75 / 94
CLOSE UP
T’S NOT VERY OFTEN that you meet someone
who is the oldest of eight children. Native
Bostonian Mike Landry is not only the oldest of
eight, he’s also married to a woman who is the oldest of
eight children. It’s clear that he and Bridget, a nurse and
his wife of 34 years, were meant for each other.
“I’m lucky to be married to the love of my life, and I
have two wonderful kids—Catherine, a first-grade
teacher and Philip, an ecommerce category manager—
and they all make me very happy,” he says. “[My kids]
are two amazing people and I am immensely proud of
them.”
In addition to his family, Landry is also passionate
about both his home state and his house—a 1906 classic
American Craftsman, which he calls “the fifth member of
our family” because of the time and effort it takes to
maintain it. “Massachusetts is very dear to my heart and,
aside from a short stint across the border in Rhode Island,
I’ve never lived anywhere else.” His job as vice president
of special markets for supplier Tumi (UPIC: tumi), a posi-
tion he’s held for 12 years, means he’s away from home
for 45 weeks of the year. But when he’s home, he likes to
work on projects around the house. “The last big project
was a free-standing garage that matched the existing
structure. I helped design it,” he says.
And when he’s not working on his house, he loves to
follow his beloved Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics.
“Keeping up with the Boston sports scene is a part-time
job in and of itself,” he laughs. “But when I’m really off
duty, I like to sail. We charter sailboats in the winter and
travel port-to-port in tropical locations. I’m happy to say
that I’ve sailed most of the Caribbean,” he adds.
What do you enjoy most about your work?
The people. Our entire sales channel is incredibly relationship
driven, and some of my very best friends are people that I only
see on the road. Plus, at our company headquarters, I work
with some of the most creative, professional and hardworking
people that I’ve ever met. They execute brilliantly and make me
look good.
What was your first job, and what lessons did you learn?
One of my first jobs was waiting on tables. It was an upscale
casual restaurant where you could be serving a couple who had
arranged a babysitter for their only romantic night out that
month, or a family running in for a quick dinner. Those are
obviously two completely different experiences. My success was
driven by my ability to accurately and quickly assess the cus-
tomers’ various needs, and then do everything possible to meet
them. It taught me a great lesson about the importance of
clearly understanding each customer’s objectives and then exe-
cuting specifically to that expectation.
Home Team
I
WHEN IT COMES TO SELLING SUCCESS, TUMI’S MIKE LANDRY CREDITS HIS
FAMILY FIRST
BY JULIE RICHIE
FEBRUARY 2016 •
PPB
• 73
CONNECT