Beth A. Volkamer, 39
Operations Manager, ADi Group, Urbandale, Iowa
Her big break: After the software company that I worked for went out of business, I was contacted by an employment agency. From them I heard about a job as a customer service representative with a printing company. I knew nothing about the industry, but it looked like a great opportunity with a small company. After only a small time with that company, one of the officers left to partner with a larger print company to start a new division of that company as a print distributorship. They offered me the opportunity to join them to help them build administrative and technology structure behind the business. Although I was young and did not have a lot of experience, they gave me an opportunity and I ran with it. Our company has grown to become a Top 50 Print Distributor. My position has continued to grow and I am now the operations manager of a 23-employee company, responsible for managing a team of account managers, overseeing our technology platforms, and working with some of our key accounts on developing, building and managing online programs through our partnership with Four51, an e-commerce platform.