Steven Racelis,
Director of Sales & Customer Experience
Steve brings a proven, passionate, and personable approach to AEG’s Marketing. Through his results-oriented resourcefulness, diverse experience, and unique vision, Steve will help maintain the distinct brand identity of each partner school while creating unity and an overarching process. His lifelong passion for the voice of the customer, mixed with his continuous improvement philosophy, will ensure AEG's continued leadership position in Marketing. He has a Bachelors degree in Marketing from Indiana University and has had experience working in Sales, Marketing, Purchasing, Industrial Design, Product Management, Six Sigma, Customer Scheduling, Capacity Planning and Consumer Research.
Education is a new venue for Steve, who has spent the past 18 years in manufacturing for companies primarily in the automotive industry. AEG’s EPIC! values were a key reason Steve was attracted to AEG and he relishes in the vision and leadership he sees daily as the team models Good to Great and The Rockefeller Habits. Most recently, Steve was a member of the executive leadership team serving as Director of Sales and Marketing for Uniform Color Company (UCC), the leading producer of custom color concentrates for automotive applications in North America. Steve handled all aspects of UCC’s commercial efforts while managing 25 people in four countries - Canada, Mexico, Slovakia, and the United States.
Prior roles include seven years at Prince/Johnson Controls serving in roles from innovation through manufacturing. Other companies Steve has worked in are Reid Tool Supply, MRC Polymers, and Northwestern Mutual where innovative thought was demanded daily. In fact, Steve still has his New Product Development Certification from his six years working closely with and leading the West Michigan Product Development Management Association. It is this diverse background that will allow Steve to bring a unique perspective to our Marketing efforts.
Steve and Gail live in beautiful Holland, Michigan with their three children - Jocelyn, Blake, and Charlie. Having met and wed in Chicago 14 years ago, they are lifelong Cubs and Bears fans. On any given weekend, you are likely to find the Racelis’ at the beach, in Steve’s prized 1965 Beetle, or chasing the kids around. Steve loves to golf and coach his children’s sports teams, and has been an active Junior Achievement volunteer for the past 14 years.