I almost titled this “The Energy Industry for Dummies”, but a more apt name would have been “The Energy Industry BY Dummies.”
If you had told me three years ago that I would be peddling oil & gas accounting and land administration services, I would have laughed. Phrases like “regulatory compliance”, “op and non-op” and “division order analysis” were not in my vocabulary. I couldn’t have told you what JIB stood for, or the difference between upstream, midstream and downstream. I was, for all intents and purposes, a “dummy.”
Prior to September of 2022, I was the Creative Director for a fine art gallery. I spent nearly a decade there, using the knowledge and skills I picked up as an art major in college to sell high-end art to wealthy collectors. I could tell you the going retail price for a painting just by looking at it, could go on for hours about the different art movements throughout history, and could even speak a little conversational French – but for the love of God, don’t ask me to do basic math without a calculator.
The energy industry wasn’t on my radar, outside of having a handful of clients that earned their fortunes in oil & gas. Accounting jargon might as well have been Mandarin to me. And the only thing I would have known about land administration, I would have learned from Billy Bob Thornton (if only he had been a few years earlier).
Becoming the Marketing Director at PetroLedger wasn’t on my 2022 bingo card. But here I am, nearly three years later, and I couldn’t be more grateful.
What I’ve Learned About PetroLedger
I could tell you that I know everything there is to know about this industry – that I’m an oil & gas expert that understands all the ins and outs and can walk you through the entire process from cradle to grave – but I’d be lying. I’ve learned a lot from my colleagues, from our clients and from industry leaders and professionals that I’ve had the privilege of meeting in my time here at PetroLedger, but I still have plenty more to learn.
The good news for our clients and potential clients is that I am not, nor will I ever be, the person handling your books. We leave that to the true experts, and our company has them in spades.
As a marketer, my job is to take our company, our employees and our services, package them, wrap them and tie them up with a bow for you – basically, I’m here to make our company look good. It’s easy to say that we have the best professionals with unmatched experience, and most companies do, but here at PetroLedger, the proof is in the pudding. When I say that our team is full of top tier experts, I mean it. And I can put my money where my mouth is.
I’ve had the pleasure to visit with the accounting and land wizards that make the magic happen for our clients. They’ve patiently answered all my questions and given me a deeper understanding of our services and how the well-oiled machine that is PetroLedger operates. Not only does our team have DECADES of experience under its belt – in areas all across the energy sector and with companies ranging from small mom and pop shops to monolithic corporations – but the collaborative culture that we’ve fostered ensures that if one person doesn’t have the solution to a problem, someone else in the company can give them the information they need. Our team truly has the answer for everything.
What I’ve Learned About the Industry
At the end of the day, relationships matter. The energy industry, and especially oil & gas, is like a big city with a small-town feel. Everyone seems to know everyone, and those connections can make or break a company’s success.
This isn’t just true for networking. Sure, knowing the right people has helped get our sales & marketing team a foot in the door at events, has introduced us to potential and current clients and has paved the way for deals to happen, but it doesn’t end after the hands are shaken and the contracts are signed. That’s when the really important work begins.
PetroLedger is in the business of nurturing relationships. We get to know our clients on a personal level. They know that they can trust us with their books because they know that they’re dealing with a person and not just a faceless entity. We stay in close, continual conversation with our software partners to ensure that we are always up to date on the latest and greatest that they have to offer. The bridges we’ve built also allow us to represent both our employees and our clients should any software questions or concerns arise. And, maybe most importantly, the internal rapport that we’ve built in our own company has helped us create our own little family, which allows all the different departments to work together for the good of our clients, and have fun doing it.
This industry is so special and unique. It’s also often misunderstood, but it’s hard to recognize the importance of something when you’re on the outside looking in. The rich history, the exceptional people, the incredible stories – man, there’s just nothing like it.
Mandy joined PetroLedger in September 2022 after serving for almost a decade as the Creative Director at a fine art gallery, where she honed her marketing and design skills. She graduated with a degree in Graphic Design from Abilene Christian University.
related articles
