This quarter, we sat down with Tom Lennox from our Client Development team for a conversation that ranged from his daughter’s wedding (his second in less than a year) to his perspective on building strong relationships, his early involvement in Pelotonia, and more.

We met Tom at his usual spot, the Starbucks in New Albany (just below the office). After pausing more than a few times to greet people passing through, we’ve since updated his title internally to ‘Mayor of New Albany.’

So, we have to start out with the fact that it’s been a big month for you personally—your second daughter got married about two weeks ago. How are you feeling about it?

I sometimes complain about things like two weddings inside of 11 months, but it’s just part of my sense of humor– it’s been a really good few years. We’ve got three kids all out of college. And, you know, as part of that, everybody says, “Oh, you’re an empty nester.” Like, you know, they go away. But I say, “They never go away. They never, ever go away.” And I kind of jokingly complain about that, but it’s the greatest thing in the world. Two of our three kids live in Columbus. Our third is moving from DC to New York. He wants back to Columbus, eventually. So, kids are out of the house, but they’re always around.

This past month was Charlotte and Chris’s wedding. Liza and Austin got married June 28th a year ago. And weddings now aren’t what they used to be, there’s a lot more to them. There’s a lot more to planning. There’s a lot more to social media. There’s a lot of what’s trending and how do you do it this way or that way and what would be fun. And so, it was a lot, having our first family wedding, our middle daughter Liza get married, and it was in our home and in our backyard. And then as it happens, our oldest got engaged, and so we had that two weeks ago, and we’re just really lucky. Nothing’s perfect, but it felt pretty much that way. We’ve got two great sons-in-law. I love them both. They’re really good to my daughters, and that’s all that matters. And so, yeah, it’s been busy, and I complain about it, but I wouldn’t want it any other way.

What’s your recipe for a good father of the bride speech? Is there one piece of advice that you passed on to them both?

I think the first advice I would give would be to other fathers of the bride, and that’s to write it down. There’s a lot of pressure, and you can’t screw it up. We did two in 11 months and they were both completely different, but the framework was very similar in that it’s ‘Welcome’ to everyone; in our case, we were able to thank the mother of the groom in Liza’s wedding and then Charlotte’s in-laws; we thanked them for hosting a great rehearsal dinner. And then I addressed the guys and talked about how they helped us understand their [proposal] plans and gave them a hard time. And then I cleaned it up, and I just had a very real message for my girls on how much I admire them and respect them. I get choked up. But they’re strong women. And you just have to, you’ve gotta suck it up and just express how you feel about it. I love them both. And so, no major catastrophes. I had a quick cocktail after both of them, and then the party started for me.

Just to really put you on the spot…you have two sons-in-law now. Envision that you’re playing a PGA-level golf tour. You’ve got one partner. You can only pick one of them. Which one are you taking?

I’m taking one on the front and the other one on the back. I’ll take Austin on the front because he was first to marry my Liza, and I got Chris on the backside ’cause he just married Charlotte two weeks ago. And everybody’s happy. Great. And we win. That’s a good question.

Okay. So going a little further back, you’re a native New Yorker…what was your first reaction to Columbus, Ohio and the thought of moving here?

When I moved to Columbus in 1994 from New York City, I didn’t know much of anything or anyone in Columbus except for my fiancé at the time [Jane], and I’ve been here for almost 32 years now. I still call myself a newcomer to this town, but I love this town.

My first time to Columbus, I was dating Jane. She wanted to bring me home to meet her parents, and her dad is a great salesman and wanted his girl back in Columbus. And so, my very first time in Columbus, he knew I played golf. But, you know, there’s not a lot of opportunity to play golf when you live in Manhattan. And so, the first time I was here, we played The Golf Club on Friday, New Albany Country Club on Saturday, and Muirfield Village on Sunday. We got on the plane to go home, I looked at Jane, and I’m like, “I can do it. I’m in.” That was it. So, he knows what he’s doing. He’s a good guy.

I worked at Marsh & McLennan in New York, and they moved me out to Columbus. They were growing the office, and the guy that ran the office, who’s awesome, he’s like, “Yeah, come on out. We need someone to help grow the business.” And so, I went from the world headquarters of Marsh to a small office in Columbus. So, that was a little adjustment. It’s interesting to think, you know, I was awfully naive when I was 28. I just thought it would be the same. And it’s really different. And it’s just not the pizza and the sandwiches and the bagels. The people are different out here, and so there was a definite adjustment for me. It took a while, but it’s been well worth it– this is a great town. I won’t call it a city. I can’t. But I love this town, and I love the people in this town, and we get to work with a lot of great people and take really good care of them. And so that’s really gratifying and important.

