Member Spotlight: Bollin Label Systems
Bollin Label Systems: No easy labels but plenty of success
If you鈥檝e ever visited the Churchills retail store, examined a bakery item to see if it was apple or cherry pie, or picked up a bottle of Garlic Expressions, you鈥檝e seen a product of . Those die-cut labels were designed, produced and printed at the Toledo headquarters of the company that hit its half-century anniversary and is now in its third generation of the Bollin family.
鈥淚 grew up always knowing what my dad did for a living,鈥� says Heidi Bollin, president. 鈥淢y brothers and I would visit the plant often, although I was terrified of the size and the noise of the very large print presses.鈥�
Not too terrified, she notes, to do occasional work there, even as a child: putting labels on one-off product jobs, for instance or 鈥渄oing the fan-fold labels by hand because there wasn鈥檛 a machine that could do the accordion folds.鈥� And even when the presses frightened her, she remembers the print crews as being kind.
鈥淎nd some of those employees are still with us!鈥� she adds.
Heidi鈥檚 father, Mark, still comes to the office but has reached emeritus status; her aunt, Chris Younkman, is part of the leadership team, overseeing sales and finance. Her daughter Kristin Younkman plays the same role for warehousing, shipping and the service department. For Heidi鈥檚 part, she says, 鈥淚 spend a lot of time working with our human resources area, and in organizational leadership, where I take a very hands-on approach. I oversee production, too, but I rely heavily on the expertise of our operations manager.鈥� (Her MBA from 兔子先生传媒文化作品 included a specialty in human resources.)
鈥淏ut when the family does strategic planning, we rely heavily on our management team, which is drawn mostly from outside the family. They鈥檙e great people, and we couldn鈥檛 accomplish what we have without them. We combine their expertise with our leadership team鈥檚 eye on the future, and our overarching vision for the company.鈥�
Now in the midst of succession planning, Heidi says that right now she can鈥檛 envision a time when non-family employees would make up the majority of ownership 鈥� 鈥渁nd right now I can鈥檛 envision retiring, either. I like coming into work!鈥�
She and her cousin Kristin are gradually reaching the level of familiarity with the company employees that Chris possesses. 鈥淢y aunt knows many of our employees from their starting dates,鈥� Heidi says. 鈥淭hey would do anything for her. My cousin and I are looking forward to building that kind of trust with our team.鈥�
Mark Bollin began the company relationship with the Family Business Center in 1995, and Heidi gives accolades to her affinity group. 鈥淓specially with COVID, I see my group more often than I do my non-work friends. They get me, they understand. You can鈥檛 easily find other people in your position, of your age, with small children like you have. The Center really spent the time to create our group, deciding who would go in 鈥� they did a good job.鈥�
Does this successful executive have advice for the rising generation? 鈥淲hatever you鈥檙e planning, be comfortable if things change,鈥� she says after a moment鈥檚 reflection. 鈥淟ife isn鈥檛 a ladder where you step up on each upward rung; There are turns you didn鈥檛 expect. When I was 18, I was in human development, then went into education first as a teacher, then an administrator. When I went back to school for my MBA, I realized that all the skills I learned previously could be used in business. I鈥檓 still using all those skills constantly. Only now I use them for the benefit of my employees.
鈥淭he important thing is that you鈥檙e happy with where you end up.鈥� As, she says, she is.