Profile: Tom Kruse, Iowa Veterinary Supply Company (IVSC) Tom Kruse is the kind of guy who probably couldn’t avoid success, even if he tried. After working as an accountant for the Iowa Veterinary Supply Company (IVSC) for thirteen years, Tom and Ken Meadow, the company’s operations manager, were given the option of buying the business, because...

Profile on: Scott and Vicki Gillis. Scott holds a top level job with AIG Sun America, Scott and his wife Vicki also run their own real estate company. Considering that most people’s goal is to make as much money as possible so they can retire as early as possible, Scott Gillis stands out as somewhat of an anomaly. Even after making more money...

‘I AM SUPERWOMAN!’ Or at least I was, or thought I was until more and more of the ‘soup’ started sloshing over the rim of the bowl. I had good training to be superwoman. My grandparents were immigrants from Europe and both grandmothers worked hard and constantly in the mining areas of Pennsylvania. My mother worked in a factory until...

Profile on: Jerry Caven, owner of the Half Moon Ranch, restaurant entrepreneur, real estate developer If you were Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald’s restaurants, and you were looking for someone to take over a struggling franchise, whom would you choose? Probably someone with experience in the restaurant industry, for starters. Some general business...

Profile on: Patrick P. Gelsinger, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Intel Corporation Ron Smith, the man who interviewed Pat Gelsinger for his first job at Intel over two decades ago, still has the report he wrote up on the brash 18-year-old:  “Smart, arrogant, aggressive - he’ll fit right in.” While these qualities...

Profile on: S Truett Cathy:  The Chick-fil-A  success Story. Chick-fil-A is a fast food restaurant chain in the USA.  It has over 1000 restaurants. Truett Cathy’s career story belongs in a collection of biographies labeled “Christian Business Leaders” or in the broader category of “Businesses Built on Religious Principles.” In...

Oliver Wendell Holmes once said: “I find that in this world it is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.” Mr. Holmes is right: we are all moving in a direction, and it is very important for us to stop and check to see if we are still moving toward the right destination. I have learned this more than one time in...