Smart City Work Diaries – Meet Lauren

Welcome back to an Austin rendition of the Smart City Work Diaries – a collection of entries showcasing our local and personalized craft (we’re not talking about beer…for once); unique flair for professional-witty communication, and totally appropriate meaning to the term “escort.” 

Fun fact about Smart City Locating – we were actually born in the great city of Austin back in 2010 as Smart Austin Locating, before shifting our headquarters to Dallas in 2012. We piddled between two separate branches for a while, then decided to become one unified brand in 2013, shortly thereafter, expanding back into Austin in 2014 as an officially incorporated company. Act II of the Smart City saga – this is where Lauren enters the picture. Lauren joined the company in Dallas back in 2015 and, upon accepting a very rad promotion, made the move to Austin last year. You can oftentimes find this self-proclaimed Leo crouched and hovered (she’s very tall) over her laptop amongst a sea of Austin sales representatives; or cooped up in a meeting room maneuvering through a variety of pressing issues, such as professional development plans, birth charts, and zodiac signs, or the latest and greatest workout facilities.

Lauren started as a sales representative up in Dallas and rocked that position by way of awkward (yet, definitely embraceable) quirks, energized communication, and enough dry whit to last a lifetime. Now, she’s a sales manager for our team in Austin, where she carries on her lasting legacy of quirks, energy and dry whit. So, here it is – a week in the life of an Austin Sales Manager, as told by the lead weirdo, herself.

MONDAY

5:45am – SO, typically, this is the time I get up because my furry little alarm clock can’t hold his bladder all night, but this week I’m up at the buttcrack of dawn to start a new workout program! “YAY” for cardio and meal prep.

7:45am – Worked out (begrudgingly) but definitely left thinking “Wow, this actually doesn’t suck!” Time to take out Frank, the furry alarm clock and my personal stage 5 clinger, then drive to work. Austin is a “sleepy city,” so I don’t usually hit traffic on the way to work (bless). The first things I do when I get to work is catch-up with my favorite CX gals (they keep me young) and get ready for the back-to-back 1:1s I have this morning.

1:00pm – Completed four 1:1 meetings chatting through goal sheets, action items for the future, improving client experiences, and the reading of horoscopes; you gotta give the people what they need! I run home and grab said furry alarm clock and bring him back to the office, and stuff my face with a chicken breast. Tomorrow, I’m heading to Dallas for the company video shoot and Frank is banned from Vonlane for loud snoring and stealing snacks, so auntie Monica will be watching him. *shoulder shrug*

6:00pm – Had my weekly Level 10 meeting with fellow badass sales managers, our training manager, and property relations manager. This is easily one of my most important meetings of the week AND one of my favorites – we swap ideas and solutions, and they’re a hoot. I’m the clown of the group, and I’m a Leo so it’s not the WORST thing in the world. I force-feed a second chicken breast and head to Target.

TUESDAY

4:05am – Pile-drive a double espresso and head to the gym. It’s an upper-body workout, but I’m down with it because today is our company video, so I’ll be looking *fly.* Head home, shower and douse my hair with dry shampoo (don’t judge), then head to my horse-drawn carriage, aka Vonlane. Get ready for a bus ride play-by-play; you’re welcome.

8:15am – We’re halfway to Dallas and it still smells like coffee and microwaved breakfast sandwiches (I secretly love it). I’m super tall and I’m sitting here with a lap desk draped over my knees for my laptop, so there’s a nice visual for you. AND, because I can’t sleep, I start bothering the other sales managers in our group chat to make sure everyone is awake and listening to me (I’m a Leo).

11:45am – Arrived at the Dallas office and sat through my 15 seconds of fame for the company video, say hello to all my Dallas fans (all of whom I’m v excited to see), grab a desk in buzzing our co-working space and organize lunch for my Austin team. We’re working on a project this week, so I want to make sure they’ve got all the fuel they need to play nice while I’m gone. Speaking of food, my sweet father just dropped lunch off to me since I’m in town; I’m not crying, you’re crying!

4:00pm – Ventured over to Lala Land Kind Cafe, Lower Greenville’s newest front-porch-sittin’ coffee shop; super trendy and VERY “Dallas.” Side note: if you go, order a double espresso, black (like my soul) and drink it outside! I get to work on my notes from the 1:1 meetings from yesterday and answer a million emails. One-off things love to happen when I’m away from the Austin office, so I’m on-call for my agents when I travel, which I don’t mind! After some time doing all this, I take a brain break to listen to a podcast – today, it’s S Town; if you’ve never listened, LISTEN TO IT!

