Get to Know ME with AJ
We’re pleased to introduce AJ in our latest edition of Get to Know ME! She is new to our company, and new to this industry. Read below, and watch her two-minute video to get to know her better. Perhaps she’ll be able to advise you on better organizational methods or how to use both of your eyes in a new way! Thanks AJ for letting us get to know you better!
What’s your title and how long have you been with Motivation Excellence?
Payroll & HR Generalist – I started August 22, 2022 – so, 4 whole months now!
What does your job entail?
Well…Payroll & HR stuff- reviewing, processing and balancing semi-monthly payroll; recruiting, onboarding, insurance enrollment; administering the IATAN program; managing the Motivate Me program; managing the Chicago Bulls sports tickets, being a point of contact for our employees who have questions and providing assistance where needed.
What’s something special about the people you work with you’d like to share?
They are smart, funny and they all bring a tremendous skillset and something different to the team.
What’s an unknown or odd talent you have?
I don’t know how unknown it is, but a talent I have is OCD. I’m very neat and organized. My family and friends laugh at me because all my cabinets are organized and my closets too. I truly believe in “everything has a place.” I have a giant heart and love to help others too!
What motivates you to accomplish things in your life (work or personal)?
My family, kids and grandchildren motivate me to always do better. They encourage me a lot!! They are always asking what I do at work and if I enjoy what I’m doing.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
Hanging with family – spending quality time with my 3 grandsons and traveling the world!
One thing that always makes you laugh is?
My Auntie Lynn – she lives in Houston, but I know if I want to laugh, I can call her. She often calls me to tell me jokes and we sit on the phone for hours laughing. My 5 year-old grandson, Jeremiah, keeps me laughing too and he keeps me young.
What have you done that helped you get through the pandemic?
The pandemic was a difficult time for everyone. One thing that helped me was having Zoom meetings with my family and friends. Depending on the time we were meeting, we would suggest breakfast, lunch or dinner; everyone would order their food or prepare their food; we would meet on zoom and eat, talk, laugh or cry; we would play games and enjoy each other’s company from afar.
What is the most unusual job you’ve ever had?
I started working while in high school at 16; for my first job, I was a vision therapist. I worked at Plano Child Development Center. As a vision therapist, I trained children how to use both eyes together or to use teamwork between the two eyes. The program is based on behavioral optometry – which entails the total vision information processing system and its relationship to learning and development. Vision therapy heals to improve conditions like crossed-eyes, lazy eye, or to help you learn to enhance specific vision skills. It was a very interesting job. Most adults don’t know how to use both eyes together. 😊
This month, our theme for social media is mentoring. Do you have experience with mentoring or being a mentee? How has it affected you personally or professionally?
I have experience mentoring and being a mentee. I was a mentor at my church for young women ages 18-25. You never know what someone is going through and just being able to sit, talk, advise, recommend, and suggest makes a huge difference in someone’s life. We would schedule lunches or go to the movies. It helped me become a better person. Many of the young women went to college and graduated. Some started families. Some are married. I learned to take a step back and look at life through a different lens. Your life may not be perfect, but there’s always someone worse off than you. Always be grateful.
Trust: Building It, Rebuilding It & Keeping It Going
Trust is a huge factor in all relationships. Knowing what to expect from someone in any given situation is a fundamental element of trust. Often, trust starts out as a given, until it’s broken. That’s when huge issues can arise (or worse, fester) and cause a breakdown in communication and productivity.
Building Trust
Building trust really begins the moment a relationship does. There’s an implicit agreement in play that relies on both parties being honest, dependable, and transparent. At work, coworkers build trust through joint projects. Are you meeting your deadlines? Following through on promises? Reliable? Indeed.com reports honesty, admitting to mistakes, and participating in office activities all contribute to colleagues trusting you.
A blog on BetterUp.com says the above is an example of “Practical Trust.” To take the trust level up a notch, they recommend creating “Emotional Trust,” which means going above and beyond expectations and committing to building personal bonds with people. Their article says successful leaders have a higher level of Emotional Trust than their counterparts.
Key traits to possess in order to build trust include:
- Being honest
- Communicating well
- Admitting to mistakes
- Getting to know people better – i.e. hobbies, family, weekend plans
- Being an involved member of the team
- Following through on promises
Rebuilding Trust
Ouch! When you’re in a situation where you’ve lost someone’s trust, it’s pretty painful for everyone involved. Whether it’s as a leader, a colleague, a friend or a family member, there are steps you can take to start the rebuilding process. Starting sooner rather than later is the best way to tackle this uncomfortable situation.
