We are so excited for Debbie Seeger to join us on the podcast this week.
Debbie and John met back in 1986 when Debbie was a client of John’s. Their years of working together grew into an amazing friendship over the years.
Debbie retired from Modine Manufacturing after 41 years of service. In the podcast, Debbie will share how she was the first female supervisor for Modine who paved the way for many women to follow.
She and her husband moved from Racine, WI to Sayner, WI to be close to their son, daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren. Debbie volunteers and sits on many boards within her community. She also remains very active in the lives of her children and grandchildren.
Thank you Debbie for your years of friendship and for sharing your time with us on the podcast!
Transcript
John Simon Sr. 00:06
John, welcome to Simon Says, inspire a podcast about life, leadership and building legacies. I'm John Simon, SR
Dina Simon 00:14
and I'm Dina Simon.
John Simon Sr. 00:16
Our guest today is Deborah Seager. Debbie is a retired 41 year veteran of Modi manufacturing company in Racine, Wisconsin, where she was Director of Administrative Services and global security. Deb, welcome to the podcast.
Debbie Seeger 00:31
Thank you. Glad to be here.
John Simon Sr. 00:33
Well. Deb, why don't you tell us a little bit I was telling data that from Racine to saner, Wisconsin, now you're just a stone's throw away from the Michigan border up there,
Debbie Seeger 00:44
correct? Yeah, there was a surprise when we moved Yeah.
John Simon Sr. 00:48
Now, were you born and raised in the Racine area? No, I
Debbie Seeger 00:53
grew up in Thorpe, which is a small town of 1500 people in the center part of the state. Spent my early years there, met my husband in college in Stevens Point. He was from Racine, and at that point in time, got a job in Racine, and we moved there, and moved there for 45 years before moving to saner in 2017
John Simon Sr. 01:15
so you left a lot behind. Yeah, yes, when it comes to, you know, 45 years when it comes to friends and everything, and we'll get into that a little bit later in the podcast. Why don't you tell the audience a little bit about mo de manufacturing company and what they do?
Debbie Seeger 01:33
Well, when I worked there, we called ourselves a heat transfer company. They made, you know, radiators, oil coolers, condensers. And then what's most people are familiar with our garage heaters or greenhouse heaters that you would see hanging from inside of a rooftop or on a rooftop now, and at that point in time, we had 30 plants in 14 countries. Wow. When I started, there was five or six brands, and we progressively grew during that period of time. Now it's a totally different company. Our peak when I was there, we had 10,000 employees.
John Simon Sr. 02:10
Well, I knew they were heavily involved in the thermal management services. And I guess Arthur Modine started the company in like 1916 or something like
Debbie Seeger 02:19
that. Yep, June of 1916 he was working at another company. Was trying to come up with the way to cool their factory, and so he developed the first unit heater. He was a unique individual. I met him one time when I first started there, but he was the legacy of the company. Some interesting stories about him is that he wanted to get entry out of moorth industry with radiators. And we were told that he sat at Henry Ford's office for a week, and a way that to get in before Henry would see him at one of our anniversaries. I think it was our 90th anniversary. His daughter had said, No, that wasn't true. He sat there 12 days before Henry Ford song, wow, so. But a true inventor. I mean, he was, he had 122 patents to his name, and I think the next highest person had 40.
Dina Simon 03:11
I love it, and I love a good us and Wisconsin story, right? That somebody had a dream and a vision. So that was well over 100 years ago, and yeah, and just look at what it's grown into. That's amazing.
John Simon Sr. 03:26
So Deb, 41 years there, when you started with the company, what was your position?
Debbie Seeger 03:31
I was a clerk typist, and I laughed because I typed 32 words a minute, knowing
John Simon Sr. 03:37
you, there were 32 words with no errors, yeah. And that
Debbie Seeger 03:42
was back on, it was on an electric typewriter, but not and the Selectric typewriters that autocorrected and stuff weren't out at that point in time. So I worked my way up from that position,
Dina Simon 03:53
right? I remember typewriters back in the day when we had, you had the paper that you could put in that would then correct it and stuff. I mean, there was, oh my gosh, that brings me even back
John Simon Sr. 04:03
the ones like Underwood or something like that was most of the manufacturing of the typewriters. So Deb, you did that, and then you moved up, you know, to be director of administration and global security. You must have quite a few promotions throughout the 41 years.
Debbie Seeger 04:20
Yes, yes, it was, it was, ironically, that a lot of it was right place, right time. But I had some really good mentors during that course of time that saw somebody from a little town that really didn't know much, and worked with me, gave me some opportunities and I never expected to get. One of the things that I always did is that questioned, if I didn't know something, and why are you doing it this way, I would question it, and several times I got on the carpet for that. But you know, that's the way you find out, and
Dina Simon 04:53
that's how you learn, yes, yeah. Then the questioning goes back to you at a vested interest. And just learning and continuing to grow. So as you said, you might have gotten called out on the carpet a little bit, but there were people that also saw, Oh, she actually has a set of skin in the game. She's interested. She wants to learn and grow. And obviously, in 41 years, you can continue to advance quite a bit. Yes,
John Simon Sr. 05:17
but Deb, how many years did you work for Rudy?
Debbie Seeger 05:20
Probably eight or nine.
John Simon Sr. 05:22
Okay, and Rudy was Vice President of Administration for the company whenever I was going to visit Deb and things like that back in the late 80s.
Debbie Seeger 05:32
I still stay in touch with him, and he's now out of the Arizona So,
Dina Simon 05:36
yeah, I think you have to talk about John. You guys have to share with our listeners, like how you and Debbie met? Well,
John Simon Sr. 05:43
I had moved to Madison in 1986 whenever we bought Kaiser leasing and Modine Manufacturing was a customer of Kaiser at this point. Deb, I don't remember how many cars you had, but you had a sizable suite for
Debbie Seeger 05:58
a long time. We were like right around 125 and at the peak we were at 625 through acquisitions and with the aftermarket division, we, over the years, really grew, and it got to the point where our target number was originally 90 225 as we expanded other operations, we typically put like, three vehicles at every location, and try to get a handle on that set some standard platforms. Through acquisitions, we try to get the European market into our realm, and it just too many differences that just didn't work well.
John Simon Sr. 06:37
What I can remember was I was in my office one time, and someone came in and they said, Modine Manufacturing may be considering leaving us and going to another supplier. And like you, I question everything. And I said, Well, what's the problem so? Well, we're not able to meet their their standards. I said, Well, why can't we meet the standards? Well, Debbie, she really She's a perfectionist. And I said, Well, what's wrong with that? And I said, You know what? Give me Debbie's number. I'm going to call her. And I made the phone call, and you and I set up an appointment. And I remember going over, and Deb always had a legal yellow pad, and she had that yellow pad full of questions and problems that she was having, and her and I sat down, and we went through it. And after that, we went to lunch, and I said, I will get back to you on every one of these. I went back to the office. I met with the different departments, whether it was purchasing or used cars or maintenance or billing, whoever the questions were from, and we went through it, and I got back to Deb with the solutions to them. And the one thing I told you please, you know, a customer that requires you to do things right is a great customer, because what happens when you fix things for one customer? It gets fixed for every customer. And they didn't understand that, but after a while, they did, and about a month and a half, I went over again, and there were a few less things on the list. And my happiest day was the day I went over and Debbie showed me the list, and it was nothing on it. We would have had a great lunch that day. And I think that's really what our personal friendship started, because you knew that I was like, You, let's get it done and let's do it right. Yep.
