Here’s something for everyone reading this to take in… with
everyone coming to GlassBuild America, please seriously look at attending the
Fall Conference there. More info is HERE
with the schedule (and with more details to follow) but you will see the conference
now integrates with the show. If you
want to get involved and learn about all of the things going on with regards to
the technical happenings, codes, advocacy etc. you need to sign up and attend. You’ll still have plenty of show time as
well. If you have any questions, reach
out to me, as I would love to see you there.
Kudos to the gang at Pleotint and Patrick Lentz on the
launch of their new website. The www.suntuitiveglass.com site is
fabulous. The layout, pictures, detail,
and info are strong. Congrats to all
involved in this launch!
Big 3 with Dan Wright
President at Paragon Tempered Glass
Dan Wright has worked with some of the most talented and in
some cases legendary people our industry has ever had… so my hope with this interview was to get him
to open up about it- because he’s been on a pretty epic ride. He did not let me down (never has on any
level, so not surprised) Really good
stuff below, and the answers to question #2 are amazing.
I think most people
who recognize your name associate you from your past stint at Guardian. You are now President at Paragon Tempered
Glass, can you tell me more about how you got there and what you are doing
now?
Well, it’s been a long road to my current role. In 1995 I was about 6 months away from
graduating college and my sister was in town with her family. My sister and I had grown closer while I was
in college because she was very ill and needed a kidney, I happened to be the
right match. Her husband, Tony Hobart
(former Group VP of Guardian Industries) took a keen interest in my future and
when they were at our house, Tony asked me to take a walk. He asked about what kind of career I was
looking for and honestly I had no idea.
I was getting a finance degree, and thought I might go the route of a financial
planner. He asked if I was up for an
adventure, and I was intrigued. He said,
you would start in inside sales in Richburg, SC, from there it’s what you make
of it. Guardian is growing rapidly and
you don’t have to stay in sales, if you are willing to take moves, there are
opportunities all over the world. So
that was the first real turning point in my journey. I was in Richburg for a year, then took every
opportunity that was offered to me.
DeWitt, IA to open a float plant was next. After a few years I was pretty close to
bailing out of the glass business, but Tom Marsh (former Midwest Regional
Manager at Guardian) took me under his wing and taught me forecasting and sales
planning and then put me out on the road in 1998, covering Iowa, Missouri,
Kansas, Colorado, Nebraska and South Dakota, all by car. This was the second turning point in my
career and I am forever grateful that he gave me the opportunity. The market was exploding and I followed a
sales representative in part of the area that was not well liked. Sales grew quickly and we lost a regional
manager, suddenly, in Detroit. I was
offered that role, and from there I found my stride in finding talented sales
people who were better than I was, not only as sales people, but managers. Each time we lost a regional sales manager, I
had a replacement ready to fill my role, so I was asked to take on the vacated
position. Guys like Dave Zawisza
(Carleton plant) and Ryan Sexton (Richburg plant), were both complete
professionals and superstars at Guardian. I fit the Bill Davidson/Russ Ebeid
culture very well, but the times were changing, and at the same time, I went
through a personal crisis, so my path at Guardian ended, abruptly.
So in 2011 I received a call from a recruiter for a position
in Elkhart, IN. It turns out one of my
former sales representatives, Nick McLay, was contacted about the position and
thought I was a better fit. I
interviewed with StateWide Aluminum in Elkhart, IN and was offered the Sales
Manager job there the next day. So I
took the family from Charlotte, NC to Indiana.
StateWide was the main supplier of windows for the truck cap industry,
brands like LEER, Jason, Unicover and Lakeland.
But they were still in the throes of the Great recession and had not
recovered. Their business was down
significantly. But, slowly we started to
get stronger. We rebranded our company
as StateWide Windows, and worked hard on developing our culture. This was really the third turning point in my
career. I was working with a VP at
StateWide, Jim Johnson, that was my complete opposite. He was a taskmaster and extremely
detailed. He saw potential in me and was
not going to let me waste it. Some of
our shouting matches were legendary and I slammed the door on the way out a few
times. To his credit, he never held a
grudge and he pulled me through the eye of the needle. He challenged me at every turn and held my
feet to the fire. At the time, I cursed
him and looked for new career opportunities (none of which panned out,
luckily). He worked with me on writing 5
year business plans, researching and presenting M&A opportunities to our
ownership, as well as forecasting and reporting. He was the toughest coach I ever had, but I
came out all the better for it, even though I couldn’t see it while it was
happening.
Jim was approached by one of our suppliers about being part
of their succession plan because their President was ready to slow down a
little. Jim, said, “I’m not your guy,
but I’ve got your guy”. That is when I
was introduced to Paragon, and it truly was a match for both of our
futures. I came to Paragon as the VP of
Sales and Marketing in January of 2017, and after a year of strong growth, I
was offered the role of President at Paragon Tempered Glass.
You’ve worked for and
with some unbelievable people in your past.
Legends really. Any tidbits of advice
or knowledge that one (or more of them) gave you that you would like to
share?
