In “Leading with Impact: Laura Ortman’s Journey to CEO at COLOGIX,” Laura shares how her career path—spanning Lockheed Martin, Jeppesen, VMware, and Hologic—prepared her to lead North America’s leading network-neutral interconnection and Hyperscale Edge data center company. On this episode of CXO Conversations, she discusses the unique challenges of scaling with private equity partners, her customer experience strategy of listening and rebuilding trust, and how her athletic background shaped her “Together We Win” leadership philosophy. From making cold calls to steering a tech giant, Laura’s story highlights resilience, adaptability, and the power of mentorship and teamwork.

For the full interview: https://ocns.co/leading-with-impact-laura-ortmans-journey-to-ceo-at-cologix/

10 Min Clip Transcript

Laura Ortman: [00:00:00] I would say my experience being an athlete growing up definitely has prepared me. You know, when you, whether you look at perseverance, determination, results driven, you know, trying to achieve and being that, having that competitive drive, I would say I’m very competitive, but I’m a team competitor, so I like to win as a team.

Well kick it.

Michael Mitchel: Welcome to CXO conversations where we talk with C-level executives on how they reach the C-suite, and what advice would they give those who want to be one. Hi, I’m your host, Michael Mitchell, managing director of OC National Search. Uh, first off, I’d like to thank, uh, CXO conversation, sponsor a CG Denver for their support of this podcast.

As a board member, I’m proud of the Association for Corporate [00:01:00] Growth for its quality networking, education and events, uh, opportunities and supportive of the business community. I’m sitting with call Logic’s, CEO Laura Ottman, and talk about a well-rounded executive tennis pro tech career, including DOD and Aviation sectors, sales operations services, roles such as VP gm, chief Customer Officers, CRO, board of Directors, and of course CEO.

Laura’s leadership career includes Lockheed Martin, Jefferson, VMware Clogs, and more. Please see the show notes for more on Laura. Welcome to the conversation, Laura. Thank 

Laura Ortman: you, Michael, for 

Michael Mitchel: having 

Laura Ortman: me. 

Michael Mitchel: No, I, I’ve been looking forward to this conversation for a little bit. Um, I’ve actually been kind of, I don’t want.

Portray the image of LinkedIn stalking, but I, I’ve noticed your bio before it’s come up. Um, ’cause we have a lot of mutual friends and so I’m looking for, I really am looking forward to this. And so to kick things off, tell us a little bit about the company you’re, you’re running. 

Laura Ortman: Sure. So Clogs is [00:02:00] North America’s leading and network neutral interconnection and hyperscale Edge data center company.

So essentially our, you know, core business is providing space. Power, cooling and interconnection to our customers. Uh, we are in 11 markets. We’ve got over 40 data centers across North America and we’re about 400 employees, uh, headquartered here in Denver, Colorado. 

Michael Mitchel: You’re the club. 

Laura Ortman: We are the cloud, cloud and the internet.

Michael Mitchel: So for all I know, this podcast could be hosted on one of your servers. Absolutely. Yeah. When you, uh, when you joined Clogs, what was the journey like to reach CEO? 

Laura Ortman: So, I joined in August of 2018. Uh, bill Fathers had reached out to me. I worked with Bill Fathers at VMware and prior to CoreLogics I spent, uh, close to two years at a company called Equinix, which is really the global leader in this.

Base and I was their chief customer officer. And I saw this opportunity [00:03:00] to work at CoreLogics to really help drive the strategy and grow the business with Bill and driving the revenue growth. And I felt like this was a great stepping stone for me to learn all aspects of the business. Uh, being part of a private company, smaller company backed by a private equity firm.

I hadn’t had the experience of working with private equity. Prior to CoreLogics. And so I thought it would be a great way for me to learn from Bill, from private equity and really make an impact at a more broader level and have a path to, to, to be in that CEO seat one day. 

Michael Mitchel: You know, I didn’t, you’re right.

I didn’t even consider that because Lockheed Martin, VMware public traded companies, um, 

Laura Ortman: Equinix 

Michael Mitchel: as well, E Equinix, so. What’s it been like? How, how, how have you noticed the differences? 

