run my own business. Of course I said yes!

Q: What responsibilities do you have as co-owner?
A: I do a little bit of everything. I do all of the internal marketing. If we have any leads, I’m doing sales. With any clients we bring on, I do all of the marketing and web design work. I support Orlando with internal processes… and anything else that comes up! 

Q: What do you like the most about owning your own small business?
A: I like that I am my own boss. If I find that something is not working out, I can experiment with it until it does. 

Q: What do you dislike the most about owning your own small business?
A: It’s hard to stay motivated! There’s no one checking up on me to tell me to do my work. There’s no real deadlines either. 

Q: What is on your wish list for your next five years at EID Visions?
A: I’m hoping we can grow big enough where two people (and a cat) isn’t going to cut it anymore and we’ll need to hire more people!

Q: What’s your favorite part of the job?
A: Being able to work from home. I’m thankful we started a marketing and business consulting company and not anything that requires me to go to an office building.

Q: Why did you choose a career in marketing?
A: I think it’s fascinating how companies try to market their products and how consumers react to it. I think seeing the field of marketing through a psychology lens is super interesting!

Q: What have you learned from working with other small businesses?
A: That not everyone is a marketing nerd like me. Working with other small businesses has reminded me that something that’s obvious to me may not be obvious to other folks. I’ve learned to be patient and explain as much as I can so that they can understand what’s going on.

Q: What’s the one thing all small businesses should be doing with their marketing?
A: They should be figuring out how best to interact with potential customers. There’s no one way to do it, every business is unique! Don’t try to be like Coca Cola or Walmart, be your small business.

Q: What piece of advice do you have for others starting small businesses?
A: It’s going to be hard sometimes but don’t give up! Make sure to take your time and don’t feel like you have to compare to everyone else. 

Q: Favorite social media platform to spend time on?
A: I absolutely love TikTok. I can spend hours scrolling through my feed. Between that and Twitter, that’s how I keep up to date with all of the latest trends and memes.

Q: Favorite company/person to follow on Twitter?
A: You gotta follow Hank Green @hankgreen. He has a great mix of business, marketing, science, politics, and internal culture content.

Q: What’s your favorite thing about living in Maine?
A: I love the Fall. I’ve lived in Florida and New York and I have to say that the Fall season here is the prettiest I’ve ever seen. It’s my favorite season! I guess you can call me a leaf peeper!

Q: What job would you be terrible at?
A: Anything that has to do with public speaking… I can do it if I really have to but I’m going to hate every second of it!

Q: What is something you’d like to learn more about?
A: I would love to one day get singing lessons. I have always loved singing and music, especially Broadway, but I’ve never really done anything with it besides belting out songs in the car.

Q: What keeps you motivated?
Orlando keeps me motivated. He is such a passionate and hard working person. I just want to keep up with him. I’m lucky that his work ethic rubs off!

Q: Are you usually early or late?
A: I’m always super early. I’m usually waiting in the parking lot for 15-30 minutes before I even have to arrive, haha.

Q: What songs do you have completely memorized?
The whole original broadway cast recording of Beetlejuice The Musical.

Q: What’s the best single day on the calendar?
A: It’d have to be my favorite holiday: Halloween! I love all things spooky, my favorite season is Fall, and I love the overall aesthetic of the holiday.  

Q: Favorite food?
A: Fries!