Shane M. Hartje, 36

By Mary Erpenbach

It takes a special blend of competitiveness and patience to decide to root for your favorite hockey team by growing a beard. Meet the recently bearded Shane Hartje, CEO of Rockford-based 1st Step Mortgage Group and avid Ice Hogs fan. When his team entered the playoffs in April, Hartje vowed not to shave until the Hogs had gone as far as they could go. His friends knew better than to bet against him.

They were smart. Hartje didn’t shave for nearly a month, until his beloved Hogs bowed out on May 13 with a 4-1 loss to the Chicago Wolves.

“I’m beyond competitive,” he says. “It came through in pretty much every sport I played when I was growing up. But I also strive to do things right, and that might take a little bit more time. It’s hard to be competitive and have patience, but I’ve learned to blend the two.”

Hartje’s tempered drive has a lot to do with how in only 10 years he managed to move from being a newly minted Illinois State University graduate to founding a company that now has 31 employees and offices in Rockford, Byron, Beloit and downtown Chicago. “I had the progression of sales manager at one company, vice president at another,” he explains, “but I wanted to work for myself.”

Married and a father, Hartje and his family live in Belvidere. In 2006 he and some card-playing buddies created the “All In for the Kids” poker tournament as a fundraiser for charities such as the Boys & Girls Club of Rockford and the Cosmopolitan Club. The tournament grew to include 180 players in 2007.

This year, the smart money is on an even bigger turnout, thanks to Hartje’s competitive, yet patient, spirit.