Owlnotes.com

I'm president of a juvenile product and toy company, and work out of our corporate headquarters located in Oak Brook, Illinois.

My overall responsibility as a member of the senior management team is to be an active member of the team that sets and manages the direction of the company. We are responsible for the company strategy, and ultimately, the performance of the company.

My position is more of a general manager. Our overall business mission is to provide growing value for our shareholders. From the consumer viewpoint, my goal is to continue to ensure we develop products, specifically those focused on care and play, that help families grow, On a day-to-day basis, I am primarily focused on the consumers and the development and marketing of our brands.

We have 800 employees located throughout the world. It is a constant challenge to manage our teams to ensure we are focused and working on the key strategies of the company. In a business as dynamic as consumer products, you are constantly monitoring the ever-changing needs of the consumers. In parallel, you are also balancing the needs of our retail customers with the resources available within the company.

Taking a consumer insight and developing a product solution for the consumers' needs is particularly satisfying, even more so is when the consumers support this new product with great sales results. We develop many new products every year. Our most recent new product line that will debut later this year is a magical dollhouse for preschool girls that provides hours of fun, creative play, while teaching girls about caring, sharing and preparing, which are very important parts of a child's social development.

I went to Xavier University in Cincinnati and majored in communication marketing. My initial career aspirations were to stay in the tennis field, because I had played tennis all the way through college. After several months of teaching tennis in New Jersey, I realized that tennis was not going to satisfy my career goals. My first job in business was working for a large consumer products paper company. I started in field sales, managing a territory in central Illinois and selling facial tissus, toilet paper, paper towels and diapers.

I worked for the consumer products paper company for about two and a half years, in downstate Illinois, and was promoted to a position in Chicago. I realized early on that I wanted to balance my sales focus with more experience in managing the development and marketing of the products. Not really wanting to move to Northern Wisconsin, I was fortunate enough to be hired by a smaller division of a large greeting card company. This group was the character development and licensing arm of the greeting card company. I worked in several positions there until I was presented with an opportunity to take another step in my career advancement with a toy manufacturer located in Rhode Island.

With that toy company, I had a chance to work on the development and licensing of powerful toy brands. I held several positions in the Corporate Licensing team; where we helped manage the company's assets through licensed product programs. It was in this position that I was exposed to a multitude of consumer product businesses and business leaders who really helped shape my business strategies.

After some time in Rhode Island, my wife and I had our first child, and we wanted to relocate. I was recruited by a national marketing services firm to work with one of the world's largest fast food chains. It was really a great move, as this was the catalyst for my career in terms of acquiring new business skills and being exposed to really great management to learn from. I worked for the marketing firm for just over a year when to my great surprise, the head of marketing for the fast food chain called me one day and said he wanted to hire me into their corporate marketing department.

I started off in the national youth marketing department and worked on children's meals, the corporate mascot and Corporate Licensing. After several years in youth marketing, I was promoted to work on National Marketing Programs that supported the company's involvement in the entertainment world. I worked on synergy marketing with major feature films, NHRA and Nascar. My last position there was as Home Office Director responsible for Store Merchandising. My job was to lead the team that managed all the visual merchandising and marketing, both inside and outside of the restaurants. It was a new position, and was a lot of fun to develop, as the store became a more important part of the marketing mix for the company. I was fortunate to work on many different segments of the fast food chain's marketing business, and it was a fantastic experience.

In 1996, my business career changed forever. A small company located in a Chicago suburb asked me to come join them as Vice President of Marketing. At the time, it was just a small company that was very focused and successful on marketing Nascar collectibles. It was a big step to end my career with the fast food chain, which still had a lot of growth potential, and join a small venture. But something in my gut told me that this risk was worth taking. So in April of 1996, I went to work for this company and never looked back. Twelve years later; I have had an opportunity to experience and accomplish more than I had ever expected in my career. After several years in various marketing/sales positions, I was promoted to President in 2001, and was named to the Board of Directors last year.

When I started, it was about a $35 million company, with about six products and 14 employees. In 12 years, through a series of acquisitions and product growth, we've grown into a $500 million public company.

We've changed the company from a pure collector-driven focus to a business that has a platform focused on family care and play. As we speak, we are transitioning the company name to fit more in line with our consumer mission.

