Chip Paucek?s entrepreneurial spirit grew, of all places, in his basement.
About 15 years ago, Paucek co-founded Cerebellum Corp., a company that produced “Standard Deviants,” a successful PBS television series that he said was a mix of ” ?Saturday Night Live,? animation and academics.” Paucek created his original products in his basement.
“It started as a labor of love and consumed 10 years of my life,” Paucek said.
That “labor of love” led Paucek, 36, to where he is today ? chief executive officer of Smarterville Inc., a private Baltimore-based educational products company that owns Hooked on Phonics.
Smarterville, formerly Educate Inc., acquired Hooked on Phonics from Gateway Learning Corp. for $8 million about three years ago. Since then, Paucek has directed Smarterville?s overhaul of the Hooked on Phonics brand.
“Hooked on Phonics is a great American brand, but ultimately it was an infomercial company,” Paucek said. “We had to change it to a retail business.”
With that, Paucek and a team of about 70 employees in Baltimore and New York have created new products and built a sales team to work with national retailers such as Wal-Mart, Target and Kmart. Hooked on Phonics now has more than 100 comprehensive learning kits for reading, math, language and other subjects.
“The best part of my job is we?re teaching kids how to read,” Paucek said.
Before working with Hooked on Phonics, Paucek worked on U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski?s, D-Md., re-election campaign in 2002, after selling Cerebellum. Paucek credits Mikulski as one of his mentors. He joined Educate after Mikulski won re-election.
Since Hooked on Phonics began 20 years ago, more than 2 million families and thousands of schools have used the educational products. Paucek said the company continues to grow with increasing retail sales.
Over the years, Paucek has brought a positive attitude to his work, said Mark Mashaw, vice president of marketing for Smarterville. Mashaw has known Paucek since college.
“Even if we?re working on something difficult, he always has a positive attitude and energy,” Mashaw said. “We?ve all had bosses who might have been overly negative or tough, but I think Chip gets results by doing the opposite.”
CHIP PAUCEK
First job: The Busy Bagel bus boy in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., at 13
Education/credentials: Political communications degree from George Washington University
Daily e-mails received: About 300
Daily voicemails received: I don?t even listen to them. I just don?t do it well.
Favorite gadget: The iPhone, as corny as that sounds.
Career objective: To love what I do and be successful at it.
Essential Web sites: ebay.com, walmart.com and amazon.com for business, sun-sentinel.com for Miami Dolphins coverage
Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Birth date: Dec. 24, 1970
Original aspiration: President of the United States
Sports/hobbies: Boating, fishing, fantasy football
