I WAS born in 1956. I should have been reading in grade school, but I’m dyslexic — I have trouble reading, writing and spelling — and few people knew much about the condition in those days. My mother realized that something was wrong, but she didn’t know what. She advocated for me at school and told my teachers not to give up on me. I attended five grammar schools because my mother was constantly looking for something to help me. It was a lonely childhood, and I hate to think how I might have ended up if she hadn’t been so supportive.

I compensated for my reading difficulty by developing superb listening skills. If a teacher explained something, I understood it. I also had excellent spatial skills and was good at designing and fixing things. Somehow I got through school, and luckily the family business, Sur-Seal, in Cincinnati, was there for me when I graduated from high school.

We design and fabricate industrial sealing solutions that include gaskets and other components. My father retired in 2004, and now my two brothers and I own the company. I’m now 56, and I have thrived here. I’m able to be creative in my own way.

I started working in building maintenance and rose to head of operations in the 1990s. In 2006, my brother Jim, our C.E.O., suggested that my title be changed to director of enterprise excellence, which reflects our efforts to operate at peak efficiency.