Now Chairman of the Bored. Hardly.

Transitioning Through Life’s Chapters

By George Foster
Chairman of the Board

Life is a series of chapters.
Each of us has our own novel.
Some finished, some still being written,
All reside in His vast library.
My chapters are many and full.
All recorded for eternity.
The Lord is a masterful author,
His own novel, a masterpiece in the making.
When the pages someday end, as all great novels do,
The interwoven chapters will be cherished by many,
Each having a favorite chapter to revisit.
I will read his novel over and over.

— Andrew Miles

 

Moving through the chapters of life is like moving through the seasons. There are defining moments that signal the close of one chapter and the beginning of another. The challenge, of course, is recognizing when it’s time to turn the page.

It’s been two months since I closed the latest chapter in my novel when I handed over CEO duties and a majority ownership of Foster Marketing LLC to Tiffany Harris who has been by my side at Foster Marketing for more than 25 years.

I’m still a part owner (albeit small), on a consulting fee and Chairman of the Board. And, that’s Board not Bored. I still mentor, write and consult and do really anything Tiffany needs me to do. Tiffany would not let me get away that easily.

 

A 41-Year Chapter

When I look back on 41 years of The Foster Agency, then Foster Marketing Communications and now Foster Marketing, the time has flown by. It’s been a long, but short chapter.

I can remember vividly starting the firm in 1980 in a one room office across from the original Don’s Seafood (now gone) in Downtown Lafayette, LA. It was me, my wife Bonnie and a part-time artist. I can remember our first full-time artist, Kevin Megison, a great commercial and fine artist… and friend. Our first Account Executive was Robbie Davis who later had his own firm. He was like a son to me.

In fact, through the years, bunches of Foster folk have gone on to great careers, including the BBR trio – Cherie Hebert, Sara Ashy and Cathi Pavy – in the late 90’s and several recent young people who moved on to jobs in the corporate world and later became clients.

In fact, we’ve had two past presidents of the Houston chapter of ANA/BMA – Myla Lowrance and Rachel Bonnette.

While people leave, many have stayed to help grow the business, many for more than a decade. Megan Schreckenbach, who is VP Account Services and has been with Foster since 2007 (and moved to Houston); Gary Meeks, our Controller, who has kept us on a firm financial footing, and Kristy Bonner, our VP Digital Strategy and digital guru, both joined Foster in 2008; Darlene Miller, our Office Administrator, has been at Foster since 2010; and Tiffany Soileau, who does many things, has been with us since 2011.

 

The Tiffany Chapter

However, the key employee that has fostered the growth of Foster Marketing is Tiffany Harris. I hired her right out of college in 1995 after an All-American softball career at UL. She was a communications major, but I knew, having been in athletics myself, that I was getting someone who knew how to multi-task, had a tremendous work ethic and loved to compete. Boy, can she compete.

As I’ve told many people, “I knew I had it made when a client said, ‘Why don’t you let Tiffany handle the account?’” She is a great Account Executive, has been a great President and will be a great CEO. And, more important, she’s a super person.

Besides those previously mentioned, we have had some great, great employees in our four decades, in fact too many to name without leaving someone out. Two of them we lost while they were with us – Gale Andrus, momma Gale, who passed away in 2008; and Vicki Wyatt, our beloved Production and Media manager, who passed away in 2015.

You can’t stay in business as long as we have without great clients. Our first was John E. Chance & Associates (later to become Fugro Chance) and we later worked with successor Fugro for more than 30 years.

Another, was Vynckier, a GE company at the time, who was our first big Houston client. Then later Grant Prideco who allowed us creative freedom to do great work and really establish our Houston office run by Bob Wallace.

Later we expanded into the United Kingdom when we engaged Anna Scordos-Brooke to be our point person there. She’s a talented writer and represents us well.

And, we couldn’t have done it without great providers – artists, photographers, printers. Top of mind is artist Terry Palmer, who has worked with us for more than 25 years and even offficed with us after his studio flooded one year. Photographer/videographer Glen Clark, who recently passed away, was a long-time Foster contributor.

 

The Next Chapter

As I wind down my Foster career, I’ve got whole new chapters to enjoy. I can remember many years ago asking my retired mother to come visit our family in Lafayette one summer. “Mom, you’re retired,” I said. “You have lots of time on your hands.” To which, she replied, “My weeks are full, reading to my blind lady friend, my bridge group and my church stuff.” Now, I know what she meant.

I’ve told people that when you’re young you have time, but no money. When you’re older you have money but no time. It’s true for me.

I’ve got plenty of things to do besides my work at Foster Marketing. First, I’m now a ROMEO, which stands for Retired Old Men Eating Out. Long-time media buddies Don Depugh and Ron Higgins are fellow ROMEOs.

Second, I’m an avid gardener with vegetable gardens at both our Sugar Land and Tiki Island homes (two homes is enough to keep you busy, too). My wife, Rootie, and I canned 18 quarts of tomatoes this summer. And, I’m growing everything from asparagus to eggplant, peppers to squash. And, that’s just the spring garden. We’ll have a fall garden going shortly. Add in strawberries, blueberries and several fruit trees and we’re almost self-sufficient.

Third, we love to travel and our pent-up travel urge has barely been satiated this summer. We’ve been to Cabo San Lucas; Milan and Venice; Petoskey, MI; and Door County, WI. We have several football trips and a November Blues Cruise on the agenda. I have a long bucket list of things to do in the future: regular golf and tennis, piano lessons and maybe even a world cruise.

Finally, I plan on spending the next chapters of my life helping others, imparting wisdom, encouragement and joy. Only the Lord knows what’s next and He is a masterful author. I’m looking forward to the journey.

As a strategic marketing communications partner for more than four decades, Foster Marketing has a long-earned reputation of delivering results to our clients, and that will never change. We’re here to help. Call us at 281-448-3435, contact us online or connect with us on LinkedIn.