Employee Spotlights
Just ask our customers, company leaders or even our brand partners – they’ll all tell you: What makes STP really special are the people. Our employees are about the most passionate group of folks you’ll find. Whether they’re delivering the industry’s best deals on the hottest brands or off climbing a fourteener, our group works hard and plays harder. Here are just a few members of our crew:
Ryan – Gear & Product Specialist
Ever wonder how we know so much about outdoor gear? Well, it’s because we hire super-smart experts like Ryan Pennock. A vital member of our Customer Experience team, Ryan tackles all of your tough questions in our Q&A product forum. He also shares his knowledge via the Sierra Social Hub on topics such as "How to Avoid Ticks" and "Are Your Dogs Rattlesnake Ready?" as well as product reviews on gear from Mountain Hardwear, JetBoil and more. When he’s not answering your gear questions, you’ll find Ryan in the great outdoors – skiing, climbing and backpacking.
Emily - Gear Copywriter
Meet Emily, wordsmith extraordinaire AKA copywriter with a penchant for everything outdoors. Emily’s been with Sierra Trading Post since 2010, and she writes product descriptions for our outdoor gear and outerwear. When she’s not writing away here, you’ll find her camping, hiking, working on her new house, or beautifying her yard and garden with fiancé Patrick and dog Scout. Emily loves tinkering with all the cool gear that comes through our sample process. And since the industry is always evolving, Emily always has something new to write about!
Dan - Marketing & Foreign Assistant
Meet Dan Jaspersen, STP’s resident magician and self-proclaimed utility player for the “nimble, almost ninja-like” web marketing team.
Before moving to web marketing to help out with our affiliate program, international marketing, competitive analysis and strategic partnerships, Dan worked in customer service as a translator for our Japanese customers. How does he just happen to know Japanese? At 24, Dan moved to Japan for four years where he taught English, and worked as an international relations coordinator for the Japanese government. Somewhere along the way he also learned Portuguese, Spanish and German. Let’s just say Dan keeps himself busy.
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“God saw it fit to give me the talent of picking up languages and the ability to travel to places where I could learn them first hand,” says Dan.
Dan also has a gift for the art of magic, which he picked up while manning a juggling store at Mall of American in Minneapolis. His boss at the time was the third best yo-yoer in the world, and right down the way from the shop, was a magic store run by a retired mafia con man. The shop owner piqued Dan’s curiosity for magic, and the rest as they say, is history.
The venues in which Dan performs are as varied as the tricks he shares. You might stumble upon him at a biker bar or on the streets of Fort Collins, Colo. or maybe an art gallery, swanky restaurant or private party. During peak season, he’ll do as many as five gigs per week – and that’s on top of working his full-time job and spending time with his two young sons, Kai (3.5 years old) and Niko (6 mos. old), and wife, Andi. Let’s just say Dan keeps himself busy. Oh wait, we already said that.
One of Dan’s best tricks is psycho kinetic metal-bending trick. It involves the destruction of a normal stainless steel fork, and it’s the cornerstone of his show right now. Another fan favorite is guessing the amount of cash someone has in their wallet. On many occasions, Dan has been able to predict this within $1.
“I work hard to present magic as an art,” says Dan. “There is a huge amount of time spent studying the history and evolution of magic, and how it fits into society today. Even with all that effort, the main question that I still get asked is, ‘How did you do that?’ My answer is usually ‘I did it when you weren’t looking,’ which is mostly true.”
Dan doesn’t have a stage name or anything cheesy like that, but his company name is Magician@Play, and you can connect with him at www.magicianatplay.com. Dan recently returned from a brief leave of absence. He and his family were in Kessenuma, Japan, helping the residents of this earthquake/tsunami-stricken city recover from the disaster. You can read all about his experience at his blog: http://gaijin-tadaima.blogspot.com/.
Josh - Copy Manager
As the manager of the Sierra Trading Post copywriting team, Josh Reese has a black belt in multitasking. Since his team is responsible for all the product descriptions for both the website and catalogs, Josh has to make sure his team stays focused and on task, producing accurate product copy in a timely fashion.
