The News Tribune's own top woman in business, Terri Leifeste, has been general manager of Central Missouri Newspapers for more than three years - along with being president of WEHCO Media's Palmer Newspaper Group for two of those years.
In those roles, she oversees the operation of three Mid-Missouri newspapers - the Jefferson City News Tribune, the Fulton Sun and the California Democrat - and another five in Arkansas.
Many have joked over the years that the newspaper business is an "old boys' club," but Leifeste doesn't see it that way - at least not anymore.
"When I started in 1979 - almost 38 years ago - it was a guys' business," she said. "It was pretty far along in my career that I wasn't the only woman in the room."
The first woman to hold the title of president at a WEHCO Media newspaper, Leifeste is confident the company's leadership is more focused on how a job is done than on who is doing it.
"If you're here, you're here to do a job," she said.
Terri Leifeste
If I wasn't doing this, I'd be : "a chef."Q. How would you describe your job?
A. "It is fast-paced and ever changing, interesting and exciting."
Q. What was the career path that brought you to this position?
A. "I was a classified ad taker, then I was in the composing room building ads - that's back when we type-set and cut-and-pasted. And then I went from there to advertising sales as a salesperson and then as an advertising director. From there, I became a publisher at the Ada, Oklahoma, newspaper - the first female publisher at the 150-year-old newspaper. I was there only six months before the paper was sold, and I was transferred to the Chicago Sun Times, where I became the retail advertising director. Later, I served in a variety of corporate leadership positions in national media companies such as Gannett and Horizon Publications. In 2013, WEHCO Media named me vice president and general manager of Central Missouri Newspapers. In 2015, I was named president of WEHCO's Palmer Newspapers, a group of eight newspapers that include the News Tribune.
"Having started in the composing room, I realize I was so blessed that now I'm the president of Palmer Newspapers."
Q. Who influenced you to enter this profession?
A. "I have been really blessed to have a lot of mentors along the way. One of those mentors is my current boss, Jeff Jeffus."
Q. What's the biggest professional achievement you've realized?
A. "Being president of Palmer Newspaper Group."
Q. What's the most common mistake people make when entering your profession, and how can it be avoided?
A. "It's a 24/7 thing, and I think people don't understand that always. And it's something you just have to have a passion for. You have to want to be busy. There's no other manufacturing company, if you will, that produces a brand new product every single day. It's kind of exciting to be leading a company that basically starts from scratch every morning, so there's basically no time to get comfortable and put your feet on the desk or go play golf."
Q. What's the biggest lesson you have learned?
A. "You have to be flexible. There is nothing rigid about our business. We're ever changing every day. We may start out thinking that our day's going to go this way, and that the front-page story on the paper's going to be this. And things in the middle of the afternoon may go completely crazy, and we totally have to adjust."
Q. What's the biggest challenge facing you in the next year?
A. "Continuing to find ways to deliver the news to our customers, be it through print or online or through social media. It's to deliver a product to our customers, which are both advertising customers and readers, that fulfills their expectations. Whether it's search engine optimization, reputation management, all those things, we here, two years ago, ahead of the curve, opened up Front Page Digital agency."
Q. What are the best and worst parts of your job?
A. "The best part is that we get to be a part of recording the history of this community, and I think that's a really important job. The worst part is when we get it wrong - when you misspell somebody's name, you get an obit wrong, we leave something out. That's the worst day for me."
Q. Why did you decide to locate in Jefferson City?
A. "WEHCO recruited me to come here, and I've loved it here."
Q. What is Jefferson City's best kept secret?
A. "Of all the communities that I've lived in, this one's the most philanthropic. I currently serve on the United Way board and the Boys & Girls Club board. And in serving on those two boards, I see first-hand what a giving community it is."
Q. Where do you see your profession in five years? Where do you see yourself in five years?
A. "The business is ever evolving and ever changing, and I will have to continue to evolve and change with it. The newspaper has always held a huge position in the community: we have told the stories of this community for 150 years, and I don't see that changing. One way or another, we are going to be the storytellers. It may look a little different, but that's OK. We look different now than we did 150 years ago. But we're still going to be providing a product that helps this community to stay informed. The more people in a community who can read the newspaper, the better the community is."
Q. What is something about yourself that nobody knows?
A. "I've lived in 10 states and had roles in over 60 newspapers."
Read the full October 2016 edition of #jcmo Inside Business here.