Zach Weismann, founder of Dallas-based MAG Impact Collective, has his eye on the very future of work. And, ready or not, that future is now, he says. With large companies continuing to downsize and the sheer number of workers who have been laid off during the pandemic, many people are looking for a new way to earn a living, he explains.

It’s time to start “changing the way we think about freelance or ‘gig’ work—less as a temporary transition and more as a permanent solution,” Weismann told Dallas Innovates in an email. The entrepreneur, a third-generation Dallas business owner, is forging the way with his company that connects talented people with the businesses and organizations that need their expertise.

In 2018, the founder launched MAG Impact Collective with a core membership group of designers, marketers, writers, and experts in leadership, culture, and partnerships. Focused in the areas of social impact, education, and sustainability, MAG connects these experts with social enterprises, nonprofits, and firms to help them “Magnify, Accelerate, and Generate” Impact—hence the name MAG.

Described as an “un-agency,” the firm’s business model is timely in a world that’s gone virtual, he says. The need to help clients solve internal challenges and build on digital presence amidst the COVID-19 crisis drives Weismann and the team.

“More so than ever, this pandemic shows the importance of collaboration, leadership, culture, and partnership. And MAG has experts in each of those areas,” said Weismann, who aims to turn challenges into proactive solutions.

Support for solo entrepreneurs

Weismann, who didn’t always believe “going solo” was the way to go, built the company to ease many of the pressures that gig economy or solo-entrepreneurs face, he said in an interview.

Zach Weismann delivered a TEDx Plano talk on life changes in 2017.

“Working from home doesn’t have to be lonely. That’s why I created MAG,” Weismann said. “The Collective provides that feeling of belonging to a team and provides shared resources, allowing independent workers to benefit from a formal entity while still remaining independent.”

Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, free-lance work was a growing trend. The CEO points to the statistics: According to a 2019 Free-lancers in America survey by the Free-lancers Union, it increased from 17 percent in 2014 to 28 percent in 2019.

“With office jobs going through major changes that will stretch beyond this pandemic—and the future of normal working environments in question—self-employment opportunities are becoming more appealing,” Weismann said, adding that will “continue to reshape the way we see work for years to come.”

It’s all the more reason for creative and innovative business models and working models to help usher in this new era of work, he said.

Since launch, MAG’s own group has expanded from 12 to 20 members.

The MAG mission of social impact

At its core, MAG Impact Collective has a goal of driving social impact through its services. With a dedication to “moving the needle towards social responsibility,” MAG aims to support their current clients and prospects amidst the COVID-19 pandemic by “offering up their listening ears” via a one-hour ‘Caring, Collaborative Conversations’ problem-solving session with the company’s full team of experts,” says Weismann.

It’s not a webinar, he says, rather “a listening and brainstorming session” to better understand people’s needs and help collaborate on solutions with leaders, businesses, and corporations.  The session is free and available to the public.

The Collective has also launched a new podcast, called MAG’s Mind. Its first episode discussed topics around grief and loss, and how to create positive change during times of uncertainty, he notes.

“In times of crisis, most people look for ways to come together and help one another in their communities and around the world,” Weismann says. “It’s important that all businesses and individuals come together to support one another in these challenging times as we all face the post-COVID19 world together.”

Q&A With Zach Weismann

Zach Weismann, a third-generation business owner, has a legacy of success in Dallas. His grandfather, who moved to Dallas in the 50s, started three companies in DFW, and his parents started and ran an accounting firm for 30 years. His dad still runs the firm to this day.

Weismann took the time to speak with Dallas Innovates about the MAG mission, what sets the collective apart, and how the Dallas region is poised to be a center of social impact. Below is an excerpt of the interview.

What sets MAG Collective apart from the “traditional agency”?

Our unique working model allows us to be flexible, nimble, and evolve quickly with clients’ ever-changing needs. Gone are the days, especially when it comes to social issues, of waiting 12 months to launch a project. By the time you wait that long, your needs—and thus the problem statement—most likely have changed as well.

Also, what you see is what you get. We don’t outsource, and we don’t match you with unqualified staff. We’re able to offer greater expertise without all the agency “fluff.” When I worked at a large agency, it always surprised me when clients would see our fancy office and fancy computers. Who do you think pays for that?

If we’re going to solve real, tangible problems, there are simple sacrifices we will all need to make in the name of the greater good, and we have done just that.

How has your company mission around social impact evolved since launch?

