{In a hurry? You can find my resumé here.}
I have a 30+ year history of climbing the corporate ladder in the “back office”. Touching every rung has given me a deep and unique understanding of accounting & finance, IT & IS, HR, and business in general. Business principles in each of these areas remain the same across entities and industries, but the nuances of organizations make them run and respond in novel ways.
In accounting, I have run the gauntlet from Bookkeeper to CFO. In IT, I climbed from the depths of Tech Support to CIO/CTO. My path to CIO included database and reporting administration, PCI DSS compliance, web design, and development. For HR, my team handled payroll and benefits administration while I managed vendor contracts and advisor relationships. For many years, I managed a partially-self-funded medical plan, oversaw multiple 401k plans, and the list goes on.
I have worked on formal and informal teams and projects with a plethora of people in a copious collection of companies. Through experience, I learned to work effectively with friends and frenemies alike and leverage the strengths of team members. Attention to detail, excellent communication skills, and a healthy sense of humor can overcome most obstacles.
Most of my experience comes from the 26 years I spent with a group of companies owned in whole or part by members of the Elmore family. These include:
- Gant Travel: A corporate travel agency that grew from $100M to $200M in annual sales during my tenure. At various times I was CIO, CTO, CFO, and C3PO.
- USA Hosts: A Destination Management Company (DMC) that had a lot of great people, but was in deep financial trouble when I took over as CFO. (Short version: $7M annual sales, $2M working capital deficit). We stabilized the company, and 5 years later sold the assets profitably. The core of the company continues today as part of Hosts Global, where many of those great people still work.
- Cornerstone Information Systems: A spinoff of Gant, where I was employee number 2½. I handled various IT roles in the first 18 months while the company got off the ground.
I also dabbled in other Elmore companies, usually with post-acquisition accounting and IT needs and on a project basis afterward. Highlights include an event staffing company (Executive Travel Directors), an educational publishing company (Solution Tree), and a minor-league baseball team (Helena Brewers).
Education has been and remains a lifelong pursuit. Through self-study, I earned a Microsoft MCSE + Internet certification and went on to teach myself VB, ColdFusion, and VBA. While CFO at Gant, I completed my long-dormant Bachelor’s Degree and went on to get an MBA – both from WGU (https://www.wgu.edu/).
I live in Bloomington, Indiana with my wife and best friend since 1987, Christina; our two cats, Yoda & Luna; and several dozen goldfish in the ponds out back. Our son, Joel, is a Systems Engineer in Missouri and our daughter, Tabitha, is a kindergarten teacher in Virginia.
Stalkers and insomniacs may wish to review my curated exhibition of Dragon-Slaying stories or try some melatonin. Better yet, connect with me on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevefeaster/. I love a good network.
I would add more, but I am a man of very few words.