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Lowe leads strong startup team
Banking on strong relationships, Ollie Lowe launches spin-off
This article was originally filed by Dennis L. Taylor and published by
The Californian on 2/14/14
A startup company, it takes a team
to keep all the fragile pieces together while it builds legs underneath
itself, and teams are something Ollie Lowe Jr. knows a thing or two
about.
He’s surrounded by sports — an entire office wall of
49ers memorabilia, autographed jerseys from Payton Manning and LeBron
James. On his desk is a Life magazine with the late Nelson Mandela on
the cover. They were all great leaders who were flanked by talented
teammates.
The chief executive officer of one-year-old Lowe
Packaging Group, a supplier of agricultural packaging in Gonzales, spun
out the new company last year from of Hebberd Kulow Enterprises, where
he was president. And it’s finding its legs.
Lowe is building
his company with the support of friends and business relationships he
has fostered since he was a kid in Salinas. The fit 39-year-old was the
quarterback and captain of his North Salinas High School football team.
Having lost his father when he was a month old, Lowe has gravitated
toward his coaches and his friends’ dads who represent strong
father-figures.
“They are still friends and mentors,” Lowe
said. “We still spend Christmases together and have dinners.”
Forging those kinds of relationships was born out of both necessity and
understanding that a quarterback’s success depends entirely on the
strength of the players on either side of him. The company’s chief
financial officer, Lorisa McKelvey, has known Lowe since she was 12. So
when it came time for help with legal and financial structures for the
fledgling firm, Lowe called on his childhood chum.
“I knew I
could trust him,” McKelvey said. “That’s how he’s always done
business.”
His ethics, Lowe said, date back to his late mother,
Sharon Brooks, who reared her son with a powerful work ethic — he was
mowing lawns at the age of 7 — and a strong personality that hammered
home concepts of respect and honor. For fans of Tyler Perry’s string of
hit “Madea” movies, nothing more needs to be said.
“She was a
firm woman and you did not step out of line,” Lowe said. “Once when I
was in my senior year and was captain of the football team, I mouthed
off to an English teacher. He warned me that if I kept it up he was
going to call my mother. I kept it up and he made the call. My mom was
at the school and in my classroom in seven minutes. Things changed that
day.”
Lowe lost his mother when he was 25. Having lost
both parents young, it taught Lowe to keep life in perspective.
Adversity will happen. He might lose a customer. But in the grand
scheme, it is not the end of the world.
Steve Cagle has known
Lowe since he was 5, when his son, also Steve, and Lowe started
kindergarten together. Cagle, who said he thinks of Lowe as “my third
son,” had the opportunity to coach the boys when they were young, and
has come to know Lowe as an “always personable, hard working young
man.
“He has always been true to himself and true to his
upbringing,” Cagle said about the way Sharon Brooks raised her son.
“He’s never pretentious; you can know Ollie in just a few minutes and
what you see is who he is.”
Cagle said he had the pleasure of
knowing Lowe’s mother, calling her “a jewel and an incredibly good
mother.”
These days, Lowe is discovering what parenthood is all
about. His 6-year-old daughter Praisia, smiles at him every day from
poster-size photos mounted in his office and from framed photos sitting
on a credenza along with a photo of his mother. The single dad is
already being run ragged by his daughter’s energy — cheerleading
practice, swim lessons and T-ball — and he’s digging in for the long
haul.
“You just do it,” he said. “I don’t get a lot of sleep,
and there’s never a dull moment, but her smile is worth it.”
Lowe already understands that the Salinas community that rallied around
him is worth supporting. He and his company support groups such as the
California Rodeo, Tatum’s Garden and Rabobank Stadium.
He contributes to his local Rotary Club, helps out as a North High alumnus,
and supports countless school fundraisers, youth activities and youth
sports programs, including helping to launch the Alvarez Titans Pop
Warner football team.
This past Christmas, he held a toy drive at his residence for the Salvation Army.
“It’s like a team,” he
said. “Everyone is a teammate and everyone is doing their part.”