Have you found a sandwich spot to rival New York yet?

I have found the best sandwich, which I think is competitive to the East Coast…it’s Wario’s. They do Philly cheesesteaks and other Italian-type sandwiches, and they’re excellent. Excellent. There’s one near the [Nationwide] Arena. They’ve got a window that you walk up to, and it’s legit Philly cheesesteak sandwiches, like legit. And then they have chicken cutlets and broccoli rabe and stuff like that. The bread is really, really good. People say it’s the water in New York that makes the bread so good there, but it’s really about the person making it. If you’re up for a heavy- I mean, it’s a cheesesteak- you know, it’s not for every day. Oh, it’s good.

You had a couple of big roles in your time between Marsh and your current role here at VELA, first with Abercrombie and then starting Pelotonia, which has become a local household name. Tell us a little more about the first days at Pelotonia.

Pelotonia was really good for me. I was just finished with [my own] treatment, and it wasn’t easy. It was rough. And then this serendipitous thing happened where Cindi Hilsheimer called and said, “I’ve got something in mind for you.” And I just didn’t see myself leaving Abercrombie at the time, but it was an intriguing idea, and I just kept thinking about it. So, the next week. I’m like, “What if we did this, and what if we did that?” And so, I took the leap, and it was just a fantastic experience. It’s for the right reason, it was really important to me, and it was also a bit therapeutic for me mentally.

And so, five of us built this little business from the ground up, and I think we, collectively– including the community– did something extraordinary. It’s just not the organization; it’s built for the community. It really is. I mean, nobody owns it. People just sort of guide and run it. We created it. We ran it. But I think that each of the 2,265 riders the first year and every year since have a personal stake in the ride, and it’s theirs and it’s something that’s really a part of people’s lives. It’s one of these things that is just pure, and I think that it just does good to talk about how terrible cancer is. It’s the worst. But, you know, I believe that people are inherently good and Pelotonia– it’s just a celebration is what it really comes down to. A celebration of human spirit, of doing something together to fix something that’s really awful, and to have fun doing it. And it was a heck of a ride. No pun intended.

Is there anything that you think made Pelotonia work in Columbus specifically?

I don’t know how to measure it. Yes. There are a few things. It’s a great community. People pick up the phone for good things. And all we really needed was the opportunity to tell the story, to explain what it was about and what we were trying to accomplish. And leadership broadly across the community– very few, if any, refused to meet with us. I don’t think anyone refused to meet with us. And so, I think that’s why I call it a town, is because I think that we take care of each other, and we look out for each other, and we want to do good. And I saw it firsthand, experienced it for years. People take care of each other here.

You’re also really gifted in building real relationships, and it’s been really cool as we’ve worked together to watch and to learn from how you show up for people. Is there anyone that influenced that outlook on life?

My parents. I think we’re here to serve, we’re here to help each other. It’s fundamental, you know? Kindness is important. Integrity and honesty, these are things that my parents instilled in us, made sure that we believed in. There are better words for that, but it has to be my parents. And so, I make mistakes, obviously, but I get personal satisfaction out of helping people. It just makes me happy, it does. And I think, you don’t do it because there’s a payback, but I do think good things happen to good people. There’s not enough of it maybe sometimes. I mean, I guess I shouldn’t say that, but I think people appreciate it. And fundamentally, that’s what we do here. We take care of people. At its core, that’s what we do.

What’s the one word that each of your kids would use to describe you?

Well, first off, Liza would call me Tom. Doesn’t call me Dad. Tom and Jane…I think Charlotte would say loyal. I think Thomas would suggest that I’m not easy on him– I think that’s really important. And, uh, what would Liza say? Liza would say, “Cheers.” She likes to have a glass of wine with me.

What would Jane say?

Well, Jane’s my best, you know, I usually say I’m her best friend. It’s funny because my best guy friend, was my best man. But Jane’s my best friend. So that’s important. It sounds silly, but I think she’d say I’m tough. Not like a tough guy to be around, but resilient. I think that’s what she would say- yeah, I do. I think resilient is a fair word.

Is there anything that you think we didn’t get to that you think is important for someone to understand?

I think that life’s filled with challenges. And so, we have to be resilient, be able to bounce back, and keep a positive mindset. It’s not always easy. And when it comes to VELA, I think that we have this conversation about what differentiates us, it really is the people. And so, it’s not always easy, but I think at the core, we have really good people. And I think that’s why we’re very effective at what we do. Good people with high integrity. I wouldn’t have it any other way. You lose every time if you don’t have integrity. Maybe not the first time, but it’s gonna catch up to you. That’s what I love about this place. All right, enough about me.

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