A Sign of Leadership

Jack Yakowicz ’15
Major/Minor: Business-Organizational Leadership; Communication

What do you do at Office Sign Company?

Running the marketing department for an e-commerce business that’s been steadily growing locally means that every day is quite different for me. I spend a lot of time developing products, running campaigns and promotions, creating content, working on SEO initiatives, directing online selling strategies, helping our brand recognition expand in Fargo-Moorhead by overseeing trades, sponsorships, partnerships, client relations, advertising, campaigns and more.

What is the best part of your job?

The culture at Office Sign Company is top-notch. From shutting down work to go to a RedHawks game, to partaking in the “beer o’clock” celebrations on Friday and playing Spikeball outside our break room, it’s pretty spectacular.

What skills are most necessary for success in your industry?

An ability to understand people and articulate yourself well both verbally and in written form. From my experience, the ones who get ahead in this industry are those who possess great people skills and have high emotional intelligence.

How are you adjusting to your recent promotion?

There’s the natural adjustment of feeling weird when telling somebody my title and still adapting to some of the new responsibilities. Regardless of the title and new job description, I try not to get too confined by my outlined duties and realize that the best thing I can bring to the table is my ability to lend a hand wherever one is needed.

What kinds of new responsibilities come with the promotion?

The title is essentially a fancy way of saying that I’m running the administrative side of the business. Previously, I was solely focused on our marketing and account management efforts. Now, I’m dipping my toes in the worlds of customer service, art, accounting/finance, HR and more.

How has your view of the company and your role there changed?

I think that I’ve gradually become more confident in my ability to create positive change at our company but also to contribute to the continued success and growth that we’ve experienced. I am approaching every workday with a mindset directed toward making gradual improvements to move us from a great company to an even greater company.

What do you wish you knew in college that you know now?

I would tell my college self to get more involved in the F-M community early on. There are so many opportunities that I didn’t even know about until after college.

^{Published April 2019}