| Where are you from + What is your background? |
I am from Urbandale and I attended college in Tempe, AZ at the University of Advancing Technology. I was originally studying 3D Animation (like "Toy Story" and "Up"), then switched over to Graphic Design after stumbling into an Adobe Illustrator class and loved it. Shortly after graduation I moved back to Iowa and started working at Universal Printing in 2004 as a Graphic Designer. Just over 10 years later, I moved to our General Manager - overseeing all of production. In 2017, we made management changes and I transitioned into my new role as President.
Outside of work you will find me….?
Family. My wife, Fawn, and I have two amazing children (Avett and Nomi) that keep us very busy.
Or cooking. I will try just about any region of food. Like work, the challenge makes it more fun. Anything Cuban, Portuguese, Italian, Vietnamese, I love them all. Still my favorite is pizza, I can do the crust in my sleep. The coolest thing I have ever make is called timballo. A very time consuming and very delicious Italian dish.
Describe the “Atmosphere” at Universal..
Fast-paced, friendly, professionally-driven and fun. I feel confident in saying that our staff loves coming to work. Sometimes we face difficult challenges, but we enjoy working through them together. When a job comes in, we figure out HOW to get it done - from a cost and time efficiency standpoint. We know our clients have options for printers. It is our job to make sure they understand why they trusted Universal to get their job done right and on time.
What is something interesting about Universal’s production process that clients may not know?
Our quality-level expectation is high. We spell check everything including checking dates, phone numbers, emails, pantone colors, fonts, etc. Every job gets proofed in every department as it moves through our shop. The best way to describe our production process: Streamlined. There are often times when we are more critical about a finished product than the client.
Why Universal?
My job is extremely satisfying. Creating something from nothing on a daily basis makes it easy to show up every day. Also, we have a great staff here, which makes the environment fun and entertaining. I really do love seeing my brother and dad every day. We do have Nerf guns hidden around the shop just in case the occasional sibling rivalry flare-up needs to be put out.
