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Rachel Malyan’s history with Simms & Associates began long before she officially joined the company three years ago.
She first met Amanda Simms at a Kronos conference in Las Vegas in 2016, when S&A was still in its earliest days. What stayed with her was Amanda’s vision and her decision to build something of her own.
“I always remember being really inspired by her vision for Simms & Associates.”
Rachel continued to follow the company over the years. So when an opportunity finally came along, the decision was easy.
“I’d been fangirling them, you could say, for about seven years from when they started. So I kind of knew exactly the culture that Amanda had built and the business that she was building.”
Growing without losing what matters
When Rachel joined, S&A was still a relatively small, boutique consultancy. In the three years since, she has seen the business roughly double in size.
What has impressed her is how much of the original way of working has remained, particularly the company’s open-door policy.
“You can just pick up the phone, you can jump on Teams, you can shoot an email, and you’ll get a straight answer rather than a process.”
For Rachel, maintaining that accessibility as the company has grown is an important part of what makes S&A different.
Taking on something new
Rachel’s own role has evolved too. Having previously worked as WFM Industry Principal, she recently moved into Strategic Services, helping to build S&A’s strategic advisory services across EMEA.
“It was a big moment for me to be able to work on that project and ensure that we’ve designed a service that was fit for purpose.”
That opportunity to keep evolving has been an important part of her experience at S&A.
“My job hasn’t really sat still. I’ve changed roles twice in the last three years.”
More than culture
When asked what defines the way people work together at S&A, Rachel prefers one word: community.
“I genuinely feel that I work with a fantastic group of people who will always go out of their way to ensure that other people are successful.”
For Rachel, it is a community without point-scoring or egos, where people genuinely show up for one another.
Looking ahead
As S&A celebrates its tenth birthday, Rachel is excited about the company’s move toward more strategic implementations and helping customers realize greater value from them.
For Rachel, the next chapter is about building on what S&A already does well while continuing to evolve – without losing the community that has been there from the beginning.