COS CEO 2017

Twelve people to watch in 2017

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PUBLISHER Jenifer Furda Jenifer.Furda@csbj.com EDITOR Amy Gillentine Sweet Amy.Sweet@csbj.com EDITORIAL STAFF Amber Baillie Bryan Grossman John Hazlehurst Cameron Moix Colorado Springs Business Journal ADVERTISING Richard Flanders Richard.Flanders@csbj.com Tammy Fogall Tammy.Fogall@csmng.com Royce Gomez Royce.Gomez@csbj.com Vanessa Nagel Vanessa.Nagel@csbj.com Advertising/Event Coordinator Heather McPeak ART DEPARTMENT Production Director Ryan Hannigan

Welcome to the first

C

olorado Springs has no shortage of people at the top making a big difference in the community, in the state — and even at a national level. The United States Olympic Committee’s Scott Blackmun, El Pomar’s Bill Hybl and entrepreneur, hotelier and attorney Perry Sanders are putting the city in the national spotlight, while CEOs like Margaret Sabin and Mary Fagnant are working to make Colorado Springs a better place to live, work and play.

Leaders in the community are people who are routinely in the news, in the spotlight and are accustomed to making daily decisions that affect the entire state.

With the COS CEO magazine, the Colorado Springs Business Journal goes behind those business decisions — and the headlines —to discuss their challenges, their successes and their failures. Readers will learn what motivates construction CEO Jim Johnson, what Stockman Kast Ryan’s David Kast does in his off time and learn the best advice Tom Naughton’s received as he leads the region for U.S. Bank.

In addition to learning what Pam Shockley-Zalabak hopes to do in her retirement and how Shawnee Huckstep ended up in The United Arab Emirates, CSBJ readers will have an opportunity to attend a monthly roundtable with each of the CEOs during 2017. The invitation-only event is designed for C-level executives to meet one-on-one with industry leaders like Catalyst Campus’s Kevin O’Neil or Epicentral’s Lisa Tessarowicz and learn about each of our 12 CEOs feel about taking risks, what challenges they overcame and what they plan to do next. Contact us at the CSBJ (events@csbj.com) if you’d like to be invited to a specific roundtable.

Our goal with the COS CEO is to provide insight into the city’s industrial and business leaders — and to allow them to mentor those who will take their place in moving the city toward even greater business ness in the years to come.

Jenifer Furda Publisher Colorado Springs Business Journal

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P

enrose-St. Francis Health Services President and CEO Margaret Sabin is such a trusted leader, one of her employees voted for her for the office of president of the United States.

“One of the top nurses on our orthopedics unit, when I just walked through, said, ‘Sorry you didn’t win but you’re No. 1 in our minds.’ In that moment I could have just melted,” Sabin said.

Sabin, who has held a string of CEO positions in the health care industry throughout her career, has headed Penrose-St. Francis since 2008.

She oversees the daily operations of the 522-bed system, which includes Penrose Hospital, St. Francis Medical Center, Penrose Mountain Urgent Care in Woodland Park, Penrose Community Urgent Care and Penrose Urgent Care at Cripple Creek.

In July 2009, Margaret was also named the president of Centura Health’s South State Operating Group, overseeing operations at all Centura hospitals in Southern Colorado.

Additionally, she serves as chairwoman of Centura Health’s Trauma Council, leading the first integrated health care network nationally to establish a trauma system linked to its own facilities and services.

In addition, Sabin was named one of the Colorado Springs Business Journal’s “Women of Influence” in 2009, and one of the Bay Area’s “100 Most Influential Women in Business” by the San Francisco Business Times in 2003 and 2004. Sabin was also named to Becker’s Hospital Review’s 2012, 2014 and 2015 “100 Women Hospital and Health System Leaders to Know” list. In 2013, she was a recipient of the Girl Scouts Women of Distinction Award, and in 2014, was named the Colorado Springs Business Journal’s “Healthiest CEO.” Despite her long list of personal accomplishments, Sabin said her position of leadership is one rooted in serving others.

in health care versus someplace that produces products for consumers?

For one, in a hospital, I’m involved in people’s lives every day. Also, health care is not something people want to buy usually. In a consumer world, individuals have something you’ve selected to fulfill a need or want. Not so in health care.

But I consider it doubly an honor to touch people’s lives in such an intimate and visceral way.

How have you grown as a leader?

I’ve learned that it’s not about you; it’s about the team. I’ve learned it’s all about the people and to never think I was more important. I have the responsibility to bring the team together and support them — listen to them and get out of way. We have a talented team.

Do you think it’s more difficult to stay healthy when you are in a leadership position?

I think our focus on spirituality links very closely with needing to love ourselves and take good care of ourselves.

That’s taking care of the mental, the physical and the spiritual.

As a CEO, you just have to make it work. Once you do, you can’t imagine living otherwise. That might mean 15 or 20 minutes in the morning to walk or run — and do it again at night. I wouldn’t say it’s easy. I’d be fibbing if I said it was easy. But it’s a challenge that pays off multiple times. Your greatest investment is you and you can’t be a great leader if you’re not working at the top of your game.

“I’ve learned that it’s not about you; it’s about the team.”

Did you always want to be a CEO? It’s always been my goal to make a difference and to feel like I’m impacting peoples’ lives. This is certainly one job opportunity that allows you to do that.

Anyone who has [been a CEO] knows there are portions that can be tough, where you don’t feel very supported by the entities you represent. I’m blessed that has not been an issue for a moment at Penrose-St. Francis.

What are the differences between being a CEO

What’s the best advice you’ve ever gotten?

God gave us two ears to listen and one mouth to talk, so be sure to listen twice as much as you talk.

How have you failed and what did you learn?

I failed because I talked twice as much as I listened.

What’s something about you that might surprise people?

I’m an introvert. I think extroverts have a leadership advantage because they get energy from being around people. I love people and making things happen, but I have to get my energy alone. That’s why the sports I do are distance running and swimming. I can do them by myself, and that’s how I recharge.

— Bryan Grossman

Margaret

Sabin

Penrose-St. Francis Health Services

Photo by Katie Foster

Pam

Shockley-Zalabak

UCCS

Photo by Katie Foster

U

CCS Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak doesn’t have to tell people how dedicated she is to students at the university. After all, she was hired as a full-time communications instructor in 1980 and plans to retire as its head in February 2017.

At age 72, she’s been leading the institution for 15 years and continues to teach at UCCS, in addition to her other responsibilities.

Throughout her career she’s worked in environments such as television production, print production and advertising.

She sees the power of communication more broadly across large-scale organizations, and has written five books on communication and how to communicate better.

A visionary leader at one of the fastest-growing universities in the state, Zalabak spoke with the Business Journal about her passion for higher education, wisdom she’s gained throughout her career and plans for the future.

What is the best advice you’ve ever received?

When making a decision: Use all of the data and facts but also trust your instincts. When I first started out in my career [before becoming chancellor] I was very driven by the data of a situation and probably for many years, didn’t trust my own sense of the situation.

I think putting your own sense in your experience with what appear to be the facts of the situation really strengthens your approach.

What have you learned from failure?

Sometimes I’ve learned that I was simply wrong, and that I needed to adjust what I was doing. I have learned that you can’t foresee how circumstances change and that you might have made the decision you made in good faith, but it still didn’t work because the world around you or circumstances around the decision changed.

What I’ve learned from failures is to try to understand them. One of the things I do is also look at what works well and try to understand what we did in those circumstances.

If you focus only on failure, then you don’t learn from your successes.

For example, some of the strategies that we had prior to the economic downturns of 2002 and 2008, there was no way we were going to be successful. The world around us changed, and so we had to adjust our strategies. I think the greatest failure would have been not to adjust and to keep going. If something isn’t going the way you want it to: Stop, evaluate and change course.

How do you achieve work/life balance?

I teach a workshop called ‘Rejecting Balance.’ Because I don’t think — regardless of the job, or regardless of the personal life — that it’s possible to keep everything in balance.

