BIG NEWS: Denise Ngeow Promoted to Chief of Staff, SVP of Corporate Strategy

"After working with Denise over the past five years, I felt it was time due to her great work to give her a well deserved promotion in FSO. If one thing is for sure, we could not have exceeded our knowledge and results without her endless pursuit for perfection and achievement."

Good Morning Folks,

Starting a company from nothing but a white canvas and an idea is one of the most rewarding elements of business that an owner can realize. But ideas are only as good as the execution that becomes part of the core fabric of a company. “FSO” was a thought I had. It was my vision and passion, and I could not be more proud that it has been brought to life.

I always say, strategy is the first part of the plan and in this early phase it is not about the people, rather it is about defining who you are and where you want to go. Understanding the competitive landscape and overcoming market barriers, combined with fire and excitement, is when your strategy is actualized. Only then can you think about YOUR TEAM - who will do it and how will they help achieve the goals.

Since November of 2010, our official launch and first signed contract, we have come a long way. We had no employees, no revenue, no clients, lots of debt, but what we did have was lots of opportunity in NYC. Today, I am proud to announce that we have:

-          Over 213 clients
-          Operations in 57 cities across the country
-          Regional offices and management teams in six distinct locations across the US
-          Over 1,500 full time employees
-          And a profitable, healthy company.

THANK YOU! I could not have achieved this success without each and every one of you.

We will revel in our accomplishments this holiday season, but more importantly we will put in place the next phase of planning, strategy, and execution. Part of this includes identifying those same elements of business that I had to look at when deciding how to bring FSO and the Mitch brand to market in 2010. 

Today, we must ask: What are our inhibitors to growth? What are our inhibitors to sustainability? What are our competitive advantages and disadvantages? How do we ensure that we deliver our “Promises To Practice”? And, how do we ensure our commitment to our clients and employees exceeds what we have promised?

What makes a successful and sustainable company is not thinking you know it all, but in fact the other way around. I’m always thinking: What don’t I know? What do I need to hear? And what do we need to do to protect, grow, and thrive?

I can proudly say that because of you, I have that information to ensure the FSO and the Mitch brand are a force to be reckoned with forever and ever! To all of our awesome clients who have participated in the survey that was conducted by Frager Creative, “Thank you!” Your time, care, desire and passion to help my company is just simply amazing! And to all of our employees who write to me, attend our company meetings, CHO breakfasts & clubs, I must say thanks for your spirit and all of your great feedback.

I know that I am a very blessed man. Not only do I have a wonderful wife and two awesome children, (Chelsea who is now working as our trainer and providing motivational support to our teams), I have a great ELT (Executive Leadership Team) that supports my vision and legacy to build the Mitch brand to where it needs to be. And of course I have all of you - the amazing employees of FSO who have the passion and spirit to do whatever is necessary to exceed our clients and your wildest dreams and expectations.

Besides all of that, as an executive and owner, there is one other important piece of the puzzle – a person or people who serve as a friend, consigliore, confidante, intellectual property and capacity.

Well, I have been very lucky to have someone in my leadership team who is all of the above. I’m sure that many of you, if not all of you, know who she is - Denise Ngeow. For those who know her personally, she has an easy going approachable way about her, a wonderful smile, kind view of people, and yes that Australian accent does not hurt (LOL). Beside all that, Denise is a winner and a brilliant young lady that has taken me to task and challenge the status quo in FSO every single minute of the day.

Denise is always bringing to me ideas, issues, fires, concerns, and more importantly endless ideas with strategies that can be executed. If you are not aware Denise does not drink wine, or anything for that matter, and most of you are probably thinking, ‘How can such a person survive with Mitch without a drink!’ LOL! Well, thank god, she does J

To help me execute those plans, ideas, and strategies, I recognized that I cannot do it alone. I needed a friend and a caring, smart individual to sit by my side in NYC, on planes and more. With that said, I have decided that person, who many of you know and respect, is our own Denise Ngeow. After working with Denise over the past five years, I felt it was time due to her great work to give her a well deserved promotion in FSO. If one thing is for sure, we could not have exceeded our knowledge and results without her endless pursuit for perfection and achievement.

With all of that being said, I am pleased to announce the promotion of Denise Ngeow to Chief of Staff, SVP of Corporate Strategy! Please join in welcoming Denise to her new and well deserved promotion and position.

I need Denise to sit in every meeting across our enterprise and support our goals and our plans. After all, a company does not grow on one department. Rather all departments must work like a well oiled machine, together and not in silos. This is something I know that Denise can make happen allowing us to fulfill the dreams of our staff and bring our promises to practice for our clients.

Some of her expanded responsibilities will include working closely with me across all aspects of FSO enterprise-wide including Finance, IT, People Solutions, Operations and Marketing - ensuring all areas of our business are collaborating and in-sync across the country. Especially with our record growth and substantial investments in our corporate infrastructure, she will be strongly involved and engaged with our Clients and Employees. By doing so, she will be able to ensure we have strategic responses to our needs in the field, clientele and across our business.

With the above in place, you and our clients will experience the true difference in our ability to enhance, adjust, and act as needed to market trends, client needs, staff needs and more.

Our company is poised for amazing success and greatness due to all of our clients and staff, and I am not ever going to allow anything to get in the way of my promise to you and my personal commitment to ensure you all sleep easy and know that the Mitch brand and my legacy is protected until eternity.

Cheers to a bright and exciting future for the FSO and Mitch brand. Again, we could not have done it without you.

Have a GREAT day. Love LIFE!

Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer

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"People don’t buy what you do; people buy why you do it.” 
— Simon Sinek
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We've Gotta Run This Place Like a Business. A Primer on What Many Law Firm Managers Say They Have to Do, But Usually Do Not

"Excellent legal article. I plan to get this in front of my Managing Partners TODAY!"

Good Morning Folks,


John Remsen, Jr., Speaker, Author & Consultant on Law Firm Leadership, Management & Marketing | President & CEO, Managing Partner Forum presents an MPF White Paper - "We've Gotta Run This Place Like a Business."

Collectively, MPF Faculty member John Smock and his colleagues have more than 150 years’ experience working with professional services firms. They draw on this experience to regularly publish thoughtful articles on law firm leadership and planning. This one sets forth a strong approach to whip your firm into shape, including planning, governance, compensation and dealing with partners who aren’t pulling their weight.

Click here to read it: http://bit.ly/Wzpjsf

Have a GREAT day. Love LIFE!

Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer

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"The world steps aside to let any man pass if he knows where he is going."
~~ David S. Jordan
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Via ALA / LinkedIN

This is MAJOR: Promotions, Appointments and New Staff Restructure to Support Stunning and Rapid Expansion

"The talent within our organization is awesome, but what makes FSO so unique is the passion and love that we possess. We are proud to share that warmth and level of care with our clients, our employees, and of course amongst ourselves."

Good Morning Folks, 

During our planning phase in 2010, my vision was to bring FSO to a national organization by 2015 – building regions and solidifying deals that are national in all verticals, especially in the legal marketplace. 

No business can sustain growth without investments in its infrastructure, people, systems, and training. This, coupled with remaining close to my staff and clients, has always been my benchmark for success. With that said, I’m very pleased to announce a major restructure that includes promotions, appointments and the addition of new staff. 

Joining our family as Vice-President, General Manager is Richard Boland. In this highly important role for FSO, Rich is poised to have an immediate impact on our staff, clients and results as they relate to profits and revenue stream. He will cover the entire Mid-Atlantic region and select accounts in NYC. Reporting in to him will be Dave Christian (Mid-Atlantic Regional Director), Angel Negron (Experience Director), and Neal Michael (Experience Director). Additionally, Rich will immediately take charge of the NY sales team, and hold responsibility for database and document management. As well, effective immediately, Rich will be a member of our Executive Leadership Team.

Prior to joining the FSO family, Rich held full P&L responsibility for Iron Mountain’s southern United States area, which included 13 states and 2,000 employees. Rich grew total revenues, increased profit contribution from the region, and closed more than 10 strategic acquisitions in new and existing markets. Before joining Iron Mountain, Rich led the Southeast Region of Pitney Bowes Management Services. Rich joined Pitney Bowes through the acquisition of Ameriscribe Management Services. At Ameriscribe, Rich served as Vice President of the Central Region and Canada.  He was also a member of the senior management transition team that created and integrated the new organization following the acquisition by Pitney Bowes.

To say that Rich is excited to join FSO is an understatement. In a recent exchange, Rich said something that I have not forgotten – great businesses are defined by great people, and the experience we’ve shown him thus far reinforces his confidence that there is a fantastic future on the horizon for all of us. I could not agree more! Rich, we are very excited to have you with us.

Also joining our family is John DeSena as Vice President & General Manager, North America. A true industry leader, John brings to FSO an intimate knowledge of our business. Dating back 25 years, John worked for me in building and growing the outsourcing business at Archer. Today, like so many others, John has “come home” to be a part of an organization where the emphasis is on the people. Something so many of our competitors have forgotten.

