Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Osborne.
Emily, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
This story begins in the fall of 2014 when Lead Tag started as an in-house call center for a large, growing technology company right here in Dallas. It began with 3 recent high school graduates hired to perform really basic, routine back-end work for the company. We noticed very quickly that these individuals had a higher aptitude for more complex work and a strong desire to take on more responsibility. Despite not having a college degree nor a large amount of meaningful work experience, these agents were hungry to learn and eager to expand their professional careers.
Lead Tag kept hiring similar agents, and as a result, continued to expand its scope of work and responsibilities. After Lead Tag’s first few years, the mission became clear: Partner with inexperienced or perhaps underprivileged members in our community, attach them to meaningful projects that look good on a resume, and support them along the way. The ideal Lead Tag agent will walk away from his or her Lead Tag tenure with an impressive resume and the skills required to succeed in the modern workforce.
However, it quickly became clear that to achieve this career growth, some of our agents needed more than solely job training. From there, the idea of an organization that personally supports agents through mentorship, education, benevolent opportunities, resource connection, and family activities was born. It was a natural extension of the professional support provided by Lead Tag.
Having grown up in a Christian family that was involved in a variety of nonprofits, I have a heart for all things nonprofit. When I was offered the chance to turn this organizational idea into a reality, I was excited for the challenge. I joined the Lead Tag family this past fall and began the task of starting Better Today. Just a few months later, we are running full steam ahead with several programs growing daily and more programs on the horizon.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Nothing in life is a smooth road, but the bumps and obstacles make us who we are and push us toward success. The obstacles we face along the way teach and mold us into something better; we shouldn’t back down when the going gets tough.
The real challenge for Better Today was to create an organization that really made a difference in the lives of our people, instead of just looking good on paper. I want to create programs that people need and use. I don’t want someone to just come to my financial literacy class to learn about budgets; I want them to use the tools to make a budget of their own. I have always loved the concept of providing a hand up instead of a handout. It’s good if I can help someone avoid eviction, but it’s great if I can help them learn to live on a budget so they can pay all their bills and put money into their savings each month.
In addition, I don’t want to use all our resources recreating the wheel. If there is an organization that can assist our agents in a particular area better than we can, I want to find it! I have spent a lot of time researching other amazing nonprofit organizations with our same heart for the underprivileged. The number of people in the Dallas community that are trying to make a difference locally and beyond is incredibly inspirational. I’m proud to be apart of this mission!
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Better Today – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Dallas has several organizations helping people who seek a better tomorrow. We serve alongside our employees to provide them a Better Today. We deliver an immediate, positive lift in people’s lives by helping them generate steady income from meaningful work, overcome personal hardships and experience joy. We invest in our employees by building relationships and finding areas where we can come alongside them with support, resources, and aid.
The unique partnership between Lead Tag and Better Today offers an individual an all-inclusive set of assistance and support programs. It begins as we partner with a variety of community organizations all over the Dallas area to put people to work. We do this in a call center environment. However, we are more than just a call center. Lead Tag has a proven growth plan — that when combined with our professional development and personal support programs — leads to marketable resume experience.
While job training is vital for a Better Today, we push beyond the workplace to serve the individual and his or her family. We provide both practical assistance through mentoring, education, and benevolence programs and community resources by partnering with a variety of support organizations. We use 1-on-1 coaching and mentoring to keep people engaged, accountable and moving in the right direction.
Our members work hard to create a better tomorrow for their families, so we seek opportunities to manufacture joyful experiences along the way. Better Today provides regular activities for our employees that can range from offers such as free eye exam vouchers to fun events like tickets to a sporting event.
Better Today’s mission is to make a positive impact in the community by creating meaningful and sustainable careers for inexperienced individuals while serving alongside them to alleviate hardships and create joy.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I think the next year for Better Today is going to be an exciting time. Utilizing our current momentum, we plan to unveil our website, increase our community involvement, and roll out new benevolent initiatives. But I am most excited about launching our agents into quality careers in our community. We have many partnerships in place to continually hire, develop and support individuals.
However, the real success is helping an agent take the skills and habits formed at Lead Tag and utilize them to create a better life. The fun, laid-back culture of Lead Tag creates a family atmosphere and it is hard to see anyone leave. But in reality, our goal is to keep launching excellent individuals who will thrive in the business environment.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1505 Federal St., Suite 200, Dallas Tx 75201
- Website: leadtag.com
- Phone: 469.804.8239
- Email: emily@leadtag.com
- Instagram: @bettertodaydallas
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
