by Kerstan Szczepanski
Debbie Parrott started working summers at ICON Exhibits, the company her father, Mick Parrott, owned, and became quite the master filer! She worked many weekends at the office with her dad and his production team, who were scrambling to complete massive rush projects for cool brands like Budweiser, Autodesk, and Toyota.
Parrott says, “I have never had apprehensions about working with or for my dad. Being the ‘boss’s daughter’ can be the opposite of what most think. I didn’t get breaks or special treatment. I had higher standards to uphold—at least, that was my experience. Fortunately for me, I respond well to that type of challenge. I have always had tremendous respect for my father as a business leader.”
Parrott did not immediately join the family business right out of school. She had a strong desire to work in other industries and live in other parts of the country. Also, she had worked weekends and summers at her father’s company and witnessed the grueling schedule he and his team endured and the stresses her father had as a business owner. “While many tell me that I am very much like my father and share his strong work ethic, it was not the hard work that had me looking elsewhere. It was truly my desire to prove myself on my own and to gain other experiences. I am extremely pleased that I took that path, as I believe I bring a diverse and important perspective from other industries to my work in the exhibit and events industry. I think this is somewhat different from the many who have never worked outside this Industry,” she says.
After high school, she spent 20 years away from Indiana to earn a Bachelor of Arts in English from Bates College in Maine and an M.B.A from Babson’s Olin School of Management in Massachusetts. Then she held several senior business development and marketing positions in the technology, publishing and management consulting industries at companies such as Toffler Associates, Stockback and Harvard Business School Publishing in Boston and New York City. Her final stop before moving back to Indiana in 2010 was to San Francisco, where she joined her father’s exhibit business, ICON Exhibits, to open and run its West coast office.
“In 2014, my father made me another offer I could not refuse—to become president of Highmark TechSystems, which he spun off from ICON in 1998 to be an independent company offering innovative exhibit systems solutions to all exhibit designers and producers,” she explains. “I jumped at this wonderful opportunity and have been so pleased I did and that he had the confidence in me to take on this significant and fulfilling responsibility.”
Highmark was born out of ICON Exhibits. Because Highmark’s roots are in exhibit design and production, they know the wants, needs, aches and pains those companies have in servicing their customers. “We are acutely aware that our customers and their customers are subject to the cost pressures of key drivers in our Industry, such as drayage and I+D costs,” Parrott says. “With this knowledge, we have designed, manufactured and marketed our modular deck and wall products, which we offer to exhibit designers and producers for purchase or rent. These products are known for their quick set-up, light weight and reconfigurability. Not only is this smart design, but it’s innovative and environmentally responsible. This has been a part of Highmark’s roots from the company’s inception.”
Parrott grew up surrounded by entrepreneurship thanks to her parents. They had not only started a thriving exhibit company but had also co-founded an independent private day school, Canterbury School, in Ft. Wayne, where Parrott became part of the first graduating high school class, where her two boys now attend and she is currently a Trustee. “I believe I inherited my parents’ work ethic and their commitment to excellence, which I also apply to my work outside of Highmark,” she says. Parrott has served on boards for Canterbury School, Ft. Wayne Trails and ICON International, as well as committees within the events industry. She currently serves on the Board of Directors and the Paralympic Board of advisors at Turnstone Center for Children and Adults with Disabilities.
