Senior Director of External Communications, Zebra Technologies
In The Business Of Doing Good (w/ guest Therese Van Ryne)
#StayAWhilePodcast #inherwords
"It really makes me feel good to see others benefit from what I do." - Therese Van Ryne
Creating a work culture with the love of community as a pillar is beneficial for everyone’s mental well-being and lowers stress. Today’s guest highlights the power of giving back as a benefit for a company’s employees.
Therese Van Ryne, Senior Director of External Communications for Zebra Technologies, joins host Tommi A. Vincent to discuss:
Bernie’s Book Bank partnership with Zebra Technologies and Zippy’s Special Gift authored by Therese Van Ryne.
Zebra Technologies’...
About Therese Van ryne
Therese Van Ryne, Senior Director of External Communications at Zebra Technologies, has discussed the company’s philanthropic initiatives and her own children’s book in podcast appearances. In a February 2024 interview, Van Ryne stated that Zebra “really believe[s] in the notion of doing well by doing good.” She described the company’s employee volunteer program, saying, “We consider it an employee benefit that we each have four days of paid time off each year that we can volunteer.” She also mentioned a “donations for doers” program in which Zebra makes a monetary donation to an organization when employees volunteer a certain number of hours. Van Ryne is the author of the children’s book *Zippy’s Special Gift*, which she said was inspired by her role leading Zebra’s philanthropy efforts and the company’s partnership with Bernie’s Book Bank, a nonprofit that provides books to children in underprivileged situations. She stated that “all of the proceeds from the sales of this book have been donated to Bernie’s Book Bank.” Van Ryne described writing a book as a personal goal, adding, “I believe that we all have these special things inside of us that are necessary… and getting it out is really critical.”
Transcript (22 segments)
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Tommy Vincent0:11
Hi, I'm Tommy Vincent, the host of In Her Words podcast, and today joining us at the table we have Therese Van Ryne, the Senior Director of External Communications for Zebra Technologies. Therese, welcome to the table.
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Therese Van Ryne0:25
Thank you, Tommy. Pleasure to be here.
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Tommy Vincent0:27
Absolutely. Now, you and I have some history, but before we go there, I would like to hear from you in your own words: who is Therese?
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Therese Van Ryne0:39
Who is Therese? Therese is a wife, a mother, a Christian, a person who loves to be with other people and see other people succeed.
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Tommy Vincent0:51
So now I know that you have responsibility with your job at Zebra Technologies, and one of the things that you've done that I personally—it's one of my favorite things—is your book. And so I really want to talk about it and talk about the concept and why it was important for you to offer that book. So we have Zippy's Special Gift. Can you tell us about the book?
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Therese Van Ryne1:20
Absolutely. Writing a book has always been on my bucket list. And as part of my role at Zebra, I currently lead our philanthropy efforts, and one of our key strategic charitable partners is Bernie's Book Bank, which is a nonprofit organization based in the Chicago area. They help children in underprivileged situations learn how to read. They give them a couple bags of books every year through their schools. And in working with Bernie's Book Bank, we were saying, you know, wouldn't it be nice if Zebra contributed not only through cash and donation of time, but if you were to someday contribute a book to the children as well. And I took that idea very seriously, matched that up with my bucket list, found a publisher, and brought that dream to fruition. And I'll tell you what, it's been a whole new learning experience. It's opened up a whole new world for me. And to see the response people have in reading that book and really helping children understand that we all belong. Yes, we all have unique characteristics about us, but that's what makes us each unique and special to this world.
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Tommy Vincent2:39
Yes. So for the past few years, Zebra has been our partner for Safe Zone Activity Day that we've been doing in the Super Bowl cities, and you all have gifted over 1,500 books to the students. And we recognize—so we serve K through fifth grade, that's the programming—and so we recognize that the book is not on the level for every student, but what we also know is that it's so empowering when an older sibling or cousin or relative can take the book that we've provided to them in their book bag and share it with someone younger than themselves, because they're also sending the message to that younger child how important it is to read, and they're sharing this powerful message of belonging. And it's like so impactful. And so one, publicly, I just want to thank you for that and thank you for the content of that book. I think it's very timely. I think it's important for every single person, young and old, to not only hear that they belong but to feel it and believe it.
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Therese Van Ryne3:52
Yes, yes. It is really a story about love, loving one another, loving yourself. And it is a timeless story, right? It's really at the heart of it, it's about a zebra who really doesn't like her stripes, and her mother sends her out into the world to see each of her friends has their own unique characteristic as well that maybe they don't like very much about themselves, but they know it has a benefit to them. And in the end, Zippy does appreciate her stripes. And so it's been a fun story to share with children of all ages. Adults love it as well. I have some of my colleagues who first purchased it when it came out a couple years ago, and they said my child still makes me read it with them every single night. So it's doing well.
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Tommy Vincent4:37
That's amazing. So you checked off the bucket list, you wrote a book. Do you have any aspirations of writing another book?
