How long in the Christian products industry: 17 years.

How you first came to work in the industry:  I was good friends with a gentleman who was opening a store; we went to church together. I have a background in retail [mostly shoes], and we partnered together to start and grow the store.

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? A baseball player.

Describe yourself in three words: Quiet, loyal, helpful.

Favorite hobby: It’s a tie between golf and fishing.

Favorite place: Mountains, to anywhere outside that’s quiet.

Mission in life: To do what God wants me to do—whatever that is.

Favorite verse: “… make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you” (1 Thess. 4:11, NIV).

What motivates you to go to work each day? My background—12 years as a Christian retailer. My motivation is just knowing that I can go in and help retailers succeed. It’s so much more difficult now than it was when I first started back in the mid-’90s.

What work issue keeps you up at night? Not having enough time to do all the things that I’d like to do, although I sleep pretty well.

Who do you consider your mentor in business? Larry Haege, president of Innovative. His background experience in the industry as well as from a business standpoint, marketing and sales.

Pet peeve in business: Not doing something you’ve committed to do.

Share a recent success story you’ve experienced in business: Just being able to help the retailers when they call. There’s a lot of times where a retailer will call who needs help with something, [so] just being able to help them get through, whether it’s a business issue, a personal issue—that to me is, over all of the work things, why we’re here. That spells success for me. 

What would people find surprising about your job? Probably the difficulty of working with 250 different retailers in different parts of the country and trying to provide services, tools, promotions that fit everyone’s needs.

What is one thing the Christian products industry can do to improve its business? From a publisher’s standpoint, to provide the best resources possible; from a retailer’s standpoint, continue to focus on being a light in the community, customer service and being there.

How can our readers pray for you? That God continues to direct me and that I receive that and understand what He’s directing me to do.

Website: Thinkinnovative.com

Richard Hauhuth, director of online sales and marketing at Innovative in Greensboro, N.C., managed a Christian retail store, The Master’s Loft in Winston-Salem, N.C., from 1997 to 2009.

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