Michele Nichols | President

While at work, Michele is most likely encouraging innovative and creative thinking among employees. While at home, she is likely doing the same for her children—setting the table for new ideas and conversation.

1. What did your start with Launch Team look like?

I took this job and actually didn’t intend to stay very long. I was in an Operations position at the beginning, but then I started to do client work and every time I was ready to move on I had a new challenge. It was interesting to me then, and even now I’m still learning.

2. If you had to pick, what’s your favorite part of your job?

It uses many parts of my brain. It’s analytical, creative, strategic, and there’s always a lot of action—I like action. It’s very multi-faceted too; it’s a really wonderful thing to be surrounded by smart people thinking about interesting ideas. I value our team and the clients we work with for that.

3. What did you want to be when you were younger? Does that translate into anything you do today?

For a long time, I thought about being a writer or teacher. It’s interesting, actually, because it lines up pretty well with what we do. We spend a lot of our time writing content, and we also have the opportunity to teach sales and marketing models to business people.

4. Are there any projects you’ve worked on recently that have been particularly interesting?

Most recently, I’m enjoying and appreciating how much marketing is changing the culture inside companies. They are leading the charge in a shift to customer focus—you instead of me. I really think that’s going to have a lasting impact on those companies, and it’s interesting that we get to be a part of that.

5. That’s certainly an interesting part of the direction marketing is heading. Is there anything else in the field that you’ve been studying up on lately?

A little random—I’m interested in psychology and what motivates people. I just read a study on happiness within relationships and the correlation between that and being geographically close. It made me think a lot about how you could still work to build strong relationships when you’re subject to geographic proximity. It’s an area I’ll probably keep researching.

6. What are some of your other hobbies or activities you enjoy outside of work?

I love to cook! We play Iron Chef a lot. I’ll challenge myself and my kids to come up with a dish to make out of certain ingredients in the house. I also like anything outdoors; I do a lot of hiking, kayaking, and swimming.

7. Do you have any pets?

I have a cat, and we recently adopted a rescue dog named Hugo. I also love to ride horses, so I think it would be awesome to get horses at some point.

8. Is there anything that brings out your inner geek?

There isn’t one specific area, but I tend to make a project out of everything I can. So I’ll geek out over Danish rye bread for a while—trying to perfect making it. I like to choose a project and accomplish it.

I also have made a science out of packing my backpack. I do a lot of traveling, so I have it down. A 10-day trip would be easily done in a backpack!

9. What’s something no one would know about you?

I don’t like garbage plates, and I don’t think they should exist. For anyone not from our area, a garbage plate is a Rochester, NY “dish.” It mixes a number of different foods together into one plate, like a hamburger, french fries, macaroni salad or baked beans. I don’t like my food to touch, so it’s really not my favorite.