ZenBusiness.com’s blog on rebuilding trust goes into detail about several steps you’ll need to take to get back on the trust track, including:
- Acknowledging what happened
- Allowing feelings to surface
- Taking responsibility
- Offering and accepting forgiveness
Active listening skills will really come into play when you’re trying to rebuild trust. Even if you don’t see what you may have done wrong, being able to hear someone else’s reasoning and reciting it back is critical to moving forward.
Forbes.com published an article on rebuilding trust that breaks the process down into three parts.
Manage Yourself
- Take personal accountability
- Accept both parties can have a “truth” in the situation
Have the Tough Conversation
- Listen well
- Find common goals
Follow Through with Actions
- Actively look at the other person in a new light – catch them doing something right
- Deliver on promises
- Communicate honestly
Keeping It Going
There’s no secret formula to maintaining trust with people. It’s definitely a case of “actions speak louder than words.” If having people trust you is crucial, then the work sits squarely on your shoulders. Being self-aware is critical. Knowing how you are perceived can help you make positive changes as you strive to keep a bridge of trust strong between you and others.
As you interact with people throughout the day, take a moment to recognize the level of trust you have with each person. Are there some who may not be 100% trustful of you? If you want to improve that relationship, then take steps to work toward a mutual level of respect, which goes hand in hand with trust.
- Only take on commitments you can handle
- Make sure your actions back up your words
- Be responsible and accountable
Without a certain level of trust, relationships will stall. If you’re hoping to move up in your career or be a better friend or more reliable family member, be honest with yourself first; examine how well you follow through on obligations. Make adjustments, and over time you’ll find a new level of trust while creating more meaningful relationships in every aspect of your life.
We’re Taking Incentive Group Travel to the Next Level with Our One-of-a-kind Technology: Inspire!
There’s never been a better time to get excited about new technology in the group travel space. With the ever-changing and nightmarish, travel scene right now, having a personalized itinerary with up-to-date adjustments as needed in the palm of your hand is exciting! Group incentive travel programs operating through Motivation Excellence all include Inspire, our fully customizable and personalized mobile travel site.
Features of Inspire include:
- company branding
- personalized air, land and event itineraries
- airline and customs information
- text messaging alerts
- interactive photo gallery
“This is something no other incentive company has at their disposal. The personalized itineraries are a game changer for our industry. Plus, we can customize the app in a number of ways to make it truly unique to our clients’ needs and travel destination,” says Brad Hecht, VP Travel at Motivation Excellence.
For a quick overview of Inspire please watch the video on our Motivation Excellence homepage or below. We also have a one-page features doc you can download at the end of this post.
Motivation Excellence is a performance improvement agency. We use a variety of award solutions to inspire extraordinary performance among our clients’ participants. Through a deep dive into each client’s particular situation, we develop a comprehensive plan to meet goals and drive peak ROI.
“I’m extremely confident Inspire adds incredible value to our travel programs. Our own people built it and it’s already part of the travel solution; there’s not an upcharge for this technology. This represents our commitment to our clients and their most deserving participants,” says David Jobes, President and CEO of Motivation Excellence.
For more information, please contact our Strategic Marketing Manager, Sky Z. Capriolo at s.capriolo@motivationexcellence.com.
Teamwork or Me Work – Which One Gets the Job Done?
We just wrapped up our fall sales meeting. Over three days, our sales team members, executive team and a few others, including myself, gathered at our Motivation Excellence headquarters in Schaumburg, Illinois. We do the same thing in the spring. It’s a wonderful time for collaboration on certain projects, like revamping our proposals and talking through marketing strategies. We have a limited time together, which spurs a consistent workflow. After it’s done though, we each go our own way and focus on our individual task lists again.
Balance Matters
For most businesses, having a balance of teamwork and solo work is the norm. On any given day we have teams working on client proposals, special projects, and developing campaigns to solve our clients’ needs. But each person on the team usually has work they have to do on their own to contribute to the overall plan. For instance, if we are building a performance improvement website, I write the copy, our graphic arts director designs the look, the performance manager decides what metrics are best to measure based on the client’s needs, and our IT team does all the code magic to create an easy user experience. We meet as a team at the outset, plan our vision and then disperse to complete our individual parts. It’s a great way to take advantage of the benefits of both collaborative and individual work time.
