Johann Stoessel started his first technical service and support job in 1980 and has spent the past 32 years gaining experience in multiple verticals, including local government, manufacturing, banking, insurance, healthcare, retail, and consulting. Regardless of the vertical, Johann has always held positions that allowed him to pursue his number-one goal: connecting with people.

Johann attended his first HDI local chapter meeting in 2000. He had become an officer by the end of the year and has served in many other positions since then. In 2002, Johann joined the faculty at the HDI annual conference, a role he would reprise several times over the next 10 years. The next year, after attending the Local Chapter Officers’ Summit, Johann joined the Member Advisory Board (MAB), serving as the director of the Central region in 2004 and as the chair from 2006–2007.

In 2008, Johann joined the HDI Retail Forum and became the first chair of the Forum’s steering committee. Working with Leslie Cook and a small committee of Forum members, he helped establish a model that quickly added value to the group. Joh currently works for Costco Wholesale as a member of the Incident Management Escalation Team.