Author: Motivation Excellence

Get to Know ME with Dawn Barchus

This month we get to sneak a peek into the life of Dawn Barchus, a member of our accounting team in the Schaumburg office. Read below to find out what makes her laugh, and how her green thumb shows up early every year. Thanks, Dawn for letting us get to know you better!

What’s your title and how long have you been in the incentive industry and Motivation Excellence?

I have been with Motivation Excellence for 7 months as an Accounting Assistant part-time.  This has been my first exposure to the Incentive Industry. It is very interesting learning about the strategies that can be implemented to improve employee performance and work-life satisfaction.

What does your job entail?

My duties include the processing of Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable collections, and various accounting duties as needed.

What’s something special about the people you work with you’d like to share?

I always thought I would like to work from home, but everyone at work is so nice, I enjoy coming into the office.  

What’s an unknown or odd talent you have? 

I love gardening and watching plants grow. In February, I get out my grow lights, trays, pots, and seeds. Every year I vow to do less, but in the end, I usually end up with about 500-600 plants. 

What motivates you to accomplish things in your life (work or personal)?

I take pride in what I do both at work and in my personal life. I am not afraid to put in the hard work it takes to complete tasks and achieve my goals. Seeing the end results and personal growth gives me satisfaction that my contributions matter.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

When I am not at work, I receive the most enjoyment from spending time with my 10-year-old grandson and my 2 dogs Riley and Aspen. Raising children is great, but nothing beats being a Grandparent and a dog parent.  

One thing that always makes you laugh is?

My grandson has a great sense of humor and the most infectious giggle. Just listening to him laugh makes everything seem funnier. 

What have you done that helped you get through the pandemic?

In order to keep my sanity throughout the pandemic, my husband and I did lots and lots of walking. It was fun meeting neighbors who we had never met before. Also, online wine nights with my sister – amazed at the hours and hours that we could talk about the nothing going on in our lives due to COVID. And of course, puzzles, puzzles, puzzles.

What is the most unusual job you’ve ever had?

One of my favorites, and the most unusual job I had, was as the senior accountant at a Children’s Museum. In addition to the normal accounting and finance duties, I also learned many new skills. I found I was a pretty decent face painter. I took part in putting on a fundraising American Girl fashion show every year. And my favorite: being a costume character. What fun it was to interact with the children on the museum floor. 

 

This month, our theme for social media is active listening. What do you do regularly to make sure you’re hearing a person’s message?

I find the best way to ensure I have an accurate understanding of conversations with others is to reflect back to the speaker what I am “hearing.” This gives the other person the opportunity to correct my interpretation of what is being said.

Motivation Excellence Wins Prestigious SITE Crystal Award

For Immediate Release

Motivation Excellence Wins Prestigious SITE Crystal Award

The “Oscars” of the incentive travel industry, the Society for Incentive Travel Excellence’s Crystal Awards, recognize companies that accomplish outstanding creative and memorable experiences. SITE honored six companies at their global conference in Dublin this year. 

“This is an incredibly special group of Crystal Award winners,” said Kevin Edmunds, MS, CITP, Vice President, AIC Hotel Group & SITE President. “They are all leaders in our industry, with the programs we recognized at this year’s Crystal Awards Gala standing out as shining examples of incentive travel programs being run smoothly and safely that still achieve the exacting, incredibly high business aims all of us set out to deliver.”

Motivation Excellence won for Most Creative Solution Deployed at a Time of Crisis for our program “GEM Club 2020: From Kauai to Concierge.” Our longtime healthcare client postponed two years’ worth of incentive travel experiences due to COVID, with the first year slated to be a rewarding adventure on Kauai in Hawaii. 

At our direction, our client converted the travel experience to award points for each winner. Our team then crafted a virtual reward experience allowing the winners’ imaginations to decide how best to exemplify their achievements. Dedicated in-house concierge shoppers helped each participant use their points for highly individualized selections. Winners redeemed for things like a bucket-list electric guitar, diamond jewelry, home solar panels, future personal travel, vacation home rental, and private school tuition. 

In addition, the on-site gift experiences scheduled for Kauai were offered online so winners could still enjoy selecting a pair of Olukai sandals and REVO sunglasses. This entire creative solution was so well-received, our client repeated it in 2021 with new virtual gifting experiences. 

