As the date of my retirement approaches, I have been invited to focus my farewell blog on the Draper Core Value of Growth. The Draper Core Values were identified about two years ago, but these values were already deeply rooted in the company culture. I can see them in my own history.

I began working at Draper in 1978, just after my high school graduation, hand cutting and assembling pieces of window shade fabric on swatch cards. I worked at Draper three summers while earning my bachelor’s degree, and even then I was provided opportunities to grow. I was assigned a market research project, collecting information about window shades for the commercial market. Research was harder then, in the days before the internet! My research later contributed to the launch of the FlexShade® line of commercial window shades. I could not have imagined that FlexShade would grow to become the largest product in the Draper offering, accounting for hundreds of jobs.

John Pidgeon, the marketing manager, was my boss. As I began my job search, I asked him to review my resume and make suggestions. Instead of suggestions, John offered me a job—I became his first marketing employee. He soon identified a gap in my education for this work, and sent me to a course at Butler University in the fundamentals of design. Growing again!

As the advertising manager, then the marketing manager, I continued to work for John (our company president by that time). I built a team, and we created the supporting tools that dealers and specifiers needed for the AV, window treatment, and later the gymnasium equipment industries—first marketing collateral, and reams of technical documentation–and then we moved on to websites, email, social media, video production. And as Draper continued to diversify, there were always new products and markets to learn about. All along the way, the company provided the resources we needed to grow our skills and meet new needs. My team grew, and Draper grew.

While we work in several industries, the audiovisual industry is close to my heart. In 2013 I was honored with the Woman in AV Award at the annual InfoComm trade show. That led me to volunteer with the AVIXA trade association. In 2015, I was named chair of the newly formed AVIXA Women’s Council. Draper supported me through three years’ service in that role, and I was part of an explosive season of growth! The women in the AV industry needed new opportunities, and the industry needed skilled employees, from programmers to installers to sales. The volunteerism and enthusiasm was overwhelming! After three years a foundation had been laid that our amazing council chairs and volunteers continue to grow and build on.    

Around the same time, it became clear that the public face of Draper no longer matched its internal brand and direction. It was time for an upgrade, and that was a huge opportunity for growth! Our internal marketing team collaborated with a branding consultant to develop and implement a new logo and tagline, Focused on Innovative Solutions. We had the company’s support as we learned and upgraded—this was not just a logo refresh, but a complete makeover of our design, imagery and messaging. We launched the new look at InfoComm 2017. The growth in the marketing team was incredible, and it led to growth in the company.

When I arrived at Draper, I planned to stay until I stopped growing—in other words, until I was bored. I did not know what an opportunity had been presented to me. Today, I can say that in 43 years, I never became bored, never stopped growing, and I am proud that my team has contributed to the continuing growth of Draper.

PS – Let me know if you would like to stay in touch! I’m here through June 25.