You might recognize her name from sending out The Monitor Blog notifications, but that’s just a fraction of Krista Drager’s responsibilities at Sentry Equipment. In her role as Marketing Manager, Krista spearheads the company’ marketing efforts: contributing to the company’s sales growth, maintaining branding across multiple industries, and helping to deliver exceptional customer experiences.

When Krista Drager was a kid, she and her family drove into Milwaukee, WI for a family event. Enamored by the city lights, sights and sounds that were so different than her small, sleepy hometown of Mazomanie, WI, she pointed at a high-rise office building and said, “I want to work there when I grow up.”

And while she has been enjoying the city life living in Milwaukee for the past nine years, her dreams have evolved above and beyond that original high-rise building. She discovered that she wants to help people solve problems by connecting them with solutions that fit their needs. So, Krista entered into the world of marketing.

When she joined Sentry Equipment in 2015 as a digital marketing specialist, she was immediately impressed with Sentry’s niche solutions – and the surprisingly large impact the company had on making the world a safer, better place.

Krista has been an active participant in Sentry’s journey of growth over the past few years: coming on board just in time to help launch the new Sentry brand, being a key player in launching a new website with eCommerce capabilities, going through multiple new product launches and acquisitions and being a part of the Sentry Continuous Improvement team.

Krista Drager

Marketing Manager

What would be her dream job? “Leading a marketing department! But if I really had to choose another career path, I’d choose to be a pastry chef and just bake cookies all day. I love cookies.”

Three things she’d take on a deserted island: “All the books I haven’t read yet, sunscreen (I sunburn easily), and my cat, Neko.”

What are her favorite things to do outside of work? “Powerlifting, partaking in the ancient art of karaoke, baking, and reading.”

empowering exceptional experiences 

Last year, Krista was promoted to Marketing Manager and helped launch a new customer experience program that has elevated her career goals once again. Now she is not just marketing products, but giving customers exceptional experiences. The new customer experience program is focused on empowering all Sentry employee-owners with the tools to deliver the highest level of customer care, and then constantly be on the lookout for ways to further improve for our customers.

“I’m continually challenged to do bigger and better things at Sentry Equipment... And I know that everyone here is 100% behind me in accomplishing those goals and will support me to make it happen. That’s the culture we have here,” she says. “There’s such a huge focus on collaboration and working together to accomplish whatever we set our minds to.”

She attributes this goal-focused and collaborative work environment to the employee-owned business model, which according to Krista means, “Everyone wants the company to succeed, so we’re all willing to put in the hard work to make it happen and help each other out along the way.”

Her greatest professional accomplishment is also the one that has had the most impact on her personal life. “I was able to come out of my shell during my time at Sentry Equipment. I went from self-identifying as an introvert to someone who loves giving presentations in front of huge groups of people,” she says.

Krista’s growth and accomplishments along with her passion for employee ownership has been seen by others both in and outside of Sentry Equipment. She’s had the opportunity to tell the Sentry employee ownership story at local and regional conferences and was recognized in 2019 with the Employee Owner of the Year Award from the ESOP Association – WI Chapter.

“The personal and professional growth and support I’ve found at Sentry Equipment has pushed me to strive for new challenges – both in and outside of work. I’m excited to reach new heights.”

Employee-Owner Profiles is a regular feature that highlights members of our team. As an employee-owned company, Sentry Equipment believes that employee ownership makes a difference. Our employee-owners are dedicated to hard work, positive results and continual improvement and innovation to provide our customers the highest quality products and services.