Page 31 - BEQ Pride Magazine Iss 21 Winter 2021 v01012022

Wilson is not her age or sexuality or eye- money was pretty good. “I’m a salesper- one way that plays out in practice. “If a
wear. It’s how she’s trying to change her son by nature,” she says. “I didn’t really customer doesn’t need our service, I’m
industry and build her corporate culture. like cleaning houses. I liked the act of honest with them about that,” Wilson
With AuditMate, Wilson strives to make finding clients and helping clients.” says. “If they’re getting what they pay
transparent a part of the industry she Wilson earned a bachelor’s degree for from their maintenance contract and
believes has been opaque for too long: in finance and economics and, later, an they have someone to manage it well, we
maintenance contracts. The company MBA from Grand Canyon University tell them, ‘You don’t need us.’”
audits and manages elevator/escalator in Phoenix. “People asked me what I
contracts and inspections for property wanted to be and I’d say, ‘a CEO.’ I knew I “BE EXCELLENT TO
owners and managers. The idea, Wilson wanted to run an international business EACH OTHER”
says, is to make it easy for companies to and change the world, somehow,” Wilson
ensure they are getting what they pay for says. AuditMate pledges to donate 1% of
when they sign long, expensive service She started on the C-suite track when profits and one day per quarter to its
contracts. she went to work for Schindler Group in communities. Its 13 employees, all work-
Transparency. Trust. Safety — both 2014 as an account manager and then ing from home, enjoy unlimited paid
physical and psychological. Wilson moved into an executive development time off. “I want people to be excellent
believes these are keys to corporate to each other,” Wilson says. “I expect you
success, not just for AuditMate but for to take days off when you need it. I also
all companies. “AuditMate envisions expect you not to take it — unless it’s an
a world where all businesses treat the emergency — at a time when it will screw
people inside and outside of their orga- your team over.”
nizations with respect, dignity and their But Wilson admits being excellent to
best interests in mind,” the company’s each other isn’t always easy. Neither is
website says. running a startup. “I let the perfection-
Wilson developed AuditMate through ism veil drop,” she says. “I tell my team:
an incubator at StartOut, which supports ‘Fuck it up fast.’ We know we’re going to
and empowers LGBTQ entrepreneurs. make mistakes. Starting from nothing is
She’s now a programming board member hard. So, we do something and if it fails,
for the organization. “It was life chang- we try to make it better.”
ing for me,” Wilson says. “When you’re As an example, Wilson tells this
an under-represented founder, you may Team AuditMate at CREtech New York | story: After a big growth spurt at the
not know about building a valuation COURTESY PHOTO company, she noticed her expanding
or accessing venture capital. I have a team would sometimes bring up issues
degree in finance and economics, but program. She was being mentored by X, Y and Z — small things — while they
they don’t teach that stuff. To be part of the CEO of the company’s U.S. division were supposed to be meeting about big
a board that makes that sort of informa- and worked on global research, reporting thing A. “And I started getting snippy,”
tion available to everyone at free events to executives at the company’s global she recalls. Her team came to her and
is important to me.” headquarters in Ebikon, Switzerland. said, “You say, ‘people first,’ and that you
One day, she thought, she’d be tapped to care, but you’re not reacting in a way
MOVING UP IN THE lead Schindler’s U.S. operations. She had that makes us feel heard.”
ELEVATOR WORLD a background in the business. Wilson’s “I got a big reality check. I had to look
stepfather worked in the elevator indus- at what I was doing to make people feel
Wilson grew up in an entrepreneurial try for 40 years and she liked accompa- that way,” she says. The solution was
family. Her parents sold cleaning prod- nying him to job sites. to create a log where people can bring
ucts door to door and supervised sales But a multinational corporation up issues, and she’s pinged every time
crews, moving from country to country. that centered profits over people didn’t someone adds a comment.
She got her start in business spending “align with my values or my morals,” “Everything we do is rooted in con-
about $50 on a mop, bucket, broom and Wilson says. She quit and took about nection,” she says. “When we feel like
other cleaning supplies. Her family was nine months off. One night, while med- we belong and are supported, when we
bemused by her choice to start a cleaning itating, she got the idea for AuditMate feel heard, we do our best work. It’s only
service. “I was a messy kid,” Wilson says. and set out to build a company that cen- when we feel safe that we can create and
But she liked being her own boss, and the tered people and turned a profit. Here’s innovate.” 

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