Artist, cowgirl or drummer in a rock band might all be next career paths for Janie Gaunce. That is, if she would ever quit doing what she loves – which is being a Grape. “Grapevine represents all that I love in a company… the people, the energy, creativity and customer focus. Every day is a new challenge, a fun opportunity that presents a way for us to help a client make a statement for their brand.” Outside of work, Janie has served as a PPAI Board member, active in PPAMidwest, co-founder of "100 Jobs for 100 Moms," as well as a member of the University of Kansas Hospital Advancement Board. A yoga and workout fanatic, we have nicknamed her WebMD because she likes to diagnose our ailments. She’s a foodie married to a non-foodie, with two grown kids and a cuddly Boston named Bennie.

As Partner, CFO and overseer of all things operational, Steve’s day is way more exciting than most financial guys, because he gets to work with an office full of women. Thank goodness Mr. Sachs is patient because he answers to “Hey Steve” all day long. How does he keep his guy card? He’s our muscle as well as spreadsheet master, but we tease him because he actually knows what color Periwinkle is. A spin class regular and avid bike rider, Steve’s a KU grad and happily married with two grown kids. When it comes to servicing our clients, his dedication and focus are second to none.

Jane Beth might hail from Kentucky but proudly calls Saint Louis home now. But that doesn’t stop her, her husband and her 3 boys from cheering on their beloved Louisville Cardinals while still showing love to the St. Louis Cardinals as well. One team she always puts in first place is her wonderful team of customers. She loves making them feel they are on a winning team and many of them have become good friends over the years. When not with her work team, she spends her time with her home team cooking and trying new recipes. We heard they were hiring at the test kitchen for Bon Appétit magazine, but we think we’ll hang on to this top chef for a while!

Our resident Rachel Zoe is Kris Palmer. She’s just as driven as she is style conscious. Every day you’ll find Kris and her team operating with “the sky’s the limit” mentality. She loves that on a daily basis she gets to go wherever the creative journey leads her. Her clients benefit from her amazing sourcing and design talents, and you better not settle for mediocrity. Oh no, that simply won’t do for Kris. But if you’re looking for a jammin’ tune or the best snack drawer in the Tri-state area, she’s your girl. A self-admitted reality TV-aholic, Kris stays busy with four kids and lots of grandbabies. Yep.

Chris is the kind of guy you need to know, and honestly, we're surprised if you don't already. As National Big Brother of the Year for Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, it is easy to see his love of getting to know people is displayed in every facet of his life. In the office, his positivity and enthusiasm are incredibly contagious to us and to his clients. If you are lucky enough to catch him around the 4th of July, his favorite holiday, we can confidently say that Chris will greet you patriotically and probably point you to the nearest fireworks stand. Chris loves being a Big Brother, working out, grilling and all of the things that make America great - mostly SPORTS!!

There are few people out there that can honestly say they have a lifetime of love for promotional products. As a child, Bonnie was a sucker for "free promotional cups of candy" and we can't blame her! That love has blossomed into a life-long career of passion for promotions. She is no stranger to the creativity and people here at Grapevine, as she worked here early in her career! We are so happy she has come full circle and found her place back "home". This mother of two daughters pays great attention to detail and loves the fast-paced movement of our industry. However, if she ever decides to give up the wonderful, ever-changing world of promotional products (doubtful), you could probably find her and her new husband slinging cocktails somewhere with sand between their toes. Cheers!

When Phylis isn’t traveling about with her husband, you can usually find her on the golf course or a tennis court. Keeping busy and on-the-go suits her personality in her leisure time as well as at work. The love of juggling many things at once and taking the extra step for every client is what really keeps her on top of her game. What is most important to Phylis is providing exceptional customer service to all of her clients, and being at Grapevine allows her to really get into the team approach and make every client experience a winner. Game. Set. Match. Way to serve up a job well done.

Meredith Wallace has lived all over, from Pennsylvania to Puerto Rico, but has called Grapevine home for over 15 years – and she says she is still amazed at what is accomplished here each day. We describe Meredith as a walking encyclopedia of knowledge that could be on game shows with the awesome amount of trivia lodged in her brain. With a “never say no” mentality, our clients love her speed and accuracy. Also, she has a fascinating knack for buying the most appropriately hilarious birthday cards. Outside of work, Meredith and her singer/songwriter husband stay busy with their active young son. She says, in another life, she’d love to be selling fabulous homes on a tropical island, if she weren’t working at Grapevine of course.

From his small hometown beginnings at a Dairy Queen in Iowa, Austin has grown to become a king of customer service in Kansas City. Always with a smile on his face, he feels the best part of the industry is making clients feel like they are part of the Grapevine family. Austin loves stepping up to any challenge and isn't deterred by tight deadlines or demanding projects. When he's not rolling out the red carpet for our clients, Austin enjoys a day the lake, a fine tequila, and his Wheaten Terrier, Maizee. We are also happy to say that, with Austin, we now have a resident ordained minister on staff for any nuptial needs. Just in case…

Heather Hunt’s job philosophy is to do it right, make no excuses and give 500% every day – and her coworkers say that’s exactly what she does. When Heather isn’t being an imaginary NFL scout, she’s definitely obsessing about client needs and tending to a cataloged file in her brain about their “isms.” Nothing slips by Heather! She’s amazingly quick, can tackle twelve projects before 8 a.m., and has a memory like a steel trap. At home, she’s busy, taking care of two kids when she’s not skydiving, running the Warrior Dash or watching Jeff Lewis whip up some incredible style. Heather calls it right the first time and we love her for her passionate pursuit of excellence.

