MBS Textbook Exchange is proud to announce that one of our executive officers has been recognized for her outstanding contributions to business.
Vice President of Customer Services, Sarah Shiflett, was a finalist for Business Woman of the Year in the Columbia Daily Tribune's 2016 Women in Business Awards.
Each year, the newspaper holds an award and banquet ceremony to honor local business women for their "strong track record of success" and proven leadership within their business and field, and greater contributions to the community.
Business Woman of the Year is given to women who have been in business for five or more years and are in "a key position affecting the growth and profitability of the business."
Shiflett joined MBS in 1982 as a minimum wage employee in the Missouri Sportswear division, moving up the ranks to her current position as vice president of customer services.
"Sarah has risen to her present position by her hard work, intelligence, persistence and a drive toward self improvement," said CEO Bob Pugh.
Within two years Shiflett had been promoted to operations manager, and after Missouri Sportswear closed, she transferred to the MBS data center as a computer operator. Though a computer mainframe was obviously far different from a screen printing press, she dedicated weeks to mastering her new duties, which gave Shiflett her first taste of MBS Systems: she was named manager of support and training for TextAid, an MBS software application for textbook adoptions, which ultimately served as a precursor to the larger suite of tools and applications MBS Systems customers use today.
One of those customers is the University of Arizona BookStores. Debby Shively, executive director of University of Arizona BookStores, Arizona Student Unions, and Campus Recreation, notes she has worked with Shiflett for over 20 years, who is "so deserving to be recognized" for Business Woman of the Year.
"She is an amazing professional who commits herself to not only her family, but to the business and to her partners," Shively said. "Sarah always looks for ways that we can collaborate to introduce new programs or other opportunities to help us stay ahead of the curve. She likes to brainstorm solving problems with us, as 'no' does not fit in either of our vocabularies. With her unique way to work with an ever-changing industry, she is always willing to discuss how to look at a problem differently."
Shiflett's background and understanding in Systems made her a valuable asset to MBS. She was named MBS Systems Marketing Representative in 1989 to work with existing customers to adopt various additional applications, and by 1991 she was Manager of MBS Systems. In 2007 she was named General Manager of Systems Support Services, and earned her current title in 2010.
"She's a role model," Pugh said, "but if you ask her what is the key to her success, she will probably shrug her shoulders and say, 'I just did my job.'"