“Being honored within the industry with the SITE Crystal Award means a great deal to our team! We work to Inspire Extraordinary Performance with every client and every participant. But it starts within our own company. We appreciate this recognition as it truly shows the care and passion we value internally and produce externally. Thank you SITE,” said David Jobes, President and CEO of Motivation Excellence. 

As a final bonus, throughout this transition from travel experiences to personalized rewards, our travel team worked closely with our hotel and supplier partners to rebook future stays and nearly eliminate all cancelation fees for our client. 

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Get to Know ME with Mark Houska

We love getting to know our coworkers a bit better and sharing what we learn with you! In this month’s edition of Get to Know ME, we learn about a new member of our Sales Team, Mark Houska. He’s from a large family and loves to explore the world! Read on, and watch his video, to get to know all about his varied special talents and interests – if you’re putting a team of any kind together, he’s your man! Especially if it’s for a geography bee. 

What’s your title and how long have you been in the incentive industry and at Motivation Excellence?

I’m a Strategic Account Director at Motivation Excellence. I just joined the company in January 2022.

I started in the travel industry as a travel director out of college 30+ years ago and joined the incentive industry shortly after.

What does your job entail?

My key responsibilities include building new business relationships on behalf of Motivation Excellence. We uncover and develop mutually beneficial relationships across various industries, including automotive, insurance/finance, building/construction, manufacturing, and distribution.  I work with prospects/clients on a strategic level to understand needs to engage their key audience and how performance can be improved with their employees, business partners, and customers.  I also consult on how we can bring our services and expertise forward to drive sales/market share, improve service levels, and build loyalty and long-term relationships. 

What’s something special about the people you work with you’d like to share?

Motivation Excellence possesses all the tools to work with our clients across their spectrum of people relationships.  Our team has a full understanding of how we can bring our resources to bear to design truly excellent programs.  Starting with leadership, everyone is so collaborative in understanding the larger strategy with each account and their role in delivering down, to the last detail.  It’s a full team effort – from concept to operation – that I love to be part of.

What’s an unknown or odd talent you have?

Well, there are a few.  Here’s one… I started stand-up paddleboarding several years back and have taken it from a talent/hobby to a means of exploration.  I’ve paddled hundreds of miles of coastline and waterways in 2 oceans, 20+ rivers, and multiple lakes.  

What motivates you to accomplish things in your life (work or personal)?

My family is the center of everything I do.  My wife and I have 4 kids, 7 dogs, and 1 bearded dragon between us.  Plus, we enjoy a large extended family; we’re both from families of 7 kids.  That’s motivation enough!  I also like to use my talents towards team & individual sports, coaching, exploration, learning new things, and continuous improvement, both personal and professional.  Our industry and my profession mesh well with my values and interests.  The more successful I am, the more fulfilling life is for myself and my loved ones.  They go hand in hand.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

I’ve mentioned a few.  Focus on family stuff, also travel, sports, yard/home projects, gardening, cooking, music, and dancing.  That covers a lot.

One thing that always makes you laugh is?

Our crazy dogs.

What have you done that helped you get through the pandemic?

More focus on family and home life, with kids moving back home to study virtually, etc.  We started caregiving for my mother-in-law at the start of the pandemic, she is still living at home with us.  Also took up golf and put in a large vegetable garden.

What is the most unusual job you’ve ever had?

Travel director for sure.  On top of travel to 35+ countries, the people stories are the most unusual.

This month, our theme for social media is about company culture. What are the most important things to you when talking about a company’s culture? 

Customer-focused, company values based on respect and collaboration.  Growth-oriented and innovative.  Always looking to improve and adjust in these changing times – individually and as a team.

Get to Know ME with Michael Southerton

Join us this month, in our Get to Know ME segment, learning more about Michael Southerton. He’s been a lifer with VIKTOR, now Motivation Excellence, and has some serious indoor and outdoor abilities to share! Read below, and be sure to watch the linked video to hear more about what makes Michael a great member of our team. Thanks, Michael for letting us get to know you better. 

What’s your title and how long have you been in the incentive industry?

Senior Developer.

