A spotlight on individuals who are moving onward & upward

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DEAN SEAVERS

Call him "Mr. Safety." Dean Seavers is now the president and CEO of GE Security, a worldwide company that devises ways that businesses, governments and individuals can protect themselves. Among his principal customers are the Transportation Security Administration and other agencies that are involved in airport and government security.

He uses many of his company's devices in his own home. "We have great locks, smoke detectors," says Seavers, 47, who lives in Florida. "I actually feel pretty secure because of the electronic security. I like to have the latest products in my home so that I can try them out. Am I Mr. Security? I guess what I would say is I love the industry."

* You wanted to be a professional basketball player. What happened? "I had strong parents, strong grandparents who said you gotta stay in the books. They may not have been math whizzes, but they understood the percentages, that there aren't a lot of people who are going to make the pro sports."

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LISA MEYERS

First, she was associate producer of the TV game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Now she's back in Los Angeles, figuring out the best ways to promote the multifaceted business interests of former pro basketball star Magic Johnson.

Lisa Meyers, in her new role as executive vice president of communications and branding at Magic Johnson Enterprises, has her hands full figuring out how best to ensure that people know and love Johnson's many businesses, from Starbucks to movie theaters.

"It's really taking that 60,000-foot-level perspective on everything we've done," says Meyers, 34, who is part of the executive team for MJ Enterprises. "There are a ton of great business ideas and a ton of ways we can get involved, but we cannot do it all."

This high-powered public relations executive knew early on that positioning people or brands in consumers' minds was her career goal.

"It wasn't until college that I understood the impact and power of PR," she says. "You watch the news and see that much of it is positioned. I fell in love with that."

* What's her best system for meeting people? "I'm a big fan of [the networking Web site] Linked In. It's a loose way for me to stay in touch and for me to rekindle relationships with people. I try to find other ways to stay in touch. I try and use whatever tools are cool."

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ROLAND THORNTON

He's already a vice president at one of the nation's largest telecommunication companies, and now Roland Thornton is adding more hours to his workday for his newest gig--chairman of the Colorado Black Chamber of Commerce Foundation. This means that in addition to overseeing wholesale markets for Qwest Communications' billion-dollar business, Thornton is also raising scholarship money for the foundation.

"I don't think giving back is nice to do; I think it's a requirement," says Thornton, 55, of the Denver area. "Those of us fortunate enough to be in a position to do that should do that."

For Thornton's day job, he essentially sells other companies, including AT&T and Verizon, access to Qwest's communications pipeline. In other words, if you live in New York and call California, there's a good chance that your call was routed through Qwest's area. Last year Thornton helped the company open offices in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom.

This is not to say that he can build a cell phone from the ground up. "I'm not that technical," he says. "Halfway through my career, I started focusing more on the business end as opposed to the technical end."

* So, does Thornton S-K-I? "We don't have enough time on this call for me to explain to you why I am not a skier. I thought I was a skier when I was on a mountain. I quickly realized I'm a lodger. I'm a person who sits in the lodge, drinks a glass of wine and watches the skiers."

COPYRIGHT 2008 Johnson Publishing Co.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale Group