Debbie Seeger 08:29
And I always have the, you know, I always set high standards for myself, for my employees and for any of the customers or whatever I dealt with, and I was very open about that, but I also was open about if there's an issue, I will work with you to make it better, because it's much easier for me to not have to change the supplier, right? And anybody can change the supplier. I also would say you need to be concerned about the suppliers or the customers that don't tell you when you're doing something wrong, right? Because those are the ones that go away. And you
John Simon Sr. 09:03
really with your goal was, you know, doyte is right. You helped a lot of our other customers out also, I thank you for that. Like I said, one of the best days was when I came over to Racine and you just showed me a little pad with medic. Wow. I said, Let's, yeah, let's go have a really good lunch today.
Dina Simon 09:20
Absolutely and
Debbie Seeger 09:21
now, ironically, as a white pad, and I still have one spread out here.
Dina Simon 09:28
I love it.
John Simon Sr. 09:30
Yeah, we had that friendship and everything, and until both of us retired, I retired in 2001 and did have, when did what year did you retire? 2014 Okay, so you work quite a few you're quite a few years younger than I am. Why don't you tell us a little bit about Wayne and your family and everything? Because you know, Wayne had a great career. Yeah,
Debbie Seeger 09:51
I grew up with three sisters. Married my husband. We met in college. We've been married 51 years. He was in law enforcement for 30 years. Our sons. Our oldest son, Nick, originally is an engineer by education. Had done that for several years and then decided to make a career change, and he's in law enforcement. He works for violence County, and he said, Detective Sergeant. Our others and his wife is up here as a guidance counselor at the middle and high school. Nice. Then our other son, Mike, works for the city of Racine police department as well as the US Marshals Service. Wow. And then his wife is a lieutenant on the Janesville Police Department, wow. We have a heavy law enforcement background. It's like
John Simon Sr. 10:35
listening to the show The Blue Bloods, right?
Debbie Seeger 10:39
Yeah. Everybody had their area of expertise. I did corporate security, which was totally different, but we had a lot of some of the same issues, you know, right?
John Simon Sr. 10:50
Much like in 2000 Deb came and her and Wayne came to Dallas to Shannon's wedding, I went up to Wisconsin, up to Racine for Nick and saints money. And why don't you tell us a little bit about your two grandchildren, Chase and Colin.
Debbie Seeger 11:06
I that was one of the reasons I retired. Chase now just turned 13, and Colin just turned 11. Do a lot with them prior to our moving up here, about two years prior to that, Nick and a approached us and said, you know, we don't want to raise our children in Racine, and rightly so. And if we moved, what would you guys do? And I said, we moved, there's nothing to keep us here in Racine. And then, lo and behold, you know, nothing was happening. And SIG was very particular about what school district she would go to, Nick having a degree in engineering, and then in law enforcement knew he would get a job relatively easily. The main concern was her finding the ideal spot. So she came up here for an interview. She was a little nervous about that, and came back. And by 10 o'clock the next morning, they offered her the job. And within 10 weeks, we both bought, sold and moved, wow, and I Yeah, and when we were in Racine, if it wasn't for the Kirk and the woods behind us, they would have been right behind us. They were about four miles from us here. Literally, they are four miles from us. Takes me about seven minutes to get to their house. I joke up here totally different from Racine lifestyle on a busy traffic day, in the morning, when I get the boys on the bus. I see two cars, mostly, so I don't see any cars.
Dina Simon 12:25
Oh, I guess. How old were the boys when you moved up there?
Debbie Seeger 12:28
Chase was just starting first grade, and Colin was at 4k
Dina Simon 12:32
What an awesome like you've just been able to experience. You know, they're all of the third growing up as far as elementary school and now into middle school and soon High School. I love that. That's so fantastic.
Debbie Seeger 12:44
And what was, what's interesting there, you know, with the school districts and Racine, when Chase was in kindergarten, there were seven kindergarten classrooms that 25 kids each. There are four elementary schools in this district, and then fifth grade, they feed into the main office in Eagle River, but they cap the classrooms at 18. Big difference. That's wonderful. That
Dina Simon 13:09
is a big difference. So Eagle River, I have been to Eagle River, so that's up by where you are. Yeah, it's
Debbie Seeger 13:14
25 minutes from our house. Okay, it was 25 minutes in Eagle River. 25 minutes, just different directions.
Dina Simon 13:20
Okay, so Debbie, I had one of my clients actually on 1010, 2020, they just celebrated an anniversary, but they got married up in Eagle River, and it was during covid times, and so they could only have like 50 people at the wedding. And it was at a lovely resort up in Eagle River, and in October it was so beautiful up there. So John, the pictures that we have in our like, living room sitting area with the fall colors that we did when we renovated, those are pictures from Eagle River. So, Debbie, I've been close to you. Yeah, most people, I've
Debbie Seeger 13:55
never heard of saner. And when we first moved, John called me, says, I can't even find it on that. There's saner and star Lake makeup, Plum white. And we had a 555 full time residents during the summer. It peaks at about 45 4500 seasonals,
Dina Simon 14:15
right? Yes, I would imagine a big seasonal push because, oh, it's just beautiful up there, yeah, yeah. I love that. If
Debbie Seeger 14:23
you like a lot of activity and you're not an outdoors person, this isn't the place for you. Now, I'm not an outdoors person. My all of my So, my my sons, my grandsons, my husband, all are but give me a book and I'm fine,
Dina Simon 14:36
right, right, yeah, and you're there for being there for family, and so you're there for all the right reasons, and you don't have to be an outdoors person, but you can be with them. And yeah, that's fantastic. Well, I'm glad to make the connection as to where you are. That makes even more sense. One
John Simon Sr. 14:53
of Deb's good friends is Laura Doyle. Laura worked for associates for a while, and then she elected back to. Moved to Dallas when we came down here, so she went to work for a small leasing company in Madison. But why don't you tell everyone, Dina, the relationship that you had with Laura Doyle, yeah,
Dina Simon 15:11
so I don't know if you know this or not. It's possible John has shared with you, but I'll share with you. So when I was in college at Madison, I worked at Chili's Bar and Grill in Madison. I worked there with both of my roommates and a lot of the leadership team from associates came in and so Charles Waterloo, and then I certainly got to meet John at some point, and Pat stout and Laura. Laura was in there every once in a while because it was closed for lunches and stuff, and at one point in time, Laura said, hey, you know, you seem to know a lot of us, and we've certainly have positions open, you should come check us out. So Laura is the reason that I ended up at associate's leasing. So then we could say Laura is the reason that I met John, and is the reason that I met my husband, rich, and so we owe a lot to Laura Doyle,
Debbie Seeger 16:05
okay, and I remember when you started there, but Yes, Laura and I, you know, we go back, you know, through the client arrangement. But again, you know, developing that friendship, our kids are roughly the same age. She's got two daughters and a son, but they're slightly the daughters are slightly younger than my boys, but, you know, just over the years, you know, we've golfed, we've done girls getaways, and we have a core group that we call the fleet ladies that have been friends probably a good 30 years. And when I was in Racine, we golf, typically, every Monday, and we try to do an outing once a month from May through September. John taught me some rules that didn't really count, and we've golf. We've never kept score. We tried to keep score, and our big goal each week is not to lose any golf balls.
