5 MINUTES WITH...
Jill O’Neill
CAREER Q&A Describe your current job. As VP of Merchandising at Independent Suppliers Group, I negotiate the best programmes and pricing I can to keep our members competitive and make sure they receive their rebates on time.
What’s your life philosophy? Try not to take things so seriously and have fun whenever you can – life’s too short. What makes you happy? Beaches and dogs. What do you do in your spare time? I cook, garden, read and walk the dog. Best way to spend the weekend? Driving up to Wisconsin, renting a cottage on a lake and enjoying the water and the peacefulness. Early bird or night owl? Definitely night owl. Where would you most like to travel? The Greek islands – I love the food, the laidback lifestyle and the views. Favourite time of the year? Summer, for sure. What’s your guilty pleasure? Watching Bravo TV’s reality show Below Deck.
Jill O’Neill, Independent Suppliers Gro up
Your childhood ambitions? To be a teacher. I quickly realised I don’t have a lot of patience, so I gave that up. What is on your bucket list? To travel to Europe and especially the Mediterranean. I have never been and to see all the history there would be amazing. What words do you use the most? “Actually” and “interesting”. Favourite book? The Stand by Stephen King. Actually (see what I mean?!), anything by him holds my attention. Even his bad books are good. What song puts you in a good mood? Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars. What irrational fear do you have? I don’t like long escalators. The ones at Hong Kong International Airport and Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (United Airlines, Terminal C) especially terrify me.
Your worst ever job? In high school, I worked at Craft Showcase. Often, we had to do inventory on Friday nights. I had never realised how many small things are sold in craft stores until you had to manually count them. Like needles and embroidery thread in all kinds of colours. If you weren’t doing your present job, what would you like to be doing? Maybe a lawyer or detective. I like to ask a lot of questions and am naturally inquisitive. Worst moment in your career? When Boise Cascade Office Products merged with OfficeMax in the early 2000s. Lots of good people left the company. Many, thankfully, stayed in the industry. The industry figure you most admire and why? The late Chris Milliken who was CEO of Boise Cascade until 2005. Chris would interact and take an interest in all associates in the company. He wouldn’t just say hello, but really talk to people about what they were working on and if they had any advice for him on how to improve the company or its culture. He had a way about him that made staff feel connected and have a vested interest in the organisation they worked for.
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Your best piece of advice to someone who has just joined the OP industry? Don’t sell our industry short. Although there is secular decline, many people still love their office products. Try to be innovative and bring new and interesting ways to make offices more efficient and fun.
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Favourite business supplies? Rediform’s MiracleBind Notebooks and gel pens that don’t smear for left-handed people.
