Kathy Fewless, Controller

My background:
I moved to Cadillac from the Lansing area when I was a child because my father wanted more opportunities to fish. My parents opened a hair salon in the 70s and some referred to my father as the hippy barber. Forty-two years later, the family still resides in the Cadillac area. The salon sold to new owners in 2014 and my father, now at 74 years-old, doesn’t look so much like a hippy anymore (the perm and earring are a thing of the past). My first career began in the family salon as a cosmetologist. I loved the daily interaction with all sorts of people from the community and enjoyed doing the financial reporting as much as hair styling. Onto the second career, accounting. Armed with an Accounting Degree from Ferris State University and an MBA from Davenport University, the next 20 years was all finance-focused in the manufacturing sector.

Where I work:
I work at Michigan Rubber Products as a Controller. I do the financial reporting and protection of company assets.

What I do in my free time:
I have lots of hobbies, but my favorites include kayaking, cross-country skiing, fishing, target archery, and jazzercise.

Why I chose Cadillac:
Throughout my teen years, I always thought I’d leave Cadillac and return to a larger city.  As I grew, so did Cadillac.  A person can work hard and play hard here, and it’s been a great place to raise my three wonderful children. There are so many opportunities for both adults and their children to expand educational and athletic abilities, and obtain college degrees and professional certifications while living in the Cadillac area.

I traveled once a week down state for a period of time to study with Herman Miller’s financial team to obtain the CMA, Certified Management Accountant, designation. One of my classmates said, “Wow, we go to Cadillac to play.” I’ve had Michigan Rubber Product’s Chinese financial auditors comment during a visit about how fortunate we are to have such clean air and that we should live a long time. Cadillac residents are very blessed to live and play in a healthy environment.