After realizing that he wasn't going to be a rock star in the 1980s, Ray Clemmer got down to business. Now, with almost 30 years in the direct mail industry, Ray is our token "Grey Guy," a necessary ingredient in every successful startup. He is our President, our CEO, our Grand Poobah. Ray is responsible for building and maintaining the incredible employee work environment necessary for delivering an exceptional customer experience. Ray is such a great guy, he pitches in when and where he is needed. You might see him picking up your mail, repairing the sorters, or pacing the floor ensuring everything is running smoothly. When you see him, just wave.
If Ray had time for a hobby, it would be playing the guitar. Because he is ALWAYS working, Ray's wife once taped his picture to the side of a milk carton with the caption, "Have You Seen Me?"
Vince holds our purse strings and counts our beans. He avenges circular excel formulas and sneers at mathematical errors. Vince is our Human Calculator. Want to know the square root of 100,638? Ask Vince. Need to convert Euros to USD? Forget Google, Vince is your guy.
He's not simply your average CFO. Vince is also in charge of our Human Resources, where he makes sure the company "gets the right people on the bus," which he asserts is an important ingredient for Firebird's rising success.
When Vince is not guarding our bottom line and working more hours than most human beings, he's busy with his family: a wife and five children. He says he can't remember all of their names, but he can quote any line from any Guy Movie (especially The Godfather) made prior to 1985. In a previous life, his name was probably Vinnie.
Joe is absolutely everywhere. Paris Hilton doing the perp walk? There’s Joe. Christening of a new royal baby in London? Joe is in the crowd. Watching the Berlin Wall come down? We think we saw him in that documentary! Joe is our “guy in suspenders.” In fact, Joe wears suspenders with everything. T-shirts, bathing suits, Elvis costume. EVERYTHING.
Joe has spent over 40 years in the printing and direct mail industry. He is skilled in Plant Operations, Client Services, Sales, and Marketing. But what Joe does best is make people feel good—he’ll share all his experience whenever he can and with anyone who asks!
When Joe is kicking back, he enjoys spending time with his best friend Bailey (his Yellow Lab) and smoking some finger-licking barbecue for family and friends.
Kim Brennan knows postal! She spent over 15 years at USPS, where she pioneered many of the technological advances in the industry, and was one of the first Automation Readability Specialists for the USPS (the forbearer to the current USPS Mail Piece Design Analyst). She worked her way up to be the first female US Postmaster in Parlin, NJ, until moving over to the private sector in 1998.
Since then, Kim has held top positions in the direct mail industry, utilizing her extensive first-hand postal knowledge, innate people skills, and effective communication to manage staffs of over 40 employees, oversee production, and even sell a thing or two.
When Kim is not doing whatever it takes to get the job done at Firebird, she loves spending time with her family and baking. Her brownies are legendary around the office. Although she has a penchant for sappy Hallmark movies and Christmas carols, most people don't hold it against her.
Linda has spent the past 20 years in the print and direct mail business. This Southern California native cut her teeth in sales support for a large World Color acquired printer, handling their major accounts. Then she joined a direct mail company, where she worked her way up to Project Manager and later, Customer Service Manager. “I thought the print business was crazy, but I soon discovered that the direct mail business is even crazier,” Linda notes.
Linda Oh will jump through flaming hoops for our clients. We've seen her do it! Seriously, some days she feels like the fire juggler in the circus. What she likes about her job at Firebird is the camaraderie and the "can-do" attitude of the entire team. Also, she works best under pressure, so she thrives in the hectic, ever-changing world of direct mail.
When she's not handling incendiary issues, Linda likes to crochet while listening to endless hours of audio books and play MMORPGs. And, while she's one of the smartest people we know, Linda has the worst sense of direction on the planet. She says it "could use some improvement." If she drives you to a function, be sure to take note of where the car is parked. Or better yet, drop a trail of breadcrumbs.
Teresa is the nicest person we know... until she gets on the production floor. It's her job to make sure the sorters are running correctly and the jobs get in the right pool. Teresa works through any obstacles she encounters, helps build the outbound loads, and even fixes machines. She's TERRIFIC! She started in this business in 1998 before sorting was automated, so she knows what it's like to hand-sort a job—she cut her teeth on it.
Teresa is also TERRIFYING! Those who work for her are warned not to take her small stature for granted. She rules the production floor with a bark, a bite, and a big stick. Nothing happens without her permission. NOTHING.
When she's not lording over the production floor here at Firebird, she likes to sew at home, where she's working on her new "Small Women Rule" superhero cape. Despite five strapping boys and a darling infant girl, she swears she's not the Boss at home, but we're pretty sure she rules the roost!
Larry is our technologist extraordinaire. He develops software and architectural solutions that are so beautiful, they could be a symphony. He also catches bullets between his teeth and has been known to jump tall buildings in a single leap. Seriously. We leave him alone.
Larry is Ray's go-to guy when he has a thorny technology issue in need of a solution. Ray throws it over the wall to him, and Larry goes back to his lair (location undisclosed) to work it out. Larry always returns to the Firebird mothership with a few ready-to-go solutions. When he does come up for air, Larry frequently asks what day it is. Our response is always the same: "Welcome to planet Earth. Today is Friday." Larry deserves a Superman t-shirt for Christmas. He wears a size L.
Troy is The Guy In Charge of Our Stuff. He does everything from developing and managing our website, to maintaining the network, software, and wiring, to handling our phone and email systems. He's also in charge of the security and camera system for the building, so don't mess with him, because you may find that your key fob has suddenly stopped working, or your early morning pre-coffee mugshot is posted in the break room.
Troy develops our software tools to automate processes that are being done manually. His motto is: "if a person can do it well, a program can do it better." This explains his interest in robotics and artificial intelligence.
When he's not working at Firebird, or playing competitive tennis, Troy plays roller hockey, which he's been doing for about 20 years. Amazingly, he still has all of his teeth.