Meet Jim Johnson, Co-Founder and CEO of Mobile Solutions

MOBILE MINUTES

Jacob Mollohan, Senior Marketing Specialist

September 28, 2018

In the age of SaaS industries, it can be easy to lose sight of the fact that every solution is designed to fill a single goal: make people’s lives easier. At the end of the day, it is people that make Mobile Solutions such a great place to work.

It’s simple, we’re humans here at Mobile Solutions, real people. This has been an incredible year for Mobile Solutions. With the migration of all our customers to our next-generation platform, MAX, we are truly pushing the boundaries on what great mobility management solutions and services look like. It has also been our most award-winning year, a testament to everyone around here. As we look back at a year full of overcoming challenges and successes, we sat down with our CEO to gain a little insight on the leadership that continues to propel us forward.

“The true test of a person is how they handle the adversity thrown their way, and we continually rise to the challenge.”

What led you to this point in your career? I’m a strong believer in the saying, “What defines us is how we rise after falling.” I’ve learned through each and every one of my experiences, including losing my first business. I surround myself with strong executive coaches, including the Mobile Solutions Board of Directors and Vistage, the world’s leading business advisory and executive coaching organization. Over the past decade, we’ve grown so much, expanding to providing full life-cycle Managed Mobility Services including procurement of new mobile devices, staging and kitting to configure devices, Mobile Device Management/Enterprise Mobility Management to secure devices, 24×7, local, in-house service desk, next-gen mobility management platform, dedicated account management, and device reclamation services. One thing I’m most proud of is that we’ve increased employee count by 40% in less than a year and maintain a 95% customer retention rate.

How have you led Mobile Solutions through challenges to find success?

I learn from each experience and turn my biggest challenges to my biggest successes. One of the early challenges I experienced was losing my first business. Although difficult, through this experience, I gained valuable lessons and turned those lessons into Mobile Solutions, and over the past ten years we’ve taken it from only a half-dozen employees to over 90, with substantial continued growth on the horizon. More recently, the past couple of years have been full of challenges as we are improving on every aspect of the business. Over the past year, we launched and migrated all customers to our next-gen mobility management platform, MAX. By listening to customers and taking learnings from experience in the industry, we’ve lead the way in building solutions for our customers. The thing about challenges, though, is that they always provide a way to grow. I encourage everyone on the team to think outside the box when trying to improve on our success as a customer service-based company. Every person on the team has the ability to contribute in a positive way to the future. The true test of a person is how they handle the adversity thrown their way, and we continually rise to the challenge.

How do you give back to the Colorado tech community? I believe success requires a holistic approach. Shared success creates thriving communities and so we give back our time and donations to help those in need as well as supporting causes that really resonate with us. Throughout the year at Food Truck Fridays and fun events like Drench Your Boss day, we collect funds and then donate to Susan G. Komen. Kim and I pay for our employees to attend the annual Race for the Cure in support of this amazing initiative.

What was your biggest accomplishment this year? This has been an incredible year for all of us. From our next-gen platform, MAX, to new employee growth to our most award-winning year ever, we have all gone above and beyond every day. A few things that stand out most to me are: – We’re projected to have one of our highest year-over-year revenue growth. – Migrated all customers to our next-gen mobility management platform, MAX. – Increased employee count by 40%. – Winning ColoradoBiz Top Tech Company and placing on Inc 5000 for the fourth time in a row.

What’s next for Mobile Solutions? Mobile Solutions is the result of all our hard work. What’s more, we are primed for even more growth and success. From a core of amazing people, we’ve created and executed on our next-gen mobility management platform, MAX. By listening to customers and taking learnings from our long-time experience in the industry, we have lead the way in building solutions for our customers. The single best word to describe our culture is family. It’s our commitment to each other and our clients that really sets us apart. Every day our teams come to make a difference. We create value through the services we offer. Those services start with our exceptional people. We will continue to look to the future with that in mind and we will continue to grow people’s lives.