Dina Simon 16:57
There you go. Oh my gosh, I love it, because Racine in Madison. How far is that? I don't remember.
Debbie Seeger 17:03
It's about 90 miles. Yeah, you know, initially, when the four of us started golfing, we golfed in Waukesha, and after a couple years of doing that, I said, Geez, you know, this is it's 45 minutes back home at nine o'clock at night. You know, can be what we did. That is, every week, one of the core of us picked a place close to our homes, nice and so we rotated around, and then we eventually found a place in Waterford that worked kind of halfway for everybody. And we did that for a number of years, until I moved and kind of screwed that up. We've done some golfing, but not anywhere near like we used to, sure,
Dina Simon 17:38
yeah, well, I love just so many years of friendship and camaraderie and just being there for each other as it started from a business perspective, but then just a friendship and a lifelong friendship, that's fantastic. For
Debbie Seeger 17:51
example, last year, when Mike got married, he was very adamant it was going to be he had to be people they knew to be invited. And I pleaded my case. I said, I've got my three best friends that you know, I've known for 30 years. We've done the weddings, the births and all of that. And those were kind of the three exceptions that were invited to the
Dina Simon 18:08
wedding. I love that. Yeah, that's fantastic. Fantastic.
Debbie Seeger 18:11
Every Thursday, we have a online kind of correspondence checking in on the four of us women, and we set it up that if we don't hear for somebody, or somebody didn't say they're going to be gone, you know, we decided that, well, okay, so now, do we assume everything's okay or not? And so we have the children's numbers that, you know, we can always call them and say, Hey, we haven't heard from your mother this week. You know, it's everything. Okay? So nice. Check in.
Dina Simon 18:41
Yeah, that's such a great check in. I love that you're doing that. That is fantastic. So every Thursday you do that, yeah, every Thursday morning, Oh, that's fantastic, fantastic. And is today's Wednesdays, right? Yeah. So tomorrow, also telling her tomorrow when he talked to
Debbie Seeger 18:55
her, so that I could tell her about this call, because they had no idea I was doing this.
Dina Simon 18:59
Yes, I love it. So we talked a little bit about your career and leadership, and I think that you know you have a family that's very involved, obviously, in community without the law enforcement. So our podcast is about life, leadership and building legacies. And to us, building legacies is not just something that you know you leave behind. It's the legacies that you're building as you're living your life. What comes to mind when you think of that from a legacy perspective? Certainly, you have an amazing family and your grandchildren and all that. But what comes to mind on living out and building your legacy,
Debbie Seeger 19:35
I think MAINTAINING RELATIONSHIPS number one, and giving back, you know, I swore after I retired I was not going to be as busy as I was. I did very good for a couple of years, and now I'm back into that rep that I over involved and but you know, whether it's somebody in law enforcement or, for an example, with. Nick, he coached both boys baseball teams, so that was four days a week, and then Chase was on a traveling team. Now he's coaching football. He coaches fourth through sixth grade. Chase is playing seventh grade ball, and they had him move up. Nick also helps coach that team. So wow, we all give back in different ways. My grandma, growing up, was always a an election worker, and I always thought that was the neatest thing, you know? I always thought it was all the old ladies. And I've been doing that since 2013 and it's interesting. I enjoy it, you know, luckily, it's only five times a year, because they're long days, right? Big difference from Racine to here in Racine, the polling place I was at hit 3700 registered voters. Wow, we have like, 450 registered voters. So, yeah,
Dina Simon 20:51
that's how you knew how many registered voters you had. Like, you know the number? Yeah, I love that. Well, I love like you said, you took a couple years where you maybe weren't as involved, but then yes, if we're over involved people, it tends to follow us, right? So yes, and what again, what a blessing that your family has you and the grandkids have you, because it is so hard with these kids and their sports schedules and busy lives, there's only so much one person can do, so for you and Wayne to be there for the kids and the grandkids is just such a wonderful gift, and all those amazing memories, and I mean that right there too is that legacy that you're building.
John Simon Sr. 21:30
So Dan, maybe you could tell you know, what was it like? Yeah, I'm assuming that Modi was pretty much a male dominated company when you started there.
Debbie Seeger 21:40
Oh, definitely, there's a snow out. Yeah. And
John Simon Sr. 21:44
you know, for you to stay as many years as you stay, you saw a lot of changes. And really, what were the, what were some of the things you really liked about it, that they gave you the opportunity to advance as high as you did within the organization?
Debbie Seeger 22:00
Well, first of all, they gave me that opportunity, but a story about when I became a supervisor, I was the first woman supervisor, and they three different male officers called me to their offices and said I was going to make it or break it for all the women, they were taking a real big chance on me. Yeah, and it was for about six months, nine months, I was kind of terrified, and also the light bulb went off one day, and I thought, the worst thing that can happen is they can fire me. Well, I outlasted all of those gel but it was that, you know, that kind of, that trail blazer, there were a lot of women in my organization that I had hired that have done extremely well. A lot of the positions when I started and was a supervisor and a manager were entry level positions. And my goal, I was told that my goal was to get them in, indoctrinated, weed out the ones that aren't going to make it, and then get them promoted elsewhere. So nice. That was the goal. Within nine to 1218, months, I had to get those entry level positions groomed elsewhere. So I passed in turnover. So that was a real big challenge, yep, but I knew, you know, you look for good people. I had some mistakes. I followed over time, my parents owned a small business when I was growing up, and I found people that grew up on a farm or parents or business owners have a total different work ethic than somebody that was given everything and didn't have to work for anything. So I kind of, you know, tried to find those matches. And at one point in time, I went back and I looked, and there were 63 employees elsewhere in the corporate environment that I had hired and were working elsewhere, promoted elsewhere into the organization. So, I mean, that was like my I guess I consider that my legacy. Yeah, I had some really good people that owned the company and were successful
Dina Simon 24:02
63 Wow. And you think of, I mean, times, x now, right, like, so, as they said that you This is your opportunity to make it or break it. And you, obviously, you made it, you know, x times. So I love that. So those 63 and then it just, you know, it was a success. So then it opened up more doors for women and I'm sure, different departments and all of that.
