It was more by chance than anything. I was fresh out of college and looking for a job and stumbled into work on the retail side of the business of a large paint supplier.
I was part of that paint supplier's management training program and worked as an assistant manager at a store, helping little old ladies match paint colors to pillowcases and stuff like that.
Eventually, I became an assistant manager at an industrial wholesale store, servicing larger customers. It was just a completely different world, faster-paced and higher pressure, and that's the sort of environment in which I tend to rise to the occasion.
While there, I just got very interested in industrial coatings: the zincs, polyurethanes, epoxies, and so on, not only from the technical standpoint—understanding what products do and why to use one type over another—but also in terms of the variety of contractors and owners. And that interest continued to grow, ultimately setting the groundwork for my career path.
Over time, my network in the industrial space grew, and out of that network came an opportunity to work for Caldwell Tanks in quality assurance for shop-applied coatings. This position further expanded my knowledge of coatings and helped me understand the importance of documentation and the environmental impact of coatings.
While working for Caldwell, I pursued my NACE certification and completed my peer review just further stoked the fire for me. I continued to grow my network and learned how to better interface with engineers, third-party inspectors, third-party subcontractors, field subcontractors, etc. Overall, I just built lots of relationships.
I held several positions over my nearly ten years and Caldwell, including New Construction Project Manager, Coatings Project Manager, and Operations Coating Manager. I was doing different things and approaching different facets of a water tank building project. There's a tremendous difference between quality assurance and operations management running ten field crews working across the country. And so, it just gave me a very well-rounded education in the water tank business. What are customer expectations? Engineer expectations? What issues arise on every job, and how do you mitigate or alleviate them?
I joined Carboline in 2016 as a Technical Sales Rep for Kentucky and southern Indiana, further homing in on my coatings knowledge. But I found myself constantly being drawn back to the water tank market, which is what ultimately guided me toward this new position.
I believe my background gives me an excellent launchpad for Carboline to further our position in the water tanks market. We now have the right tools and products to go out and do that, and I have the right expertise. And that truly is one of the things that excites me the most: growing our footprint in this market at a national level.
I feel like the market has been dominated for a long time by a certain company that has yet to face a true competitor regarding technical acumen and a project-centric approach. But now Carboline is that competitor. We have all the pieces in place. And so, what excites me is getting to the top of the pyramid, if you will.
Oh, Kentucky bourbon, of course. I don't necessarily have a favorite, but my go-to would probably be good ol' Maker's Mark. Just bourbon on the rocks is usually good for me, but if I order a cocktail, I'd say an Old Fashioned is at the top of the list.
Well, I would say that I tend to learn more from my failures than I do from my successes. But some of my accomplishments, such as passing my peer review for NACE and getting my Protective Coatings Specialist certification through SSPC, helped solidify in my mind that I was on the right path. I can be self-deprecating and critical of myself at times, and those were just good personal reminders to me that I'm not a faker, that I genuinely know what I know, and that I'm good at what I do. And I'm only getting better and learning more as the years progress.
I have a broad taste in music. I'm big into jam bands like The Allman Brothers. Led Zeppelin and a lot of the classic rock stuff. The Black Crows. A more contemporary band I like is Tame Impala. And I like some outlaw country stuff. But if it's got a message I can get behind or something that speaks to me somehow, the genre doesn't really matter.
I've had several mentors through the years, whether they knew it or not. I see mentors, in a way, as just kind of someone I can learn from and ultimately better myself from in some way, shape, or form. To that end, I have different mentors for different things, and I look up to people in different ways.
One mentor who stands out is Bob Maley, who's had a long career in the coatings industry and is a very smart guy. He always pushed me to be at the top of my game and perform to the best of my abilities.
At Carboline, some of those mentors are Rick Brown and Tim Holmes, both of whom I appreciate for how they approach the sales process. Paul Atzemis, Dan Baribault, and many of our Tech Service guys also come to mind. I can just sit there with them and learn from them, soak it in and understand it, incorporate it into my whole mindset, and ultimately benefit from it. And Jeremy Sukola, I look to him as well, especially his grasp on standards and so forth.
I like to read a lot—primarily fiction: mysteries, thrillers, spy novels, that kind of stuff.
Oh, man. I don't want to pick just one. But I grew up with Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan was awesome, and Daniel Craig killed it, so those would be my top three.
I don't care about selling you 50 gallons of paint. That's not what I care about. I care about helping you and being a resource for you. I may not have all the answers myself, but I can certainly point you toward someone with the answer you need.
At the end of the day, I believe my new role can be summed up by the following: my job is to make your job better, easier, and more profitable.