Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur | Start and Grow Your Own Business 1216: Stop shipping CRAP! Here's how to build with QUALITY rather than hype w/ Megan Maloney
Tired of the "move fast and break things" mantra leading to broken products and unhappy customers? This episode is your antidote. We sit down with Megan Maloney, a 20+ year Quality Assurance (QA) veteran and founder of Maloney and Associates, who has built a career on making sure good products see the light of day. Megan unpacks why "quality" isn't a stuffy corporate term, but a vital business strategy for earning trust and scaling successfully. She reveals how her experience, from the military to major corporations, taught her the power of asking the questions everyone else is afraid to, and why your attitude is more valuable than your technical skills. This is a masterclass in building things right, leading with integrity, and developing the resilient mindset you need to thrive.
💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business
- How to define "quality" for your own product or service and set a standard that actually works for your business.
- Why your willingness to ask the "obvious" or "stupid" questions in meetings is actually your entrepreneurial superpower.
- The truth about AI in business: How to leverage it as a powerful tool without letting it tank your quality by missing crucial business context.
- A simple framework (the Kanban board) that you can use today to visualize, prioritize, and conquer your business and personal projects.
- The #1 trait to look for when hiring your first employees that has nothing to do with their resume or experience.
📝 About Megan Maloney
Megan Maloney is the dynamic CEO and founder of Maloney and Associates, a consulting firm specializing in quality assurance, test automation, and engineering. Her journey began in the military as a developer, where she discovered her true passion wasn't writing code, but breaking it to find defects before they ever reached a customer. With over two decades of experience, Megan has become an expert in building robust quality strategies for organizations ranging from large banks to agile startups. Her unique perspective is built on a deep understanding of business processes, a belief in the power of human connection, and the courage to ask the hard questions that drive real progress.
🎯 Megan’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs
"Never give up... Celebrate the small wins... when you have a setback, take it and learn from it... get up the next day. Keep moving... and if you find something that works, work it more. And if you find something that doesn't work, let it go and let it go quick. I'm all about fail fast, fail fast."
📢 Memorable Quotes
- "In order to be successful, the people that work with me have to be successful. And that means they have to trust me and they have to believe that I have their back."
- "Attitude is everything. Everything... never forget that we're humans and the human touch matters and the personality and your attitude matter more than sometimes your skills."
💡 Actionable Takeaways
- Adopt the "Fail Fast" mentality. This week, identify one strategy, task, or feature that isn't delivering results and make the decision to cut it loose.
- Define your "quality" standard. Write down 3-5 specific criteria that define a "high-quality" outcome for your product or service.
- Prioritize attitude in your next hire. When interviewing, ask questions that reveal a candidate's desire to learn, their resilience, and how they handle feedback—not just what’s on their resume.
🔗 Links & Resources