Our mission is to support positive social change around the world. We feel this can be done by helping organizations internally, supporting their external efforts, and by truly collaborating by matching needs with services.

In today’s challenging political, environmental, and business landscape, the only way we’re going to create the solutions we need, achieve the impact we desire, and solve our most pressing challenges is through collaboration.

What impact has COVID-19 had on your business and client base? 

It has created some [changes]—we have had clients that work in the healthcare and travel industries get hit really hard and have to postpone some projects. But due to our decades of work in social impact, sustainability, healthcare, and international development, I feel we are well versed in facing global challenges and weathering the storm. We have come together to support one another, but also are doubling down to lend our expertise to clients of all sizes.

We have the potential to make a huge difference. Due to our working model, we’re able to offer clients affordable and nimble expertise. As we all continue to see the economic consequences and trickle-down hardships, this allows us to provide numerous services to clients that perhaps they were previously paying a huge cost for.

We can continue to help businesses, individuals, start-ups, nonprofits and organizations weather this storm—albeit by helping them solve internal challenges or by helping them expand and build their digital presence. More so than ever, this pandemic shows the importance of collaboration, leadership, culture, and partnership. And MAG has experts in each of those areas—we’d love to help.

Do you have an example?

First and foremost, we had a “Collective” check-in with all of our members to see how everyone was doing—checking in on their families and wellbeing. Then we brainstormed on how we can better help clients and companies doing great work in this time of need. We’re offering one-hour “Caring Collaborative Conversations” with all of our experts that allow us to really listen to company-wide and individual challenges to help them frame a problem and solution: Is this a design challenge? Can marketing help? Is this a leadership challenge? Is this a challenge about partners not rising to the occasion?

We launched the offering where anyone can sign up, and we’re not charging for it. 

What mentors, partnerships, or deals have been pivotal to your initial traction?

1) We hold an annual meeting. You still can’t beat face-to-face interaction—it builds relationships for a lifetime.
2) Legal counsel. So expensive but so worth it!
3) A long-term project working with a large technology company helping them launch a global nonprofit was a great initial project proved to us very early that the model works, and we can have the desired positive impact we seek. 

In terms of business success, what are you most proud of since your launch?

I am most proud of the members. Watching them build relationships amongst themselves and with clients—watching them support one another’s work and go to bat for each other—reminds me every day that there are amazing people in this world. When you bring great people together, good things can happen. When you instill trust and faith, you receive it in return. They restore my faith in humanity.

Fast forward: What would be success be for Mag Collective in the next 2-3 years?

[We want to feel we’ve] had an impact and helped shift the needle in a positive direction in a few major areas: climate change, global injustices, health and wellness, and income inequality.

You mentioned that Dallas is something of a “blank slate” in terms of social impact potential. What impact do you think MAG could have on the Dallas region? 

I was born and raised here. There are still a lot of stereotypes around Dallas: “Do you ride a horse to work”…“Oh, there are trees here!”…“Wow, it’s bigger than I thought”… on and on.

What people don’t know is that we are actually poised to be a center of impact. We have healthcare, technology, innovation, Fortune 500 companies, and more. But we need to focus on what truly matters—solving some of our world’s most pressing problems. It’s now proven that the solutions are more valuable than continuing to support the problem drivers.

MAG is helping change the narrative: The forward-thinking, the innovation, the social impact, and change can start here. It can come out of this region, not just both coasts.

What obstacles or hurdles did you have to overcome in starting your business?

There is a quote from Theodore Roosevelt that I think sums it up accurately: “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

It is easy to sit on the sidelines and judge. It’s much harder to get into the arena, take an idea, and make it work.

What do you wish people knew about MAG?

That MAG stands for my mom’s initials, Michele Ann Garson, who I lost to cancer in 2014. My mom and I were, are, extremely close. She instilled in me a strong belief in people, the importance of family and relationships, and dedication to helping clients—all of which are at the very core of what MAG does.

Who or what is inspiring you right now (and why)?

My one-and-a-half-year-old son, Howie. He will never get to meet his Grandma Michele, but I want him to feel her through what I stand for and the work we do. I want him to inherit a world that is habitable. I want him to know that elephants and tigers exist in the wild—not just in a zoo or in his coloring book. I want him to know that people can treat each other with respect, kindness, and compassion. I want him to know the divide our country’s current administration is deepening was a blip on the map—an accident, not who we as a country stand for. At the end of the day, I want him to know his dad tried his hardest to make the world a little bit better of a place for him.

The Q&A has been edited for brevity and clarity.

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