Douglas Varsano

As the Founder and President of a growing business, I have had the valuable experience of working with Andy Wolf over the past 6 years. His reputation was already well established in the Phoenix metro area, which is how his name came to me at that time. With that being said, I am writing this letter to encourage you to join forces with an extraordinary professional, and most importantly, person. This is especially true when considering Andy’s ability to adapt to his client’s needs quickly, execute with skilled professionalism, bring life balance to any conversation, and deliver a gritty work ethic with consistency.

After 30 years as an Operations and Marketing executive with both Marriott and Omni Hotels, I decided to start my own company. Prior to the pandemic, my son had been diagnosed with Autism (albeit late in childhood), and I decided to start a consultation to help employers successfully hire and retain individuals on the Spectrum of Autism. As I built the framework of the business, the first name given to me for website development, social media management, digital content creation, and overall ideation was Andy Wolf. Our first calls felt as though we’d known one another for years; he was a fantastic listener, helped organize my thoughts, made relevant and timely recommendations, and most notably, shared my passion for the mission and vision! He then very quickly jumped into action to support my immediate needs and bring perspective to the longer-term plans. This was a very positive sign of how his work with me would evolve.

After the pandemic arrived, we all had to shift our professional mindset. Andy, being as loyal as they come, was following my work to support the hospitality industry during a massive furlough. I had begun a community fundraiser to bring music to where people lived. Andy contributed to my cause and also delicately but effectively persuaded me to consider this as a business opportunity. We brainstormed, risk assessed, and identified a critical path for the business construct. NeighborGOOD Events was alive, and we were also able to hire individuals with Autism and donate a percentage of income to the cause (these were Andy’s ideas!). After 4.5 years of successful business ownership, which included Andy serving as a cheerleader and therapist, he had become an integral part of my professional success and impacted me personally.

Over the course of many long days, a self-focused perspective can set into the process of business building. Andy carefully reminded me that I was not his ONLY client (yet somehow he made me feel that I was); that in fact, he was in a very similar process of building a reputable service and brand to support his family. We got to know each other very well, and my respect for Andy’s perspective, kindness, selflessness, and humility exploded. Andy was always available, and yet there were clear boundaries that were unstated, which allowed him to be his best on a personal level. In fact, his balanced mindset is what kept me calm and led to so many creative ideas that have boosted my success over the years. He simply has a way of saying what needs to be said, at the right time and in the right way!

Finally, the job comes down to “getting the job done”! Andy would do whatever it took to support me and his clients to hit deadlines, but most critically, to do all the work necessary along the way in a thorough manner that allows those deadlines to be met and results to follow! There’s never an excuse and only a positive idea on how to get the job done. He calls you back expeditiously! He emails you back efficiently! And he simply doesn’t make any excuses….the job gets done beautifully.

As an executive leader of both big business and small business over many decades, I have learned that organizations are very sensitive to the risk associated with hiring. We also like to think that with new hires, we get some new thoughts who can also be a wonderful team player. There is no question that Andy Wolf would be a huge asset to any organization. My only hope is that your organization will reciprocate equally in your greatness for Andy since I’m certain that you’d be getting a great one!
Feel free to reach out to me directly with any follow-up questions or insights.

Respectfully,

Doug