COS CEO Leadership Lessons 2023

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COS CEO 2023

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Sixty35 Media Board

PRESIDENT: Ahriana Platten

VICE PRESIDENT: Dave Gardner

TREASURER: Fran Zankowski

SECRETARY: Ralph Routon

MEMBER: Shirley Martinez

EX OFFICIO: John Weiss

Our mission is to deliver the truth, build community and engage citizens.

EDITORIAL

PUBLISHER Amy Gillentine

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Bryan Grossman

MANAGING EDITORS Helen Lewis, Mary Jo Meade

SENIOR REPORTER Pam Zubeck

NEWS REPORTERS Greta Anderson Johns, Jeanne Davant, Marcus Hill, Nick Raven

MUSIC EDITOR Bill Forman

FOOD & DRINK EDITOR Matthew Schniper

PHOTOGRAPHER Bryan Oller

COLUMNISTS John Hazlehurst, Jim Hightower, Patience Kabwasa, Mike Littwin, Bryan Ostrow, Loring Wirbel

CONTRIBUTORS Rob Brezsny, JL Fields, Anna Fiorino, Scott Prater, Dave Gil de Rubio, Clay Jones, Bill Kopp, Tom Lanham, MB Partlow, Scott Prater, Mark Riesterer, Ralph Routon, Alan Sculley, Andrew “Shaggy” Warren

ONLINE CONTRIBUTOR “Hiking Bob” Falcone

SALES

SENIOR ACCOUNT PLANNER Teri Homick

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Felicia Anzaldúa, Betty Butron-Smith, Viktoria Costantino, Monty Hatch

SALES CONSULTANT Anthony Perez

ART AND PRODUCTION

EDITORIAL ART DIRECTOR Dustin Glatz

GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Zk Bradley, Rowdy Tompkins, Elena Trapp

OPERATIONS

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Lanny Adams

ASSISTANT ACCOUNTANT Kim Erdmann

DIGITAL/SOCIAL MEDIA SPECIALIST

Sean Cassady

DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Tracie Woods

FRONT DESK COORDINATOR Madeline Berg

ASSISTANT TO THE PUBLISHER Cathy Reilly

MARKETING & EVENT DIRECTOR

Jessica McMullen

“T

ake the lead.” Every now and then these words can be gamechangers — and not just for the person at which they’re directed.

When a true leader comes along, that person can transform the lives of those with whom they come in direct contact. Because true leaders have been there and done that. They’re not afraid to get their hands dirty. They step up when times get tough. They create environments that are fun and engaging. They truly want to see others succeed and work with them to reach their goals.

But the impact of great leadership extends beyond these direct interactions.

That’s because leadership lessons are spread, through mentorship and fostering, to the next generation, and the next, and so on, creating a legacy of leadership and a stronger, more vibrant and successful community in the long run.

This is the eighth year of what was the Colorado Springs Business Journal’s COS CEO Leadership Lessons series, now taking place under the flag of our new nonprofit publication, Sixty35 news magazine. Here you will find leaders making the kind of impact that will extend well beyond those they have directly employed, mentored… helped lead. Please join me in welcoming this year’s class of COS CEOs — and be sure to check out the 2023 lineup of our live COS CEO events at sixty35media.org. Can’t wait to see you there!

Bryan Grossman Editor-in-Chief

Every Thursday, Sixty35 is mailed to more than 25,000 homes and is available for free on newsstands across El Paso County. On occasion, you will receive a complimentary sample copy. No charge, no obligation. Just quality local news and communitybuilding information.

But if you want more: more things to do, more about how government decisions affect you, more business news, more profiles, more music, food and art — sign up at sixty35media.org.

Become a member and get your news in your inbox a day ahead of everyone else.

It’s $10 a month — and you’ll be joining others interested in effecting positive change in our city — and just maybe, the world.

JW ROTH

The $40 million Sunset Amphitheatre planned by Notes Live at Promontory Point is one of 10 “music campus” properties the company plans to open over the next five years, according to CEO and founder JW Roth.

The local campus will offer three tiers of live music —the smaller Notes venue, Boot Barn Hall and the 8,000seat amphitheatre. Most will offer a hall equivalent to Boot Barn and an outdoor amphitheatre, though the Gainesville, Georgia site will not have the latter. Sites in Murfreesboro, Tennessee; Dallas-Fort Worth, and Oklahoma City all will leverage the large outdoor venue as the anchor. Expanding the planned five sites to 10 will require capital expenditures close to $1 billion, one factor driving an IPO the company plans to undertake in February.

Roth, a fifth-generation Colorado native who grew up outside Greenland Ranch, calls the locations “routing hubs” situated near larger cities, so that tour booking companies see them as distinct from the likes of Denver or Nashville, while still bringing in audiences.

Roth said his venues are aimed at “premium customers” — not just those in the VIP firepit boxes, but even those in general seating willing to pay a higher price for exceptional facilities. Roth used football and baseball stadiums as a model for his VIP boxes. Corporations and highend music lovers have sold out the $250,000 eight-person VIP boxes in Colorado Springs, and the $400,000 boxes in the Dallas area already have customers bidding.

Did you always have music in the back of your mind as the ultimate career?

We grew up poor on a small ranch next to Greenland. I was a music nut from a very young age, and would sneak into the shows I couldn’t

afford. I took guitar lessons, but I was lousy at it — even my folks would admit that. I came up from an agriculture background, had a good head for business, but only got a GED. I didn’t grow up in a home where education was valued. The paths I had then were not ones I could use now. For example, I got a job at Prudential-Bache in the venture capital side without a degree. I had the opportunity to invest in a tiny packing plant in Colorado Springs, which grew over 30 years into Roth Industries, the third-largest prepared-food manufacturer in the U.S., serving 12,000 grocery stores across the country.

About 10 years ago, I made some investments in real estate along I-25, which I purchased from Gary Erickson of Northgate Properties. The intent was to use that as an entry point for hospitality and music businesses. I began with Bourbon Brothers, then opened the nearby performance hall.

The inspiration for that came from Peter Mondavi’s Krug Winery in the Napa Valley, which held regular concerts. At the end of a concert I attended, the idea of music campuses came to me almost fully developed. We began as Bourbon Brothers Hall, then Boot Barn approached me to purchase naming rights.

As the Sunset Amphitheatre concept was developed, my team worked diligently to perfect that model, so that it could be adopted to locations around the country. We are already profitable prior to most venues being opened.

Is an amphitheatre always central to the design?

Not for Georgia, because of the real estate constraints there, but I will never build another campus without an anchor amphitheatre. Here in Colorado, I’m committed to building the most luxurious music amphitheatre ever built. The largest will be in the

Dallas-Fort Worth area. Every venue will feature VIP fire pits and restaurants around the perimeter.

Premium experience is at the center of what I’m doing. The Wall Street Journal just covered the Notes Live strategy and talked about the rise of the premium entertainment market. In almost every case, I hunt for what you might call “drafting” cities — those that might not have been on the first tier of ticket booking agencies, but that can call upon a nearby destination center.

Did Ticketmaster’s “dynamic pricing model” help drive your premium-end strategy?

It showed a willingness among many people to pay four figures for a prime experience. I just paid $8,000 for two front-row tickets to Elton John’s last U.S. concert! But what the Raiders did in building the Las Vegas stadium was maybe the primary model. We have sold out VIP fire pits as soon as we’ve offered them, usually to corporate clients, and there is a waiting list for more. The extent of amenities available with these premium boxes is beyond what has been called “VIP” in the past, and I think it’s only been in the last decade we’ve seen a large audience willing to pay for that.

So now the music campus strategy has edged out any further interest from you in venture capital and external investment?

I resigned from Roth Industries last year. My son now runs that business, and I have declined to look at investments outside of ones that serve this music campus model. After I first discussed the idea with my wife, I sat down with my family and said, “It’s time to pursue what I love and blow the inheritance money” — a bit exaggerated, but not entirely. The goal was to make memories rather than make products.