John Simon Sr. 24:23
So Deb, if you ran into some one that was just starting out, maybe as a 20 year old, getting into the business world, is there any advice you would give them if
Debbie Seeger 24:34
you don't understand something, find out why I instill that in like two grandsons and cos you really good about that. If somebody says a phrase or a word, he'll come back and say, Grandma, I don't know what that means. If you're a new employee starting out and you don't know why you're doing something, you know question and get an explanation as to what's the process or what they're looking at the end goal. So one of the things to get me riled up is to say, well, we've always done it this way. Well, just because you've always centered this way, it's probably not the right way anymore. There are much better ways to do things love
Dina Simon 25:12
that just the questioning and being inquisitive. I mean, that's again, how innovation happens, just like you said, how people learn, how you push an organization forward, and it's not the status quo. And so sometimes it's really hard, especially new employees or younger people they may not know. Can I ask those questions? So to lean in with that is, is great advice to be inquisitive and wanting to learn and asking for more information as to why, why we're doing what we're doing and why we're doing it this way. Well,
John Simon Sr. 25:43
Deb, a few weeks ago, you and Wade went on a cruise out of New York to Nova Scotia, and it ended up being a pretty interesting cruise, from what you told me a few weeks ago while we talked, why don't you tell the listeners a little bit about that trip? Because that was a bucket list thing for you.
Debbie Seeger 25:59
It was a bucket list for me, Acadia National Park has always been on my bucket list, and so is Nova Scotia and the 911 911 Memorial. We went in a day early to do that and some other sight seeing things. The 911 memorial was, I'm gonna say, gut wrenching. I I just can't explain that. It's something that everybody should see at some point in their life. You know, everybody remembers where you were, when that happened, and it's just, you know, the day we were there, they were the fire department, a group of firemen were having a marathon, and just watching that, all of those spider men in their gear and the military people having their gear just really put things in perspective. So we did that. We were there at the tail end of one of the hurricanes. So the first two days on a ship were quite rough, wow, yeah. And then on the way back, there was a new hurricane coming in. So the last day and a half wore off, but I got to see Acadia, and I got to see Nova Scotia, so I can check those things off, nice.
John Simon Sr. 27:10
And you came back with a gift, covid
Debbie Seeger 27:16
19, where there are 32 people from our kind of group that went and ate had tested positive when he came back, and I've got a nasty cold. Now, my husband has a nasty cold, but, you know, it is what it is. I think the colds and the flu are kind of new covid, you know, that's just going to be the way of life, right,
Dina Simon 27:37
right? It's one of the things. It's one of the risks you take in going and having an adventure like that. Absolutely Welcome
John Simon Sr. 27:44
to travel on a cruise ship with 3000 other people. Yes,
Debbie Seeger 27:47
yes, right? I keep saying it's better than the norovirus, though. So yes, yes,
John Simon Sr. 27:54
yes, it is so. Deb, I was thinking the other day back in April. Was 1997 you and Wade were down here. I think one of the boys were with you. We went to the inaugural race at Texas Motor Speedway.
Debbie Seeger 28:07
Oh, yes, that was Nick's high school graduation gift to go to that
John Simon Sr. 28:12
they came down. And we had a great weekend fun.
Debbie Seeger 28:15
Yes, we did still talk about that
Dina Simon 28:18
nice. So we talked a little bit about, you know, so Debbie, as far as getting involved in the community and volunteering and just their family and the involvement, so we talked about life, we've talked about leadership, we've talked about your community involvement, you know, I guess I would just say that, you know, Debbie, we love that you are on the podcast. John obviously has had a very long standing friendship with you. Treasures that relationship. How often do you guys talk? Is it maybe every once a month or so?
Debbie Seeger 28:47
I would say every three months
John Simon Sr. 28:49
we came up. In fact, we were talking maybe once or twice a year. And I could always count on the first Christmas card I get every year in some Deb singer, because she mails it out, I think the Friday after Thanksgiving. So I would get it a lot of times. She'd have a little letter in there and updating me on the grandchildren and Nick and Mike and Wade, and you know what they're all doing cruises they went on, or family outings and stuff. So and then when we were talking, I says, You know what? I'm gonna put it on my calendar, and we're gonna do this every three months, because there was too much going on to go through it. So now we do it every I put it on my calendar, and every three months, we talk to each other,
Dina Simon 29:32
nice. I love that. Love that. And Debbie, we John might have told you, but I mean that you're also a piece of, kind of the legacy of why we're doing the podcast. And so John was up here with rich, and I and Jake, my nephew, John's grandson from Dallas, was up here in Minnesota, and we were sitting at the table. And John and I love to talk about leadership and business and talking about stories of the old days. And Jake is like, I haven't heard any. Of these stories and and so I that's where we really said, Yeah, because the grandchildren didn't know John as the president of a company. They know him as grandpa because he had retired by the time. You know, I think Maddie was maybe a year old, your oldest grandchild,
John Simon Sr. 30:16
my my first day of retirement was her first birthday. There you go. So,
Dina Simon 30:21
so that really was the genesis of us coming together and bringing people like yourself to the table just to talk about stories and the connectivity that you have. And just hopefully even that inspires people to, you know, stay connected. You never know where you're going to find a friend, whether it's going to be through work, through community, but leaning in with, you know, finding people that you like to work hard with and play hard with, I guess, is a piece of that story.
Debbie Seeger 30:49
It's been a very good friendship. You know, we've had lots of laughs over the years. Labor
John Simon Sr. 30:54
Day weekend, Jeannie and I were up in, up in Minnesota, and we went to the grocery store up there. And as we're walking through the grocery store, Dina, do you remember what we brought back? One of the things was an O and H Danish bakery, Kringle. Yes. And I said, I haven't had one of these for years, because every year, on my birthday, when Deb was working, she sent me two kringles for my birthday. Yeah. And I always look forward to getting them,
Dina Simon 31:22
yeah, because, Debbie, you could only really get those in Racine back in the day. And now we picked them up. I think, John, did you get it? Heidi, I got it at hygiene, Yep, yeah, yeah. So you can find them now, but they're still, they're probably a Midwest thing. But yes, I remember even going to Racine and getting them, Yep,
Debbie Seeger 31:39
yeah. They just, you know, it was a popular item, and when I knew somebody liked them, that was, you know, kind of my truth that I would send. And, you know, like cards, I'm a big card sender, so,
John Simon Sr. 31:51
and, of course, it makes it all the better when it comes from O and H, because they're the original Crandall company in racing. So, yeah, you can get them from other bakeries, but they're not the same.
Debbie Seeger 32:02
Y'all, they're not so
Dina Simon 32:04
Debbie, before we wrap, is there anything else you would like to that you wanted to talk about on our podcast? Is there anything else you wanted to share? No, I
Debbie Seeger 32:12
think we covered it, and I appreciate this opportunity. Was a little apprehensive at first when John approached me, but I think it worked out. Well,
Dina Simon 32:20
it did. And have you told the kids and grandkids that you're going to be on a podcast? No,
Debbie Seeger 32:25
I didn't. I told my husband this afternoon that stay out of this room. Up by doing this. But other than that, no, nobody else knows
Dina Simon 32:34
I love it. Well, they'll be very excited to hear it. I know I'd like to thank Debbie Seeger for being on our podcast. We are so excited that she was willing to do this with us. I have always admired the relationship that she has with my father in law. They met in business, doing business together, and they have developed a great friendship that has stood this test of time over a couple decades. I know that we all collect people along the way, along our journey, some through work and community, but we know the value of those long standing, meaningful relationships. So Debbie, thank you for being on our podcast. As always. I think my father in law, John Simon, for being my co host on this podcast. And Debbie didn't share all the amazing things that she has gotten involved in with her community, but she's part of the Lions Club. She's on the board of their local library. She's part of City Planning. So as she alluded to, she might have taken a little time off in her early retirement, but then she got super engaged and involved in her community, and continues to give back on a daily basis. And just Debbie, all the people that you touch in your community are so blessed to know you so until we talk again. Thank you for tuning in. You.
