Angie Hicks - Angi - Office Hours: Business Edition - Haslam College of Business

In this episode of Office Hours: Business Edition, host and Haslam College of Business professor of practice, Monica Langley, sits down with Angie Hicks, founder of Angi (formerly known as Angie's List) for a discussion on entrepreneurship, trust, and the long work of building a brand that homeowners rely on. Hicks describes herself as addicted to home improvement. What she took longer to call herself was an entrepreneur. She tells Langley it was years before she gave herself credit for what she had built, even as the company that carried her name became one of the most recognized names in home services. Hicks walks through her founding story, from a hand-built list of local reviews to a national platform, and reflects on what she learned along the way about reputation, customer trust, and growing at a pace the business could sustain. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 00:58 The founding story 03:24 How Angie's List got its name 04:46 Building the list city by city 06:03 The hard early days and small wins 07:15 Perseverance and the introvert entrepreneur 09:10 Leadership lessons from a player coach 10:31 A story about impact 11:27 Work life choice