CEO of Notes Live Inc.

Do you want to have a new-artist venue in every city that is the size of Notes?

That’s a tough question. Notes was planned due to an opportunistic real-estate buy, but we may find we want to have the equivalent in other towns. The restaurants associated with the amphitheatre might play that role. We see at Boot Barn that people often leave the main concert and go to Notes for an after-show. No one has their nightcap at Boot Barn, it’s a spillover thing. On a typical Friday night on our campus here, we may see three separate events going on. But we haven’t priced that deliberately as a “three-fer” — it’s all been spontaneous. At least so far. We could market a blended night in the future, but haven’t yet. The cool thing is that the genres rarely match up, so people get wildly different experiences.

Does your current expansion plan represent market saturation, or if you had the ability, would you go to 20 hubs, perhaps some international business?

Ambition to grow is like going to an unlimited Chinese buffet: Your plate is full before you get halfway down the aisle! I would love to do more but I’m limited by money, which is part of the reason we are getting ready to file a Reg A with the [U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission] for a 2023 IPO. With any new city, I stay out of the big markets, it will always be secondary markets. The big guys in the primary markets are partnering with us now.

Now one area we could look at without more real estate is the special festival. Maybe not a three-stage super music festival in a remote area, but maybe a renaissance fair-type of thing with vendors in the fields along with music. We’ve created a new festival division to try to define that. But for an outdoor-oriented music campus, you’re limited to April 15 to Oct. 15, almost anywhere in the country.

— Loring Wirbel

The goal was to make memories rather than make products.”

CARRIE

Athletics have been a big part of Carrie McKee’s life as far back as she can remember. Growing up in the basketball hotbed of Indiana and later in the Washington, D.C., area, she was as comfortable on the court as she was in the classroom or in her community.

As the daughter of a former pro basketball player and college sports administrator, McKee’s life centered on basketball, family and faith. During her teenage years, her father moved the family to the D.C. to take a sports administration job at George Washington University, and that’s where Carrie developed her game.

Hotly recruited by numerous Division I college programs, McKee settled on the University of North Carolina, where she played several years as a Tar Heel center/forward. Her sports journey ultimately culminated with a national championship as North Carolina outlasted Louisiana Tech 60-59 in the 1994 NCAA women’s title game.

But while she relishes her time and experiences that revolved around team sports, McKee says it was another passion she picked up in the D.C. area that actually drove her career path and ultimately led her to Colorado Springs.

“The D.C. area has a lot of arts venues and events, and my mom made sure I experienced those,” she says. “Sports have played a major role in my life, and I learned a lot about leadership and team building from them, but they haven’t been a central part of my life since I graduated from college.”

During her last few days at UNC, McKee happened to meet a U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee administrator who convinced her to come work for the committee in Colorado Springs. After a few years at the USOPC, and a stint at Pikes Peak United Way, she moved on to work for Young Life, a religious based nonprofit, where she taught and mentored teens for the better part of a decade. From there, she took on a

CARRIE MCKEE

Senior Director of RMPBS Partnerships & Early Childhood Initiative

lead role at Rocky Mountain PBS.

“I don’t know why I have so many passions, I just know that I am purpose driven,” she says. “Faith is a huge piece for me. Often, it’s listening to what God has to say about what’s next for me. So, most of my career changes have stemmed from that.”

Talk about what you do.

I am part fundraiser, part special projects manager. I generate revenue for RMPBS through corporate partnerships, grants and major donors as well as working as part of a PBS team that engages the public with our content and resources. That involves bringing the right community leaders to the table in order to give access of those resources to the people who need them. Plus, it’s not just having folks come to the table but also sharing their strengths. That’s the part of my work that I especially love.

One example of this is the RMPBS KIDS initiative which evolved during the pandemic. We knew that we were not only entertaining children but in fact — teaching and engaging kids, parents, and caregivers of all ages. The PBS KIDS viewership is incredibly diverse and only increased during the pandemic. Me and my team were tasked to create an in-home literacy learning program for kindergarten through third-grade children, which ran for 2 hours every morning, called Colorado Classroom. That project involved finding early educators statewide to teach, educational entities to share their quality content, trusted cultural and community brokers to promote the resources, and funding partners to support the initiative. Lots of players and lots of moving pieces but the end result was hundreds of thousands of families served throughout Colorado during an unprecedented and stressful time.

I find that almost anyone will come to the table and share what they have if they believe it will have a positive

impact on the communities they care about and if they know their contributions will be valued and acknowledged. Connection and impact — that’s what it’s all about for me. Connecting folks so that they not only feel seen and heard, but are also supported right where they are.

What are the big issues you try to solve?

The type of project doesn’t really matter. Some of the systems for improving are the same in any scenario. We identify strengths, identify opportunities and then get to work by calling the right partners to the table. One of the coolest projects I’ve ever worked on was back when I was at the United Way (a project eventually named as Cradle to Career). It basically identified what the tipping points were for us to become a stronger community and to grow. So, we engaged leaders around the city, from every industry, from every unit of government, from education, from nonprofit and for profit, and we looked for data driven examples of things we could really have an impact around. Then we formed task forces that developed collaborative and creative solutions.

Also, at PBS, we want to provide a voice and representation to people who don’t always get that. We want every Coloradan to feel seen and heard. And that’s big. That’s a tall order.

How do you decide which projects

you’ll undertake?

I run everything through a filter of impact, relevance to the community and sustainability. You have to ask, where can we continue to have relevancy and impact? Whether that’s a board in the community or a project, or anything, that filter helps you decide. If it doesn’t have impact, I’m not going to spend my time on it. If it’s not relevant to the communities that we value most, it’s not acceptable.

What is your mentorship philosophy?

Back when I was a kid, basketball was a big part of my life, and I was absolutely not the most athletic or coordinated kid, but I was a hard worker. Any coach I’ve ever played for would tell you, I would run through walls. I was so focused on teamwork and hard work, that I exceeded most people’s expectations, not because I was incredibly athletic or coordinated, but that I would do what was necessary to be among the best.

I also think it’s important for people to expose themselves to others who are bigger or stronger or smarter. Back then for example, I always played basketball with the boys in DC. I could count on one hand how many girls were out there playing basketball with the boys. It made me stronger. It made me tougher. It challenged me in every aspect of the game.

People should also take direction well, and love being challenged. I love being told I can’t do something. Because then I just want to prove you wrong. Some of my biggest leadership lessons came during challenges.

This is applicable in any situation and it doesn’t take high intelligence, high strength or high power to do — that is to show up, be curious, and be humble.

— Scott Prater

Show up, be curious, and be humble.”

SUSAN EDMONDSON

President and CEO of the Downtown Partnership

It’s hard to imagine anyone filling the President and CEO roles of Colorado Springs’ Downtown Partnership better than Susan Edmondson — and they’re posts she’s held for nearly a decade. The Downtown Partnership nonprofit manages the Greater Downtown Colorado Springs Business Improvement District and Downtown Development Authority, as well as the charitable nonprofit Downtown Ventures, serving as an entity that bolsters Downtown Colorado Springs as a vibrant cultural center for the city. “What I love about my job is that every day is different,” Edmondson says. “Every day presents a different series of challenges.”

With dreams of becoming an author in her youth, Edmondson got her start by earning her bachelor’s degree in journalism from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo where she served as editor for the university’s newspaper. After a few years with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, she landed in Colorado Springs, eventually taking up the mantle of The Gazette ’s Arts & Entertainment editor.

Loving journalism but seeing the high burnout, she earned her Master’s of Public Administration from UCCS at the peak of print news. Her thesis and capstone project involved the study of a professionally staffed cultural office for the community — which became reality as the Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region, or COPPeR.

She left The Gazette in 2003 for the executive director role at the Bee Vradenberg Foundation, a position she held for a decade. “The transition was very fortuitous because while I was going into a different career field — philanthropy — I was still working with local arts organizations,” she says. “So instead of covering them, it was much more about supporting them financially and providing technical assistance. I didn’t have to learn about our arts community; I already knew them.”

