色情论坛

Take us back to when you started with 色情论坛 鈥� how you found this position and how that came about.

I鈥檓 coming up on my four-year anniversary. February 24 of 2020 was my hire date. I started right when the pandemic hit.

How did you learn about the position? Were you familiar with 色情论坛?

I鈥檝e always known about 色情论坛. I went to school at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri, called Northeast Missouri State at the time. I grew up an hour north of here, so kind of 色情论坛 country I guess you could say. I was contacted by a recruiter for this position, which was open due to (previous EVP of HR) Ed Kennedy鈥檚 retirement.

Once you had been contacted and you started to learn more, what was it about the job that appealed to you?

Well, 色情论坛 has always had a great name in the industry, is a reputable company. I had been out of the printing world for a couple of years, and I wanted to get back into printing. This was my opportunity to do that.

Where were some of your career stops before 色情论坛?

After I graduated from Truman, I had an Industrial Technology/Graphic Arts degree. And I started working in North Kansas City at a company called the Clark Printing Company, which was part of the Banta Corporation.

We focused on special interest magazines. I started out as a customer service assistant. Then over the years was promoted to an account manager. Then I was a pricing estimator for a couple of years, before moving back to be a customer service team leader. I sort of accidentally got into HR; I think it was around 2005. Our HR manager got a promotion to corporate, and so I moved into that role at our Liberty, Missouri operations.

Ultimately after almost 20 years, RR Donnelly purchased us. I worked for them a couple of years and figured out that really wasn鈥檛 for me. I stayed in the printing industry, but I switched product lines. I moved to a company called Plastic Packaging Technologies in Kansas City, Kansas. They鈥檙e a flexo printer, that prints flexible packaging. They manufacture roll stock and stand-up pouches for food, pet food industries, pharmaceutical, various other industries. They were a rapidly growing company and needed somebody to manage their product support team.

Shortly after I got there, the HR person left and they鈥檙e like, 鈥淗ey can you help out in HR and do both jobs for a while?鈥� And then eventually they were like, 鈥淐an you just stay in HR?鈥� (laughs) I was there nine years, and I鈥檝e been in HR ever since.

It鈥檚 like there were a couple times in your career where HR just kept coming back to you.

Yeah, it鈥檚 like the mafia. It sucks you back in, you know. (laughs) Actually after that I was contacted for a position at Heico Construction Group, which is out by KCI airport. That interested me, to change industries completely. I wanted something different, and I also wanted to gain experience at a large multi-site corporate headquarter environment. This company did concrete structures for sporting stadiums. When I was there, they did the Minnesota Vikings new stadium, all the concrete work in the actual stadium. I was responsible for supporting Corporate Shared Services talent functions for eight companies, 31 business units and 3,500 employees nationwide.

After a couple years, I was contacted by that recruiter for 色情论坛 and now I鈥檓 here.

We鈥檝e joked about how HR just sort of pulled you back in a couple times in your career, but is there something specific that makes HR a calling for some people?

On most personality profiles, my empathy scores off the chart. It just skyrockets, higher than most normal people. I鈥檓 not normal, I guess. But I鈥檝e always tried to support people. I鈥檝e always enjoyed watching others succeed, whether that鈥檚 somebody who worked in my department or a customer who was starting out. I鈥檝e always enjoyed that.

That鈥檚 really a huge part of HR to me. There really wasn鈥檛 ever much difference between my customer service leadership role and an HR leadership role. The audience was just different. Instead of supporting clients, I support employees.

I would imagine working in HR, you鈥檝e had some memorable employee interactions over the years, maybe even some pretty humorous stories.

Oh, I鈥檝e got some HR stories. I don鈥檛 know how humorous all of them are. These are not 色情论坛 stories, they鈥檙e from earlier in my career. But I鈥檝e been involved in things I never thought I would be involved in, throughout my career in HR.

I got to hire an undercover agent and plant them on one of the shifts, because of an issue. Every morning, I would come into work and get an email from this agent who was working nights. It was almost like a soap opera, reading what was going on, who the culprits were.

Lots of different crazy things over the years.

When you came to 色情论坛, it was a bit of a crazy time since the pandemic was just hitting. What were some of the challenges you had to deal with and how were you able to navigate through those times?

It was chaotic, because people were looking to me for advice and solutions on what to do. Nobody knew what to do because it was changing every day. That was probably the hardest thing.

And on top of everything, I couldn鈥檛 leave my office. I couldn鈥檛 walk around and get to know people, or travel to the locations and meet people face to face. We started Zooming and things like that, but it wasn鈥檛 really as much as we do now. It was a lot of phone calls. People would call me and say hi, nice to meet you. And I was always like, now, where are you, what city are you in? I would always ask that question because I didn鈥檛 have a reference as to the location or the benefit of having met them face to face. I鈥檓 a very visual person so that was hard.

That鈥檚 why my wife and I get along so well. She remembers everybody鈥檚 name and I remember everybody鈥檚 face, so together we can usually get it.

Now that you鈥檝e been part of 色情论坛 for a few years, what do you feel helps make the company successful?

I鈥檝e worked a few places, but 色情论坛 has a feeling of being part of a team who cares, where people truly want everyone to be successful. Let me tell you, when I worked for the largest printer in the world, it was very rough. It wasn鈥檛 about making the employees or customers happy; it was about making the shareholders happy. I believe that happy employees create happy customers, which creates a great business that will be around a long time.

The Employer of Choice initiative has become a main focus for the company, and you obviously play a key role in it. Can you tell us a little about that?

