We treat each other with dignity, honesty, trust, and respect. We value and encourage each other's abilities and creativity.
“We're a talent agency,” says John McMeel, chairman of Andrews McMeel Universal and co-founder of Universal Press Syndicate. “A special kind of talent agency, because the creators and authors we represent and promote are special kinds of people.
"The relationships between our company and our creators and authors—and our relationships with the editors, writers and artists on our own staff—are the foundation upon which this company was built and has succeeded. Without them we'd have no company, no reason to exist.”
Inspired by one of Erma Bombeck's columns, Kathleen Andrews, vice chairman of Andrews McMeel Universal and chief executive officer of Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC, says, “Creative people are like kites. They fly high above the rest of us, inspiring us and filling us with awe. But there has to be somebody down here, on the ground, holding the string, pulling it tight, letting it out, or the kite couldn't fly. If you let go of the string, the kite will crash. But if you don't give the kite enough string, it'll never fly as high as it can. That's what our company does. We hold the string's not too tight, not too loose. The kite is the creator. And the flight of the kite is the creativity.”
