Meet Brad Simmons. He is currently working at The Libman Company as the Commercial Marketing and Sales Manager.
Questions:
Q: What inspired you or led you to your current career?
A: I started out thinking I wanted to do sports business. I went to Sports Management at University of Illinois and halfway through that I started thinking about life more, marriage and potential kids in the future. The sports industry is kind of hard to do that. It’s a lot of nights, lots of weekend, so I started looking for options. I was blessed to be able to get into an MBA program with no full time experience. I ended up at Libman, we market and sell cleaning products. It doesn’t sound super glamorous, especially for a millennial like me, but I think what really inspired me is that I love my career, not just for myself but for my wife as well. I am happy with my choice. I love what I do, I love Libman, and building relationships with a lot of people is the thing I really like the most. It’s not just about the product but it’s more about what’s behind that.
Q: What is your favorite restaurant in Champaign-Urbana, and what do you love there?
A: I can’t say I have an exact favorite. The top three would be, Seven Saints, DESTIHL and Attie’s Bar and Grill. I love to have cheese burgers at different places.
Q: How long have you lived or worked in Champaign-Urbana?
A: I got here in 2010. So I’ve been here for 9 years. There’s a year break though. 2010-2015, I was in school. I was gone for a year from Champaign. We moved back here May of 2016 and we’ve been here since.
Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would it be? And why?
A: I would travel up to Alaska or somewhere in Canada, and do a week or 2 weeks of secluded camping, fishing trip. My wife wouldn’t go with me because she hates that, she has to stay in a hotel and go to camp during the day. I’m a big fisher man, I love the outdoors and I’ve never done that outside of Central Illinois.
Q: What advice would you give a crowd of people?
A: There’s a lot of pieces of advice I could give but the most important thing to me is just my relationship with Jesus Christ. It is something that’s giving me purpose, it’s something to live greater than yourself. The thing that sticks out the most, looking back, is what you’ve done for other people, what relationships you’ve built, and not the things you’ve done for yourself.
Q: What is something on your bucket list?
A: Fishing trip to Alaska would be one I guess. I also would like to sit, like floor seats, for an NBA finals game with LeBron James on court. Another thing on my bucket list would be catching passes from Aaron Rodgers, like a 2-hour session.
Q: What current / former local business makes you the most nostalgic about Champaign-Urbana?
A: My mind keeps going back to Koinonia Christian Cooperative House, it’s not really a local business perse, it’s a local organization, Christian house that I lived in for 4 years. It’s a house of 36 guys with a mission to build and grow Christian brothers together. That is something I will never forget. Koinonia stands as Christian fellowship.
Q: What is your favorite thing or something unique about Champaign-Urbana?
A: Everything that we have in this central Illinois county, it is mini Chicago with collegiate. A lot restaurants, parks, there’s a lot of resources here. Such a fun town and there’s always something going on.
Q: Where do you see yourself in 5 or 10 years?
A: 5-10 years, I see having 2-4 kids, somewhere in that range. I’ll still live here, possibly still at Libman since there’s a lot of things to accomplish with my job. I’ve also thought about owning my own business, doing my own thing.
Q: (Even for friends or family), what is something interesting that most people don’t know about you?
A: I hold the “sit and reach” record at Morton Junior High. I think it was like 36 cm that I can reach the tip of my fingers pass my feet. I’m very flexible. Playing in athletics, especially soccer, I was getting injured a lot. My coach told me that I needed to work on my flexibility and strength, and the day he told me that I started stretching every night.
Q: What 3 words or phrases come to mind when you think of the word HOME?
A: Blessed, Tradition, and Warmth.
Q: If you had a full time staff member that was fully paid for, who would you choose? Chef, Housekeeper, Driver, Coach, Physical Fitness Trainer, or Nanny?
A: It can’t be a Chef because Jenna Simmons is the best chef in the world. It would be a Housekeeper because Jenna is also very diligent but when we have kids that will be another thing, and I don’t think she will enjoy cleaning.
