We were lucky to catch up with Mallory Ulaszek recently and have shared our conversation below.

Mallory, appreciate you joining us today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

I’ve been a risk taker all my life. Whether it’s starting a business (or multiple), beginning a nomadic international life, or uprooting myself in general to get in alignment with how I dream to live daily, it’s in my blood and I never question making a leap. About 1 year ago, I decided to break with conventionality after a divorce. I put my belongings in storage, gave up my apartment, bought two suitcases and hit the road with my dog in an effort to break my reliance on material possessions, expectations on myself and expectations from others. I moved to Mexico City for a few months, lived quietly and simply, and focused on my company, which was going through a major reorganization itself. My life, it seemed, was making a major shift, and I knew the opportunity before me was rare – the ability to rebuild as a (then) 37 year old adult in the way I always dreamed. I became less dependent on things, and more in tune with my community. The space that was cleared made room for joy and love in ways I never imagined. A year later I regret nothing, although I find that the restructuring I did both of my life and in my company has lead me back to a place where I feel the most grounded and ready to take on whatever life throws at me next.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m Mallory – a voracious learner who leads with curiosity and likes to get their hands dirty. I have been an entrepreneur for almost 15 years – owning multiple clothings stores, producing food festivals, consulting and now creating websites in one week with Week of the Website.

At Week of the Website, our goal is simple – to be the most loved 5-star Squarespace agency. We believe that the website creation experience is broken. In a world with so much noise, we’re tired of the same same. Templates and turnkey development with a few tweaks will never give you something that feels just right while making an impression.

We want to give you a seamless and enjoyable experience to get you the website that doesn’t look like anyone else’s. With WOTW, you are part of the team from start to finish. No surprises, only delight. And we do it all in a timeframe that seems too good to be true. But it isn’t. We’ve done it with over 700 clients.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I have made a few career switches in my life – three to be exact. The most recent was when our parent company, Presence Agency – a production and design agency – made the switch to focus solely on web design instead of producing events. It came at a bit of a serendipitous time – just as lockdown hit. It was terrifying to remove a major revenue stream from the company. Yet after 5 years of producing events like food festivals and consulting on fundraising strategy for nonprofits with great success, we also found that our reach was limited and we weren’t feeling the fulfillment we had hoped for while at the top of our game. That’s when it became evident to us that our most important driving factor was create joy in our workplace, our company culture, and with our clients. Building websites isn’t curing cancer, but in our corner of the world, we believe it should and could be fun. We bring our expertise to the table and guide our clients by meeting them where they are and creating a partnership mindset where everyone wins.

Any advice for managing a team?

When it comes to management, I believe that styles vary and evolve based on the human and the team. One thing remains the same across the board and that is trusting your team to do the job they were hired for. I do not believe in micromanagement – but rather hiring with the qualities in mind that will help your team thrive. For us, that is active listening, open-mindedness and ability to take feedback, and desire to learn and grow. It starts at the very beginning. Then we foster these qualities by giving our team opportunities to grow, evolve, and become stronger team members.

Management is not a one way street. It requires a manager who understands that you have hired a whole, dynamic person, not just an employee. That means that life mixes with work, and it is impossible to separate that. In order to create an openly communicative environment, you have to both respect that people have lives and encourage that mindset as well. Our team is made up of a lot of working mothers – which means there needs to be a lot of flexibility in their schedules. But no one gets the job done like a mom, and we love them for that.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.malloryulaszek.com, www.weekofthewebsite.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weekofthewebsite
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallory-ulaszek/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJ0c1oWpmhej2DCgsdk-7lQ
• Other: Mallory Ulaszek IG: https://www.instagram.com/malloryulaszek

Image Credits
Andrea Plecko for headshot images