If you told Jordan McGuire when she was growing up in Wisconsin that one day she would be managing a software company in Paris, she would have thought you were crazy. What she did know back then was that she was passionate about writing and persuasive communication. Fast forward to today, and Jordan has completed her executive MBA at Notre Dame and made herself invaluable to Chicago-based healthcare, science, and IT staffing company Medix.
When Jordan initially joined the Medix team, she was brought on as a marketing intern, but then took on several different roles when the company encountered turbulence during the 2009 recession. She stepped in to fill some payroll and compliance needs, and even spent six months at the front desk, before finally settling back into marketing, where she started to grow her mighty team of one.
During that time, Jordan had the privilege of partnering with some of the brilliant minds inside of Medix to build up an entirely new division in the company: the Talent Innovation Department. The division focused on innovative strategies and technologies for attracting and engaging talent. She notes that much of the department’s work centralized on assessments and the power of understanding soft skills and the talent lifecycle. This addition is what inevitably led to Medix’s eventual acquisition of Talentoday.
Ultimately, all of that experience took Jordan to Paris! She was plucked from marketing and asked to run the software company since her career path rewarded her with a lot of firsthand exposure to the world of psychometrics and soft skills, providing her an excellent understanding of Medix’s broader goals in that space. Jordan faced many challenges through her transition, from cultural nuances to the pandemic, but none of it slowed her down.
As the conversation continues, Jordan and Leslie also discuss the value in starting every day with a beginner’s mind, her ongoing effort to balance work and life priorities, and how when it comes to mentors, one size does not fit all! We hope you enjoy this episode.
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