{"id":41234,"date":"2020-08-13T12:32:49","date_gmt":"2020-08-13T19:32:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/?p=41234"},"modified":"2020-08-13T12:32:52","modified_gmt":"2020-08-13T19:32:52","slug":"two-minute-drill-stramaglio-retirement-is-more-of-a-pivot-to-next-adventure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/the-week-in-imaging-twii\/editors-blog\/2020\/08\/two-minute-drill-stramaglio-retirement-is-more-of-a-pivot-to-next-adventure\/","title":{"rendered":"Two-Minute Drill: Stramaglio \u201cRetirement\u201d is More of a Pivot to Next Adventure"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Mike Stramaglio<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Two years to the day after selling MWA Intelligence to\nKonica Minolta, company founder Mike Stramaglio quietly announced that he was\nstepping away from the company. When industry colleagues heard the news,\nStramaglio was inundated with a flurry of well wishes that was tantamount to a\nretirement sendoff. All that was missing was a gold watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ah, you can save the timepiece for another day. While stepping down from his responsibilities capped a 15-year run with MWAi (the final two under the KM flag) during an extremely successful 47-year run in the industry, Stramaglio has no immediate plans for spending extended time in Tuscany or any other parts of his beloved Italy. The mountains left to climb are more figurative, and they speak to industry dealers. More on that shortly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With MWA and FORZA now in his rearview mirror, but never far\nfrom his heart, we chatted with Stramaglio about what comes next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What has the post-All\nCovered\/MWA period been like for you so far?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stramaglio:<\/strong> On a personal level, been overwhelming positive between the LinkedIn posts, Tweets, emails and phone calls I’ve received. It\u2019s a very humbling experience to hear and see so many things being said about me. It\u2019s just a shock, and I\u2019m thrilled and proud about people having so many wonderful things to say about what I did, my career or some of the charitable works we\u2019ve been involved with. I\u2019m overwhelmed and grateful. It\u2019s been a wonderful few weeks to see and hear all of those things. It also gave me a little inspiration over the last few weeks to actually respond to a number of opportunities that came my way very quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the funny things is, people say, \u201cYou\u2019ll never\nretire.\u201d They\u2019re right. I\u2019m not the retiring kind of guy. My contract had run\nits course, although I could have stayed longer. I have a wonderful team of\npeople there that we worked with for years, but it was a great time to walk\naway. We had record sales, record implementations, and we hired some fantastic\npeople. I thought it was time to let these guys do what they do best, and I\nwanted to pursue some other activities. The initial plan was to take a few\nweeks off, and normally, I\u2019d be in Italy for the first 30 days. But COVID had\nother ideas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

People kept asking me what I was going to do, so I started a little firm called Stramaglio Consulting. Basically, I\u2019ve been taking on some projects and working on a number of strategies I hope to be announcing over the course of the next 60-90 days. Some of them will be pretty darn welcome in this industry, especially given the impact of some of the challenges that everyone\u2019s been facing. I\u2019m enjoying the moment and working hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While you entrusted\nMWA into capable hands, it had to be tough for you to walk away.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stramaglio:<\/strong> It was a big struggle for me. I\u2019m very proud of what we built with MWA and FORZA during the last 15 years. I\u2019m a little surprised about how emotional that was and still is. It\u2019s our baby, we grew it and had some fantastic moments around the world. But while it\u2019s emotional for me, it was also emotional in a positive way. For me, I love to see the people I have been working with over a number of years just grab the ball and run with it. These highly-talented people are equipped with the energy, skill and knowledge to take it to even greater levels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was not just the FORZA component or the thought of handing off your baby to a talented group of people. There\u2019s the realization, at a very human level, that there are some things you cannot fix, cure or manufacture. When you get to a certain age, you have to realize where you are in the football game of life, the first quarter or the fourth. While I\u2019m still blessed, highly energetic, in pretty good health and feel like I can run a marathon, there is the realization that says, \u201cIf you\u2019re going to run a marathon, it\u2019s going to be in the 65-plus age group.\u201d Looking back at a 47-year career, it puts things into the proper context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The one thing I never wanted to be was that guy who didn\u2019t\nrealize it was the time to let his team run, to let the horses run and not\nstand in their way. That\u2019s where I ended up. No one wants to be that guy who\nmakes others think, \u201cMan, I wish he\u2019d leave.\u201d I think I timed it right. I\nwanted to be like Michael Jordan, sinking a three-pointer and walk off the\ncourt. I feel like I made the trey, we won, the team is in a great place and\nthey\u2019re going to do well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given all of your\nassociations, with the Patriot Pack and The Jillian Fund to name a few, you weren\u2019t\nreally leaving, anyway.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stramaglio:<\/strong> I\nthink the COVID environment actually positioned me well with quite a few people\nthat are seeking help and guidance in areas I feel very comfortable with, be it\ntechnology, mentoring skills or putting packages together for people in\nwhatever it is that\u2019s interesting to them. It\u2019s all about saving money and\nimproving efficiency. My last 15 years have pretty much been all about that.\nI\u2019m thrilled to have been contacted by some really wonderful and reputable\ncompanies and people. I don\u2019t want to tend to 100 clients but I have a strategy\nand know what it is that I\u2019m going to do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Mike Stramaglio and friends, from 2019<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As long as I have the wind in my sails, I\u2019ll be helping the Patriot Pack and The Jillian Fund. Because of COVID, we had to cancel the official ride, but my friend J.B. and I did an unofficial ride a few months back. I also just returned from an epic 10-day ride to Sturgis, South Dakota, that was an amazing experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you feel there are\nany mountains left to climb?