The timeless cliché follows that if you do something you love for a career, you’ll never work a day in your life. When Jordan Darragh found that not to be the case when it came to making a living in the printing industry, he walked away from it.
Jordan Darragh, PrintReleaf
“I lost passion for the print industry after a decade in the trenches,” he explained. “So I left the industry for a few years. But I came back with a renewed purpose, combining my passion for starting and building a company with my passion for the environment. Discovering that combination is rewarding and fires me up every day.”
With renewed purpose and an infusion of passion, the CEO and founder of PrintReleaf has molded a path for sustainability and environmental consciousness that has earned him a spot among the 2017 ENX Magazine Difference Makers. But frankly, that Darragh found his way into the world of the printed word was purely a happy accident.
Fresh out of college, Darragh applied to a job advertisement that appeared in a Boulder, CO, newspaper for a marketing position at Apple Computer by faxing his resume to their 800 number. Darragh got an answer the next day, but it really wasn’t the one he was seeking.
“A lady called me back the next day, said she liked my resume, but she felt bad for me,” he said. Apparently, Darragh had queried Apple Employment Agency, not the Apple of Steve Jobs fame. All was not lost, however…Apple Employment had a sales position it was hiring for at a local toner remanufacturing company. Fate had lent a hand.
Darragh believes one of his greatest assets is the ability to create value through innovation. “I really like the creative process and trying to leverage it as an asset to create competitive separation for our resellers and their customers,” he said.
Among Darragh’s many influences was his first manager, Scott Zwaanstra, who impressed upon him a deep resolve to compete and power through obstacles in business, regardless of their degree of difficulty. Keep plugging through, as opposed to letting the challenges break you, has proved to be a valuable lesson for Darragh.
The 2016 campaign saw PrintReleaf secure its first distribution partnership with an OEM, courtesy of Toshiba. Darragh said the partnership has proved to be a positive experience and has helped PrintReleaf springboard into additional agreements of similar scale.
“Our goal is to land two more OEM partnerships and establish our first software integration with a leading software company in the commercial graphic print segment,” he noted, adding that his company is always looking to improve operational efficiency.
Darragh and his wife are the parents of two teenage boys. The Darraghs enjoy spending time taking in all that Colorado has to offer. Michigan State Spartan football and the music of the Grateful Dead are two passions that keep Darragh Truckin’.
