Just as some of the deepest streams can have the smoothest surfaces, Scott Bogdan’s quiet and reserved nature only conceals his great strength of character.

Scott Bogdan
Still Waters Run Deep
by John P. Ribner

No one usually notices the quiet kid in the corner, but just because he’s quiet doesn’t mean he’s got nothing to say. Such is the case with Scott Bogdan, President of tanning salon software maker, Helios. By nature, Scott is the type of person who doesngo out of his way to call undue attention to himself – he’s more comfortable behind-the-scenes, quietly and steadily working toward his goals. Once his laidback exterior is overcome, however, Scott is an interesting person with a unique life story. From his middle class beginning in Aurora, IL to his eventual taking of the helm at Helios, Scott has grown into a man who’s devoted to both his family and his faith, and these are certainly some admirable qualities. Perhaps he should toot his own horn more often, but that just wouldn’t be his way.

May 16, 2007 marked Scott Bogdan’s 10-year anniversary with Helios, but his time and experience with the company goes back further than that. His wife’s parents were partners in a tanning salon with Tony Toepfer, the industry veteran who created the Helios program; Scott spent time alongside his wife, Kate, who has over 10 years of experience “behind the counter.” The years of utilizing Helios paid off when he joined Tony at the software maker; Kate has now been in sales with Helios for the past 31/2 years. As the President of the salon software maker, Scott feels it’s important to remain in touch with his customers and makes himself available by phone or email. “I don’t want any customer to ever feel as though their issue is not important enough to handle personally,” emphasized Scott. “Believe me, I take plenty of support, sales and customer service calls.”

Back in the Day …
Scott was born on September 12, 1963 in Aurora, IL, the second child of Boyd and Sally Bogdan. His father worked as a realtor and his mother was a homemaker; a “typical, middle class upbringing” is how Scott describes his early childhood years. “When I look back on my childhood, I was always outside, riding my bike to the field to play baseball or football,” said Scott. “My love of sports carried through my high school years, where I enjoyed playing baseball, basketball, football and even golf. Since my dad worked long hours, though, my mom was my sports taxi, driving me to all of my games and supporting me.” Scott refers to his older brother, Jeff, as the “gifted” one. “He could make or fix anything and is an accomplished artist,” he commented.
It’s no surprise that athletics was a big part of Scott’s early years – his father, Boyd, was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals, but they were afraid that he may be drafted by a different “team” if the military instituted their own draft; so Boyd enlisted in the Army and served his country proudly as a Morse code interceptor prior to the Vietnam War. After returning home, he passed on baseball and chose to focus on getting married and starting a family. “It was easy for me to relate to my dad and look up to him as role model because I enjoyed playing sports, too,” Scott said. “I remember sitting on the family room floor sharing a huge bowl of popcorn while watching any Chicago sports team that was playing. Every team except the Cubs, that is!”

College Bound
When most young men graduate from high school, their minds are filled with grandiose fantasies of the lives that lay ahead of them. Scott, however, was not one of those guys. “After graduation, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with the rest of my life,” he confessed. “Then one day, my best friend said to me, ‘We’re going to go to college.’ I said, ‘Okay,’ and we enrolled at Western Illinois University.” Scott decided to pursue a degree in law enforcement administration, which the college is known for. While he did earn that degree and even worked in the field for 11 years, it was not Scott’s calling, as he would later discover.

One of the most significant events during Scott’s college years did not occur on campus – it happened back home in Aurora on one snowy, New Year’s Eve. That’s when he became reacquainted with Kate Goldsberry, the woman who would not only become his wife, but would also change his life’s professional direction. “Kate and I knew each other in high school and even double-dated to a dance, but she went with a friend of mine who lived next door,” he explained. “I was home from college for the holidays and ran into her at a New Year’s Eve party and we started talking. Twenty years later, she’s still putting up with me!”

