Life & Work with Paul Guimond of Portage

Today we’d like to introduce you to Paul Guimond

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I was born and raised in Michigan, went to Michigan State University. After graduation I spent some time working in Montana before coming back to work at The Upjohn Company. I spent the majority of my time in Research and Development working through the various transitions from The Upjohn Company, Pharmacia, Pfizer and retired from Zoetis Animal Health after 33 years. I have 2 beautiful daughters, one graduated from The University of Michigan and one graduated from Kalamazoo College. Abby is living in Ann Arbor and Maddy is living in Fort Collins Colorado. Both enjoy being active and are extremely happy, which makes me very happy. I have always enjoyed being active and playing a variety of sports. Lacrosse in college, rugby post college and have always enjoyed skiing, snowboarding, running and biking. I still enjoying running races and I am on a local race team, ClarkLogic and enjoy racing and training the with team. I have an established yoga practice as my mind and body need some attention. Intentional Yoga is a wonderful studio which offers Hot Yoga and that has helped keep my flexible and focused for my activities and adventures. I have a group of friends who enjoy doing some crazy adventures; riding the Continental Divide (Montana to Antelope Wells New Mexico, rock climbing in South Dakota, bike packing the Saint Lawrence seaway, bike packing the Butter Tart train in Cananda (without a sleeping bag). To hang out with my friends, I need to stay in shape. A good friend of mine, Jim Heath, got me involved in Special Olympics about 10 years ago. I now coach snowshoeing and Track and Field for Area 16. We have about 16 snowshoe athletes and approximately 50 Track and Field athletes. The Special Olympic athletes are truly amazing. Fun, strong, driven and just fun to be around.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I was blessed to continue to find a place during the multiple transitions during my tenure in Research and Development. There were some stressful times, but I continued to utilize my skills to add value to the organization. I was lucky to have some amazing leadership in my early years that helped me to understand how to analyze data, how to work within an organization and how to continue to grow. When I became a leader in my later years, I did the same for those who worked for me.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I got involved in Special Olympics as a chaperone and assistant coach and now I am the head coach for snowshoeing and Track and Field. The COVID years were hard as we needed to be cautious to ensure the safety of everyone but now we are slowly growing the athletes again. The athletes practice once a week as a team and then travel to Traverse city for Winter games or Central Michigan University for Summer games. At the State games, the athletes compete against other athletes from around the State. The athletes motto is “Let me win, and if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt”. I have modified that mottos a bit, because no one is going to let you win…our motto “I will do my best to win, and if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt”. I love coaching and interacting with the athletes. I have an amazing group of coaches and volunteers that make this all work. It takes a village to coach and train this many athletes. Many of the athletes work at Shalom. SHALOM exists to serve adults living with developmental disabilities. Those living in the Shalom network have the opportunity to work on the farm and in the coffee shop located just outside of Parchment. The cookies at the coffee shop are the best in the area, possibly the state. What is so wonderful is to see the inclusion that takes place for the athletes, from working at the local Hardings stores to working at the coffee shop.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.shalomkazoo.org/overview