For our Spearhead Family post this month we are highlighting the newest Spearhead Group team member, Kyle Keaveney, Assistant Product Development Manager. Kyle joined 
Spearhead in this January and shares more below about his excitement to be a part of the team and work on product development.
Tell us about joining The Spearhead Group. What makes you excited to join the team?
Kyle: There are several things that excited me about the opportunity to join The Spearhead Group. First was the rate of growth, since Spearhead was founded in 2018 the company has grown at an exponential rate and is quickly becoming a leader in the world of packaging innovations. Secondly, despite the rate of growth, the group has held tight to its core values of client satisfaction and respect. As an employee looking for a long-term opportunity these are things that were very important to me, a growing company with strong corporate values. I am very excited to learn, assist and contribute to Spearhead on its journey forward.
Tell us a little more about your background and what excites/inspires you to work on product development?
I graduated from Kutztown University in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice with a focus on policy and procedure. It was during my time at school that I began to thoroughly enjoy the application of policy in society and seeing the impact it has on people’s daily lives. This interest is what led me to my first job opportunity in the compliance field. My first professional role was as a Compliance Manager for a facility services organization, Fleetwash Inc., where I learned operational compliance with a focus on safety. I learned a lot through this position such as collecting data and formulating reports to be sent to the investors. But perhaps the most important thing that I took away from this position was the implementation of compliance at a hands-on level with crews on jobsites, and the actual application of the corporate regulations. This became abundantly clear during the height of the global pandemic. Some of my most valuable experiences at Fleetwash Inc. were on New Jersey Transit sanitization jobs when I was collecting bacteria samples pre and post treatment recording data of how effective the process was.
I then took a position with at Bed Bath and Beyond where I practiced corporate compliance and gained experience in product Quality Assurance, Quality Control, and enforcing safety requirements for a wide variety of products in the hardlines category with a focus on kitchenware (dishes and kitchen appliances) and furniture. That role provided me with valuable exposure to large corporation compliance and methodology. It is my prior experience with policy, safety and compliance that have led me to this new opportunity in product development at Spearhead. My goal now is to build on some of my product safety & compliance experience, and to learn and grow into the challenging field of product development. I am very excited about this opportunity Spearhead has afforded me, to help manage and develop products from design through delivery.
The Spearhead Group has 5 core values (1. Focus on Sustainability and Diversity; 2. Innovative Thinking; 3. Do the Right Thing; 4. Acts with Equal Respect for Clients, Colleagues and Suppliers; 5. Go the Extra Mile with Entrepreneurial Spirit). How do you practice these values?
The 5 core values of Spearhead is what sets us apart from our competitors making us a business model that is truly one of a kind.
- Focus on Sustainability and Diversity: I love the outdoors and hobbies such as biking, fishing, and camping are a few of my favorites. As such corporate sustainability is personally very important to me. Our environment is an extremely delicate resource and creating and practicing a sustainable business model allows me to know that my work is helping provide a better life for generations to come. Creating a diverse workplace is something all leading global companies are striving for. Diverse companies like Spearhead provide opportunities for people of all different backgrounds and perspectives to work collaboratively towards a common goal.
- Innovative Thinking: A company that fails to innovate and think forward will fail as a company. Product development will provide me with the platform to demonstrate innovative thinking which is crucial to sustaining business growth in an ever-changing market. A recent example at Spearhead is the adding of a test lab to our headquarters when turnaround times for test lines in the industry are at an international standstill due to the global pandemic.
- Doing the right thing: Doing the right thing may not always be the easiest thing to do, but clearly it is the most important thing. It’s who we are as people, always acting with integrity, and who we are as a company. At Spearhead this spans from ensuring we develop the highest quality sustainable products, being transparent and communicating throughout the process, to delivering the highest quality products and services to customers.
- Acts with Equal Respect for Clients, Colleagues and Suppliers: This value is incredibly important, as respect for all goes hand and hand in business. Treat others as you want to be treated. Being respectful to others is something that each person needs to feel valued and appreciated, whether it’s being respectful of someone’s background, point of view, decision, time or experiences.
- Go the Extra Mile with Entrepreneurial Spirit: Spearhead was founded because of an entrepreneurial spirit and is demonstrated in our offices every day. Going the extra mile ensures that our clients are completely satisfied with the process and final product. By using the same entrepreneurial spirit that Spearhead was founded on I intend to develop relationships with each of the projects that I work on to take accountability and great pride in our products and services.