Maia Consulting is constantly evolving as we continue our rapid growth. Every step of the way, the company holds true to its core values of Authenticity, Curiosity, and Connection. Melody Vandivere, President and Founder of Maia Consulting, writes about how she grew her brainchild into reality. Read where it all started and where we are going.
Why I Founded Maia Consulting
In 2016, I was ready to rejoin the workforce after taking time off to start my family. I had spent my early career working in well-established medical equipment planning firms. While managing medical equipment planning efforts on numerous high-profile hospital projects, I fell in love with healthcare design. But I needed to return to work on my own terms. At that point, this meant flexible hours and a schedule that allowed me to work from home part-time. I also wanted to create a working environment for myself that allowed for creativity and genuine connection.
Maia Consulting started as a one-woman show. My first contract involved medical equipment procurement and installation for a major replacement hospital in Denver, Colorado. After 18 months, I began to leverage my network to find additional work as an independent consultant. By summer of 2018, I was enjoying enough success to hire employees, and the team grew. In early 2020, I took a leap of faith and began to build a national presence. In the last two years, we have sustained steady growth even through the challenges of the pandemic era.
How Maia Consulting Got Its Name
When forming the company, I knew I wanted to create something unique in the medical equipment planning field. Something that represented a connection to the greater purpose of our work. My goal in founding Maia Consulting was to continue my professional growth. Ultimately, the goal of medical equipment planning is to help our clients navigate growth. The concept of growth needed to be central to the name of this company.
Then I learned about the Roman goddess, Maia, who embodies the concept of growth and nurturing, and I knew it was right. Maia is the oldest of the Pleiades and the Goddess of Spring, welcoming the rebirth and new growth of a new season. This was the perfect name to tie everything together, since the company represented a rebirth of my career and an opportunity to disrupt the medical equipment planning field.
At the time, I did not foresee the growth that we have achieved to date. Through the roller coaster ride that is a startup, the name “Maia” has served as a constant reminder of what we’re here to do: nurture growth.
The Culture of Maia Consulting
The culture we’ve built at Maia Consulting is centered on our core values of Authenticity, Curiosity, and Connection. As the founder, I have had the privilege of intertwining my personal values of Growth and Balance to advance our culture. This combination of values shows up in several ways.
Autonomy
Curiosity and Growth combine to drive Autonomy within our team. We have intentionally created an environment where people have control over their work and work schedules. Every employee works from home. We work normal business hours and our top priority is supporting our clients. At the same time, we have the flexibility to work early or late, taking personal time to recover when needed. Project managers are entrusted with prioritizing and delegating their work. Project coordinators step in to support wherever needed, which often means learning new skills that advance professional development. Our leadership team (not management, a concept I continue to steer clear from) exists to support our project delivery team, ensure high quality work product, and expand our value proposition. I have found that self-motivated, growth-minded individuals thrive with this level of autonomy.
Empathy
Applying Authenticity and Curiosity to our interactions means we practice Empathy with each other, our vendors, and our clients. When we approach each other wholeheartedly, we start to connect on a personal level. That personal connection drives our commitment to doing our best work. We put ourselves in our clients’ shoes throughout the design phase, equipment selection, construction, installation, and completion. And when we get curious about our clients’ perspectives, we learn to see the problem through their eyes. This fosters better collaboration and more creative problem-solving. As we strive to be true to ourselves, we also strive to create an environment for others to join us.
Stability
Connection and Balance support Stability. I am constantly working to balance and stabilize the ebbs and flows inherent in project work. While our growth is at times sudden and all-consuming, I strive to stay connected with the Maia team on a personal level. Because work/life balance is a top priority, I continually monitor our current and future workloads to ensure the team is properly sized for the work at hand. Decisions to expand our team are balanced between preventing overwork and maintaining stability for our employees.
The Team at Maia Consulting
As we enter the second half of 2022, I am continually inspired by the Maia Consulting team, and am proud to work alongside them every day. I take great pride in watching each team member grow and succeed. I am excited to be a part of their growth and achievements in the future. Over the next few months, we will be releasing bi-weekly blog posts, highlighting each member of our team. Through these employee spotlights, we hope to show what truly creates the Story of Maia: our people.
Check out our first Employee Spotlight here.