Alone but Not Lonely
We definitely have people who prefer to work alone, and others who thrive on working alongside colleagues. There are times when both are important. Let’s look at times when flying solo is better. According to a FastCompany.com article, working alone is especially vital for initial creative thinking, building a sticky relationship with a customer and writing (reports, articles, etc.). Indeed.com says being a lone wolf is also great for focus and efficiency. Responsibility rests on only one set of shoulders though.
Meet the Team
Teamwork is touted for many benefits, including building connections with colleagues, brainstorming, creating inclusivity and sharing skills. In an assembly line scenario, having several people working together definitely beats one person working alone. Productivity and profits can rise with the right teamwork in play. Teams also tend to be motivating with everyone working toward one goal and one deadline. Teammates can offer support and share in the responsibility of the task too, allowing accountability to spread across many shoulders.
One or Some?
How do you decide which way to go? Ask yourself these questions:
- Is a diversity of opinions important to the outcome?
- Do I have the skills needed to finish the project alone?
- Do I want to share the success/failure?
- Do I have a blind spot that I might not be aware of?
- Will a team be more or less efficient/profitable for this task?
As you answer each question, you’ll be forced to decide if bringing a team together or standing on your own makes the most sense. In the end, even if you’ve done all the work yourself, asking others to proofread, give feedback or build on what you started creates some teamwork vibes.
No matter how you prefer to work, you’ll likely be asked to be part of a team some of the time. It’s important to show appreciation for others’ efforts and be a positive contributor to group discussions. Nothing halts creativity and ingenuity like the person who insists on dissing everyone’s input! And remember, when you’re part of a successful team, the celebration is much more fun than a party of one. 😊
Motivation Excellence’s Response to the Airline Crisis of 2022 & Beyond
A White Paper by Brad Hecht, Vice President, Travel
What crisis you say? Perhaps you haven’t tried to book a flight this year or maneuver your way through the rebooking nightmare going on right now. The friendly skies aren’t so friendly for anyone currently, other than perhaps the airlines’ bottom lines.
The big three airlines (American, United and Delta) have made record profits to date in 2022. And that’s despite increasing fuel prices! Passengers are being charged fees and penalties for changes, cancellations and dropping of blocked space. Add on record high fares, full planes, fewer flights, less staff and you can see it’s all going well…for the airlines. According to FlightGlobal.com, American Airlines’ 2022 Q3 profits beat earnings projections by 13%, even though air miles flown were down 10%.
I have been fortunate enough to be in the incentive travel industry since 1984, and I have never seen anything like what we are currently facing. What’s happening? Well, here are some of the issues:
Supply Is Down
- Fewer flights are operating, and they are often heavily booked
- Pilot and staff shortages from forced retirement and pandemic layoffs are creating a ripple effect
Prices Are Rising
- Airfares are up about 40% year over year
- Fuel costs continue to fluctuate, with varied global pricing, contributing to added fuel surcharges and consumer price hikes
- Nonstop flights are being priced at a premium due to high demand.
Group Travel Is Being Hit
- Group travel air (blocked) space is extremely limited and is priced at a premium, as much as 50% more compared to pre-pandemic pricing
- Group air space is the most restrictive of all fare offerings, making it hard or impossible to make changes or cancellations
- “Free sell” (individually ticketed) space is limited but is still less expensive than group space
- Frequent schedule changes are negating any group space that is held
- Group seating continues to be a problem as there are not enough seats to cover the amount of group tickets sold.
Flights Are in Flux with No Flexibility
- Flights are being canceled (crew, weather, maintenance), or flight time changes result in misconnections or very long layovers that aren’t conducive to anyone really, but group travel especially, with special group events depending on timely arrivals
- Canceled flights result in very few re-accommodation options on any carrier
- Seats together and preferred seating are also a problem due to seating being blocked by the carrier or the equipment changes to an alternate aircraft with a different seating configuration.
Customer Service Is Struggling
- Airlines’ customer service is at an all-time low with many people being bumped from flights or downgraded involuntarily and not notified
- Calls into airlines often take hours, if not longer
In a service industry, all of the above points would normally constitute a boycott. Can you imagine going to a restaurant that gave you limited options to eat, changed your order without telling you, made you move from the corner booth you reserved to a two-top by the kitchen and then served your food to another table but still brought you the check?
Unfortunately, for consumers of air travel, we’re not in a great position. The airlines, however, are anticipating consumer demand will not falter even with inflation and the knowledge that airlines are operating at a considerable price increase (which will pad their profits). American Airlines predicts 2022 Q4 revenues will be up to 36% higher than Q4 2021.
