1. Full name?: Marla D. Rausch
2. Position / Job title?: CEO, Animation Vertigo
3. Why did you seek out this particular job / start your company? The idea to start the company came about as a solution to a recurring problem my husband was having with his company where people were constantly being trained in motion capture and released after a project was completed, and when it was time to start the next project, they would all be unavailable and the cycle would happen again. This constant turnover was not cost-effective and we thought there had to be a better way. By putting together what he needed, also what the industry needed, setting up a company, systems and team in place, we solved the problem, filled a niche and now, 11 years later, providing motion capture services to some of the biggest companies in the entertainment industry.
4. How has life changed (hopefully for the better 😉 since you landed this job / launched this company? Life has changed for sure, busier but also more fun. Even though I have more flexibility when it comes to work, since I work from home, that also means that I need to spend more time not getting distracted and focus on work. I had to be a lot more disciplined about working when I needed to, and being a mom and a wife when it was family time. A lot of my job has me traveling as well, and that has been something that I’ve loved to do since I was young – nowadays, it’s a little tiring, but what picks my spirits up are the people I work with. I have clients, colleagues, and team members that continuously challenge and motivate me – it’s great working with smart people, and every day is something new. I honestly can say that I don’t pray for the end of the week or the weekend because I just enjoy what I do.
5. And now: WHAT 3 THINGS DID YOU WISH YOU HAD KNOWN IN YOUR 20’S?
It’s ok to fail. Sometimes what we think of as failures at the time, end up being the best push or motivator we have to get us to where we need to be. I wish I wasn’t so afraid of failing before, I would have tried more things and gotten involved in things that weren’t my major in college or my interest. Facing it and changing plans is what life is about, it’s not always about succeeding, sometimes it’s about falling flat on your face, dusting yourself off, and trying again.
Planning is great but sometimes you have to just jump. Probably part of my desire to always succeed, I tend to plan everything. And that’s great – having a plan helps when you’re starting a business, getting your financials organized, but sometimes you have to listen to your gut and if it says go, just jump. I think we get stuck in the analyses of an event rather than experiencing it, and that is a waste. Sure it’s scary and yes, a safety net might be a good idea, but if you know it would be good for you, the risk is manageable, just do it – it might just be your next big thing.
Don’t limit yourself. I wish I didn’t generalize so much when I was in my 20’s and made declarations of those generalizations – “I’m not good in math”, “I don’t do well with numbers”, “I’m not good in business” – because those generalizations become truths we believe in. If we’re having a hard time in a class, it doesn’t necessarily mean we’re not good in it, it’s just probably not our interest at that time. But I’ve found out, if I needed to learn something, I do learn it and become proficient in it. It doesn’t happen overnight, but when it does, you wonder why you had a hard time with it in the first place.
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