Community Highlights: Meet Lisa Marie Maxson of 10x People

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lisa Marie Maxson.

Hi Lisa Marie, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
At the heart of it, I started this company because I genuinely love working with smart people to solve real problems for customers. When we started over a decade ago, we saw a lot of unmet needs in telecom, especially in the numbering space. It’s not the flashiest part of the industry, but it’s foundational. We knew we could bring modern, cloud-based solutions to a space that was still relying on outdated processes.

Local number portability (the ability to keep your phone number when you switch carriers) is where we got our start. Most people don’t think about what happens behind the scenes when they move their number, but it’s incredibly complex. Early on, we helped build and modernize the systems that make that possible. That was our entry point.

As the industry shifted from landlines serving households to mobile numbers tied to individuals, we took a fresh look at what our customers needed, not what they already had in place. That’s what led us to move from a consultancy to a business focused on numbering products and solutions.

Throughout our journey, we’ve stayed very close to our customers. We work alongside them to identify emerging needs, especially as new providers enter the market and challenges like robocalling or regulatory changes arise. Telecom is constantly evolving, and so are we.

Culturally, a few core values have really shaped who we are. One of our values is “empowered plus,” which was inspired from the book, “The 10X Rule” by Grant Cardone. The crux of this value states that empowerment comes from constant education, which empowers the team and, in turn, empowers our customers. Each of our employees has the ability to do what they need to support our customers, our products and each other. We believe that making mistakes is invaluable for learning. We also value honesty and integrity. We work with our customers, making sure we are working together as a team when there are problems to address. Engaging as a team and working toward one goal is vital to the success of our business.

Today, 10x People is widely recognized as a leader in numbering and inventory management, with active involvement in key industry bodies such as ATIS and the Number Portability Industry Forum. We also proudly served on the North American Numbering Council during its 30-year charter, contributing directly to policy and governance discussions that shape the telecom ecosystem.

Our focus is on continuing to simplify and modernize number management and ordering services for our customers.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There have been a few bumps along the road, but they’ve helped shape 10x People into what it is today.

One of the most pivotal moments for me was when my business partner left in 2020. Anytime leadership changes, it forces you to reassess not just roles, but direction, priorities, and long-term sustainability. It became a moment of recalibration for us.

Another directional shift took place when we reassessed our revenue model. When 10x People started, we were strictly a consultancy. While that work was valuable, consulting revenue can be cyclical and dependent on the next contract. We made a deliberate decision to transition toward building recurring revenue by offering numbering products so that we had recurring revenue to rely on that would guarantee our viability. That shift required investment, focus, and patience, and it’s the reason we’re still here today.

The last thing I’ll mention is that the telecommunications industry itself never stands still. We’ve seen waves of new providers enter the market, regulatory shifts, the emergence of illegal robocalling and more. Each of those changes creates both pressure and opportunity. Staying ahead means constantly evolving technically, operationally, and strategically, which is what we strive for.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
At its core, 10x People exists to make one of the most complicated parts of telecom feel manageable. Most people don’t think about what happens when they switch mobile service providers, what enables them to keep their phone number and how disturbances like illegal robocalls are dealt with, but behind the scenes, telephone number management is incredibly complex. Carriers are responsible for tracking massive inventories of numbers, managing porting, ordering new resources, preventing fraud, and providing accurate regulatory reporting, all while mobile usage keeps exploding. In the U.S. alone, there are now more than 310 million smartphone users, up from just over 200 million a decade ago. That growth puts real pressure on systems that were never designed to operate at today’s scale.

What we do is provide modern, cloud-based tools that take that burden off carriers’ shoulders. 10x People specializes in numbering solutions across the full lifecycle, including number porting, inventory management, telephone number ordering, and number lookup. Instead of juggling outdated systems and manual processes, our customers get a single, streamlined way to manage their entire numbering ecosystem with confidence.

What truly sets us apart is experience and trust. We didn’t just enter this space, we helped build it. 10x People spearheaded the creation of the original Local Number Portability messaging interface and launched the first-ever commercial cloud-based SOA and LSMS. Those innovations set industry standards that are still in use today, and they give us a deep, practical understanding of how numbering really works.

We’re most proud of how we show up for our customers. Our team is agile, responsive, and accessible. If you need us, we’re there. We operate with transparency and integrity, and if there’s a faster, smarter, or more economical way to solve a problem, we’ll say so. That mindset has helped us deliver a level of functionality, flexibility, and intelligence that few others in the space can match.

Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
Growing up, I was always curious and drawn to problem-solving, so naturally, my favorite subject in school was always math. Personality-wise, I’d say I was determined and quietly confident. Once I set my mind to something, I pursued it, and I always followed my curiosity. That mindset became especially important later on when I enrolled at the University of Kentucky.

I was thinking of pursuing mathematics, but I didn’t really know what to do with that interest except maybe become a math teacher. As part of my undergrad degree, I was required to take a computer science class, which was a relatively new field, and I just fell in love with it. I was one of only four women in the computer science program. It combined everything I enjoyed about math with real-world application and creativity. That curiosity led me to internships, and then a career at IBM, and ultimately to creating my own company.

Looking back, I think the common thread from childhood to today is that I’ve always been motivated by learning, solving problems, and pushing into spaces that are evolving. Technology was new when I started, and in many ways, it still is. That constant evolution is what keeps it exciting for me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.10xpeople.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/10xpeople
• Other: info@10xpeople.com