Meet Izzy: The True Secret to MEDiAHEAD’s Success

Izzy head shotPost Author: IZZY

Hey, it’s IZZY here and man oh man is my life FUN! Especially when I get to spend the day at MEDiAHEAD.

This is my first-ever blog post and I couldn’t be more excited to tell you a bit about my day when my daddy (WC aka Bill) brings me into the office.

First, I run like the wind as fast as I can through the halls just to let everyone know I’ve arrived! (I really want them to know the boss is around).

Second, I go to each office to smell the floor and look around to see if there’s anything I need to clean up from the prior day. It’s one of my many important jobs and is critical to the overall success of the company.

Third, I take a rest. Look, it’s really hard being the boss of everyone at MEDiAHEAD.

After all of that is done, I take on hall duty. This is an important part of the day, as I lay in the hall, watch the breakroom door, and wait patiently for lunch to begin.

Then I follow everyone into the lunchroom to ensure they get their lunch and I’m right there to clean anything up that they drop.

Izzy hall watching

I also occasionally follow people to their offices, using my sad puppy eyes to successfully secure a little snack from their lunch (I have them right in the palm of my paw).

After lunch, it’s obviously time for me to curl up in an office chair and take my afternoon nap.

Rest assured, I always keep one eye open and my ears are trained to listen for the glorious sound of someone opening up a bag of popcorn. I can hear it a mile away.

Sometimes I decide to walk on desks to check for anything I would like to eat. I figure if it’s left out on the desk then it’s fair game, right?

My life is really tough, but I have to admit that I love coming into the office every day and letting people know that the boss cares and loves them all.

The next time you’re in the neighborhood, stop by and see me!

P.S. Someone started a nasty rumor that I snore really loud, but I don’t believe it for a second.

Love,

IZZY
izzy paw

 

 

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Carly Young: From the Delivery Room to MEDiAHEAD

Post Author: Carly Young, Senior Project Manager

I often refer to my project management career as my second career. When I first got out of high school, I worked as an aid for a hospital clinic, and eventually took a job in the labor and delivery unit as a scrub tech.

As a scrub tech, my main job was to prepare delivery rooms and assist the physicians and nurses in the delivery.

I anticipated their needs (such as handing them gloves, instruments, etc.) and potential problems. Most importantly, I made sure that the nurse or doctor had what they might need in case of an emergency.

As I prepared rooms, I would often feel the eyes of the patient and family fixed on me as I pulled out everything we needed for the delivery and set things up in the room.

Most of the time, those fixed stares were of first-time parents, wondering what they were in for. I would calm a lot of fears during this time, often explaining things and assuring them that everything was going to be just fine.

As I transitioned into my second career as a Senior Project Manager at MEDiAHEAD, I learned that preparing a delivery room was a lot like project management.

I’m routinely organizing projects and people. I anticipate problems and determine what we can do to make sure they don’t happen…or if they do, what we can do to fix them.

But mostly, I’m here to calm fears. I assure clients that their baby, the project they’ve worked on for months, will be produced not only on time, but also within budget.

And of course to assure them, like so many of the babies before them, that their project will be the most beautiful thing they’ve ever seen!

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You Don’t Know What You’ve Got Until It’s Gone

Post Author: Michael Johnson, Senior Project Manager

Good Friends. Good Times.

Throughout your life, you make all kinds of new friendships but they will never replace the ones that molded you into the person you are today. My good friends in the picture you see are exactly those friends.

We’re coming up on our 30-year class reunion and I had been excited thinking about seeing all of these guys and catch up with each other. As I’m sure you can relate to, sometimes life just takes over and even though we don’t stay in contact as much as we’d like, we all know that we’re always there for one another.

At least that’s what we always thought…almost taking it for granted. You see, last year was a tough year for this fun little group of ours…as we sadly lost two of them. It was totally unexpected and so tough to even think (or in this case…write) about.

Good friendsThat was my crew.