So I talk about passion and priorities. I create a healthy life by getting very clear about what my priorities are at a given point in time, and how I devote my energy.

For example, several years ago I had invalids living in my house, my mother and my grandmother. I couldn’t have been the chancellor at that point in time because my family was my priority. I was a professor and did a lot of what I considered to be very valuable and important work. But I couldn’t devote the time to a leadership career. When [taking care of family] was no longer part of my life, and I had an opportunity to help the university grow and change, then it could become my passion and priority.

I think if people will get clear about their passion and priorities it’s easier to balance. What I think fails is that oftentimes we just try to do everything well versus prioritize, versus think about the timing in your life and what is most important. That’s what I do.

I think you can have a better sense of fulfillment verses running around to do everything.

What’s something about you that might surprise people?

I’m a dedicated introvert. I gain a lot of energy from introspection and quiet time. I love people and public discussions on UCCS and the things we’re trying to accomplish. But I’m more of a quiet person and a lot of people have a hard time believing that.

“One of the things I do is also look at what works well and try to understand what we did in those circumstances.”

Who inspires you?

Some of our students at UCCS — what they’re trying to achieve is truly inspirational for me.

When I see what some of them are willing to do in terms of hard work, overcoming barriers, it really inspires me to get out of the box.

What is next for you?

I want to write more. Being chancellor, I haven’t been able to do as much of my research and lecture books that I really like to write.

And I absolutely love big-animal photography, and I want to do more of that.

Years ago I produced television — educational television. I had a crew in Washington, D.C. — the National Geographic crew — that I hired to do a documentary. They excited me with what they did and that’s what I want to do more of: international travel and photography.

— Amber Baillie

M

ost people know Lisa Tessarowicz as the owner and operator of Epicentral Coworking in downtown Colorado Springs. But there’s more to her than meets the eye, including roots in the nonprofit industry, her work to establish a family foundation for philanthropy and investing, her compassion for people and her desire to be taken seriously as a female angler.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

I think one of the most important lessons I’ve learned in starting Epicentral was to start small. … When I first had the idea to start a co-working space, I got very excited about buying a building. It was in partnering with Hannah Parsons that I realized that maybe wasn’t the best approach. She recommended that we start as small as possible … and I think that idea of starting small and testing the market is very important — and you save time and money.

How have you failed, and what have you learned from it?

Epicentral opened a second location at the Ivywild School in the late Spring of 2015. It was an opportunity that I was incredibly excited about. We had already gone through an expansion … and I think the idea of growth got to be a little bit addictive. So we took over some space at Ivywild, but my mistake was that I didn’t put enough thought or planning into it. … We moved into that space and our members didn’t want to work there. They preferred being downtown, and we couldn’t provide to them the same amenities we had at our downtown location — it just wasn’t right for us as an organization. It closed earlier this year.

kind of burnt out in the nonprofit sector and ended up leaving to go work for the family office (my father was an entrepreneur and much of the family nowadays helps manage the family office). … I also discovered that perhaps I could have more impact in the nonprofit world by being a funder instead of an employee. Through going to work for the family office, I also hoped that I would learn more about investing, asset management and estate planning, as well as to figure out how to maximize the amount of philanthropy the family office was able to do. It was during that time that I ended up going to philanthropy school in the Bay Area in 2011 and 2012. … I found that program very inspiring and that was a big part of me deciding I wanted to open a co-working space in Colorado Springs, because I was looking for some way to effect the change I wanted to see in Colorado Springs, and opening up a co-working space seemed like the first logical step to doing that. After that, I started a co-working space with Hannah [Parsons] and also started a family foundation called the CALM Foundation.

What is CALM? The mission of the CALM Foundation is to improve the reputation of Colorado Springs, to increase the level of pride for citizens within Colorado Springs and to increase community attachment. … We like to fund things that tend to be a little bit more risky — a little bit more experimental — which makes us different than most funders or donors.

“Ultimately I’m a small business owner; I’m a philanthropist; I’m an angler; and I love to go hiking.”

What’s something about you that might surprise people?

I think it would be that I’m a real softie … and I care about people a lot. I care about Colorado Springs, and I care about this community. I think that a lot of people think that I’m driven by money, and I’m not so much as I am driven by people — making a better name for Colorado Springs and making people proud to live here. … I really care about our members and our staff, and I would do anything for any of them.

How did you get to Colorado Springs?

I was born in Dallas, Texas, and my family moved here when I was 3 years old. I graduated from the University of Denver with a degree in international business and finance.

I spent most of my 20s here in Colorado Springs and started my career in the nonprofit industry.

How did you get from the nonprofit sector to where you are now?

I learned I really wanted to help people but that my skill set doesn’t really lend itself to helping people directly. So I got

What are some of your personaL and/or professional goals?

I want Epicentral to continue to provide value to its members and to the community, and I want my employees to be happy.

I’m definitely looking for a new venture right now, and I want to do that in a very intentional way. Personally, I want to spend more time outside — hiking and fishing. … I also want to invest more, which means I need to make more money and save more money (I want to have more access to cash, so I can do more deals). Ultimately, I want to continue making Colorado Springs a community people want to stay in and one that bright minds want to come to.

How would you characterize yourself professionally?

I don’t know that I consider myself an entrepreneur. I’ve come to know a lot about investing and I’ve come to know a lot about business through my own personal experience, through my family members and their experiences, and I also try to read a decent amount — but I really don’t know that I’d attach the word entrepreneur to myself. I think that ultimately I’m a small business owner; I’m a philanthropist; I’m an angler; and I love to go hiking.

— Cameron Moix

Lisa

Tessarowicz Epicentral Coworking

Photo by Katie Foster

Kevin

O’Neil

The O’Neil Group Photo by Katie Foster

K

evin O’Neil’s hobby is his career — his focus on his tight-knit team at work and his tireless passion for developing economic growth and a strong downtown in Colorado Springs leaves little room for anything else.

The 50-year-old businessman from Colorado Springs is CEO of the O’Neil Group Co., a family-owned investment firm that specializes in buying and expanding small and midsized companies that are based in the Springs or can be moved here. He opened Catalyst Campus, which includes co-working spaces, research and development, and a nonprofit technology transfer arm known as the Center for Technology and Innovation. His goal is to boost technology in the region and form a national presence in Colorado Springs, while attracting and growing new businesses in the city.

Throughout O’Neil’s career, he’s tapped into different markets, with holdings in industries such as lighting, graphic design, real estate, aerospace and defense, and software development — which ultimately, he says, has allowed him to survive recessions, stabilize his income and continue with new business goals and ventures.

What is the best advice you’ve ever received?

Don’t ever give up.

When I was in my mid-teens, my brother and I were hunting pheasants with my father in Nebraska one day. We’d been out all day and had only seen a few birds. After walking a mile and a half, we decided to wrap up, began unloading our guns and went to the truck.

My father walked the point and three birds came out. That’s when he said, ‘You never know when opportunity is going to strike, and you have to be ready until the very end.’

And that’s the reality: Not to give up is everything.

too hard-headed or just didn’t have the ability to do something different.

When I mentor someone, one of the first things I tell them is: Go and find something you’re passionate about. It doesn’t matter what it is, but make sure you’re passionate and make sure it’s in an industry where there is a quality of life and you can earn money.

What has been the hardest industry to get a stake in?

There’s no question the most difficult industry is the flooring business. Through my experience, it was difficult because your competition was the guy that carried a toolbox into the room and said, “I’m in business.” There was no barred entry, so a company that had a store, overhead, employees and did payroll and taxes was at a disadvantage to the businessman who worked out of his house with no overhead, employees or insurances — but could do the same job. It was almost impossible to make money.

Is Catalyst Campus running how you’d envisioned?

I think it’s an engine; what it is building and the successes behind the scenes will become very impressive for our community. It’s doing exactly what I’d hoped it would do, and we’re talking to customers that aren’t currently in the community, which is exactly what I want to happen.

The construction has been frustrating — renovating a 100-year-old building — but as we’re finishing, we’re occupying the space with the companies we want to be here and increasing opportunities.

