Michele Stillwell

Michele Stillwell

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

Have you ever caught yourself asking “What Is A Millennial Anyway?

Millennials, aka Gen Y, are also referred to “echo boomers” due to a major surge in birth rates in the 1980’s and 1990’s and because they’re the children of Baby Boomers.

Millennials are generally noted for their increased use and familiarity with communications, media, and digital technologies.

With that in mind, I’d like to introduce you to Seth Trokey and Emily Alvarez, two awesome Millennials who we’re lucky enough to have at MEDiAHEAD.

Both are graduates from the Kansas City Art Institute and bring a wealth of knowledge and skill to MEDiAHEAD!

Meet Seth

Seth is our Director of Shipping and Receiving.

Seth and Emily

Seth and Emily

He’s done an outstanding job of making the role his own and putting new processes and procedures in place.

He’s learned the software platforms we use and takes a ton of pride in his work.

Seth also does 2D animation and brings this wonderful skill to MEDiAHEAD on the side.

He created our video for the Holiday cards and is working on another video for us (which I’ll keep a secret until it’s released!)

Meet Emily

Emily is our Bindery Production Manager and has learned every piece of equipment we have.

She has an outstanding personality and does a fantastic job of getting things done on time with quality always top of mind.

Emily is also a creative wizard.

If you look around you just might see some of her artwork as she has created some murals (one, in particular, is at Bridge Space in Lee’s Summit.) Emily is also hand drawing the Holiday Card for MEDiAHEAD!

Seth and Emily definitely don’t fit the “ME, ME, ME” stereotype of Millennials. They show up to work each and every day with a smile and bring a wealth of positive energy that’s contagious.

We’re super happy to have these two awesome people on our team!

Kat 600x450Post written by Kat McDaniel, Chief Innovator at MEDiAHEAD | Marketing Portal Guru | Variable Data Promoter | Analytics Advocate | Explorer

I never came home from school and didn’t see my mother with a book in her hand.

My parents always read in the evenings and on vacations in front of me and my three sisters. They instilled a love of reading in me at a very young age.

My father would take me to the bookstore on Saturday mornings. Each time, I was allowed to pick out one book to add to our library at home. It was never anything I considered fun – he started me on the classics, which were pretty painful to read at that age.

I also worked in the school library and was a pretty shy, nerdy kid – always with a book in my hand. People who know me now can’t imagine that I was painfully shy until after college.

Most of my peers read tons of business books. I just can’t do it. Why? Because I read to escape, to distract, to travel, and to visualize imaginary worlds.

Kat booksMost people will tell you that PRINT is dead, but we still consume books—we just do it differently now.

According to a new survey from Pew Research, about three-quarters of us (74 percent) have read at least one book in any format in the past 12 months.

That figure has remained relatively unchanged since 2012. Most (67 percent) have read a print book. Fewer have read an e-book (26 percent) or listened to an audiobook (18 percent).

I’m currently reading 10 books that Afar recommended about adventurous hikes that people have done all over the world.

My favorite so far is Thru-Hiking Will Break Your Heart: An Adventure on the Pacific Crest Trail by Carrot Quinn. Thru-hiking is hiking a long-distance within one hiking season.

As most of you know, I have a son that has been a thru-hiker since he was 18. He’s hiked in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, India, the Himalayas, the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, the Continental Divide Trail, the Moab and the Grand Canyon.

He also biked through Australia for two years, lived in New Zealand and crewed on a boat in the Pacific.

I wish I’d been brave enough at his age to see all the incredible things he has. For now, I’ll have to be content to hear his stories and read about the incredible hikes other people have done all over this beautiful planet.

What about you? What books are you reading right now? What are your favorites?

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

Tennis anyone?

I’m going to be completely honest with you.

I’m REALLY competitive. In fact, I’m by far the most competitive person I know.

My competitive fire is even more challenging when I play my favorite sport against my husband. Yep, we play singles tennis together about three-to-four times per week.

So where did this competitive obsession come from?

It all started when I was a kid, playing tennis with my father. He fueled the competitive drive in me because any game we played, he won! He was a great tennis player. In fact, he was great at everything.

tennis ballPlaying tennis with him was true competition. It was always my ultimate goal to beat him.

I never did.

Tennis is a sport that gets you in great shape both physically and mentally.

It requires you to always concentrate not only on your opponent’s next move but to also focus on yourself (positioning for each and every hit, your opponent, holding your racquet, your swing, etc).

(Pro Tip: It also helps to know the kind of strings your racquet is strung with to ensure your best game.)

So can I beat my husband? Why yes, I can!  We’re so incredibly competitive, it’s absurd! We don’t throw our racquets, (just because they’re so expensive) but we get pretty close to that point!

We also play against other people as well and it’s lots of fun.

If you’re interested in trying a tennis league out, we’re members of the Northland Racquet Club. They have lessons and six indoor courts. They also let you play Pickleball if that’s more your speed.

Any other tennis fanatics out there?