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Pa t r i ck V i ancour t
W
hen you grow up in a
family of eight children,
you have to learn how to take
things in stride. For Cleveland,
Ohio, native Patrick Viancourt,
president and CEO of supplier
Hospitality Mints (PPAI 113524),
this early lesson in not taking
life too seriously has served him
well throughout his career in the
food and beverage, secondary
packaging and awards/recognition
industries. Prior to his current role,
which he assumed inMarch 2016,
Viancourt was vice president of
sales for North America at Ranpak
Corp, a packaging company.
Viancourt lives with his wife,
Kim, and their two sons, Patrick,
18, andMatthew, 17, in Chagrin
Falls, Ohio, a southeast suburb of
Cleveland. When he’s not at work,
he’s usually moving, making music
or watching high school sports.
“I like to stay active, run, work
out and ski,” he says. “I also am an
avid guitar player. We are quite a
musical family. My wife used to be
in the music business andmy sons
also play music, so there’s always
music playing or being played in
our house.”
Both of his sons also play
football. “I had the great pleasure of
coaching themwhen they were in
grade school and when they went
off to high school, I was able to step
back and really enjoy watching
themboth grow and flourish, but as
a fan and not as their coach.”
This past fall, the boys played
in the Ohio Division 1 high school
state championship game against
their state rival. “Unfortunately,
they lost in double overtime, but it
was a very proudmoment for my
wife andme to see both of our sons
on the field at the same time and
being key contributors to such a
fantastic season,” he says.
What was your first
job and what lessons
did you learn?
My first job was being a paper
boy. I delivered both the morning
and the afternoon paper. I believe
it taught me to be accountable,
to provide top-notch customer
service and to deliver what was
expected of me (no pun intended!).
It also taught me how to handle
and respect money. The key to
successfully managing a paper
route is not only delivering the
papers on time and in the right
place, but also being timely when
collecting the weekly dues from
customers for the delivery service.
You can deliver all the newspapers
you want, but if you don’t get paid,
it is a wasted effort.
My first job out of college was
working for SeagramAmericas,
the global wine and spirits
company. They were phenomenal
at selling andmarketing
their brands while teaching
their employees the fiduciary
responsibilities of business.
What professional
accomplishment are
youmost proud of?
I don’t know if there’s any one
accomplishment that I would
point to, but I have made it a point
Hospitality Mints’
CEO Patrick
Viancourt on the
virtues of being
prepared and
cultivating your
inner confidence
by
Julie Richie
Show Up
And Play
Loose
Patrick Viancourt plays with the house band at Legends in Nashville.
96
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JUNE 2017
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