Reflections Magazine Issue #87 - Fall 2018 | Page 20

Feature Article
Taking Ownership
By Doug Goodnough
S
o you want to be a business owner?
If the answer to that question is “Yes,” then Anita-Marie
Quillen ’05 has some advice for you: Be ready to sacrifice, get
your education, work long hours, deal constantly with personnel
and personalities, continually plan, be the ultimate decision-
maker and learn quickly from your mistakes.
“It’s not meant for everyone,” said Quillen, owner of Diversi-
fied Engineering and Plastics, an auto parts manufacturing and
engineering company of about 80 employees in Jackson, Mich.
“One of the best luxuries I have is obviously I have significant
flexibility. But the unfortunate part is my work never stops. I
don’t have any downtime. … It never turns off.”
Despite those sometimes-chilling terms, the 36-year-old said
the career path she has chosen is the right one for her.
And she did have a choice.
Originally studying to become a doctor at Michigan State
University, Quillen said she spent four years majoring in pre-med
at MSU before finally realizing she wanted to pursue something
different. After taking a part-time job at her parents’ manufac-
turing company, Mid-American Products (now DEP), she left
MSU without completing her degree. She also came to a new
realization.
“I realized that I really enjoyed the environment,” Quillen
said. “I felt a lot of opportunities.”
She began to work full-time at Mid-American, with the hope
of moving on and moving up—but not necessarily in the family
business.
“At one time I was running two departments,” Quillen said.
“I saw an opportunity where I was learning a whole lot really,
really fast. The doors were wide open because gaps were ap-
pearing where they needed someone to help fill. I would pretty
much say ‘yes’ to whatever I was asked (to do).”
She also realized that if she wanted to advance her career,
she needed some additional education. Enter Siena Heights
University.
“I met with an advisor from Siena and he gave me some
pretty good opportunities and a path was put together to finish
a business degree,” said Quillen, who completed her bachelor’s
degree in multidisciplinary studies at SHU’s Jackson campus.
“I felt like I needed a little more foundational classes to have a
more well-rounded knowledge base with the business.
“It was great. I really enjoyed not only the individuals I
shared the experience with in class, but the professors and
teachers were great,” she continued. “I still see quite a few
people I had classes with in Jackson.”
She would put her education to good use almost immedi-
ately. About the time she was completing her degree, the na-
tion’s economy took a serious downturn, and one of the deepest
recessions followed. That also affected her parents’ business,
which was struggling to survive. Quillen and a couple business