Life Onward!
The year 1987 proved to be a big one for Scott Bogdan. Not only did he graduate from WIU, he also got married. Yes, Scott was on a track that would eventually end at Helios, but he needed to make one stop first. “When I graduated, I still needed to serve an internship, which I did at a juvenile justice center,” he said. “After my internship, I was hired as a youth counselor and worked there for 11 years, eventually becoming the Assistant Superintendent.” Scott describes his old job as very rewarding at first, mainly because he was more of a counselor and advocate for juvenile offenders. But, as the years went by, the juveniles became much more hardened, and the push to label and medicate them became much more prevalent than the face-to-face counseling. This new trend became less appealing to Scott; he began thinking of the next chapter in his professional career.

While Scott yearned for a career change, he didn’t exactly have an exit plan from his job at the juvenile center. It was his wife and her association with tanning industry veteran Tony Toepfer that would provide him with the career move he was looking for. “Kate’s family was good friends with Tony, and he was like a big brother to Kate for many years,” Scott explained. “She was working in their Sportatan salon when she helped Tony exhibit Helios at the tanning trade show in Chicago. While Kate was at the show, Tony’s top man at Helios decided to leave the company.” Although Scott had no computer programming skills, he did have lots of experience managing a large judicial facility with 60+ employees, as well as experience with the Helios software at the salon. And, since he’d always enjoyed working with Tony, he gladly said “Yes” to the new opportunity when it was offered.

For Scott’s first four years on the job, Helios was operated out of its Aurora, IL headquarters. When the company merged with ETS, LLC, the Bogdan family had to relocate to Indianapolis. Although the move was difficult for Scott and Kate at first, and especially for their children – Jared was a junior in high school and Ashley was in the seventh grade – the family not only adjusted to life in a smaller city, but also came to love their new home. After 18 years of developing the Helios software and after new ownership came in, Tony Toepfer decided to sell his interest, making Scott the President of Helios. “We’ve been here for six years and we love it!” he exclaimed. “Indianapolis has all the benefits of a big city, but on a smaller scale. This means if we want to drive downtown, it will only take about 20 minutes. I couldn’t imagine trying to do that back in Chicago.”

Life-Changing Experience
While Scott’s childhood was idyllic, he would face challenges later in life that would cause him to realign his belief system to better handle the ups and downs. During his college years, Scott was rocked by some of the worst news in his life – his parents Boyd and Sally decided to divorce. While he recalls the experience as initially painful, in the end, it helped make him a better person. “This situation motivated me to be a very dedicated husband and father, because at the end of the day life’s experiences are mostly temporal, but family is forever,” he said.
While his parents’ divorce inspired Scott to be a devoted family man, it was in his faith that he found the strength to do so. “I attended church when I was younger, but for whatever reason, it never really reached me,” he explained. “My wife started going to church with our son and without me, because I was not at the same spiritual place as she was at the time. Kate later told me that it was a terrifying decision for her, not knowing how I would react. But after seeing how much happier she was and the effect her faith was having on her life, I began attending church with her and soon accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, as well. My faith also has a lot to do with my disposition on life – to God’s glory, not mine.”

What Lies Ahead, Maybe
While some indoor tanning professionals might love to wax poetic about their various goals, plans and future prospects, Scott isn’t one of them. He takes a more relaxed approach to dealing with what might be in store. “I’m not one to make goals for myself that are too long-term, because anything can happen between now and then,” he commented. “I’d rather set several short-term goals that lead up to a bigger goal, and achieve them one by one.” On that note, Scott says he plans to remain dedicated to keeping Helios on track and headed in the right direction.

As for his personal life, Scott plans to continue his devotion to faith and family. His daughter, Ashley, plans to attend Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, FL in the fall, and son Jared has already moved out with friends and works in Indianapolis. Needless to say, Kate and Scott now face the mixed blessing of becoming empty nesters. “Moving to Florida is a long-term goal, but we don’t plan to do that for a long time and only if our family will be part of that move,” Scott said.

Don’t expect fireworks and fanfare from Scott Bogdan. As the indoor tanning industry’s “quiet man,” he plans to continue to lead the quiet life, steadily working toward his goals with the silent intensity that has become his hallmark. And while the ideal of perfection is unattainable by any human, Scott will still strive to get as near to that mark as he can, all the while concentrating on what really matters to him – being the best husband and father he can be. Perhaps Scott’s outlook on life is best summed up with the simple, one-word closing inspired by his son Jared, that’s become the signature in his monthly IST “Tech Talk” column – “Peace.”