It’s neat when you realize we’re building something very unique in the nation. The customer excitement has been fun because I’m seeing customers that we didn’t think we could help.

“It’s my job to make those calls with the information I have and then correct the course if information comes in that changes that.”

What have you learned from failure?

Being a CEO, you make decisions every day and believe at the time they’re all right. But over a period of time, you can actually measure the ones that were right, sort of right or just dead wrong. Through the years what I know to be true is: The decisions I make this week, some will be dead wrong, and I have to be open to admitting that and then if they affect people, apologize. We’re all human and are going to make mistakes. It’s my job to make those calls with the information I have and then correct the course if information comes in that changes that or I was just wrong.

What is something key you’ve learned over the years?

I wasted a lot of years in industries where there was no future and career. But I didn’t know what else to do and I was

Are you comfortable being a CEO? The term doesn’t feel natural. I’m comfortable making decisions, comfortable collaborating and coming up with the best decision we can at the time. But I don’t think of myself as a CEO. I think of myself as a guy that wakes up and does the best he can every day and hopes that is good enough. People around me add the value and meaning. Sometimes they lead, sometimes I lead. So it works and I have great partners.

What’s something about you that might surprise people?

I absolutely love kids. Any cute kid will stop me in my tracks. I’d rather hang out with a bunch of kids, maybe 2- or 4-year-olds, than adults.

— Amber Baillie

U

.S. Bank CEO Richard Davis says banking is one of the “accidental professions,” and the bank’s local president Tom Naughton agrees with him.

The Iowa native went to college and studied finance at the University of Denver, following in his older sisters’ footsteps.

“Out of college, I was accepted into a management trainee program at a bank,” he said. “I thought it would be a good way to get started in finance. And 38 years later, here I am.”

He and his wife ended up in Colorado Springs, he said, after a stint back in his hometown of Des Moines.

“We deliberately chose Colorado Springs,” he said. “Because we wanted to build our own success, our own identities.

Anne’s father was very well known in Denver; mine was well known in Des Moines. We wanted to make our own way.”

What’s the best advice you’ve ever gotten?

It was from my dad: ‘Nobody’s better than you; you’re no better than anyone else.’ That kept me grounded. There’s also a Tim McGraw song, Humble and Kind — I really relate to that, it’s definitely the way I was raised.

How have you failed and what did you learn?

I left banking for about two years. In 1997, I wanted a change. I felt the bank had lost focus on our customers. At the time, banks were very focused on efficiencies and not on customers. So I went a different direction, I went to work as a business broker. It was a real leap of faith — I went from salary to 100 percent commission base. It was a little out of my zone. And what I missed about banking reinforced some things I knew about myself. I’m a people person; I like the clients.

As a banker, you are arguably providing people with one of the most important needs — their financial well-being. I also missed the esprit de corps, the camaraderie inside a bank.

what has happened, the management, how it’s all gone in the past — and then apply that to the future. It makes us more cautious. We have to do our due diligence up front, but make a forward-thinking decision at the same time.

What are some of the challenges you’ve faced?

At one point in my life, I’d lost my parents just 41/2 months apart; my oldest son was going to college; we were moving into a new house. There were a lot of lifetime stressors within that period of time. I remember thinking: If I can manage all this, then I know I can manage anything else. It really helped me figure out what is important, and how to keep that front and center in my life.

What are the secrets to your success?

I’ve had some very good role models. The best role models are my father and father-in-law. My father was an inventor, an entrepreneur, a successful businessperson. He grew up on a farm in east-central Iowa, only had a 10th-grade education and was dyslexic. He overcame all that — he was a real Horatio Alger story. He invented the modern dental chair, which actually moved toward sit-down dentistry. The original chair is in the Smithsonian. He was just a remarkable person, a super sales guy.

My father-in-law was a banker. He was an accomplished banker, a civic leader in Denver. He was so different than my dad. He was more reserved, but I learned so much from him. The values he taught me I’ve used every day.

“Be a servant leader. In other words, lead by example.”

What’s something about you that might surprise people?

I was two months premature in 1955. Can you imagine how scared my parents were? I weighed 3 pounds, 10 ounces. They didn’t think I was going to make it — I joke I was a cradle Catholic.

Do you take risks in your position?

I’m cautious by nature, so banking is a perfect fit. Bankers don’t believe in over-committing and under-delivering. The very nature of our profession is that we are risk-averse. We have to be realists and examine what could go wrong if we give a loan. We need to know the history of the business,

What is your leadership philosophy?

Be a servant leader. In other words, lead by example. I’m a Rotarian and they believe in service before self. I try to emulate that as best as I can. They created a four-way test for business leaders: Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned?

Does it build goodwill? Does it benefit all concerned? If you can’t answer all those as a yes, then you have no business being involved in it.

What would you change about Colorado Springs?

I think we really need to promote ourselves as a familyfriendly place. Colorado Springs has so much going for it. It’s a great place to raise a family. I say we market it as that. Let the 20-somethings go out and sow their oats, but come back here to raise a family. We shouldn’t be down on ourselves.

This is a beautiful city.

— Amy G. Sweet

TOM

Naughton U.S. Bank

Photo by Katie Foster

Bill

Hybl

El Pomar Foundation

Photo by Katie Foster

S

pencer Penrose’s riding boots have never been easy ones to fill — but the general consensus around Spec’s old stomping grounds is that he would be proud of the work Bill Hybl has done to further his larger-than-life legacy in Colorado Springs. Much like Penrose, Hybl has had an eventful life. He has served as a soldier, a lawyer and a legislator and has spent the past 43 years of his life dedicated to Penrose’s mandate to “enhance, encourage and promote the current and future well-being of the people of Colorado.”

Where are you from originally and how did you end up in Colorado?

I’m originally from Des Moines, Iowa, and moved to Pueblo when I was 2 years old. My father was with the Maytag Co., and he came out here to be the regional manager for the southern half of Colorado and the northern part of New Mexico. So we lived in Pueblo, which used to be larger than Colorado Springs (at least it was in 1944-45).

At what point did you move to Colorado Springs?

I was in grade school, junior high and high school in Pueblo. I graduated from Pueblo Central and came up here to go to school at Colorado College (I was a political science major).

After graduating from Colorado College and going through ROTC, I went on to the University of Colorado Law School and got out during the Vietnam Conflict in 1967. ... I went through Army infantry school as a first lieutenant and went to intelligence school, was promoted to captain and they sent me to Ethiopia, where there was an electronic intercept station. ...

After that, I came back here as a deputy district attorney. That was in 1969. In 1970, there was a big turnover in the DA’s office and I became the assistant district attorney — the No. 2 guy — and I did that until 1972, when I ran for and was elected to serve in the Colorado House of Representatives. ... I also had my own law practice and was doing probate work when I met with a man by the name of Ben Wendelken, who was one of the most distinguished lawyers ever in Colorado Springs. ... As we were talking about a particular case, he asked me if I had ever thought about doing something else. We were at El Pomar, which owned The Broadmoor at the time, and he said, ‘We need to bring in someone to run El Pomar Foundation.’ ... So I came out here as vice president and executive director of the Foundation on Dec. 1, 1973. I’ve ended up with the El Pomar Foundation for 43 years now — and I enjoy this. I have many friends who practice law and have grown

tired of their practice, but I do not tire of what we do here at El Pomar and the wonderful people I get to work with.

To what do you attribute your love of what you do?

You get the ongoing satisfaction of helping others in a constructive way. ... You get a chance to do the various things that you’d otherwise never have the opportunity to do, as far as being a catalyst in the community. It has been great being here, and I can’t tell you how good the people are who work for El Pomar, which makes my life a lot easier, a lot more fun and a lot more rewarding.

Do you have an affinity for Spencer Penrose and his legacy?

