Meet the Team: Maurice Zakhir

My name is Maurice Zakhir, but at El Toro, I go by MZ. For the very first time ever in my professional career, I work with another Maurice. There’s a tradition at El Toro that if you are the first of your “name” then your email can be just your first name @eltoro.com. Since Maurice@eltoro.com was taken I needed to choose something else and “TheOtherMaurice@eltoro.com” wasn’t going to fly despite my coworkers lobbying for it. That’s when I received my namesake at El Toro; you can call me MZ.

This is my 27th attempt at writing my “meet the team” because I am not the creative type. When I read all of my other coworkers polished narratives and cute perspectives I just kept deleting everything I typed because I hated it. Then I realized this was about getting to know me and I’m all about things being black or white, systems & processes, and typically making everything I can control perfect. A “creative” narrative is not my style. It would also be fair to mention that I'm OCD.

This all makes perfect sense, considering my primary functions at El Toro are Human Resources, Sales Operations, and Programming Operations. I make sure everything runs smoothly and nothing slips through the cracks. I guess you can say I’m an expert at juggling dozens of plates at a time. I’m passionate about my work and attention to detail is the road to perfection which is probably my biggest weakness. I try to be perfect and I expect others to be perfect, which after 34 years, I’ve learned, doesn’t exist.

Throughout my professional career I’ve continued to elevate my skill set and have grown tremendously both personally and professionally. Since I graduated from California State University, Sacramento in 2004, I’ve worked in a number of industries, but all have contributed to what makes me a vital asset to El Toro. I worked in operations and property management right out of college, then I moved into human resources and operations for a private nursing school before I moved to Louisville. Once I moved to Louisville I found my dream job working in advertising at Scoppechio, formerly known as Creative Alliance. At Scoppechio I worked in traffic which meant I made sure that every job that came through the agency was processed and completed on time with all changes and final proofs being executed flawlessly every time. Since my ultimate dream was to be Mel Gibson in the movie, “What Women Want”, I guess you can say I was able to fulfill that dream. However, I wanted more.

One day as I was writing up edits on a change order for a campaign I was working on, I got the call from my husband, Greg, who is the director of sales and marketing at El Toro. He was calling to let me know that El Toro was in need of my skill set and they would love to have me join their team. I asked if this was a cruel joke because El Toro is the kind of place that everyone dreams of working at and I never thought I’d have that chance. Turns out, I’m the only one with OCD that has a passion for processes, procedures, operations, and proper documentation, which makes me "THAT GUY!"

I’ve been at El Toro for almost a year and you could say that I’ve spread my wings. I’m involved with every department, optimizing and streamlining things the best way I know how. I love our team and consider my time here at El Toro a blessing that I hope never ends.

I try to inspire others to be better everyday and I’m inspired by those I work with. I have a husband and best friend of 12 years, 3 dogs, a cat, 1 turtle, and a school of fish. I love jeeps, boating, camping, traveling, tequila, and bourbon. Oh, and I’m Britney Spears’ biggest fan (I have signed drumsticks to prove it).

I look forward to continue being an integral part to El Toro’s growth and I’m lucky to work alongside my best friend and an amazing family of people (and dogs) that inspire and innovate every day.