Her work at the Bee Vradenberg Foundation allowed her to get more involved with other businesses and entities Downtown. “I was on the board of the Downtown Development Authority, so when this opportunity came up, I threw my hat in the ring,” she says, “and I’ve been here at the Downtown Partnership for not quite 10 years.”

What kind of skills do you need to go from journalist to running a nonprofit for the arts to administrating different entities for the downtown of a booming city?

Well, I think there’s a couple through-lines of my three different careers of journalism, philanthropy and urban place management.

One is communications. Obviously, that’s very literal with journalism and the communications role, but in all of these it’s about how we tell a story that is compelling, motivating and inspiring. That’s an important part that I’ve carried through all of the jobs I’ve had, starting with local journalists covering and telling the stories of people and organizations in our community, then running a very community-oriented organization that was helping local nonprofits and then being able to help keep our city center strong and thriving.

Those aren’t things that you think about when you start your career — only looking back can you see a pattern that these are similar things carried me through. If you can’t communicate what’s needed to your board of directors or to your stakeholders well, that’s a real problem, right? So, communication is a strong element, and so is a sense of community.

When you’re a manager, you have this holistic view of everything, which means you can tell this story as beginning, middle and end.

Yeah, and especially with Downtown. When I started with Downtown Partnership in 2013, there hadn’t been a lot of activity except minor investments here or there. Not horrible, but not great either. To get people motivated to invest in or to consider Downtown for their business, you have to tell the story of where we’re headed. Some great things started coming on board with City for Champions and other initiatives, but we weren’t tracking our data. Data has a way of telling a story — and the more that we’re able to tell a story of a Downtown that’s moving forward, other people take notice and say, “Oh, I should check out Downtown Colorado Springs for my business, there’s some great opportunities here.”

What’s a day in your life working with all of these different businesses, organizations and even governments? How does it work? Do you have four calendars?

My joke about how we operate is that it’s like Winston Churchill’s quote about democracy: “It’s the worst form of government except for all the rest.” But it works for us. It’s not that different than a lot of other downtowns. Some are just a nonprofit organization, some are just a business improvement district, but many are like us where they have multiple entities. My job is to make sure all of those are working in harmony and moving in the same direction.

I love that I work with such a smart, committed team of people, no matter what their job description is. They’re super creative because they are problem solvers every day. They’re customer service oriented. When there’s a call from a business about some seemingly minor issue, we’re on it immediately.

I’m always Downtown and I’m always observing. When I see a piece of graffiti, I take a picture and immediately text that so we can get it cleaned up right away. I see if a business is busy or not busy. Every store I walk into, I ask them, “How’s business going?” It’s something that just sort of becomes a part of [your routine] all the time and it’s a little hard to get off the clock. You have to physically go somewhere else.

One day you may be talking about how we can support outreach workers to serve our unhoused population that’s Downtown. And then you’re going to be dealing with a marketing plan for a small business during the holidays. And then we’re going to be looking at a public works issue. Whatever it is, it’s so different every day, which is what I love about it. You know you’ve got to be a bit of a generalist about a lot of things.

— Nick Raven

What I love about my job is that every day is different. Every day presents a different series of challenges.”

RODNEY

Rodney Gullatte Jr. has been in Colorado Springs for only seven years, but he’s made a big impact.

As founder, president and CEO of Firma IT Solutions, he provides businesses with critical cybersecurity and IT services.

As president and CEO of the Colorado Springs Black Chamber of Commerce, he has rebuilt that 30-year-old organization from the ground up to work on behalf of Black businesses and their supporters — and to transform this community into something

A native of Marietta, Georgia, Gullatte is an Air Force veteran and a certified ethical hacker, and he’s always been a tireless advocate for community-building, supporting businesses, promoting equity, and closing gaps. So when he came to Colorado Springs from Key West, Florida in 2015, he got right to work.

“The first week I got here, I joined the Rotary Club of Colorado Springs and the Colorado Springs Regional Business Alliance,” he recalls, “and I became an ambassador with the Colorado Springs Chamber & EDC.” He’s been making bold moves and breaking barriers ever since.

In 2020 Gullatte was the first Black president in the Rotary Club of Colorado Springs’ 104-year history; he was honored with the 2020 Mayors Young Leader Award; and last year he was a Colorado Governor’s Fellow. He serves on the board of directors for the Chamber & EDC, Better Business Bureau of Southern Colorado, and Colorado Springs Conservatory — and in every organization he throws his energy into collaboration and change.

What attracted you to the IT field?

Video games. I’d play games like Oregon Trail and Zork Jungle Book [on an Apple IIe]. My

RODNEY GULLATTE JR.

President and CEO of the Colorado Springs Black Chamber of Commerce

mom … ended up buying a Compaq Presario 954C and made me read the MS-DOS 6.22 book. I just started trying out commands, seeing what they did. And whenever they would do something or break something, I would reverse my way out. I just kept doing that for a long time. I started learning about viruses. I really got interested in that.

In 1992 I went on the internet, I looked at how much people get paid that work on computers. (I was 12 years old.) I’m also a musician. I grew up as a youth minister of music in the AME church. I play piano or keyboard, sax, trumpet, drums, read, write and play by ear. The music was really big; I competed in a lot of talent shows.

So I had a choice — either go in and make this guaranteed money or go into music and take a higher risk. I chose the computer thing. My first job out of high school was doing Y2K compliance for Lotus Notes for Emory Healthcare. So I was 18 with that job, while a lot of my other friends were bagging groceries or working at McDonald’s.

I’m still an avid gamer.

Why do you think it’s important for a leader to engage in volunteer activities?

You know, there’s more to life than just making money. And the legacy you leave — for many of us, ain’t going to be a money legacy, it’s going to be, how were you able to change the fabric of society? How were you able to erase hate? How were you able to bring people closer together? And you find a lot of that in your community service. It’s the law of reciprocity, you know — give and you’ll receive; sow your seeds and you’ll reap. … And when people talk about networking — those boards you sit on — that’s a new network right there. Talk to those people; see what they need, see how they’re doing. I’m always thinking about that: How can I use what I have access to and work

with other people to make it better for everybody?

Let’s talk about the role of the Black Chamber.

I don’t know the last time we’ve had Black-owned businesses have commercials shown on movie theater screens. We’ve been able to facilitate something like that. We did movie screenings for The Woman King and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. … The next movie we’re going to do is Creed III, and then The Little Mermaid.

I want to do something different that my other chambers of commerce aren’t doing. This organization was rebuilt from scratch in January [2022]. And the team — which is the most important thing that’s behind this — we are all committed to the equity and the diversity and inclusion of not just our people, but everybody.

These are institutionalized systems in place. So if you’re going to break a system, it starts with education. It starts with economics. It starts with a very hard push, a relentless push to fight against those things — and a Black Chamber of Commerce. Our job is to help our people, and people who want to be associated with us understand that we can break those systems for the betterment of everyone — that if we’re all up here [at the top], think how much better we’ll be as a country.

What characteristics does a successful leader need to have?

You need to be a good listener. You need to be empathetic. You need to have a balance of caution and fearlessness. You need to surround yourself with good leaders as well. While you’re out doing your impactful work and your community leadership, be looking around at other people who are also leaders, and when you’re looking for a team, call those people.

Courage is another thing that you need to have a leader, because it’s scary when you see Club Q, it’s scary

when you see De’Von Bailey. When you think of what happened in the past, with our own federal government targeting the leaders who were trying to move this country into a positive direction — you know, racism has just evolved, and [now] you’ve got people that don’t want you to know the full history of the country.

How would you characterize your own leadership style?

I put value in others more than I do myself, and I know I don’t have to be in charge to be a leader. If I just do something that sets a good example, people will start to follow you.

