Born in the thumb of MI and raised in Grand Rapids, Jeff decided to attend both Kalamazoo College on the west side and Lawrence Tech in the east to complete his undergraduate education. He graduated with double degrees in Physics and Engineering which led him to Atlanta to pursue a job in this field. While down south, Jeff met and married his wife Lisa, got his MBA at Georgia State, worked in real estate development, and ultimately chose to move back to West Michigan to raise his family. After moving back, he was hired to reinvent and rebrand the incubator that turned into GR Current.
Jeff became President of Iserv in 2014 and has spent the last three years shifting the company from a predominantly residential ISP to the Cloud, Data Protection, and Managed IT focused business we are today. His most recent project was creating a partnership with the new Switch data center, in which Iserv is the only IT partner in West MI. Jeff’s role at Iserv includes developing long-term strategic plans and providing leadership and motivation to our team.
Q & A
1. How did your childhood prepare you for your job today? “Watching my dad work two jobs to support our family, I learned that nothing beats hard work.”
2. What drew you to Iserv originally? And how has Iserv changed since? “The history of Iserv and opportunity to take a well-established company and lead it into the future was what drew me in originally. We’ve changed to stay in front of the ever-changing technology landscape to provide businesses with what they need.”
3. What technology has made the biggest impact on your life? “When I was in college I got to go on foreign study in Madrid. The lack of technology at that time was actually more impactful because there were no cell phones or email to communicate with home. So, I was forced to interact, make new friends, and explore. There was no google translate available to help me speak to people, so I had to learn Spanish. Meeting strangers taught me to speak in public, have no fear, and talk to everyone. I learned that people think differently around the world and that’s how you can expand your view on life, which I think we lack today. Kind of the opposite of the question, but there you go.”
4. How would you describe your day job to a child? “We help other companies make their companies run faster and better.”
5. When you retire, what do you hope people will say about you at your retirement party? “First, I hope to never have a retirement party, but if I had to answer…that I was easy to work with and I gave more than I took.”
6. Lightning round:
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Favorite food? cajun
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Favorite color? green
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Messy or organized? organized
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Favorite animal? dog
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First job? Kent Country Club- cut the grass
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Play any instruments? Guitar
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Do you play well? Yes, with healthy doses of bourbon
7. What do you think is the most important quality you need to have for success? “Humor and hard work.”