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Glenn Iwata: Executive Vice President
Glenn Iwata
Accommodating, flexible, customer focused, responsive and SMART, are just some of the words his clients use to describe him. Glenn Iwata, WestGroup's Executive Vice President, is all of those things and so much more.
Glenn grew up in suburban Chicago and attended the University of Illinois in Champagne/Urbana, where he got a BS in Accountancy. Knowing that, it's not surprising to learn that Glenn's first job out of college was not in marketing research; rather, he was accountant for Jewel Food Companies in Chicago. It wasn't until Glenn was in Phoenix working for Arizona Public Service that he saw the light and traded in accrual, amortization and ledger for statistical significance, regression analysis, and sample size. As his allegiance to research grew - and his interest in making a career in accounting subsided - he decided to go back to school to get his MBA from ASU.
Up by 5:30 every morning, Glenn starts the day with a three-mile run in and around his Ahwatukee neighborhood. On Saturdays, the run stretches to nine or ten miles and requires a lot more stamina, as it includes the adjacent foothills. A fanatic runner since his high school cross country days, Glenn rarely misses his daily run, even when he's traveling. "Sometimes when I'm on the road doing focus groups, I come back to my hotel and then go out for a run just to burn off the energy. I'll be out running through the streets of Atlanta or Denver at midnight. I just have to."
From the moment he arrives in his office, Glenn hardly comes up for air. His days are filled with client meetings, calls, e-mails and presentations in addition to regular WestGroup management and team meetings. It's not unusual for Glenn to start analyzing data and day he seems to have an uninterrupted block of time. Glenn's car is almost always the last one in the WestGroup parking lot, earning him the much coveted "Most Likely to be in the Office After Dark" award.
Although Glenn spends long hours in the office, he still manages to find time for his real passions: his wife and three kids, music and ministering to others. "If I could do something other than research, I'd probably work in the ministry full time, or do something in the music business… or, work for a non-profit helping kids, or…" and, the list goes on. However, Glenn has opted for the research business to support his habits - "eating and paying the rent," while spending his volunteer hours in music ministry and helping kids. An accomplished pianist and keyboardist, Glenn and several musicians from his church just recorded, produced and released Two Coins- a must-hear CD for all who know him.
What keeps this man of many talents going 16 hours a day? His ability to laugh and have fun at everything he does, always looking at the glass as half-full.
Even though Glenn's clients would agree that he's analytical, hard-working,
bright, and has a good sense of humor, that's not what keeps them coming
back. What makes this WestGroup leader so good is his ingenuity in research
reporting and methodology as well as his positive approach in all that
he does. According to one of his most loyal clients, "he's always
got a smile on his face, even when he has bad news." And, as another
so aptly put it, "he's not only friendly… he's a friend."
We at WestGroup couldn't agree more.