I started working with VIKTOR Incentives & Meetings under an internship as a graphic designer in the summer of 2006 before my senior year of college at Northern Michigan University. I continued to work on small projects through my senior year, and I was hired full-time when I graduated in 2007. Almost sixteen years later, I’m proud to still be in this industry and joining Motivation Excellence with the rest of the VIKTOR team.

What does your job entail?

At its core, problem-solving. Sometimes the best code is no code at all. But I specialize in website design and frontend development, and I’ve always been involved in the full stack of web development. That’s led me to build and maintain a lot of websites and applications that help manage the large amount of data required to operate travel and rewards programs and the systems they run on. I also provide technical support to our staff and assist with technical infrastructure, along with the rest of our awesome Tech Team.

What’s something special about the people you work with you’d like to share?

As a technical person, who on occasion, has experienced the frontlines of service on our group travel programs, I’m constantly blown away by the level of detail and coordination that our Client Services team juggles while delivering our large group travel programs. There are a lot of moving parts to get thousands of participants on-site, each with their own custom itinerary and requirements, and the smallest details can change quickly. Even with the best technology, it takes an amazing team of talented people to get your head around it all and successfully operate a large travel program with events that are happening all around you.

What’s an unknown or odd talent you have?

I play table tennis locally in Traverse City at the Northern Michigan Table Tennis Club, and I have competed in Michigan’s state tournaments.

What motivates you to accomplish things in your life (work or personal)?

I’ve always enjoyed improving efficiencies, for both timesaving and convenience. Whether I’m installing home automation systems to automatically turn on my lights and unlock my front door when I arrive, or I’m redesigning a user flow in one of our web applications so that it takes 1 click instead of 5 to accomplish the same task, I really like making things as simple and easy to use as possible.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

My fiancé and I like to take our kayaks to as many different small lakes in Northern Michigan as we can find. We like to explore, fish, and sometimes just soak up the sun.

One thing that always makes you laugh is?

The Detroit Lions. Sometimes I laugh. Sometimes I cry. But, I’ll always watch and support them. Next year is our year.

What have you done that helped you get through the pandemic?

I hate to speak so nicely of a time that was so hard on many others, but personally, I thrived. My fiancé and I are homebodies, so that part was no problem; we caught up on a lot of TV shows. But we also became healthier; we cooked at home and ate better, and we got outdoors more often than we’ve ever done before. We were hiking, running, and biking all the trails by my house, and we were kayaking almost every weekend when the weather was good.

What is the most unusual job you’ve ever had?

This one! Before I started here 15 years ago, I had never heard of the incentive travel industry. As someone who was once looking for any available job after college to start my career in web development and user experience design, I never imagined I could be building digital solutions for live events used all over the world, not to mention personally traveling to some of these amazing locations to watch them come alive and support their success. It’s led to some pretty incredible experiences I could not imagine having while working web development in another industry.

This month, our theme for social media is about volunteering. How does this speak to you either personally or professionally?

Our company has offered a lot of different opportunities that made it easy to volunteer over the years: we’ve worked the counter of our local non-profit movie theater, we helped our local City Opera House build their green room, but the most memorable is our stretch of road we clean each Spring and Fall through the Adopt-A-Highway program. It is located on Traverse City’s Old Mission Peninsula, and we get a gorgeous view of the local wineries and Grand Traverse Bay as we walk it and keep it looking great.

Get to Know ME with Teri Brown-Kunzelman

It’s time for our Get to Know ME segment featuring Teri Brown-Kunzelman! Teri is from our newly acquired Traverse City office (was VIKTOR Incentives) and has just recently jumped into the incentive industry. Thanks, Teri for giving us insight into your varied interests and affinity for tarantula care (yikes!). Read below and be sure to watch Teri’s video to get to know more about our fascinating Director of Finance. She’s the person with whom you’d want to be stuck in an episode of Survivor!

What’s your title and how long have you been in the incentive industry (you can single out VIKTOR time and now Motivation Excellence if you’d like)?

Title: Director, Finance – started my career in the incentive industry just 10 months ago with VIKTOR.

What does your job entail? 

I have responsibility for the TC Group finance team, financial statements, accounts payable, accounts receivable, financial policies and procedures.