The guys I snuck into bars with, went to parties with, the guys that helped through bad breakups, and the guys who were always up for a fun time.

I mean, just look at those smiles. What trouble could we possibly get into?

What’s gone through my mind a lot over the last several months is…

Why didn’t I talk to these guys more in my adult life?

I know we all had understood that we were all grown up and had families, careers and homes to tend to. It all takes up so much time and we knew that.

When we did talk or get together, we always picked up right where we left off.

We’d forget about all of those everyday responsibilities and just get a little crazy together. Our taste in booze definitely went up, thank goodness!

Well, I miss these guys, and I will never be able to tell them just how much.

I’m writing this post for a couple reasons. One, because I wanted to get this off my chest. Writing about it was almost a little therapy for me. And two, I wanted to remind everyone to call your friends or get together…just make a little more effort.

Say hi. Let them know you’re thinking about them. Check in on them. I’m certain they will appreciate hearing from you more than you’ll ever know.

I know I would.

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Kathryn McDaniel: Perseverance Personified

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Post Author: Michele Stillwell, Marketing Distribution Portal Enthusiast | Marketing Guru | Accounting Shark | Lover of All Animals | Bourbon Drinker

Perseverance is not giving up. It’s persistence and tenacity. It’s giving the maximum effort required to do something…and keep doing it…until the end, even if it’s hard.

The word “perseverance” originally comes from the Latin perseverantia and means to abide by something strictly. This makes a lot of sense when you think about it. If you’re doing something in spite of all the difficulties, you’re being strict on yourself.

No one knows PERSEVERANCE better than Kathryn McDaniel!

Kathryn McDanielIf you know her, you understand this. If you don’t, let me share a bit of her inspiring story and journey.

Kathryn began her career in print sales in 1980 at the age of 23, so to say she’s a seasoned veteran in the printing industry would be an understatement.

Over the years, she’s given back to the Kansas City community in countless ways…donating printing to various organizations, going out of her way to attend events, and on and on.

Kathryn is the busiest woman I know.

She is dedicated to her goal of maintaining a healthy environment by being a leader in the print industry, all while maintaining her status as being 100% woman-owned and operated, with all the certifications to back her up, nationally as well as in Kansas and Missouri.

MEDiAHEAD provides solutions to many of the well-known brands in Kansas City. Kathryn built these relationships over time and has kept them in large part due to her personal dedication to these accounts.

She has fostered numerous healthy partnerships as evidenced by the testimonials we get from each and every client.

Kathryn infuses our core values into each employee, encouraging them to seek opportunities that will provide cost savings for our partners, enable consistency in their brands, and reduce their cycle times.

Each and every employee understands this and we live by these values.

Kathryn is our rock! She’s been through some tough times both personally and with the business. Nothing keeps her down.

She comes in each and every day with a smile on her face and will always laugh at our stories about our weekend or vacation escapades. She, in turn, makes you laugh at each of her stories.

Kathryn is truly genuine and has a HUGE heart for each and every one of us.  You can enter her office at any time of the day and she’ll always turn around with a smile on her face and welcome you.

Each employee at MEDiAHEAD stays at MEDiAHEAD because Kathryn treats each employee as she would want to be treated. As a result, she has a team of dedicated employees who love their leader and want nothing more than to see the company succeed and continue to build her dream and success.

And this is why all of that love matters, now more than ever.

In December 2017 the entire team at MEDiAHEAD was crushed when Kathryn came into our annual Christmas party and told us she’d been diagnosed with Stage 3 cancer.  The good news is that she had surgery and they successfully removed all of the cancer. The unfortunate news is she is going through immunotherapy for a year and there is a 50/50 chance it could come back.

Let me tell you this. I’ve never seen a staff come together so closely, (we were close even before the news) but since, we’ve all pulled together and continue to get things done. We all are extremely passionate about our jobs, passionate about Kathryn, and we’ll do anything we can for her.

Kathryn takes PERSERVERANCE to the next level…and we’re honored to be a part of her journey.

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