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stramaglio:<\/strong> Yes,\nthere are. I have a couple that I\u2019m really excited about. This particular\nmountain is going to be fun and I\u2019m bringing in some wonderful people to help\nme do it. The OEMs and dealers will certainly appreciate it. I\u2019m pulling in\nsome package partnering over the course of the next 90 days, and it really will\nhelp the dealer community and help those who are basically looking for\napplications of new technology\u2014anything from AR to data, even some phenomenal\nmedical opportunities that dealers are getting into already. There\u2019s so much\nbehind it that will help them grow their business, meet their client activity,\nand take care of things in a safe and profitable way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you step away from your day-to-day activities, as much as you\u2019d like to think you\u2019re on top of your game\u2026when you\u2019re working 10-12 hours a day, you\u2019re spending less and less time on your own development and learning. In having the opportunity to step back, a lot of things have come forward that have given me moments of, wow, how did I miss that? Now that I\u2019ve had the opportunity to take advantage of the time and the knowledge coming to me, I\u2019m really excited about the things I\u2019m working on and the people I\u2019m collaborating with. Something is coming soon, and it\u2019s exciting for the industry. I\u2019m going to make sure I have the right equipment and the right shoes, and I\u2019m going to climb those mountains.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two years to the day after selling MWA Intelligence to Konica Minolta, company founder Mike Stramaglio quietly announced that he was stepping away from the company. When industry colleagues heard the news, Stramaglio was inundated with a flurry of well wishes that was tantamount to a retirement sendoff. All that was missing was a gold watch. Ah, you can save the timepiece for another day. While stepping down from his responsibilities capped a 15-year run with MWAi (the final two under the KM flag) during an extremely successful 47-year run in the industry, Stramaglio has no immediate plans for spending extended time in Tuscany or any other parts of his beloved Italy. The mountains left to climb are more figurative, and they speak to industry dealers. More on that shortly. With MWA and FORZA now in his rearview mirror, but never far from his heart, we chatted with Stramaglio about what comes next. What has the post-All Covered\/MWA period been like for you so far? Stramaglio: On a personal level, been overwhelming positive between the LinkedIn posts, Tweets, emails and phone calls I’ve received. It\u2019s a very humbling experience to hear and see so many things being said about me. It\u2019s just a shock, and I\u2019m thrilled and proud about people having so many wonderful things to say about what I did, my career or some of the charitable works we\u2019ve been involved with. I\u2019m overwhelmed and grateful. It\u2019s been a wonderful few weeks to see and hear all of those things. It also gave me a little inspiration over the last few weeks to actually respond to a number of opportunities that came my way very quickly. One of the funny things is, people say, \u201cYou\u2019ll never retire.\u201d They\u2019re right. I\u2019m not the retiring kind of guy. My contract had run its course, although I could have stayed longer. I have a wonderful team of people there that we worked with for years, but it was a great time to walk away. We had record sales, record implementations, and we hired some fantastic people. I thought it was time to let these guys do what they do best, and I wanted to pursue some other activities. The initial plan was to take a few weeks off, and normally, I\u2019d be in Italy for the first 30 days. But COVID had other ideas. People kept asking me what I was going to do, so I started a little firm called Stramaglio Consulting. Basically, I\u2019ve been taking on some projects and working on a number of strategies I hope to be announcing over the course of the next 60-90 days. Some of them will be pretty darn welcome in this industry, especially given the impact of some of the challenges that everyone\u2019s been facing. I\u2019m enjoying the moment and working hard. While you entrusted MWA into capable hands, it had to be tough for you to walk away. Stramaglio: It was a big struggle for me. I\u2019m very proud of what we built with MWA and FORZA during the last 15 years. I\u2019m a little surprised about how emotional that was and still is. It\u2019s our baby, we grew it and had some fantastic moments around the world. But while it\u2019s emotional for me, it was also emotional in a positive way. For me, I love to see the people I have been working with over a number of years just grab the ball and run with it. These highly-talented people are equipped with the energy, skill and knowledge to take it to even greater levels. It was not just the FORZA component or the thought of handing off your baby to a talented group of people. There\u2019s the realization, at a very human level, that there are some things you cannot fix, cure or manufacture. When you get to a certain age, you have to realize where you are in the football game of life, the first quarter or the fourth. While I\u2019m still blessed, highly energetic, in pretty good health and feel like I can run a marathon, there is the realization that says, \u201cIf you\u2019re going to run a marathon, it\u2019s going to be in the 65-plus age group.\u201d Looking back at a 47-year career, it puts things into the proper context. The one thing I never wanted to be was that guy who didn\u2019t realize it was the time to let his team run, to let the horses run and not stand in their way. That\u2019s where I ended up. No one wants to be that guy who makes others think, \u201cMan, I wish he\u2019d leave.\u201d I think I timed it right. I wanted to be like Michael Jordan, sinking a three-pointer and walk off the court. I feel like I made the trey, we won, the team is in a great place and they\u2019re going to do well. Given all of your associations, with the Patriot Pack and The Jillian Fund to name a few, you weren\u2019t really leaving, anyway. Stramaglio: I think the COVID environment actually positioned me well with quite a few people that are seeking help and guidance in areas I feel very comfortable with, be it technology, mentoring skills or putting packages together for people in whatever it is that\u2019s interesting to them. It\u2019s all about saving money and improving efficiency. My last 15 years have pretty much been all about that. I\u2019m thrilled to have been contacted by some really wonderful and reputable companies and people. I don\u2019t want to tend to 100 clients but I have a strategy and know what it is that I\u2019m going to do. As long as I have the wind in my sails, I\u2019ll be helping the Patriot Pack and The Jillian Fund. Because of COVID, we had to cancel the official ride, but my friend J.B. and I did an unofficial ride a few months back. I also just returned from an epic 10-day ride to Sturgis, South Dakota, that was an amazing experience. 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