All in the family

     By Sonya Padgett
     View staff writer
      As boys, Jim McKusick teased and strong-armed his brother Mike Geary as only an older brother can.
      Now that they're adults, McKusick, 41, still teases his 36-year-old half-brother, but Geary gives back what he gets and it's all in good-natured fun.
      That's a good thing too, since they run a business together, live in the same neighborhood and spend a lot of free time together.
      McKusick is president and Geary vice-president of the Geary Company, a local advertising agency established in 1969 by Geary's father and McKusick's step-father, Richard Geary. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the business. Their clients include the Hyatt Regency Lake Las Vegas Resort, Friendly Ford and the Fiesta, among others.
      The brothers, who started working for their father as teen-agers, took over the company in late 1989 after Richard Geary fell ill with cancer. He died in 1990 at the age of 55.
      Over the past few years, McKusick and Mike Geary have expanded the business by adding staff and clients, and moving into new office space. McKusick said he thinks their father would approve of the changes.
      "We think he would be really tickled with (how the business has changed)," McKusick said.
      Richard Geary taught McKusick and Mike Geary quite a bit about the advertising business, so it's no surprise that his presence at work is missed by his two sons.
      "He was our mentor," Mike Geary said. "We learned so much from him."
      Last year, they moved the company from a building on Industrial Road into a one-story house at 3136 E. Russell Road near Pecos Road. They remodeled the home, turning it into an office building. The two-car garage became the employee break room and bedrooms became offices. Approximately 1,100 square feet was added for more offices and the back yard was paved for employee parking.
      "I like to call it creative fertile ground," McKusick said. "Every room has a window."
      In the old building, employees worked in cubicles; now, everyone has their own space. The "office" makes for a home-like atmosphere that puts clients and workers at ease, McKusick said.
      "When you feel good, you're more creative," McKusick said. "I'm into that creative thing."
      Signs decorate the doors as gentle reminders to keep doors closed but minds open.
      The company, with a staff of 13, has grown since the brothers took over, but it's been a controlled growth, because the duo want to maintain a family-like atmosphere.
      "I don't like being huge," McKusick said. "I like the family feel and I like knowing everybody. I know what's going on with everybody. I think everyone puts their heart and soul into (their work). I can have a hands-on relationship with all of our clients."
      Since McKusick and Mike Geary started running the business, the range of clients has grown.
      In the early years, McKusick said the company's clients consisted mostly of entertainers, from Paul Anka to Pia Zadora. Now they do more work for businesses, including helping the Hyatt Regency Lake Las Vegas Resort with its grand opening last month.
      Richard Geary established the Geary Company in 1969 after Elvis Presley's manager asked him to handle Presley's tour.
      "(Col. Tom Parker) liked our dad's style. He basically said, `How would you like to open an ad agency and do Elvis' tour?' " McKusick said. "Our dad had a great relationship with the colonel."
      Richard Geary was selling billboards at the time. Before moving to Las Vegas, he worked for an advertising agency in San Francisco where he climbed his way up from the mail room to handling national marketing accounts for products such as Borax and Palmolive.
      McKusick, who was born in Queens, N.Y., moved to California when he was 8 months old and his mother married Richard Geary when McKusick was 4 years old. McKusick has fond memories of the work he did for his father.
      "One of my first jobs was hanging posters when Elvis Presley came to town," McKusick said.
      While that was exciting, McKusick never imagined he would work in advertising and public relations. Instead, he dreamed of being a teacher, and possibly coaching kids' sports.
      But when he went to college and took some communications classes, he realized he enjoyed what his father did for a living. McKusick went on to get a communications degree from UNLV.
      Mike Geary, on the other hand, knew early on that he wanted to work with his father.
      "I really enjoy sitting in the darkroom or writing, directing," said Mike Geary, who was born in Glendale, Calif., and grew up in Las Vegas.
      McKusick said his brother is made for the business.
      "It seems like he clicks a lot quicker with creative people, whereas I click better with (business people)," McKusick said.
      At first look, the brothers appear very different. McKusick's brownish-blonde hair, fair complexion and tall, muscular frame is a subtle contrast to Mike Geary's dark hair, tanned skin and slender, athletic physique.
      And where McKusick is gregarious and talkative, Mike Geary is contemplative and reserved -- at first.
      "When we were kids, we didn't get along real well," McKusick said, adding that their problem was typical sibling discord. "Now we get along great. I think we're a good challenge to each other."
      As Mike Geary warms to the subject, he points out their similarities.
      Both are avid sports fans and enjoy watching their children play soccer. They're also beach fanatics.
      "We'd go to the beach every day if we could," McKusick said.
      In the past, they both surfed. Now McKusick said, "it's body-surfing."
      "Or falling down," Mike Geary quipped.
      Both men are devoted to their families; everything they do is connected in some way to their wives or children.
      McKusick has two sons and a daughter with his wife of 18 years, Teri. Geary and his wife Tammy have been married 16 years and have a daughter and son.
      They enjoy their work and said they plan to continue expanding the business, working with clients they like and most importantly, having fun.