Founding Partners & Origins - Parrish Partners, LLC

Mark A. Parrish

Originally from West Virginia, Mark graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and was commissioned into Army Aviation. During ten years of uniformed service, Mark served in five countries on three continents. As an AH-64 Apache pilot, he served in Operations Desert Shield/Storm where he was awarded the Bronze Star and Air Medal for Valor. He left the service and entered the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he earned two Masters of Science degrees in Engineering and Management. Mark joined Harley-Davidson, Inc. (NYSE:HOG) following his graduation from MIT. During his tenure he contributed to Harley’s legendary success while ascending to the position of corporate Director of Vehicle Assembly.

Mark next joined Interface, Inc. (NASDAQ:IFSIA), a $1B Atlanta-based floor covering manufacturer, as the Vice President of Global Manufacturing Strategy. Here he led the financial turnaround efforts of Interface’s $370M national network of installation and maintenance service providers.

Mark then joined with Fenway Partners, a New York based private equity firm, as Director and Chief Operating Officer for MW Manufacturers, Inc., Fenway’s $250M mid-Atlantic manufacturer of residential windows and doors. Following the financial turnaround of MW, he transitioned within Fenway’s portfolio to the position of Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer of The Simmons Companies of Atlanta, Georgia. Here Mark was an instrumental member of the team that helped the $700M Simmons to improve customer service and operational efficiency. During Mark’s tenure Simmons stock more than tripled in value.

After Simmons, Mark consulted for a number of companies requiring operational improvement or assistance in organizational development as an Operating Partner in Chicago-based Northlight Capital, L.L.C., and in Phoenix-based Parrish Partners, L.L.C. Mark also advised financial analysts pursuing research on both the motorcycle and mattress industries as a Gerson Lehrman Group Council Member.

Today Mark is a Director, President and CEO of Deceuninck North America, the $105M North American subsidiary of a $1B Belgian-based, publicly held parent (Euronext:DECB). With over 300 associates, DNA provides lineal extrusions to the window and door industry and a variety of other building product extrusions nationwide from its production facilities and distribution centers in Ohio.

As the founder and managing member of Parrish Partners, LLC, Mark continues to actively contribute to client engagements, providing guidance, vision and inspiration to the extended team that today comprises the firm he helped found.

Michele M. Parrish

Originally from suburban Detroit, Michigan, Mrs. Parrish graduated from the University of Michigan with an undergraduate degree in Industrial and Operations Engineering. Michele joined Intel Corporation in 1991 and participated in the enormous growth and success that the company achieved as it grew from a $4B to a $36B revenue company with “Operations Excellence” as a key competitive advantage. In 2003, Michele was one of only three employees in the then 40,000 employee company to be sponsored by Intel to attend the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). During her two years at MIT, Michele earned a Masters of Science degree in Materials Science and Engineering and a Master of Science in Management.

At MIT, Michele also discovered her passion for learning and living the principles of leading organizations through organizational change. Upon her return to Intel, Michele served in numerous key operations and organizational change roles involving cutting edge technology transfers and high volume production ramps. One of the highlights of Michele’s career was leading a 1,000 person manufacturing organization during a $2.2B retrofit of a fabrication facility to state-of-the art 300mm wafers. During this retrofit and technology transfer, Michele served as a change agent for the 3,500 person organization, creating a start-up culture that valued not only hitting aggressive start-up goals but also honoring and nurturing the employees that enabled them. As a result of Michele’s tireless efforts, this highly successful start-up made Intel history and also enriched the lives of hundreds of employees who learned and experienced the power of high performance teams.

Throughout her career, Michele invested in ongoing leadership studies and graduated from several leadership programs including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Leaders for Manufacturing Program, Arizona Leadership 2000, the Intel Leadership Development Forum, the Intel Leadership Curriculum Program, and the Chandler, Arizona, Leadership Institute. Enamored by the power of coaching techniques to drive fundamental shifts in individual perspective and performance, Michele became an International Coaching Federation certified professional coach and added this core competency to the Parrish Partner repertoire.

In 2006, Michele took the helm of Parrish Partners and added leadership and organizational development services to the organization’s offerings. Under Michele’s leadership, Parrish Partners gained additional Fortune 500 clients and spanned their reach from financial services to consumer products, insurance, and manufacturing companies. Michele also co-created the C.O.R.E leadership model, which is the proprietary Parrish Partners model and methodology for teaching effective personal leadership to dramatically improves one’s ability to lead others and influence positive change.