Chelsey Bode, president
Pearson-Kelly Technology
All along, Chelsey Bode had planned to use her office technology experience as a stepping stone. After all, her father had long worked in the industry (“I grew up with my father putting toner in my bottle,” she joked) and Bode had caught on to the fact that headhunters for the medical industry tended to gobble up copier rep talent.
But a funny thing happened on the way to using the industry as a stepping stone. It turned into a launching pad for Bode, who is now president of Springfield, MO-based Pearson-Kelly Technology. She quickly became enamored with helping clients construct their technology blueprints, and is equally enthusiastic about helping Pearson-Kelly employees learn and grow their own roles within the organization.
“I’ve been told I have a knack for logically seeing both sides of the fence,” Bode explains. “Internally, this helps our company stay balanced so that one department doesn’t win at the expense of another department.”
The love of ink on paper, not surprisingly, was fostered by Bode’s father, Mike Kelly, who has shown her the value of thinking differently about strategy and to not allow herself to get consumed by the minor matters of the day. “My father taught me the love for the game,” added Bode, a 2018 ENX Magazine Difference Maker. “He’s also my biggest cheerleader and where I get most of my confidence from.”
Shades of Success
Bode abides by the notion, both personally and professionally, that the grass isn’t greener on the other side, it’s a different shade of brown. Besides, she can appreciate the green patch of real estate that Pearson-Kelly Technology occupies, as evidenced by its distinction of being named one of the top 12 Fastest-Growing Companies by the Springfield Business Journal during 2017.
It’s a case of letting envy be the neighbor’s problem.
Bode is confident that Pearson-Kelly Technology can continue to flourish during 2018, aided in no small measure by the dealership’s strong managed services initiative in which the company has invested aggressively. Learning is a journey as opposed to a destination, and Bode believes this will serve the company well moving forward.
“We are in one of the most exciting industries that consistently dictates change in other industries,” she pointed out. “Trying to stay ahead of the curve while remaining relevant to client needs will always be a challenge.”
Chelsey and her husband, Kraig (a financial advisor) are parents to two children, Ry (age 6) and Hudson, 3 (presumably, they weren’t weaned on toner). Traveling to new and exotic locales, from Boston to Isla Mujeres and Cabo, help fuel their excitement and enjoyment.
“If I’m not in the office, you better believe I’m either negotiating with small kids, playing competitive yard games with neighborhood families, or spending time at the lake,” she added.
