Interview with Jan Bauman

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.”