John, welcome to Simon Says, inspire a podcast about life, leadership and building legacies. I'm John Simon, SR
Dina Simon 00:14
and I'm Dina Simon.
John Simon Sr. 00:16
Our guest today is Deborah Seager. Debbie is a retired 41 year veteran of Modi manufacturing company in Racine, Wisconsin, where she was Director of Administrative Services and global security. Deb, welcome to the podcast.
Debbie Seeger 00:31
Thank you. Glad to be here.
John Simon Sr. 00:33
Well. Deb, why don't you tell us a little bit I was telling data that from Racine to saner, Wisconsin, now you're just a stone's throw away from the Michigan border up there,
Debbie Seeger 00:44
correct? Yeah, there was a surprise when we moved Yeah.
John Simon Sr. 00:48
Now, were you born and raised in the Racine area? No, I
Debbie Seeger 00:53
grew up in Thorpe, which is a small town of 1500 people in the center part of the state. Spent my early years there, met my husband in college in Stevens Point. He was from Racine, and at that point in time, got a job in Racine, and we moved there, and moved there for 45 years before moving to saner in 2017
John Simon Sr. 01:15
so you left a lot behind. Yeah, yes, when it comes to, you know, 45 years when it comes to friends and everything, and we'll get into that a little bit later in the podcast. Why don't you tell the audience a little bit about mo de manufacturing company and what they do?
Debbie Seeger 01:33
Well, when I worked there, we called ourselves a heat transfer company. They made, you know, radiators, oil coolers, condensers. And then what's most people are familiar with our garage heaters or greenhouse heaters that you would see hanging from inside of a rooftop or on a rooftop now, and at that point in time, we had 30 plants in 14 countries. Wow. When I started, there was five or six brands, and we progressively grew during that period of time. Now it's a totally different company. Our peak when I was there, we had 10,000 employees.
John Simon Sr. 02:10
Well, I knew they were heavily involved in the thermal management services. And I guess Arthur Modine started the company in like 1916 or something like
Debbie Seeger 02:19
that. Yep, June of 1916 he was working at another company. Was trying to come up with the way to cool their factory, and so he developed the first unit heater. He was a unique individual. I met him one time when I first started there, but he was the legacy of the company. Some interesting stories about him is that he wanted to get entry out of moorth industry with radiators. And we were told that he sat at Henry Ford's office for a week, and a way that to get in before Henry would see him at one of our anniversaries. I think it was our 90th anniversary. His daughter had said, No, that wasn't true. He sat there 12 days before Henry Ford song, wow, so. But a true inventor. I mean, he was, he had 122 patents to his name, and I think the next highest person had 40.
Dina Simon 03:11
I love it, and I love a good us and Wisconsin story, right? That somebody had a dream and a vision. So that was well over 100 years ago, and yeah, and just look at what it's grown into. That's amazing.
John Simon Sr. 03:26
So Deb, 41 years there, when you started with the company, what was your position?
Debbie Seeger 03:31
I was a clerk typist, and I laughed because I typed 32 words a minute, knowing
John Simon Sr. 03:37
you, there were 32 words with no errors, yeah. And that
Debbie Seeger 03:42
was back on, it was on an electric typewriter, but not and the Selectric typewriters that autocorrected and stuff weren't out at that point in time. So I worked my way up from that position,
Dina Simon 03:53
right? I remember typewriters back in the day when we had, you had the paper that you could put in that would then correct it and stuff. I mean, there was, oh my gosh, that brings me even back
John Simon Sr. 04:03
the ones like Underwood or something like that was most of the manufacturing of the typewriters. So Deb, you did that, and then you moved up, you know, to be director of administration and global security. You must have quite a few promotions throughout the 41 years.
Debbie Seeger 04:20
Yes, yes, it was, it was, ironically, that a lot of it was right place, right time. But I had some really good mentors during that course of time that saw somebody from a little town that really didn't know much, and worked with me, gave me some opportunities and I never expected to get. One of the things that I always did is that questioned, if I didn't know something, and why are you doing it this way, I would question it, and several times I got on the carpet for that. But you know, that's the way you find out, and
Dina Simon 04:53
that's how you learn, yes, yeah. Then the questioning goes back to you at a vested interest. And just learning and continuing to grow. So as you said, you might have gotten called out on the carpet a little bit, but there were people that also saw, Oh, she actually has a set of skin in the game. She's interested. She wants to learn and grow. And obviously, in 41 years, you can continue to advance quite a bit. Yes,
John Simon Sr. 05:17
but Deb, how many years did you work for Rudy?
Debbie Seeger 05:20
Probably eight or nine.
John Simon Sr. 05:22
Okay, and Rudy was Vice President of Administration for the company whenever I was going to visit Deb and things like that back in the late 80s.
Debbie Seeger 05:32
I still stay in touch with him, and he's now out of the Arizona So,
Dina Simon 05:36
yeah, I think you have to talk about John. You guys have to share with our listeners, like how you and Debbie met? Well,
John Simon Sr. 05:43
I had moved to Madison in 1986 whenever we bought Kaiser leasing and Modine Manufacturing was a customer of Kaiser at this point. Deb, I don't remember how many cars you had, but you had a sizable suite for
Debbie Seeger 05:58
a long time. We were like right around 125 and at the peak we were at 625 through acquisitions and with the aftermarket division, we, over the years, really grew, and it got to the point where our target number was originally 90 225 as we expanded other operations, we typically put like, three vehicles at every location, and try to get a handle on that set some standard platforms. Through acquisitions, we try to get the European market into our realm, and it just too many differences that just didn't work well.
John Simon Sr. 06:37
What I can remember was I was in my office one time, and someone came in and they said, Modine Manufacturing may be considering leaving us and going to another supplier. And like you, I question everything. And I said, Well, what's the problem so? Well, we're not able to meet their their standards. I said, Well, why can't we meet the standards? Well, Debbie, she really She's a perfectionist. And I said, Well, what's wrong with that? And I said, You know what? Give me Debbie's number. I'm going to call her. And I made the phone call, and you and I set up an appointment. And I remember going over, and Deb always had a legal yellow pad, and she had that yellow pad full of questions and problems that she was having, and her and I sat down, and we went through it. And after that, we went to lunch, and I said, I will get back to you on every one of these. I went back to the office. I met with the different departments, whether it was purchasing or used cars or maintenance or billing, whoever the questions were from, and we went through it, and I got back to Deb with the solutions to them. And the one thing I told you please, you know, a customer that requires you to do things right is a great customer, because what happens when you fix things for one customer? It gets fixed for every customer. And they didn't understand that, but after a while, they did, and about a month and a half, I went over again, and there were a few less things on the list. And my happiest day was the day I went over and Debbie showed me the list, and it was nothing on it. We would have had a great lunch that day. And I think that's really what our personal friendship started, because you knew that I was like, You, let's get it done and let's do it right. Yep.
