Disciplined for success: From ballet dancer to CEO [Detroit Free Press]

Nov. 27--The discipline that drove Cindy Pasky to become a ballet dancer and a runner enabled her to turn a staffing information technology company she started alone in a room with a telephone into the largest female-owned business in the state.

Pasky is the president and CEO of Strategic Staffing Solutions, or S3, one of Michigan's biggest staffing companies, which earned $205 million in revenues last year, thanks to 1,800 employees in the U.S. and Europe.

She credits that growth to focusing on specific industries, such as health care, insurance, finance and utilities, and not riding trends. Ironically, S3 does little in the manufacturing sector that rules the state Pasky so loves, because her start-up firm was too small years ago to dive into that giant pool.

And unlike many of the other top executives of Detroit companies, she lives in the city.

"A state is only as good as the flagship city, and I've always felt that business should be in city," Pasky told the Free Press.

Her self-regimentation, born of toe shoes and jogging, has been rechanneled into her company, such as drafting a strategy for targeting new clients and sticking to it, following existing customers to new cities to open new S3 offices and avoiding fads.

The 51-year-old Downriver native applies her focus there as well, donating her time and money to local not-for-profits -- and insisting each of S3's 20-plus offices worldwide do the same. She chairs the Detroit Downtown Partnership and spearheads the United Way's homeless outreach effort 2-1-1 On the Go, for example.

That caring comes in the form of dollars; S3 donated $860,000 in 2010 alone.

"Business has an obligation always to give back to the communities that it's in and to help drive success in those communities, so we have to work hand in hand," Pasky said.

Businesses should support Detroit community, says Cindy Pasky, CEO of Strategic Staffing Solutions

The giant swirl of glass shimmering in the waiting room outside Cindy Pasky's office broadcasts two of the most important themes of her life.

The sculpture is a collage of S3's, the nickname for the company she founded not far from the majestic Penobscot Building, which is now home to the one-woman-operation-turned-global-force.

And the hard ribbons of dark green -- Strategic Staffing Solutions' corporate color -- were fashioned by a local artist, whose work, like those of others in the local arts scene, is supported by Pasky.

"It's absolutely what business should do," she said. "I don't think you should be in an environment where you create wealth, you make wealth and you don't share that wealth."

Business success is important to the 51-year-old founder, president and CEO of the privately held 1,800-person IT staffing firm, including 500 in Detroit . S3's biggest clients in Michigan are DTE Energy and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan; the largest worldwide is a large financial institution she declined to name.

"We still have our core services and our core style, but we've let our services evolve to meet our customers' needs as they've changed," she said. "And I think that's an important distinguishing factor, because not every business can figure out how to do that."

Among the most recent examples is the Detroit Development Center, an information-technology application development office S3 created also in the Penobscot Building that counts BCBS as one of its clients. This "onshoring" of IT work means more jobs locally -- that might have otherwise gone overseas -- and Pasky said they're continuing to hire.

And like any shrewd business owner, Pasky plays the politics game. She contributes money to candidates on all levels of government. She applauds Gov. Rick Snyder ("The governor is working for Detroit. I think the rest of Lansing is working for Detroit not as much as they should.") and Detroit Mayor Dave Bing ("He's working harder than he's ever worked in his entire life, because it's the right thing to do. He's accomplished a lot."), adding that with the two of them in office, Detroit is ready to make the most out of any federal money designated for this area.

Last month, the FBI subpoenaed the records of 14 companies from Wayne County in connection with possibly illegally-awarded county business deals, including S3. The probe stems from circumstances surrounding a $200,000 severance awarded to Turkia Awada Mullin, when she left the county to become the CEO of Metro Airport. She was fired Oct. 31.

One of Pasky's misses was her support of disgraced former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, which continued after the text-message scandal began unfolding.

He's a man she now sees differently: "He could've been a very, very talented politician and he made some very serious mistakes. He let a lot of people down, not just me. Worst is after his family, he let the citizens of Detroit down. That's a lot of trust. So, I supported him and when he first took office, I believed in him and as he changed, just like other people, I became disappointed in him."

Pasky grew up Downriver, thinking of Detroit as "the most wonderful thing," a place she went to every Saturday to visit her grandparents and drink Faygo Red Pop. Now, she adds the "magical" Detroit River to the list of what makes her love it. The racial tension that has plagued Detroit she called a "generational issue."

To share that adoration of the city, she chairs the board of the Detroit Regional News Hub, which aims to get positive information about the area out to journalists. For example, reporters in town for "Monday Night Football" recently found packets of statistics in their hotel rooms.

"Cindy is a true leader and is dedicated to serving the people of Detroit and the greater metropolitan area," said local business titan and former Downtown Detroit Partnership chair Roger Penske. "She recognizes the unique challenges of the region and works tirelessly ... to foster cooperation and partnership of corporate and public factions to improve downtown Detroit."

And the place she loves almost as much? Lithuania, her ancestral home. Pamphlets about the Eastern European country dot coffee tables in S3's doorless offices, fittingly also, because the firm has been doing business there for 13 years. Pasky sits on the prime minister's economic advisory council and recently addressed the parliament (in English, as she only knows how to say hello and thank you and ask for a beer) about labor laws.

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