Name: Tom Valdiserri
Position: KemperLesnik Exec VP
Age: 57
Where I’m from: South Bend, Ind.
Where I call home: Elmhurst, Ill.
Focusing on right now: Activation for McDonald’s and Weber Grills around NASCAR and college football, respectively, as well as three upcoming college basketball events KemperLesnik operates later this year.
Best advice: A former business partner of mine said to me one day, “Do what you enjoy, and enjoy what you do.” If you bring that attitude to work every day, it makes work fun and exciting. The people I get to work with every day also help keep it exciting. We’re very collaborative, and we’re good at brainstorming and ideating for clients. That makes it fun and different every day.
A must for a new hire: The two that are at the top of my list are integrity and entrepreneurial spirit. Have they created something new in their experience and work history? Are they a go-getter? Do they get down and get after it? You can assess those things when you’re talking to people and checking on them and asking people they’ve worked with in the past.
Exec I admire most: Blackhawks President & CEO JOHN MCDONOUGH. What he did is turn a sleepy franchise into one of the best-run organizations in sports. He basically has taken away the silos in that organization. The business side meets with the hockey operations side regularly, and they know each other’s goals, and they know each other’s personalities, and they work together for one common goal. Clearly the results have been pretty dramatic.
Best book I’ve read this year: I’m a reader of autobiographies, and one I’ve read recently is DICK SCHAAP’s “FLASHING BEFORE MY EYES.” The book was fabulous; great insight into his career. He was a man of the world, friends with ambassadors and heads of state and friends with people like MUHAMMAD ALI in the sports world. He wasn’t locked into just being a sports guy, which I think most people remember him as.
First thing in the morning: One of the first things I do is read the newsfeed that’s on the iPhone and take in some of what’s going on in the world. Then I check email. Once I get to work, I’m not checking it every minute of the day. You have to get to the work of the day.
Talking tech: I don’t think virtual reality is for everybody. It’s about bringing fans and customers closer to the brand and allowing them to interact with the brand in a more unique way than ever before. Our McDonald’s program is not passive virtual reality. You actually are manipulating the world that you’re in here. What you’re doing is you’re changing two tires on JAMIE MCMURRAY’s car in a virtual world, in the pits.
Must have music: Country seems to be on at our house a lot; my wife and daughters like that. I do, too, but I have more of an eclectic taste, from classic rock to SINATRA, to top 40 to hip-hop. It depends on the mood I’m in, but I’ll put any of it on.
Food for thought: I grew up an Italian household, and my mom cooked authentic Italian dishes for us. My four grandparents were all Italian, too, so I’d have to say Italian is my favorite. I have a pizza place in my suburb that I’m partial to called Roberto’s. It’s not the deep dish, it’s thin-crust pizza.
How I unwind: Lately I like to get in a light workout in the evenings, I walk the dogs and I get on NDNation.com, which is the ultimate site for all things Notre Dame athletics. I usually read it before bed to catch up on the day’s news. It’s not just football; it’s pretty much all sports. I was myself a fencer in college, so I follow all their sports.
Day in the life: I try to stay in touch with clients as often as possible and stay in touch with our people here in the office. We’ve put a number of programs in place around employee engagement and, as a result of that, we were just named one of Chicago’s best and brightest companies to work for. Paying attention to our employees and staff and what’s on their mind and trying to keep up with that is very important to me; making sure everybody’s happy and productive and enjoying what they do.