A seasoned general management executive, John most recently served as Vice President of Operations at Canon where he managed over 1,000 employees in five regions across the country. Notably, he achieved over 120 million in revenue across multiple services while remaining focused on delivering client solutions and satisfaction. Additionally, over his illustrious career, John has: led large customer implementations across multiple regions and service offerings; created operations infrastructure to support and exceed client expectations on a national level, while providing support to thousands of field employees; provided the oversight of digital document conversion; and been instrumental in integrating people, process, and technology for multiple top Fortune 50 companies. 

Headquartered in Los Angeles, John’s sole role for FSO will be to build us a national organization for operations, sales and people solutions while driving strategic and financial results. This will include, but not be limited to, hiring, training and managing teams throughout the United States. Effective immediately, John will also take a seat on our Executive Leadership Team.

Reporting in to John is Christine Rainey. Before I can say any more though, I’m thrilled to announce the promotion of Christine Rainey to Regional Director of the North East. When it comes to attention to detail and building robust teams that deliver Service Extraordinaire, there is no one more dedicated than Christine. She has taken a portfolio of business and sites in our New Jersey market and doubled it in just over a year. This type of success comes from Christine’s ability to maintain 100% client retention and amazing references from every client. With this type of success, it should come as no surprise that it is time to take Christine’s talent to greater heights. 

Also reporting in to John is Missy Adriazola (National Director of Hospitality and Training). In her expanded role, Missy will be supporting John to build our national structure for front of house and hospitality.

Another report in to John is a familiar name for many of you. With nine years of experience working in our company, I’m thrilled to announce that Lori Dacchille, who recently relocated to California, will be supporting John to build a robust People Solutions organization for us on the West Coast. Welcome back Lori! 

With all of that said, please join me in welcoming Rich; welcoming home John and Lori; and congratulating Christine! The talent within our organization is awesome, but what makes FSO so unique is the passion and love that we possess. We are proud to share that warmth and level of care with our clients, our employees, and of course amongst ourselves. 

Our future is bright and I am focused on helping each and every one of you achieve your greatest success and fulfill your dreams.  

Have a GREAT day as I look forward to seeing all of you soon.

Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer

Learn more about what DIFFERENTIATES FSO here

Good Morning Folks!

Good Morning Folks,

It's certainly been a hot month, but I'm pumped - and you should be too! There is so much positivity happening in FSO. Thank you to my staff for all the strategy, efforts and planning to ensure that our summer and third quarter are rocking! Also, thank you to our great clients for your continued support, dedication and friendship. Simply amazing and exciting!

We've expanded our services, grown our teams, opened operations in new cities and launched several new print & online initiatives - including THIS new blog (already filled with 44 posts!), a completely (re)IMAGINED website & a newsletter strictly dedicated to our field staff.

As we continue to expand our great company and brand, we know it is more important now than ever that we stay connected and inform you of what's happening in the world of FSO and the onsite outsourcing industry at large.

As I wrap this up, know that your feedback is invaluable to our success. Always communicate and keep me posted. I look forward to hearing from and seeing all of you soon. 

In the meantime, check out some of my featured blog posts in the column to your right.

Have fun and happy reading :) And click HERE to be invited to VIP events and to be the first to know whenever the next big thing comes out of our (re)IMAGINARIUM.

Thanks for all that you do for us! :)  

Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer

Revolutionizing Records Management In the Digital Practice of Law

"FSO has worked with organizations as varied as insurance companies and law firms to implement records management strategies and to offer significant reductions in paper."

Good Morning Folks,

Monday is always a great day to get organized which makes Mitch's Monday Musing today about the digital practice of record management where we'll explore the myth of the paperless office. Or is it a myth any more? Let's dig in.

In an age of workshifting, cloud computing and big data, digital and paper worlds are at the crossroads. 


With more access to information then ever, managed records services has the potential to drive business transformation.

Talk of a paperless office has been around for well over 40 years.

Wrote the BBC, “Today automation has displaced paper from some activities. On London Underground for example, over 80% of journeys are now undertaken without a paper ticket being issued.”

Yet paper remains at the heart of our culture.

Every time a paper cup is used for coffee, a banknote is used, an email is printed, the post arrives or a physical newspaper is read at a desk, the paperless ideal disappears back into the mythology it came from.

FSO is advising companies wanting to become paperless, but it agrees that in practice this often means "less paper."

