When I was hired for this position, which carries responsibility for commercial success and P&L across FyterTech for more than $100 million in sales revenue, I was charged with the global integration of multiple acquisitions into a single entity — resulting in the world's largest vertically integrated manufacturer of sorbents.Under my leadership, and in short order, NPS has reorganized, launched as its own business unit separate and apart from NPS Corp, rebranded as Liquid Safety Solutions, and positioned itself in the market to experience significant growth: double-digit EBITDA improvement and exponential growth. And we've done it despite significant market disruptions.Key to my success has been creating a culture that fosters an entrepreneurial approach. From start to finish — from assessing the strengths and weakness of our people to building out a balanced organizational structure, providing robust training, and figuring out how to take our new brand to market — I have emphasized that each person on every team is encouraged and empowered to exercise both creativity and ownership.I have promoted the idea that it's not just possible, but it's preferable, to think and act as if each of us owns a piece of the business. And I have seen this culture motivate people to do their best work.In addition to creating high-performing teams that have already enhanced profitability, I have led R&D efforts to standardize product assortments that improve operational efficiency and enhance service levels. I have also developed a value proposition that aligns our new organizational strengths with national and international distribution requirements.I have also made more outward-facing strides on behalf of FyterTech Nonwovens. I've served in leadership positions on the IBC Supplier Advisory Council (SAC) and the SafetyNetwork.me SAC. Additionally, I have successfully led NPS efforts to gain entry into several buying groups, including AD, IBC, NetPlus, Sphere 1, and Indica.

As vice president of sales for North America's largest pure wholesaler of industrial supplies selling exclusively to distributors, I was responsible for commercial success and P&L across all ORS Nasco sales departments — with a total of more than $500 million in sales revenue. While in this position, I spearheaded several key initiatives, including:• The development of an "extension of the manufacturer" growth strategy to accelerate growth across top suppliers, which generated half of all sales revenue• The design of a sales operating model to reflect an "acquire, expand, and retain" methodology that measured activity-based performance across all sales departments• The modernization of the company's value proposition to better align with the evolution of distribution• The creation of a total compensation model to enhance sales incentives and optimize performanceMy most important accomplishment was designing, developing, and implementing the complete reorganization of the ORS Nasco sales operation around a "one team" sales structure. The rationale was simple: having observed how easy it is for people to be confined in their own silos, focusing on meeting one task after another without seeing — and thus without being able to buy into — the organization's larger goals and their own potential role in achieving those goals, I envisioned a better way.That better way had me focused on taking a historically fragmented and disconnected sales operation and reorganizing it as a single team in a transparent environment unified by overarching company goals but flexible enough to encourage creative thinking and entrepreneurial action to reach those goals. I believed that in making the connection between actions and outcomes clearer, in giving people a more direct stake in the future — their own and the organization's — motivation and morale would improve significantly, setting the stage for greater and more meaningful successes.

In this position, I provided effective leadership for and professional development of a world-class sales organization with 4 area sales managers and 21 territory sales managers, resulting in more than $200 million in sales revenue across multiple industrial segments.On the leadership front, I designed, led, and implemented sales optimization processes that resulted in various segmentation changes based in industrial channels. I also led the implementation of value-based pricing methodologies, which accounted for 56 basis points (bps) in 2013 and 71 bps in 2014.On the professional development front, I saw the potential for, adopted, and implemented a variety of training tools and field coaching techniques. I introduced and aligned SMART goals and instituted other progressive performance management programs.As national sales director, I also analyzed market and competitive intelligence, conducted financial and data analysis, and led cross-functional teams in sales, marketing, customer care, operations, finance, and industrial digital to formulate strategies and recommendations that I subsequently presented to senior management.Perhaps the greatest challenge and opportunity for growth during this time was dealing with the fallout from disruptions in the oil and gas markets, which required us to retreat entirely from a sales strategy that we had previously sold — and sold hard — both internally and to our customers. Having convinced key audiences of the merits of proceeding one way, we were then tasked with persuading the very same people not to proceed that way and, in fact, to backtrack to a previous operational model. Successful navigation of this period taught me the importance of having a clear picture of where you need to go, seeing how to get there, and figuring out how best and most persuasively to communicate that information to others.

As regional sales director, my portfolio grew to include 2 area sales managers with 10 territory sales managers — and the generation of $75 million in sales revenue. I reveled in my continued role as coach and mentor and endeavored to create and support a culture of individual responsibility for our collective goals.Internally, I was named to the ORS Nasco leadership team and served on the operating corporate council, the new product category committee, and the leadership summit sales training committee. I was also part of the strategic sales leadership group that focused on sales initiatives, operations management, vendor development, and corporate culture.Externally, I directly managed the ORS Nasco relationship with national channel buying group Affiliated Distributors and had secondary management responsibility for company relationships with buying groups IBC, NetPlus, Evergreen, DPA, and SMG. Additionally, I continued to represent and conduct presentations on behalf of ORS Nasco at trade shows, including Affiliated Distributors, NetPlus, American Welding Society (AWS), Industrial Supply Association (ISA), and Independent Welding Distributor Cooperative (IWDC).As I entered and moved through this stage of my career and found myself in more formal leadership roles, interacting more broadly with those in cross-functional leadership positions (operations, customer service, etc.) and more narrowly with those at the highest levels of the company (in the C-suite and on the board), I learned crucial lessons about communication. About thinking strategically, speaking articulately, and presenting myself assuredly to convince others of the merits of my thoughts and ideas, of whatever I was trying to "sell." These are skills I continued to hone in my subsequent position — and that continue to serve me well to this day.

As area sales manager, I managed three territory sales managers and trained, coached, and mentored them on organizational structure, corporate culture, the "value of wholesale" principles, and the execution of sales initiatives. My effectiveness was borne out in the generation of $22 million in sales revenue across the three territories.My effectiveness was recognized internally with my designation as keynote speaker at an ORS Nasco annual leadership summit where I shared information and knowledge about the company's "value of wholesale" initiative with sales professionals across the organization. It was also leveraged externally as I was called on to present for and represent ORS Nasco at trade shows, including AWS, ISA, and IWDC.It was in this role that I first had the opportunity to channel personal sales experience and expertise into professional sales training, coaching, and mentoring — into helping others see and develop their own potential. This was an early turning point in my career, a point at which I realized I could do more than succeed personally in the sales arena; I could effectively help others — and by extension our larger organization — succeed, as well.

In this position, I managed a territory that included approximately 200 distributors in Indiana, southwestern Ohio, and southern Illinois. As a result of my insights into the market and my ability to distinguish ORS Nasco from wholesalers and manufacturers by providing wholesale value while promoting diversification, I achieved a compound annual growth rate of 18.4% over a 5-year period — which was the second-highest growth rate companywide. My efforts were recognized in 2007 with entry into the President's Club and in 2008 with the Salesperson of the Year award.My success in this job was largely due to being able to envision and being willing to take a chance on a new selling model — one based on a different type of relationship with a longer time horizon. While the near-term risk of my new sales approach was significant, the potential long-term reward was even greater. In taking ownership of the choice to chart a new path, I succeeded beyond all expectations, gained confidence in myself and my sales skills, and solidified my belief that an entrepreneurial approach can be successful even within a traditional big business context.