Debbie Seeger 08:29
And I always have the, you know, I always set high standards for myself, for my employees and for any of the customers or whatever I dealt with, and I was very open about that, but I also was open about if there's an issue, I will work with you to make it better, because it's much easier for me to not have to change the supplier, right? And anybody can change the supplier. I also would say you need to be concerned about the suppliers or the customers that don't tell you when you're doing something wrong, right? Because those are the ones that go away. And you
John Simon Sr. 09:03
really with your goal was, you know, doyte is right. You helped a lot of our other customers out also, I thank you for that. Like I said, one of the best days was when I came over to Racine and you just showed me a little pad with medic. Wow. I said, Let's, yeah, let's go have a really good lunch today.
Dina Simon 09:20
Absolutely and
Debbie Seeger 09:21
now, ironically, as a white pad, and I still have one spread out here.
Dina Simon 09:28
I love it.
John Simon Sr. 09:30
Yeah, we had that friendship and everything, and until both of us retired, I retired in 2001 and did have, when did what year did you retire? 2014 Okay, so you work quite a few you're quite a few years younger than I am. Why don't you tell us a little bit about Wayne and your family and everything? Because you know, Wayne had a great career. Yeah,
Debbie Seeger 09:51
I grew up with three sisters. Married my husband. We met in college. We've been married 51 years. He was in law enforcement for 30 years. Our sons. Our oldest son, Nick, originally is an engineer by education. Had done that for several years and then decided to make a career change, and he's in law enforcement. He works for violence County, and he said, Detective Sergeant. Our others and his wife is up here as a guidance counselor at the middle and high school. Nice. Then our other son, Mike, works for the city of Racine police department as well as the US Marshals Service. Wow. And then his wife is a lieutenant on the Janesville Police Department, wow. We have a heavy law enforcement background. It's like
John Simon Sr. 10:35
listening to the show The Blue Bloods, right?
Debbie Seeger 10:39
Yeah. Everybody had their area of expertise. I did corporate security, which was totally different, but we had a lot of some of the same issues, you know, right?
John Simon Sr. 10:50
Much like in 2000 Deb came and her and Wayne came to Dallas to Shannon's wedding, I went up to Wisconsin, up to Racine for Nick and saints money. And why don't you tell us a little bit about your two grandchildren, Chase and Colin.
Debbie Seeger 11:06
I that was one of the reasons I retired. Chase now just turned 13, and Colin just turned 11. Do a lot with them prior to our moving up here, about two years prior to that, Nick and a approached us and said, you know, we don't want to raise our children in Racine, and rightly so. And if we moved, what would you guys do? And I said, we moved, there's nothing to keep us here in Racine. And then, lo and behold, you know, nothing was happening. And SIG was very particular about what school district she would go to, Nick having a degree in engineering, and then in law enforcement knew he would get a job relatively easily. The main concern was her finding the ideal spot. So she came up here for an interview. She was a little nervous about that, and came back. And by 10 o'clock the next morning, they offered her the job. And within 10 weeks, we both bought, sold and moved, wow, and I Yeah, and when we were in Racine, if it wasn't for the Kirk and the woods behind us, they would have been right behind us. They were about four miles from us here. Literally, they are four miles from us. Takes me about seven minutes to get to their house. I joke up here totally different from Racine lifestyle on a busy traffic day, in the morning, when I get the boys on the bus. I see two cars, mostly, so I don't see any cars.
Dina Simon 12:25
Oh, I guess. How old were the boys when you moved up there?
Debbie Seeger 12:28
Chase was just starting first grade, and Colin was at 4k
Dina Simon 12:32
What an awesome like you've just been able to experience. You know, they're all of the third growing up as far as elementary school and now into middle school and soon High School. I love that. That's so fantastic.
Debbie Seeger 12:44
And what was, what's interesting there, you know, with the school districts and Racine, when Chase was in kindergarten, there were seven kindergarten classrooms that 25 kids each. There are four elementary schools in this district, and then fifth grade, they feed into the main office in Eagle River, but they cap the classrooms at 18. Big difference. That's wonderful. That
Dina Simon 13:09
is a big difference. So Eagle River, I have been to Eagle River, so that's up by where you are. Yeah, it's
Debbie Seeger 13:14
25 minutes from our house. Okay, it was 25 minutes in Eagle River. 25 minutes, just different directions.
Dina Simon 13:20
Okay, so Debbie, I had one of my clients actually on 1010, 2020, they just celebrated an anniversary, but they got married up in Eagle River, and it was during covid times, and so they could only have like 50 people at the wedding. And it was at a lovely resort up in Eagle River, and in October it was so beautiful up there. So John, the pictures that we have in our like, living room sitting area with the fall colors that we did when we renovated, those are pictures from Eagle River. So, Debbie, I've been close to you. Yeah, most people, I've
Debbie Seeger 13:55
never heard of saner. And when we first moved, John called me, says, I can't even find it on that. There's saner and star Lake makeup, Plum white. And we had a 555 full time residents during the summer. It peaks at about 45 4500 seasonals,
Dina Simon 14:15
right? Yes, I would imagine a big seasonal push because, oh, it's just beautiful up there, yeah, yeah. I love that. If
Debbie Seeger 14:23
you like a lot of activity and you're not an outdoors person, this isn't the place for you. Now, I'm not an outdoors person. My all of my So, my my sons, my grandsons, my husband, all are but give me a book and I'm fine,
Dina Simon 14:36
right, right, yeah, and you're there for being there for family, and so you're there for all the right reasons, and you don't have to be an outdoors person, but you can be with them. And yeah, that's fantastic. Well, I'm glad to make the connection as to where you are. That makes even more sense. One
John Simon Sr. 14:53
of Deb's good friends is Laura Doyle. Laura worked for associates for a while, and then she elected back to. Moved to Dallas when we came down here, so she went to work for a small leasing company in Madison. But why don't you tell everyone, Dina, the relationship that you had with Laura Doyle, yeah,
Dina Simon 15:11
so I don't know if you know this or not. It's possible John has shared with you, but I'll share with you. So when I was in college at Madison, I worked at Chili's Bar and Grill in Madison. I worked there with both of my roommates and a lot of the leadership team from associates came in and so Charles Waterloo, and then I certainly got to meet John at some point, and Pat stout and Laura. Laura was in there every once in a while because it was closed for lunches and stuff, and at one point in time, Laura said, hey, you know, you seem to know a lot of us, and we've certainly have positions open, you should come check us out. So Laura is the reason that I ended up at associate's leasing. So then we could say Laura is the reason that I met John, and is the reason that I met my husband, rich, and so we owe a lot to Laura Doyle,
Debbie Seeger 16:05
okay, and I remember when you started there, but Yes, Laura and I, you know, we go back, you know, through the client arrangement. But again, you know, developing that friendship, our kids are roughly the same age. She's got two daughters and a son, but they're slightly the daughters are slightly younger than my boys, but, you know, just over the years, you know, we've golfed, we've done girls getaways, and we have a core group that we call the fleet ladies that have been friends probably a good 30 years. And when I was in Racine, we golf, typically, every Monday, and we try to do an outing once a month from May through September. John taught me some rules that didn't really count, and we've golf. We've never kept score. We tried to keep score, and our big goal each week is not to lose any golf balls.