There’s no question that Spencer Penrose and Julie Penrose made a significant contribution to the fabric of this community. It’s not just building the railway, the Incline, the hotel; it has to do with the sort of people they attracted to do things in this community. ... In his last few years, he formed El Pomar Foundation in 1937 ... and I’ve sensed that he felt that maybe he hadn’t done enough to help others. But he wanted to help others, and he decided to commit his fortune to that effort.

“Always have time to represent those who are least able to represent themselves.”

What’s something about you that might surprise people?

While I won’t give it to you here, I do have a Snapchat handle. My first Snap was to my grandson. Needless to say, he was surprised too!

How have you failed and what did you learn?

Through the more than 40 years of my career, as is the case with many I’d imagine, I have made several disappointing hires. I learned that intelligence is not necessarily the primary attribute required. The ability to work really hard, and have a deep commitment to the organization, to have the heart for the work, is paramount. Work ethic, personal investment in the mission and intelligence, now that’s the trifecta.

What is the best advice you’ve ever received?

Ben Wendelken was Colorado Springs City Attorney for more than 15 years. Over 43 years ago, he was the Broadmoor and El Pomar’s general counsel and the foundation appointed him as trustee in 1957. He was also a mentor, friend and one of the few people who — when I came to the Foundation — knew the Penroses, as he was also their legal counsel. One of the first pieces of advice he gave me was to always have time to represent those who are least able to represent themselves.

— Cameron Moix

Words of Wisdom from Springs CEOs On leadership…

“It really always comes down to a person-to-person relationship. Having good relationships is one of the things I value.”

— Karen Dunne, Maven

“I try and give my team the tools and end objective, but not direct them in exactly how to get there.”

— Debbie Balch, Elevated Insights “To be a good leader, you have to have the heart to serve. A service mentality is critical to great leadership. My wife says it all the time: ‘It can’t be about me, without me.’ A lot of leaders believe they know what their co-workers need to be successful, but they never really ask. You have to serve people if you want them to be successful at work, deeply satisfied with what they do.”

— Richard Bender, USA Wrestling “As a leader, you have to know that there are two sides to every story, and the truth lies somewhere in the middle. As the commander here, I don’t always hear the good news — but I do hear the bad news. And if it gets to me, it’s very, very bad stuff. If it can be fixed at a lower level, it is. But if it has to come to me, it’s serious. So there’s never an amazingly obvious solution. You have to listen to both sides and try to find a compromise. You have to find the right decision that is best for the mission, is legal and ethical. And no matter what your best effort someone is going to be unhappy. That’s OK — as long as you make sure you’re doing what’s best, what’s legal and what’s ethical.”

— Col DeAnna Burt, Schriever Air Force Base

On the business climate…

“I think small business is critical to our advancement and bringing compa-

nies here is critical. So taking these larger companies and celebrating the fact that we have companies expanding and moving here is wonderful. And the beauty is that it’s multi-generational — it’s not just the powers-that-be who are leading everything.”

— Stephannie Finley Fortune, UCCS “I think the business community is very collegial; we want to help each other.

It’s not a matter of people stepping over one another to get business. I think there is plenty of work here, particularly in the legal community.”

— Greg Givens, Greg E. Givens P.C.

Words of Wisdom from Springs CEOs On success …

“Whether it’s working to add to online offerings … or making

improvements to legislation, providing common sense solutions to Coloradans is what drives me.”

— Wayne Williams, Secretary of State, Colorado “I also think it’s important to give yourself kudos for the things you’ve accomplished, rather than focus on the relentless pace forward of: I’ve got more to do, or I have to do better.”

— Trinity Bradley-Anderson, Stockman, Kast, Ryan “I think a lot of times in business, you need to catch a couple of breaks and then know when you’ve caught one and know what to do with it.”

— Mike Bristol, Bristol Brewing

On Colorado Springs …

“Colorado Springs is special because it has been built largely

through philanthropy. Of course, that couldn’t happen without a vibrant private sector, and we are blessed to have so many community leaders who understand that a great community is a blend of private, government and nonprofit interests. And our community has done an amazing job of setting aside open space to protect the natural beauty of the region. It is so easy to maintain an active lifestyle here.”

— Dave Somers, Center for Nonprofit Excellence “I think we’re at a tipping point and we’re finding all this momentum. Every few years, you hear about the latest cool city — Austin, Portland, Seattle, Charlotte all had a turn. We’re going to be the next cool place. It’s our turn. And we have so much natural environment here — so much more than all those other cities — it should have been our turn a long time ago.”

— Kyle Blakley, Blakley + Co.

On motivation…

“Seeing things move, seeing the growth of the franchise. It’s cus-

tomer service, branding and I think seeing the movement and being able to add more employees with the growth of every department is rewarding.”

— Lynette Crow-Iverson, Conspire

Words of Wisdom from Springs CEOs On the arts …

“I think it’s our job to demonstrate why we’re important as a sector and

why an investment in arts and culture is going to pay dividends for the business and tourism communities, and support businesses trying to do their thing in the Springs and the region.”

— Andy Vick, Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region

On diversity …

“All of us are culturally incompetent to some degree. Learning about dif-

ferent people is a benefit of being in diversity. It forces you to interact with people who are different from you. … Then you have to face why you may think of certain things in certain ways. That’s where you get to build your cultural competence. Not learning about other people, but learning about yourself.”

— Keith Barnes, PPCC

On starting a business …

“Two are intangible: First, you need a vision of what you want to do;

second, you need a passion to acquire it. And you need a drive, a desire to work 24/7, because that’s the only way it’s going to work.

“Visualize where you want to be in five years, and then come up with a plan of how to get there. It takes insight and talent — but you have to plan for the future.”

— Ed Rios, National Cybersecurity Center “Be prepared to fail. Be prepared to fail more than once. Don’t do it because you think you’re going to make a lot of money. You almost certainly won’t. Do it because you’re passionate about it; you’re interested in it; you will make the world better because of it. Don’t be afraid to be out of work at some point; almost every entrepreneur is.”

— Bill Miller, venture capitalist

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Words of Wisdom from Springs CEOs On the next generation …

“I always advise young people; I encourage them: Do what you love; do what

you’re passionate about. If you want a business, go ahead and do it. That’s my philosophy: Follow your passion. You have to be passionate about what you do. After that, there are only three things: work, work and more work.”

— Ilia Petkov, IP Automation “I mentor young women interested in business, and I always tell them: Make sure you know the industry you are getting into. I think that’s where most people fail — they think they have a good idea, but it’s in an area they know little about. Also, people need a vision and they need to maintain that vision, and build on it. They need to bring people in, ask advice, collaborate to take that business to the next level.”

— Kathy Boe, Boecore

On being involved …

“I’ve learned that it’s not about what you get out of it, but what you give. It

doesn’t matter whether you get the credit; your reward is the knowledge that you contributed.”

— Sallie Clark, former El Paso County Commissioner

F

or David Kast, accounting is a family business. His dad was an accountant, so when he was in school at Colorado State University, he decided that accounting was a good way to make sure he always had a job. After graduating, he worked at what is now DeLoitte, and he has been in Colorado Springs ever since.

He founded Stockman, Kast, Ryan + Co. in 1995 — and is preparing, he says, to turn the firm over to the next generation of accountants, leaving them a company with a reputation for fairness, accuracy and valuable ethics.

What’s the best advice you’ve received?

It came from my dad. He said, ‘No matter what you do, try to be the best you can be. Don’t take shortcuts, and be very open about what you do and how you do it.’

The second came from accountant Marvin Strait: ‘Don’t ever do anything that if your mom read it on the front page of the newspaper, she’d be embarrassed.’

How have you failed?

Everybody’s failed at something. I guess my biggest failing is to underestimate what people wanted, or not being able to identify what they wanted. I can research all day long what I think they want, but it’s not meaningful unless it falls in line with their expectations.

I’ve learned to set aside preconceived ideas of what needs to be done. It’s coming up with an answer before you know what the question is — that’s one of my biggest failings.

members of the community. We’ve had clients that were dropped, and some that we decided not to work with, due to their unethical behavior.

It’s fun — and we still take risks, but it’s different now. We work with our clients to grow their business — we take that risk with them.

