Meet the Founder: Alexis Donachie, ManagerIQ
This month we chat with Alexis Donachie, founder of ManagerIQ.
Alexis has 20 years business experience in HR coaching managers and leaders to develop their people strategy.
Leading at team of 40, Alexis is passionate about people having happy and fulfilling careers, and believes that managers play a key role in this.
Alexis joined the monthly Atto Academy membership community in March 2021.
Learn more about Alexis and ManagerIQ below.
Where did you get the idea for ManagerIQ?
I had a lot of friends come to me as they were concerned about their managers' managed - be it bad behaviour, lack of support or inconsistent support. It was significantly impacting them.
It was impacting their ability to be happy, feel productive and it was seeping into their personal lives.
I also saw a lot of managers who were struggling and were never given the development or support to help them. I essentially saw a whole lot of people struggling when they didn't need to be.
I was reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad late last year and it got me thinking about what problems I was seeing out there and what skills did I have that could possibly make for a good business idea. Is started to think about these conversations and experiences I had to help both employees and Managers and that was the spark needed for Manager IQ.
What problem is ManagerIQ solving?
Manager IQ is solving the problem of accessibility to timely and effective support, resources and a community for managers.
What were you doing prior to starting your business?
I’m a leader of an HR function at EY.
What was the first thing you did to get ManagerIQ up and running?
I actually spent lots of hours trying to figure out how to launch a startup. I watched a lot of YouTube clips such as Y Combinator or similar types of organisations which provided me with a sense of what it means to create a start up and in particular how you think about it to be scalable.
Was being a startup founder always part of your career plan? If not, what was?
No, only recently I felt the need to go out and do something with more purpose, in particular to help people and I wanted to work for myself.
My career plan was to become CEO one day via the HR route.
Guess I am a CEO now and just made it happen for myself rather than wait to be appointed at some point in the future.
What would be the one piece of advice you’d give to other female founders looking to take the leap?
Do it! Most exciting thing I have ever done.
On a serious note, I would get connected with organisations like Startup Vic and Atto much earlier.
The power of a network and being surrounded by others who are creating a business of their own is fantastic and infectious. I wish I had joined much earlier.
What’s been your biggest lesson so far?
Everything takes longer than you think and you need networks to help you with the areas you don't know about.
Also, don't wait for others to jump on board with you. I lost 2-3 months of progress waiting to hear back from friends to see if they wanted to join me on this journey.
What’s been the biggest win so far?
Having my sister join the company as COO has to be my biggest win. She has been great! She thinks so differently to me, has different strengths and it’s been great having someone to share the wins with.
What’s next for ManagerIQ?
We’re in the process of finishing our New Manager Development Program and will be starting to market it to paying customers soon.
How has Atto helped you with the ManagerIQ journey?
Atto has been great! I have had help with the challenges I have been facing but also learnt from others as they were going through their own.
Atto have a great, supportive network and access to the Accelerator learnings from prior years helped me a lot in the beginning. You can’t deny how helpful it is to pose a thought or idea to a group and then receive feedback instantly!