Jasper, IN, Aug 6, 2025 – Amy Williams and Jasper-based PIER Group are celebrating a series of recognitions in 2025. 

The CEO and company were named to the Women Presidents Organization’s 50 Fastest Growing Women-Owned/Led Companies list, as well as CRN’s Women of the Channel Power 80 Solution Provider and Tech Elite 250 lists. 

PIER Group was also nominated for Tech Company of the Year at this year’s TechPoint Mira Awards. Williams spoke with Inside INdiana Business about the growth and success of the IT and cybersecurity solutions provider. 

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What does it mean to you to receive all these recognitions?

It’s humbling. These recognitions reflect the work of our team and the work they put in every single day. We get involved in some complex projects and environments, and the execution that the team does, over time, it’s helped build our customer relationships. These awards are a reflection of the work that our team puts in every single day. 

What’s been the biggest driver of PIER Group’s growth and success?

It’s word of mouth from the customers we’ve served in the past. A lot of those are large research universities, and so they’re involved in communities and networks where they share intellect. While they compete for students and research dollars and all that, they’re also collaborative. 

Our manufacturer partners have reps out in the field as well, and they’re calling on similar customers to ours. Seeing those satisfied customers makes it easier for them to bring us into a deal because they know we’re going to make it work, whatever it takes out of us and the team. 

How has your leadership style evolved as the company has grown?

I’ve been doing this since 1992. That’s when I was brought into technology, which was a family business, and everything was hands-on and also strict by way of work hours and everything else. You have to enable and empower people to do more, and you can’t be part of every single decision and every day-to-day. 

At the same time, as a company, we’ve evolved with flexibility and continue to try to evolve with the flexibility that people need. A lot of these deployments are [the team’s] nights, weekends, holidays, when the universities are closed, summer. It’s empowering people, trusting the team, giving them space and knowing that people need flexibility because we ask a lot of them. 

What challenges have you faced leading PIER Group, and how did you overcome them?

The biggest thing I think of is time. There is a finite number of hours in a day, in a week. My husband and I are both leaders within the company, and we continue to work through that challenge, and we’re doing better. For the first time in 32 years, I hired an executive assistant. It’s those kinds of things, accepting that you aren’t going to be able to do it all, and you’re doing the best you can and trying to set some boundaries and find a little bit of balance. 

The IT and cybersecurity field is a competitive space. How does your company stay ahead of industry trends and continue to innovate?

We’ve hired great people. We have a professional services organization, and we used to subcontract a lot of that out. We knew we were at a juncture where we needed to bring that in-house several years ago. 

We continue to look for the right people to add to our team, and we participate in those communities and networks I was talking about. The customer communities, networks, manufacturers, think groups and ambassador clubs. We’re always constantly learning and adapting. 

What advice would you give to other female entrepreneurs aiming to scale their businesses?

If you want to do something, it might never be the right time. You can’t wait for it to be the perfect time. You need to have courage and lean on other people. Surround yourself with a good team. The team we started PIER Group with was super small, but it was the right people. Growing takes risk as well, and so you’ve got to be willing to take a risk. 

What advice do you have for the younger generation of women looking to make their mark in technology?

One thing that people who know me on the team would say about me is that I’ve never been afraid to speak up in a room, even if I might not have the right answer or know much about the topic. I’m not afraid to ask questions. 

Over the years [at tech conferences], many times they’ve asked this question: “How many of you in the room struggle with impostor syndrome?” I can’t count that many hands in a room, but my gut is 95% or more, their hands go up. Know everybody’s going through the same thing you are, have a voice and don’t be afraid to speak up and ask questions. 

What’s next for PIER Group in 2025?

We’ve been trying to grow smart in these past seven years. We’ve been doing this for over 30 years, but we have been PIER Group since 2018, so being smart about our growth and intentional. We want to maintain our culture. It’s critical to us that we stay true to that. 

We do that by continually investing in our people and exploring new service offerings and manufacturer partnerships. Always looking at whether we’re partnering with the right people and, at the same time, being mindful about who we’re hiring and whether they fit from a knowledge perspective, from a culture perspective. It’s a fast-paced industry, and it’s probably not going to change. 

Anything else you’d like to add? 

I’m grateful every day. We call them partnerships, whether they’re customers or manufacturers or distributors, but they’re also relationships, and I’m grateful for that. We had a lot of people who trusted us early on. And to go out and do this on our own seven years ago, if I could say to each and every one of them, I’m grateful, and thank you for being on this journey with us.