What are your biggest challenges?

People. It’s always people. All our assets walk out the door every night. We invest in our people. We’re working with a new generation — and they are different. It’s energizing — they’re smart, they work hard. But they want a balanced life.

When I started it was all about work. They want to have fun; they want to work hard too.

What are the secrets to your success?

To a fault, I’ve always taken a hands-off approach. We hire people to work here, and we assign a task. We expect them to do the work. I do have an open door policy, but I want them to stub their toes, to figure it out. We have a new CEO here now and we’re working on a succession plan. We’ve selected the very best people for the job, and then we turn them loose on a project.

“My job is to empower our staff with the tools to get the job done — and then let them do it.”

What’s something about you that might surprise people?

I’m a heli-skier. I’ve been doing it for 25 years, taking a helicopter into the remote mountains to ski. I usually go in Canada; it’s quite an experience. When you’re doing it the first few times, you can hardly believe where you are and what you’re doing. And half the fun is the helicopter ride — it’s just so beautiful.

I also played on the CSU rugby team. We were invited to the national championship and made it to the semifinals against Louisiana State University. We always said that if we didn’t win the game, we’d at least win the party.

What risks have you taken?

Accounting isn’t as risk-averse as you might think. When you first start out, you take anyone as a client — and that can get you into trouble because of the client’s activities. Now, clients get reviewed. We need to know that they are good

What’s your leadership philosophy?

My job is to empower our staff with the tools to get the job done — and then let them do it. We provide training, the technical ability to do their job. So then we let them do it.

We see where they are; we provide insight. Also, I hire people who are smarter than I am.

How has accounting changed?

It used to be just filling out tax paperwork, audit paperwork. Now, you have to build a relationship with the client; you have to get to know them, what they do. Then you have to use your skills and knowledge to help them grow in the future. That’s what sets this firm apart. And we have the most fascinating client base; it runs the gamut.

Do you have advice for people starting out in the field?

I tell them don’t expect to sit in a back room and push numbers around. That’s not what accounting is. You can leave all that to the machines. You have to learn to ask the right questions to help the client be more profitable, serve more people, be more efficient in what they do. I’m not sure they teach that in business schools. I don’t think they teach what actually happens on the job — all the interaction with people.

— Amy G. Sweet

David

Kast

Stockman, Kast, Ryan + Co.

Photo by Katie Foster

Jim

Johnson GE Johnson Construction

Photo by Katie Foster

F

rom a young age, Jim Johnson knew that he would spend his life in the construction business. He was born into a long line of contractors, and at the age of 15, his father — GE Johnson Construction Company founder Gilbert Johnson — began grooming him to one day take over the family business. That transition was completed in 1997, when Jim Johnson became president and CEO of the Colorado Springs-based firm. Johnson recently spoke to the Business Journal about his father’s legacy, his nearly 20 years of leadership and how GE Johnson has changed throughout its 50-year history.

Are you from Colorado Springs?

For the most part, I grew up in Colorado Springs. My family moved here in the early ’60s, but I was actually born in Wichita, Kansas. My father was working for another contracting firm when he was transferred out here. When he was asked to move again, he decided to start his own contracting business [50 years ago]. So I do consider Colorado Springs home. I grew up here and went away for college at Kansas State University. ...

I came back to Colorado Springs for good in 1986. Since the age of 15, my only job has been construction — that is what has always paid the bills.

What have been your challenges?

The pace at which business happens these days is so much quicker than it was in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. … The amount of new technology that has been introduced to our industry over the past several years has been huge, and I think that keeping up with that has been a real challenge. We took the company non-union in 2010, and I think that history will show that was a pretty monumental effort.

How many kids do you have and are any of them interested in taking over the family business?

I have two of my own and I have two step-kids. My oldest son Jared works for the company. He took a very similar path [to] the one I did: He worked for us in high school and college, did an internship and then went to work for a contractor in Phoenix for three years before coming back to work for us about a year ago. He’s the project manager on a hotel we’re working on in Denver. It’s very different. Back in 1986, when I came to work here, my father and I worked in the same small office building. I don’t really interact much with Jared at all on the business side.

“I’m driven by a will to succeed that is ultimately motivated by the fear of failure.”

Did you always think you’d follow in your father’s footsteps?

I think everyone wants to be proud of their father. For me, as a kid, that was me driving by buildings, pointing and saying, ‘My dad built that.’ It was my immediate identity. … I think I got hooked when I was 15. For me, seeing the impact he made and what the process was like was addicting. … So yes, this has been my only occupation — I’m not sure if I picked it or it picked me.

When did you take over for your father?

I took over in January of 1997. We worked side-by-side until he passed in August of 2000. Those were three years I would not trade for anything. He had been diagnosed as terminally ill and had a true desire to see the company succeed him in death. … It was an opportunity to know him not only as a father, but also as a successful businessman. I wouldn’t trade those three years for anything.

What do you think he would say about where things have gone since then?

I really don’t know. … We come from a long line of contractors, and the company had always died when the founder died.

I think my father’s vision was to have the company succeed him … so I think he would be pleased that we’re still here and that the values that have always been a part of the business still exist today. … So my assumption is that he would be proud.

What is the best advice you’ve ever received?

You never stop learning: If you think you have, and you think you know everything, you’re probably in a lot of trouble — you just don’t know it. We learn here every day, myself included. People think the CEO should be all-knowing, but there are things that I definitely don’t know and I’m not afraid to call up someone and ask.

How have you failed and what have you learned from it?

I think I’ve failed a lot. I’ve learned that it’s OK to fail, and that it is what you learn from those experiences that holds value. I’m not afraid to try and fail. There is an inherent risk in our business, so you’ve got to be willing to take risks — which means you have to be willing to fail.

What’s something about you that might surprise people?

I think the possibility of total failure scares the hell out of me. I think I’m driven by a will to succeed that is ultimately motivated by the fear of failure. … I’ve been to the North and South poles. My wife and I are empty-nesters, so we have a couple of Colorado homes — we have a ranch near Westcliffe and a house right outside of Vail — where we like to spend time. I used to run a ton and ran in 20 marathons. … We used to do a lot more international travel, but we’ve scaled back on that because we’ve been to most of the places we wanted to go.

— Cameron Moix

M

ary Fagnant has been CEO of her family-owned manufacturing company Qualtek for about a year — at least in title.

Mary, who acted as president while husband Tony was CEO until he retired last year, said executive decisions were always made in tandem.

After all, Fagnant has been surrounded by manufacturing most of her life. While growing up, her family owned a food packaging manufacturing company outside of Chicago.

After meeting and marrying Tony while in college in Arizona, the couple would eventually move back to Illinois to work in the family business.

Mary spoke with the Business Journal about being a top executive and maintaining the family’s legacy.

Were you ever interested in being CEO of a larger company?

I might have been in my 30s. But it certainly doesn’t appeal to me now. I would be interested in being the CEO for a small company. I’ve worked for big corporations, and it’s not my cup of tea. It makes me want to be in a small company.

I’m a real straight shooter, and the politics of big business don’t work for me.

Talk about growing up around a family business.

Working for a family business can be the greatest opportunity. … You get to learn a lot — whether you want to or not.

There were some things I didn’t want to do, but my sister, who was running the business at the time, said, ‘You will be thankful.’ And I was.

My dad was also very entrepreneurial, so that was how I was going to grow up. I love making decisions. Ultimately, I think just growing up in that environment, you want to own your own business someday.

Are there unique skills women bring to the role of CEO? Absolutely. … I think females come from a perspective that is more open and willing to listen. … I understand what somebody at the lowest level of a company is feeling. I know how hard it is because I was there. There’s more empathy and compassion with women, but I think those are a benefit.

Was your gender ever an issue?

That’s a challenge, but once people know [Tony and I] run the company together, there’s respect. … But I think it’s a little more difficult to run a manufacturing company as a female.

“I don’t consider mistakes failure. Failure is not an option.”