Oh man, I came into the glass industry in a golden age. Many of the people I worked with had worked
side by side with Russ Ebeid, and Mr. Davidson knew most of their names! I learned a little (or a lot) from all of
them. True legends within the glass
industry and within Guardian. So let’s
see if I can rattle off a few…
From Bill Davidson – It’s all about leverage, someone is
always leaning on someone else, so you better know which side you are on.
Also from Mr. D. – Those individuals that are accomplishing
the most usually have to say the least, those that are not achieving their
goals feel the need to explain in great detail.
Instead of all the explanations just improve, the results will speak for
themselves
From Russ Ebeid – If you are not developing the next leaders
of your company then you are working on the wrong things.
From Jim Walsh – never take your coat off at customer or
plant, it implies you are staying
From Don Tullman/Gerry Hool – you must win over the hearts
and minds of the people to have a successful culture
From Ron Nadolski/Jay Waite – I learned this after I fetched
Dove bars from the hotel store for these two, “Kid, have some fun while you do this
job, it’s only glass and we will make more of it tomorrow!”
From Ted Hathaway – It’s okay to treat your suppliers
sometimes, this isn’t a one way street
From Mike Robinson (Plant Manager at Guardian-Richburg) – if
you do the right thing everytime, you will eventually be rewarded…Mike waited
his turn for longer than anyone I know to be named a plant manager, and when he
was, I was so thrilled.
I truly was lucky to work with people like John Thompson,
Tom Ricker, Matt Hill, Vince Westerhof,
Dennis Carroll, Bruce Cooke, Steve Patience, Rosie Hunter, Dean Campbell, and
Sarah Wansack. They all taught me
something along the way and I am very appreciative of that.
You were/are a
seriously talented athlete that I also just found out has a gift for writing
too. Do you look back and wonder where
your life would’ve been if you chased golf, baseball, or sports writing?
You are way too kind, Max.
To tell the truth, keeping my mom out of the equation, I was the worst
athlete in the family. My dad was all state
in Pennsylvania in football, basketball and track back in the 1940’s. My oldest brother Lee, swam at LSU. My sister, Debbie, won the Florida High
School State championship in the backstroke as a sophomore in high school and
went on to swim at Alabama. My most
talented sibling, Greg, may have been the best swimmer in his age group in the
country at 12 years old. He went on to
swim at Alabama as well. So I had big
shoes to fill in my house growing up. I
was the baby by 12 years so my parents were done with swimming. Baseball was my first love, and I was very
good from about 7 years old to 13 years old.
I was a dominant pitcher at 12 and 13.
There was one game where I struck out 20 out of 21 batters, the one that
got away bunted it back to me. But I
tore my triceps muscle at 13 and my arm was never as strong as it once
was. Everyone caught up to me
physically, and though I was good enough to play some college ball, I didn’t
have the talent to take it past that. So
my competitive outlet became golf, and though I loved it, it took me a long
time to get to where I wanted to be. My
dad introduced me to the game when I was seven, but I never focused on it. He and Lee had a strong bond with golf, and I
knew it was something I wanted to get better at but I truly had to “dig it out
of the dirt” as Ben Hogan said. I had
two magical days in 2001, both my dad and sister were still alive and my
parents were visiting and staying at her house, and I lived nearby. My dad was past his playing days but came out
to watch me play a couple of practice rounds leading up to our club
championship that weekend. He said,
“Dan, I’ve never seen you hit it better, go have some fun.” My family was all at my niece’s softball game
on the first day of the tournament, and I went out and shot a 69, I was just
unconscious. I rushed from the course to
her game to share the news, and my dad said, “I didn’t know you were THAT
good!” The next day I was four under par
for the day (seven under for the tournament) and had a nine shot lead standing
on the 15th tee, where I proceeded to fall apart and give back 5
shots over those 4 holes, but held on to win a club championship. As much as I did in baseball (we won Florida
senior major league state championship in 1989, and I was named the defensive
MVP for the tournament for the three games I pitched in), that club
championship was probably my proudest athletic moment. In my foursome that day were 1)A four time
Michigan Amatuer champion and 5 time U.S. open qualifier, 2) a two time club
champion, and senior club champion, 3) a three time club champion, and at the
time course record holder (64). I was in
rare air, and met the challenge when on the inside I was a nervous wreck. Unfortunately, I think my best golf is behind
me. I just don’t play enough anymore,
and for me I have to play and practice to be competitive.
Finally, with regards to sports writing, I was a finalist
for the Grantland Rice scholarship at Vanderbilt, and had I won that I would
have quit baseball and followed that path.
The funny thing is, I hated deadlines, still do to this day. I always waited to the last minute and then
banged it out under the gun. I finally
learned that’s pretty much how the business is and I probably would have
excelled at it because I worked best under that pressure. One of my best friends in high school, who
followed me as editor of the school newspaper after I graduated, went on to
write for the sporting news, so I got to see the “inside” of sports writing,
and though I may have enjoyed getting into the “broadcasting” side of things
like Stephen A. Smith or Tony Kornheiser, writing day to day just wasn’t for
me.
No Links or Video
this week… they’ll be back next week!!
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