It’s time for our latest edition of Get to Know ME with Maddy Knutson! Located in our Traverse City office, Maddy is a lifelong resident of Michigan. She brings youthful enthusiasm and skilled professionalism to the job as part of our travel team. Thanks, Maddy, for sharing some fun facts about you!
What’s your title and how long have you been in the incentive industry and at Motivation Excellence?
I’m a program manager on the Travel Operations team. I’ve been with Motivation Excellence for just over a year but have 3 years in the incentive industry prior.
What does your job entail?
I work with clients and suppliers directly from the time that the program is contracting all the way through program operation. I oversee all of the pre-planning as well as the on-site operations. It’s a lot of fun! The work is creative and always changing but the reward is an amazing travel experience for so many awesome people!
What’s something special about the people you work with that you’d like to share?
We have such a great team—everyone has that “can-do” attitude that helps us make the nearly impossible, possible!
What’s an unknown or odd talent you have?
Synchronized swimming (think themed music, choreography, and flower swim caps) – HA!
What motivates you to accomplish things in your life (work or personal)?
Learning and becoming a better, more well-rounded human.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
Anything outside really, but hiking/camping/backpacking the most!
One thing that always makes you laugh is?
Any episode of “The Office,” but especially the “Dinner Party” episode. What a classic! (Was that the most Millennial response ever?)
What have you done that helped you get through the pandemic?
Moved to Vermont to spend a winter working at a ski resort. Hello, bluebird ski days in the Green Mountains!
What is the most unusual job you’ve ever had?
I worked at a summer camp as an Outdoor Survivor Instructor in college.
This month, our theme for social media is building trust. How important is this for you at work?
Building trust is the most important thing you can do in relationships and our industry is ALL about relationships! Building trust with colleagues and suppliers is the only way to ensure that you can depend on your team to work together and accomplish the goal of creating successful and memorable programs for the client and their guests. Building trust with clients means having a successful partnership so that their vision can become reality.
Teamwork makes the dream work, and teamwork requires trust on all sides!