I can't think of another place for me in business. I am challenged everyday, and love the people, organization and products. I would like to see the company grow to the $1 billion goal before I'm finished. That would be a real accomplishment to look back and remember the early days when we were just worth $35 million and basically a single product line, to what we will look like at $1 billion.

I start work in the office at 7:00 a.m. I am constantly fighting today's growing addiction to emails and the computer to communicate. By getting to the office at 7:00 a.m., I have a chance to organize my day and make certain I know what is important to accomplish. One of my focuses as I mature in my career is to not try to do everything. My goal every morning is to focus on what I consider to be the 3 most important things I need to accomplish before the end of the business day. Then I try to stay focused on that goal. But, as can happen in a dynamic company like ours, your day and plans are quickly distracted by the day-to-day challenges of running a business of our size and scale. I am bombarded by customers, e-mails, team members, or other issues that I can't plan. I work hard to stay focused on my daily goals.

There is rarely a typical day for me. My days take a lot of different twist and turns. We have offices in many locations here in the U.S. and around the world. So our typical day is not 8-to-5. Between travel, international office needs and a growing office in China of over 270 employees, my day is never really done. I constantly keep my laptop connected.

I don't really have a general break schedule. In 2008, one of my goals is to maintain a workout routine that allows me to continue to improve my goal of reducing my weight as I head toward age fifty. Generally, I use the lunch hour to go to lunch with different team members to get more personal insight into our business and what's working or not working. That might change this year if I can get motivated to go to a gym at noon.

Yes I work on the weekends. In the last couple of years, I've tried to cut back on Saturday work, but with today's connected workplace, I am constantly using my laptop and cell phone to manage communications and work. My laptop is always connected at home. Generally, on Sunday evenings I will be more focused and use the last 2 to 3 hours before bedtime to work in my home office.

There is tremendous variety. I work on everything from strategy to product to customers to employee, operational and legal issues; so there's never a shortage of variety. One of the hard things I have to do is figure out how to focus and work on things that add value to the company, but you do get involved with just about everything that touches the company, from shareholders to customers.

Our company is very focused on pay for performance. We put more emphasis on bonuses than most of our peer companies. We succeed as a team and fail as a team, and with that goes our compensation philosophy.

I usually work between 55 and 60 hours a week, not counting travel.

I have traveled quite a bit over the years. More miles, offices, states and countries than I can count. I've tried to cut back on travel the last year or so. I might average one to two days a week now. Technology has helped enable less travel, but it is still important to be in front of our offices and customers. No computer or cell phone can replace what you accomplish face to face.

I've had to put a lot of effort into my job in order to succeed, but I've got a great wife and five kids, and I try to balance that as much as I can. I've probably given a little more time to business than family, but I am constantly challenging myself to balance that equation.

A lot of the same principles that applied to business 28 years ago still apply today, so I am very comfortable with the business of business. It really is not very complicated. What has changed the most from my early days is that back then, that I was only really concerned about my territory and my customers. It was a small stage. Today, the stage is much bigger. I am President of a public company. Responsibility for shareholders, board of directors, employees, and financial results can be daunting. That is why I am so passionate about teamwork. Fortunately, we have a great team, and frankly, I owe much of my success to my team members.

Good question. I don't really know. It is certainly in my future, but I have much to accomplish before I retire. Then, when that day comes, I don't think it will be a retirement where I sit around on a lazy chair. I have many hobbies and interests that I would like to devote more attention to in retirement. Time will tell.

Most of my rewards in this position come from watching our people and organization achieve success. There's nothing like seeing our teams achieve their goals. In 2008, one of my goals is to help them celebrate those achievements more often. Wrapped up in today's challenging business environment, I think we forget the importance of celebrating. That is rewarding and fun.

I'm a hands-on manager, but I still get frustrated that I can't control everything. You have to be able to manage and motivate the people in your organization to move in the right direction. Sometimes it may not be quick enough or necessarily in the same direction you think we should go, but you have to let your teams have the space to manage the business. But to be truthful, it can be a little frustrating to back off and let them do their thing.

