Autobiography - RO Mayhem 1985 - 1991
The late 1980’s and early 1990’s were a bizarre time in my Rust-Oleum career. My survival skills were put to the test. I was the national sales manager for the industrial business. Rust-Oleum’s focus was on the retail consumer business. R&D spent the vast majority of their time developing products for the consumer group. I was challenged to achieve my sales goals with forty year old technology. I decided that my survival and that of our industrial business required the industrial business to become marketing focused. I volunteered to transfer from sales and become the industrial marketing department. I made the move to marketing and Ron Moran, the son of a former regional manager, became the sales manager.
My focus was on developing new products. I created a distributor council to provide input and studied our competitors. Then I made it my mission to befriend the R&D group so I could get new industrial products developed. I was so successful that top management stepped in because the consumer group was complaining. At one point 80% of the new products being developed were industrial.
The backdrop to the business was a soap opera. Don Fergusson discovered his wife Cathy was having an affair with his best friend from the College of William and Mary. In addition the former president Rex Reade had retired. Don became president but the board of directors selected a board member, Len Judy, as Chairman. Len had a singular focus to enrich himself at the Fergusson families expense. Len knew I was supportive of Don so I was a liability. One day Len came to me with exciting news. He hired an assistant for me that I had not requested. Dave Doray had been the marketing manager for Len when he was president at Libby foods. The breakthrough for that business was the jingle - When it says Libby, Libby, Libby on the label, label, label nothing’s better, better, better on your table, table, table. Len was concerned the industrial business was too industrial and needed to be more like the consumer business. Dave Doray was openly gay which was no issue for me but plays a major role in a huge transition in the future. Dave eventually died from AIDS after leaving RO.
I had a few challenges in my life at this time. I had a traumatic back injury resulting from trying to help keep John Keepper’s Sunfish sailboat off the rocks on Lake Bluff Beach. I was pushing on the boat when a wave hit it and squashed me on the rocks. I felt something give out on my back. I went to a chiropractor and then a physical therapist. The pain was excruciating! I missed work for the first time. I could not get out of bed. I made a slow comeback by losing 30 pounds instantly. Many people thought I had cancer. I focused on training from the physical therapist to strengthen my core. My mantra was lose weight, strengthen my core and stand more and sit less. I created my own standing desk in my office by stacking two end tables. Eventually RO gave me a real standing desk. I would relapse for several years and walk crooked. It was very, very, very painful.
My other personal challenge was a debilitating fear of public speaking. That was more than an annoyance for my career as the National Sales Manager and Vice President of Marketing. Sales Meetings were not my favorite events. I don’t know if that condition is hereditary but my father had a similar challenge. I took public speaking courses, listened to self improvement tapes and tried hypnosis therapy. I could feel the fear wash over me like a wave. When the wave would pass I found my composure. I read an article where a top executive revealed he overcame fear of public speaking by putting a rock in each shoe. I found rocks with sharp edges and stepped heavily on them to create severe pain. The pain replaced the fear. I mean I really, really crunched those rocks. The hard part was walking to the stage with each painful step. Years later I calmed down and lost my fear of public speaking. Now I perform regularly singing and playing my ukulele at gigs and open mics. I still have those rocks just in case. If I ever write a self help book the title will be - “How to rock your next speaking engagement.”
Sports were a big part of the RO culture. I participated in every one of them. There was a golf league, bowling league and softball league. This was a great way to develop relationships with team members that became friends and were allies regarding all things business. I was a dangerous golfer. I could shank a ball 180°. I learned to play fast even though I did not play well. We played nine holes and spent hours drinking beer. Bowling was another marginal sport for me. However, you get to drink beer all the time and did not have to wait for the end of the game. The softball rivalry between the corporate office the factory was my favorite. The red necks, white trash and blue collars were convinced they could crush the weak and worthless white collar office staff. They believed every day we sat at our desks we became weaker. Every day the factory workers lifted heavy boxes they became stronger. The corporate team crushed them like a bug. The other major sport was meeting at a nearby bar every Friday night. This was an event anchored by the technical service and customer service departments. A few times I made the good decision to have Priscilla pick me up and drive me home.