I think of all the people that came before me like Dr. [Martin Luther] King [Jr.], Malcolm X, and [Barack] Obama, and [Marcus] Garvey, James Baldwin, and Angela Davis — they went through a lot harder struggles than I’m having to go through, but they set me on a path to be able to take the next step further. So leadership for me is like an obligation. It’s never about me. It’s always about the other people around me. So I’m cool being in charge and cool not being in charge. Whatever is needed, whether that’s in charge or being a worker bee or being a planner, I just get it done.

— Jeanne Davant

You need to have a balance of caution and fearlessness.”

MIKE LEAGUE

5Star Bank

Mike League worked his way up from bank teller to owner, president and CEO of 5Star Bank. Along the way, he learned a lot about leadership.

Born in Northern California and raised in Kansas, League said he considers himself a third-generation resident — his mother’s family is from Colorado Springs.

“I’ve probably spent a portion every year of my life out here,” he says.

League moved here permanently in 1991 and has stayed because he and his wife, Anne, a physician, thought it was a good place to raise their two children, and he and his family love the outdoor lifestyle.

“When I’m looking out the window of my office and it’s been a crappy day, I’m just five minutes from Paradise,” he says. “I can be in the National Forest and Cheyenne Canyon in five minutes.”

What path led you to the banking business?

I graduated from the University of Kansas with an undergrad degree in economics and went out in the world to find work, and couldn’t find what I liked. I went back to grad school and then got my MBA [at William & Mary] and looked at some opportunities in banking and in economic forecasting. I chose banking, but I didn’t think I’d make a career out of it. I thought, by working in a bank for a few years, I’d find the business or the industry I’d like to get into. Thirty-five years later, this is the industry I’m in for good.

Tell us how you came to acquire 5Star Bank.

I was fortunate to get accepted into an executive training program with the United Missouri Bank of Kansas City and learn banking from arguably one of the most interesting, successful bankers in history, Crosby Kemper [Jr.], and to learn firsthand how he ran that institution. I was fortunate enough to lead their entry into Colorado Springs in 1991. I spent 12 years there. I left in 1999 because I had an entrepreneurial itch, and a partner and I formed an investment group and purchased the poorest performing and smallest bank in El Paso County — the Bank of the Rockies. And in two, three short years, we had tripled the size of it and decided to sell it. In hindsight, that was probably a good idea, because the 2007 financial crisis would have really tested our ability to see if the bank would have survived.

In 2007, I was approached by Armed Forces Benefit Association, headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, to take over a small bank here in Colorado Springs called AFBA 5Star Industrial Bank. It was a single-purpose bank that issued credit cards to service members, and it had had a good run, but competition, technology, reward points and other factors had interrupted and changed their business model. I was asked, “Here’s a blank canvas, do what you think you can do to change this and start to execute a plan.” Then we got into the full storm of the financial crisis in 2008, when they were shutting banks down nationwide. We weathered that storm, and my team and I turned around the bank and made it prof-

itable. I think we did too good a job — they decided they should sell the bank and focus back on their core business, which was life insurance. I raised my hand and asked if they would entertain a community-led buyout and they agreed. That was about a 16- to 18-month process; I don’t think I slept one day trying to raise $16 million to buy the bank and get approval from the Federal Reserve. Through a lot of perseverance, we pulled it off. So we’re now we’re a locally owned bank with about 140 shareholders in this community and up in Denver, and we’ve grown from approximately $135 million to close to $400 million in assets in a seven-year time frame.

What do you see as your greatest accomplishments in your banking career?

We’ve tripled our size, so I’m pretty proud of that. The first act was bringing United Missouri Bank to Colorado, I’m very proud of establishing that beachhold for them. And then I think the second act was the acquisition and the community-led buyout and capital raised by the bank. I’m working on my third act with a product that we hope to roll out the first month of the new year, called Credit Up by 5Star Bank. It’s a product for the unbanked and the underbanked, people struggling with low credit scores. We’re going to offer a product where we loan them the money to buy a secured savings account at the bank. As they pay down on the loan, that will help increase their FICO score so they can get credit for buying a car or getting a home or a credit card. We’re going to charge zero fees and a very low interest rate. That might be my third and final act.

What skills and abilities do you think an effective leader should possess?

I think leadership is something you pick up, whether you admire great sports figures, like John Wooden or Vince Lombardi, or political people like Margaret Thatcher or Ronald Reagan or Churchill. I’ve always been a student of history. There’s a lot to glean, and it’s pretty simple — you stand for your principles, be strong. I think a good banker is a good listener, you listen to your customers, what their needs are.

How would you describe your personal leadership style?

I try to lead by example. I’ve been seen outside washing the ATM with a bucket of soap, picking up windblown trash in the parking lot. I think if you show that you’re willing to do any jobs that need to be done, your associates respect that. When you’re a small organization with 50 employees, you have to lead by example. You know their names, you know their spouses’ names, you know their children’s names. It is a family.

And I remember my roots — I was a teller at one time. You have a better perspective when you’re managing people, and I think they respect you, and they know you’ve risen from the bowels of the ship to the top. I always felt like if I can do it, then anybody can do it.

— Jeanne Davant

I remember my roots — I was a teller at one time.”

At this stage, I’m looking at helping people.”

BROTHER LUCK

CEO of No Lucks Given & Dlucks Enterprise

Brother Luck has put Colorado Springs on the map as much for his regular appearances on celebrity chef cooking shows as for his two anchor properties Downtown, Four by Luck on North Tejon Street and Lucky Dumpling near the intersection of Wahsatch and Colorado avenues. But Luck says fame does not benefit the larger public with practical cooking tips, so he’s stepping away from TV celebrity in favor of a TikTok account with 100,000 followers, and keynote speeches where he can discuss his vision for supporting communities in a variety of ways.

Luck might seem from a distance to have an abundance of his surname’s qualities, but much of his history through Oakland, Phoenix, Chicago and Colorado Springs was as intentional as it was fortuitous. His interest in kitchen work stretches back to the East Bay, when his father’s untimely death when Luck was 10 years old led him to seek employment at 14. After the family moved to Arizona, Luck enrolled in a culinary school, eventually winning scholarships to attend the Art Institute of Phoenix. Further postgraduate scholarships from the Gohan Society and Chen Foundation expanded his awareness of culinary culture in Japan and China, and a raft of chef opportunities nationwide followed.

Your first local job was at Cheyenne Mountain Resort, correct?

Yes, I moved here in 2006 with every intention of working at The Broadmoor. I had been offered a position there. But then someone told me about Cheyenne Mountain [Resort], and I was blown away by the beauty of that patio. I saw so much more opportunity in terms of what I could bring to the table. When you work for a five-star, five-diamond property like The Broadmoor, you always wonder what you can bring. Whatever you do, it’s about maintenance of existing status. Cheyenne Mountain didn’t have that at the time. The goal of attaining a four-diamond rating, of introducing à la carte food into that property was huge. My opinions mattered more, and I could bring more to the table.

How did you happen to go to Chicago, and then come back to the Springs?

I’m one of the many young professionals who left Colorado Springs and didn’t truly appreciate it until I left. Chicago was actually a transfer; the same company that managed Cheyenne Mountain managed the World of Whirlpool project, and I loved Chicago. Then I went to San Antonio, and ran a hotel property for that same company there. All this time, I had been harboring an aspiration to own my own restaurant. I wrote business plans every night, and realized I was missing critical information about running a certain type of property. Craftwood Inn in Manitou was the perfect scenario. ... I packed my bags and took over as executive chef in 2012.

Craftwood was iconic, ... yet it got caught in the perfect storm of the 2012 fire and 2013 and 2014 floods. The owner had two restaurants in Manitou Springs and couldn’t sustain them, so he closed Craftwood. I had a feeling that this would be the time for me to launch my own restaurant. I remember having a conversation with my wife, predicting I wouldn’t have a job in six months. I left eight or nine months prior to the doors closing, and decided to risk it all. I jumped off the cliff and went to the Triple Nickel Tavern to run their internal commercial kitchen. People thought

I was crazy to leave a fine dining establishment for a punk rock bar kitchen. I saw it as an opportunity to start a business with a minimum of capital, since Triple Nickel’s kitchen was unused. Our pop-up dinners, night fights, à la carte programs — everything oriented to what we could plan for this week on social media.

