Management 101: An Interview with Emerald Valley Parkway site manager, Jan Bauman
Ever wondered what
it was really like to work in management? Do you ever wish someone would sit
you down and tell you the truth – the whole truth and nothing but the truth –
about a profession you may one day want to enter? Today we sit down with one of
our site managers, Jan Bauman, and do exactly that. She’s a wealth of knowledge
on the topic, talking about everything from overcoming challenges to how to get
what you want out of your career. The idea to work in contract packaging came
to Jan 19 years ago. Living in Ohio and working for a small distributor, she
was profiling different companies from northeast Ohio when she found Custom
Products. She was drawn to the job because she is a good fit for detail work
and likes having control of her own success, saying “At Custom Products, we
listen to the customer needs, find solutions and implement them.” Her
motivation, she says is, “I like to work. I know that is weird. I enjoy coming
to work every day and the challenge of meeting the customer’s requests.” Work
ethic is key, she says, and empathy and attention to detail in solving customer
needs will bring success. Her daily activities involve taking responsibility
for the actions of all her team members, discussing any challenges and
resolving them, managing the reporting activities and annual budget and
customer relations. Jan believes in leading by example and her top priority in management
and customer service is to evolve and change as the customer’s needs change, to
be productive and work smart. So far, she has been with the company for 19
years and has helped grow the contract packaging department to what it is today
– an outstanding source for customers packaging almost anything. Custom
Products is not the only thing that occupies Jan’s time. In her downtime, she
enjoys cheering on Cleveland baseball, reading on her kindle, and spending time
with her family. To maintain some semblance of work-life balance she also takes
yoga to help manage stress. On pursuing her dreams, Jan says, “I was brought up
on thinking I could do anything I wanted to do, as long as I wanted to work for
it.” Her favorite part of the job is the people, “I have great customers,
fellow associates and management.” When asked what the best advice she ever
received was, she answered: “Listen to your gut. If it doesn’t feel right, it
isn’t.”