What’s your favorite thing about being CEO? Interacting with the employees — walking around the shop and talking with them.

What sort of work did you do?

I started in customer relations, and I did process management and the implementation of software. But there was a stint while we were looking for this business that I broke away from the family business and took temporary jobs. I didn’t realize how valuable that would be until we came here. I ended up, for a few months, working at a law firm. I learned things from every place I worked, including how to manage [International Organization for Standardization] implementation.

Did you accomplish everything you wanted to professionally?

I guess there are always more things I could do, but I’m proud of the culture we developed here. Retirement will be our evolution. My husband wants to travel the country in a fifth-wheel. So what could that lead to? I’m going to let it just happen.

What was your first position at Qualtek?

President and sales manager. In a small company, the president does a lot of sales, and goes to customers and keeps them happy. That’s our son’s [Chris Fagnant] job now. A big portion is customer relations and overseeing operations.

Sales was easy for me because I had the title ‘president.’

Customers knew I was the president and owner, so they loved to talk to me. A salesperson who walked in cold didn’t have it as easy.

To start, my goal was to see seven clients a day, and we had a lot in Denver. My husband would call in the afternoon and I’d only be on No. 2.

Everybody is very friendly here in Colorado. … I went the first day in a suit. The second day I was in jeans.

What’s the greatest advice you’ve received?

A piece of advice right out of school was from my father: ‘When great opportunity knocks on your door, be prepared to act.’

When did you first became CEO? I just became CEO in November of last year. After this year [Tony and I] will co-chair the board, but give up operational control. We’ll remain involved at the board level strategically because we still own the business. But operationally we won’t be involved.

Any advice for aspiring CEOs? If you’re in your early 20s and want to own a company, get every experience you can, even if it doesn’t fall in your wheelhouse right now. If you own your own business, you’re going to do it all eventually.

How have you failed?

I’ve never failed. I’ve only made a lot of mistakes. The requirement is to learn from those mistakes. I don’t consider mistakes failure. Failure is not an option.

What’s something about you that might surprise people?

If you’re my family, my friends, my business associates — whoever you are — when you meet me, there are no surprises. I’m an open book.

— Bryan Grossman

Mary

Fagnant

Qualtek Manufacturing

Photo by Katie Foster

Shawnee

Huckstep TechWise

Photo by Katie Foster

S

hawnee Huckstep, CEO of defense contractor TechWise, is a forward thinker who is so passionate about business growth that she uprooted her family a few years ago to move to the United Arab Emirates to become a trusted source in the defense industry overseas.

Huckstep and her husband Arran launched the company in Colorado Springs 20 years ago. The company started as a software development business then transitioned to information technology. Huckstep is now delving into simulations, logistics and cybersecurity. In 2016, TechWise won several contracts for air traffic control from the Department of Defense for the Coast Guard, and another contract for the same services from the Department of Homeland Security — its first non-DOD contract. In October, the company announced it had won a fourth air traffic control contract for the Mississippi Air National Guard.

With six locations in the U.S. — Colorado, Washington, California, New Mexico, Georgia, Texas — TechWise opened its first international headquarters in Dubai in 2011 and plans to open a third overseas location in Europe in January.

The business leader from Texas spoke to the Business Journal about lessons she’s learned as a top executive and figuring out how to compete in a global market.

What is the best advice you’ve ever received?

The best advice I’ve ever received came from my grandmother. She grew up in a very depressed economy — what we now would consider dire circumstances. Her saying was always: ‘When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.’

She said it so many times, and with such a positive twist. Because of her love of people and doing a good job, she ended up being very successful. I believe that in all circumstances, there is always a silver lining.

What have you learned from failure?

I fail all the time — but success is repeated failure. You fail and then try again until you get it right. I’m a big believer that through failure you grow and learn how to be more competitive and resilient. Failure is a critical aspect of success and may be the most important.

sought out in overseas markets, and so we looked to expanding there.

Had we not expanded internationally, I’m not sure TechWise would still be here in the same capacity. By expanding overseas during a very difficult time for the United States, we were able to continue to employ all of our core staff and learn about another country [its languages and laws] and do the same kind of services.

What’s been great from overseas growth and prosperity, I’ve been able to feed it back into my North America business and the domestic and international businesses have been synergistic with each other.

What’s something about you that might surprise people?

I have no military experience. People always ask, ‘How did you get in this position?’ I don’t have any military experience, but think what I’m good at is finding the strengths in others and building teams that work together well, and making sure all of the processes are in place so that we accomplish the goal of the customer. Also, I’m an ESTJ [Myers-Briggs personality type] hardcore.

Did you always picture yourself being a CEO? It wasn’t something I ever aspired to be. Growing up, I saw myself as a schoolteacher because I love educating, sharing and helping other people.

And I don’t know if being a CEO is much different from being a teacher. You tell stories, hope they’re relevant and that people learn from them. You hope they take those stories to make a difference in their output within the company, share them and continue their professional development — all those things a teacher might do. Maybe an element of risk-taking is the difference.

“I’m a big believer that through failure you grow and learn how to be more competitive and resilient.”

Why did you launch TechWise Global?

Six or seven years ago — during military sequestration, with cuts in government spending, especially in training — it was getting more competitive and difficult to get contracts in the United States, especially as a small business.

As we were experiencing a real downturn in the market space that we’d just expanded into, we had to look at, ‘How do we do this?’ Those same services were being highly

How do you re-energize?

I have an artistic outlet that rejuvenates me, such as listening to music, singing and dancing. Anything that feels creative. I also spend a lot of time organizing and processing to make sure I feel ready to perform — that is therapeutic to me.

What is your next goal?

I want to figure out how I can continue to grow my business and provide stable opportunities for employees — but with more of a focus on Colorado.

I want to focus on bringing jobs to Colorado and leveraging our new National Cybersecurity Center. There is a lot of work we do within training and simulations, and we want to figure out ways to diversify that in gaming development. I’m very excited about opportunities within that market space.

— Amber Baillie

S

cott Blackmun made his return to Colorado Springs from Los Angeles to practice law. In 2010, a phone call would result in his taking the position of chief executive officer of the United States Olympic Committee.

Blackmun was returning to the Pikes Peak region and the Olympic committee, having worked for the USOC, first as general counsel, in 1999.

Since taking the helm nearly seven years ago, Blackmun has refocused the organization and, under his direction, Team USA topped the overall medal counts at the 2010, 2012 and 2016 Games. Blackmun has also been instrumental in dramatically increasing net philanthropic giving and led the organization in negotiating a revenue-sharing agreement with the International Olympic Committee and extending NBC’s broadcast agreement through 2032.

Additionally, in 2012, the USOC was named Sports League of the year and Blackmun was named Sports Executive of the Year by SportsBusiness Journal.

Blackmun, who resides in Colorado Springs, spoke with the Business Journal about athletics, philosophy and discovering his leadership style.

Where are you from and how did you get to Colorado Springs?

I was born in Gary, Ind., but we moved around the Midwest. My dad was in the steel business and we lived in Cleveland, Chicago, Indianapolis, the Quad Cities — all over the Midwest.

I went to college on the East Coast and law school on the West Coast. I started practicing law here in Colorado and was lucky enough to do some work for the USOC. As a result, they invited me to join them on their staff in 1999. I had a great experience and the opportunity to do things other than practice law. I had a good three years before I went to Los Angeles, and joined Phil Anschutz and Tim Leiweke at [the Anschutz Entertainment Group] for about five years. I came back here and practiced law for a couple years, and the USOC called in late 2009 and asked if I’d be interested in coming back. I said, ‘You bet.’

the only Olympic committee from a nation in the developed world that isn’t government-supported.

Were you born wanting leadership roles?

I think it’s evolved. I was a philosophy major in college, which is kind of a solitary pursuit more than it is a training ground for leadership. I consider myself lucky to have been given the opportunity to lead organizations. I think my style is more cerebral and practical than it is inspirational. I believe in leading by example and making sure your team has the support they need and try to give them every opportunity to do their jobs.

What are the challenges of representing a global brand?