"Keeping both the big picture and the small details in-frame and in-focus can be a challenge," Josh says. "I organize workflow and scheduling within the copy department, and work with other managers to help Sierra Trading Post offer the best deals, customer experience and customer service available."
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Outside of work, Josh's management skills often come into play when he's practicing or playing gigs with his band. Although he isn't the official band leader, Josh is often the go-to guy when it comes to keeping his band mates on the same page or coordinating gigs. Of course, Josh doesn't linger in the leadership role. When he's on stage playing guitar, everything else just fades into the background.
"I really enjoy performing and having a very different creative outlet separate from my work," Josh explains. "Music sort of connects me to a younger version of myself, and I enjoy learning how instruments and music theory work."
When Josh isn't keeping the copy team on track or getting funky with his band, he can often be found riding his motorcycle or taking his dogs for a hike.
Marilee - Merchandiser
Have you ever wondered how we choose the products to include in our catalogs? That's where our resident multichannel merchandiser Marilee comes in. In a nutshell, Marilee's job is to check what products we have in stock and make sure our best stuff finds its way into the catalogs. Every product on every page is carefully selected, and many are organized into groups of related items, which we call "spreads." For example, a golf spread might contain a wicking T-shirt, a polo shirt, a pair of slacks, sunglasses and a pair of golf shoes.
Creating a cohesive product layout and choosing spreads that showcase our best products is the essence of Marilee's art form. What's her biggest challenge? "Too many products, and not enough room," she says. But she will always make it work. Marilee hates the phrase "I can't." She's a can do kind of gal.
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Marilee started working for Sierra Trading Post in 2007. She's been in the business of buying and merchandising for more than 15 years. Before joining the STP team, she was an executive director of the catalog merchandising division at USAA.
Marilee is an avid fly fisher. She's been fly fishing since the early 1980s, and she even taught her husband how to fish. Her favorite places are in the Snowy Range of Wyoming and Red Feather Lakes of Colorado. She and her husband both fish and camp out with their two dogs. I asked her what she likes most about fishing:
"It's so peaceful and so quiet. It's just you and the water,” says Marilee. “It's like that perfect shot in golf that brings you back. It's not the other 18 holes you played. It's that one perfect shot. When that fish rises up and comes out of the water; it's just exhilarating"
When Marilee isn’t coaxing trout and bluegill, she’s keeping a keen eye out for stellar product. The next time you’re browsing a catalog, you’ll know Marilee had a hand in what you see and how you see it. To learn more about our catalogs or browse one of our eCatalogs, check out SierraTradingPost.com/lp2/catalog
Donna - Retail Merchandise Manager
Donna, our resident retail merchandise manager, is an expert at keeping our outlet stores organized and stocked with great products. She’s also a bit of a fitness fanatic, and has no qualms admitting it. Not only is she a hard-core cyclist; she's also a triathlete and a marathon runner. Donna was among a record 29,964 participants who ran the 2011 Boston Marathon on April 18. She's also a mother of two boys, which you could call an endurance sport of its own!
Where does all this motivation come from?
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“I started running when I graduated from high school to keep my weight under control,” says Donna, “but it wasn’t until my early twenties that I developed a love for the sport.”
One of Donna's running buddies was actually the one who suggested she try entering the marathon. Initially, she thought he was crazy, but eventually warmed up to the idea. She trained. Then trained some more. Then flew out to Boston and finished in 4 hours and 45 minutes. According to Donna, she was hooked immediately.
“I’m not going to lie,” says Donna. “It was a little claustrophobic with all those runners, and I had to keep my elbows up like a chicken to defend my personal space. I’m not very big, you know!”
Donna’s husband and two sons are proud of her accomplishments. Her mother, on the other hand, occasionally calls her a “nutjob.” When she completed the Triple ByPass Bike Race in Colorado last year (a grueling 120-mile ride over Juniper Pass, Loveland Pass and Vail Pass, with a combined elevation gain of more than 10,000 feet), her brother said, “Now that you’ve completed your Triple Bypass, when are you scheduling your lobotomy?” Donna just laughs.