So, where does that put incentive group travel now and in the near future?
While we continue to strive to provide the best flight options at the best prices, we are at the mercy of the carrier’s schedule and fares. There is no incentive for carriers to add more flights unless those markets will be highly lucrative. We have been assured by all the majors that they are trying to ramp up offerings of more flights and better fares. Depending on the carrier, this could happen anywhere from 9 months to up to 3 years from now.
Here at Motivation Excellence, our strategy for group travel is to continue to work a hybrid model of group bookings. We will obtain group block space whenever it’s necessary and affordable; or secure a chartered aircraft, if it makes the best sense for a particular group.
At the same time, we will free sell (individually book flights based on the best price for the route) a portion of the group to accommodate the needs of our guests. Our desire is to offer our travelers the best flight options available while balancing the block space and the free sold fares to keep the overall average fares reasonable.
We are diligently reviewing the ever-changing airline space and continually adjusting our hybrid model to stay ahead of everyone else looking for the best fares. Our promise to our clients is we will not stop doing this and just accept what is going on in this crazy market.
Don’t hesitate to reach out to Motivation Excellence if you have questions about any of our performance improvement strategies, whether they involve incentive travel or other reward solutions.
Safe travels!
Get to Know ME with Laurie Ackles
Our Motivation Excellence sales team grew recently with the addition of Laurie Ackles as Account Manager. She brings with her a long history in the incentive industry. In this edition of Get to Know ME, Laurie shares insights on collaboration, what makes her laugh and a couple of pretty cool talents! Thanks, Laurie for letting us get to know you more!
What’s your title and how long have you been in the incentive industry?
Account Manager. I’ve been in the incentive industry for more than 25 years and just recently joined Motivation Excellence.
What does your job entail?
I partner with clients to deliver amazing incentive travel experiences. I also work with our team to develop innovative solutions to help clients grow their businesses and provide high-quality customer service.
What’s something special about the people you work with that you’d like to share?
They are incredibly talented and experienced. They are fully invested in delivering creative solutions and providing a high level of care to our clients. Each team member is truly dedicated to making a difference in the work they do.
What’s an unknown or odd talent you have?
Does raising triplets count? If so, that’s my talent! My trio just graduated from their universities last spring and are off and running in their career paths.
Possible unknown talent – I was inducted into my high school’s Hall of Fame for our girls’ golf team winning the state championship.
What motivates you to accomplish things in your life (work or personal)?
My family and my desire to please others are constant drivers for me. That and the fear of being a deadbeat.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
Going to concerts and sporting events with friends and family, playing golf, watching movies, traveling, trying out new restaurants, reading, and walking our Golden Retriever, Bailey.
One thing that always makes you laugh is?
My husband, for sure, but also Will Ferrell, Jim Gaffigan, the Smartless podcast, and Seinfeld episodes.
What have you done that helped you get through the pandemic?
I was in a weekly Zoom discussion group working through “The Artist’s Way” book by Julia Cameron, with 18 women I had never met before, from all over the country. It was an incredible experience that involved weekly discussion, reading, and journaling. It really kept me energized and focused during that time period. Also going for long walks with my dog, cooking for my family, wine, and Netflix.
What is the most unusual job you’ve ever had?
Being a travel director and visiting 6 continents before I was 30 years old was the best and most unusual job I’ve ever had. It’s also how I met my husband and some of our best friends.
This month, our theme for social media is teamwork/collaboration. What benefits of working together do you find professionally and/or personally?
I love working as a team and am fueled by connection and collaboration with friends and work colleagues. I learn so much from listening to other people. I’ve worked remotely for about 20 years, so I’m used to it, but it can be isolating, so I truly appreciate face-to-face interaction whenever possible.
A Quarter for Your Thoughts on Year-End Rewards
A penny just doesn’t entice anyone for their thoughts anymore (or ever?). What does get people thinking, is how best to reward their top performers at the end of the year. We are here to help you take that train of thought all the way into the station with flair!
At Motivation Excellence, with our vast team of program designers, we know what motivates performance improvement. It’s our specialty. We also know from decades of understanding emotional decisions that some rewards shine far brighter than others. We’ve found the more choice someone has in deciding their own reward, the better the results for you and them!
Think this through with us. It’s the end of the year (or quarter, or promotion, you get the idea) and you’ve done really well because of the people integral to your business. You want them to benefit from their extraordinary performance AND you want them to have those warm, fuzzy feelings about your company so they remain engaged, happy and loyal.
