Susan Smith

Thanks for chatting today Susan. Let’s start with how long you have been with Walsworth and how you joined the company?

So in July (2025), it will have been 33 years.

The story is probably too long to tell here, but a short version is that in the late 1980s and early 90s, Walsworth had a specialty publications department. And they would hire college kids to take orders, do mailings, all kinds of things like that.

I did that after my freshman and sophomore years of college and then started here full-time after I graduated. I’ve been here ever since.

So a Walsworth lifer, in other words?

Yes, a Walsworth lifer.

When you started back then, did you ever imagine you would spend your entire career in one place?

No, I was thinking I would probably work here for a year or so. I was thinking about moving to St. Louis or maybe going back to school and getting an MFA in creative writing. Obviously, neither of those things happened. (laughs)

Can you tell us about some of the various roles and titles you’ve had with Walsworth?

I started out in marketing as a marketing assistant. Then for the next 12 or 13 years, I held almost every job that still exists in marketing other than designer.

I was a copywriter. I did the print buying and ordering. I was a project manager. We didn’t really have an online solution at that time, so I did a lot of the instructional manual writing.

At what point did you kind of crossover from marketing into the technology side?

Around 2005, we started an initiative to get off our homegrown technology systems and get data out of silos. I was chosen to lead the team that chose the CRM. Once we had introduced the new CRM, Mike (Sargent) asked if I wanted to work in technology full-time and continue that project through the entire implementation.

By the time the implementation was done, yearbook customer-facing technology was all with Mike, so I started to work in that area as well.

Can you tell us more about your role and responsibilities today?

My title is Product Manager, and I am basically responsible for the team doing all the definition and design of our yearbook customer-facing technology. I also manage the testing area.

In addition to managing the teams, I’m a liaison between technology, the business and production to help ensure that the technology fits everybody’s needs.

We have a lot of team members here at Walsworth who stay for a long time and you’re obviously one of them, having been here for 33 years. Why do you think you’ve made an entire career of it here at this company?

It’s never been boring. There have been a few times I have thought maybe I needed to try something else. But those times always happened to coincide with me doing something different in my position here, or getting a new role here, so it’s just always been something new and different that I can work on to keep myself interested.

Plus, over time you get invested in the company and wanting to do whatever you can do to help make the company successful. That’s been a big part of it as well.

You’ve been in a managerial role for quite a while now. Do you ever miss marketing or one of the more creative type roles you started in?

Maybe a little bit, but honestly, I think the thing I miss the most is speaking at a JEA convention, or it would be cool to go teach a workshop. It might not be great once I got there though. (laughs)

I think there are lots of ways you can be creative, so I hope I bring that to what I’m currently doing as well.

What do you like most about your current role?

Just working with everybody. Trying to put a plan together to get as much done as we can. One of the most important things I do is take the customer survey results and use that info to figure out what’s most important to them, and what we should be focusing on the next year.

That is always interesting, and I really like when we roll something out and then see it made an impact based on the follow-up survey responses.

You have the access, you get to see the customer data, what would you pinpoint as key focus areas for Walsworth going forward to continue to grow?

We’re really putting a focus this year on making things work the way they should and user experience.

Our customers definitely have thoughts about how a lot of software works in comparison to ours, so we’re trying to match those experiences a little better. Just making things more intuitive, making them easier to use.

I have a great staff who is chomping at the bit to make these changes, and that’s something I’m really excited about.

Let’s talk outside of work. You’re from the area, right?

Yep, I was born and raised in Kansas City.

And like many Walsworth folks, you’re an MU alum.

Yes, I graduated from the University of Missouri with a journalism degree in 1992. Although I was in advertising, so I don’t know. Some of the journalism people don’t like to claim that. It was the easy area. (laughs)

I also have a marketing MBA from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

What about hobbies?

I love to cook. I love to garden. I love sports – I’m a huge fan of Mizzou, the Chiefs and the Royals.

My mom and I have had partial season tickets to the Royals for about 15 years now, so a lot of my summer is spent going to baseball games. I also love to travel.

Any vacation destinations you’ve been to that standout as your favorites?

Honestly, I’m happy to go anywhere. It would be pretty rare for somebody to suggest a trip to me, and I don’t jump at the chance, especially if I’ve never been there.

So whether it’s flying some place overseas, or just driving some place in Missouri, I think they all have their benefits and good times.

Any place you haven’t been yet that you would love to visit?

I’ve never been to Hawaii. I think there are still 10 states I haven’t been to, so at some point, I’d like to visit all the states.

Fun question time! What’s one interesting thing about you that most people might not know?

I live on 13 acres that my great-grandparents used to farm. I just have some raised bed gardens, but it lets me get my hands in the dirt and I get my mowing therapy in.

Do you have a favorite book?

I love to read but it’s hard to name a favorite. I think the book I probably read the most is The Secret History by Donna Tartt. I read that probably once a year, because if I get sick, I always want to read that book.

Do you have a favorite movie or TV show? 

I watch a ton of garbage television on Bravo, which I probably should not mention. But it makes me very happy.

Favorite food?

If I’m going out, my favorite restaurant in K.C. is Grunauer, which is Austrian, close to German.

Do you have a specialty that you like to cook?

I like to smoke meat, which I try to do a couple times a year. Chicken and pulled pork is probably the best thing I do. I’m still trying to master brisket. For daily cooking, I just have this ongoing list of recipes I’m trying, so I rarely cook the same thing more than once.

If you had a personalized coffee mug, what would it say?

I always threaten to get a coffee mug that just says “No” on it, so when people come and ask me for things, I would just pick up the mug and sip it. Which is not to say that I love telling people no – not at all. I tend to be a person who under promises because I never want to tell people we can do something and then find out we can’t.

Do you have a favorite memory or accomplishment from your career?

Two things stand out –

One is that I’ve had the opportunity to travel for work to so many different places and even though you’re working, you can always catch a meal or go somewhere you haven’t been before.

The other is that the people are so amazing, and probably a lot of the reason I’m still here. I mean, you have work friends and you have personal friends, but I have so many work friends who are personal friends now. It’s just cool to be able to walk in the door at work and see people you travel with and share things with… it’s amazing.