Steve Laughlin
Chief Executive Officer
Laughlin Constable
Milwaukee
www.laughlinconstable.com
Laughlin Constable was formed in 1976 as a product of opportunity. Steve Laughlin teamed up with a couple of friends who worked in the same agency as him at the time. Together they formed a new startup agency, which was then considered incredibly newsworthy.
“At the time there hadn’t been a new agency formed in quite some time,” he said. “It was incredibly good fortune for us.”
Laughlin has been in business for more than 35 years and under his leadership, Laughlin Constable has continued to grow as a household name for Milwaukee in the marketing and advertising industry.
In the last year, the company acquired Milwaukee-based Zeppos and Associates and Full House Media, and most recently, East Coast firm Filter Advertising.
“Three acquisitions is very unusual for us, but again the opportunity presented itself,” Laughlin said. “Most of our growth has been organic and has come from existing clients. The acquisitions we’ve made in the last year are complementary to the services we already offer.”
Laughlin tries to encourage an entrepreneurial spirit throughout his entire organization.
“You don’t have to start a company to be an entrepreneur,” he said. “It’s really about seizing opportunities and doing something with them.”
“I try not to limit what our employees can do by a defined job description. In fact, I encourage them to stretch themselves beyond the traditional definitions. Most entrepreneurs don’t even think about a job description, they just jump in and do it. That is the kind of culture we want to thrive here.”
The company’s main goal is to make a difference by providing quality work to its clients, he said.
“All the growth we can handle with follows that simple priority. And coming in at a very close second is making sure that our firm is a really fun place to work. We pride ourselves on that because we know if we do that, our employees will give us 150 percent when we need them to. Nothing helps productivity like people actually wanting to be at work.”
