Magazines
Read the latest issues of BizTimes magazine for in-depth coverage of Milwaukee business news.
Cover Story: Ad Man | Laughlin receives Lifetime Achievement Award
Steve Laughlin stumbled into his first entrepreneurial venture at age 11 with a family of white mice, a little red wagon and a handmade sign reading: “White Mice, 10 cents each.”
Even as a kid, Laughlin, co-founder and chief executive officer of Milwaukee-based marketing communications agency Laughlin Constable, was learning the principles behind business investments and the power of advertising firsthand. He launched his childhood business after a few trips to the pet store with his dad eventually resulted in a growing troupe of mice.
While Laughlin had his sights set on getting a dog, his parents wanted him to prove he could care for one by looking after a smaller animal first. On their first trip to the store, Laughlin’s father threw out $1 to buy him one pet mouse, which he accidentally “loved” to death, he said, as he held it tightly on the car ride home, overcome with excitement.
Upon their return to the pet store to quell Laughlin’s grief, the owner sold them two mice for the price of one. That transaction multiplied in a matter of weeks.
The Laughlin family, who lived in the Chicago suburb of Homewood, Ill., “had mice coming out of our ears,” Laughlin said.
So he hitched an old aquarium housing the mice onto his red wagon and wheeled it around to neighbors and classmates, exchanging his rodents for dimes.
“That was my first shot at anything entrepreneurial that might allow me to make money,” Laughlin said, adding that he was able to return his dad’s initial $2 investment within a couple months.
Since that first venture – and that first advertisement promoting his mice – Laughlin has become a creative legend whose name is known well beyond Milwaukee. His career as an advertising and marketing executive, which spans nearly 40 years, has produced an agency with four office locations, about 235 employees and a client roster that includes corporate giants such as Harley-Davidson Inc. and McDonald’s.
His career also has generated countless awards, many recognizing Laughlin Constable’s marketing projects and others saluting the agency as a top workplace.
Laughlin’s personal accolades include the American Advertising Federation’s Lifetime Achievement Award, induction into the Wisconsin Advertising Hall of Fame, and now, the 2015 BizTimes Bravo! Lifetime Achievement Award.
The honor from BizTimes Media “brought back a flood of memories” of the many people Laughlin has had the good fortune to work with and learn from, he said.
“I think more than any one thing, this award gives me an opportunity to realize how much I owe the many people who either pushed, helped or contributed to some measure of success,” Laughlin said. “We all work with other people. This is a business award, and nobody ever does it on their own in business. Business is a team sport, and we’re just all blessed by the people we’ve surrounded ourselves with or we’re lucky enough to work with.”
Even as a kid, Laughlin, co-founder and chief executive officer of Milwaukee-based marketing communications agency Laughlin Constable, was learning the principles behind business investments and the power of advertising firsthand. He launched his childhood business after a few trips to the pet store with his dad eventually resulted in a growing troupe of mice.
While Laughlin had his sights set on getting a dog, his parents wanted him to prove he could care for one by looking after a smaller animal first. On their first trip to the store, Laughlin’s father threw out $1 to buy him one pet mouse, which he accidentally “loved” to death, he said, as he held it tightly on the car ride home, overcome with excitement.
Upon their return to the pet store to quell Laughlin’s grief, the owner sold them two mice for the price of one. That transaction multiplied in a matter of weeks.
The Laughlin family, who lived in the Chicago suburb of Homewood, Ill., “had mice coming out of our ears,” Laughlin said.
So he hitched an old aquarium housing the mice onto his red wagon and wheeled it around to neighbors and classmates, exchanging his rodents for dimes.
“That was my first shot at anything entrepreneurial that might allow me to make money,” Laughlin said, adding that he was able to return his dad’s initial $2 investment within a couple months.
Since that first venture – and that first advertisement promoting his mice – Laughlin has become a creative legend whose name is known well beyond Milwaukee. His career as an advertising and marketing executive, which spans nearly 40 years, has produced an agency with four office locations, about 235 employees and a client roster that includes corporate giants such as Harley-Davidson Inc. and McDonald’s.
His career also has generated countless awards, many recognizing Laughlin Constable’s marketing projects and others saluting the agency as a top workplace.
Laughlin’s personal accolades include the American Advertising Federation’s Lifetime Achievement Award, induction into the Wisconsin Advertising Hall of Fame, and now, the 2015 BizTimes Bravo! Lifetime Achievement Award.
The honor from BizTimes Media “brought back a flood of memories” of the many people Laughlin has had the good fortune to work with and learn from, he said.
“I think more than any one thing, this award gives me an opportunity to realize how much I owe the many people who either pushed, helped or contributed to some measure of success,” Laughlin said. “We all work with other people. This is a business award, and nobody ever does it on their own in business. Business is a team sport, and we’re just all blessed by the people we’ve surrounded ourselves with or we’re lucky enough to work with.”
Hall is BizTimes Woman Executive of the Year
Dr. Eve Hall, president and chief executive officer of the newly revived African American Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin, is the recipient of the 2015 BizTimes Woman Executive of the Year Award.
Women in Business panelists promote change through leadership and innovation
When Cynthia LaConte stepped up in 2009 to lead Milwaukee-based life science firm Dohmen as chief executive officer, she knew change was imminent for the company that had been in her family’s hands for more than 150 years.
Bravo! Entrepreneur and Innovation Quotient Winners
BizTimes' Applause! special section features an overview of the Women in Business event, the 2015 Women Executive of the Year, and an overview of the 2015 Bravo! Entrepreneur and I.Q. [Innovation Quotient] event, plus profiles on all of the Bravo! and I.Q. award winners.
Downtown Madison
Brookfield-based Hammes Co. and City of Industry, Calif.-based Majestic Realty Co. recently submitted a $125 million, 1 million-square-foot development proposal for the Judge Doyle Square site in downtown Madison. Exact Sciences Corp. would move its corporate headquarters from the west side of Madison into 250,000 square feet of space in the project. The proposed Hammes-Majestic project for Judge Doyle Square also includes an urban hotel, entertainment establishments, terraced gathering areas, a public food hall, health and wellness facilities and other amenities. The project is one of four development proposals submitted to the City of Madison for the two block site bounded by East Doty Street, Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and East Wilscon Street.
Why you shouldn’t put off buying a home this spring
At the kickoff of the spring home buying season, the U.S. homeownership rate has fallen to 63.8 percent, its lowest point since 1989. While market experts expressed nominal confidence for a return, there are a few rays of hope on the horizon.
Despite a drop in homeownership rates, the rate of total households – which includes both homeowners and renters – appears to be on the rise.
Despite a drop in homeownership rates, the rate of total households – which includes both homeowners and renters – appears to be on the rise.
- Advertisement -
‘Mega mom’
When Megan Zimmerman started coaching lacrosse last month, she had barely ever watched a lacrosse match, let alone played the sport herself.
“Do the KIND Thing”
After a rocky start to his entrepreneurial career, Daniel Lubetzky persisted to eventually accelerate the growth of KIND Healthy Snacks. The company, which Lubetzky launched in 2004, continues to expand as it caters to consumers wanting snack bars that are as healthy as they are tasty.
Tower Machining thrives in its first year
Tower Machining 7900 W. Tower Ave., MilwaukeeIndustry: Machining Employees: 11www.towermachining.com In the one-year period since Milwaukee-based contract manufacturer Tower...
25%
Wisconsin accounted for 25 percent of the nation’s production of 11.5 billion pounds of cheese in 2014, reaffirming the state’s status as the top cheese producer in the country.
