Part 3: Changes to rTraction Leadership

Rachel Berdan COO

Mardel Davis Director of Sales

Josh Dow Co-founder & VP Production

I have some exciting news I would like to share about some organizational changes at rTraction.

I think that one of the great revolutions of modern business theory is the shift from getting the right people on the bus to getting the right people on the bus and in their right seats.

In some cases, this is really easy; in other cases... not so much. This update is actually the third part (part 1 and part 2 haven’t been written yet…) of what will be a three-part series. The first part will be about the process we went through to recognize these changes, and the second part will be about how I was blocking the process of the right seats. However, the conclusion of the story is by far the most important, so I am starting with that.

Rachel Berdan has been promoted to the COO of rTraction, managing the day to day operations of the business. She now oversees sales and production for our organization. David Billson (a.k.a. the author of this post) has moved to the CEO role exclusively, effective immediately.

It takes a special skillset to be able to blend sales, operations and finance, and Rachel has them. Most importantly, she brings the lens of a client-first mentality to our day-to-day operations. She has been — and continues to be — our B Corporation champion as we continue to follow that mandate to use business as a force for good, and she brings purposeful, inclusive leadership to our own team and lives those same values where she shows up in the community. She has been an important part of our fabric for the past 6 years, and I am excited to see what the next chapter holds.

Rachel was previously in charge of sales and marketing at the company. I’m pleased to announce that Mardel Davis has been promoted to Director of Sales. Mardel has excelled in customer service since joining our organization earlier in 2017. She brings energy and enthusiasm to helping our clients solve complex problems, and works with our production team to ensure a smooth transition for our clients.

Previously, we had combined the function of Account Management and Project Management into one role that we called Relationship Manager. We’ve since recognized the need to split those functions into two separate roles in our organization; Mardel will oversee the account management team.

For the Project Management function, we’ve moved Josh Dow, co-founder of rTraction, from his role as VP of Quality Assurance to VP of Production. Josh is ultimately in charge of Project Management and ensuring we deliver value at every stage of a project.

Change is always challenging, and finding the right structure for our team has been one of quite a few changes we’ve made. Ultimately, it is incredibly rewarding to see people in roles where I know they will excel. Most importantly, these changes make for an improved client experience and better outcomes for the projects we under take, which is, after all, what we are in business to do!