Heather Wilde is CTO of ROCeteer, and is also known as the “Unicorn Whisperer” due to her special focus on entrepreneurs. She is a personal and professional growth expert, executive coach, author, and speaker. As a founding employee of Evernote, she oversaw the company’s growth from thousands to 100,000,000 customers. Among her other awards, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid selected her for a commendation for 2016 High Tech Women Mentor for her work in increasing STEM education. Read our interview with the lovely Heather below…
What motivated and inspired you to start your own business?
Prior to helping to start ROCeteer, I had been an early employee of Evernote for the previous 6 years. I had helped build that company from the ground up, expanding it into nine countries, 48 languages, and brought it to over 100 million users of the product. What I’d noticed, however, was that while I was there, I’d only ever be able to affect change to the world through the lens of Evernote. I wanted more than that for myself.
Tell us about your business.
ROCeteer is dedicated to the transformation and cohesion of individuals, teams and communities. We use a coach-first methodology to help these three entities grow and communicate, to achieve their own defined measure of success.
Are you currently running any promos/contests/giveaways that you would like our readers to know about?
We are offering a free ($1200 value) behavioral assessment for the first 10 responses, and we have an exclusive ebook available for your readers.
List awards/certifications/accomplishments.
I’ve had the honor of receiving commendations from Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and Congressmen Joe Heck for my work as a High Tech Woman Mentor, as well as received awards for Female Executive of the Year and Mentor/Coach of the Year, as well as the “Top Writer” and “Knowledge Prize” on Quora.
Where is your business based?
ROCeteer is based in Las Vegas, NV with additional locations throughout the US as well as in the UK, Australia, Canada and Europe.
What were the first few steps you took to get your business up and running?
When starting ROCeteer, it began with a pitch to some very smart, trusted people. The lead Founder, Mark Rowland, went to his trusted friend Tony Hsieh (CEO of Zappos), to determine if the idea had merit. Tony’s response and advice empowered Mark to go forward with his idea and begin the journey that has taken us into a multinational company!
What has been the most effective way of raising awareness of your business and getting new customers?
That’s a tough one: It’s a toss up between my writing and public speaking. I do an average of 40 speaking events per year (large and small) around the world, which has brought the ROCeteer name to more people than I could have imagined, but my writing reaches millions of people every day. So, that’s definitely hard to judge.
What have been your biggest challenges so far?
The biggest challenges have been finding enough time in a day to do all the things I want to do. I have over 7000 unanswered (non spam) emails in my inbox right now, and I am pretty sure I won’t ever get to them.
How did you overcome these challenges?
There comes a time when you just have to accept that you’re just one person, and recognize what’s important to you. Do those things, delegate others, see what can be delayed and then simply dump everything else.
How do you keep motivated through difficult times?
Motivation is easy for me – I simply remember that every moment I’m here is a gift. It helps me to be present and notice the joy of things around me.
How do you distinguish yourself from your competitors?
At ROCeteer, one of the main qualities that run through all of our employees is that we are here because we choose to be, and we align with the core values. Our values are Bold, Inspire, Love and Truth, so everything we do is “B(u)ILT” by ROCeteer.
What is the best advice you have received recently?
The best advice I received recently is that I should learn to prioritize my life and only do what I love and is most essential to me.
What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs?
When you are running a business, there does unfortunately come the time when you have to let someone go – whether it is an employee or a client. Emotional Intelligence (or EQ) is the ability to understand and manage your own emotions and identify them in other people. The main skill required for EQ is empathy, as being able to see things from another person’s perspective and truly “feel” things from their angle is the key to successful interaction. This can absolutely be taught, although it may take a bit of a transformational shift.
What is your favorite business tool or resource?
Trick Question – you thought you’d stump me here, right? My favorite business tool is and always will be Evernote. Next question?
What social media outlets do you use? List them below.
Instagram @heathriel
Twitter @heathriel
Facebook www.facebook.com/hrwilde
Website www.roceteer.com
Hashtags #unicornpower #speakerlife #geekgirl #ROCeteer
What is a good article or book you have read recently?
I read non-fiction books as a way to relax my mind after a hectic work schedule. One that I really loved recently was “The Oddfits” by Tiffany Tsao. It is a truly unique book and made me really think.
What are you currently learning about for your business or looking for help with?
Recently I’ve started to get into more machine learning and data science with relation to the behavioral patterns of consumers. I truly believe that you cannot grow as a business owner without patterning your experience for your customers.
What are your goals for the next few months and how are you striving to achieve them?
For the next few months, my goals are to get a few key people and companies that I want to work with closely and focus solely on those for the rest of the year.