What about Street Eats and Four by Brother Luck? When did those opportunities arise?

I was in the [Triple Nickel] for 10 months, and realized I couldn’t live with any crutches, blaming the limitations of the bar atmosphere for what I couldn’t do. My wife and I found a venue on the Westside and opened Brother Luck’s Street Eats in 2013. It was a full-service restaurant that just needed paint and a menu. After signing a lease in June, we were open in two weeks. ... When a friend in New York asked me what kind of food we did, I couldn’t answer, and I realized the lack of a business plan hurt. Four began as a story. I was sitting with a marketing team, and in branding my own name, Brother Luck, the number four kept coming up, Brother Luck IV as a fourth generation with the name, I cooked at the Four Seasons, we had lived in the Four Corners, and then I read a quote from a Ute tribe elder about humans being experts at hunting, fishing, farming and gathering, hence we were good cooks. And hence Four, with a Southwestern concept based on a story of Four Corners. At that point we took out a loan, put our house and life insurance policy as collateral, and here we are almost seven years later, and a pandemic in between.

Talk about the celebrity chef roles. How did that happen?

There was an element of ego, as I was chasing validation for a number of years. I thought celebrity cooking shows would ease my insecurities as a chef. Yet when Guy Fieri came to town to film Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, they reached out to me, and I declined to do the show, I thought we were too good. I remember being so humbled when the restaurants he showcased were booming. At that point I decided I wanted to use TV to become a brand ambassador for Colorado Springs. I started applying for every cooking show and competition out there. My first callback was for Beat Bobby Flay. ... That went well, which led to an appearance on Chopped, and we got my assistant on both Chopped and Cooks vs. Cons. In a matter of 12 months, we did eight shows on Food Network. Eventually I heard from Top Chef, who told me they were casting in January. On Jan. 1, I made a video digging in the backyard, and sent them a message that anyone Top Chef recruited I would bury. And that led to two seasons of the show.

What does expansion of the brand mean to you — more media outlets, more restaurants?

At this stage, I’m looking at helping people. The goal for 2023 is to reach more people on topics of mental health, topics of how to build a business, to share stories of hope and inspiration. ... On the mental health side, that includes “normalizing the uncomfortable.” As someone who deals with depression and anxiety, I can speak to others with some authority. My initial dream was to manage a hotel. I was very corporate, follow the chain of command — but something snapped when I turned 30, and the succeeding 10 years have been surreal.

— Loring Wirbel

BOB MCLAUGHLIN

Executive Director of Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center

Despite being raised by military veterans, Robert “Bob” McLaughlin had no plans to enter the service when he was deciding on a college choice.

The Lexington, Massachusetts, native had planned on playing college rugby and figuring out his career plans as he went along.

It didn’t take long for him to reconsider. A few of his rugby teammates had entered the University of Massachusetts’s ROTC program and they seemed to like it. By his sophomore year, McLaughlin was fully entrenched in the competitive nature of a military career.

“The military was always in the back of my mind at the time,” he says. “I was always drawn to its values. Then, as I was evaluating what I was going to do when I grew up, I just went down to the ROTC building and signed up during spring break.”

Following college, he traveled a good part of the world as a young officer — Europe, multiple stateside assignments, a stop as an instructor at the United States Military Academy Preparatory School (West Point Prep) and stints at various staff colleges.

Then came the terror attacks of Sept. 11.

As an artillery officer and fire-support coordinator, McLaughlin first commanded Marine units in Africa. Later, he transitioned to commanding Army combat units in Iraq. He would call in air strikes, among other command duties, and coordinate battle plans for infantry units operating in the country.

And that’s where he witnessed the extreme toll that combat inflicts on soldiers. Throughout his career, McLaughlin would often return from combat deployments only to be tasked with training and preparing stateside units for future deployments — units that included veterans of previous conflicts.

“Due to the nature of combat operations, you not only have to be technically competent in what you’re doing, you have to build a team,” he says. “You

have to communicate effectively and you have to make sure that people are aligned with what you’re trying to do. Then, you have to go forward and execute.”

Fast forward a decade or so to 2009, and McLaughlin found himself leading the garrison at Fort Carson, a position that’s often compared to being the mayor of a city. It proved to be a important role at a pivotal time, too, as the 4th Infantry Division was just returning to the post.

“The beauty of being a soldier or leader, you have to apply your leadership skills to the environment that you’re assigned,” McLaughlin says. “So for me, my unique set of challenges was reintegrating an active-duty Army division into Fort Carson. Meanwhile, I was also working on a charter from Army leaders to help soldiers who were struggling.”

While performing that role, he saw the real impact that multiple year-long deployments can have on Soldiers and their family members. That’s also when he met Jay Cimino, a former Marine and local car dealer (now president and CEO of the Phil Long Family of Dealerships). Cimino came up with the idea of creating an organization that could help local veterans adjust and adapt to civilian life. Though intrigued by the idea, McLaughlin still had several years of military service to complete — including another year-long deployment to Afghanistan.

Years later, Cimino had solidified the idea of creating Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center in Colorado Springs and was finally able to convince McLaughlin to end his 28-year military service and come on as executive director.

What does Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center do?

When we first opened, I knew it was important to build community partnerships. Then, when I met with people, they told me that Mt. Carmel needed to provide education (for veterans and family members), counseling assis -

tance, legal counseling and assistance, financial counseling and assistance, benefits counseling and assistance, and links to housing.

So based on that, the very first thing that we did was build the veteran family services along with our partners. Then I realized we needed to perform direct service. So we developed case managers to help veterans and their families, just like Army Community Service does for active-duty members, except we do it for veterans. And now we have peer navigators, whose entire mission is to help troops transition into civilian life.

We have an office on Fort Carson, and our navigators are helping military members transition every day.

Another thing we do is fill gaps in the veterans assistance realm. Most American taxpayers believe that the Veterans Administration takes care of all veterans. In reality, they help with three things: burials, health care and benefits. They screen transitioning service members for service-related disabilities, and if they gauge that service member has a disability then they’re cared for by the VA. But the reality is that there are many other challenges for transitioning military members that are not handled by the VA. Where is a veteran going to work, for instance? The Army’s Transition Assistance Program helps transitioning service members gain their first employment after they exit the service. But the success rate of initial employment in the first year is about 50 percent. So 50 percent of vets move on to something else. Where do they go? They can’t go back to Fort Carson’s TAP because they’re now a veteran. That’s why our program is so important to help troops in transition. Also, the VA doesn’t take care of families. That’s not in their charter. Their charter is to take care of veterans. So where does a family member go to get connected to services? That’s why the Veteran Family Services is here — to help families.

MCLAUGHLIN

Do you have a leadership philosophy?

Really, I think it’s a cliché, but the idea of leading from the front is important. One should never ask somebody to do something that they wouldn’t do. And, leaders should set the example of what to do with a difficult task. The harder the task is, the more a leader should be in front of it.

Good leaders are also good mentors. Sometimes, we as leaders go right to the negative if someone is not performing to standard. But really, there’s two critical aspects of dealing with people — competence and character. I’m a big fan of character over competence. Unless you’re a brain surgeon or a car mechanic, I would rather take someone with good character who needs their competency developed. Walt Whitman said, “Be curious, not judgmental.” Often, we jump to judgment without asking the behind-the-scenes questions. And that’s what mentorship is all about. What are the challenges that people are dealing with and how do you help them work through it?

We always try to collaborate with organizations that want to help veterans and their families. This year, we started the Next Chapter program, which is state funded and concerns suicide prevention, along with UCHealth. We’re also doing more with our local housing partners and we’re trying to work more on spouse employment and expanding help to rural veterans. The idea of improving public/private partnerships is critical.

Has Mt. Carmel’s vision evolved since you started?

— Scott Prater

The harder the task is, the more a leader should be in front of it.”

