Teamwork Fortyfold at Liguori Publications!
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November 15, 2021Visitors to Liguori Publications in the past may recall viewing a framed picture gallery near the main conference room. The photos depicted Liguori’s successive publishers, beginning with Fr. Don Miller, CSsR. For decades, these wall hangings appropriately paid homage to the men who skillfully oversaw the operations, whose responsibilities and decision making required “the buck to stop with them.”
In 2016, the photo gallery was removed. The intention was to replace the pictures with current photos of Liguori’s full staff. However, at the time, other “bucks” essentially stopped at Liguori, and more urgent matters prevented this photography project from being pursued.
In any event, a photo gallery of Liguori’s staff would have merely affirmed a foundational tenet at Liguori Publications—namely, its collaborative effort of Redemptorists and laypeople to pursue our mission by means of collegial decision making and mutual accountability.
While Redemptorists at Liguori come and go after their appointed terms, two dedicated employees reached their 40-year milestones at Liguori this year, and two others are quickly approaching it:
Donna Hurley (6/1/1981)Wendy Barnes (10/27/1981)
Vivian Esch (4/23/1982)and Dena Lucas (10/17/1983)
Donna Hurley remembers touring the publishing house on her grade-school field trip to Liguori Publications. She fondly recalls eating lunch by the lake on the property on that day. “After lunch the priests heard our confessions at the monastery,” she said. (After all, no tour of Liguori Publications is complete without a visit to the confessional!)
During her last week in Catholic high school, Donna’s pastor told her Liguori Publications was hiring. She wasted no time hustling over for an interview and was hired four days later. Forty years later, Donna is a Sales and Customer Service Coordinator for Liguori.
Wendy Barnes began working at Liguori before she even had a driver’s license. During her first year of employment, her mother drove her to work in the morning and her father picked her up in the evening when she couldn’t get a ride from a coworker. “I grew up not far from Liguori,” Wendy recalls. “I made my eighth-grade retreat on Liguori’s campus under the direction of Fr. Dave Polek. I vividly remember touring the publication buildings. I was awestruck by the size of the operations and the warehouses.
In 1981, a family friend who worked in phone sales at Liguori told me about a job opening for a copier attendant and mailroom assistant. I applied for the position and was hired.” Forty years later, Wendy is Liguori’s Digital and Creative Services Director and a member of the Leadership Team.
What has kept Donna and Wendy at Liguori for more than four decades? For Donna, “It is such a rewarding feeling knowing our products are helping our Catholic community. The atmosphere here in the building is like we’re a family…. Being part of the Redemptorist community is a big part of my life.”
According to Wendy, “At the top of my list is the opportunity to work side by side with the Redemptorists…. It has truly been a collaborative environment. A close second—perhaps as an outcome of this Redemptorist spirit and charism— are the fine and professional laypeople I’ve worked alongside and those who’ve mentored me in my career. The determined spirit of St. Alphonsus is alive and well at Liguori Publications.”
