Page 14 - Aaron Quartullo of Biltmore Pro Print
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sidered other options. He even qualified for and was of- fered a job on the Las Vegas police force. A friend was an officer and suggested that he apply. Quartullo didn’t have a definitive long-term career plan at that time. Additionally, he knew that his father was the type who would work late into his career at the printing operation. He applied on a whim believing, as his friend had said, that no one is ever hired the first time out. Beating the odds, he was offered the position.
With a young family and a new home, combined with other pressures, Quartullo decided to stay. “My dad didn’t really beg me, but he really worked on me to stay. Instead of uprooting the family, I stayed here and it worked out well,” he says.
His management skills were soon needed because the family business filed for bankruptcy protection. His parents had opened a new business, another print shop near ASU that had not worked out. He experienced a true baptism of fire in running a business, but the business survived and is growing every year.
Quartullo says, “I believe you always have to stay positive. It’s really self-defeating to get down on yourself and people can sense that. My dad really instilled that in my life; he is the most positive man I know. He is my role model.” Print Shops Have to Change
Quartullo says, “I think print shops have to change and become marketing service providers rather than being print shops alone. I don’t think a print shop can survive another 10 years just doing printing alone.”
Innovations and new technologies have changed the na- ture of printing and the nature of print shops. “Everybody said print was dead 10 years ago. Obviously, it’s changed, but I believe more stuff is printed now than 10 years ago. It’s just different in how it’s printed,” he says.
“I think print shops have to change and become marketing service providers rather than being print shops alone.”
Technology has, in many cases, altered the client/supplier relationship. “It’s really tough because in the past all our re- lationships with our customers were personal. I know a lot of our clients, but I don’t know them all personally. It is what
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