Tonya’s Path to Printing

Following in dad’s footsteps or creating my own? Maybe a bit of both.

Growing up in a family business it is often assumed that you are destined to work there. My story does not follow that outline. Spoiler alert: many don’t!! This might surprise most, but I never even considered working at Huston Patterson and not once did I step foot inside Sigma Graphics until the age of 24! Never did I work a summer job at Huston Patterson, no college break employment and honestly, I had ZERO desire to ever work at Huston Patterson or Sigma Graphics.

Rewind to the 80’s – As a kid the only reason I wanted to visit my dad at work was because the pre-press supervisor would give me candy. Big John was his name, he was so great to me. We would draw number people, visit the dark room (crazy to think how much technology has changed since then) and eat dum-dum suckers. He never once let me down when I would visit!!

The 90’s – Once I was old enough to get my first job, I didn’t work for Huston Patterson. It wasn’t because my parents didn’t want me to work and solely focus on my schoolwork, but really because I didn’t want to work for my dad!! In high school when most of my friends got an allowance my dad took me to the bank and helped me set up a savings account, I know what you’re thinking, that is smart parenting … keep reading because this paints the picture why I didn’t want to work for him … we set up this account so that once I turned in my monthly “expense report” I could put money in it. Yes, you read that correctly … as a 14-year-old I started completing expense reports and turning them into my dad. Any money I needed for the following month had to be turned in to my dad by the 27th of each month, similarly to that of a sales rep! As you can imagine, once I bought my school lunches, donated 10% to my church and 20% to savings, there wasn’t a lot of fun money left! I HATED doing them and it confirmed I never wanted to be an employee of my dad’s, but if I wanted to hang with my friends, I needed money! The summer before I turned 15, as quickly as I could, I had my mom take me to get a worker’s permit and I got a part time summer job. I digress to tell that story because as much as I thought my dad was a horrible person for making me do monthly expenses, I thank him today for this playing a huge role in my success!!

Fast forward to the plot twist – After 8 years in Chicago, 4.5 as a full-time student at UIC and collegiate athlete, then 3 years selling supplemental health insurance, (let me tell you, if you can sell supplemental insurance you can sell ice to an Eskimo, what awesome training for my future) I was ready to find a new challenge. While it seems logical, printing was the furthest thought from my mind. I was applying for any sales job I could find; only requirement I had was the weather was warm! However, the universe (aka – my dad) had different plans for me. I remember it like it was yesterday, “Hey sis, I have an idea…” After four hours of questions, convincing and conversations, followed by an interview with him and Steve Frantz, I went back to Chicago to turn in my resignation and pack up my apartment. Then I moved back to Decatur two weeks later. At 24, I knew I had an opportunity most people didn’t have access to. Decatur might not have been the geographical location I was daydreaming about, and print sales wasn’t what I had envisioned, but it is funny when you open your eyes, opportunity often falls in your lap.

Today I am proud to claim the title as the 3rd generation leader of Huston Patterson. In 1961 when my grandfather bought Huston Patterson his goal was to be the largest commercial print shop south of I-80. After he passed away and my dad was leading the crew, he changed the vison for Huston Patterson in 2001. Instead of being a full-service printer his goal was to be the largest privately owned package printer in North America. Today, my main goal is to serve and provide value to our clients and employees, people are the forefront of all that we do. If that box is checked, we will continue to exceed client expectations every day. I am proud of the team we have at Huston Patterson. It is cliché to say, but I am confident I get to work with the best of the best in the industry. Family business has challenges (that is a full blog post in itself) but it is a true gift. I am grateful I get to work with my husband, brother, and dad every day.