"I believe your strengths are your roadmap and a smile on your face is the best measure of success."
MO Reeder is a husband, drummer, ally, and father to three rowdy boys.
He is Co-Founder + COO at V School, where he leads and supports VS’s global efforts around social impact and business development.
He launched V School’s philanthropic arm, the Digital Family so that anyone possessing the aptitude + grit can afford to fund an education that leads to an amazing career in tech.
MO holds an MBA in Marketing, a BA in Speech Communications, and has 15 years experience in disruptive education.
When MO’s not focused on building community / growing his business, he can be found working on his jump shot, or trying his best to grow vegetables. He and his family live with their puppy named ‘Birdie’ in the Avenues of SLC, UT.
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Table of Contents
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
MO Reeder: V School is a leading vocational provider that specializes in training adults on the hard and soft skills necessary to land a high-paying job in technology.
Our current education job tracks include: Web Development (coding), UI/UX Design, and Cyber Security.
2020 and 2021 threw a lot of curve balls into business on a global scale. Based on the experience gleaned in the past couple years, how can businesses thrive in 2022? What lessons have you learned?
MO Reeder: Remote working, learning, and living are here to stay. To attract top talent as a business one must adjust to this. Customers, and learners also expect this flexibility with their favorite products, services, and communities. The ones that will really nail it will be companies / leaders that have a high-bred option, or ways to embrace the digital nomad, while still providing face-to-face experiences.
The pandemic seems to keep on disrupting the economy, what should businesses focus on in 2022? What advice would you share?
MO Reeder: Figure out how to get to profitability quickly. Investors will always be investing in profitable business, regardless of the ups and downs of any given economy.
How has the pandemic changed your industry and how have you adapted?
MO Reeder: We went from having a free housing model (fly into Salt Lake City, Utah for 4 months and we’ll teach you to code in person) to a 100% mastery-based / remote model, with just-in-time mentorship.
So you learn at your own pace with online / asynchronous (recorded) curriculum, and the minute you raise your hand, you’ve got a real mentor and/or team helping you with your question about code, design, or cyber security.
Our students only move on to the next subject when they are ready. Time is not a factor, only mastery. So students can take as long as they need to, to master a subject. Students also graduate only when they’ve found a job.
What advice do you wish you received when the pandemic started and what do you intend on improving in 2022?
MO Reeder: We feel blessed that the PPC loans and the government of the USA were responsive to tech businesses like ours. The advice we received from business leaders in our state of Utah were timely and helpful.
With these resources, and advice we were able to navigate the choppy waters of the COVID pandemic, and still have profitable year, assisting many students in transitioning to a career in tech / bettering their financial situation.
Online business surged higher than ever, B2B, B2C, online shopping, virtual meetings, remote work, Zoom medical consultations, what are your expectations for 2022?
MO Reeder: These behaviors are here to stay.
How many hours a day do you spend in front of a screen?
MO Reeder: 6-8 hours.
The majority of executives use stories to persuade and communicate in the workplace. Can you share with our readers examples of how you implement that in your business to communicate effectively with your team?
MO Reeder: We consistently share student stories with our staff. Students that were truck drivers, doctors, waiters, soldiers, mothers, prior to coming to V School to learn a tech skill. Now these folks are doing what they love. Working remotely, or in-person for companies that value their technical skills and pay them well to build great products.
Business is all about overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities for growth. What do you see as the real challenge right now?
MO Reeder: We are constantly trying to figure out how to level the playing field for folks that historically have had less access to the type of education necessary to land an awesome job in tech.
About 50% of V School’s student body identify as female, and about 45% are military veterans, or actively servicing in the United States Armed Forces.
These demographics, along with folks of color + people experiencing financial hardship have historically hard a harder time landing great paying, technical jobs.
Through scholarships, and industry partnerships we’re doing our best to change all of this.
In 2022, what are you most interested in learning about? Crypto, NFTs, online marketing, or any other skill sets? Please share your motivations.
MO Reeder: I’m always learning. Kind of have to : )
I’ve got lots of personal interests / hobbies, and possible new V School curriculums that include Block Chain Development, NFTt’s, digital marketing, etc.
A record 4.4 million Americans left their jobs in September in 2021, accelerating a trend that has become known as the Great Resignation. 47% of people plan to leave their job during 2022. Most are leaving because of their boss or their company culture. 82% of people feel unheard, undervalued and misunderstood in the workplace. Do you think leaders see the data and think “that’s not me – I’m not that boss they don’t want to work for? What changes do you think need to happen?
MO Reeder: Sure. I’m sure that some bosses are unaware of bad or mediocre culture before it’s too late, and they are now one of these statistics.
Culture and community directly effect employee retention. I don’t think things can be faked. We either create the types of companies that all feel welcome in, or we suffer the rath of turnover.
On a lighter note, if you had the ability to pick any business superpower, what would it be and how would you put it into practice?
MO Reeder: The ability to hire the right personality, culture, and technical fits all of the time. I’d build a great mentorship / scholarship program with this superpower to recruit endless, diverse talent.
What does “success” in 2022 mean to you? It could be on a personal or business level, please share your vision.
MO Reeder: Stay in-tune with industry. Launch the types of programs and teach the most aligned curriculum, so that our industry partners can continue to pull top talent from V School, and we can continue to change as many lives as possible.
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank MO Reeder for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with MO Reeder or his company, you can do it through his – Linkedin Page
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