Now picture their faces when you hand them a bonus. They’re pretty happy, right? They’re smiling and thinking of all the ways they’d love to spend that extra money. We’ve all had a windfall before and know the routine. You spend it in your head in ten different ways, on really cool things, but once it gets deposited into your checking account, it actually gets spent on gas, groceries and repairing a flat tire before the fun ever gets started. They’re grateful for sure, but they might not have any kind of lasting memory to tie fondly to you and your company.
Now imagine you hand them a lifestyle upgrade reward package that includes a mountain bike, a mount for their car and safety lights. Or, it includes their choice of three high-tech kitchen gadgets and a gift card to order steak or seafood. Perhaps, it’s a travel package with airline and hotel gift cards, a new piece of luxury luggage and a hot air balloon experience. With our MAXRewardsYourWay solution, we can build amazing reward packages at a variety of price points ($2,500 and up), so your top achievers can choose what reward is best for them!
Here’s the best part. Recipients LOVE their reward because they chose it. They post about it on social media. They take photos and show their friends and family. They use the items regularly and when they do, they’re reminded they earned them through their work with YOU. An emotional connection is established, which often leads to a long-term bond.
This works for channel partners too! If you’re looking to push out a new product, gain market share, or reward long-time loyalty, offering an incentive in the form of a highly promotable reward package is easy and affordable.
To recap, here are some of the many benefits of our MAXRewardsYourWay offering as we head into the end of the year:
- Our lifestyle packages can be customizable to your recipients’ needs
- You only pay for the packages selected
- There are low administration costs
- You get high flexibility for your budget
We have a wide variety of other solutions ready to reward your best people too. From instant appreciation in the form of restaurant and retail gift cards with MAXRewardsNOW, to long-term incentive programs with rewards like five-star, one-of-a-kind travel experiences, Motivation Excellence is ready to help you Inspire Extraordinary Performance with the people who mean the most to your business’s success.
This thought train has now arrived at the station – hop on to conduct your year-end reward strategy to the fullest. Choo-choo! Contact us today to recognize your top performers at me@motivationexcellence.com.
Get to Know ME with Judi Froehlich
Judi Froehlich is a few months into her role as Global Strategic Account Director at Motivation Excellence, but she brings a wealth of experience and more than a pinch of pizzazz! Thank you Judi for letting us Get to Know you. Read on and watch her video. You’ll learn that she’s light on her toes and quick to throw a smile your way.
What’s your title and how long have you been in the incentive industry?
My title is Global Strategic Account Director, and I bring nearly 30 years of experience in the Meeting and Incentive industry to my role at Motivation Excellence. I’m new to the team and look forward to creating amazing programs together!
What’s something special about the people you work with that you’d like to share?
Each team member is truly entrenched in our culture and focused on customer success. They are also just great people!
What’s an unknown or odd talent you have?
I dance (amateur) Latin dance and tango. I can also sing all the words to Rappers Delight.😊
What motivates you to accomplish things in your life (work or personal)?
I am motivated differently based on the item I am trying to accomplish. I aspire to bring great solutions to clients and have an impact on their business and feel such accomplishment when we can measure that or see the reaction from participants at an event. In my personal life, I am inspired by giving back and bringing a bit of joy to others to whom I am close.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
I enjoy anything outdoors! I love playing and watching sports and watching live music every chance I get.
One thing that always makes you laugh is?
Dry humor and quick wit.😊
What have you done that helped you get through the pandemic?
I tried to stay connected with family, friends and colleagues to ensure everyone was doing okay and had some fun Zoom activities. On the Zoom front, I joined many immersive activities across the globe that I may not have had the chance to enjoy otherwise. I did cooking classes with Nonna in Tuscany, another cooking class with celebrity chef Fabio Viviani, and virtual Latin dance classes with Max and Val Chmerkovskiy from DWTS.
What is the most unusual job you’ve ever had?
Not sure if it was unusual, but during college, I worked as a tour guide at the Queen Mary and Spruce Goose Dome…and can still share a few (probably useless) factoids.
This month, our theme for social media is imposter syndrome. How do you combat feeling “less than” even though you’re a high-achieving woman in the industry?
Most people suffer from self-doubt at times, and the key is acknowledging it.
One strategy I use is to journal and acknowledge even the smallest of victories/successes each day. It is also helpful to be authentic and true to your strengths and stop measuring against others. One of my favorite quotes is “in order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different,” by Coco Chanel.
