THE TEAM
Our senior leadership team brings together years of experience, diverse perspectives, and unique business insights. As experts in their respective fields, they share a vision that shapes our future while ensuring we provide valuable packaging solutions to our customers.
I think I am like a lot of people who can’t stand to see children suffer through serious illness. My wife and I work with the Rally Foundation, which raises money to fund research to combat childhood cancer.
The benefits of a free market economy to society. I have been using it to get my kids to sleep for years!
I would thank my mother, and I often do. My father passed away when I was 14. My mother was an amazing influence in keeping me focused on being a person with integrity and on creating a better future while not letting me be soft or lazy when I often wanted to be.
Last book I read: Fiction – An Echo of Titans, by T. C. Edge. Nonfiction – Extreme Ownership, by Jocko Willink and Lief Babin. I always read fiction and nonfiction concurrently. A book of “crap” and a book about moving my life forward. I try to maintain balance in my life and not be so serious all the time.
Live your life to your full potential, don’t turn your volume down for anyone! My father told me this when I was younger and I wasn’t doing my best because I wanted to fit in with some friends that were underachievers.
The importance of playing competitive sports and how they prepare for the real world. Everything that I learned in competitive sports translated to my business life – hard work, preparation, dedication, passion, risk taking, etc., it all prepared me for life success.
I cherish dinner with my family – the only time all four of us can get together with school, work, and athletics in the mix. I also enjoy watching “The Voice”, especially after a taxing day. Music is food for the soul!
Martin Luther King Jr. inspires me in many ways – from his advocacy of non-violence to his focus on what is right and just. One of my favorite quotes by Dr. King is “Everybody can be great … because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”
I love to read autobiographies and at any moment in time am reading a few of them. My favorite book is the autobiography of a ballet dancer who beat cancer in the book “Zwei Frauen” (“Two Women”) – every time I read it, I learn something new. One of my favorite take-aways from the book is “Things have to change in order to remain the same”.
Bruce Springsteen because he brings it every day.
“Shoe Dog” by Phil Knight.
The painful history of Atlanta’s professional sports teams.
She earned a B.S. in Business from the University of Central Florida. Go Knights!
I love to spend time outside, no matter if its hiking, gardening, practicing tennis or golf, playing with my dog Caico (a rescue from the islands of Turks and Caicos), or just sitting outside listening to all types of music.
My mother. She was a pioneer in intermodal transportation while raising 3 children and yet never missed one of my sporting events. She wasn’t afraid to take on something new, and while she lost her battle with cancer, she handled it with such dignity, grace and courage.
To stop elderly abuse and neglect.
Whether at the beginning, middle or end of the day, I find that exercise helps clear my mind and puts everything in perspective. It’s also good to burn off the working lunches and business dinners!
Plato said, “Be kind. Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about.” I find that this is useful advice for both interpersonal and business communications. It reminds me that we are all humans, and therefore complex creatures. It’s important to relate to people on an emotional level.
I suppose I’d thank my mother for helping me to become the person I am. Growing up, she gave me lots of freedom, but also was there if I needed anything. This allowed me to think and solve problems on my own but have someone to go to for advice and support when required. As it turns out, this type of structure is good advice for leadership in general.
“The Obstacle is the Way” by Ryan Holiday. This is a short read that I like to revisit every year or so. It always helps to put my challenges in context and reframe them as growth opportunities.
Work hard, take pride in your work, do the right thing, and never let yourself get comfortable. The rest will follow.
Spending time with my family, ideally including some time outside.
I enjoy a variety of activities to clear and recharge my mind, mountain biking with my son on a bright day, a glass of wine along with dinner and good conversation with my wife and kids, an engaging TV series or movie, or a casual dinner with my team when traveling.
I draw inspiration from people who have overcome significant challenges. My Dad is an example who at the age of 21 escaped communist Cuba as a political refugee without being able to finish college and eventually became a successful business owner in Venezuela, my country of birth, and dedicated his life to nurture his family and to promote the virtues of democracy and economic freedom in Latin America.
Two pieces stand out among the impactful advice I have been blessed with over the years. During my MBA orientation, a professor urged us to “always ask why”, fostering a habit of seeking deeper understanding that I think leads to better decision-making, but which I am certain often annoys my team! Another pivotal moment came from my mother who as she was leaving me on campus as a undergraduate student advised me to “always be fair to others”. Those words remain a cornerstone of my leadership philosophy and I strive to honor them
