We recently connected with Angie Sanders and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Angie , thanks for joining us today. Was there an experience or lesson you learned at a previous job that’s benefited your career afterwards?

I made the switch to the government contracting industry in 2016 when I worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization. From there, I was brought on as a contractor to the Administrative Office of the US Courts to build out a communications program for their Administrative Systems Office. I was able to grow that program from just an idea to a staff of five contractors and two additional government FTEs to support the office’s three portfolios.

While I was building that program, I recognized a couple of things.

#1 The staff in that program was not only providing strategic communications, we were providing change management expertise. For their HR portfolio particularly, we were heavily involved in learning about the processes that were impacted by changes to their major HR system, how these processes impacted the end users, and working with communications and training staff to ensure that they got the information they needed to create materials to ensure maximum user adoption.

#2 In talking to other government contracting companies, particularly ones that focus on IT software development and integration, I learned that their customers expect them to provide strategic communications and change management, but they don’t have the staff and expertise.

As my contract with the U.S. Courts was ending, I learned that I’m considered a very good individual contributor. That means that the company I work for will place me on a customer project with no support, and it will be always be up to me to sink or swim. So if my success will always be up to me, I might as well my own company and benefit financially from this.

Angie , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m a certified project manager and communicator with more than 15 years experience in marketing communication strategy and messaging, content creation, and graphic design for organizations like the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Porsche Cars North America, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Administrative Office of the United States Courts.

I am the founder of CMGT, a consultancy that provides strategic communications and change management expertise on enterprise IT projects with the federal government. We partner with software development/integration vendors to place a strong change management leads on projects who can speak the language and gain the trust of the technical teams, project leaders, and sponsors early in the project. Also, these leads build a team of change management practitioners and communications and training specialists to pursue the goal of 100% user adoption.

How did you build your audience on social media?

My advice would be if you can afford to hire someone to help you build out your strategy and manage your social media presence for you, do it! For the past year, I’ve worked with Mia Cooper, founder of the The Hustle From Home Mom, LLC to manage my LinkedIn presence. She really helped me figure out my voice and messaging and get me in the habit of creating content, which was something that was really foreign for me. During our time working together, I’ve learned that it’s okay to promote yourself and your work and to be your own personal billboard when it comes to educating your audiences about what you do.

How’d you meet your business partner?

CMGT is 100% woman owned, but my husband Omari has always been my partner in business. He ran a government contracting company 20 years ago. His business partner at the time stole a large sum of money from him. After that, the company was dissolved and the experience left Omari soured on the industry.

Partnering with my spouse is like combining our superhero powers. His strategy matches my creative side. Challenges? Yup, we turned those into opportunities by blending our skills. We mastered the art of blending personal and professional worlds. Sharing goals took our commitment to the next level. Leveraging each other’s strengths? That was the secret sauce to boost productivity and innovation. It isn’t all rainbows, but realizing how our strengths clicked? Game-changer. As partners, we navigated rough waters, cheered victories, and realized we’re not just building a business; we’re crafting a legacy.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://cmgtfederal.com/; https://angiejsanders.com/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandersangie/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@cmgtfederal

Image Credits
Kimberly Burton