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Therese Van Ryne4:46
You know, Tommy, it's interesting. People ask me, how long did it take you to write that book? It took me one afternoon. I sat down as if I was writing a poem, and with the rhyme, it just kind of flowed. And I ran it by a few members of my family; they gave me a few tips on how to improve it even further. I've sat down since then and started to ideate about a second book, and I found it a little bit more challenging because you need to think about: should it be similar, should it be a different path, if you will. So it is on my mind, and I've had several people ask if there will be a second book. So we'll see what happens.
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Tommy Vincent5:23
Okay, okay. That is also something I actually have a book on my computer. It's been on my—it's still like, it's a work in progress, but definitely for me that is something for multiple reasons. One is something that I personally would like to accomplish. I believe that I have something to say. And with books, they live forever. And so I want to get the messaging out there and really continue to leave my fingerprint in the world. I believe that we all have these special things inside of us that are necessary. It may not be for everybody, but it's for somebody. And so getting it out is really critical. And with your work and your focus in philanthropy and the stuff that you're doing at Zebra, talk to us about that and what philanthropy work is in alignment with the mission of Zebra Technologies.
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Therese Van Ryne6:16
Yes, we really believe in the notion of doing well by doing good. Zebra is a very successful company. We've been established over 50 years ago now, started as a barcode printing company, and have now expanded into robotics and artificial intelligence and machine vision. And so as part of that success, we believe in giving back to our local communities. So for example, we have over 20 employee groups around the world who are driving volunteerism at the local level, whether it be in Chicago where we're based, or India, or somewhere in Europe. We're a global company, and we have our employees who really believe in giving back to help the company grow and succeed. So we're giving our time, we're giving our treasure, we're giving technology, and it's been just a joy to watch so many people embrace that.
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Tommy Vincent7:13
How have the philanthropic efforts impacted your staff members? Because you're not just—you're creating a space where it's part of the culture, right? And so you do it as teams, you do it together. How has that impacted the team?
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Therese Van Ryne7:28
It's really built collaboration. It's nice because we consider it an employee benefit that we each have four days of paid time off each year that we can volunteer. So we get together as employees and come together as teams and go out and do team-building exercises to volunteer together. And I think it's just brought a lot of new ways to recruit talent. Young people today look for that in a company, right? They look for that philanthropic focus. So it's really been a draw for employees to come in and join us in our mission. We even offer what we call Donations for Doers, which if you volunteer for an organization and you file a form, we will then give to that charity since you've given time to them as well. So it's really been a great way to bring more collaboration. And we also find that giving back improves your mental wellness, right? And so many of us are stressed out today, and research shows that by giving back, by giving that volunteerism to your community, it lowers the stress. So that's been a huge benefit as well.
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Tommy Vincent8:37
Now, you don't strike me as someone that just does anything. Like, you move with great intentionality. Why is giving back important to you personally?
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Therese Van Ryne8:48
It really makes me feel good to see others benefit from what I do, right? I've been given so many gifts in my life. I have a wonderful family, a nice community around me, and to help those that may be less fortunate, to bring a smile to someone's face. I know participating at your Safe Zone Activity Day earlier this week and seeing those children just light up, all the people there giving back, it's—you win as much as they do.
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Tommy Vincent9:16
100%. Let me tell you something. That event, we have it once a year, and it literally is fuel for me because I have the videos and the pictures on my phone. And sometimes when I'm looking at my own life and having a pity party, if you will, I go through the images and I look at the videos of the smiling faces and the dancing and the laughter, and it just like snaps me right back into perspective. And so I know 100% the benefit of just how it impacts my personal well-being.
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Therese Van Ryne9:48
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly.
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Tommy Vincent9:52
So I have a segment that I do, and it's 'I'm bringing her to the table with me.' And this is your opportunity to present another woman with some verbal flowers for, you know, that your career would not be where it is today, or you would not be where you are today, without her fingerprint on your life.
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Therese Van Ryne10:13
That's a hard one to nail it down to one woman. I mean, the woman that I spoke with most recently is my mother, celebrating her birthday today. It was a huge gift to be able to take some time out of a very busy day and wish her a happy birthday. She's been a huge influence on my life. She comes from a modest background, high school education, and yet every interest I've ever had throughout my life, she supported me—driving me to dance lessons when I was young and things of that nature. And just her encouragement, the example she set of giving back and contributing to her community through a variety of volunteer activities. I just think that she's really been a positive influence on my life.
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Tommy Vincent11:14
I love it. I love that. So I'm really grateful that you took the time. I know you're here and you're busy doing what you're doing, but you took the time to come to the table. You know, for me, it's really important to continue to elevate the stories of women that are having an impact in sports. And I know that Zebra Technology, it is all through sports in ways that people don't even understand. You know, there's elements of technology we don't know it, but that's what's creating information and data and allowing the game to be the game that it is today. So thank you so much for coming to the table, and just know that you are welcome at the In Her Words table anytime.
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Therese Van Ryne11:58
Tommy, thank you so much for having me. It's been a pleasure.