Elevate Ep 60: Leading Goodwill: Kent Kramer President/CEO of Goodwill of Central & Southern Indiana

Jason Ulm (0:02)

Welcome to The Elevate Podcast, where every leader has a story. We bring you conversations with influential leaders who are shaping our local communities, hear about their path to leadership and experiences that define them and how they're driving meaningful impact today.

Hey, everybody, Jason Ulm here with another episode of The Elevate Powered by Braden Podcast. And as you can see, yet again, we're out in the community, this time in a wonderful nonprofit, serving people all over Indiana and actually some new territories I'm really excited to learn about. But an organization that I know I've personally been around quite a bit, in fact, Saturday dropped off some stuff up in Westfield. And I was my friend, Kent. So Kent, welcome to the show.

Kent Kramer (0:45)

Thank you for having me, Jason. I'm excited to talk today.

Jason Ulm (0:49)

Yeah.

Kent Kramer (0:49)

So this is awesome.

Jason Ulm (0:50)

So obviously we're sitting in your facility downtown in a completely redone space, which by the way, it's beautiful. Thank you. So those that haven't been here for a tour, if you get an opportunity to do so, it is a terrific space here. But where are we sitting? And maybe just the organization and your role, Kent?

Kent Kramer (1:07)

Yeah. So we are at the 1635 West Michigan Street in Indianapolis. This is the headquarters for Goodwill Legacy Group.

And I explain what Goodwill Legacy Group is. It's based in Indianapolis, but we've got territory in Central & Southern Indiana, Central Illinois, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. So that's our territory. And this is the headquarters for that. And I am the president and CEO and have been for about 12 years now.

Jason Ulm (1:38)

Yeah. And actually only the fourth CEO of the organization, almost 100 years history. So I know there's a lot we're going to talk about what comes to Goodwill. But that's your story as it relates to today, but it's not your Genesis. So where are you from originally?

Kent Kramer (1:52)

Yeah. So I am a Hoosier. I am from Muncie, Indiana, and spent the first 18 years of my life there.

And then went to college in Indiana State.

Jason Ulm (2:04)

Okay.

Kent Kramer (2:05)

And step five wonderful years down in Terre Haute.

Jason Ulm (2:10)

All right. So from Ball State territory to Indiana State, when you're leaving high school and going to Indiana State, what were you going to study? What was going to be your thought there?

Kent Kramer (2:19)

Yep.

So in high school, I worked in a grocery store. Okay. So for three years and I loved it. I just absolutely loved the concept of a grocery, the concept of shopping and merchandising and customer service. And so I kind of knew where I might gravitate towards. And so when I went to college, business management was kind of where I gravitated towards because I loved not only the whole concept of retail but leading. And I knew that business management would help me hone some of those skills.

Jason Ulm (2:55)

Okay. So five years at ISU, coming out of ISU, what's that first role? What were you thinking you were going to do?

Kent Kramer (3:02)

Yeah. So this was 1990 and thinking about the career fair and the career days and on-campus interviews.

You know, there was a lot of manufacturers, there was business, you know, operations. I gravitated towards the groceries and the retail. Okay. And a new concept was coming to campus. It was called Sam's Club. They were coming to interview management trainees. They were doing a campus blitz because they were getting ready to grow pretty quickly.

Jason Ulm (3:45)

Okay.

Kent Kramer (3:45)

And so I sat through an informational session and I was just so excited with what I was hearing. I'm like, this is right up my alley.

Jason Ulm (3:53)

This is right what you want to do, right?

Kent Kramer (3:55)

Yes. So I get that.

I went through the interview process and got an offer and started in June 2nd of 1990 in Springfield, Missouri as a management trainee for Sam's Club.

Jason Ulm (4:10)

I gotcha. So going through that program, did you know where you were going to be assigned? Or were you only to go anywhere in the US.?

Kent Kramer (4:15)

I was only to go anywhere and raise my hand a lot.

So I spent 11 years with Sam's Club, moved eight times. So there was a lot of movement and a lot of growth. And getting on early in an organization like that, which had hyper growth allowed you to grow as much as you wanted to.