These 20-Under-40 Up-and-Coming Printing Industry Executives Share Their Success Stories

"Success to me is meeting the goals you've set with the support of people you care about," he says. "If you focus on obtaining these goals, the personal fulfillment and financial freedom will follow."

A diehard Arkansas Razorbacks college football fan, he's active on several nonprofit boards and organizations, including The First Tee of Northwest Arkansas and the Sam M. Walton College of Business Dean's Advisory Counsel. Garman enjoys being in the great outdoors, be it cycling, golfing or taking in a picnic lunch with his family. He's been married to wife Lindsay for 13 years and they have two daughters.

Jeffrey Davidson, 31
General Manager
Brown Printing, a Modern Litho subsidiary
Jefferson City, MO

The allure of St. Louis almost steered Jeff Davidson away from the printing industry. The year was 2008, and Davidson was engaged to be married. His wife-to-be, Jenny, boasted a degree in biomedical engineering ("She makes me look like an idiot," Davidson exclaims) and performed research and development for a large pharmaceutical company in St. Louis. Davidson himself was employed by UMB, an $8 billion bank based in Kansas City, which had offered him the opportunity to transfer to St. Louis, as well.

The man is also a diehard St. Louis Cardinals fan...obviously, the move was fait accompli, right?

Not so fast. It seems the pull of the American family business is difficult to resist. In this case, it was working at Modern Litho—the company acquired by Davidson's grandparents in the early 1990s—that proved to be too good an opportunity to pass on, and he rejoined the fold in 2008.

Davidson had grown up against the printing backdrop, working as a youngster in the desktop department, bindery and mailroom, doing grunt work and getting his hands dirty. But he majored in economics at Westminster College in Fulton, MO, and, upon graduating, had developed a desire to get into commercial banking. He joined UMB after graduation, entered its management rotation program and worked in areas such as credit analysis, loan reviews and small business lending.