What is one thing that members/ companies can do to get the most out of their membership? Be involved. I see way too many people/ companies who pay their dues and don’t participate. They typically last one or two years and say what’s the benefit of my dues? If you’re not involved, there is no benefit. What is the biggest lesson you have learned in your profession and how did you learn it? I’ve learned most of my lessons in life through the School of Hard Knocks. The biggest lesson I learned is that you have to empower people. I tried to do too much by myself in the beginning and recognized my limitations. I learned that we can be a better company by functioning as a company as opposed to a sole proprietorship. So, get people involved, empower people and let them put some creativity into their roles. This is one lesson that took me way too long to learn. Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give yourself earlier in your career? I think one of the problems in the industry today is too many people are entering this field of work and want to be immediately involved in leadership and management roles. Although that’s admirable, we still need tradesmen, someone who has come up through the trades, learned skills on the job and has a well-rounded perspective. I’m not trying to discount the education portion of it, but part of that education is understanding what the field does. If I were advising somebody, I would say, “Go learn the aspects of each job.” That’s a continuation of that education process. If you want to go out and do your own thing, that’s great, but get experience and a reallife perspective — something beyond just an academic perspective. What career accomplishment are you proudest of? The people are what I’m proudest of. I love who I get to work with, and the fact that I get to work with them is probably my biggest accomplishment. 17
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