Michael Ball, president of Datastore, Cudahy
Name: Michael Ball
Title: President
Company: Datastore
Company address: 5255 S. International Drive, Cudahy, WI 53110 and 1818 Haynes Drive, Sun Prairie, WI 53590
Company web site: www.datastoreweb.com
Industry: Vital information storage, protection and management
Education: Marshall University, Huntington, W.V.; College of Notre Dame, Baltimore, Md.
Family: Two sons, Joshua, 24, and Jonathan, 21, of Dallas, Texas.
Hobbies and Interests: "I enjoy the solitude of home. Gardening, walking my dog Winston, and remodeling/renovating projects. I also appreciate fine food and wines, with reds being my favorite."
Favorite book and/or movie: "Favorite current book is ‘Ultimate Leadership: Winning Execution Strategies for Your Situation" by Russell E. Palmer. Favorite movie is "Elizabeth," starring Cate Blanchett."
Favorite musician/band: "It would currently be a three-way tie between Sarah Brightman, Josh Groban and Carrie Underwood."
Favorite place to visit/vacation: "Northern California. The scenery is unbelievable and undoubtedly the most serene and majestic in our country."
Favorite local restaurant: "Being in Milwaukee now for eight weeks, I’ve found a few favorites, including Carnivore, for great steaks and wine, Roots for the best brunch, and Elsa’s for excellent food in a casual yet very refined environment."
Words to live by: "Always live your life right and make good decisions, because it’s a very small world and good things will always come back to good people."
What is your core philosophy for doing business? "Business success, growth and expansion cannot supersede integrity, ethics and the highest priority of delivering innovative, high-quality services and products to your customers. Leadership qualities must evoke consistent and pervasive fairness, good judgment combined with visionary and strategic excellence."
Who is your role model and why? "My role model is actually both of my parents. They instilled strong values, integrity, honesty, and southern character at an early age that became the cornerstones of both my personal and business development. It is a bit cliché, but the older I become the more I admire and appreciate the manner in which I was raised."
What was the funniest thing that has ever happened to you? "Lots of funny things happen in our lives, but perhaps the strangest thing that has ever happened to me was being on a plane and having a conversation with my neighbor in the next seat. During our conversation about today’s business world, she began referring to a person she had heard about and just went on and on talking about how she admired them, the impact they had on their friend’s company, etc. While I thought the things she was describing felt unusually familiar, it still took another 30 minutes before we discovered that she was in fact talking about me – we both enjoyed a great laugh afterwards. I will always remember that the world is incredibly small and you must always be mindful of the reputation that you leave behind during your business activities, transactions and interactions."