This handy, do-it-yourself kind of gal would someday love to play guitar, give Miranda Lambert a run for her money and bring home her very own Grammy for Country Female artist of the year. And when she’s not dreaming of hitting it big, she somehow makes time to take care of her husband, 2 sons and 2 dogs. Hands-on and detail oriented, Michelle loves the creativity at Grapevine and strives to help her clients find just the perfect item for every one of their events. Now that’s really music to our ears!

How does the saying go? “It’s our differences that make us unique?” Well, Abby has unique down to a T! Green eyes, left-handed, AND she’s a mamma to twins! Not to mention she’s the only Abby (with a “y”) in the office. It’s no wonder she’s such a great fit in this industry. She loves it because every day is different! She works very hard to be dependable for her clients and coworkers. If Abby weren’t here with us (which would just be awful), she would love to learn how to cook and open a bed and breakfast on a beautiful tropical island somewhere. We’ll meet you there, Abby!

Kathy Dexheimer has a degree in Apparel Management, along with 30+ years in the industry. Her daughter proudly shares her love of marketing, sporting a degree in Textile Marketing of her own. The apple doesn’t fall far from that tree! Both mother and daughter ended up in the promotional products industry, putting their creative talents to work! Kathy’s philosophy is to be totally committed to client satisfaction, all the time, and is the heart and soul of Grapevine. She plays the mother figure for the office, and is a cook extraordinaire by all standards. In her dream professional career, she’d love to be a bartender in a grass hut on a beautiful beach. Can you hear the Jimmy Buffet music?

We nominate Venus Robinson as Accounting Manager of the century. While the account teams have their hair on fire ordering samples, drumming up business, and going to the ends of the earth to discover new sourcing channels, Venus calmly sits in her office making sense of it all, slinging invoices and reconciling billing with her eyes closed. She’ll tell you herself that her attention to detail is unbelievable, and her multi-tasking is second-to-none. Never fear, because Venus is the queen of billing systems. She also holds a membership to GVD’s avid reader club and would love to be a best selling author someday. She has crazy good music on her iPod, and is addicted to word games on her iPad – as all smarties are. Her hubby is an artist and they adore their two dogs and bird.

Monica came to us as a production specialist but has recently nestled into her new role as an amazing account manager. When she is not watching her beloved Jayhawks, you can find her cheering just as loudly for her children in their many activities! A left-brain enthusiast and a lover of analytics, she enjoys using facts and figures to move the programs of her clients forward. With creativity flowing through our walls, we love that Monica can successfully mesh the designs with the data! We are happy she is a part of our team and is always willing to work hard to provide the best customer service to our clients.

A graduate of Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, TX, Bethany Sexton bleeds purple and is proud to call herself a Horned Frog. Just an ordinary girl trying to live an extraordinary life, she knows that the success of anything lies in the details and hard work. Bethany says that “hard work beats out talent when talent doesn’t work hard” – which is especially true in the fast-paced environment here at Grapevine. As a third generation artist, creativity is life. It’s how Bethany sees the world. But don’t let the artist fool you, she’ll school you on the dance floor and she’s a workout queen!

Taylor’s been told she could be Taylor Swift’s doppelganger, and she definitely brings a little song and dance to the creative department here at Grapevine. Okay, not literally, but she did grow up singing and dancing and one day hopes to play the guitar! She (clearly) likes to keep busy (and we sure love that about her). Sometimes tight deadlines or long to-do lists force her to crank out her best work, and we can vouch for that! But, what she loves about Grapevine is the creative environment where she can bounce ideas off of other creative minds. She’s excited about the opportunity to challenge her design and creative skills by creating out of the box solutions for clients. Plus, she thinks the people here are pretty great too!

Kristin Wood, a KU grad, comes to Grapevine with over 15 years experience in design and product development. She feels fortunate to have always found unique opportunities to channel her passion for creativity into her career. Kristin says that the best thing about Grapevine is being part of a team that is always pushing the envelope. She loves seeing great projects develop from concept to completion. Little things make big things happen. Outside of work, Kristin can most likely be found circling the city (and sometimes the globe) with her two amazing kids and hound dog Hudson.

Hailing originally from Lincoln, NE (GOOOOO BIIIIIIG REEEEEED! GO BIG RED!) Eva comes to us as a sourcing specialist. With her BA in fashion marketing, Eva is the perfect fit for helping our clients find EXACTLY what they’re looking for (and maybe a few things they didn’t know they were looking for!). Others describe her as extremely accountable and maybe a bit of a perfectionist, but if there is a job to be done, she is always up for the challenge. Eva is excited to learn everything she needs to know about the industry from the best in the business! “I’m surrounded by very talented individuals with years of experience.”

This small town Kansas girl sure doesn’t have a small personality! Tasha Rice won’t hesitate to tell you if a comma is in the wrong place or if your PO isn’t perfect. She lives for details and accuracy – and won’t settle for anything less! Tasha has worked at Grapevine in three different job positions – graphic designer, account manager and now traffic manager. She just can’t get enough! Tasha says that in another life, she would be a travel agent, because she has visited 48 states and 19 countries, and loved them all. It’s not as easy to travel these days with her husband and son – but they still make time. Tasha says her favorite part about Grapevine is that it feels like one big family.