Q&A with Sophia Morales, Executive Officer at Spartan Medical®
What is your title? XO, Executive Officer.What is your role? In military jargon, an executive officer, or "XO", reports to the commanding officer, which in this case is Vince Proffitt, President of Spartan Medical®. The XO is typically responsible for the management of day-to-day activities, freeing the commander to concentrate on strategy and planning the unit's next move. As a veteran-owned-and-operated company, a military mentality runs deep in our organization. My role at Spartan has evolved through the layers of our organization. Seeing Spartan from within for years helps me support both our fundamental and our strategic business practices from an executive efficiency standpoint. Now, we are moving to further Spartan’s competitive advantages in the market, strengthen our value propositions, and continue evolving our indescribable ethos.What are your responsibilities? At Spartan, every day brings a unique challenge - a fact highlighted throughout the pandemic. My responsibilities are constantly evolving to meet short-term and long-term needs of our company at the Chief Executive level. The 2022 reorganization has revealed areas of our business where our unique model adds extraordinary worth and areas where our efforts can be more efficient, structured, and effective. With a clear, congruent team, and moving forward in the same direction, I feel my new role can make an impact for the stratospheric direction of this company. As I listen and learn from the executive team there have been several debates on whether we can negotiate for distribution rights to include Mars - seems far-fetched, but the longer I’m here and the more I see, maybe we can. 😀
“We are moving to further Spartan’s competitive advantages in the market, strengthen our value propositions, and continue evolving our indescribable ethos.”
What is your top priority in your new position?It is hard to pick only one, but my top priority would be to bring the latest academic developments in business analytics to Spartan. We can benefit enormously from state-of-the-art efficiency and effectiveness analysis techniques to help us continue our accelerated growth pattern. Using systematic approaches to maintain our distinct competitive advantage is a major priority. Tackling issues of substantive quality - which effect the long-term wellbeing of our employees, our community stakeholders, and our company - holds a great level of importance.How many years of experience do you have?I have been a full-time employee of Spartan for four years, but a member of the Spartan family for almost a decade. It has been a blessing to grow professionally and personally under the mentors here at Spartan. I am excited to continue working side by side, daily, adding value with our founder Vince Proffitt.
“The legacy which Spartan has built will propel us to the next level of success by building upon the strengths of our people.”
Where did you go to college?The Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland double majoring in Supply Chain Management and Marketing. While I was enrolled and working full time at Spartan, there were topics I was actively learning which were directly correlated to our intricate business. There are high level strategies I learned in academics now directly applicable to my role at Spartan. The complex modeling and analytics apply immediately for chief level strategy, planning, execution, and process evolution. Vince talks quite a bit about different loops which can be summarized as "once you’re through them, it’s rinse and repeat.” When a leadership culture is focused on consistent improvement with an academic application to an incredibly dynamic environment, then the system works, and there is no problem we cannot solve.How did your previous position(s) prepare you for this new role?I served as the Government Sales Administrator at Spartan since 2018. This role was uniquely positioned as it required a view into four of the largest departments: accounting, operations, emergency management, and sales. Having a global view of our company helped me understand its inner workings. There are processes which function like clockwork throughout the years and there are those which are extraordinary. These latter have raised the ceiling for what Spartan can achieve - so much so, the question becomes what can’t we achieve! There truly is no limit to the dedication every member of every team has committed, and I am so incredibly humbled by this opportunity and the collective faith of the Spartan family. What metric can you share to demonstrate your success in your previous position?The securing of numerous financial institution awards, lines of credit, and other loans are one parameter of my previously position’s assistance. The successful operation of our online invoicing portals for the government - WAWF, iRAPT, Tungsten Network, etc. - are also another key metric we worked through from A to Z. Is there anything else you’d like to share?I am beyond grateful for this opportunity to serve as the Executive Officer for Spartan. Our company is fundamentally different! We have an unrivaled “care-factor” where employees feel empowered to bring their true best self to work everyday. It is an honor to have their support, faith, and confidence. The legacy which Spartan has built will propel us to the next level of success by building upon the strengths of our people.
