Leading by example is what Joe Siekierski credits to his success. “I do not ask a member of my team to do something that I am not willing to do,” he said. As the Chief Financial Officer of RJ Schinner (RJS) since 2014, Siekierski said his employees see that he is the first one to arrive in the morning and the last one to leave at the end of the day.
“I like to be visible in the organization,” said Siekierski. “A friendly smile and a ‘thank you’ for a job well done is so important. Our employees could work for many companies, but I want them to feel good about working for RJ Schinner.”
RJ Schinner is a leader in the redistribution marketplace for food wholesalers, paper wholesalers and grocery supplies. Established in 1951, the company continues striving toward a goal of bridging the gap between large manufacturers and smaller distributors, merging the buying power of a large company with the accommodating customer service of an independent business.
Under Siekierski’s leadership, the company was named to the Wisconsin 75 and the Future 50 by the Biz Times. In addition, over the past three years, the firm has opened three new warehouses and has recorded over $250 million of incremental revenue that represents a three-year growth rate of 66 percent.
Since Siekierski has joined RJ Schinner to oversee financial aspects of the company’s growth plan, the firm has grown to 20 warehouse locations covering the entire continental United States and has engaged in three acquisitions. Siekierski was also responsible for the creation of a foreign subsidiary which allows for more efficient importing of product from Asia.
“Through the strength of Joe’s financial leadership, RJS was able to achieve this incredible growth without reliance on private equity,” said his colleagues. “He has the remarkable ability to find a solution to some of the most difficult issues and as RJS enters new markets, he does an incredible job of managing the credit risk of new customers while allowing for the needed growth for the new locations to be successful.”
Learning how to lead has been ongoing and full of lessons, said Siekierski. “As a young professional, I would worry about the many things that I had no control over, but as time passed, I was able to learn to focus on the matters that I could control or partially control,” he said. “I became a much more effective leader and I was able to achieve better results individually and for the company as a whole.”
His leadership skills and corporate success have landed Siekierski on the Titan 100 list.
