End of an Era

This past Friday marked the end of an era for our family as Michelle's father Paul officially retired from Burt's Bees. He spent the majority of his career working for L'Oreal, before he resigned to join Coty when I first met Michelle. During his time their he was SVP Operations for the America's and he started a Summer Internship program (which still exists to this day)  down in Sanford, NC at Coty's only North American manufacturing plant. Michelle and two of her friends were the first official interns in Sanford and since Michelle spent the summer in Sanford, I went to visit quite a few times; little did I know that 5 years later he would also get me a job at Coty.

When we relocated from New York down to North Carolina, Paul was able to get me a job in the Industrial Chemistry department at Coty and also set up an interview for Michelle with Clarkston Consulting. When they met Michelle they of course loved her (who doesn't?) and wanted to hire her, so Paul was responsible for helping both of us get a job in a place we could better afford to live. They also let us stay in the house they bought in Sanford for the first 6 months we were down there to help us save money, so for both of those things, we are forever grateful.

Unfortunately, Paul left Coty shortly after I joined and worked for another company called DDF that he helped get a little bit more organized (and they were later bought by P&G) so Janis and Paul were back full time in New Jersey (instead of part time in Sanford). It wasn't long before a friend then asked Paul to come down to Durham to help him get a little company named Burt's Bees a little bit more organized. He again worked his magic (since they were bought by Clorox two years ago) and he retired from Burt's as SVP of Product Supply Organization. During his time at Burt's he stayed at our house a few nights a week, which was really nice since Michelle was on the road every week, so it gave me somebody to "talk shop" to at night.

Michelle and I have learned so much from him, since he is easily the smartest businessman we know, and we both aspire to accomplish even a small amount of what he has throughout his career. He helped both of us get started with our current careers and has helped give us the tools that we need to be successful. So for all of these things we say thank you and wish you happiness in your very much deserved retirement.

Here's to you Paul! 
(Paul in his retirement glasses on his last day)