Laura Ortman: I think, you know, for us to be a private company, certainly having the relationships with our investors and private equity has been really phenomenal.

They, they’ve been huge supporters of, of mine and, [00:04:00] and of clogs, I think from a public, you know. Publicly traded company, you don’t have what people would say as much of the pressure, right? You can just deliver, drive results, but in a way that you think is, is the best way to drive the company and really make the changes that need to be made and be empowered to do so.

So I wouldn’t say there’s been a massive amount of difference. We, I, I still lead the way that I lead and, and drive. The results that we need to as a company and drive performance and take care of our customers. Um, in, in the same way that I would’ve, you know, from a publicly traded company. 

Michael Mitchel: I mean, ultimately the, the, the end game is the same.

Exactly. Customer satisfaction. Yes. Growth, value creation and continue to create value. 

Laura Ortman: Yeah. Yeah. 

Michael Mitchel: Fair enough. Okay. When you, so over the last, what, four plus years of the company, as you look back and when you came in, were you thinking, okay, my, this is gonna lead to the CEO role? I mean, did Bill, did Bill bring you in?

Thinking you’d be his successor. 

Laura Ortman: So I came, yeah, it’s been five and a half years. [00:05:00] Five and a and a half years. It goes, it goes by very fast. 

Michael Mitchel: Wow. Yeah. 

Laura Ortman: So I knew that I would gain the experience to get to that next level, whether at the time, whether that was clogs or not. I, I didn’t know, but I knew that I would gain the experience and um, and would have the opportunity.

And so it was part of succession planning with Bill. And, um, certainly I’m a big believer that, you know, you do the best you can and you drive the results. And if. Things happen. Great. If not, that’s okay. You know, it’s not part of my path. So it worked out that he moved to be chairman and they asked me to, to take on the CEO role in October of 22.

And uh, and it’s great ’cause I still get to work with Bill and, and really all of our investors. So it was a very smooth transition for us, you know, to take, for me to take this company to the next level. 

Michael Mitchel: Did day one feel different? 

Laura Ortman: It didn’t. 

Michael Mitchel: Nice. It didn’t, 

Laura Ortman: it was just 

Michael Mitchel: seamless. 

Laura Ortman: It, it was very seamless. You know, bill had always empowered me to do what, what I felt was best for the [00:06:00] company and having his guidance in a different light now, but, but certainly, no, it was a very smooth transition.

Michael Mitchel: We, what experiences do you feel has influenced you more as a leader? ’cause I, sales, operations, support services, I, I know you’re very athletic. You know, you, you start, I wouldn’t say start your career, but Right, right. You come outta that, that com, that athletic. 

Laura Ortman: Yes, sure. I, I would say my experience being an athlete growing up definitely has prepared me, you know, when you, whether you look at perseverance, determination, results driven, you know, trying to achieve and being that, having that competitive drive, I would say I’m very competitive, but I’m a team competitor, so I like to win as a team, and I’ll talk about that probably throughout the interview.

But I think that that really helped me set up certainly dedication, you know, throughout being a college athlete, you know, getting my degree, all of those things. And then I would say gaining the experience across different, um, facets of the company. [00:07:00] So sales, customer experience, operations, like you said, I.

Did a finance role for a few years. I did a technology development role for a few years, and so I really, I always took the approaches. I wanna learn as much about all aspects of the business so I could at least understand it at a high level and, and be able to, to speak to those, you know, different departments.

Michael Mitchel: All right. That’s some good stuff there. Um, you know, people talk about the athletic background a lot and, and I, there is value there, but you know, when. When you look at someone who’s not an athlete, don’t just dismiss ’em because of that, right? There’s other ways of getting that same competitive spirit.

Sometimes people like, like myself, I compete with myself, right? Yes. So, 

Laura Ortman: yeah. E everybody. You know, a big question I like to ask when I hire people is, you know, what motivates you and what has gotten you to where you are today? And you’re right, everybody’s journey’s different and you know, the athlete.

Aspect of it. There’s just a lot of [00:08:00] attributes that play into the business world. And so, you know, my daughters both are athletes and I tell them that that’s gonna help you, you know, deal with situations in your life. But those that aren’t athletes, you know, whether you’re artistic and you’re, you’re creative, you, you have a different path where you’re tested in those different areas, just in a different way.

