VP, Administration Michelle Reindl

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view — until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."

Michelle manages all of Weidert’s financial activities, a description that undersells the job considerably. She also serves as the agency’s HR Manager, which means she is responsible for both the numbers and the people those numbers represent.

At an employee-owned company, those two roles are more connected than they would be elsewhere. Every Weidert Group employee is an owner, so financial performance is not an abstraction discussed at a leadership meeting. Michelle is the person who makes ownership meaningful to the people who hold it: what the company earns, what it means for their stake, and what the year ahead looks like.

She handles budgeting, forecasting, financial reporting, benefits, hiring operations, and the compliance work that keeps an ESOP functioning correctly. When Weidert tells clients that its people have skin in the game, Michelle is the reason that statement has a paper trail behind it.