Featured Community Employee, May '24
The Lenovo Pro Community is pleased to spotlight Megan Bornemann, North America SMB Marketing Campaign Manager (aka Evolve Small Program Lead) as May 2024's Featured Lenovo Employee.
Megan is a smart, kind, caring and intelligent person and employee. With her visionary mindset, creativity, inclusion and passion for small business, she's been making positive impacts at Lenovo in our small business offerings. Megan's direct collaboration with the Lenovo Pro Community has resulted in numerous tech giveaways offered to members only, dozens of insightful resources shared, and our latest "Ask an Advisor Series" in which six expert minds shared their advice and recommendations in six key areas of small business management. Lenovo Pro is beyond grateful to have Megan as part of the crew.
Keep reading to see for yourself why we are so thankful to have Megan in the Community.
About Megan Bornemann
I started my career doing marketing for a software sales company, and transitioned to Lenovo in 2019. I kind of fell into Small Business marketing by happenstance, but absolutely love it. I am now the SMB Marketing Campaign Manager for North America, and lead the Evolve Small initiative here at Lenovo. Evolve Small is a program that provides aid, mentorship and community support to minority and woman-owned small businesses in North America.
I live in Colorado with my husband, dog and two cats. We’re big hikers, and I love to bake and read in my spare time.
Day-to-day Operations
In addition to running the Evolve Small Program, I work closely with Beth to showcase what we’re doing with through the Lenovo Pro Community, but also to host additional resources for small business owners via the Community. For example, the Advisor Series this past year that included guest speakers from all over the county on topics like funding, cybersecurity, social media marketing, and more.
Q & A
How long have you been a part of Lenovo Pro and what is your favorite Lenovo product?
Since I started at Lenovo 4.5 years ago! My favorite work product is the ThinkVision M14 Monitor. It’s a portable touchscreen monitor that I take EVERYWHERE. Personally, I also have a Lenovo Smart Clock that I love as well.
How has using your Lenovo equipment helped you accomplish things in your personal or professional life?
Because I work from a home office, I have a huge setup of Lenovo equipment I’ve been collecting over the years. My trusty ThinkPad X1 Nano, a wireless keyboard, 21” monitor that’s mounted above my laptop, and that m14 monitor. Yes…I have 3 screens and I find I hard to operate on less than that!
What do you enjoy most about the Lenovo Pro Community?
Keyword: Community. Particularly in the small business world, it can be really isolating to be an entrepreneur. So anytime there’s an opportunity to find a community of like-minded people that are in the same shoes – that’s a great time to take advantage. The Lenovo Pro Community provides access to that network of people, resources that are not just tech related, and opportunities to expand your knowledge.
What was one of your greatest successes in your professional life?
Pitching and launching the Evolve Small initiative almost four years ago. Evolve Small has changed the course of my professional career. I LOVE what I get to do and the people I get to meet through this program. Like I said, being an entrepreneur can be so isolating, so sometimes something as small as recognition of your impact, or a new laptop, can go such a long way. I’ve always loved mom & pop shops, but this role has given me a new appreciation for the amount of work and sacrifice that goes into running one. So to say that Evolve Small has positively impacted over 3,000 small businesses in just 3 years – that’s my biggest professional success to date.
What was one of your greatest challenges in your professional life?
Deciding when it’s time to take on something new. Whether that’s at a new company, a new role, or a new project that’s outside of your realm of knowledge. There’s a level of comfort in being in a space that you know and where you have experience, so it sometimes takes a push to branch out to something new. For me, that was both in joining Lenovo and in moving to take on SMB and pitching what became Evolve Small.
What was one piece of advice/encouragement that you got along your professional journey that inspired/helped you?
Similarly, be confident in myself and my decisions.
What is one piece of advice you would give other professionals or aspiring business owners?
Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Being a small business owner can be an isolating and challenging experience, so sometimes I’ve found that it’s hard for some of the founders we meet to find resources. But when they do, it’s so helpful to have someone to bounce ideas off of, or just talk to someone that’s in the same boat and knows what you’re dealing with. Finding that group of likeminded individuals in your area is invaluable.
Connect with Megan
Thank you for being such a valued part of the community, Megan and congratulations on being May's 2024 Featured Lenovo Employee!
Do you have any questions for Megan about her journey, interests, experiences or Evolve Small?
Leave your questions and comments below!