IPI announces 2020 IPI Board of Directors

IPI Member Network announced Larry Steiner, April Love and Veronica Chapman were elected to the IPI Board of Directors for one, three-year term, starting June 1, 2020. The 2019-2020 board chairman T.K. Broecker and board member Phil Canter left the board, as their terms have ended.

Bios for the new board members are below:

Larry Steiner, Spectrum Photo and Digital Services

After working briefly at Oberlin College in Ohio, Larry co-founded Spectrum Photo and Digital in 1982. Working through the video boom, the minilab boom and the point-and-shoot boom, Larry has lived and managed through the changes engendered by digital services and the internet. He has worked through a few different business cycles and trend-lines to be able to operate a business that has supported several families for more than 38 years.

I have enjoyed serving on the IPI Board during good times and bad. It is rewarding to serve alongside smart people and engage in strategic thinking. That helps keep my work fresh and interesting. I believe I bring an experienced viewpoint that always keeps how IPI can best benefit members as the top guidance for decision making. Secondly, keeping IPI strong and forward moving is a key factor in providing the member benefits. I believe IPI needs to continue along the path of good governance, strong financial position and effective member support.

April Love, f/32 Photo, LLC 

Born and raised in Knoxville, Tennessee, I became enamored with photography at the age of 8, when I received my first camera as a gift, a Kodak 600 110. In order to not worry my Dad, I didn’t pursue photography as a major, so I graduated from the University of Tennessee with a Bachelor’s in Human Ecology (that is fancy for Retail and Consumer Science). I worked for K-VA-T Food Stores throughout high school and college, and upon graduating from UT, they hired me as the Human Resources Generalist for the Southern division of the family owned chain. Three years later I had the opportunity to work with Knox Area Rescue Ministries as Human Resources Director (and eventually photographer for the Development department). After serving in this position for 7 years, the easiest way to explain things is that God opened a door for me to be able to work as a photographer (or in the photography industry) full time and He basically had to kick me through it. In addition to starting my own photography business in 2006, I went to work at a local lab part time to supplement my income and well, fell in love with printing. The rest is a crazy tale that I should write out one day as a short story or a book, but it ended up with me running that lab I used to work for once it had been purchased by someone else. That was in May 2010 and in January of 2016, our owner passed away and legally left the business and an event that we created to me. I say legally because he would have told you that it was mine from the beginning and that no one else would have wanted it anyway! Since 2010 we have added retail to the existing lab business and a local rental equipment business as well. In addition to running the store, I love to travel and improve on my nature photography skills in addition to helping lead workshops whenever I get the chance.

I’ve been to IPIC every year since 2010 and it is the one event each year that I would not want to miss. I knew virtually nothing about this industry 10 years ago and there is still SO much I feel like I don’t know. Most of what I have learned has come from two places: figuring it out on my own through trial and error or IPI (either the Forum or connecting with people at IPIC). Most of it has been from the latter. So, if I have the opportunity to give back and help with the progress of this industry going forward, it would be an honor to do that. In a discussion with one of my vendors not too long ago, I mentioned something about not knowing exactly how the growth in our business happened. He pointed out that he thought a lot of it had to do with my inexperience in the industry, because I was not bogged down with “that is the way it has always been done”. There is a certain freedom in that which allows you to think outside the box a little easier, because if you don’t know where the box is in the first place, it’s not that hard! So, balancing that with the opportunity to access the knowledge of so many people who have been in the trenches of this industry for many years is a blessing. If I can use that to help others and guide the direction our industry needs to go in order to keep us relevant and useful, that would be fantastic. This group has always been one where people share openly and willingly help one another without seeing each other as “competitors” and I love that.

Veronica Chapman, Pro Digital Photos

Veronica Chapman is the co-owner, along with her husband Cory Chapman, of Pro Digital Photos, a fun and creative photo boutique. She wears many hats in her business but loves saying she is the marketing/sales director. She continually markets her business in creative ways that truly have her customers trying and loving her products and in result gains loyal and long term clients. Veronica has helped grow and maintain steady sales over the course of their business and also feels blessed to have such a great team of people to work with. She is a mother of 3 young girls who keep her busy and always on the go. Veronica values family and loves to spend time with them.

I am honored to be nominated to possibly have the opportunity to serve on the board of directors at IPI. I have many years of experience in running a photo lab and would love to share what I’ve learned with others. I know many of the members are promoting different types of printing work, but I feel I could help give new perspectives and new ideas to creating more sales and more income while still offering the same types of products. I would love to strategize and help implement new selling strategies to help each member grow their bottom line each year.