Every story has a beginning, here’s ours.
Hello World!
The year was 1997, the “Stone Age of the Internet”, I had an opportunity to stop my career search and took a position at RGC Communications, a well-established family-owned print company in Chicago. It was awesome! I had not worked in the tech field before and suddenly, I had the whole Internet at my disposal! In addition, companies like the one I worked at were scrambling to find ways to use this new mysterious Internet thing. So, I was given a wide berth to get things done.
Finally, I felt like I had found my niche - my happy place. I soaked it all up. I spent the next decade building web-to-print sites from scratch, leveraging fledging off the shelf software, and finding ways to make it all work together. I ingested anything and everything that would help the printer and our customers get things done. My approach was then, and still is today, “Yes. We can do that.” By 2004, I had spearheaded creating online applications for the United States Postal Service, W. W. Grainger, Sears Roebuck and Co., and many more.
“All your base are belong to us”
After leading the company’s adoption of Pageflex as its web-to-print platform in 2005, I assisted the sales team in landing accounts with Verizon, Pop Warner, Donruss (trading cards), and the Newport Group (benefits consulting). By this time, I had created a technical team that was expanding Storefronts to integrate every facet of the business from automating the printing of pick-tickets in the warehouse to pushing multi-page financial statements with reporting and job tracking.
I had developed a great team and an approach that was very successful. Did I want more? Yup.
The future is so much bigger than the past…
I began to realize that I could do the things I loved - solving problems with technology - on a much larger scale. So, in 2008 I set off with some great partners to bring these skills to the larger industry as a whole. Since then, I have been on a fun and wild ride helping businesses use Pageflex to solve problems and expand their capabilities.
Most recently, in 2021, I formed Asbru Consulting. With decades of experience in IT, production, sales, and marketing - all focused on print industry - I had finally arrived at a simple approach to everything we do. One simple question we ask to start each new conversation…
What’s the problem you’re
trying to solve?
After decades in this industry, I have realized one simple truth.
“The best way to establish long term solid relationships in business is to be the easiest path to solving problems.”
- Richard Spencer
That’s right, I quoted myself! Quote me on it! When you are facing a challenging problem, I want you to say - out loud - “No worries - just call Richard”.
I am not about selling you software or pushing you into one technology or another. I am about fixing problems. So, I have one simple question “What’s the problem you’re trying to solve?”. I know we can help.