Mike Veeck
April 2010 // Interviewed by Elizabeth Millard
Randy McPherson
february 2010 //
Randy McPherson is the owner of
Altare Signs, the re:member group
loyalty marketing company and
Mander Collision and Glass.
Hard lessons: i believe much of
our future success comes from
lessons learned through past
experiences, and the more life we
experience, the more we will have
to leverage.
views change: i now see things i
didn’t see as a young man. the old
saying that “hindsight is 20/20”
may be true, but sometimes it
seems more like 20/40.
Looking ahead: we all have dead
ends. i refuse to let that define me.
Creating lasting change: Make a
list of what you are going to do
differently in the future and then
prioritize it. lasting change comes
one step at a time!
On following a legend: By the time I came along, baseball was
in the blood, and my dad was a legend. Of course, no one wants
to follow a legend, so I joined a rock band instead.
St. Paul to an outsider: When I came here in November of
1991, I walked around enchanted, to be honest. St.
Paul is charming, there’s an interesting way that
people from other towns integrate into this city
and make it into a real community.
The value of being puckish: I knew the Saints
had to be puckish, so we started with that, and
what happened was that we found that people
here are so open and supportive that it just
rolled on from there. I mean, we’re considering a “Hillary Clinton pantsuit night.” You
can’t put something like that out there
unless you have fans that will love it, and
we do.
The real product of baseball: Our
product is joy. It’s like Woodstock every
game here. About 35 percent of people
who come here are only interested in
baseball, and the rest are just here to soak
up the experience. I think it’s more important than ever for people to feel that joy, that
community.
The Veeck secret sauce: I want people who
work here to enjoy what they do, so we hire
the best people and stay out of their way. If
you want a great organization, create one
where people have fun and still work hard.
Scott Augustine
december 2009 // interviewed by
elizabeth Millard
Rebecca Thomley
March 2010 // interviewed by elizabeth Millard
Scott Augustine is CEO of Augustine Biomedical and Design and
founder of nonprofit Peace House
Africa.
The bigger the easier? if you keep
things small and simple, you’ll be
working 24/7, but once it gets larger
and more complex, it kind of gets
easier because more people want
to be involved.
Mike veeck is
the co-owner
of the St. paul
Saints.
Focus on employees: people underestimate how far the
quality of leadership can take you. it’s more than just being
a good employer, it’s about enhancing the life circumstances of the employees.
People over profits: i grew up in a family that valued vol-unteerism, community and commitment, and i’m very passionate about bringing those qualities to my family and to
the company. i think that extends to how we do business;
we don’t make decisions based on a profit model alone.
photoS by MarShall franklinG lonG; McpherSon photo by tate carlSon;
thoMley photo courteSy of orion aSSociateS.
