Wichita, Kan. — (September 21, 2022) — Over 15.7 million minutes—that’s how long High Touch has been on Senior Vice President of Network Operations and CIO Kevin Colborn’s resume.
Back in 1992, Kevin walked through the High Touch Technologies front doors for the first time, then located in Wichita’s Twin Lakes neighborhood. His title? Information Technology Manager.
Back then, High Touch’s technology, solutions, and services looked a lot different than they do in 2022—think pagers, tapes, and over-the-phone tech support. “In those days, I was the client support guy. I remember being on-call seven days a week, taking calls all day, then I’d race home with my pager going off until I could hop back on the phone and guide people through our software.”
Kevin recounts that he was on-call from 1992 until he finally took a family vacation in 2003, but despite the ongoing work, High Touch had a culture that made coming to work every day something he’s enjoyed for 30 years.
Why’d You Take the Job at High Touch?
Before High Touch, Kevin worked as a Systems Engineer for the corporate headquarters of one of the most prevalent brands in the 90s—Pizza Hut.
“I learned pretty quickly that I didn’t like the culture of the Fortune 500 politics,” states Kevin. “When I went to my interview at High Touch, I noticed a guy wearing jean shorts working in an office. Our Director of Client Support at the time told me that ‘that guy’ was one of High Touch’s cofounders, Dave Glover. I was so excited at the thought of never having to dress up for work again.”
At that time, the rent-to-own industry was much less consolidated, and High Touch had just signed on its 500th store.
“On my first day, I remember I sat in a conference room with a giant printed software guide, and they told me to read it from cover to cover. That was my training,” Kevin laughs. “We used to play so many good jokes on each other. I knew I had found my people when I started working at High Touch.”
As Kevin’s career progressed at High Touch, he remembers pitching his next career move to former President and CEO Lyle Jones. “At the time, the future of IT was a ‘distributed network,’ and we needed an Internal IT guy. We worked out a plan, and I became the IT guy until I began building an internal IT team in 2006.”
Move to Downtown Wichita
Kevin has worn many hats, from customer support to IT and marketing, during his time at High Touch. At one time, he oversaw facilities—one of Kevin’s duties was finding a permanent, meaningful home for High Touch. In 2008, the company moved to its current headquarters in downtown Wichita.
“At the time, no one was moving downtown. We wanted to be part of the leading pack that led the revitalization of downtown Wichita,” states Kevin. “Our presence and having prominent signage certainly impacted our growth as an organization. I’ll never forget the project from gutting all the floors and overseeing the buildout.”
CIO, SVP, and Beyond
In 2012, Kevin was named High Touch’s CIO. Since, he’s held the additional titles of Senior Vice President of Technology Solutions, and now, Senior Vice President of Network Operations.
“Over the years, I’ve had many memorable experiences. One that really sticks out is when Rent-A-Center initially chose High Touch’s RTO software, and we had a limited timeline to convert thousands of stores. Another would be building out our Dallas Data Center and all the equipment there,” states Kevin.
“Last but not least, all the work that went into our new market acquisitions and growth.”
As High Touch continued to add new solutions and services, Kevin was tasked with leading the company’s expansion into new markets. Under Kevin’s leadership, High Touch successfully completed 15 acquisitions in 8 years, extending the company’s reach into the Dallas, Denver, Kansas City, and San Antonio metro areas as well as amplifying the company’s existing presence in Corpus Christi and Wichita.
Bringing the Human Touch to Technology.
“Above all, my favorite memories are all the amazing people and mentors I’ve had the opportunity to work with along the way,” states Kevin. I’ve never had one of those Sundays where you dread going to work the next day. My wife likes to joke that I have no friends or work/life balance, but when you’re always learning and have the opportunity to build a career you love with people you appreciate, you hit a new level of balance that falls outside your standard career norms. After 30 years, I’m hopeful that I’ve made the same contributions to the company and people at High Touch that they’ve made to myself and my career.”
To learn more about Kevin, his role as Senior Vice President of Network Operations, and his background at High Touch, click here to view his executive profile.