International Women's Day 2022: The Women Who Started It All!
In honor of International Women’s Day, ITB Packaging would like to give a huge shoutout to the women who started it all, Julie Kortman and Mary McClain.
In 2011, Julie and Mary founded ITB Packaging LLC with their husbands, Cal Kortman and Gene McClain. When Cal Kortman got an idea for a flexible, sustainable, cost-effective, and innovative packaging solution, these women got to work!
In the beginning, Mary and Julie spent long hours creating a solid foundation, at their dining room tables, for the company we know today as ITB Packaging LLC. Not only were these women starting a company in their own homes, they were both mothers of TEENAGERS! Between carting kids back and forth between school, sporting events, extracurricular activities, making dinner, upkeeping the house, and many, many more things, these women were also writing up business plans and perfecting the “In The Box” design with paper, scissors, and a little Elmer’s glue.
During their years at ITB, Julie Kortman led the company as CEO, and Mary McClain took on the role of Manufacturing Coordinator, making ITB a women-owned business. Although they both had these titles, these women were not afraid to get their hands dirty. These women did everything from processing orders and making the product by hand to delivering them to the end customers!
Today, in 2022, both women have stepped down from their roles in the company for some well-deserved free time. And what might these superwomen be doing in their free time?
Julie enjoys long hikes (and when I say long, we are talking 20 miles long!!), working out at the local gym, reading, traveling, spending time with her family, and fixing up homes.
Mary enjoys long bike rides (100-mile bike rides… yes, these women are very ambitious), photography, babysitting her 5 grandchildren, bread making, spending time with her family, and traveling.
Not all superwomen wear capes—some start businesses in their own kitchens.