How many of us can say we worked for forty years at our own business and loved every single day? Steve Kuhn feels that way about his company he started in 1960 called “Markets International.” This was an ideal business for him, giving him an excuse to travel back to his native Germany.

Steve left Karlsruhe, Germany, in 1939, with his parents, two Giant Schnauzers, a canary, and his four year older brother. The Kuhns settled in Chicago, where Steve went to high school and junior college. The entire family became US citizens in 1944. When Steve was drafted into the army, pure luck sent him back to Karlsruhe, by the Black Forest, where he was stationed for one year as an interpreter/translator and a military vehicle driver. While there, he was able to find his original family home. In 1988, Karlsruhe invited back any citizen who had been forced to flee before or during WWII. Steve, with his older daughter, Sandra, returned to participate in this week-long celebration, along with 700 other former Karlsruhe citizens.

Steve attended Roosevelt University under the GI bill, earning a degree in Marketing and Advertising. He did market research for a couple of years, saving his money for his next great adventure: a year skiing and traveling through Central and South America, ending with a freighter ride along the east coast of South America and up the Amazon River. Steve feels that this trip was one of the highlights of his life and certainly helped him to understand that his goal in life was to travel. When he returned home (and to reality), he again started working in marketing for an aggressive industrial company which was building European connections. As Marketing Manager, Steve recognized their need for a specialist in this area. Not being able to convince his boss, he left the company in 1961 to return to Germany to do market development for his former employer, as well as for a number of other American firms

Steve lived in Frankfurt, Germany, where he conducted business as a consultant. There he met his wife Ilse and had their first daughter, Sandra. Steve’s new family moved back to Chicago where their daughter Lara was born. In 1966, the consulting venture switched to an import venture; Steve had found his niche. Starting with the importation of fine candles from Germany (his first shipment was for $500 and soon sold), Steve was on a roll. He found many products for the gift industry including hand woven Kilims (rugs or wall hangings) from Poland. Later, through the purchase of another company, he expanded into crystal figurines and other gift items from Sweden and Norway. He would travel through Europe to find products that inspired him and then find the markets for them in the States. He could ski in Europe, hike and camp on both continents, and do business in his chosen career. His background allowed him to do the marketing, create his own catalogs, even do the photography.

During the 1980’s Steve became a trained mediator in Chicago and conducted mediations for a national organization—Center for Conflict Resolution-- and for the Chicago court system. This was a volunteer job that Steve did for eight years. He says this job had a marked effect on how he conducted his life, as he realized, “all is not black or white.” Steve says, “from that experience I learned how important it is not to jump to conclusions and to have an open mind to any kind of information…including information coming from my children.” 80% of his mediations were successful.

And now Steve is happy and content with his busy retirement. He moved to Glenwood Springs in 2002. He serves on the 100 Club Board, tutors for the Outreach Literacy program, ushers for many cultural events in Aspen, skis and hikes with the 100 Club, takes courses at CMC, and still travels. Summer 2004 brought a trip to Weimer, Germany for a family reunion, with side trips to Kandersteg, Switzerland, and Dijon and Paris, France (where the highlight of the trip was a ride on a Segway). His daughters visit from the East Coast regularly. Sandra, with a Masters in Education, teaches in the Boston area, and Lara, who lives in Bloomfield Village, NY, with her husband, is completing her PhD at Rutgers.