What’s something special about the people you work with you’d like to share?

The passion our team has toward doing the right thing for our clients. They are dedicated, team-oriented, and fun to work with.

What’s an unknown or odd talent you have?

I rode a unicycle as a teen.  

What motivates you to accomplish things in your life (work or personal)?

I’m a competitive person.  My competitiveness and my passion to learn while accomplishing my goals motivate me.  When I set a goal, I strive to complete it with accuracy and efficiency. 

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

I enjoy time with family and friends, training and walking my standard poodle, and flower gardening. My husband and I have a cottage in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and we go there whenever we can.  While there I enjoy fishing, hiking, berry picking, and trail riding.

One thing that always makes you laugh is?

My husband, he is just as goofy as I am at times.  

What have you done that helped you get through the pandemic?

My husband and I created two offices within our home.  It was important we had separate spaces and that they were comfortable.  This allowed us to continue working and supporting our employers, while at home.  

For fun, my family started a puzzle exchange, as well as a weekly conference call to visit; both were fun distractions.

What is the most unusual job you’ve ever had?

I owned a pet store for several years.  Taking care of reptiles and tarantulas was an unusual job.

This month, our theme for social media is about being an Upstander or Active Bystander. How does this speak to you either personally or professionally?

I find myself shifting from an active bystander to an upstander position when a situation arises.  Being able to defuse any situation, as long as everyone is safe, at the time it is occurring is best. 

Get to Know ME with Kelli Robb

We’re extra excited to spotlight one of our new colleagues in our brand new Traverse City office! Kelli Robb is part of our leadership team coming from VIKTOR Meetings & Incentives. With our acquisition in January 2022, we welcomed Kelli and 19 other awesome new teammates! Read below and watch the video to get to know Kelli better. She’s all about taking care of other people, whether it’s one of our participants or a perfect stranger!

What’s your title and how long have you been in the incentive industry?

I am the V.P., Client Services, in the Traverse City office. I was fortunate enough to work for an incentive company, my first job out of college, so I’ve been in the business 31 years now. I was at VIKTOR for 21 years and am excited to be part of Motivation Excellence now!

What does your job entail?

I oversee the Client Services operations of the Traverse City office – a lot of pre-sale responsibilities and working closely with our vendor partners. My goal is to make sure our travel programs go off without a hitch and our participants are blown away!

What’s something special about the people you work with you’d like to share?

Their commitment to serving the clients is over the top!  Working with this team is the best part of my job.

What’s an unknown or odd talent you have?

I love to line dance!

What motivates you to accomplish things in your life (work or personal)?

My family and the passion I have for this industry.

What do you enjoy doing outside work?

Spending time with friends and family.  Golfing.  Boating.

One thing that always makes you laugh is?

My husband.  He’s a hoot!

What have you done that helped you get through the pandemic?

Take walks/hikes and get some fresh air.

What is the most unusual job you’ve ever had?

I spent the summer in Nantucket between my sophomore and junior year in college.  I worked for a family, for room and board, doing all kinds of odd jobs around their home and their businesses.  

This month, our theme for social media is Work from Anywhere. What do you do to make sure you’re ready to work no matter your location, or just as importantly, make sure you’re not working too much?

When I’m working from home, the office, or on the road, I like to make sure the desk is set up to ‘plug in and be ready to go’.

Get to Know ME with David Jobes

This month’s Get to Know ME segment is on our very own fearless leader, David Jobes! Read below to find out what drives him to succeed, makes him laugh, and his childhood musical instrument of choice. Oh, and wait until you read about the kittens! Thanks, David for letting us all learn more about you and your passions inside Motivation Excellence and out. 

What’s your title and how long have you been at Motivation Excellence?

CEO & President, “my residency” will be 30 years this February. 

What was the road to ownership of Motivation Excellence like?

For the last 25 years, I had the desire to own Motivation Excellence and I always shared my plans with Greg Lewis, who was the founder and prior owner. There were times I did not think it would occur, but when the time was right it happened. Having such a great team on the journey and believing in the vision is so fulfilling.

What do you consider your biggest responsibility is running the company?

By far, it is providing employment opportunities in the community and in offering as much security with our team members as possible. Every decision we make has a direct influence on our people and I take that extremely seriously.

