Theresa Zurn, CEO, Zurn Visual
LinkedIn Profile: linkedin.com/in/theresa-zurn
What do you do?
I am the founder of Zurn Visual. Zurn Visual is a company that educates and advocates the use of sustainable materials for clients, retailers, and brands looking for sustainable solutions to replace plastics, wood, and MDF in their designs. I have created a trademarked application for the flooring industry to replace MDF in their sample LVT tile market space.
What investments have you made in your professional career development?
First, I left my 20+ year career working for the largest plastics distributor in 2022. This was a huge investment in myself thinking I could take a leap of faith and pivot myself and my skill set to create a company based on opening up the conversation to using other materials than what the print industry is used to using for display designs, expo, and building and construction events. Frankly, the two materials I was promoting are not made in the U.S. They are made in Germany and Sweden. Sweden is a net zero country, who better than they to understand what it would take to get the folks in the U.S. excited about something they had never seen before? The investment to present new ideas and applications taken from my plastics and print background and reinvent these ideas into sustainable and viable options took confidence and courage. I was willing to continue to talk about it and invest time, and my own money, leverage my existing contacts, and learn to network.
What investments have you made in your personal development?
One of the investments made in my personal development was joining the Girls Who Print network. Deborah Corn collaborates with some top professional women to offer workshops to help with time management, networking, and great conversations in a safe environment. I’ve enrolled in classes that speak about what “sustainability” means to different people and how I could become even more knowledgeable about what companies are developing to obtain analytical data and pull those numbers into their companies. I also invest in listening to my intuition and not ignoring it.
How can the industry proactively invest in women, and why should this be a priority?
This is an interesting question to answer and is a bit complicated. My opinion would be to promote the ideas women bring to the table on their websites, social media, and various associations. The print industry is made up of mostly men who could implement a pathway for women in their specific workplaces and offer to invite them to meetings where decisions are made to advocate for their input. Historically, women are only invited when doors are opened to them and women have to prove themselves before they are given that opportunity. And, in some cases even after they have proven themselves decisions are still closed if the men we are competing or collaborating with are not yet ready to offer us a seat at their table. Perhaps, workshops on easing the tensions of women entering a male-dominated industry and why men should not let fear keep them from recognizing our strengths and work ethic to be even more successful than where we began. After all, it can only be an upside to have another set of ideas and possibly create even more revenue and workflow. It is a mindset that men still have about working with women and who can be a boss and lead.
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