Meet John Maier
Employees: 50-99
Region: Los Angeles
Industry: Manufacturing
Success with Vistage
- Challenged long-held company practices
- Blue Microphones has grown at an average rate of 40 percent
- John has redefined his CEO role to greatly improve company efficiency
- Landed a spot on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies
“It’s one of those things where your company gets big enough, and you look up one day and realize there’s only so many things that I can go to my team with. There’s some things that I just have to find outside resources and outside sounding boards, and Vistage is a great tool for that.”
– John Maier, President and CEO, Blue Microphones
Before Vistage
John Maier has been what he calls a “doer” since he joined Blue Microphones in 2010. Moving from department to department, he’d dive into the team’s issues head-on, identify problems and come up with effective solutions. Once he had the ball rolling on a stronger direction, he would hire someone to take his place.
This pattern continued until 2013 when The Riverside Company acquired Blue Microphones. During this transition, John was exposed to other businesses and was able to exchange ideas. He began to really enjoy the idea of networking and saw the benefits of fostering professional relationships.
He also realized he couldn’t swoop in and solve problems on an individual basis anymore. As the company grew, so did the challenges, and John needed guidance on stepping back and looking at the big picture. That’s when he decided to join Vistage.
With Vistage
John met his Vistage Chair Brian Oken in 2014 and became a founding member of his current Vistage group. Unlike other organizations John has been involved with, Vistage provided a peer advisory board of leaders from diverse industries outside his own.
Not only was he able to give advice, contributing to a team mentality, but hearing other members’ ideas helped him view his own challenges with a new, more well-rounded perspective. In fact, it was their input that aided John through one of his biggest challenges.
Result
John’s new outlook on his role as a CEO helped him take a step back from being the “doer” and involve himself more in strategy. For example, his whole website went up without a hitch, and he was barely involved in the process — a drastic turn from how he viewed his role two years ago.
By taking on this perspective, John was able to lead his company in continued growth at an average rate of 40 percent. Blue Microphones even landed a spot on the 2015 Inc. 5000 list, which names private companies growing at an exceptionally fast rate.