Owner Interview

This interview is with Owner/ CEO of Custom Design Group, Rich Stober. Custom Design began its journey in 2015 after Rich made the decision to start fresh on his own. Rich was asked the question “what skills, talents, and what areas of knowledge does someone starting out in this career area need to acquire”? His answer was quite simple, “just people skills, it’s all about building relationships”. He continued to explain that most of what he does consists of constant communication between clients and employees. Attitude was also a key point because “communication fails where arrogance rises”. Rich was asked “How have you developed the skills needed to carry out your work/run your business/work with others, etc.?”. Rich responded that he had

He answered, “Custom Design offers the ability to customize absolutely anything which is the main difference but we are approved to embellish popular brands like Under Armour, Russell, Nike, and Adidas unlike most competitors. The next questioned asked was “What different sorts of work are available in this “industry/career”?”. His answer consisted of the fact that a benefit to the industry is that it needs the support of a lot of different positons. These positions include sales, marketing, graphic design, manufacturing support, project coordinators, and customer service. One of his struggles has been finding the right people for this team of support. Rich explained that the team on board now has been the best he has had in the past two years. He also explained that while he has a great team now, it took time to get the right people involved. Rich was then asked the question, “How has this profession/area of work developed since you joined it?”. Rich answered “obviously, technology has provided us with the tools to stay updated in the industry. Over all the biggest development has been the screen printing, embroidery, and dye sublimation equipment. Customization has been able to take its ability further over the past couple of years due to new and updated equipment”. He also mentioned the use of the program Deco Network which is a system that tracks

To begin Rich was asked, “In a given day, what do you spend most of your time doing?”. His answer at first was “it just depends”. He then expanded on that and said most of the time it is spent thinking about how he can push the company to its full potential. His days are also spent selling/buying product and maintaining beneficial relationships with customer and vendors. He mentioned that he also takes time to think about what he can do every day to become a better leader within the company. Next Rich was asked, “Are there ways that you would suggest to me as to how to develop my career? Are there people I need to meet/get to know to help me?”. He answered “you can tell that you have had past business experience and you are very good at executing issues/ obstacles that are put before you. The only suggestion I have is for you to show more of your leadership skills and not be afraid to cross boundaries when needed. It is important that you test your limits when being a leader”. Rich was then asked, “What advice would you give me about choosing a job and a lifestyle? Have you ever made a job change because of a lifestyle?”. Rich explained that he made a huge lifestyle decision when he started his own company. His whole family has become a part of CDG so work follows Rich home after 5 pm. His advice was “you have two choices either take time away from the family just to