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Sonia Greteman Joins Junior Achievement Wichita Business Hall of Fame

WICHITA, Kan. – Junior Achievement of Kansas inducted its newest Wichita Business Hall of Fame Laureates at a tribute dinner at the Hyatt Regency the evening of March 13. It includes Sonia Greteman, president and creative director, Greteman Group; Steve Cox, owner, Cox Machine; and Bob Geist, owner, RAGE, Inc.

Laureates are chosen based on business excellence, entrepreneurial spirit, community impact, leadership style, local influence and enduring legacy. Past laureates welcomed the new class of honorees.

“This induction is such an unforeseen honor,” says Greteman. “I hold these fellow entrepreneurs and business people in high esteem. Business builds and fuels community. It realizes what others may miss. It takes guts to see ideas through.

“I was told early in my career, when working as a designer at Boeing Wichita, that I was like fuchsia silk in a gray-flannel world. I took that as a compliment and used my nonconformity to think and act differently. That included launching a woman-owned marketing agency that specialized in a male-dominated industry. Our base in the Air Capital helped make our aviation positioning work, which has allowed us to deepen our impact.”

Past Laureates include 2016 Ron Holt, Cindy Carnahan and Claude and Ron Mann; 2015 Paul Allen, Bill Livingston and Steve Martens; 2014 Jim Hattan, Ann Konecny and Sheryl Wolford; 2013 J.V. Lentell, Steve Clark and Patty Koehler; 2012 Robert Schaefer, William Moore, The DeVore Family and Joe Johnson; 2011 Dr. George J. Farha, Dr. S. Jim Farha, Phil Ruffin and Richard Smith; 2010 Anita Oberwortmann, David and Darrel Rolph and the Schwan Family; 2009 E.W. Pete Armstrong, Jeff Turner and Ted and Betty Vlamis; 2008 George Fahnestock, Helen Galloway and Al Higdon; 2006 Barry Downing and Bill Hanna.
The complete list dates back to 1986. For that inaugural event, business luminaries honored posthumously include Walter and Olive Ann Beech, Clyde Cessna, Jesse Chisholm, William Coleman, James Davidson, William Greiffenstein and Marshall Murdock.

“In short, our Hall of Fame Laureates include the who’s who of Wichita business,” says Marci Werne, Junior Achievement of Kansas district director. “Our goal is to inspire young people to follow in the laureates’ footsteps. They certainly inspire me.”

Greteman’s long list of personal achievements include a special governor’s appointment, American Advertising Federation lifetime-achievement award, American Marketing Association marketer of the year, Broadcast and Media Professionals hall of fame, Donna Sweet Humanitarian of the Year, Wichita Aero Club founding board member and more. She gives back by serving on multiple industry and community boards.

“Every community hopes to have a creative genius that builds in place an organization of world renown,” says past Laureate Cindy Carnahan, president, The Carnahan Group. “Someone whose mark is recognized throughout an industry and thus giving distinction back to the place she calls home.”

ABOUT GRETEMAN GROUP
Greteman Group has developed an international reputation as an aviation-specialty marketing agency based in Wichita, Kan. – the Air Capital. Leading aircraft manufacturers, flight support, aftermarket services, fractional ownership, insurance, in-flight Wi-Fi, regional airlines and airport analytics entrust their brands to Greteman Group. These include FlightSafety International, SmartSky Networks, Executive AirShare, Wichita Eisenhower National Airport, USAIG, Piedmont Airlines, Aviation Partners and Associated Aircraft Group. It also supports causes and clients such as the Kansas State Fair, The Saint Francis Foundation, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Global Polymer, PDS Med and Verus Bank. Greteman Group has won Telly, Internet Advertising Competition, Metro and Business Marketing Association Pro-Comm awards. It has been recognized in such publications as Adweek, Advertising Age, Aldus, Communication Arts, Designing Identity, Identity, Graphic Design USA, Graphis, Hotels, HOW, Novum, Print, Step-By-Step, and by such organizations as the Mead Top 60, Kansas City Art Directors, Strathmore, International Festivals, Graphex Art Directors, and The National Library Council, American Advertising Federation, American Institute of Graphic Artists, Public Relations Society of America, and American Marketing Association. The firm is a founding member of the Wichita Aero Club. Greteman Group is a longstanding member of the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) and is a certified women-owned business enterprise (WBE). gretemangroup.com

Read coverage of Sonia Greteman’s Junior Achievement Honor:

• Sonia Greteman Joins Junior Achievement Wichita Business Hall of Fame, BART Intl.

Many people have complimented Sonia on her moving comments at the Junior Achievement Wichita Business Hall of Fame tribute dinner. So, we decided to share them here. The big takeaway? Mentors matter. And when they’re your parents, even better.

I hit the lottery at my birth, as the daughter of Ken and Judy Greteman.

We didn’t have a lot of money. We had something better. Time. Dad coached my softball and basketball teams teaching me early lessons in teamwork, how much fun it is to win. But if you lose, do it with dignity. Learn from it and move on.

He taught me how to use a camera at an early age and how to print photos in our basement darkroom.  It was gratifying to see the images come to life, discovering light and shadow. We had a little photo business at 81 Speedway, with real paying clients. Dad snapped the shots of the proud drivers next to their jalopies. We printed them during the week and I sold the prints, working the photo booth every Saturday night. $1.25 for an 8 x 10, black-and-white glossy.

It was then and there I decided that someday I wanted my own business.

He instilled in me a strong work ethic, but the best lesson he taught me was to whistle a happy tune. Anyone who knows dad knows what I am talking about here.

Keep your head up and do the right thing.

Mom was my Brownie and Girl Scout leader, helping me with badges, camping, selling cookies, building social skills and planting early seeds about community involvement. Mom taught  me to stand up for myself, have an opinion and not be afraid to share my point of view. She was a role model. I witnessed her writing numerous letters to the editor when she felt teachers deserved better or politicians were not making the right decisions.

Each year during her teaching career, she made sure her underprivileged students had coats and gloves when the winter winds began to blow. She built the TOP library in Oaklawn (with a little help from the Downings) and worked hard to make it her own.

She was an early activist teaching me it’s your duty to speak up, and help out. Make your corner of the world a better place.

I had the best of both worlds with my folks. My dad, the easy- going, entrepreneurial, Boeing photographer. My mom, the activist librarian, reader and researcher who understood the power of a well- placed word.

I’m lucky to love what I do for a living – I get to make things every day, using the skills I was taught in childhood. Combining word and image to create something bigger. More powerful and lasting.

I’ve had many mentors, friends, and people who have believed in me over the years and I’m grateful for all of them. Everyone in this room knows you can’t go it alone. But I was fortunate to have JA in my DNA. Not all kids have that advantage. Nothing beats getting these lessons early and often. Thank you, mom and dad.

I thank Junior Achievement for its good work and the recognition of Greteman Group.

I thank Mike Michaelis, Patricia McDonnell and my husband of 33 years, Chris Brunner, for their heartfelt comments included in the video. I hope tonight raises a significant amount of money to help young girls dream big. I’m honored to be included with Bob Geist and Steve Cox and appreciate our corner of the world; Wichita, Kansas. Big enough for opportunity, small enough to care.