Michael Mitchel: I used to, in the, in the two thousands, I raced. Uh, on the bike, uh, with the team here in Denver. And I really wasn’t into the crits or, you know, because I, I didn’t wanna get in the lead pack. I was more, I really enjoyed the time trials. ’cause for me it was me against the clock. So that, again, I guess I really am a more of a self, self competitive myself.

Yeah, 

Laura Ortman: absolutely. 

Michael Mitchel: Yeah. Yeah. What, um, what about being CEO attracted you to the role? 

Laura Ortman: It’s always been a goal of mine to either. Become CEO or own my own company. I think for me it’s the level of impact that I like to make for whether it’s for the business, for [00:09:00] the customers, for our partners, for our employees.

That’s what motivates me. Mm-hmm. I like making a difference. I like making a positive impact. I like making a positive impact for people. And so the CEO role, I knew I would be able to do that across, um, the entire organization. And so it was either that or start my own company and, you know, be that entrepreneur, but this, my path worked out this way and.

You know, I’ve been able, we’ve been able to build a great team and like I said, I wake up every day saying, how can I make a positive impact, you know, across the organization or the people or the customers and partners, and that’s what motivates me. 

Michael Mitchel: When did you decide on becoming the CEO? Was there a moment, was there like a light bulb moment for you?

Laura Ortman: You mean in my career or? Yeah. 

Michael Mitchel: Yeah. I mean, 

Laura Ortman: it was very early on, I think when I got into business school and I started looking at opportunities and I started, you know, reading a lot about what CEOs were doing and the level of impact that they were making. And, and [00:10:00] certainly, you know, I would say at VMware I had a lot of, um.

Exposure to different types of CEOs. I went through four CEOs when I was at VMware close to 10 years. And so I, I think at that point I was like, yeah, that, that’s something that I, I would love to do. And like I said, for me it’s all about making an impact. And I knew that my path either get me there and if not.

That would be okay. You do the best you can and you know it, it’s all about the, the work that you put in the relationships that you have. Right. And sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn’t. But for me, I feel very honored to be in the role that I’m in and every day, you know, I, like I said, I wanna make that level of impact.

So I think it was early on when I was in business school, I, I. I, I knew that I wanted to be in that level of position, or like I said, start my own company. 

Michael Mitchel: What, was there like a particular moment where at, at some point in your career you realized, okay, it’s gonna happen? Was like, I 

Laura Ortman: think, I think when I was at VMware, I, I think the [00:11:00] sponsorship and support that I received from many different executives across different organizations gave me that confidence that I could.

I could really do this, whether it was at VMware or somewhere else. I, I can do this, so what’s the best path, you know, when do I make the changes that I had to make it all? It all kind of worked out that way, and again, you, you don’t know. Mm-hmm. You take risks. Even me coming over to Clogs, I had a. You know, great role at Equinex and uh, it was a very personal decision for me at the time because I was traveling about 90% globally and I have two young daughters at the time, and so I felt like I could make this level of impact.

It was headquartered in Denver and we were North America, so the travel I would have to do would be US and Canada. This was before the the pandemic, so it was also a personal decision for me in my life where I felt like. It was the right move. And I would learn, I’m a big believer of you learn as much as you can.

And so if you’re in a role and you’re not learning, it’s time for a change. And so for me, I was like, yeah, I’m gonna learn [00:12:00] all aspects of the business, which, which I’ve been able to do. 

Michael Mitchel: And you, you play it forward because you’re also really big on career leadership and mentoring, correct? Yes, 

Laura Ortman: yes. I mentor a lot of college students and a lot of prior, uh.

Folks that I had hired, you know, at other companies, whether it’s a competitor or not. Um, but there are a lot of college students now that I’m, I’m mentoring and, and coaching. 

Michael Mitchel: So what, what kind of insights do you share? 

Laura Ortman: So the biggest thing is, is. I always say I’m gonna write a book about building relationships because it is all around your network connections and, you know, this is what clogs is all about, right?

Network and connectivity. But it truly is as, as many relationships that you can build throughout your career and many contacts that you can have. Uh, don’t be afraid to reach out to somebody, learn from them. And so, building relationships. Building out the network. I think LinkedIn is a great tool for that, which I didn’t have when I was a college student.

