It's Never Boring
Life as a business owner is one of constant decisions, action, responsibility, and hopefully satisfaction. It is also one of purpose. In addition to being a consummate consultant, Stefanie Pressl is a purposeful and responsible leader. In 2010 Stefanie Pressl invested in Quality Training Systems (QTS), a niche professional services firm that she now owns and manages. The firm provides specialized consulting and offers a software system which helps training departments manage their responsibilities. As her company’s name indicates, Stefanie has a reputation for delivering quality and reliable work to her clients, who make up the lion’s share of transmission organizations in the US and Canadian electrical power market.
The transmission of electricity is essential to ensuring that businesses, hospitals and national security function reliably. It is an integral part of an industry that is elemental to the world economy. Stefanie has been providing these organizations the tools to ensure that employees understand their roles and responsibilities and are competent to perform the tasks required of them. She and her employees take pride in their roles and contributions to the economy and society.
Stefanie comes naturally to business ownership and operations. She was raised in her family’s business and has an innate interest in solving problems creatively and sustainably. She studied Industrial Organizational Psychology and built competencies in her chosen field before embracing her entrepreneurial roots at QTS.
Stefanie’s motto: “there is nothing that can’t be solved by a good project plan.” Read on for her take on her career in her own words.
1. What are you proud of? We routinely get emails from our clients about our great customer support. We had an email from a client, who had recently retired. He said, “everything he has learned about training he learned from us”. That was touching and sums up the thoughtful nature of our clients as well as the competency of our employees. A second point of pride: I have established a reputation in a male‐ dominated world. QTS has been in business for 25 years, and for the last ten, it has been under my direction. We are a profitable business that is self‐funded and have never taken a loan. In general, I am proud that we try to be ahead of the curve in anticipating and solving our clients’ needs in innovative and creative ways. We provide consulting and software to our clients. The software is an operational system which allows training departments to track and manage compliance data, to meet regulatory requirements. Finally, I would say that I am proud that we are never satisfied with the status quo and have built a reputation with our clients and regulatory auditors for doing quality work.
I am grateful that we are fortunate to work in an environment where our clients and employees genuinely care about what they do. I have appreciated working with people who are efficient, who work toward being a high‐performing team. They provide great customer service and understand the value of doing so.
2. What advice would you give your 25‐year‐old self? Listen to your instincts. Don’t be afraid when people look at you like you are crazy and tell you ‘that’s not how we do things’. You are an innovator and that’s scary for people. It’s going to be ok in the end. It took me a couple of decades to understand that when I don’t follow my instincts things don’t turn out well.
3. How do you define success? I will tell you when I get there. From a conventional standpoint, I have a business that has been self‐funded for the last ten years under my leadership.
4. When you started working, what were foundational things that you learned? I remember the senior vice president at my job at the Credit Union; I loved to watch him work the room to communicate his messages. First impressions always count, including the quality of the work you produce. The first person I worked for told me if you are doing it, do it right. Rushing isn’t good, and check and double check your work. Work will always expand to the time allowed, so set time limits for yourself and check it. Systems thinking is important, don’t get lost in the details, look at the big picture.
5. What do you believe is your contribution to the world? I create a lot of order. We think better when we have an organized space or process. We have basically helped a large portion of the electric utility industry get compliant with a regulatory standard.
“There is nothing that can’t be solved by a good project plan.”
6. What competencies or qualities prepared you for your role? I have always taken initiative and worked autonomously to meet goals and objectives. I can come up with solutions, I don’t need others to provide it, but if I find I don’t know something, I find resources to help. A couple of examples of this are my first internship and job. In my first internship, I was told “you need to develop a 360 process, I’m going on maternity leave.” I developed the 360 process. At my first job, my supervisor handed me a copy of the Balanced Scorecard and said he wanted to implement that, so I did that.
7. What single thing would improve the quality of your life? Eliminating self‐doubt. Self‐doubt generates fear which creates problems.
8. What have you learned through your work? Never decide from fear and frustration. Take a step back, look at it again, understand the issue, pivot and start again. Don’t take on the client’s fears, so you can help and support them in achieving their objectives.
9. What are you currently learning in your role of leader in this company? How to be a manager. It’s hard; it would be easier if people could read my mind.
10. How do you stay centered? That’s my opportunity. I have a diversified support network, I have friends, consultants. How do other people do this? I am interested in learning about that.
11. What keeps you awake at night? What’s the competition doing? How do I stay ahead of the competition? How do I build a high‐performing team? The usual questions entrepreneurs ask themselves.
12. How do you relax? I travel to foreign lands. I like traveling to exotic places because you have to be present to get around, to be completely in the moment. What is it like being present in the moment like that? It feels good. I lose the weight of the to‐do list and get space for creative thinking. Going to a completely different country is so distracting, my mind quiets. I love novelty and if I can’t travel, sometimes I go to an ethnic grocer to discover new foods and fall into that wonder.
13. What books have been inspirational to you? The Obstacle is The Way is my current favorite book. Also The Sex Life of Cannibals. I like it because I think we get stuck in our own thought patterns. I believe inspiration can come from reading, which helps you see how others see the world.
14. What advice would you offer others? There is always a way. You are the one responsible for your success – it starts with you. I really do think a good project plan can solve everything. There is a solution to everything, it just depends on whether you wish to solve it and whether you are willing to look for it.
Please find more about Stefanie and QTS on her company website:
https://qualitytrainingsystems.com
and LinkedIn profile: