VOLUME #44

Summer Forum 2021

Boutique Design held their Summer Forum Event July 21-23 at Hotel Villagio in Yountville, California. Our current President & CEO, Bo Burdette, and former CEO Dave Murray were in attendance with their wives. This unique, invitation-only event connects hospitality suppliers with owners, developers, operators, interior designers, architects, and purchasing agents. Bo found the event reassuring and indicative of the strong comeback the industry is anticipating.

"We need to continue to do the things that make MGroup successful by providing a high-quality product with a focus each step of the way on customer service. We have the right team members to deliver this, and I appreciate what each of our team members do to make our company great!" - Bo Burdette

Networking is essential to MGroup's success, and we are thankful for every opportunity.

We are MGroup^TM

This month resumes our "We are MGroup" campaign, featuring Project Support Manager, Christina Gwinn. Christina has worked at MGroup for over four years. She first began as a receptionist/assistant to the CEO before being interviewed and hired as a Project Support Associate. From there, she worked her way up to her current management position and has led her team from having a massive backlog of work to a completion rate of 99.9%. Her favorite thing about working for MGroup is the people; she says they're not just coworkers, but friends. Uniquely, Christina was married at Dave and Patti Murray's home by a former MGroup employee. What a fun, special memory to share with us! Christina is a devoted, driven employee who leads by C.S. Lewis's famous quote, "Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching." We are so thankful to have her on our team and to share such a unique story of how she got to where she is today. Congrats Christina!

Congratulations, Brie!

Sweet Paul Henry made his appearance into the world at 7:05am on August 6th. He is 7lbs 5oz and 19 inches long. Unfortunately, he had some medical complications that caused him to go into immediate surgery in Atlanta. Because of the amazing medical team Brie had, she was able to be discharged, and both Dave and Brie were with him before he went into his surgery. He came out and is exceeding all of his expectations. He is seriously a little miracle baby. They are so grateful for all the love and support everyone has been giving them. "We have some amazing people in our lives. This little one is already so loved." Brie will continue to be out on maternity leave until September 30th and will return to work on October 1st.

Rug Program Procedures:

We have brought in a temporary designer to cover rug designs while Brie is out on maternity leave. Jennifer Booker will be handling all design elements of current and upcoming rug projects. Jennifer graduated from Lagrange College with a Bachelors's degree in Graphic Arts. She is currently self-employed but previously worked as a Senior Designer at Milliken for almost 20 years. She worked as part of the Area Rugs product team, where she designed several top-selling area rugs. Holli in Project Support is handling client communication and invoices. We're looking forward to working with Jennifer and feel confident this will be a seamless transition.

Visual Artists Alliance of Lagrange

Lagrange Art Museum is hosting the Visual Artists Alliance of Lagrange (VAAL) from October 1 - November 13. VAAL is an organization of inspired artists representing a wide range of abilities who love the visual arts. It showcases the high caliber of creativity and talent in Lagrange. MGroup is one of the sponsors of this wonderful event, along with Highland Park, Marketplace - Lafayette Square, and Lagrange Pediatrics. If you can attend, it's a great opportunity to support our community.

Rock, Paper, Scissors:

Our first ever Rock, Paper, Scissors Invitational kicked off last month, and it was all the hype among the employees who competed against one another in this fun game! First, everyone shared a round of two truths and a lie to get to know their coworkers better before moving into Rock, Paper, Scissors. Bo offered a 1/2 day paid vacation to the entire department of the final winner and a $150 gift certificate to the winner individually. It was an eye-opening experience to share facts about ourselves, learn about others, and see everyone's competitive side revealed as they shared jokes and laughter in our company chat. Congratulations to the MARKETING Team for winning the competition. Their honorary team members Kim Gable & Gayle Hall, led them to victory. The final battle between Gayle & Kelly Morris (Project Support) was EPIC. We look forward to the next Team Building activity.

Burdette Baby #2 is on the way!

"Heard it through the grapevine, Burdette baby #2 due in January. Kimmy and I are so excited and looking forward to watching Speer be a big brother" - Bo announced on his Instagram late July.

That's right! Our CEO, Bo, and his wife Kimmy, are expecting a second child at the beginning of 2022. Bo and Kimmy currently have one child, a son named Speer, who just turned one in April. We are thrilled to add more MGroup babies to our family!

Congratulations Bo, Kimmy, and big brother Speer!