What is your favorite part of your job?
My favorite part of my career has been having a first-person view of how everyday items are manufactured and what makes this world go around. With that said, being able to turn ideas and experiences into engineered solutions for our customers is extremely rewarding.
As we progressed beyond being a pump distributor with limited capabilities at Anderson Process, we have built a company that has the ability to turn a basic request of “I need a pump” into a custom skid or system that has hundreds of components and that not only pumps the product they want to pump but also solves a multitude of other requests that the customer had. A close second favorite part of my career has been getting to travel and meet all the great people who have helped guide me. I have been provided with experiences and friendships that have made an immeasurable impact on my career.
What is the most challenging part of your job?
The most challenging part of my career has been the continued learning and evolving as a person, on top of my day job. With an early start in the industry, I was often making decisions and leading teams that I was doing or learning for the first time. As the years go by, those decisions become easier. We have been growing at a continued fast pace that is uncharted for the company and myself.
Another challenging aspect for me is that everything and everyone matters within the company, from the employees to the customers and suppliers. This has provided an added pressure to perform. As a distributor, we have it coming at us from both ways, so continuing to adapt and evolve as an individual and a company is necessary for us to stay ahead. My career and Anderson Process are constantly growing and evolving, which is challenging and rewarding at the same time.
What are your long-term career goals?
Now, as the president of Anderson Process, my long-term goal is to continue creating an environment of successful and enthusiastic individuals within the pumps and systems world. We have been able to build a multistate, privately held business through organic growth and acquisition.
My personal goals and our business goals are one and the same—continue our path to being a leading value-added, engineered distributor in the Midwest and surrounding areas. We know that our continued focus on growth will lead to the creation of successful and passionate individuals.
What is some advice you’d give to a young professional in the field?
My advice to a younger professional in the pumps and systems world is to first become enthusiastic about the products that you manufacture or sell. Without passion, the opportunities will never present themselves within our world, or any career for that matter. The people around you can easily tell if you have passion or not.
Let that passion be what drives you. Do not treat it like a job but treat it like a career. Living in a technical world, you must dive into the details about what you are selling or building. From there, your success is based off your attitude and effort. Not only will you create opportunities, but they will be presented to you.
How has the industry changed since you first started?
Outside of the advancements in technology as a whole and the advancements in product technology, the people and companies have changed the most. I started my career early and young. The people that I have built 15-20-year relationships with are retiring or selling their businesses, which in turn has created opportunities for individuals like me who have committed their careers to the industry.
It is sad, but there has been inevitable turnover within the industry, and I am now becoming someone who can mentor and guide the new generation of the rotating equipment industry. Consolidation of small, privately held businesses has resulted in fewer entrepreneurially built and operated companies but has also created a blending of personalities, technologies and professionalism that is exciting to be a part of. Although the new generations do not have years of product and problem-solving experience, they can learn quickly, implement tools and produce positive outcomes with a strong base knowledge.
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