Again, our own offices are not entirely without hard copies. But this appears to be true nearly across the board.

Many businesses still rely heavily on paper to support business processes – whether it is finance and accounting or HR. FSO can help intelligently organize information from both paper and electronic sources and make it more readily available to office, mobile and remote workers.

“Just in case

Attorneys Examine Evidentiary Documents at Weitz and Luxenberg

FSO has worked with organizations as varied as insurance companies and law firms to implement outsourced document and records management strategies" and to offer significant reductions in paper

FSO's Bobby Dillon

Our Bobby Dillon should know. As Best Practices Experience Director, he brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise across all of FSO’s services from mail, logistics, copy, print and scan to document production – just to name a few. 

At FSO Client Weitz & Luxenberg, Bobby got his MBA in Records Management during a massive 3 ½ year project, the largest and most successful document conversion in the New York market and surrounding areas - migrating over 35 million pages of paper to an electronic format at the famed barristers.

Bobby and his team achieved this by following rigorous checks and balances, quality control and document processing perfection. This is the type of success and model of perfection that Bobby leads across all of FSO’s client locations. 

Because Weitz & Luxenberg deals with Asbestos cases, the law still requires paper records retained for 30 years, so 25-30K bankers boxes were sent offsite to low cost storage, freeing up an entire floor of premium Manhattan office space for lease to others or more profitable venture.

Shawn Curwen joined FSO from Weitz & Luxenberg having run the client side of the legal document management services project with Bobby. Shawn will confirm the benefits delivered to his former employer are:

• Smart environmental and corporate stewardship helping to make for a better planet

• Cost savings- documents shipped off site pennies on dollar or shredded to free up a whole floor of premium office space previously used for file 

FSO's Shawn Curwen

• Reduction of footprint reduces costs

• Efficient and accessible lost paralegal billable hours searching for

° Keyword traceable if you use ocr, which helps find the smoking gun within a haystack of documents and can help win cases

• More accountability with a better chain of custody to identify where document is

"I look around many offices as I visit clients and they've got binders upon binders of paper that no one will ever look at again," says Denise Ngeow, FSO VP of Corporate Strategy.

As business moves into a digital world, FSO leads the way with end-to-end information management services that enhance every stage of the entire document lifecycle.

FSO works closely with our clients to develop continuity programs that provide our clients with a good night sleep when it comes to the safety of their records. FSO’s strategy to take our clients to a digital platform is a long-term dedicated approach to ensure long term success.

Our unique approach focuses on key aspects that define a comprehensive digital records management solution:

1. Establishing a Sponsor – 
FSO collaborates with clients to help identify and gain the buy-in of senior executives or partners to sponsor and support digitization initiatives.

2. Digital File Creation - 
FSO will work with our client’s IT department and stakeholders to review and streamline the manner in which data is exported or transferred to official virtual folders in our client’s records and document management systems.

3. Digital File Usage & Maintenance - 
FSO will work to communicate and train staff to ensure emails and attachments are digitally filed in official virtual public folders.

4. Scanning - 
FSO will take ownership of all scanning responsibilities through development of trust with administrative assistants or paralegals. This allows our clients to focus on more revenue generating and core business activities. 

5. Digital file retention and disposition - 
As with physical records management, FSO ensures that retention periods are tracked, with clients presented with lists of physical and digital  files for destruction approval at the appropriate times.

FSO's skilled Know-How Team™ of ROI, IT and strategy experts will put all aspects of your document processes under the microscope, analyze their findings then give you a blueprint for success. You'll get an unbiased solution that transforms your document lifecycle into an organizational memory bank providing employees, clients and all stakeholders with secure, convenient and timely access to the records and information they need.

According to Shawn, “We’ve gained more accounts, repeating the recipe for success mastered at Weitz. We’re different from the incumbents and competition. No one can match our knowledge base in records imaging and retention. Ultimately we take away non-revenue jobs, freeing up more of their time to practice law.”

FSO can provide the full outsourcing of business processes, for example managing invoice processing, HR, finance and accounts and also IT outsourcing. 

Using a single provider offers the potential to deliver further cost savings, increase productivity and also enable tighter process and financial controls through better regulatory compliance.

If you’d like to explore how FSO can bring your records management into the digital age, contact me personally at 212-204-1193.

Have a GREAT day as I look forward to seeing all of you soon.

Mitchell D. Weiner
Chief Happiness Officer

Learn more about what DIFFERENTIATES FSO here