Elaine Scrima: Her 29 Year Career Journey from Restaurants to Print

If Elaine Scrima could go back in time 29 years ago and tell herself one thing while she was replying to a classified ad for a sales position at GSP, she says she’d tell herself that “cool heads prevail.”  

Elaine Scrima, Vice President of Operations, GSP Companies

“The version of me 29 years ago was definitely a little more reactive,” Scrima says. “So, I’d go back and tell myself to assess situations and be a little bit calmer. Basically, I’d warn her that there’s no reason to get yourself worked up.”  

And on that day 29 years ago, Scrima, executive vice president of operations at GSP (a PRINTING United Alliance member company) — who also is a board member of PRINTING United Alliance and a founding member of the Women in Print Alliance — admits that she truly didn’t know what she was getting herself into. Before GSP, she worked in the food and beverage industry and says she sort of just “stumbled into print.”  

“The 29-years-ago Elaine did not know what print even was or what it could do. So, as I got into it, it opened up a whole new world for me,” Scrima says.  

Over her 29 years at GSP, Scrima has worn different hats. She explains that she started in sales, then dabbled in HR and customer service, and eventually found her groove in operations.  

Today, as executive vice president of operations, Scrima is responsible for the day-to-day management of GSP's four production facilities in Clearwater, Florida; Madison, Wisconsin; Lenexa, Kansas; and Provo, Utah. She is also responsible for inventory management of both finished and raw goods.  

Scrima admits that with her move from restaurants to print, there was a learning curve. However, the learning curve showed her one of her favorite things about the print industry: people’s willingness to share their knowledge.  

“What I love about this industry is that people were so willing to share, whether that was vendors or, you know, our own printers down on the print floor,” Scrima says. “[They would] just kind of help educate. I would try and go down on the floor frequently and ask questions because I'm curious and I want to know how things work.”  

Scrima also jokes that she’s dating herself a bit by saying this, but she explains that when she started, GSP was primarily a screen printer, so as the industry and its digital technologies have evolved, she’s found herself riding the educational wave.  

“As the industry's evolved and digital technologies have gotten better, you suddenly turn around and you're speaking the language and you're like, ‘How did that happen?’” 

Her Hopes for The Industry  

As the industry continues to evolve, Scrima hopes print professionals can figure out how to bridge the gap between our industry and the younger generations to come. She’s hopeful that we’ll find ways to better educate younger people, so that they can understand what print truly is.  

“They need to know that the shirt they wear was printed. They should learn that print is the curtains hanging on your window, it's the carpet on your floor, it's the chair that you're sitting on. It's so much more than just newspapers, books, and magazines,” Scrima says.  

To better integrate younger generations into the industry, Scrima believes the industry should start educating them before they reach college age, possibly even as early as eighth or ninth grade. She believes it could become a grassroots movement, but if it is done the right way and shows kids all of the endless possibilities in print when they’re figuring out what they want to do, then the possibilities could be endless.  

“When you go to some of these institutions that have very established graphics departments, and they focus more on the design aspect of it, versus how to become a digital operator. If we could figure out how to harness some of the high-school kids and get them into work programs and come in and do an internship, or come just to kind of learn. Then they might just love it and realize that it's pretty infectious,” Scrima says. 

Her Advice to Women in Print  

 It’s no secret that printing has a reputation for being sort of a boy’s club, but Scrima says she has felt incredibly lucky that over the span of her career, she has never felt ‘less than’ in a room full of men.  

The key to that, she says, is confidence.  

“The key is that you cannot be intimidated. You have got to exude this confidence that you really know what you’re talking about. Even if you have to sort of ‘fake until you make it,’ the key is being confident,” Scrima says.  

She continues, “When I’m in a room full of men, I don’t see it as I’m a woman and they’re men. I see us as a room full of printing professionals, and I don’t let them intimidate me into not speaking up and saying what’s on my mind. You have to be assertive because if you present yourself as meek and mild, that’s how people will treat you.”  

And the industry is changing for the better. Scrima says that at her most recent visit to the this year’s PRINTING United Alliance Executive Leadership Conference, she noticed a significant increase in the number of female attendees. Which, compared to her first leadership summit, where she was one of two women in the room, is a good sign.  

She also recognizes the work PRINTING United Alliance has put in to make the print industry a more inclusive space. 

“It's print professionals working together towards a greater print future. You know, I think Ford [Bowers] and the executive board do a great job of that. And that is evident with the fact that we've got Brooke Hamilton as the chair of the board this year and then Lane Hickey Wiggins as vice chair. That absolutely speaks volumes to where the industry has come,” Scrima says.