Inside SOTW Mag: Women Of Substance—Jamie Lusero

Jamie Lusero could have taken her marketing degree from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln straight to Performance Boat Center in Osage Beach, Mo., and gone to work for her parents. Instead, the now-26-year-old daughter of Performance Boat Center principals Mark and Rachel Waddington, put in few years at an advertising agency in Kansas City, a town that she and her husband, Dylan, love and still mostly call home. Lusero did have visions of joining the family business, but before that she wanted to work at an agency and learn.

Jamie Lusero, the daughter of Mark and Rachel Waddington, is thriving at Performance Boat Center. Photo by Jeff Helmkamp copyright Helmkamp Photos.

A little more than a year ago, Lusero—who still lives in Kansas City with her husband but spends three days a week at the dealership in the winter and is there most days during the boating season—made the leap. And she couldn’t be happier.

HOW DID YOU COME TO JOIN PERFORMANCE BOAT CENTER?

I knew I wanted to be part of (the company) but I didn’t necessarily want to do it right away. So I spent a couple of years at a digital ad agency in Kansas City. Finally, my dad said, “We would like to have you here. What can we do to make that happen?” We worked out a plan. I’m glad he convinced me.

DID YOU GROW UP AROUND FAST BOATS?

Yes and no. I grew up in Omaha, Neb., and coming to the lake in the summer. We used to stay at the Robin’s Resort across from Dog Days. I grew up playing soccer, so summers were a bit of a break. We used to have a little bowrider, but as I got older the boats started to become more performance oriented.

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