So that’s a big thing. You know, [00:13:00] certainly cast a wide net, right? So a lot of the students now are looking for summer internships. It’s very competitive out there and a lot of ’em are having a hard time trying to find internships in, in the areas that they wanna study. And so I’m kind of helping them, you know, work through those challenges and, and I always say Cat.

Cast a wide net. You know, when I started my career in sales, I, I, my first job outta college was making cold calls and it was a hundred percent commissioned job, and they literally handed me a phone book. I didn’t get training. Mm-hmm. They said, here we go. You have to build up your clientele. I mean, I must have called, I must have made 300 calls a day get denied, you know, a hundred percent of the time until I got my first, you know, customer.

And you just have to keep going at it. You just have to keep knocking on people’s doors and don’t let it discourage you. And that’s why I say cast that wide net, something will come continue to work hard things will happen. Sales, 

Michael Mitchel: cold calling is, is the best foundational job you can ever have for your [00:14:00] career.

I agree. Absolutely. I mean, I cold call for a living. I love to cold call, and I’ve talked about this on this podcast before, but I had a job in college and I got the service at Smith Barney for a vp and I had to fill the room for him for his monthly pitches and. I just, you know, he, I learned a lot. I, I hated that job.

On hindsight. I, I hate it was, it’s a love hate gig, right? 

Laura Ortman: Yeah, I agree. And I think it prepared me too to, when I was in customer experience, I never was afraid to call a customer whether they were angry or happy. It doesn’t matter. Because you just, it’s all about listening. Yeah. It’s about listening to your customers and, um, and so that, I think those skills really started with, with my sales, um, cold call job.

So 

Michael Mitchel: speaking of cold calling, I, before I came over, I, I did a big cold call, push for a search for working on. So my, my voice sounds a little, uh, husky is because I’ve been cold calling my, my, my, uh, my throat doesn’t have quite the same, same power as it did in, you know, [00:15:00] 10 years ago when it comes to cold calling, I suppose.

Um, but I wanna talk a little more about the insights you share because, you know, I, I, my sense is getting, we’ve had a couple conversations prior to this. I’m willing to bet you talk about leadership and, you know. And when you talk about that with somebody, you know, what are you, what are your, what’s your philosophy?

Laura Ortman: Yeah, so my philosophy is, uh, you, you wanna be present at all times, right? And when I say present, when you’re talking to an employee, when you’re talking to customers, it doesn’t matter. You, you wanna listen, learn, and lead. Right. So you listen first. And so I’m a big believer of getting to know your employees and getting to understand what motivates them, what are their career paths, and really get, you know, we’re all people, we all have families.

We spend a lot of time together at work, right? And so, understanding how we can help our employees grow. So for, for me, leadership is about being present. Uh, you know, when I go visit the markets, I’m in front of the employees. I don’t sit in an [00:16:00] office taking calls. You know, again, it’s about being present.

And so, and in my career I had leaders that were present. I had leaders that were not present, and I under, I knew what it felt like when you had a leader that wasn’t present. 

Michael Mitchel: Mm-hmm. 

Laura Ortman: And how that felt. Right. So just giving, you know, really that level of attention needed. So that, that’s big for me. And. I have a mantra, um, that we’ve actually implemented across co logics called together we win t ww and it takes everyone across the organization to be successful.

You may say that comes from the athlete in me, right? But, but everybody plays a key role. It doesn’t matter what title you have, and so. When we have successes, we celebrate those successes and we highlight everyone that was part of that success. And when we have things that don’t go our way, we learn it from that as a team, right?

So we win as a team and we learn as a team. And so together we win is very important for me. But I think for me, I always say employees come first for me. And so I will. Step out of room, get off a call, whatever’s [00:17:00] needed. If an employee needs something right and you want to, you wanna make sure you’re supporting them through, through their career, certainly you have to have that good communication skills, business acumen, all of those great things.

But it’s those relationships that you build and understanding what’s important to our employees, what’s important from a communication cadence. You know, what’s important to ensure that they understand the vision and the mission of the company, and everyone’s rowing in the same direction. Right. Mm-hmm.

