As the CEO of A&S Telecom Consulting, Mia Fox has built her business from the ground up. She started as a telecom sales representative and eventually became the VP of Sales before opening her own telecom consulting company.
At A&S Telecom Consulting, Fox helps businesses be more efficient through telecommunication services like hosted voice and cybersecurity. I had the chance to chat with Fox about her journey to entrepreneurship, what has led to her success in business, and how she balances the roles of being a boss and mom with grace.
Career Mastered: What made you branch out into your own company after having so much success working for others?
MIA FOX: I knew that technology was changing, and it wasn’t really just going to be a monopolized situation. I understood that the world was going to be operated over the internet, which left opportunities open for different partnerships, relationships and a different way for companies to run their businesses.
CM: What do you think are some of the characteristics that have contributed to your success as a leader?
MF: I do a lot of self-managing and self-criticizing as a CEO. I’m hard on myself about my business. Whenever there’s an instance that I don’t reach my goals, I’m always determined to figure out if there was something that I could have done better. I’m very, very anal on making sure that everything is right, and the customer is taken care of. I always tell people that customer service is equally, if not more important, than the sale itself. Every part of the customer experience must be thoughtful and consistent. Making sure that the package is right. Making sure that the customer understands and is comfortable with what they purchased.
CM: How has being a mother contributed to your success as a CEO, and how do you find balance between those two worlds?
MF: Being a mother gave me the structure that I needed in my life. I looked up the definition of being a CEO, and you are supposed to know how to create, manage and take care of the plan and the people. You’re supposed to know how to look at everything and have the intuition to see everything from the big picture to the minute details. I feel like when you’re a mom and you’re in charge of the household, it’s very much like running a business. You learn principles that can be applied to business successfully.
Being both a mom and CEO has taught me the importance of balance. I had to learn that you can’t really let your business tie into your personal life. You want to take the good from each experience to be the best at both, but you must know how to separate those worlds. When you’re home, you’ve got to be a mom. You can’t let the stress of the workday impact how you treat your family. The same is true at work, so don’t let hard times at home cause problems in your office. You have people with their own families depending on you to make good decisions, so you need to have a clear mind at work and always stay focused on your business success.
CM: How do telecommunications services impact a business’s success?
MF: Our hosted voice telecommunications allows us to update the way a business operates, the way they make their calls, the way they function daily. Now they can email their voicemails, transfer a live phone call to a cell phone, and answer their desk phone from their cell phone when they’re in another state or even out of the country. We can program their system to work as an auto attendant, so that all the customer has to do is press a button to find the team member.
To learn more about Mia Fox and A&S Telecom Consulting, find them on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/ company/a-s-telecomconsulting/
As CEO of SYNC Digital Agency, Marci Bryant, MBA is dedicated to helping companies get more consistent revenue by synchronizing customer facing teams using content, technology and strategy. She is a speaker, trainer, published author, and corporate copywriter. Connect with Marci on LinkedIn or visit www.marcibryantmba.com to learn more