Dina Simon 16:57
There you go. Oh my gosh, I love it, because Racine in Madison. How far is that? I don't remember.
Debbie Seeger 17:03
It's about 90 miles. Yeah, you know, initially, when the four of us started golfing, we golfed in Waukesha, and after a couple years of doing that, I said, Geez, you know, this is it's 45 minutes back home at nine o'clock at night. You know, can be what we did. That is, every week, one of the core of us picked a place close to our homes, nice and so we rotated around, and then we eventually found a place in Waterford that worked kind of halfway for everybody. And we did that for a number of years, until I moved and kind of screwed that up. We've done some golfing, but not anywhere near like we used to, sure,
Dina Simon 17:38
yeah, well, I love just so many years of friendship and camaraderie and just being there for each other as it started from a business perspective, but then just a friendship and a lifelong friendship, that's fantastic. For
Debbie Seeger 17:51
example, last year, when Mike got married, he was very adamant it was going to be he had to be people they knew to be invited. And I pleaded my case. I said, I've got my three best friends that you know, I've known for 30 years. We've done the weddings, the births and all of that. And those were kind of the three exceptions that were invited to the
Dina Simon 18:08
wedding. I love that. Yeah, that's fantastic. Fantastic.
Debbie Seeger 18:11
Every Thursday, we have a online kind of correspondence checking in on the four of us women, and we set it up that if we don't hear for somebody, or somebody didn't say they're going to be gone, you know, we decided that, well, okay, so now, do we assume everything's okay or not? And so we have the children's numbers that, you know, we can always call them and say, Hey, we haven't heard from your mother this week. You know, it's everything. Okay? So nice. Check in.
Dina Simon 18:41
Yeah, that's such a great check in. I love that you're doing that. That is fantastic. So every Thursday you do that, yeah, every Thursday morning, Oh, that's fantastic, fantastic. And is today's Wednesdays, right? Yeah. So tomorrow, also telling her tomorrow when he talked to
Debbie Seeger 18:55
her, so that I could tell her about this call, because they had no idea I was doing this.
Dina Simon 18:59
Yes, I love it. So we talked a little bit about your career and leadership, and I think that you know you have a family that's very involved, obviously, in community without the law enforcement. So our podcast is about life, leadership and building legacies. And to us, building legacies is not just something that you know you leave behind. It's the legacies that you're building as you're living your life. What comes to mind when you think of that from a legacy perspective? Certainly, you have an amazing family and your grandchildren and all that. But what comes to mind on living out and building your legacy,
Debbie Seeger 19:35
I think MAINTAINING RELATIONSHIPS number one, and giving back, you know, I swore after I retired I was not going to be as busy as I was. I did very good for a couple of years, and now I'm back into that rep that I over involved and but you know, whether it's somebody in law enforcement or, for an example, with. Nick, he coached both boys baseball teams, so that was four days a week, and then Chase was on a traveling team. Now he's coaching football. He coaches fourth through sixth grade. Chase is playing seventh grade ball, and they had him move up. Nick also helps coach that team. So wow, we all give back in different ways. My grandma, growing up, was always a an election worker, and I always thought that was the neatest thing, you know? I always thought it was all the old ladies. And I've been doing that since 2013 and it's interesting. I enjoy it, you know, luckily, it's only five times a year, because they're long days, right? Big difference from Racine to here in Racine, the polling place I was at hit 3700 registered voters. Wow, we have like, 450 registered voters. So, yeah,
Dina Simon 20:51
that's how you knew how many registered voters you had. Like, you know the number? Yeah, I love that. Well, I love like you said, you took a couple years where you maybe weren't as involved, but then yes, if we're over involved people, it tends to follow us, right? So yes, and what again, what a blessing that your family has you and the grandkids have you, because it is so hard with these kids and their sports schedules and busy lives, there's only so much one person can do, so for you and Wayne to be there for the kids and the grandkids is just such a wonderful gift, and all those amazing memories, and I mean that right there too is that legacy that you're building.
John Simon Sr. 21:30
So Dan, maybe you could tell you know, what was it like? Yeah, I'm assuming that Modi was pretty much a male dominated company when you started there.
Debbie Seeger 21:40
Oh, definitely, there's a snow out. Yeah. And
John Simon Sr. 21:44
you know, for you to stay as many years as you stay, you saw a lot of changes. And really, what were the, what were some of the things you really liked about it, that they gave you the opportunity to advance as high as you did within the organization?
Debbie Seeger 22:00
Well, first of all, they gave me that opportunity, but a story about when I became a supervisor, I was the first woman supervisor, and they three different male officers called me to their offices and said I was going to make it or break it for all the women, they were taking a real big chance on me. Yeah, and it was for about six months, nine months, I was kind of terrified, and also the light bulb went off one day, and I thought, the worst thing that can happen is they can fire me. Well, I outlasted all of those gel but it was that, you know, that kind of, that trail blazer, there were a lot of women in my organization that I had hired that have done extremely well. A lot of the positions when I started and was a supervisor and a manager were entry level positions. And my goal, I was told that my goal was to get them in, indoctrinated, weed out the ones that aren't going to make it, and then get them promoted elsewhere. So nice. That was the goal. Within nine to 1218, months, I had to get those entry level positions groomed elsewhere. So I passed in turnover. So that was a real big challenge, yep, but I knew, you know, you look for good people. I had some mistakes. I followed over time, my parents owned a small business when I was growing up, and I found people that grew up on a farm or parents or business owners have a total different work ethic than somebody that was given everything and didn't have to work for anything. So I kind of, you know, tried to find those matches. And at one point in time, I went back and I looked, and there were 63 employees elsewhere in the corporate environment that I had hired and were working elsewhere, promoted elsewhere into the organization. So, I mean, that was like my I guess I consider that my legacy. Yeah, I had some really good people that owned the company and were successful
Dina Simon 24:02
63 Wow. And you think of, I mean, times, x now, right, like, so, as they said that you This is your opportunity to make it or break it. And you, obviously, you made it, you know, x times. So I love that. So those 63 and then it just, you know, it was a success. So then it opened up more doors for women and I'm sure, different departments and all of that.
John Simon Sr. 24:23
So Deb, if you ran into some one that was just starting out, maybe as a 20 year old, getting into the business world, is there any advice you would give them if
Debbie Seeger 24:34
you don't understand something, find out why I instill that in like two grandsons and cos you really good about that. If somebody says a phrase or a word, he'll come back and say, Grandma, I don't know what that means. If you're a new employee starting out and you don't know why you're doing something, you know question and get an explanation as to what's the process or what they're looking at the end goal. So one of the things to get me riled up is to say, well, we've always done it this way. Well, just because you've always centered this way, it's probably not the right way anymore. There are much better ways to do things love
Dina Simon 25:12
that just the questioning and being inquisitive. I mean, that's again, how innovation happens, just like you said, how people learn, how you push an organization forward, and it's not the status quo. And so sometimes it's really hard, especially new employees or younger people they may not know. Can I ask those questions? So to lean in with that is, is great advice to be inquisitive and wanting to learn and asking for more information as to why, why we're doing what we're doing and why we're doing it this way. Well,
John Simon Sr. 25:43
Deb, a few weeks ago, you and Wade went on a cruise out of New York to Nova Scotia, and it ended up being a pretty interesting cruise, from what you told me a few weeks ago while we talked, why don't you tell the listeners a little bit about that trip? Because that was a bucket list thing for you.
