August Ray, managing director of experiential marketing at Fullhouse in Milwaukee
Name: August (Augie) Ray
Title: Managing director of experiential marketing
Company: Fullhouse
Company address: 207 N Milwaukee Street; Milwaukee, WI 53202
Company web site: http://www.fullhouseinteractive.com
Industry: Digital marketing and communications
Education: Bachelor’s of business administration degree from UW-Milwaukee.
Family: “My wife, Geri, owns and runs Metropawlis Pet Boutique and JustPetStrollers.com. Also, our cat, Turtle, rounds out our family.”
Hobbies and Interests: "I have too many hobbies and too little time. Hobbies include assisting my wife with her business, blogging (ExperienceTheBlog.com), microblogging (@augieray on Twitter), piano, reading, movies, photography, Frank Lloyd Wright (we’ve toured many of his buildings and stayed in four of his houses), Disney (I’m a fan of the man, the organization, and the consumer experiences), and socializing with family and friends (both in the real world and in digital social media).”
Favorite book and/or movie: “Like everyone, I have diverse tastes. On the screen, my tastes run from “Blade Runner” to “Edward Scissorhands” to “Beauty and the Beast” to “South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.” My favorite movie of the past year is one that hasn’t even been released but deserves to be – "Song Sung Blue” is an incredibly moving and intimate portrait of Milwaukee’s own ‘Lightning and Thunder.'”
Favorite musician/band: "This past year, I was blown away by Joe Jackson, Rodrigo y Gabriela and Colin Hay in concert. My favorite show this past year was Vienna Teng, who gave an incredible, heartfelt performance despite having fewer than two dozen people in attendance."
Favorite place to visit/vacation: "We often travel with groups of family and friends, so places with a lot of diverse activities are common for us, such as Disney World, Vegas, and Riviera Maya. We also love our stays in Frank Lloyd Wright homes, with favorites being the Seth Peterson Cottage in Lake Delton (http://www.sethpeterson.org/) and the Penfield House in Willoughby Hills, Ohio (http://www.penfieldhouse.com/)"
Favorite local restaurant: “People who follow me on Twitter know (and joke about) that I eat out a lot. We always enjoy Botanas, Pizza Man, Palermo Villa, Swig, Café Lulu, The Knick, Chez Jacques and Triskele’s."
Words to live by: "Growing old is mandatory; Growing up is optional."
What is your core philosophy for doing business? "I don’t understand people who treat work as the unpleasant part of their life that funds the other portions of their existence. I spend too much time on my career for it to be unlikable, so I strive to bring as much engagement, passion, fun, and creativity to my job as I do to hobbies outside of work. My measure of professional success isn’t just in dollars and cents but in qualitative factors like happiness, friendships, the people I can mentor and help, my opportunity to grow and learn, and the pride I feel in the work done by my team."
Who is your role model and why? "Walt Disney has been a role model for me for as long as I can remember. It’s easy for people to believe Walt was a guy who always made the right moves and enjoyed unlimited success, but the truth is quite different. He suffered terrible setbacks and made numerous mistakes, and Walt became a success not despite those experiences but because of them. His willingness to commit to a vision, obsessive focus on quality and creativity, and capacity to keep forward momentum despite adversity make Walt Disney a great role model."
What was the funniest thing that has ever happened to you? "This is too broad a question for me to answer well; funny things happen every day. I think it’s funny that a woman has had the patience to be married to me for 25 years, for example. It’s funny that a guy who grew up allergic to all animals and terrified of dogs now owns a pet boutique. And it was funny when at a recent speaking engagement a woman approached me and said, ‘We used to work together,’ and I realized she was mixing me up with my father, who has the same name and hopefully looks a little older than I do. But the funniest thing ever? That may be unprintable.”
