While we’re comprised of more than 8,000+ orgs of all shapes and sizes, we can all appreciate innovative work and sharing ideas. In this series, the Bureau of Digital’s (BoD) Carl Smith chats with members who make our community happen. For this edition, we speak with Crystal O’Neill, President of Seer Interactive, a digital marketing agency powered by big data. Enjoy the cleaned-up, abridged transcript below or view the video interview in its entirety.
CARL: I DID SEE THAT YOU GRADUATED WITH A DEGREE IN SPANISH, AND I WAS LIKE, HOW DO YOU GET HERE? HOW DO YOU GO FROM SPANISH TO SEO?
Crystal: When I was a freshman in college, I was teaching in an after-school program in Reading, Pennsylvania. I was doing that for the whole year and I was bored. And I realized I’m not one to sit still. So I needed to pivot. But I love learning about cultures and languages, and Spain just had this place in my heart. So through a little soul searching and maybe a little nudging from my parents, international business was the route that I ended up seeking as my major. That’s how I got into the business world.
How I fell into this digital SEO world - it just happened. Graduating from college I wanted to find a role where I could leverage my Spanish and my international business background. I had just returned from studying abroad in Spain and I needed to have that in my life. The first role that I found that brought that all to life for me was with a really small digital agency in Baltimore, Maryland.
CARL: SO WHAT WAS THAT LIKE, GOING FROM YOUR FIRST JOB TO SEER INTERACTIVE? HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE THERE, WHAT WAS IT LIKE, WHAT WERE YOU DOING?
Crystal: There were maybe five people when I joined. I purposely sought out smaller companies. As much as I appreciate and love operations and processes, I equally rebel against them. So yeah, I purposely sought small companies and I could just feel the passion. I felt that’s the type of company I can be part of, I can appreciate.
CARL: WHAT WAS IT LIKE FOR YOU SUDDENLY SITTING AT A TABLE AT OWNER CAMP WITH OTHER PEOPLE WHO WERE BUILDING COMPANIES?
Crystal: I loved it. The growth has always been very organic, very purposeful for us. In the early days, Will (founder) used to say, we're not getting past 10 employees, and then 15, and then 25, and at some point I was like, okay let's talk about why we're choosing to grow, right?
So being in that group with others that were growing was so enlightening and helpful from a “we're not the only ones going through this” perspective. There's a lot of success and a lot of great things that come with growth, but there's also a lot of growing pains and challenges that aren't always talked about. You can sometimes feel like you're the only one dealing with these things or that you're getting it all wrong. And then you come into this room and you're like, I'm not the only one, this is lovely. So I was just a sponge. I was early in helping grow this company, so for me it was just so impactful to hear and learn from others that had taken this route before.
CARL: AND I THINK YOU WERE PRESIDENT WHEN YOU CAME TO OWNER CAMP IN MINNEAPOLIS. SO WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU COME BACK? HOW DOES IT COMPARE TO THE FIRST TIME?
Crystal: The organization was definitely bigger. We had grown a bunch, so I remember coming back and feeling like I was able to contribute more to Owner Camp the second time around and share my own experiences to maybe help somebody else take a nugget away. And, we had just started building out our executive team, so we had experience with our first hires leading finance and operational things.
CARL: YOU JUST GET ALL THE BEST PEOPLE. WHAT DO YOU THINK IT IS THAT ATTRACTS THEM TO SEER?
Crystal: I would say one is that we really try to be transparent as an organization and truly share who we are and what we're about - and then live it. I think it helps being transparent; not that we do everything right, nobody does, but we try our best. And then I think that is reciprocated back by the people who join. It either resonates with them or it doesn't.
But also I'll give our people a ton of kudos. They really hone in on what is going to make somebody successful at Seer. If you truly want to build a company of really talented folks that share values and vision - and what culture means to them - you may have to compromise other areas, right?
CARL: SO TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT NOW, LIKE HOW BIG IS SEER AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING?
Crystal: We are at around 210 folks full time. We've expanded to include some contractors and partners in different countries that bring a different skill set to the team that we didn’t have in the past. We’re still very much focused on helping us, as a company, live up to our values and vision of having a good impact on our communities, our team and our clients.
One of the biggest organization shifts we're working through is embracing remote first. That's a big transition for us. It's huge, and obviously the pandemic had a lot to do with that, but I do think that little shove was probably good for the industry. On top of that we’re very focused on evolving our operations and systems to remove friction from our teams day to day to make their lives at work easier.
Check out the full video interview. To interact with other pros like Crystal Anderson O’Neill, join the Bureau community today!