NAME: Kathryn Boyd
TITLE: president and owner, ValPak of Central Pa./Direct Ink Inc.
COMPANY DESCRIPTION: Direct-mailing company that sends 48 different ValPak coupon packets per month to areas of Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Lebanon, Lancaster and York counties.
PERSONAL. "I've been a single mom for many, many years." Daughter, Danah, 25; and son, Ryan, 23
DESCRIBE YOUR TYPICAL DAY: "There isn't a typical day, and that's what I like about this business. On any given day I orchestrate production, printing and sales. From the consumer's viewpoint, ValPak is the blue envelope filled with coupons they receive in the mail once a month, but there's so much more than that. In 2002, we mailed 5.8 million envelopes with 117 million ad (coupons) and 5.8 million digest magazines. There's a lot of coordination required to get the right coupons in the right envelopes."
WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGE, AND HOW DO YOU MEET IT? "I'm fortunate to have surrounded myself with wonderful, positive, hardworking people, and they give me my energy. My biggest challenge as we grow is finding similar employees. Everyone here is like my family, and I strive to ensure that the family atmosphere remains."
WHAT WAS YOUR BIGGEST BREAK IN BUSINESS? "In the '70s I taught special-needs students. In the early '80s I found myself as a single mom, so I needed to find a job that would allow me to raise my children. I went into business brokerage and found that wasn't quite what I wanted, so I started ValPak in my home. It was a lot of hard work, but it's paid off. We not only have long-term employees, but we also have some clients who have been with us for 13 years.
No comments:
Post a Comment