Um, and so, yeah, I mean, I have, you know. Leaders and employees here that worked with me at three different companies. Right. And they know that I will do whatever it takes to ensure that we’re successful as a team. Right. And if there is something that they need or, you know, I, I say family first as well.

Life is too short. So if there’s a situation and they need to be with their family, we’ll be fine. We’ll support them through that process. So, uh, yeah. I’m 

Michael Mitchel: gonna jump in. Is that, is that. Always been your approach or is that a post 2020? 

Laura Ortman: No, it’s always been my approach. Okay. [00:18:00] It, it’s inter, it’s always been my approach and you know, others I think have realized that it should have probably been their approach before 2020.

Right. You just take things for granted. But I think, you know, I, I. My mother at an early age, you know, and, and you just, life is too short. And so you wanna make sure that, um, you give it your all every day, but that you’re making that level of impact and you’re there for your, your employees. And that’s, that’s my number one priority.

Michael Mitchel: Are you seeing other companies having that philosophy that may not have before? 

Laura Ortman: I am. Yes. Yeah. I think some companies had that before, but I think there’s a lot more companies now that are implementing things around employee engagement, which has been always a key focus for us. Um, I, I think more people are realizing.

You know, how family is important and being close to family Yeah. Uh, is important. And to take the time, especially in the, you know, I would say in the US right? In Europe, I [00:19:00] think there’s, they, they do very good job taking kind of that life, that work-life balance, right? And everybody work-life balance means something different for everybody.

Uh, but they, they have their, their times where, you know, family. Is their priority. Mm-hmm. And so I think I, and I grew up in Europe, so maybe that’s where I got that. But I think more companies are, are seeing that. Yes. 

Michael Mitchel: Well, I could, could, the reason for the question is ’cause I don’t know if there’s just it I’ve observed.

Seems like there’s been. People are much more casual across the board. It’s like a more of a level playing field. That’s not even the right term, but people are just in general, more casual and more open about, about personal life and the work life balance. Is that because of 2020 or is it also a factor of, because everyone’s still so much remote that you can’t fight that tide ’cause they’re home.

Mm-hmm. And they’ve gotta deal with that, right? Yeah. And so maybe that was a good thing and I’m just wondering if like, where did that that change in the wind come from? [00:20:00] It’s, it’s not a bad thing, don’t get me wrong at all. Right. I’m not complaining. 

Laura Ortman: It’s probably a combination of, of all of those things. I think for me personally, when you’ve been part of organizations and maybe that wasn’t a focus of theirs, you realize, you, you, when you get into that role or in a leadership role, you wanna make sure that you’re driving that right.

Uh, again, because you’ve learned through your career of what it feels like if you don’t have that level of support. 

Michael Mitchel: Yeah. Maybe the world caught up with us, 

Laura Ortman: maybe. Yeah. Let’s say that, 

Michael Mitchel: um, was there, you know, do you have any additional thoughts and insight for someone who wants to, to reach the C-Suite? 

Laura Ortman: I would say learn.

I. More about all aspects of the business, right? Mm-hmm. A lot of, uh, I would say mentors of mine used to say, well focus on one thing and just go deep in that focus. And for me, whether you’re a CFO, whether you’re a CRO, whether [00:21:00] you know you’re A CMO, having that insight, I look to my leadership team to provide insight in, in anything we’re talking about, whether it’s strategy, whether it’s m and a land banking.

So. I’m asking for their input, not just in their area. And I’m asking others to challenge people in their area. So the more that you know about different aspects of the business is important. I would also say doing a sales role, I think sets a lot of people up. What, what, whatever capacity and doing a role that you’re in front of the customer.

Mm-hmm. And you understand what your customers are needing and listening to them and understanding. That aspect of it, I think is important. If you’ve been in a role that you don’t interact with customers, I, I don’t think you get a sense of how is your company really creating value, not only for your shareholders and, you know, your, your, um, investors, but also your customers and partners.

Mm-hmm. So gaining that experience, I think is very important and continue to build relationships across the network. Take [00:22:00] risks. Don’t be afraid to take risks. 

