An interview with our Project Manager, Morgan
Role: Project Manager
Hometown: Olympia, Washington
Hobbies: Horror movies, yoga, podcasts, walks outside
Spooky season may be over for most of us, but not for Morgan Willie.
When she’s not expertly managing projects for Makeway clients, Morgan can often be found enjoying horror movies and shows—no matter the time of year.
But there’s so much more to Morgan, like the fact that she has been a dog photographer.
In this edition of Meet the Maker, we talked with Morgan about her career journey, her favorite projects, and, of course, horror.
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How did you end up at Makeway?
I was employed in Bellevue, Washington, doing video production for a couple of different companies that worked with Microsoft. And then, in 2020, when everything shut down, I moved to Texas to save money and look for the next step in life. And I spent about two years just bopping around and probably had upwards of 10 or 15 jobs. It was kind of crazy for a couple of years. I was everything from a dog photographer to a boba-rista at a tea shop, to an accountant’s assistant to a med-spa receptionist. I decided I needed to start looking for something stable and consistent, and something that would make me happy every day.
I was looking on LinkedIn when I found Makeway, and it sounded like a good fit. I would be able to work from home, which I had never done before. We had several interviews, and then they decided they liked me enough!
What do you like about the project manager role?
I like keeping people organized. Even if I don’t have the answers all the time, I like figuring out how to get the answers and being that point of contact. I like interfacing with clients via email and listing out all the directions they need for Quality Assurance and design. And I like seeing a project through from start to finish. I think that’s really fulfilling.
What are your favorite types of projects?
Some of my favorite projects have been a bit outside of the daily project manager tasks, like working with Danielle on social media. I did some of the email marketing, project management, and social graphics for the Girls Who Code campaign that we did. I even helped set up Christmas presents for our clients.
Is that what you like most about working at Makeway?
Yeah, I like having the diversity of projects, but also flexibility. I never feel overwhelmed, but if I feel like I’m going to be, then I’ll bring it up with Andy or Josh and they always are super accommodating. There are times when work is a little stressful because of a deadline, but I never feel completely overwhelmed and I always feel supported.
“I like having diversity of the types of projects I work on, but also flexibility.”
What do you do for fun when you’re not working?
I’m part of this program at my yoga studio where I clean for an hour every Thursday and I get an unlimited monthly membership. It’s called the Karma Yogi Program. Basically every Thursday, I have my ritual where I go and clean after work, and then I do yoga flow and meditation. I’ve been doing yoga off and on pretty much my whole life. As an only child, I had to figure out activities I could do by myself as a kid, like running around the yard doing flips and stuff. So, eventually, that grew into a love of movement as a practice, and then into yoga.
What else?
I like horror movies and TV series and I’ve been bingeing a Netflix series by Mike Flanagan recently – The Fall of the House of Usher.
I’m also a big podcast person. I listen to podcasts all the time; I’ve probably got three or four going at any given time. There’s one called Let’s Get Haunted that I listen to, and then I recently started listening to one that’s not horror called We’re Here to Help. It’s with Jake Johnson who plays Nick Miller on New Girl. He’s super funny. And then the Mel Robbins Podcast and a couple of others. I listen to podcasts while I walk, and I walk almost every day for about 30 to 45 minutes. That’s a ritual for me as well.
Morgan has been with the Makeway team for over a year now and we’re super grateful to have her. Maybe it’s the time she spent wrangling pups for photographs, but she’s pretty great at keeping us humans focused and on task.
Like some of our other colleagues at Makeway, Morgan didn’t follow a “traditional” career path, and, for that, she brings a broad base of knowledge and experiences to the table. She recognizes that everyone has their own communication styles and she caters to those, assigning clear and actionable tasks and driving projects forward.
If you’re interested in putting your skills to work with a fun new challenge, our careers page or email us at [email protected]. Connect with Morgan on LinkedIn.
