Q&A with Laura Spencer

Q&A with Laura Spencer

COO of Tervis Tumbler

PERSONAL

HOMETOWN: Venice until she was 11, then she moved to Sarasota.

EDUCATION: University of Florida, bachelor of arts in accounting, and a CPA.

AGE: 40

FAMILY: Married, with a 10-year-old son.

WHY AN ACCOUNTANT? "I took accounting in high school and it went from there. I didn't think I'd be a COO of a company. I knew I would be in accounting, but I predicted I'd be in public accounting."

HOW SHE ESCAPES: Playing tennis. "When you're playing a sport like that you can't focus on work, especially when you're trying to hit a tennis ball."

PASSIONS: "I love going to the mountains. I love hiking in the mountains. I love the West, places like Montana, Colorado and Banff (Canada). It's the town like the one from the show "Northern Exposure" with elk walking around and stuff like that. I appreciate the beach but I love the mountains. "I also like to shop just like most women. I like to go to South Gate Mall and Ross to get deals."

READING LIST: "The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey" by Kenneth Blanchard, William Oncken Jr. and Hal Burrows.

FAVORITE WEB SITES: "I have to use the computer so much for work I don't get time to get online, but when I get a chance I go to gatorzone.com and my tennis league site of ultimatetennis.com."

FIRST-PAYING JOB: McDonald's in Sarasota

PROUDEST PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENT: "We're building a new facility and being able to get it done in a timely fashion, given it's a tax exempt transaction. There were over 50 documents involved. They had a conference table the size of a basketball court with about 50 piles of documents to be signed and we got it done fairly quickly."

PROFESSIONAL

TIME WITH COMPANY: Promoted to COO in February. Previous four as controller and before that three as CFO.

PROFESSIONAL POSITIONS PREVIOUSLY HELD: Nine years with Kerkering, Barberio & Co.; two years with Deloitte & Touche, Tampa.

LEADERSHIP

LEADERSHIP STYLE: Quiet confidence, leading by example.

MANAGEMENT STYLE: "I don't try to micro-manage. I allow people to do their job, but be there for them if they need guidance."

LEADERSHIP MENTOR: Alan Barberio, of Kerkering, Barberio & Co., and Norbert Donelly, owner of Tervis Tumbler. "They're great delegaters. It's like my management style, allowing people to develop and have a life."

CORE VALUES: Maturity, self-motivation, initiative to do things better, ethical people, enjoyable to work with.

BEST ADVICE YOU'D GIVE A YOUNG PERSON: "Go to college and get your degree! With the cost of living today you have to have a good career. To pick a career you'd enjoy. You spend so much time at your job that if you don't enjoy it you won't succeed."

CHALLENGES

IMMEDIATE CHALLENGES THE NEW POSITION: 1. Getting away from my day-to-day work to truly manage. 2. Stepping away from my CFO position - "You just can't know it all anymore."

TOUGHEST EXTERNAL CHALLENGES TO YOUR GROWTH: Time management. "When you work full time, raise a child, play tennis and pay the bills, well, that's enough right there."

WHAT'S AHEAD

ECONOMIC / INDUSTRY FORECAST FOR THE REGION: "In the past year we've had extraordinary growth and hope to continue that. To date, comparing first quarter of last year to this year we're up 26%. We feel like we have a ton of opportunities in other markets to grow. Geographically, we have the rest of the country to grow in."

DANGER SIGNS: "Our raw material cost is being affected by the price of oil so like any other company we're experiencing increasing costs."

TERVIS TUMBLER

110 employees

2004 Net Revenue: $14 million

Expansion: In the fall, Tervis will move to a new 55,000-square-foot building twice the size of its current building. The new facility will house the manufacturing, sales and administration departments.