GREG RAYMOND

President of Children’s Hospital Colorado, Southern Region

Greg Raymond’s journey with Children’s Hospital Colorado began over two decades ago. When he first joined the team, he was sharing a workstation with a coworker, using his background in construction and health care administration to help plan the community’s first pediatric hospital. Today, he’s president of the Southern Colorado care system, which provides pediatric services at five locations in the state.

“It’s been a great opportunity to grow and develop my health care career, and do it with a single organization, which is atypical,” says Raymond. “A lot of that is tied directly to the mission of Children’s Colorado, tied to the vision of the future that we’ve had over the 21 years that I’ve been a member of the team here, and my ability to help influence that strategy and implement that vision. I’ve been really humbled by the responsibility and the opportunities that I’ve had within this organization to meet the needs of our kids and their families throughout the entire country, and internationally, but more specifically southern Colorado.”

Can you talk a little more about your career trajectory?

I grew up in a family [construction] business, and I had an uncle that was a physician. I was always intrigued by health care. As I went through high school and consulted with my uncle, I really started to question whether being a provider was what I wanted to do. And I made the determination that being a provider may not be how I want to be involved with health care. ... I was intrigued by health care administration [and its] ability to do both, meaning being involved in health care while focusing on the operational, the financial and the strategic aspects that are required for health care. And so, I literally went to the CEO of the local hospital where I was going to college and knocked on the door and asked if I could shadow him for a couple of months during the summer. And fortunately, he said yes. (He was a mentor of mine until his untimely passing.) That really solidified my desire to pursue an advanced degree in health care administration. In preparation for that advanced degree, I pursued a science and chemistry degree, thinking that having a scientific background would be a good basis or foundation to focus on the administrative aspects of complex healthcare organizations. And it definitely did that. After completing my undergraduate degree at Utah State University, I pursued a Master’s of Healthcare Administration at the University of Minnesota.

How would you describe your leadership style?

I would describe my leadership style as empowering. I love to be surrounded by smart and driven individuals who are aligned around a single mission. And our association with the University of Colorado School of Medicine is one of the things that’s really kept me at Children’s Hospital Colorado. The faculty with whom we get to work is inspiring and motivating. On an hourly basis, I get to work with the best and the brightest. Children’s Hospital Colorado does not become a top 10 pediatric hospital in the country by happenstance. It’s the people. ... And so, from a leadership perspective, it’s really aligning myself with individuals who share the same goals — primarily around

the mission and the vision of the organization — and empowering them to accomplish those goals.

What motivates you?

It’s about ensuring that that access to that level of care exists for every child, regardless of [where they’re from], regardless of whether they have insurance, regardless of whether they are from a nuclear family, or have a unique upbringing, or have a challenging situation. That’s what motivates me — to ensure equity for all of our kids, that they have access to the faculty and other medical staff members who have dedicated their entire lives to take care of kids. And that could be physicians, it could be advanced practice providers. It’s absolutely our nurses and our respiratory therapists. It’s individuals who check you in, individuals who make sure the rooms are clean, those who deliver your food. All of them have made the conscious decision, “I want to dedicate my career to kids.” That’s motivating to me.

What are some of your goals moving forward?

Colorado Springs is a growing and thriving community. And health care is a key component to not just the economy, but to ensuring that we all continue to be productive members of the community and continue to advance the momentum that southern Colorado and Colorado Springs has. And so, when I think about the goals for this organization, it’s what can we do to keep kids out of the hospital? Our goal is to put ourselves out of business, not to get more business. It’s a flawed business strategy. But what that really means is: What programs are we going to implement in the future that are going to keep kids healthy and well, and keep them in school, and keep their mental health in a state where they’re not getting into a crisis situation that requires an acute level of care? What are we going to do to ensure that kids are born healthy, and they don’t require neonatal intensive care? What are we going to do to mitigate food insecurities so that young kids [don’t] have GI issues or stress-induced issues because they don’t know where the next meal is coming from?

That’s where an organization like Children’s Hospital Colorado needs to continue to be forward-thinking (in addition to all the great clinical care that we provide, both inpatient and outpatient). That’s the next horizon that we are focused on. And those are just a few examples. But really, it’s how do we minimize some of those social determinants of health that disproportionately impacts kids (because they don’t influence it directly). It’s influenced by the situations they’re born into or that they’re placed into. They’re not making their own health care decisions. They’re not choosing [between] going to get an organic chicken from Whole Foods or [going to] get McDonald’s. That choice is made for them. ...

We are always going to be here to meet the acute care needs and the outpatient needs of our community. We’ll continue to recruit physicians and nurses and pediatric pharmacists. And we need to address the social determinants of health — and ensure that equity and diversity and inclusion are part of that.

— Anna Fiorino

I love to be surrounded by smart and driven individuals who are aligned around a single mission.”

KEVIN SHAUGHNESSY

Executive Vice President and Partner of Phil Long Dealerships

Kevin Shaughnessy’s 32-year career in auto sales has been guided by relationships — not any desire, at first, to sell cars.

It was Mike Blair who first hired Shaughnessy, an Ohio native, to work the floor at his Albuquerque dealership after Shaughnessy graduated from Eastern New Mexico University. He later followed Blair to Texas, and ultimately, Colorado, where Blair became the leader of Phil Long Ford of Denver (and the godfather of Shaughnessy’s two children).

“Then he introduced me to Jay Cimino,” the president and CEO of the Phil Long Family of Dealerships, in 2006, Shaughnessy says. “I listened to [Cimino] for about two hours, came back and told my wife, ‘I think we could look for 100 years and not find a better place to be.’”

Shaughnessy says he was drawn by Cimino’s “charisma” and appreciated and adopted his philosophy for business leadership. He hasn’t looked back since, becoming the executive vice president and managing partner of Phil Long Dealerships in 2018.

Shaughnessy cemented his own leadership legacy last fall with a nomination for 2023 TIME Dealer of the Year. He’s one of 48 industry executives in the U.S. recognized as one of the country’s most successful and community-dedicated auto dealers.

What is so special to you about Phil Long, compared to other dealership groups?

The thing that really impressed me the most about the company was, they had this laminated placemat on the table — it was called “the journey.”

It has a leadership process for how we make decisions as a company. It starts with a vision; we challenge the vision; we communicate it; we align, get behind it; and then we execute.

It gives us a blueprint for how we

behave, how we communicate, how we lead. When things get off track, we can usually go back to our leadership steps and figure out that we missed something. Over time, I’ve come to deeply recognize its value and rely on it. It allows us to really grow as a company and provide a higher level of consistent service.

Every company has its way of doing things. But I’ve never been any place else that puts it on the walls, distills it down to its essence and says, “This is the way we do it.”

How did you lead the company through the COVID pandemic?

Another element to “the journey” is the five “Ps” — people, passion, process, product and profit. It’s important what order they’re in. Profit isn’t something we do, it’s what happens if we have good people that are passionate about what they do, who have a process to keep them doing things the right way.

As we came into COVID, we were very fortunate to have this framework. We didn’t have to wonder, “What are our hierarchy of values going to be?” Our No. 1 thing was our people.

The governor’s public health order articulated that auto repair facilities were essential businesses, but auto sales facilities were not. That was complicated for us. We made the tough decision to furlough about 150 employees.

We started having internal discussions around that. We felt that was not necessarily aligned with our values, because it wasn’t people-first. So, we told all of our employees, if you want your job, you have it, and we’ll pay you. The executive team of Phil Long unanimously voted for a reduction in salary. One-hundred percent of that reduction in salary went into an employee assistance fund, because a lot of our employees work on commission.

And in mid-April 2020, we launched a campaign to offer a free oil change and safety inspection for any essential worker. Not just for doctors and nurses, but if you were stocking the groceries at the store, or you were a teacher homeschooling kids — anybody who self-identified as an essential worker.