5:55pm – Board my boujee bus back to the motherland, text with our new Strategic Planning Manager and my counterparts in Dallas and Houston, take a 45-minute nap, then answer emails and prep for my Wednesday meetings and put together analytics, problems and solutions to go over as a team on all things related to Austin. *Quick shoutout* to the amazingly talented three women who work alongside me in our Austin office. They keep the place afloat while I’m gone and bring some heavy-hitting ideas and solutions to the table, always. I love the shit out of them. </rant>

9:30pm – Back in Austin. I pick up Frank (He’s more than excited to see me and has already forgotten I snuck out yesterday, leaving him behind like dust in the wind), give a final glimpse to the spreadsheet we’ll be diving into tomorrow, and hit the hay.

WEDNESDAY

8:00am – Slept in (til 7, lol), went for a jog, and headed to PAZ with Frank, a v “Austin” vet that I’ve fallen in love with (they have kombucha and cold brew on tap; SIGN ME UP). Now, it’s time to head to the office to tackle our “Lost Lead Fiesta,” the project my sales representatives and I have been working on all week. Once I arrive at the office, the games begin; I announce the Lost Lead Fiesta rules to everyone and draw numbers written on Post-its to kick off the in-office chaos.

1:00pm – Had my Level 10 meeting with my lead sales representatives. We ran into a little roadblock with a property we wanted to post on Instagram, so they were quick to suggest an alternative that would better serve our followers; Love watching them come up with amazing solutions in two-point-five seconds – RESPECT! I stuff some lunch in my face (zero carbs and a lot of protein – bland), start answering emails and pouring over analytics for tomorrow’s meetings.

4:40pm – Go to town in the sales manager group chat. These are times I don’t even feel like I’m working because we’re just getting shit done; Love my team! I start my trek back home and sit in 40 minutes of God-awful traffic (opposite vibes of my commute TO work). I make two quick stops: adjustment at the chiropractor and a little me-time getting a manicure.

9:00 – Dinner was salmon with bacon-wrapped-asparagus (YES to fatty goodness); 10/10 rating to myself as the chef. I’ve been pampered and fed, so now I sit down at my bar to answer more emails and get up to speed on the projects I’m working on with my lead sales representatives. I tune back into S-Town for a bit, then turn on my audiobook while I clean the kitchen. Getting things done while I get things done.

THURSDAY

7:45am – The office is a ghost town; I’m the first to arrive and this is my favorite time of day. I turn on some tunes and float like a fairy around the office, dancing while getting organized for the day. I put together some performance plans and start mapping out my day. I put on my audiobook again: “The Power of Consistency.” It’s one of three books I’m aiming to read this quarter- a goal I set for myself in July. I only have four more hours of this one and then I’ll be finished. It’s pretty interesting seeing as the guy that wrote it and is reading it to me is a convicted felon talking about his success in business after prison.

2:45pm – I spent my morning making alignment phone calls to other departments, and coaching and strategizing with my local sales team. One 1:1 I had this afternoon was personally inspiring- One of my agents struggled a bit in Q3, a historically tough quarter, and they were able to come to me with a strategy on how to combat this lull. I was blown away to see such growth happen right before my very eyes, and it was such a great representation of the two-way leadership we have at Smart City. *insert crying emoji here*

8:00pm – Austin traffic allowed me the opportunity to have a lengthy chat with my mom, whose contact name in my phone is “Oh Shit.” A 17-year-old Lauren would exclaim those very words when her mom called in high school to tell her she was in trouble or needed to pick up her brother from school. A lot has changed since then, with the exception of the contact name. I’m about to head back to the office because the thought “I’ll leave my laptop here so I don’t do any work when I go home” is never one that sticks.

FRIDAY

7:40am – Hit snooze a few extra times today, oops. Slid into some lululemon sweatpants (best impulse purchase ever) that actually look like dress pants, wrangle the furry offspring into the car and take him to the groomers. I hit the dentist next, then have coffee with a female aspiring business owner to talk to her about my journey and this company.

12:30pm – Had a 1:1 with my boss, who always does the same thing every time I call him – “Hey, let me call you right back,” then literally calls me right back, but I always get a good chuckle in before he does. We have a great one on one, addressing city-specific needs and solutions, accompanied by great banter. I go to pick-up my furry spawn and he looks ridiculous after his haircut! I bring him back to the office and everyone has a field day with his new do.

4:30pm – Head home and hop on my final call for the day. I look like a wild person from running around all day, but such is life. It’s a strategy meeting, so we compare notes and talk through upcoming action items.

6:00pm – Cooking dinner and doing my best to shovel in as many calories as I can in preparation for tomorrow’s workout, then I totally plan on Netflix-and-chilling all. night. long. Thanks for attending my week-long TED talk!