Michael Mitchel: Uh, there’s the thing, you, you, you brought up a couple times in the theme of. Following. Right. Your, your COO Don. Mm-hmm. You met, you met her at VMware.

Yes. I think you mentioned there’s three employees here that followed you. Um, there’s 

Laura Ortman: actually more. Oh, right. We have quite a bit. Yes, exactly. Yeah. 

Michael Mitchel: Perfect. Okay. Yeah. So, um, I had a, a previous guest, R Lewis, uh, Delta V Capital, and one thing he said when he looks for in, in a leader is. Those who follow.

Mm-hmm. You know, follow, I, I think we called it followship. Yeah. Following. What’s your thought? I mean, were you purposely bringing these folks along, or did it, I mean, when you met ’em in VMware, for example, right. Was that you’re like, okay, one day I’m gonna be CEO and Don’s gonna be there right next to, with me.

Or did that just, I mean, how’d that 

Laura Ortman: Yeah. Well, Don and I came in at the same time. We both knew Bill, but, but understanding that Don was gonna be here, I was super excited, you know, ’cause we had that relationship. Okay. I’m gonna 

Michael Mitchel: pa I’m gonna [00:23:00] jump in. So you’re saying independently, just by coincidence, you and Don came to the company at the same time.

Bill recruited you both separately? Yes. But he knew you both prior? Yes. 

Laura Ortman: Yes, exactly. Okay. Yes. But there are people in your career that you hire, that you work with, and you’re like, oh, I’m gonna work with that person again. Yeah. Whether it’s at another company or at another company. And, and listen, if I could hire 50 more people that I know, I would hire them in a heartbeat, right?

Mm-hmm. Um, obviously you, you’ve got great employees here that you know are making an impact and creating value, and then you’ve got roles that you look for and you’re like, oh, I worked with that person. I’m gonna bring them because I trust them and I know they’re gonna do everything that they can to help us be successful.

Right, right. And so those are the people that we’ve brought in. We’re continuing to bring people that we know, but sometimes it’s a good fit for them and sometimes it may not be. And they may have a great opportunity where they’re at, and I wanna be supportive of that. Right. So, but yes, there’s people in your career that you meet that you know you’re gonna.[00:24:00] 

Continually work with and that you trust and you, you know, you can get through anything with them. 

Michael Mitchel: I’m gonna get the title wrong ’cause I don’t have it in front of me, but there was a point in your career where you were the chief customer success. Uh, chief Customer Officer. Okay. Okay. So tell me a little more about that role Sure.

And how that influenced you as to be a C-level executive as a CEO. So 

Laura Ortman: the chief customer Officer role, it was at Equinix. Mm-hmm. So it was prior to CoreLogics was really my, um. My role was to drive a consistent customer experience globally for Equinix, and so I spent a lot of time traveling to be out in the field, to meet with customers, to meet with our data center operations folks, and to really understand the overall experience, the feedback, what was inconsistent.

And so exceeding customer expectations. And we went through, um, an entire customer lifecycle program there, uh, meeting with customers all over the world, which was, which was great. And again, this is where I talk about. Having that direct [00:25:00] interaction with customers I had at VMware as well, and actually I had that at Jefferson as well, is important.

And so for me that was a great way to also learn the business very quickly. You know, when you meet with customers, you, you learn what’s working well and what’s not working well. Customers are not shy to, to share feedback and I would say feedback is a gift. So whatever feedback it is, that’s what we have to drive to improve the overall, uh, experience.

But my job was to ensure that that. Experience was consistent and exceeding expectation at every customer touch point. So that, that was really my main role at. So in this 

Michael Mitchel: role, were you primarily coming in to put out fires? Or were you also the, the very, the other, the other end of it, you know, when things are going really well and they, they appreciate the touch point.

Yeah. 

Laura Ortman: It’s, it’s both when, when you’re part of customer experience, um, you get to hear all the great things that are happening, but you also get to hear where do we need to drive improvements? And every, I would say every country across the globe. Could have a very different experience. And so you [00:26:00] wanna make sure you’re exceeding their expectations.

I mean, you’re in business because of your customers, and so really getting to hear from them, I would say you heard the good, you, you, you heard what’s not working well. And then I had to work with all the cross-functional teams in changing whether it was a process or how they interacted with customers, I had to make recommendations to the other executives to say, this is what we have to change, you know, to really, if you really wanna get to that level.