We donated a lot of labor and a lot of parts, and we even had some vendors that partnered with us, donating money. We put that into a fund, so we could take care of customers’ needs that they couldn’t afford. Our service end of the business was just slammed. All of a sudden, we created all this need — we were giving away the services — but we created need.

What leadership lessons from the past two years will you carry with you?

I’ve always known it — but maybe I didn’t believe it in my heart — that challenges are really married to opportunities. There have been extraordinarily difficult times, and we have been thoughtful and creative about how we navigate those.

As we come into 2023, there’s a lot of storm clouds on the horizon. There’s economic uncertainty; there’s a looming recession. We don’t know exactly what flavor we’re gonna get in 2023.

I am not just comfortable that we’re going to be able to navigate that — I’m genuinely excited about facing those challenges and finding thoughtful, creative solutions. I’ve seen us do it over the last two years and not just survive in tough times, but find ways to thrive.

What guides Phil Long’s philanthropy?

When I talk about those five “Ps,” I feel compelled to point out that profit doesn’t necessarily mean dollars. It’s not always about trying to create a bottom line. Sometimes profit is helping others in our community. Sometimes it’s that feeling we get from helping others.

SHAUGHNESSY

We get profit from lifting others up in our communities, making our communities healthier and stronger. Being “glue” in the community is a profitable thing, even if it costs us money.

We do that through organizations like Mile High United Way, Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center, Springs Rescue Mission and Catholic Charities. There’s dozens of different ways and groups that we interface with, that we’re helping, because we love them all.

That, to me, is reflective of the real value of a family-owned and operated business here in Colorado. We’re nimble and can make decisions based on our values. We don’t have to be torn about shareholder value.

— Greta Anderson Johns

Challenges are really married to opportunities.”

Gene Sanchez has run his own network systems integration company, Zehcnas Inc., for 20 years, offering unified data, voice, and video services for small and medium businesses. When Zehcnas once served a mix of commercial and government end customers, Sanchez had a fluctuating dedicated staff of between 20 and 30 people. Now, he’s cut back on the regulation-heavy government market, and uses rotating teams of contractors to develop networks for businesses in the Colorado Springs, Pueblo and the northern New Mexico region. Because he serves as network designer, he likes to think of his role as akin to a general contractor in the building trades. And he never wants to be called an “IT specialist.”

Sanchez has roots in the San Luis Valley, but has lived in Colorado Springs most of his life. He became interested in networking technology through his former father-in-law, and ended up developing the internal communications network for the former MCI Communications engineering building at the west end of Garden of the Gods. During his years at MCI, Sanchez developed many patented technologies for new kinds of copper cabling — what later became known as “Categories 1 through 5” wiring.

While demonstrating a new network he had designed for Carneciria Leonela on Pikes Peak Avenue, Sanchez waxed nostalgic for the days when network executives understood fiber, copper cable, and the techni-

We make a point of siding with the client.”

GENE SANCHEZ

CEO of Zehcnas

cal details of network topologies like Ethernet. He warned that companies can put themselves at risk by staying network-unaware and putting all their financial data on cloud services.

What drove you to digging deep in technology architectures?

As a kid, I was always interested in tearing apart motorcycles, sometimes even cars, and putting them back together. But the stroke of luck came when my ex-father-in-law got me a job at AT&T. This was during the time of the RBOCs [Regional Bell Operating Companies], and I was working projects with US West and AT&T. I enlisted in the Marine Corps, but then after I was out, my father-in-law was instrumental in landing me a job at MCI. I was the chief designer for what they called “ITel,” their internal telecommunications project. I started out developing specific things like “demon dialers” [automated telephone re-dialers], and ended up taking many of the jobs no one else wanted. But the ITel was a fiveyear project, it was my last big project at MCI.

It seems like few people anticipated the way wireless services would almost make landlines, and fiber backbones, close to irrelevant in the 21st century.

You can have as many cell towers as you want, and you will still need fiber interconnect. One of my neatest experiences working at MCI was getting the deep fiber background, not just working in terminals and what we call the drop side, but learning the network backbones in depth. All that dark fiber that was put in around 2000, that’s still working. The infrastructure created 20 years ago will interconnect wireless services for years to come.

What led you to launching your own company?

I left MCI right before Bernie Ebbers jacked the company around, which meant all of us that left took a horrible hit. I went to work for Qwest Communications, which later became Centu-

ryLink and was acquired by Lumen. I was with them less than a year; no one liked the way they ran the business.... Then I worked briefly for XO Communications, considered some overseas work but turned it down, but all the while I maintained this little espina to run my own business.

Did you have a clear idea starting out what mix of network design and IT management you would seek out?

I was never interested in IT management work — not at all. As I got more into twisted-pair wire replacing coaxial cable, the Silicon Valley company SynOptics started pushing cheap managed Ethernet using what was in essence phone wire. And I realized that could make high-speed networks affordable for small and medium[-sized] businesses. When I first started Zehcnas, I had a telecom bias, but enterprise-style networking won out, and I followed those trends.

When I first incorporated, I was scared. Here I’d gone from a reliable paycheck, a 401k, working with a team, to being on an unknown cliff. But all the networking corporations were changing — not in a good way — and I knew I had to be in charge of my own life. I had a lot of mentors telling me, “Just jump, just do it.” My business plan talked about the integration of voice, video and data services in an affordable way for local customers. At first that included government accounts, but over time the documentation requirements dragged me down — and the government expected little guys to carry the load when they can’t pay us on time, so we’ve shifted to the small and medium[-sized] business market. My business has always centered on systems integration, but the business model has evolved to more of being a general contractor of networking.

What has that shift meant for head count?

In the past, I’ve had as many as 20 or 30 dedicated employees, but now the business is more like a building contractor: I will hire crews, each of which

have their own businesses, for specific jobs that have specific expertise. It seems like that model is being used in more and more business sectors. We also avoid pushing a particular product; we recommend what works. With this newer job for Carnicería Leonela, for example, I’m including point-of-sale terminals for the first time. Technology can push changes in what’s possible, too, for example in video conferencing. When I started, you needed dedicated hardware. Now the technology on the desktop and the cultural push of the pandemic for Zoom and Skype just made desktop video the most natural thing in the world.

Did you decide the limits to your geographical footprint in your business plan?

I initially I thought about going statewide, but realized that’s a bigger headache than it’s worth. We have some jobs in Pueblo, and northern New Mexico, we’ve had business in Denver metro and even Wyoming, but our primary focus is El Paso County. When I’ve gotten too ambitious, I’ve worked myself to the point of being sick.

What is a key challenge in working with new clients?

Everyone is eager at first to learn new technology, but there usually comes a point where they have gone as far as they are able, and sometimes their customers get frustrated if the technology doesn’t give the results they expect. That’s why we make a point of siding with the client, making sure all the elements work together, and that we can be available for support after the network goes up. This is particularly important when we add new equipment like point-of-sale terminals. They might have worked with terminals in the past, but now everything is networked together, and that is the point where the customer will need more hand-holding.

— Loring Wirbel

JOHNNA REEDER KLEYMEYER

President and CEO of Colorado Springs Chamber & EDC

The COVID pandemic “gave us all a chance to pause and think about what was important to us,” says Johnna Reeder Kleymeyer, president and CEO of the Colorado Springs Chamber & EDC. “Fitness, nature, and being close to the mountains makes me very happy, so I decided, ‘Why not live in a vacation and do good work?’”

Reeder Kleymeyer — who has lived in Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio — assumed her new role in late 2021, bringing with her a wealth of economic development and leadership experience: as the founder of her own consulting practice (JRK Executive Strategies), as the former founding chief executive officer for the Regional Economic Development Initiative of Cincinnati, and more. “I think Colorado Springs and El Paso County is a special place,” she says. “I’m fortunate to be able to call it home, and I’m honored to be in this position.”

What does a day in your life look like?

What are your responsibilities?

