Paul Hoefer Is Working For More Than Just Himself

Written by: Brady Drake

Being a parent, especially with newborns, isn’t easy. For those who haven’t had the joy of raising a child, imagine sleepless nights, financial stress and a plethora of poopy diapers. Now imagine that times three.

That was reality for Spotlight’s Vice President of Business Development, Paul Hoefer, shortly after his triplets were born in 2008. Though that description may seem grim, it is only part of Paul’s story.

At the time, Paul and his ex-wife were raising Emma, who isn’t Paul’s biological daughter, however, you wouldn’t be able to tell by looking at their relationship. To this day, he still considers her his own and is raising her as if she was his biological daughter. “Emma made me fall in love with being a dad,” said Paul.

“We were trying for one more, thinking if it’s a boy, we will be done. I remember going into the hospital and them doing an ultrasound. That is when they told me I was having Twins and they thought a triplet had been forming but never actually did. Fast forward a solid five months and probably 20 ultrasounds later, the Doctor looked me dead in the eyes and said, ‘I see it, sir, you may want to sit down.’ I will never forget this moment ever.  In those 2-3 seconds, which felt like hours, so many bad things went through my head. I wondered if one had died, if they were conjoined, if they were missing body parts. Eventually, I heard her say, ‘your twins are actually triplets.’ I am often asked by people what did you do when you found out.  Most people think you would be nervous, scared or  shocked. I felt relief. It was the best news possible when I thought the worst.”

When he got the news, Paul was working a job at a call center making little money. Thankfully, the community rallied around him with his church doing a diaper drive. 

“Even though we didn’t have much at the time, I never really felt like I was missing out on anything because I had my girls,” said Paul. “Realistically, to make it, I had to put myself second. During that time of my life, most of the things I did for fun were basically free.”

The lack of pay led Paul to do what he had to do to survive. He accepted a job with Express Employment Professionals that bettered his situation and eventually parlayed that into a job with Wanzek that gave him a degree of breathing room. 

From there, Paul eventually found a home with Spotlight where he has been a top sales rep for the past seven years while being surrounded and endlessly supported by his fiance, Wendy.  Wendy has two older daughters that are out of the house and a son, who is a senior in high school. Wendy’s son Braydon plays softball with Paul in the summer. Paul often refers to their blended family as a modern day Brady Bunch.

Though the position at Spotlight allows him to do things he once thought would be a rarity for his family, like take family vacations, it has also given him the flexibility needed to truly enjoy his day to day.

“Spotlight has given me the time and flexibility to be able to leave at 4 to go to one of the girls’ basketball games,” said Paul. “I’ve never been told that I can’t do that here. My favorite thing to do is watch them play sports. If I can go out and watch my kids have fun, I’ll give up whatever.”

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Brady is the Editorial Director at Spotlight Media in Fargo, ND.