Debbie Seeger 25:59
It was a bucket list for me, Acadia National Park has always been on my bucket list, and so is Nova Scotia and the 911 911 Memorial. We went in a day early to do that and some other sight seeing things. The 911 memorial was, I'm gonna say, gut wrenching. I I just can't explain that. It's something that everybody should see at some point in their life. You know, everybody remembers where you were, when that happened, and it's just, you know, the day we were there, they were the fire department, a group of firemen were having a marathon, and just watching that, all of those spider men in their gear and the military people having their gear just really put things in perspective. So we did that. We were there at the tail end of one of the hurricanes. So the first two days on a ship were quite rough, wow, yeah. And then on the way back, there was a new hurricane coming in. So the last day and a half wore off, but I got to see Acadia, and I got to see Nova Scotia, so I can check those things off, nice.
John Simon Sr. 27:10
And you came back with a gift, covid
Debbie Seeger 27:16
19, where there are 32 people from our kind of group that went and ate had tested positive when he came back, and I've got a nasty cold. Now, my husband has a nasty cold, but, you know, it is what it is. I think the colds and the flu are kind of new covid, you know, that's just going to be the way of life, right,
Dina Simon 27:37
right? It's one of the things. It's one of the risks you take in going and having an adventure like that. Absolutely Welcome
John Simon Sr. 27:44
to travel on a cruise ship with 3000 other people. Yes,
Debbie Seeger 27:47
yes, right? I keep saying it's better than the norovirus, though. So yes, yes,
John Simon Sr. 27:54
yes, it is so. Deb, I was thinking the other day back in April. Was 1997 you and Wade were down here. I think one of the boys were with you. We went to the inaugural race at Texas Motor Speedway.
Debbie Seeger 28:07
Oh, yes, that was Nick's high school graduation gift to go to that
John Simon Sr. 28:12
they came down. And we had a great weekend fun.
Debbie Seeger 28:15
Yes, we did still talk about that
Dina Simon 28:18
nice. So we talked a little bit about, you know, so Debbie, as far as getting involved in the community and volunteering and just their family and the involvement, so we talked about life, we've talked about leadership, we've talked about your community involvement, you know, I guess I would just say that, you know, Debbie, we love that you are on the podcast. John obviously has had a very long standing friendship with you. Treasures that relationship. How often do you guys talk? Is it maybe every once a month or so?
Debbie Seeger 28:47
I would say every three months
John Simon Sr. 28:49
we came up. In fact, we were talking maybe once or twice a year. And I could always count on the first Christmas card I get every year in some Deb singer, because she mails it out, I think the Friday after Thanksgiving. So I would get it a lot of times. She'd have a little letter in there and updating me on the grandchildren and Nick and Mike and Wade, and you know what they're all doing cruises they went on, or family outings and stuff. So and then when we were talking, I says, You know what? I'm gonna put it on my calendar, and we're gonna do this every three months, because there was too much going on to go through it. So now we do it every I put it on my calendar, and every three months, we talk to each other,
Dina Simon 29:32
nice. I love that. Love that. And Debbie, we John might have told you, but I mean that you're also a piece of, kind of the legacy of why we're doing the podcast. And so John was up here with rich, and I and Jake, my nephew, John's grandson from Dallas, was up here in Minnesota, and we were sitting at the table. And John and I love to talk about leadership and business and talking about stories of the old days. And Jake is like, I haven't heard any. Of these stories and and so I that's where we really said, Yeah, because the grandchildren didn't know John as the president of a company. They know him as grandpa because he had retired by the time. You know, I think Maddie was maybe a year old, your oldest grandchild,
John Simon Sr. 30:16
my my first day of retirement was her first birthday. There you go. So,
Dina Simon 30:21
so that really was the genesis of us coming together and bringing people like yourself to the table just to talk about stories and the connectivity that you have. And just hopefully even that inspires people to, you know, stay connected. You never know where you're going to find a friend, whether it's going to be through work, through community, but leaning in with, you know, finding people that you like to work hard with and play hard with, I guess, is a piece of that story.
Debbie Seeger 30:49
It's been a very good friendship. You know, we've had lots of laughs over the years. Labor
John Simon Sr. 30:54
Day weekend, Jeannie and I were up in, up in Minnesota, and we went to the grocery store up there. And as we're walking through the grocery store, Dina, do you remember what we brought back? One of the things was an O and H Danish bakery, Kringle. Yes. And I said, I haven't had one of these for years, because every year, on my birthday, when Deb was working, she sent me two kringles for my birthday. Yeah. And I always look forward to getting them,
Dina Simon 31:22
yeah, because, Debbie, you could only really get those in Racine back in the day. And now we picked them up. I think, John, did you get it? Heidi, I got it at hygiene, Yep, yeah, yeah. So you can find them now, but they're still, they're probably a Midwest thing. But yes, I remember even going to Racine and getting them, Yep,
Debbie Seeger 31:39
yeah. They just, you know, it was a popular item, and when I knew somebody liked them, that was, you know, kind of my truth that I would send. And, you know, like cards, I'm a big card sender, so,
John Simon Sr. 31:51
and, of course, it makes it all the better when it comes from O and H, because they're the original Crandall company in racing. So, yeah, you can get them from other bakeries, but they're not the same.
Debbie Seeger 32:02
Y'all, they're not so
Dina Simon 32:04
Debbie, before we wrap, is there anything else you would like to that you wanted to talk about on our podcast? Is there anything else you wanted to share? No, I
Debbie Seeger 32:12
think we covered it, and I appreciate this opportunity. Was a little apprehensive at first when John approached me, but I think it worked out. Well,
Dina Simon 32:20
it did. And have you told the kids and grandkids that you're going to be on a podcast? No,
Debbie Seeger 32:25
I didn't. I told my husband this afternoon that stay out of this room. Up by doing this. But other than that, no, nobody else knows
Dina Simon 32:34
I love it. Well, they'll be very excited to hear it. I know I'd like to thank Debbie Seeger for being on our podcast. We are so excited that she was willing to do this with us. I have always admired the relationship that she has with my father in law. They met in business, doing business together, and they have developed a great friendship that has stood this test of time over a couple decades. I know that we all collect people along the way, along our journey, some through work and community, but we know the value of those long standing, meaningful relationships. So Debbie, thank you for being on our podcast. As always. I think my father in law, John Simon, for being my co host on this podcast. And Debbie didn't share all the amazing things that she has gotten involved in with her community, but she's part of the Lions Club. She's on the board of their local library. She's part of City Planning. So as she alluded to, she might have taken a little time off in her early retirement, but then she got super engaged and involved in her community, and continues to give back on a daily basis. And just Debbie, all the people that you touch in your community are so blessed to know you so until we talk again. Thank you for tuning in. You.