Q: Tell us a little bit about yourself – where you live, about your family, what you did before DE?
A: Kelly and I live in Bettendorf, Iowa. One of the quad cities. We live next to one of the largest rivers in the world and the largest in North America, the Mississippi River. I believe it is the only place where the Mississippi runs directly east to west. Kelly’s been in Bettendorf her entire life and my family moved from Davenport to Bettendorf when I was eight. Kelly is the second of six children and I am the third of four and in a couple of weeks on Flag Day we will have been married 45 years. We have three adult children and six grandchildren ranging from 17 years to 22 months.
Before DE I spent over 35 years in manufacturing at one company in engineering and facilities. I loved the work that I was doing and the people that worked with me and for me and I would have done it for 10 or 15 more years if DE had not come along.
I had spent over 25 years volunteering in youth ministry at our church and most of that time leading a music Ministry with high school kids that sang at 5:00 p.m. Mass on Sunday. I also had been a chaperone from 1999 through 2021, where we took young people to the National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) on the odd numbered years.
Q:How long have you been an IC at DE and what brought you here?
A: I’ve been with DE for about 5 and 1/2 years. I’ve listened to Relevant Radio since about 2006. Unbeknownst to me some of my friends and acquaintances had put up the affiliate radio station tower I’d been listening to for all these years. I had been listening to Dave Durand, Wednesday mornings from 7:30 till 8:00, in my car before going into work for several years. The subjects that he taught and consulted on were the very things that I had been reading about, studying about, and trying to implement in my engineering and quality management career. Finally, I dug into who Dave was and I found Decided Excellence Catholic Media! And the rest, as they say, is history.
Q: If someone were to drop in during a family dinner, what should they be prepared for?
A: We would pray before we eat. There would be way more food than necessary. It would all be very good. Many people would have brought it and prepared it. There would be cards and games before and after and there would be a lot of noise. A lot of fun and a lot of noise, we have a large extended family and friends that would show up at holidays and anytime I could promote having people over.
Q: What advice would you have for someone new joining the DE team?
A: Have the discipline to create the habit of getting your call list ready the night before and make your calls and get your yeses first thing in the morning. If it doesn’t work then you can remedy that in the afternoon. Being able to build and maintain a pipeline, and then being coachable, this is what will lead to your success. Doing what is perhaps uncomfortable and necessary. I only wish I could take my own advice more often than not.
Q: What is a hobby you enjoy?
A: I have been gifted a lot, and immodestly, one of my gifts that I really enjoy using is the gift of being able to figure out how things work- either to design them, build them, and or to repair them.
One of my favorite hobbies, which I someday would like to do a lot more of, is repair and service antique clocks and watches. I have done this in some way shape or form since I was about 10 years old.
Q: What do you love most about DE?
A: My favorite part about DE is that it is based on our Orthodox Catholic Faith and it is a begin-again culture. If you want to succeed and you’re willing to do the work, there’s always someone who will help and coach you.