Inside Visual Soldiers: An Interview with Our Project Manager

At Visual Soldiers, we believe our team is our greatest asset. Each member brings a unique perspective and passion to their role, driving our mission to innovate and create exceptional digital experiences. Today, we’re spotlighting one of our Project Managers, Madison Tyler. She’s a powerhouse team member and a vital part of the team who ensures that every project runs smoothly and exceeds expectations. In this interview, we dive into her role, experiences, and the values she brings to our culture.

I am the Project Manager here at Visual Soldiers. We joke that I like to wear many hats, but my primary responsibilities are planning projects from initial proposals all the way to final delivery, organizing and coordinating our internal team, resource management, quality assurance, and maintaining top-notch client relations.

I was looking for a major career change when I first joined Visual Soldiers; I wanted to hone my skills in new ways and continue to grow in this industry. I was attracted to the company culture and the unwavering commitment to innovation and excellence. I’m most motivated by the people I work with and being better than I was yesterday.

At the core of VS is problem-solving and adapting. I genuinely feel that I learn something new every day. Challenging projects don’t scare us; they embolden us to dig in and figure it out. I love problem-solving, and I’m a lifelong learner, which are values that are both held and nurtured by VS.

Maybe a little less recent, but one of the first projects I was a part of from start to finish was a rebrand for Modyfi Health. Through our discovery sessions, we could see and feel how passionate the stakeholders and individual providers were about this company’s mission and vision. We instantly knew that the path forward was to let their unique personalities and genuine care shine through the brand. The result was a complete transformation of the brand strategy and visual identity that the clients were absolutely jazzed about. We’ve recently started our next project with them to redesign and develop their site, so this one has been on my mind lately. It’s really rewarding to look at where they started and where they’re headed now.

Outside of work, mostly through social media—Instagram, LinkedIn, Reddit, etc. I like to follow pages and communities that share and discuss what’s going on in the design world. I like to lurk (as they say) and see what the masses think. The recent Jaguar rebrand was a fun one to follow online.

Our workflows are incredibly organized and streamlined for efficiency. We pride ourselves on innovation, so if there’s a way to automate something to free up a bit more creative bandwidth, I’m all for it! A perk of a hybrid, flexible schedule is that outside of client meetings, you have the ability to choose when you work on what—some people are most creative first thing in the morning while others get a spark of creative genius at 11:00 pm. As long as we’re hitting our goals, I don’t care when the work is done. What’s beautiful at VS is that everyone is (at least somewhat) across all projects, so if a designer is having an off day and not feeling creative in the slightest, we can shift resources around to ensure their needs are met without missing deadlines or sacrificing the caliber of work.

A unique challenge I navigate is managing our full-scope projects with our subscription plans. Full-scope projects have their set timeline for deliverables, but subscription clients queue up design tasks that have an average 48-hour turnaround time, though clients often want their designs ASAP. Sometimes these tasks are one-off designs, while others can be more in-depth and on a larger scale. It’s a balancing act that I’m still perfecting as we move into our second year of offering design subscription services, but for the most part, consistent communication has been the key to ensuring both models run smoothly. Managing expectations, pushing back when necessary, and keeping a delivery cadence that’s manageable for my team (and their sanity!) is what I have to keep my eye on.

I try to be as communicative and transparent as possible with our team and with our clients in regards to project updates and expectations. Notion, our management platform, is robust, and each task/ticket is equipped with every link, file, and project detail needed to ensure the deliverable is successful and on time. We collaborate on platforms like Miro and communicate through individual client Slack channels to keep things organized and easily navigable. Micromanaging is not my style; I trust my team to hit their targets and to reach out if they need a hand.

I’d say start by mastering the basics, like design principles and tools like Adobe CC or Figma. Build a portfolio that shows off your creativity and network, network, network! If you can find a mentor, be a sponge. Dive into data to make smart decisions that inform design or boost marketing efforts and focus on user experience for the average person. Specialize in what you love, approach failure with curiosity, and strive to learn something new every day!

I’m really excited about some internal work we’re doing to build out our project management platform even further! I’m also excited about a few web projects we have coming in 2025, including one with a well-known brand agency. We’ll continue to trust our process, stay agile and organized, and be steadfast in our quest for innovative excellence! We’re soldiers, after all.