Eye on Industry - Peak Performance

Kat Cunningham Uses Small Town Warmth to Deliver Big City Benefits
PEO NSider - July 1999 ©NAPEO

Heartlands Chapter President Kat Cunningham believes past performance is best performance. She lives her life based on the principle that what you've offered in the past is a reflection of what you'll deliver in the future. Her combination of strong will, natural leadership talent, and a family values-based corporate philosophy is exemplified best by her PEO. Moresource is a tightly knit corporate family of internal staff, clients, and worksite employees.

Ask how she got her start, and Kat will talk of an Army officer's daughter whose frequent moves helped shape her extroverted personality, strong sense of humor, and ability to make friends easily. She quickly emerged in high school as "the president of everything." That spirit carries her today, where she devotes her time to being president of her PEO, president of the Heartlands Chapter of NAPEO, a member of the PEO University faculty, and a dedicated wife and mother. Her enthusiasm is as contagious as her laugh, just part of her gift for motivating those around her to work at peak performance.

The state of Missouri caught on early, handpicking her for Leadership Missouri, Leadership Columbia, and Leadership Jefferson City - elite programs designed to prepare her for board and civic leadership within the state.

Kat balances a thriving PEO with a nurturing, family-friendly atmosphere. Alongside leadership manuals, her office features leisure reading, candles, and family-friendly rooms for her employees' children. Moresource internal employees tell us they benefit from the same personalized care and attention she gives to her clients. Heartlands Chapter members point to the warmth and enthusiasm she brings to their meetings and to NAPEO industry events. She's the first to volunteer, and the most likely to deliver. Past, present, or future, she's someone you can count on to function at her peak, with every performance one better than the last.

PEO Insider: How did you get involved in the PEO industry? What in your background prepared you for PEO leadership?

Kat Cunningham: After graduating from Southwest Missouri State University, I moved back to Fulton, MO (where I had lived from age 11 until I went to college) to work at a trucking company as a receptionist. Little did I know this was a career move rather than a temporary job. I moved up the corporate ladder into the personnel department, which prepared me for the PEO industry.

I was responsible for hiring drivers and implementing the safety program for a 300-unit trucking company. I did interviews over the phone as fast as I could, taking a call every 30 seconds - at least that's how it seemed. That's when I realized how difficult it was for one company to handle all of its personnel needs. From 1990 to 1991, I worked as an agent for a PEO based in Illinois and then, in June 1991, I started a PEO with two investor partners.

Over a period of time, I saw that my partners' other business interests took away from the PEO, so in 1994, I obtained a loan from the Small Business Administration and opened the doors of Moresource.

PI: As president of a PEO, some may see you as "woman in a man's world." How does this challenge impact your approach?

KC: I am only a woman in a man's world because PEOs are predominantly owned and operated by men. It is really no more challenging for me than it is for any other PEO owner, except I have to work very hard at proving my business credibility. I enjoy running a PEO and building relationships with our clients. I think I am well suited for this industry; it's a lot of fun. I have consistently tried to build a better PEO for tomorrow than I have today.

I believe Moresource is successful because we take a small town approach to co-employment and build our client relationships from that perspective. We don't just want to sell our clients service; we want to become a part of their family and their human resource efforts. I feel if we can be successful at tailoring our services to best suit each client's cultures and needs, we will both benefit from a long-term partnership.

PI: What do you think the industry will look like in ten years?

KC: While there may be a few national PEOs servicing some larger customers, I think the majority of PEOs will be small to mid-sized companies that have built a solid reputation proximal to their physical locations(s). One or two PEOs will, likely, dominate as much as a 100 or 300 mile radius of their facilities. Even though communications technologies diminish the relevance of location, it is hard to beat a smile and a handshake. It is easier to deliver exceptional service to clients when the bulk of your staff is within a serviceable distance. Although some larger PEOs will be in a better position to beat you on price, they may not provide the same value to the customer.

PI: We have heard that selling is your forte. What do you think is the biggest challenge in selling PEO services in 1999?

KC: Education. I still find after five years in our community people know the names Kat Cunningham and Moresource, Inc., but still are just not sure what it is we do.

PI: Do you think PEOs will ultimately become distribution channels for a wider variety of insurance products and ancillary benefits? If so, what products do you think PEOs will begin to offer?

KC: Yes, I think this trend has already begun. PEOs are constantly trying to identify new ways to produce revenue and increase their value with customers. PEOs will continue to bring new insurance products to the table such as term and universal life, disability, critical illness, etc. They will also bring property and casualty products in with their services forming a one-stop shop for clients. New benefits will continuously be assimilated by the PEO each time they are recognized as "value adding" and/or "revenue producing."

Although this arrangement may simplify the lives of "would be" clients, it may complicate matters for the PEO. Aside from increasing the knowledge base needed to run the PEO, it may slow the sales process because of the additional factors the client may want to consider. While, overall, I feel it is a good thing to broaden the scope of a PEO, I would caution against spreading your PEO too thin. The success of the PEO industry is proof some services are better outsourced.

PI: We heard about an employee who left your company, supposedly to make a career switch, only to come back to Moresource after an unsatisfying experience elsewhere. We've also heard your office shelves are stocked with candles and books about astrology and spirituality. Why the decision to go in that direction?

KC: I want my employees - and my clients - to feel like they are part of a family. I've tried to create a warm, nurturing environment. For example, if an employee's child is too sick to go to school but not sick enough to stay home, they are welcome to come to the office. We have a cot, pillows, blankets, a TV and videos - everything for their convenience. If the child is not too sick, and the employee wants to work and bring his or her kids here, I don't mind. We're family.

PI: You are an active volunteer in the industry, teaching in NAPEO's PEO University and serving as a chapter leader. Was volunteering for the industry part of your business plan or personal career goals?

KC: That's just me. From back in my high school days, I've always been an active volunteer. In school, I was the president of everything! When I was a start-up PEO, I benefited from NAPEO's educational programs and networking opportunities. Assuming leadership of the Heartlands Chapter and teaching in PEO University is a way for me to give back.

PI: What is the best advice you ever received when you were starting your PEO?

KC: I can't think of one piece of advice, but rather an opportunity that was offered to me by a NAPEO member, Jim Bell of Abel Leasing Company. He invited me to visit his company and see how a PEO really operates. That experience was invaluable.

PI: What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

KC: I spend most of my free time with my husband and sons. My sons, who are ages 10 and 11, are active in scouts and baseball. My family and I are avid fans of the Kansas City Chiefs, except for my youngest son, who is a Denver Broncos fan. When I can, I try to work in an occasional game of golf. I also volunteer to help with the Alzheimer's Association and am on the board of the Columbia Chamber of Commerce.

PI: What do you read?

KC: I just picked up the Bill Gates' book Business @ The Speed of Thought, but what I like to really sit back and read are Dean Koontz and John Saul thrillers. For professional reading, I enjoy Inc. magazine.

PI: Whom do you admire?

KC: I have a picture of Molly Brown in my office - some know her as the Unsinkable Molly Brown because she survived the Titanic. I love her story and the kind of woman she was - unconventional, strong, and a free thinker.

PI: What is your professional or personal motto?

KC: Past performance is best performance. I live by that. Whatever you've seen in the past is how it's going to be in the future. I believe that people do not really change.

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