I’m the leader of the second largest chamber of commerce and economic development corporation in the state of Colorado. We work to serve small business needs through training, through access to information, and through networking opportunities. I spend a lot of time working with our defense community. We have five military installations here, and we spend a lot in the defense industry because it’s so built up around them. So we’re making sure that our military families are taken care of, making sure that our bases are happy in our region and are getting what they need, but also spending a lot of time with those companies in the defense sector, helping our economic development team to help companies to want to expand here, or help companies locate to this region. Because that’s jobs, that’s capital investment, that’s what builds our roads, helps our schools, and makes

it a great place to live, is making sure we have a strong, diverse tax base. All of those components play together.

And let us not forget government affairs. I spend a lot of time, side by side with my team, talking and working with local officials, with state officials, and making sure we have business-friendly policy, that regulations ... are helpful to businesses so that we have things like high quality and affordable housing for all, and that people are able to open their business here and be able to thrive.

A day in the life for me ... there are no two days that are alike. I spend a lot of time working with my team, making sure they’re getting what they need to be successful. My role is to remove barriers for them so that they can thrive and do their work.

How would you describe your leadership style right now? And how do you think your leadership style has evolved over the years?

I think that I would use the phrase “visionary leadership.” I’m constantly looking into the future — what we can be as an organization, how we can serve, and where our community is going — so that we’re meeting those needs and filling the gap. By doing that, I’m engaging, I’m empowering, I’m teaching our employees things from my [own] experience ... I feel like that empowers them to execute with excellence.

Constantly looking ahead to where we’re going [and] setting very specific, measurable goals so my team knows what success is. ... I think that it’s really important for employees to know the direction we’re going in, and that they feel empowered to execute and make things happen without having to have constant supervision.

If I think about how my leadership style has changed and evolved, I think it’s just like in anything — we mature and grow in our learnings and under-

standing. I know [now] that you can get a lot more done if you surround yourself with great people, teach and empower them, and reward accordingly — versus thinking you’re the one who has to do everything. Maybe in the past, I felt I needed to be involved in every detail. Now, I’ve learned the importance of all boats rise when you just help give someone a paddle.

What are some other misconceptions you think people tend to have about what good leadership looks like?

I think some people confuse leadership and management. Management is ensuring that the “I”s are dotted and the “T”s are crossed. I think of management [as] the base of what you have to do in any organization to support your people. But leadership is about inspiring people. It’s about making them want to come to work every day because they’re making a difference, and they have ownership of their work, and they have pride in what they do. I think sometimes people think that a leader has to make all the decisions or dictate where things are going. And I think we make better decisions as an organization when you have a leadership team that can have healthy debate and discussion, and then make better choices because of that. But make no mistake, at the end of the day, leaders have to make tough decisions sometimes, and they’re not always popular. But I think it’s important that leaders remember that we’re there to inspire, encourage, give direction, and support where an organization is going more than we’re there to be the only one who ever makes a decision.

What advice would you give to the next generation of leaders?

My mantra has always been “Well done is better than well said.” And if you want to step into leadership positions, you have to earn it. Don’t assume

anything will ever be given to you. Take on those extra assignments, take on that extra education, learn to raise your hand when it may be something outside of your comfort zone (but where you could show your ability to learn, lead), and be OK with extra responsibilities. You will earn instant credibility, you will get more opportunities, and you’ll gain trust from your senior leaders. I am always succession planning. I’m always thinking ahead. What are the next steps? Who needs to be in what seat on our bus to help us succeed? I think I would tell young people: Show your value, show your work, and learn from those who have come before you — and you’ll gain that credibility at a very early age.

— Anna Fiorino

My mantra has always been ‘Well done is better than well said.’”

WENDEL TORRES

President of Reliant Construction LLC

Reliant Construction, which formed out of the construction companies of managing partners Wendel Torres and Brad Hix in 2000, has built a reputation as the builder of staple residential, commercial and Department of Defense projects in Colorado Springs.

Reliant fully renovated, and designed and built some Fort Carson barracks buildings, recreation and fitness facilities at the Air Force Academy, and the tennis pavilion and professional shop at Garden of the Gods Resort & Club. Its largest single contract at Fort Carson was worth $78.4 million, Torres said, and its work on military bases has earned multiple U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awards for outstanding work.

The company’s success — particularly its DoD focus — has brought its president Torres full circle, 35 years since he started his first construction firm in 1987. Torres’ father served in the Army Corps of Engineers.

“I always grew up in the industry; I used to do it in the summers and sometimes spring break,” Torres says. “It’s been in my blood. … It was just natural.”

How has your Hispanic heritage influenced or shaped your business and personal life?

I did a project at Peterson Air Force Base, upgrading a hangar out there. One of the small business liaisons at the base asked if I knew what the 8(a) program is — it set aside potential projects for minority- and women-owned small businesses.

I remember telling him, “I appreciate it, but I don’t want to get a job because I’m a minority. I want to do it because of my history.” He goes, “Well, that’s admirable, but also stupid.”

After that comment, I looked into it, did the application and got into the 8(a) program, a nine-year program, in 1996. It narrows the playing field for companies you have to bid against. At the time, they were smaller projects — $2.5 million in size.

We were still in the private sector, still doing projects for the city, county and some for the state. Then we started doing a lot more for the Department of

Defense — at Fort Carson, Peterson, the Air Force Academy — those were the biggies.

Within the last few years, I’ve been subject to more racist comments than I have previously, which has been disappointing. Really, I think it’s the political climate. People just become so hateful.

If you think, as a minority-owned company, people see you and you have that designation, it comes with certain perceptions, whether good or bad. You really think you have to prove yourself — which any company does, no one should take that for granted. But boy, you just feel like you’re under the microscope that much more.

How would you describe your leadership style?

We — my business partner Hix and I — like to empower the staff. We trust that they’ll represent us the way we want to be.

And we always try to be an open book with the clients.

We’re more comfortable showing them the actual cost on a project to see what they’re actually spending. I truly believe it gives them a comfort level.

One of the best things too, growing up in the business, is there were always people in the industry who you could ask for help, or say, “I don’t know this. Do you have any advice? Can you help,” and it’s amazing how many will do it. I ask a lot of questions still.

It doesn’t matter who you are, you’re going to make mistakes. We used to tell the staff that making a mistake can be a great learning tool for all of us — how did you handle it? What was the end result? Did you share it immediately with us, the owners?

Also, the client would rather hear, “I screwed up, it’s my fault,” instead of trying to cover it. I make mistakes. We just have to admit them and learn and hopefully you don’t repeat them in the future.

How has Colorado Springs changed over the 54 years you’ve been here?

When I was growing up, Austin Bluffs used to be a dirt road. Everything up north was undeveloped. Powers Boule -

vard stopped at Constitution [Avenue], then after that, it was dirt road, and there were cow pastures there.

The growth over the years — I look at it as a positive step. We were really a divided community in a lot of ways, until Mayor John Suthers stepped in. The city as a whole has improved to an extent, to be more inclusive.

Development, I think, has become a lot better. City planning, zoning, engineering, the building department — more and more they do a better job at taking the time to see the impact on the area that they’re going to be working in, the impact on the other residents around the infrastructure and how they’re going to support it. There’s a lot of thought that goes into it.

Lately, Reliant has been doing a lot of hotel to apartment conversions. We just finished up one on East Pikes Peak Avenue that was a 116-room conversion. Right now there’s a big need for more affordable housing, with leases and rent. The company, the group that we have tied in with, they’re filling that niche — especially locally.

I serve on a lot of boards, too. There’s some people that think that the low income and the homeless should be out in the periphery of the city, and not so much in the nucleus Downtown. But if you do that, it just excludes them even more, and it’ll become worse.

What’s your advice for staying involved and engaged on multiple nonprofit boards?

For one thing, when the information comes out for board meetings, read it. Go in there and participate, and know what the organization is about. Get involved, read, ask questions, know what’s going on, volunteer to do more.

On boards, I volunteer to be on some of the committees and always give money. I’ve been board president of several organizations. It’s funny how some of the other board members will see your participation and want you to be more of a leader.

— Greta Anderson Johns

We always try to be an open book with the clients.”

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