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Success Magazine: Kevin, What does Success mean to you?

Kevin Grace: Success is the condition of the heart. It is the relationships that we have with our family and friends. Becoming successful in our business and reaching our goals is only a small piece of the puzzle. Money and material things tend to come and go so if success is at the cost of what really counts, like your family, then it isn't success at all. I believe that you will always be able to get more money but there are certain things in life that are not recoverable such as people, time, relationships and health. So I try to focus on relationships first. Success is also a great responsibility. When you gain a level of notoriety and prestige you will be scrutinized more closely and people will expect more from you. So success is also being accountable to a standard that others would aspire to emulate and gravitate toward.

SM: What is the history of your company?

KG: Our Company, GraceCom started in 1983. My father, brother, Sean, and I started the company when my father left GE. We would sell during the day and we would install the phone systems by night. We had minimal capital and it was tough going for many years to develop our market niche and establish our company.

SM: How did you overcome those first few years?

KG: I am sure that all business owners will tell you that it is tough going, especially in the beginning. I believe the key is perseverance. We lived on perseverance and hoped that things would pick up and get better. This perseverance developed greater character in me and eventually the hope that we would overcome and prevail against difficult odds. I think anyone that starts their own business can relate to this. Staying hopeful and working together as a family is what helped us get though those times. I don't think you can underestimate the power of hope and cultivating the ability to live above your current circumstances, believing that things will change for the better. The strength and leadership of my Father in those early days kept us on course.

SM: Was your goal in life to be an entrepreneur?

KG: No, not remotely. I wanted to be a musician. I was a paid professional drummer since the age of 15 and thought that was going to be my path. I finally went to college and wanted to major in music but studied business. Simultaneously our telecommunications business arose. I learned the business from my father who had vast business experience at G.E. and AT&T at the executive levels, and we did it together. I did finally get an accounting degree, but had no idea what to do with it.

SM: What are significant problems that you faced that you had to overcome?

KG: I think the greatest problem that we and other start up companies face is undercapitalization and constant information overload. We created the company from nothing and learned many things the hard way. One of the problems I faced was being broken personally with circumstances beyond my control which brought me to a place where I was not able rely on my own strength anymore. I realized I was not ultimately in control like I once thought I was.

SM: What effect did this realization have on your life?

KG: I saw what was really important in life and who was important. I had reached a point where all my resources had been stripped away, and my natural ability was gone. The only place to turn was God. I found that His Grace was sufficient and that God's power was made perfect in my weakness. As the saying goes, the furniture of affliction can be the best furniture in your house.

SM: What type of a leader are you?

KG: I lead by being a servant. My approach to our employees, customers, and my family has been greatly affected by this Leadership style. The term management is, in my mind, limited. It suggests a passive oversight and maintenance rather than moving forward and bettering the people around you. I have a responsibility to enable the people around me and to always work towards their best interest. We have a great team and we try to hire and train great people for sales, service and installation. If you treat your people and your customers with a servant attitude, then doing a better job for them transcends throughout the company. Ken Blanchard said that if you treat your front line people that are in direct contact with your customers like gold, in turn they will treat the customers like gold. I believe this is true. I'm always trying to raise leaders not followers and exemplify servant leadership.

SM: What people have influenced you in your personal life?

KG: My father has been the biggest. He taught me a lot about business and life. My brother Sean did as well. I have had some great mentors and friends as well as my spiritual mentor and Aikido instructor/ close friend Irvin Faust, David Triller from The Only Guitar shop, Peter Charbonneau of Charbonneau Roofing, Pastor Tom Sardella, and Pastor Bruce Newman. Even as far back as one of my first jobs at Concord Pools with Mike Giovanone and Pat Conlan, two great men of business. I really don't know how those guys tolerated me at times. I was young and cocky.

I think it's very important to be mentored well and I feel grateful for these strong men in my life that took an interest in me. I am coming into a time in my life where I am now mentoring young men and giving back what I have received. It's a great feeling and responsibility.

SM: What makes you different from all of the other telecommunications companies?

KG: The biggest difference is in the relationships we have both within the company and with our customers. We value these relationships greatly. A lot of other companies don't work to strengthen bonds with employees and you can see that in their behavior. In addition to that, we spend a lot of time with our customers to make sure that we tailor our services to fit their needs.

SM: I have read that you give a percent of your profits to a Schenectady mission. Could you elaborate on that?

KG: It has been in my heart for a long time to have a more organized system of giving. We have done a fair amount of charitable contributions before but we wanted to choose certain groups that would get a greater amount of money so that our dollars would have more of an impact on the community. I have known Mike Saccocio, the Executive Director of the Schenectady mission for some time now. Mike is a quality individual and I know that he does a great job getting money and resources to where they're needed most.

SM: Why do you think that a company has to give back?

KG: I think that if you're blessed with success you shouldn't take what you have and make a reservoir out of it. My Father used to say "All but for the Grace of God go I this way," meaning that its only by Grace that we are where we are and have what we have. We need to be rivers where wealth can flow through us rather than be accumulated by us. It's not solely for us. I believe the measure of a man is by how much he gives not how much he gets. We are certainly more blessed to give than receive.

SM: You are partnered with Altigen, what do they offer in the partnership?

KG: There are two reasons why we chose to work with Altigen. AltiGen, by the way is a manufacture of advanced server-based telephone equipment. The first is that they offer a lot of services that other competitors do not. They offer phone system features such as call recording, reporting, mobility, VoIP behavior, Call centers, and Windows administration that other companies don't do as well. Their product is about giving freedom and control back to the customer. It allows the customer to be anywhere in the world and still take calls as if he is at his desk. Altigen and their CEO also have a similar business philosophy of giving back to the community.

SM: Where does the future lie for GraceCom Communications?

KG: After 23 years I think we are really starting to accelerate. We doubled the top line and bottom line revenues last year. We are starting to become a national firm with more penetration in different states. We are currently servicing the Northeast with our New York and New England offices, but we are getting pulled into more multi-site opportunities with clients across the United States. We are already servicing over 2,000 customers and are expanding weekly.

To be honest, though, the reason I get up in the morning is not just to sell phone services. I really think that this company and our team members have the ability to give back, and change lives. This has already started to happen.

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