Enginuity Employee Spotlight: James Macias, Account Manager

Welcome to the Enginuity Employee Spotlight series! This series shares employee stories, focused on their achievements, personality, successes, challenges, and more to get to know them in and outside of work. The series builds connections among employees and boosts belonging and inclusion among our larger community.

Today you'll get to know James Macias, one of the Account Managers supporting KUT and KUTX in Austin. James is a media veteran and has always been in some type of account management role, so he fits right in here. Three years into his current position, he excels at handling accounts for KUT and KUTX in Austin and loves working on new business development.

Tell us about one of your favorite work stories

My favorite success story would be Extended Campus at UT Austin.  This was an existing client that was rebranding itself and needed to promote a new mid-career, workforce alliance initiative.

Looking at employment trends coming out of the COVID employment transition, the client saw an opportunity to help new and mid-career professionals transition into higher-demand jobs.  I was able to work with the client throughout the process and we came up with a budget that would allow them to reach the markets and audiences to make the campaign a success.

In the end, we came up with a multi-market campaign followed by a prominent Texas Standard sponsorship resulting in revenue of $182k. I chose this as my favorite story because of the collaborative nature of the process. I was lucky enough to have a client that took my advice and believed in the public media audience and mission.      

What do you like to do outside of work?

I love to be outside, and I don't feel like I get enough time outside. It's hard with Texas summers being so hot but I love to go to the great trails we have in the Austin area. But I definitely want to take advantage of Austin’s amazing camping spots as well, because I love to camp. I also like to stay active and work out regularly because it keeps me mentally centered and resilient.

I also have three amazing daughters that I love to spend time with whenever I can. Two of my daughters are here in Austin and one of them is in El Paso which is where we are from. My middle daughter is a straight up foodie. Since I can’t keep up with everything new, I use my daughter because she knows where to go and what to order, and so we do a lot of dining out together.

My other daughter is somewhat of a sushi aficionado and so we do a lot of shopping and meals together which is our fun thing to do! And my oldest daughter, I get into dad mode since she lives in a different state. I always make sure she has food, stuff for the house, check on her car, and anything else she may need. 

What is the most important thing you have learned in the last five years? 

The most important thing I've learned in the past 5 years is that regardless of how bleak the situation might seem; I know that I am going to get through it. Being able to navigate challenging and difficult times is something that you get better at over time. Professionally, this allows me to maintain perspective and to look at the challenges of the job, market, economic condition, etc., and have faith in the fact that there is a successful path forward.

My story is interesting because by the time the pandemic riled around, people were going through turbulence and turmoil, but my life had kind of smoothed out to a certain degree. A few years ago, I was in a mental position where I thought those last years were the challenging part. I finally got to the point where I thought, when you reach a certain age you just know how to navigate your way through challenges. You start to get better at telling yourself you are going to figure it out and it's going to be okay.

That has served me very well. For the past 3 years, I've been on the job here and I've been the beneficiary of that mindset. If you can't work on that to a certain degree, then you’ll never be okay. There will always be something to destroy you.

What would people never guess you do in your role? 

Listening.

I think most people associate sales with talking, consulting, presenting, and persuading.  While we definitely do this, active listening is a very key part of what we do. Clients know more about their businesses, customers, and competitive landscapes than we ever will so it's key to listen to them when they are giving you this information. In general, people want to feel like you are listening to them and not just coming up with a response.   

Where would you like to go on a dream vacation? 

I would love to and will go see Machu Picchu someday.  I have seen several Mayan ruins in Mexico but would love to make the trek to see this Incan city someday soon. I think ruins are just so amazing. I went to one outside of Mexico City, and the hieroglyphics and paintings made me realize that these are 3,000 years old, and that just blows my mind. I also got to see these structures that look like platforms, and they just sort of cascade down to other platforms. Archeologists discovered that these platforms were used to speak to 10’s of thousands of people and you can be heard because of the way that the sound travels. Anything like that, I find so interesting. So, with Machu Picchu, I can’t wait to see it because there are a million little engineering hacks, and they were able to create these thousands of years ago. So that really fascinates me.

James is a multidimensional seller who loves the outdoors, despite one harrowing experience! When he was in his 20s, James went camping with a few of his work buddies in the Gila desert and ended up getting stranded. One of the more experienced members thought it would be a good idea to cross the hot springs but after it started raining nonstop for 3 days, the river because uncrossable. They were stuck for a while, and only decided they needed to figure out their situation after they ran out of vodka. Luckily, they made it back home unscathed except for some angry managers who were upset they lost 7 servers for a few shifts!  Consider reaching out to James to say hello at jmacias@kut.org.