Michael Morey embodies the serial entrepreneurial story. After arriving in St. Louis, he became an officer in a leadership group with the goal of merging TriVergent and Gabriel Communications. His success as the steward of this process led him to become one of the first officers to helm NuVox before he partnered to form Voxitos, a VoIP company.
After the company was sold, Morey joined Blue bird Network as the president and CEO. Bluebird Network, launched in 1999, provides communication infrastructure to schools, hospitals, medical facilities, financial systems, manufacturers and other businesses while working with global carriers to bridge connectivity across the Midwest. The company has more than 10,000 miles of carrier-grade fiber network and two world-class data centers at polar ends of the company’s digital footprint.
Prior to Morey joining BlueBird Network, the company was generating about $18 million in revenue annually. He has since worked with his team to triple revenue, quintuple its staff and grown profit by more than eight times.
According to his staff, some titans succeed by chance, some titans succeed by sheer force of will and some titans are leaders. Morey is a leader, they said. “He would never say he did it alone and is quick to give credit to the teams who support his vision,” said his staff. “Michael has found serial success because of his refined leadership skills, savvy business acumen and prescient eye for what’s coming next.”
His leadership style involves meeting every new employee personally, fostering an open-door policy and understanding the importance of balancing the bottom line and justifying it with the promise to support the overall health of a company. “Successfully running and growing a business as Michael does means being the type of person who can apply a strength of empathy in leadership when needed and a firm decision stance when it is required,” said his staff.
Morey is the first to admit that no one is a good leader right off the bat. “It takes time because managing people is hard,” he said. “Sharing responsibility across the organization, not being a task master, and helping your employees to grow professionally is a starting point to develop your leadership skills.”
He believes that the best lesson is to listen to what your people are telling you and give credence to what they say. For his ability to lead with empathy, strength and understanding, Morey has been named a Titan.