We have so many different constituents. We have our athletes … but we also have 47 governing bodies, each of which wants our help to develop their sport. I think the toughest part is making the decisions to allocate resources to one sport or one athlete versus another. The way we do that is through a return-on-investment analysis. We say we can invest so much money in this sport and down the road it will result in this kind of medal performance.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever gotten?

Don’t try to be someone you’re not. There are so many different styles of leadership, but I think leadership works best when it’s authentic.

How have you failed and what have you learned?

There are two failures that stand out. I defined myself as a soccer player in high school and went to college as a goalkeeper. There can only be one [starting] goalkeeper and two of us showed up. We both thought we’d be the starting goalkeeper for the next four years, and I lost that battle. I think having to go through that process of redefining who you are and what’s important has been beneficial.

Also, in 2001, when I was acting executive director [for the USOC], I was also a candidate for permanent CEO. I didn’t get the job. I think it was the best thing to happen to me. I learned a lot about business and people when I went to AEG in Los Angeles. When I finally did get the job in 2010, I think I was much better positioned. Also, I don’t think the USOC was ready to be transformed or led in 2001. It was only after a series of embarrassing snafus that we restructured ourselves. It’s made all the difference in the world.

“There are so many different styles of leadership, but I think leadership works best when it’s authentic.”

What are your responsibilities as CEO? Our mission is pretty focused. It used to be very broad, but we changed it so it would be limited to sustained competitive excellence at the Olympic and Paralympic games. That’s a fancy way of saying my job is to be sure as many Americans as possible have a chance to win a medal at the Games.

We’ve got 47 national governing bodies and each has oversight over a particular sport. Our primary contribution to the endeavor of winning medals comes in the form of the resources we can generate. Our budget is about $200 million a year, and we have to go out and raise that each year. We’re

What’s something about you that might surprise people?

I’m a pretty transparent guy, so I’m not sure what that would be. Maybe that I’m a philosophy major.

— Bryan Grossman

Scott

Blackmun United States Olympic Committee

Photo by Cameron Moix

PERRY

Sanders

Attorney, hotelier, entrepreneur, investor

Photo by Cameron Moix

I

s Colorado Springs home to any nationally prominent difference-makers? Other than occasional resident Phil Anschutz, Perry Sanders comes to mind. Born in Baton Rouge in 1954, his unlikely life trajectory has included stints as a professional musician, a trial attorney, a high-tech investor, a restaurateur, a renovator of historic buildings, a hotelier and a fierce advocate for downtown Colorado Springs.

As a plaintiff ’s attorney, Sanders has figured in two of the most high-profile celebrity lawsuits of this century. He successfully sued the city of Los Angeles in 2002 on behalf of the family of The Notorious B.I.G., a famous rapper who was murdered in 1997, contending that the LA police had covered up details about the murder. In 2012, Sanders represented Michael Jackson’s mother Katherine, who was engaged in a lawsuit against the Anschutz-owned entertainment behemoth AEG Live. In the multi-billion-dollar suit, Jackson contended that AEG was responsible for her son’s death from the drug overdose that killed him. The jury in the case disagreed, handing Sanders one of his few defeats.

He’s still a performing musician, though. A few weeks ago, he regaled a crowd at the Gold Room with a song he wrote years before, Checkout Line.

“As my pal Larry John McNally wrote about his own efforts at making music, ‘If one man’s load is a little bit lighter, then my work is not in vain,’” Sanders said. “We’re all waiting in the checkout line and should embrace the best of every second on our way to the register.”

Sanders came to Colorado Springs in 2000, and has since become one of the city’s most high-profile residents. His business portfolio currently includes hotels, restaurants, an office building, a couple of spas, a nightclub/event space and Johnny Martin’s Car Club — and he may have just gotten started.

came back to Louisiana and ended up with a serious litigation practice, specializing in environmental, entertainment and civil rights law.

What brought you to the Springs?

[Local attorney] Rob Frank knew I’d had some success in groundwater contamination suits, so he asked me to help with the Schlage Lock suit, which was eventually settled in our clients’ [Fountain Valley homeowners] favor in 2007. I stayed at The Antlers hotel and just loved downtown Colorado Springs. Hurricane Rita [in 2005] closed my office for 18 months, so the Springs became my home. I acquired some real estate, and then bought the Mining Exchange Building with partners, whom I eventually bought out. Raphael Sassower [philosophy professor at UCCS and real estate investor] was a wonderful partner, and I learned so much from him.

And then?

I decided that it would make a wonderful downtown luxury boutique hotel. As you know, it was a long, expensive and ultimately very successful project. As things unfolded, I met [Florida attorney] John Goede, and we decided to go all in on downtown Colorado Springs. We bought the Antlers and 31 N. Tejon St., and we’re not done. I’ve also made some investments in local high-tech startups to keep talented folks here. If we want to attract smart young people to our city, we can’t keep them unless we invest in their companies. John and I are also working on deals in Los Angeles — we have LOIs [letters of intent] out on two iconic hotels there, one near downtown and one near the ocean. We’re optimistic, but at a certain juncture environmental considerations can kill deals in California, especially on older properties.

“If we want to attract smart young people to our city, we can’t keep them unless we invest in their companies.”

How did you get started in business?

I’ve always worked. I started in the summer when I was 14, working construction, framing houses and digging foundations. I taught myself guitar and had a solo act, performing through high school. In college I teamed up with a friend, John Kirby, and we played about 300 nights a year for 10 years. That’s 3,000 times, so we got pretty good at it.

Along the way, I met so many wonderful people like [former Commodore and current Colorado Springs resident] Thomas Dawson and started a recording studio in Baton Rouge that is still in business. We had a company, Disk Productions, and I wrote a lot of commercial jingles.

You received a law degree from Louisiana State University in 1981. What was next?

I did civil cases right out of law school, most of them entertainment-related. I also bought and sold small parcels of real estate — duplexes and fourplexes — so I learned something about that business. I moved to LA for a while,

What’s the best advice you’ve gotten?

We all have faults, so forgive freely and don’t harbor a grudge.

How have you failed and what have you learned?

I’ve failed a bunch, but I have learned that failures, when looked upon from a slightly different angle, often lead to wonderful things.

What’s something about you that might surprise people?

I don’t work nearly as hard as they think in the way they think. I try to make a small celebration out of every day and try to have fun accomplishing whatever pops up in the course of that little celebration. Most importantly, I know that: There but for the grace of God go I. — John Hazlehurst

Women in leadership: They’ve come a long way

By Bryan Grossman

Jan Weiland sits in her western-facing office on the 12th floor of the Wells Fargo Building in downtown Colorado Springs.

The executive vice president of investments with Cascade Investment Group has worked her entire career in a field once dominated by men, especially in executive positions.

Weiland recollects canceled interviews when potential employers found out she was married. She remembers being told she failed an industry test she thought she’d aced. And yet, she has been successful over four decades despite the gender hurdles she’s encountered. Weiland recalls the story of a business trip she took early in her career.

“I made a trip to Ida Grove, Iowa. I’ll never forget it. I was traveling with a man from our bank and he was turning over an account to me. My name is Jan and [the clients] thought I was a man,” she said, referring to the male German name with the same spelling. “They were very surprised when I arrived. … They’d already made a reservation at the local country club and it was men’s night. That became a real problem. We had to go somewhere else.”

Weiland received her undergraduate degree from Boston’s Suffolk University in the 1970s, followed by a master’s of business administration from her “dream school,” Northwestern University in Chicago. While working at the Bank of Chicago, Weiland participated in a training program that coincided with her MBA. A collegiate “late bloomer,” Weiland was admittedly older than many of her counterparts, exclusively young men recruited right out of Ivy League schools. But, as the 1970s were coming to an end, she could sense a transformation in the business community.

“I could see what was happening,” she said. “There were lots of women who were college graduates in clerical positions starting to get interviews for these advanced positions.”

UNDER PRESSURE Laura Neumann didn’t seek out crises. She didn’t join the Marines, or become a firefighter or a hostage negotiator.

