ABOUT
Our Mission. Our Team. Our Values.
MISSION
Our mission is to bring order out of chaos for fast-growing small digital marketing agencies through trusted operations solutions and partnerships.
MEET THE TEAM
Micah Salazar
Fractional COO + Business Consultant
I’ve worked in the remote space for over 6 years, managing operations for a range of companies, from home medical equipment to the outdoors industry, including working with multi-location businesses with over 200 employees.
I enjoy taking the creative vision agency owners have, giving my strategic input, and creating optimized systems and processes to really drive their businesses forward. When you work with me you’re partnering with someone who highly values professionalism - showing up on time, clear communication, and consistent follow-through are a few of my key values.
Outside of the office you can often find me outdoors with my wife and daughter enjoying skiing, fly fishing, and rock climbing. I also volunteer as a driver for Meals on Wheels.
Tracy Murray
Business Coordinator
I focus on coordinating the day-to-day operations to drive business development forward. With a corporate background in healthcare management, I love the fast-paced and ever-changing environment of the digital marketing world, and bringing the components together to create the larger vision.
With a true passion for organization, I support our projects, team, and systems so Alderaan can continue to be a leader in digital agency operations and growth.
Sarah Cuesta-Dawson
Online Business Manager
As a Certified Digital Business Manager and Online Business Manager, I help our clients harmonize their business systems and workflows so they can create a business that runs smoothly, efficiently, and profitably, while taking care of their people.
After running my own busy therapy practice for over 13 years, I have an inside understanding of the entrepreneurial mindset and the challenges of growing a business. This allows the heart of everything I do to be about helping clients to succeed professionally, while taking excellent care of their teams and customers.
People, processes, and technology have always been my ‘thing,’ and the digital marketing industry allows me to work with all three at the same time in an environment that's never standing still.
Audrey Cabrera
Content Creator
I love storytelling and powerful, purpose-driven content. As a Content Creator at Alderaan, I use this storytelling to develop creative and technical content that helps businesses improve brand awareness, increase audience engagement, and improve internal processes. I give you the tools and custom strategies to grow your content.
As a self-taught writer, I’m driven to succeed, and love helping pull together all the complex pieces in the jigsaw puzzle that is digital marketing. I also love being able to have a dynamic approach with each new client, article, or service.
Aside from writing, I enjoy playing games and watching foreign films.
Suenalie Sythat-Macon
Operations Manager
As an Operations Manager and Certified DBM at Alderaan, I create and streamline processes, assess projects against KPIs, and keep operations moving forward - so our clients can focus on business growth instead of being stuck in the day-to-day.
I love the innovative and quickly-changing nature of digital marketing agencies. The excitement and challenge definitely keeps me on my toes! I rely on communication and organizational skills to both discover and bridge gaps, improving overall operations.
I value people and relationships, and always approach work on a personable level because people matter. Outside of work, you can find me binge watching Harry Potter movies with my husband, trying out new recipes, or hiking with my two furbabies.
Leah Leaves
Founder + Fractional COO
I’ve been a remote professional working with small online businesses and digital agencies since 2007.
I believe in creating partnerships with a purpose and always striving for significant outcomes. When you work with me and my team, you can expect collaboration with transparency and consistency.
Want to learn more? Contact me today and we'll schedule a Discovery Call.
Michael Leaves
Special Events Coordinator
As Alderaan’s Special Events Coordinator, I ensure our team and clients feel completely cared for, supported, and successful during on-site events and meetings. This means taking care of all event-related items from planning and logistics, to providing exemplary customer service and taking care of everyone’s needs throughout the event.
My love for event management was born from enjoying making connections throughout my career, combined with a quite clever sense of humor and desire to bring joy to people. When it comes to digital marketing, I particularly thrive in the dynamic environment and the opportunities to create memorable experiences!
Outside of Alderaan, you can find me fly fishing, hiking the Rockies, and perfecting my Jedi mind tricks for the greater good of all.