I was excited, because when I first got here I created a PowerPoint about us needing to become the employer of choice. It鈥檚 such a big project. It wasn鈥檛 just a Bob project, or an HR project, it really needed to be the entire company.

So, I was very happy whenever we launched our initiatives, and it was one of them. I think it鈥檚 important because without being the employer of choice in our communities, it would be a struggle.

Having a great culture at work is super important because we spend so much time at work. Everybody can work really hard. But they can also have a fun time doing it.

What is it about the printing industry that appeals to you?

I鈥檝e always enjoyed that, at the end of the day, there鈥檚 a product. We create this from鈥� files. It鈥檚 initially just some electronic files and it goes through the process. We create something and then we ship it and mail it. I love having a product. I love the manufacturing process. That whole process of creation is cool. Some people, all they have is a service and they don鈥檛 have anything tangible at the end of the day. I鈥檓 a creative person in my head and I鈥檝e always liked having a product at the end of the day.

Can you tell us a little bit about your family and life outside of work?

听

I grew up about an hour north of Marceline in a town called Unionville, Missouri. I always tease and say that I was raised like a 1950s sitcom, Leave it to Beaver. I was the Beav. My parents were like Ward and June Cleaver. I鈥檓 very lucky!

My parents bought a boat the same year I was born, and they had us at Lake Thunderhead in Unionville for all of our free time. That made me a lake guy who enjoys his family time.

I have an awesome wife of 33 years, Leigh. One of my former co-workers once told me after they met my wife, 鈥渟he makes you seem so much cooler than you really are.鈥� (laughs) We have three great kids. Morgan is our oldest daughter. And then 23 months later we had boy/girl twins, Grant and Sydney. They were eight weeks premature, so they were in the hospital for six weeks, but luckily all they had to do was grow. Everything was good.

And now all three are getting married within 14 months of each other. So, we鈥檝e been busy. They鈥檝e all selected great spouses.

What do the kids do for their careers?

My oldest daughter, Morgan, is finishing her doctoral degree in education. She is currently a middle school math teacher in Liberty, Missouri. Sydney is a nurse in Columbia, Missouri. She works for Columbia Orthopedics. And then my son got a construction management degree, and he works at Centric and leads job sites throughout the Kansas City area.

And for your family, it sounds like there was a lot of lake life when the kids were growing up.

听

Yeah, just a few years ago, bought a lake house at Lake of the Ozarks. It was a total fixer up; not really livable. We gutted the place. We鈥檝e basically turned it from a little cabin type getaway where there really wasn鈥檛 much there into our lake get-a-way. There鈥檚 a lot of sweat equity in that house.

So, our summers are spent at the lake on the boat, on the dock, hanging out.

But we did it all ourselves. Our kids and Leigh and I went down there from January to Memorial Day a few years ago and spent every weekend working on that thing, ripping and tearing it apart and putting it back together. That was a fun experience.

Beyond the lake, and spending time with family, do you have other hobbies?

I used to refinish furniture. I鈥檇 get something off marketplace for $20 and turn it into something. That鈥檚 how I furnished the kids鈥� apartments in college. They still have some of that furniture.

What鈥檚 a fun fact about you that people might not know?

That鈥檚 a tough one for me because I鈥檓 a pretty open book. Having kids in the hospital for six weeks was quite the experience. I don鈥檛 talk much about that. I do tell people that if they know anybody that has twins, go help them because they need the help. Whether they鈥檙e saying so or not, they definitely could some use some rest or help doing laundry or something.

I think some people might be surprised by how down to earth you are once they meet you. Sometimes there鈥檚 a little bit of a stigma around HR.

听

Yeah, I mean HR is a scary thing for a lot of people because they associate it with something bad. But the way I look at it, it鈥檚 more of a service to the employees. We鈥檙e here to help.

If you had a personalized coffee mug, what would it say?

I鈥檒l quote my kindergarten teacher from my kindergarten report card: 鈥渉as a tendency to be bossy.鈥� And my wife would agree.

Do you have a favorite book?

I鈥檓 not really a reader. But as far as a book that I鈥檝e shared a lot at work, it鈥檚 called Gung Ho. It鈥檚 about leadership styles.

What about favorite movie?

Shawshank Redemption. Anytime that鈥檚 on, I will stop and watch it. I also like the Bourne series and stupid humor, like Talladega Nights and The Hangover.

Do you have a favorite meal?

Anything sweet. I would eat cookies over a steak any day. Here鈥檚 a story. When I was three or four years old, I refused to eat anything except for ice cream sandwiches from our local ice cream shop. It was called the Dairy Lane. I have older siblings and I remember my sister would order鈥� they were called Tally Hos. She would order 10 Tally Hos and that鈥檚 all I would eat that entire summer. My mom even took me to the doctor. The doctor said he鈥檒l eat when he鈥檚 hungry. So, I ate ice cream sandwiches when I was a child for an entire summer. (laughs)

Sounds pretty awesome. Do you still like ice cream sandwiches?

Love them. I always say I don鈥檛 have a sweet tooth. I have a whole set.

Do you have a favorite memory of your time at 色情论坛 or something you鈥檙e most proud of that HR has been able to accomplish?

When I think about that, the thing I think about are the people. There鈥檚 a lot of great people throughout the company that I鈥檝e been able to get to know and work with. That鈥檚 the first thing I think of. On the HR side, the team has really stepped up and done a ton of work because we鈥檝e updated a lot of different things. I should really thank them for all the hard work they鈥檝e done to get us where we are today.