Employee Spotlight: Eric Parham

If you work in our Alpharetta office, it’s pretty standard to see Eric Parham walking the halls, greeting his fellow team members, and inviting them to lunches or happy hours. “You can’t build relationships without working at it,” Eric says. “I walk a special route in the office that allows me to visit with teammates in my network at least weekly. For folks who aren’t local to me, I know how they like to communicate and I reach out in that manner regularly.” He’s also known to dole out a nickname or two. “Nicknames are a subtle, yet impactful, way to build relationships,” he says, adding that you can call him E.P. 

It’s no surprise that Eric has thrived at MarketSource for 20 impressive years. Today, he serves as program manager and has contributed to three different programs throughout his tenure. It’s clear that being a steward of our core values has proven to be key to his success. In addition to his expert-level relationship building, Eric’s open communication with his managers helped him build his own career path. “As my kids got into high school and family life became less hectic, I shifted some of my focus into growing my career,” he explains. “I worked with my leadership to figure out what was next and ended up interviewing to become a program manager. After receiving the role, I spent five years focusing on business growth, professional development of team members, process improvement and client management.” Then Eric was on the lookout for his next wish—the ability to launch a program of his own. Not only did it launch successfully, but it has flourished and since expanded, exceeding its goals every quarter for the past eight.  

And while the goal of Eric’s journey was to grow his own career, he found that helping others grow theirs is really the best part of his job. “Anything that helps my team win—fixing problems, consulting with them on how to get things done, coaching, listening, advocating for them, filling in when they’re busy or out of the office—that’s really what drives me,” he explains. 

Because in the end, our people are what makes this company so special…and Eric agrees. He points out that, regardless of program, every team he has worked with throughout his time at MarketSource has been full of amazing people. So, if you want to begin your own 20-year journey, start simple: “Be engaged and get to know as many people as possible really well,” he says. “Introduce yourself at the coffee machine…ask people what they do. It’s so much easier to get things done when you know who to collaborate with.” And you never know, they may just play a part in the next step of your career.