February 2014 - Brookfield

FEBRUARY 2014
Step
before. They purchased a building in
the village in December 2012, and ever
since have been active in the village.
On November 1, 2013, Bart chaired
the first annual art crawl, which
brought over 400 people into the
village on a rainy, snowy night. They’ve
attended the monthly village meetings
at Vino Cappuccino and helped with
the Farmers Market. Patti is on the
Strategic Planning Committee for the
village and hopes to see the village
center grow with its own coffeehouse,
restaurants and niche retail stores. She
says, “We want homegrown businesses,
not your Panera or Starbucks.”
Speaking of homegrown, the
emblem of their business, the
olive, commemorates the Bohne’s
honeymoon in Spain (the world’s
largest producer of olives) and the fact
that Patti loves to eat olives.
Patti grew up in Brookfield and
Bart grew up in Waunakee. Patti has
a degree in communications and Brad
a degree in mechanical engineering.
Although both attended Marquette
University, they didn’t meet until after
graduation, when their mutual friends
– Patti’s best friend from first grade and
Bart’s school friend – set them up on a
blind date. They beat their friends to
the altar and married at St. Dominic’s
Catholic Parish in June 2003.
FEBRUARY 2014
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inside Olive Promotions &
Apparel in the Brookfield
village center, and you’ll find creativity
hard at work. Patti Pavlic Bohne and
Bart Bohne are making their visions
come to life. Their motto is “You name
it – We can put Your Logo on it!”
Olive Promotions works with
clients and companies in all states and
internationally, as well local colleges
and schools. They brand items for sales
meetings, sales trips, trade shows,
employee apparel, client holiday gifts,
sources products overseas and custom
product development. About half of
their marketing products are apparel
and half are office accessories. What
does Bart love about the business? “It’s
a fun product to help people find,” he
says.
Some of the more unusual products
they’ve created recently were logo
imprinted tissue paper and custom
training board games. For example,
Bart created the box, board, playing
pieces, imprinting, and more of a game
that was distributed to 1,500 stores
and used for training employees. Patti
points out that “with his engineering
background, he’s good at that.”
Patti founded Olive Promotions
on February 4, 2005. Bart joined as
a partner, when he realized it was
more fun than the work he was doing
They knew they wanted to settle in
Brookfield, and Bart had always said
he wanted “a brick, ranch house with a
circle drive.” When Patti saw a for sale
sign in the yard next to her parent’s
house, she called up Bart on the phone.
“I found a house and it’s a brick, ranch
house with a circle drive in Brookfield.”
“Great,” said Bart. “Where is it?” “Next
door to my parents,” said Patti, “You
didn’t specify where in Brookfield!”
They bought the house and have
been there for over 12 years and love
it. Now that Patti’s parents are in their
80s, the Bohnes are able to help them
out living so close by. They have two
daughters, Mary Grace, age 7, and
Lily, age 5, who attend St. Dominic
Parish School and like to run over to
their grandparents’ for cookies after
school. They have two dogs, a friendly
Schnoodle named Lulu, who enjoys
greeting visitors in the shop, and an
English Cocker Spaniel named George,
who’s a bit shyer.
In her free time, Patti enjoys
reading,
scrapbooking,
cooking
and traveling. Bart enjoys outdoor
activities, hunting, fishing and sports.
They are big Marquette fans and
have tickets to the men’s basketball
games. Patti serves on the Marquette
University Women’s Council, and Bart
is on the Alumni Engineering Board.
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Patti also finds time to volunteer as the
board chairperson of the Elmbrook and
St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation. Their
girls take dance lessons at Brookfield
Dance Academy, located just a few
paces from Olive Promotions.
Working together as a husband
and wife team tested their relationship
in new ways, as Patti says, “We have
very different personalities,” so it
was necessary in the beginning to
define each of their roles and stick
to them. Bart says, “Patti brings her
relationship-development skills...Her
relationships with the customers help
maintain the direction of the business.”
He brings structure to the business,
enforces goal-setting and runs strategic
planning every year.
Working from the tight quarters
in their house was also a challenge.
With employees, clients, vendors and
deliveries at their home, their house
was becoming a zoo! That’s when
Bart noticed the building for sale in
the village and they immediately
purchased it. With a total now of seven
employees, Patti is very glad to have
the space to expand their business. She
says it’s a perfect balance to be able to
leave the house and work somewhere
else, yet have the flexibility to run home
again, pick up the girls from school, or
run into the office on the weekend.
What a blessing! Being business
owners gives Bart and Patti the
flexibility to make family life a priority
and to enjoy living in Brookfield. You
can tell they are passionate about what
they do...just look at their smiles!
Bart and Patti Bohne are offering $50
off any order of over $500 to anyone who
mentions this article. They would love
to see you stop by at 2965 N. Brookfield
Road, or visit them online at www.
olivepromotions.com.
We are seeking neighborhood families
to feature in upcoming issues. If you are
interested, please contact us by emailing
[email protected].
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BROOKFIELD CONNECTOR