To drive customer retention, uh, and customer growth. These are the changes that we have to make as a company. 

Michael Mitchel: Yeah. Was there, when you look, when you think about it during those those days, um, think about the worst client customer interaction. I mean, it’s just like they wanna, they wanna put you on pitchforks right?

And bring you at the stake and, and you have to come in and you have to, yeah. Put out the file. Yeah. So 

Laura Ortman: I’ll give you a really great example. I, I, I’ve had many of them. Um, and for me it’s about being in front of the customer. So I went to visit a customer, I won’t talk about who the customer is. Yeah. But went to visit the customer, and this [00:27:00] customer and his team, they were irate.

I mean, probably the angriest customer I’ve ever met with. And I’ve met with a lot of angry customers, and I probably spent an hour and a half listening to him on everything that was wrong. Right. Whether they weren’t getting the support that they needed, they didn’t feel like their sales team was where they needed.

They didn’t feel like their account teams, I mean, he was listening everything. Right? And remember I talked about listening, learning, and leading. So after I listened, I touched on everything he talked about and I said. This is what we need to do here. This is what, some of it, we already were making improvements.

Here’s what we’re gonna do. We’re gonna get you with this new team. I mean, I was going boom, boom, boom, right By the end of the meeting, which was like a two and a half hour meeting, he was showing me pictures of his kids. I mean, it, all he wanted was somebody to listen to him, to listen, to 

Michael Mitchel: hear him, 

Laura Ortman: and to see action.

Not so, not just to listen, but also to see action. And so for me, it’s about, okay, learn what you [00:28:00] have to do. Make a change, make an impact. Follow up. And then you have to rebuild their, their confidence, right? You have to rebuild their trust in the company. And it ended up being one of our, our customers that grew the most.

I mean, again, he felt like he wasn’t being listened to and he felt like, you know, the company wasn’t making the changes that needed to make, to help him be more successful. He was relying on us. 

Michael Mitchel: Yeah. 

Laura Ortman: So 

Michael Mitchel: were you the only one in the room from your company side or did you, do you have folks with you? 

Laura Ortman: There was a few folks with me.

It was, um, myself and two other folks from my team. 

Michael Mitchel: So are you getting looks from your team members and they’re like, Galora, what, what, what the, what? 

Laura Ortman: No, I think they, they know me and they know we need to listen first and. And then we’ll action what we can. And if there’s things we can’t, you know, we need to be transparent with our customers.

But, but certainly there’s a full action plan and they know that they, they know how we work, right? 

Michael Mitchel: It’s gotta be just as a human being, hard to sit there for that long [00:29:00] and just hear this litany of. Of wrongs, right? I mean, you’re not taking, but that’s how you get better as a company. Right. But you’re not taking it personally?

No. Although I, you can’t take it personal. You can’t. But your sales person who’s the, sure. Let’s just assume your account executive was in that room. Yeah. Yeah. That person’s probably wanting to be defensive. In their mind. They’re thinking, well, that’s not true. And I did the, you know, but you, you, you just gotta sit there and you have to.

To take it. Mm-hmm. You have to listen. 

Laura Ortman: Yeah, you do. 

Michael Mitchel: And it’s not easy to do it. 

Laura Ortman: It’s not. And it’s, it’s a skillset, not that not everybody can do. 

Michael Mitchel: Where did you get that skill? 

Laura Ortman: That’s a very good question. I, you know, I wanna say it’s back to my cold calling days, but I really wasn’t listening there. I was doing more of the talking, I think.

I think what I, I was, I did recruiting. Um, after my sales role, I did recruiting and listening to candidates and understanding the types of roles they wanted to do. I would never force a candidate, you know, to take on a role. [00:30:00] Then I moved into project management and it, I, I just think it’s just, um, a. All the different roles that I’ve done.

It just helped me understand to listen and, and you know, people always say you have, you know, two years of one mouth, right? I think that’s what they say. It, it’s true. You just have to listen And you know, the other thing I would say is I took a class. Called Crucial Conversations and I ended up Gettinger, this is when I was at Lock, and then I was at Jefferson, which was owned by Boeing, and I got certified and I got to actually train 30 Boeing executives on crucial conversations.