She got into hospitality because, she said, she has a drive to serve. But many of her defining moments have come in the face of crisis. Neumann, former Colorado Springs chief of staff and now general manager of the Garden of the Gods Club and Resort, was working at the Chaminade Spa & Resort in Santa Cruz, Calif., during her mid-20s. She was director of conference services, and was out for a jog when the 1989 Bay Area earthquake struck. Neumann returned to the resort to help.

“The general manager fled the property because his prized horses had escaped,” Neumann said. “After I returned to the property, I was designated manager on duty because there wasn’t one. I learned crisis management on the fly, with people very senior to me in age and position.”

Neumann said she led staff and worked to restore order among patrons standing outside burning patio furniture to keep warm and, in a time before cell phones, she moderated disputes bordering on fisticuffs over who should get to use the phones.

She received a promotion, thanks to the way she handled the crisis, making her Benchmark Hospitality International’s youngest general manager at the time.

Neumann moved to Racine, Wis., to take over operations of a Benchmark property, where she received one of her first reviews from the company’s chairman.

“I’m in my late 20s and I’m eager to see the marks on [the review] paper. He saw me looking to see if the checks were on the far right hand side saying everything was great, and he shut the review. He said, ‘The truth is Laura, I happen to be disappointed in you.’ I asked why that was, but I really wanted to get back to the paper. He said I was playing it safe.

I said I’d done all these great things and had been working really hard.

“He said ‘Yes you do and I’ve never seen you fail. … in order for me to know you’re tapping into your true potential, you have to run into some brick walls and get bruised up. …

You’re winning most of the time, but what else do you have in there?’”

Following that review, Neumann was charged with opening the AT&T Conference Center in Basking Ridge, N.J. She would then go on to oversee a region from Minneapolis, Minn., which included operations in New York City. Benchmark had a conference center located on the 55th floor of 1 World Trade Center. It was nearly a week after the events of Sept. 11, 2001, and Neumann was on a plane to New York.

Ash was still falling from the sky.

“I had no idea what I was doing,” she said. “I called upon some of those moments when I was way out on a limb in 1989. No one put me in charge. I felt we needed to calm people down and we needed to get organized, and I drew on the same things when I was thrust into that prior situation.”

She would again need to be the voice of reason as Mayor Steve Bach’s chief of staff during the Waldo Canyon fire.

Neumann said she has often had to take charge, but seldom had female mentors while rising through the ranks.

“I’d like to think that’s different now, that senior-level women would open their doors and mentor [young female professionals] and welcome them, and tell them it’s OK that you want a family and want to get married and don’t want to work your tail off and sacrifice some of the things we had to.”

A SHIFT Lauren Hug is a Texas transplant, in her 30s, has a master’s degree in law and owns HugSpeak Coaching & Consulting, a marketing and communications business. She’s also married and has two children. While career moms are still faced with making life-balancing decisions, she thinks it’s getting easier.

“There has been a shift, with flex time and telecommuting.

Moms can work at 3 a.m. when they’re up anyway,” she said. Hug said, as her business grows, she anticipates hiring women, and wants to provide them with the flexibility to be with their families.

Now, physical location doesn’t matter, Hug said, adding, “There’s a distraction factor of having to take care of kids while working at home, but the more we erase the needs to be in a specific place at a specific time, we will open the pos-

Breaking down the meaning of leadership

P

resident and Gen. Dwight Eisenhower used a simple device to illustrate the art of leadership. Laying an ordinary piece of string on a table, he’d illustrate how you could easily pull it in any direction.

“However, try and push it,” he cautioned, “and it won’t go anywhere. It’s just that way when it comes to leading people.”

Leadership at any successful organization needs to be plainly defined. Here’s how I see it: L is for loyalty. A leader must be loyal to the organization and leave no question that he or she is committed to its success. Loyalty is the distinguishing quality of winners. That goes for entrepreneurs, owners, managers and employees. No exceptions. A leader models loyalty so that it works top down, bottom up and side-to-side, and at all times.

E is for enthusiasm. Leaders know that enthusiasm is contagious, and they help spread it around. If you are excited, it will show. And that generates enthusiasm among employees and customers. You’ll get what you give. The only thing more contagious than enthusiasm is the lack of enthusiasm. Train your brain to look for the silver lining, and then be amazed at how your improved attitude leads to enthusiasm that permeates the workplace.

A is for adversity. Truly effective leaders accept adversity as a condition of doing business. I have never met a successful person who hasn’t had to overcome either a little or a lot. Don’t be afraid of adversity; handled properly, it makes you stronger. Problems and people can’t stop you.

D is for determination. Determined people, particularly leaders, possess the stamina and courage to pursue their ambitions despite criticism, ridicule or unfavorable circumstances. In fact, discouragement usually spurs them on to greater things. When discouraged, they recognize that in order to improve results, some change is in order. Determined people also exhibit another “D” trait: discipline.

sibilities. But not just for women. It makes a huge difference for men too.

“I understand the tension of trying to balance family and life and work,” she added. “And I’ve created a space that’s flexible regarding the where and when. As long as it gets done, I don’t care about the where and when.”

That philosophy drew praise from Weiland.

“She’s right on and the generation is right on,” Weiland said. “The greater influence of this generation’s working woman is going to make a big difference. We have lessons to be learned here from the newer generations.”

But Weiland said, having been in Colorado Springs for more than 20 years, there is still much to be done.

“When I look back at how long I’ve been here, which is quite a period of time, the community in terms of women and leadership doesn’t look that much different. … It doesn’t look like women have made a lot of progress in terms of leadership in this city.”

She said that can be remedied.

“Women have to recognize it, own up to it and admit that maybe they could be doing more,” she said, adding there are

E is for example. We lead by example, whether in business, family or friendships. Whether you’re raising children or managing people, setting a good example is one of the most important leadership skills. Practice what you preach. How you conduct yourself says more than any instructions you give. Set high personal standards and expect the same from staff.

R is for resilience. Failure is all too common in business and in life. Anyone who has ever run a business wakes up regularly with nightmares about the what-ifs. Successful people are resilient. They don’t let hard times turn into end times. Let them lead to your best times.

S is for sincerity. Say what you mean, and mean what you say. “Go team go” only works if you are sincerely committed to what you are doing.

H is for heart. A good decision must factor in the human element. When your head and your heart say the same thing, you can bet it’s the right answer. Use your head, to be sure, but don’t ignore what your heart is telling you.

I is for integrity, which begins at the top. Leaders inspire employees to do what is right, rather than easy. Clearly define what is expected throughout the organization, ensuring integrity is first and foremost in our decision-making.

Enduring leaders know that integrity is not optional.

P is for purpose. Leaders think in terms of goals. There isn’t a football coach with a greater sense of purpose than Lou Holtz. He proved it at Notre Dame, Arkansas, South Carolina and other universities. Lou once coached the New York Jets but left after only eight months. Why? As Lou told me, he came to the job “without a clear sense of purpose.

Absent a focus of my own, I couldn’t give one to the team.

I was embarrassed by my inability to provide them with proper leadership. So I left.” Few leaders are as honest.

also positives to draw on. “[Colorado Springs is] the perfect-sized city. … Because it’s smaller, you get the lay of the land quickly and can figure out where your place might be, who you need to meet, what kind of business is a good fit for you. There’s nothing overly challenging about the city. Another good thing is, if you want to change something, you can do that.”

Weiland, for instance, served as president of the board of TESSA of Colorado Springs and was instrumental in developing a daycare center for children while their guardians were in court. It opened 12 years ago and will serve its 50,000th child next year.

Overall, Weiland said, the environment for working women has improved drastically since she entered the workforce.

“There’s no question it’s better,” she said. “There are very innovative programs at large corporations. One challenge is when women leave to take time off for family, it’s difficult to get back into the workforce again. Some corporations have done a good job of staying in touch with those women.

Deloitte stands out. Big investment banks are doing it as well. … I think it’s a fabulous idea.”

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