Imposter Syndrome: Knock Self-doubt Out of Your Head
Photo credit: Arisa Chattasa, Unsplash
Did you know the people most likely to suffer from imposter syndrome are high-achieving, go-getters? It’s ironic, isn’t it? The people who most deserve to feel good about their accomplishments end up second-guessing their abilities and downplaying their skills. It can be a vicious cycle, tearing the core of someone’s confidence to shreds and creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Women seem to fall to this fraudulent feeling more often than men, but a Harvard Business Review article claims that has more to do with existing workplace biases than anything else.
Are You Prone to Imposter Syndrome?
There is a general consensus that certain personality types do lend themselves to suffering from imposter syndrome more than others. Healthline.com outlines the characteristics of each.
- Perfectionist
- Natural Genius
- Rugged Individualist
- Expert
- Superhero
No matter what dominates your personality make-up, it’s important to recognize if you tend to minimize the good and catastrophize the bad when it comes to your personal experiences. We’re not talking about being humble or falling on your sword here either. Imposter syndrome is internal, not external. It lives inside your mind, casting a cloud of doubt over all your bright spots. Psycom has a quiz you can take to see if you’re prone to overwhelming self-doubt despite evidence to the contrary.
Don’t Listen to the Devil
We’ve all seen the image of an angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other. People with imposter syndrome tend to lean toward listening to the devil. In this case, the little red character isn’t telling them to do something bad, it’s telling them they are bad. Bad at what they do. Bad at making decisions. Bad at managing crisis situations. Bad at doing whatever it is they actually do very well!
This leads to incessant worry that they’ll be discovered as a fraud and lose their position. An especially painful twist is that those who feel like an imposter take on all the blame for their mistakes, but none of the glory for their accomplishments.
Fight Fairly – Especially with Yourself
A Forbes.com article gives tips to combat the imposter phenomenon, including talking about it with other professionals in your ranks. There are a lot of other ideas to help you too. Some of our favorites are below.
Stop the negative feedback loop: talk back to yourself, defend your abilities with a passion
Claim your wins – big and small: actually, write them down as they happen and keep them visible as a reminder
Realize your limitations: don’t expect to excel at everything, or be perfect at anything the first time around
Create a Trusted Circle: know the people you can turn to for an honest take on how you’re feeling
Recognize luck versus work: if you can recreate it, it’s not luck, it’s your hard work
Finally, know you’re not alone! According to Psycom, roughly 70% of people in the U.S. experience imposter syndrome at some point in their lives. It may come and go depending on the situation, so having several tools to fight it is important. Find the ways that help you the most and then share them with someone else struggling to accept their awesomeness!
Get to Know ME with Bob Hertel
Bob Hertel, from our travel department, is a man of few words but exhibits sly humor and wise observations. As a long-timer in the industry, Bob helps us create outstanding travel programs filled with “Wow!” moments that motivate people to be sure to attend the following year! Keep reading, and watch the short video (like I said, few words…), to learn more about Bob! Thanks, Bob, for letting us Get to Know you better.
What’s your title and how long have you been in the incentive industry and at VIKTOR/Motivation Excellence?
I’m the Travel Purchasing and Planning Manager. It’s been 17 years in the incentive business with VIKTOR and now Motivation Excellence, but 25 years total in the events industry.
What does your job entail?
Working with sales to understand a client’s needs. Sourcing vendors. Building budgets. Building proposals. Vendor relations.
What’s something special about the people you work with that you’d like to share?
It’s a good group of people who really care about the clients and their guests.
What’s an unknown or odd talent you have?
It’s unknown for a reason.
What motivates you to accomplish things in your life (work or personal)?
Being able to provide a comfortable life for me and my family.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
Watching and attending Michigan State football and basketball games. Home improvement. Building sets for musicals when my kids were in high school.
One thing that always makes you laugh is?
Any clever comedy. I really dislike formulaic comedy (think Friends).
What have you done that helped you get through the pandemic?
A ton of home improvement.
What is the most unusual job you’ve ever had?
Cue cards for a Disney Channel show.
This month, our theme for social media is about competition and how it can benefit both personal and professional growth. How do you feel about competition? Do you regularly use it to meet goals?
I like competition and generally think it’s healthy. Do I use it to meet goals… not really. I try to compete with myself to improve. When I see people competing to be the smartest one in the room, it generally does not help get anyone across the finish line any better or faster.
