Cover Story
The Vrabely File
Smart Business St. Louis | June 2009
Born: East Chicago, Ind.
Education: Bachelor of science, marketing, San Diego State University; MBA, University of Redlands, Redlands, Calif.
What was your very first job?
Cleaning a barbershop. I did that for about a year when I was probably 13 or 14. The gentleman that owned the barbershop was a friend of my family. I came in on Saturdays after they finished for three or four hours at a time and I would clean the whole place.
Throughout the course of my childhood and even in college, I had a lot of jobs that were manual labor in nature. What I learned during that time was that hard work pays off, no matter what job you have. If you apply yourself and you do the absolute best you can do, you feel a sense of pride and satisfaction at the end of the day.
What’s the most important business lesson you’ve learned?
Everyone in the organization, no matter what their job responsibilities or title may be, is equally as important to the success of the organization as the guy sitting in the big office with the big chair. If an organization is truly going to accomplish everything it can, it truly takes the dedication of every employee in that organization.
What would be the first thing on your bucket list?
To be a good husband and a great father and to be remembered by my family as doing everything I possibly could to provide them with the best life that they could possibly have.
