In 1978, Jimmy Carter was the president, disco music was at its zenith, “Grease” was the year’s most popular movie, and Andy Gibb’s “Shadow Dancing” was the number-one song. That was also the year Fox Associates EVP/COO Steve Schwanz joined the Chicago-based company. And while it scarcely needs to be said, this kind of professional longevity is extremely rare—worth not just noting, but celebrating.
Steve Schwanz.
[Check out our accompanying story about Steve, from Marlys’s perspective, in Paws for Thoughts.]
Steve, the man of the hour, has written a first-person account of his Fox Associates journey. It’s very compelling, so we’re going to let Steve describe his time at Fox in his own words.
Not many folks know I originally started as a summer intern with Fox Associates between my junior and senior years at the University of Wisconsin. Before graduating, I interviewed extensively between New York and Chicago, including interviews with Time, Inc., Crain Communications, and ABC, among others. My best opportunity, by far, was with Fox Associates, which I joined after graduation.
What attracted me most to Fox was the opportunity to immediately jump into a sales territory and learn a great deal from the senior sales team already in place, including working extensively with the owner, Marlys Fox. After only three weeks onboard, I took my first sales trip, which was for two weeks traveling to Omaha, Nebraska, plus Kansas, Oklahoma, and then Missouri, and then working my way back to Chicago. Seeing clients face to face was an invaluable experience, which I built upon extensively in the years to follow. It’s such an important part of selling.
I was fortunate that Marlys fostered an entrepreneurial environment even though the company was 10 years old and already well established, with some very big B2C partners.
She and others were great mentors and advocates in wanting employees to grow within the company, and take on greater responsibilities as a very clear career path. That led me to volunteering to manage the Chicago headquarters staff, which was then followed by a number of years moving to and overseeing all West Coast sales. It wasn’t handed to me. I took it. That philosophy still continues to this day with all Fox employees and prospects. Then I was asked to return to Chicago in a new executive role, and I have continued to build upon that ever since. I’m now Executive Vice President and COO.
Throughout all of this, I’ve tried to have fun while growing and mentoring others to follow my example. We pride ourselves in emphasizing that to our publisher clients, as well.
There are so many high points over the years that’s it’s hard to name but a few. What I’ve enjoyed most is working closely with the publishers and customers along the
way, and building many strong friendships and relationships with them. Working here at Fox, I’ve also been responsible for selling any number of publisher assignments, and have a great deal of experience and contacts with any number of categories—B2B, consumer and association media among them. I like to kid that I can spend five minutes with anyone at a cocktail party and almost always relate to some experience that would be relevant to them.
I’m also proud of the fact that Fox was one of the first media-sales firms to embrace the internet. Our first online sales assignment was with AT&T Worldnet back in the late nineties. We’ve continued to grow and learn ever since. Digital-ad sales are increasingly part of our overall selling success. And certainly the highest high point has to be working with all of the great team here at Fox, starting with our CEO and founder, Marlys Fox. It’s hard to believe it’s been 48 years. It seems like only yesterday that I walked into the Fox office (then located off Michigan Avenue) and hit the ground running. I haven’t stopped since.