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Beida Santos
Operations Associate
As an Operations Associate at Alderaan, my role involves process drafting and administrative support. I pride myself on being detail-oriented, highly organized, and able to grasp new concepts quickly.
As a graduate of BS in Accounting Technology, I've honed my leadership skills and brought that experience to become an effective operations business manager.
Moreover, I love the creativity and innovation behind digital marketing, which keeps me inspired and passionate about my work. It’s amazing to explore all the creativity, strategies, and tactics it offers.
When I'm not helping clients optimize their processes, I enjoy reading and binge-watching my favorite shows to unwind.
CORE VALUES
GROW OR DIE
One of Leah's favorite business books, which has greatly influenced Alderaan's outlook, is Traction by Gino Wickman. In it, he carefully lays out exactly how to get a grip on your business and supercharge your results through his Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS). The framework is simple enough to read through and for any business owner or team leader to grasp.
However, simple does not mean easy.
It takes commitment, it takes a calculated approach, and it takes an Integrator*/virtual COO and operations consultants to make it all happen.
*An Integrator is the glue that holds the organization together, acts as the ‘right hand person’ to the CEO (also known as the Visionary), and is responsible for driving results.
We are fanatical about the details; operating on logic and prioritizing smart action to gain the company steady growth and forward momentum.
When the business is organized, the processes are streamlined, and the team is crystal clear on what’s expected of them, we can achieve anything together.
DRIVEN TO SUCCEED
If you’re like us, you are a high performer with a sense of urgency, discipline, and self-motivation. This applies to your bursts of work just as much as your well-deserved rest time.
While you’re inspired to dream big and develop new ideas for your business, we're inspired to support you by organizing the details, build a streamlined process, and manage the project to completion. We both expect the most from each other, day in and day out, which is why we’re such a good team together.
With such high standards, we also expect high rewards.
Rewards can come in many forms, such as:
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Steady growth in profits,
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Personal pride in our accomplishments,
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Gifts to highlight our gratitude for each other,
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Words of encouragement and acknowledgment of our successes,
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More time spent on the things we enjoy and with the people we love.
Together, we’ll clarify the standards of working together and identify the expected rewards.
EXPECT THE BEST
FROM YOURSELF
Let’s be honest with each other. Working with a remote team can be hard.
Friday morning comes and you still haven’t heard from your virtual assistant on the project that’s due this week. You saw on Facebook your sales rep is out to coffee in the middle of the morning when their calendar says they’re supposed to be on a sales call. You’re writing out your top priorities for the week on a Sunday afternoon and it hits you that your social media specialist didn’t send you this week’s content to review ahead of time.
At a glance, these scenarios provoke an instant and negative reaction.
What’s taking them so long? Why didn’t they update their calendar if something changed? Why can’t they just do what they said they were going to do?
Just as the in-person office setting requires a cool head and professional demeanor, so too does the online workplace.
Before you pick up the phone to chew out your VA, you receive a Slack message from me explaining the VA had a death in the family yesterday, but sent along the project that’s 90% of the way done and I’m going to have it completed for you by midday. Before you angrily screenshot the sales rep’s Facebook post to grab proof of their lack of work, you receive a Facebook notification of the sales lead tagging your company in a post thanking you and the sales rep for an ‘inspirational phone call session and e-gift card to their favorite coffee shop’. Before you scroll through days of direct messages and emails searching for the social media specialist’s original contractor agreement and obligations, you check our weekly progress report update in Asana and see the link to the social media posts to review is right there.
Especially because we’re working remotely, don’t you want to feel you can trust your team?
Of course!
Here’s how: This trust can only be built by being reliable in both our words and actions, showing respect in our communication with each other, demonstrating accountability by adhering to deadlines, and consistently taking responsibility for our mishaps while stepping up to the plate to fix it.
By having and displaying integrity, we can trust each other, be engaged with our work, and all be successful.