I think everyone makes sacrifices. In a career, you could always say, "I could have spent more time doing this or that," but I don't have any regrets. I wish I had stayed in contact with some of my old colleagues, but I am very focused on my current company and have let some of those relationships suffer. I've been very blessed in my career. I've been working for 28 years on businesses that I love, so I can't really sit here and say I regret anything.

Currently, it's fairly stagnant, but that will change. The nice thing about our business is that every day, a new customer is born. Our goal is to provide families with quality products and brands that help them enjoy those early years.

Our part of the industry is not heavily dependent on technology in our products. We will use affordable and proven technology in the products, but it's pretty simple applications. Our primary users are children 0-6 years of age. We believe strongly that open-ended creative play is still the best way for kids to entertain themselves and develop their minds. Sometimes when you put technology in toys, they become "watch me" toys and not "play with me" toys. We try to balance embedding some technology in our products with making sure kids still want to use their hands and minds to play.

About 25 to 30 percent of our business is done outside North America, and we think that will continue to grow. The consumer, the caregiver of a child, pretty much has the same needs and issues around the world. Incomes, social and economic issues might be different, but they still want to develop their child with both care and play products, so our products do meet consumer needs globally. We are actively trying to expand our businesses internationally. We see big emerging opportunities in China and India, where the economy is growing much faster than North America, and with that comes increasing birthrates and needs for products like ours.

There is some impact on our business today in the U.S. because the economy is a bit turbulent. However, even in rough economic times, parents may pull back on big purchases like vacations and cars, but they still want to afford their children the opportunity to play, and hence, they still purchase toys.

I certainly could have been a better typist. The personal computer didn't exist when I began my career, so typing was not something I knew how to do. I'm a hunt-and-peck typist and that costs me time today. I wish in the earlier years, I had volunteered for more projects. I always tell our young people entering the company not to be afraid to volunteer and step up. Take chances and get out of your comfort zone, and you'll be amazed what you can accomplish.

Many times, you see young employees who are easily intimidated. It's natural, but be confident in your skills and avoid the inclination to hold back. Go for it. Don't be afraid of mistakes. You might not have all the experience but the only way you learn is by trying. Don't wait until someone brings you an opportunity, but rather go get it yourself. You could be waiting a long time. I really enjoy the team member who discovers opportunities, versus waiting for the opportunity to be presented.

I have four factors that I attribute to my success. First: I'm very hardworking and passionate about business. It really isn't work to me. Second: I am strongly driven by achieving goals. You must have goals in sight and you must constantly adjust and insure both the goals are still relevant and that you are working towards achieving those goals. You can't just expect it to happen for you. You have to know what you want and go get it. Third: I believe much of my success has been my ability to work with, convince and motivate people and teams. Business isn't just about numbers. It's about people, and getting them to buy into your vision and work for the common goal. If you can't work with people, then you should probably be a silent monk. My people skills are something I am constantly evaluating and measuring and trying to perfect.

Someone who is really passionate about the consumers and the business, and likes building teams and teamwork. You also have to be confident in your decisions. You can't be afraid of making mistakes. If you are afraid of making mistakes, it's highly unlikely you will succeed in this position. Last, know your strengths and weaknesses, and be able to build a team that fits well with these.

We have a several points of entry into our company. If you are passionate about sales, you can come in on the sales side, either as a sales analyst or inside sales. If your interest is in products and marketing, you would enter through our product manager or designer role. We also have points of entry in operations, accounting, customer service and sourcing if those are areas of interest.

We run an organization that's very flat; we don't have a lot of layers, because we want to be able to get the market fast. I think one thing that you always have to remember as you progress in a career is never forget the things you did before that got you there. Don't ever take anything for granted just because you're the president of a company. You have to remember the things that made you successful and instill those in your people. No matter how big a position you have in a company, you still have to keep working at it everyday.

I'm not much of a resume reader. I certainly screen prospects backgrounds via resume, but I am more interested in talking to a prospective employee than what the resume might say. I've rarely seen a bad resume, but I can tell you I've sat through many bad interviews. I put a tremendous amount of value on people's communication and people skills, and I've yet to find a resume that gives me good insight into that specifically.

Two things are great about this job: the people and the product. If you can't tell by now, I like dealing with people. And how can you not like developing products for kids? I don't think I could be as passionate about building an air conditioner as I am toys.