What is your current role at FASTSIGNS?
As the Director of Training for FASTSIGNS International, Inc., I am responsible for all of the training that is offered. We run a two-week "Foundations" training course every month for new franchise partners and their employees. I help oversee other training sessions on vehicle wraps, sales boot camp and digital signage.
How did you come to the FASTSIGNS family?
I attended FASTSIGNS training in 1996 with my mother and then we opened our FASTSIGNS location in High Point, North Carolina. As the computer operator I also helped in production, installations and sales. As a young adult it was very exciting to use the desktop publishing skills I had worked to learn.
In late 1999, the tech department at FASTSIGNS International expanded and my name came up. Jeff Youngblood, the Director of Technical Support at that time (now co-owner of FASTSIGNS of Irving), brought me to Dallas for an interview, hired me and put me to work as a Technical Services Representative. Family ties pulled me back to North Carolina that September and I returned to work at my parents' center for the next two years.
My wife and I missed Dallas and the opportunities available. Luckily, there was an opening on the tech team and I returned in 2003 as a Digital Support Specialist to help support the growing inkjet and solvent printer population in the network.
Ready to try something different, I secured a position in the training department as a Technical Trainer. Over the last nine years in the training department, I have grown from Corporate Trainer to Senior Trainer to Senior Manager of Training. In 2013, I was promoted to Director of Training.
What is your favorite thing about your job?
One of my favorite things about working at FASTSIGNS International, Inc. is the constant challenge of learning new things and helping change our business for the better. FASTSIGNS is committed to helping our franchise partners and this is a responsibility I take extremely seriously. I've literally grown up in this business. I get a tremendous sense of satisfaction over what we do as a company to help our centers grow.
When I'm teaching a class and see the light bulb go on in someone's head, that is one of the greatest feelings in the world for me; they connect the dots and suddenly catch the vision of what we're trying to help them accomplish.
What do you enjoy doing "off the clock"?
I love to fish, hunt, kayak, hike, mountain bike or participating in any other kind of outdoor activity. Dove and duck hunting are becoming larger passions of mine as I work more with our two Labrador retrievers, Kimber and Ruger. My wife of 19 years, Jackie, and I have a lot of fun together since we share many of these same passions. This fall, I'm planning my first northern Wisconsin hunting trip with my uncle in Wausau.
I've always loved being on the water. We recently moved to a new house just a couple of blocks from the lake. I'm really looking forward to spending more time in the kayak, and biking and hiking the trails that are nearby.