What’s something special about Motivation Excellence you’d like to share?

Everyone is focused on delivering high-level service to our clients and participants. It is a “can-do” environment without accepting a hurdle as an unattainable obstacle. 

What’s an unknown or odd talent you have?

I played the accordion as a child! Not the most popular instrument to play when you are growing up, but it made my mother happy.

What motivates you to accomplish things in your life (work or personal)?

I have always been competitive, in essence, I want to do the very best that I can all of the time without taking shortcuts. Another is, learning and understanding other people’s perspectives and not prejudging a situation, each one is unique. 

What do you enjoy doing outside work?

Being with family and friends, fishing, the daily crossword puzzle, and fostering kittens.

One thing that always makes you laugh is?

I love romcoms and sitcoms!  They help me relieve stress and refocus.

What have you done that helped you get through the pandemic?

Focus on what is important and not worry about things you can’t control. During this time, I was able to achieve a significant part of our current three-year strategic plan.   This plan is helping grow our company by acquiring another incentive company, which we just completed.

What is the most unusual job you’ve ever had?

I’ve been a newspaper boy, a stock boy at a grocery store, a pizza maker (really got to learn how to cook Italian food), a tool and die apprentice, computer programmer….no strange ones, but each has its own story that helped prepare me for where I am today.

This month, our theme for social media is Growth Mindset. Why is it important to you as a business owner?

There is personal growth and professional growth, being a 14-year member of Vistage International (an executive development organization) has taught me that you have to focus on both and not ignore either one. Without a well-balanced commitment, I am not doing what is my responsibility in making sound decisions, knowing everyone you touch is affected by your actions.

Motivation Excellence Acquires VIKTOR Incentives & Meetings

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. – January 10, 2022 – David Jobes, owner and CEO of Motivation Excellence, headquartered in Schaumburg, Illinois, is excited to announce the acquisition of VIKTOR Incentives & Meetings, located in Traverse City, Michigan. This merging of two premier and long-standing incentive industry companies under the Motivation Excellence name will create incredible opportunities for current and future clients, as well as the employees of both firms. 

“I’ve always been excited about our industry-leading Motivation Excellence team, and since taking ownership in 2018 I’ve looked forward to expanding and bringing our exceptional incentive solutions to more companies looking to Inspire Extraordinary Performance,” Jobes says. In 2022, he celebrates 30 years with Motivation Excellence. 

Mark Bondy, owner and President of VIKTOR, is equally excited about blending his company into the Motivation Excellence team. “I worked with David and Motivation Excellence before joining Viktor Weyand Travel Services in 1996. We kept in touch over the years, and he was the first person I thought of when I began the process of deciding what was next,” Bondy reports.

Bondy became an owner of the rebranded VIKTOR in 2009. He’s been an active member of the incentive industry for more than 35 years, including being named the SITE International Foundation Research Chair in 2013. He plans to stay active with Motivation Excellence for a period of time to help create the best transition for future success. He looks forward to his next adventures after that.  

“Having Mark on board during this time is especially appreciated, as I know he’ll offer his incredible experience in a collaborative way. The cohesive blending of our incredible cultures will need special attention. His involvement will help us make a successful transition. We have nowhere to go but up as a team,” exclaims Jobes.

“It’s almost like it was meant to be,” adds Bondy. “Two great companies with reputations of integrity, outstanding service to our clients and caring about our employees and our communities. The sum is truly greater than the parts in this case for our clients and employees. This is very exciting and unique in the industry.”

Combined, Motivation Excellence and VIKTOR have 85 years’ experience delivering bar-raising incentive capabilities, including travel, meetings, events, and points-based reward and recognition programs. Bondy has back-to-back honors on the BizBash’s Top 1,000 People list. Since becoming owner, Jobes led Motivation Excellence to three consecutive years being honored as one of the Best and Brightest Companies to Work for in the Nation. 

The two companies share vast experience helping clients in verticals such as health care, building supply, automotive, insurance, veterinary, electrical and fire safety. Jobes will keep the Traverse City location and its employees but will rebrand VIKTOR as Motivation Excellence in 2022. Motivation Excellence also has office locations in Wisconsin, Missouri, New Jersey, South Carolina and Florida.

