Five Questions: Wendi Grinnell

Wendi Grinnell was recently promoted to the newly created position of vice president for VIZpin, a designer and manufacturer of a smartphone-based, Bluetooth-enabled access entry system. She joined VIZpin in January 2017 as marketing director, and has more than 20 years of marketing and sales leadership experience. Security Systems News asked Grinnell five questions.

Are you married? Any kids?

I have been married 16 years this month [September] and I have three kids, a daughter who is 12, a son who is 11, and my youngest daughter who is 4.

Any pets?

We have a year-old cat named Stella that we got from a rescue organization and two Guinea pigs, named Chewy and Lukey.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I am big into the community and I am on the board for the rotary club in Elizabethtown [Pa.], so I spend a lot of time on different committees and activities for that.

Where are you from originally and how does that compare to where you live now?

I am originally from a small town in Western Pennsylvania called Sharon, and it is somewhat comparable in terms of the type of town I live in today, as it is a great community town, smaller, so you don't feel like you are lost in the sea there. But the key difference is Sharon is an old steel town and unfortunately with that industry having gone by the wayside, it is not as booming as it once was. Elizabethtown is much more lively and economically better, and it is right in between Lancaster and Harrisburg.

Read any good books or listen to any good podcasts lately?

I've got about a half hour commute each day and love listening to different podcasts. Right now some of my favorites include a sales and marketing one, and one called Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, which is entertaining, and I just finished one called Serial.