But I would say that that book in that class helped me understand, you know, how you. You could be in a situation whether it’s, um, somebody being quiet, you know, when people get upset, they either get quiet or hostile. Right. How do you bring somebody back into that conversation? So I think that’s helped me as well.

I read a lot of leadership books. Um, maybe that helps, but I think it’s [00:31:00] just everything that I’ve learned throughout my career. I, I, I would say me, I’m gonna go find this book. Yes. Crucial. No, I’m serious. It’s an older, but it’s good. Yeah, it’s good. 

Michael Mitchel: Well, I think we’ve been talking for a lot longer than that book’s been published, so I think it’s still relevant, right?

Yes, it is. It is. Um, so, so you did, I just heard you also recruited, you’re a recruiter, which, you know Yeah. You’re my peeps. Um, what role have you not done? I have you ever been a coder? Have you coded I have 

Laura Ortman: not coded, but I, I led a, a team of coders, um, through Y 2K. Probably aging myself, but That’s right.

COBOL 

Michael Mitchel: programmers. See, that was Lockheed Martin, right? That was Lockheed Martin was you were, you were a So software manager. 

Laura Ortman: Yes, I was for COBOL programmers that Count Technic and Informatica developers if, uh, but COBOL was like what Oracle developers are today. Um, they were very important during Y 2K, so I would say, yeah, I haven’t coded, but I have sat next to coders.

Michael Mitchel: When were you at Lockheed Martin? What, when was this? 

Laura Ortman: It was. [00:32:00] 1998 because it was. Computer data systems a CS and then Lockheed acquired that I was doing class. So I was there eight year in eight year span, 

Michael Mitchel: 90, I was doing classified searches for Lockheed. There you go. And Raytheon and federal agencies. And these were all different levels.

Yeah. Yeah. So I, I get that. Were you, were you doing classified work? We, 

Laura Ortman: it was part of the Department of Defense for, uh, tricare, which is insurance given to the military. And it was, I’m 

Michael Mitchel: aware of the tricare. 

Laura Ortman: They did a big effort for their military treatment facilities where they were, um, ESP. Replacing IBM mainframes with RSS 6,000.

So I was part of that development team and then I was a software test manager for a few years as well. So, 

Michael Mitchel: alright. We’re, we’re gonna pull out the dive on the, on the tech talks. I think we might, I, I think I can hear listeners’ eyes rolling back, but, um, so let’s wrap this up with, um, what are one or two key things that listeners should take away from our conversation?

Laura Ortman: I think one is. [00:33:00] You have to build out a con connection, um, network of building relationships across, you know. Whether it’s your industry, but throughout your career, I think building relationships is key and continue to build out your network. The second thing I would say is, you know, we haven’t really talked a lot about culture, but culture to me is a foundation of any winning organization and team, and a again, it takes everyone across the organization.

So being collaborative and working as a team. Winning as a team and learning as a team, I think is a, is a big key thing. I wanna, I wanna make sure the listeners are taking away and don’t be afraid to take risks and try different things and try new things and, uh, and learn throughout your career. 

Michael Mitchel: Yeah.

Great, great sage of, uh, advice. Absolutely. I, I really appreciate it. Well, Laura, thank you so much for your time. You’ve been very generous. Thank you, Michael. Um, I, I, I’ve really enjoyed the conversation. I hope you have and hope the listeners have. Yes. And to listeners, thank [00:34:00] you for listening. Uh, please, uh, leave five stars on Apple so others can find it, believe it, or it’s all about the algorithm, right?

It matters. Um, if you will find me on LinkedIn, it’s Michael Mitchell with one L. That’s the test right there. The one l I’m outta Denver. More importantly, as we wrap this up, I’m fortunate to be surrounded by an amazing team, which has been a theme for the day, uh, that makes CXO conversations happen. I wanna thank John Crossland for allowing me to use, uh, your amazing music on the show.

Shout out and thanks to my engineer Kyle Moore, in podcast producer Francisco Diaz, and of course, a special thanks to my research. Researcher of 18 years, Angie Johnson. Thanks everybody. Cheers.