“Our entire team is very excited to welcome a whole new crew of team members! With that comes great new ideas, open conversations and a melding of best practices that have made each of our companies shine in the industry. Going forward, the enhanced Motivation Excellence will continue to be an industry leader our clients can count on to deliver exceptional experiences to meet their needs,” Jobes says.

On the Road with Motivation Excellence: December 2021

Things are changing quickly when it comes to travel. At Motivation Excellence, our goal is to keep our followers and clients informed on the latest protocols, trends, and tips. In our On the Road series, we’ll highlight our own travels for leisure and business, as well as report on current client trends in the incentive industry. Look for the latest On the Road post at the end of each month. If you ever have travel questions during this uncertain time please reach out to us at ME@MotivationExcellence.com. 

In December, we had a mix of international and US-based travel, by plane and by car. Read below for the highlights and takeaways from our travelers. 

Hotel Advisory Board Meeting in the Dominican Republic

Traveler: Joe Reise, Manager, Supplier Relations & Sourcing

I recently attended the Teneo Hospitality Group Leadership Forum as an advisory board member. The Forum was hosted at the luxurious Casa De Campo Resort in the tropical splendor of the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic is a Caribbean nation that shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti to the west. It’s known for its beaches, resorts, and golfing. Its terrain is comprised of rainforest, savannah, and highlands, including Pico Duarte, the Caribbean’s tallest mountain.  

The activities at the resort are world-class — 7 outstanding restaurants including the stunning new Minitas Beach Club, a marina, 3 Pete Dye golf courses, an equestrian center featuring polo, a shooting course, great shopping, and 3 private pristine white sand beaches. This was the perfect setting for our Leadership Forum and the resort showcased some of its unique outdoor venues with special ambience for hosting dinners and lunches.  

Key Takeaways:

• Even though the Casa De Campo Resort opened almost 50 years ago, it’s still a favorite luxury destination for discerning travelers who appreciate a gated community and safe setting. 
• The DR is the second largest and most diverse Caribbean country and it’s only two hours south of Miami making it a convenient destination for a good portion of the US.
• Needless to say, the weather was much nicer than Chicago’s weather in December. 
• Be sure to check out the latest travel protocols and requirements for airlines, cities and re-entry into the United States. This can change quickly.

End of Year Vacation on Turks & Caicos

Traveler: Rhonda Brewer, VP Sales

Turks and Caicos, like many destinations, is requiring proof of Covid vaccination and a negative PCR test prior to arrival. Also, depending on the airline you fly, you will need to submit this data along with a series of questions in order to board the flight. Be sure to follow these rules to save yourself a LOT of time at the airport either from your home city or upon departure from the Turks. 

Once on the island, we stayed at the new Ritz-Carlton located in Grace Bay. The hotel is absolutely gorgeous and the service will not disappoint. The beaches are white and expansive and the snorkeling on the nearby reef is stunning. We did have the opportunity to sail on Lady Grace, which is a brand new sailboat that leaves directly from the beach in front of the Ritz. It is a gorgeous boat with superb staff! We went for a snorkel sail, but you can also do a sunset cruise.  

Key Takeaways:

• The arrival and departure from the island was incredible with the assistance of Sky Pass! This is a hired service that expedites you through the process and really helps make your arrival and departure stress free.
• The island currency is USD and the language is English as well, so a great international getaway with easy communication and no currency exchange.

A Family Drive from Chicago to Detroit

Traveler: Sky Capriolo, Strategic Marketing Manager

Our son is a cheerleader for Western Michigan University and he was invited to take part in the Quick Lane Bowl game between WMU and University of Nevada. The game took place inside Ford Field, home of the Detroit Lions. We can’t resist an opportunity to see our son do something he loves, so we drove to Detroit from Chicago the day after Christmas. 

Did you know Windsor, Canada is right across the river from Detroit and is actually SOUTH of the city? We thought that was pretty cool! We stayed at the Marriott Rennaissance right on the Detroit River. It’s huge and has several nice restaurants in the same building. All staff wore masks. 

The game was fun! WMU won 52 to 24. We stayed an extra night, but the sleety weather kept us inside. On our way out of town the next day we had to swing by the birthplace of Motown – Berry Gordy’s home. It’s closed currently, but a thrill to see it in person nonetheless. 

Key Takeaways:

• Have a stash of disposable masks in the car. Each state, and city/county, has different mandates. 
• Detroit’s sporting venues are within walking distance of many hotels near the Detroit River. 

Our Company Gathering

Our team felt fortunate to gather for a holiday lunch at Shaw’s Crab House near our corporate headquarters. The team at Shaw’s did a nice job spacing our group out among 4 tables and being attentive to our needs. We had plenty of space to feel like we could be socially distanced if desired and the staff all wore masks for our entire stay. 

We welcomed team members from Florida, South Carolina, Missouri, and New Jersey, who all flew in the day before and got a personal sitting with Santa at another nearby restaurant. As you can imagine, there was a lot of merriment!

We all wish our readers a Happy New Year and lots of time with loved ones over these special days. 

Coming Up Ahead (as of now):

• A women’s leadership conference in Mexico
• Client programs to Thailand and Palm Springs
• An industry conference in the Bahamas

Buckle up and enjoy the ride with Motivation Excellence as your guide!

Get to Know ME with Sky Capriolo

Our Get to Know ME spotlight this month is on our Strategic Marketing Manager, Sky Capriolo. Since she’s the one who interviews our employees for this segment, she recruited her friend in the travel department, Joe Reise, to sit in on her behalf and play host.  Read below and watch the somewhat short video (Joe’s a talker) on Sky’s path to Motivation Excellence and some of her varied interests. Thanks!

What’s your title and how long have you been at Motivation Excellence?

I’m the Strategic Marketing Manager and I’ve officially been a member of the Motivation Excellence team for more than 10 years. 

What does your job entail?

I split my time between marketing for our client’s programs and handling the marketing of our company. I do a lot of writing, project management, social media content management and creation, research of our fabulous travel destinations, and proposals for prospective and existing accounts.

What’s something special about working at Motivation Excellence that you’d like to share?

We have assembled a great team of experts in this industry. Many of my coworkers have been here much longer than I have and that says something about the culture we’ve built. 

What’s an unknown or odd talent you have?

I don’t know that there’s anything unknown about me, I’m an open book! I do pride myself on being able to juggle a little, so I’d count that as an odd talent. I learned at the Renaissance Fair as a child in Minnesota and practiced quite a bit after coming home.  

What motivates you to accomplish things in your life (work or personal)?

I like checking things off my to-do list. The first line of any good list is “create a to-do list.” Boom! I’ve already accomplished something and the momentum picks up from there. 

What do you enjoy doing outside work?

My husband and I enjoy doing things together like playing Texas Hold’em poker with friends or playing co-ed soccer in a local league. I love being with our two rescue Airedales Apollo and Airess. We’re empty-nesters now, but most of my free time the last decade + was devoted to our two kids and their activities (karate, soccer, theater, scouts, cheerleading, gymnastics, singing…we were very busy!). Now, with both kids in college, it’s fun to go visit them at least once a semester that their respective schools. 

One thing that always makes you laugh is?

Reading auto-corrected texts in articles on the internet – I will literally cry laughing at some of them!

What have you done that helped you get through the pandemic?

I loved being with my family practically 24-7, believe it or not. We all get along and enjoyed that brief time when no one had extracurricular plans and we could just be together and cook, laugh, enjoy our backyard, watch TV and play with the dogs. 

What is the most unusual job you’ve ever had?

For one night only in college, I was a Captain Morgan girl with a friend. We filled in last minute and got to ride around in a limo and visit all the bars that had previously not allowed us in because we were not quite 21 yet. The guy who played the Captain ended up passing out and my friend and I finished the shift giving out swag to drunk college kids. Fun times!

This month, our theme for social media is Resolutions. What’s your take on this tradition?

Resolution is really a synonym for goal and I’m ALL FOR THOSE! I suggest making small goals that can build up to something bigger. I love tracking my progress and celebrating my little victories. I wrote about our monthly theme in our blog, Making Resolutions and Keeping Them. I don’t believe you should wait for a special day of the year or month to start on the path to fulfilling your goals – start today!