Remember Len Judy and Dave Doray. I saw the hand writing on the wall. Len wanted Dave to become the Director of Industrial Marketing. Len was busy with two disastrous consumer marketing failures. His first attempt was to take on all the giants in the auto industry head to head including Bondo and Turtle Wax at once. Total failure. His next attempt was a breakthrough in water repellant house trim paint called Wood Saver. He had the lab develop a paint using carnauba wax. This caused the water to bead on the paint. Len put together an introductory promotion that gave a rebate for more than the initial cost of the display. The dealers bought the display, gave away the paint, received the rebate check and kept the display rack. The paint was a failure because it could not be recoated. The carnauba wax that repelled the water also repelled the second coat of water base paint and it peeled off every time. Len was so anxious to hit a home run after his auto car failure he rushed the trim paint to market without complete testing.
RO had a fledgling international business. A curmudgeon named Bud Bran was the international salesman. He had no fans in RO. The Vice President, Bud Bartelt asked me if I had an interest in traveling internationally. I knew when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em. Let Len and Dave take the industrial business to promised land. I was going to see the world.
Bud Bran and I made our first international trip to Japan, Hong Kong and Thailand. Bud was convinced the international had no future and was doomed to failure. He had not grown the business in five years. I told Bud Bartelt I would be happy to take over the international business. The next decision was a disaster. Bud wanted Bud to accompany me in a farewell tour. The entire trip all Bud Bran did was bitch and complain that I had stabbed him in the back and he was a victim. Fortunately all my distributors knew he was worthless and were looking forward to working with me. The easiest way to describe my new sales territory is to tell you what I did not have. I did not have the USA, Canada or Western Europe. Yes, I was king of the world. I could travel almost any place in the world whenever I wanted. When I took over the international business it was $500,000. Three years later it was $3,000,000.
My largest new customer was a cartel from Columbia called M&N. Their headquarters was in Medellin and they had a massive cattle ranch in Cali. They originally walked into our southeast regional office with a briefcase full of money to place their first order. The regional manager Jim Prevatt called the corporate office and asked if could accept $100,000 in cash? He was told no so the M&N folks offered to pay for the order with four credit cards. Deal. I travelled to Colombia several times to promote our business and conduct training.
On one occasion I travelled to a coal distribution port on the border with Venezuela to make a presentation to the engineers. On the way back to Barranquilla our mini bus ran out of gas. It was getting dark. One of the M&N folks declared there are only two types of people on this road at night in the heart of the drug cartel territory. He said there are people who will help us and there are people that will kill us. The next vehicle to come along was a large dump truck. Our driver got the truck driver to stop and paid him to let us syphon some gasoline into our van. The next vehicle was a Colombian army vehicle. My distributor bribed the army captain to allow an eighteen year old soldier with an AK-47 to ride in our van on the trip back to Barranquilla. We kept the light on in the van so the bad guys could see we were armed.
Another highlight of one of my Colombian trips was when I maced myself. I was in the M&N apartment in Medellin. I could see the monastery on the nearby mountain where the infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar was being held prisoner. The entire area was lighted to discourage attempts to free him. My distributor friends left me alone so they could visit the porcelanas. That means fragile porcelain which were their girlfriends. Medellin was experiencing rolling black outs. During a four hour black out I decided to test the mace canister my brother Bill gave me. He was a police officer and was concerned that I was traveling in harms way. I took the mace canister into the bathroom in the dark. I thought he told me it was a pump spray. I pointed it in the sink and pressed hard on the cap. It was an aerosol and the sink was a clamshell shape. I was standing in the dark in Medellin, Colombia and sprayed mace into my eyes. It hurts. I mean it really, really hurts. I soaked my eyes with wet towels all night. Just another day in the international paint business.
The greatest of ironies occurred. Len Judy needed another $1,000,000 in sales to achieve the overall annual target for all of RO and collect his bonus. I was his last best hope. We flew to Miami together to meet with M&N and negotiate the order. We stayed in the M&N apartment in Miami and were certain it was bugged so they could hear our discussions. Len and I would go out on the balcony and whisper when we needed to discuss strategy. Bottom line, I got the order at the last possible minute to ship it in time and claim the sale in the fiscal year.
Ten years later I found myself in a Miami court room defending RO from a lawsuit from M&N. Bud Bartelt had an uncanny ability to hire some of the most bizarre people. Ricardo Sidor was a Puerto Rican salesman that unceremoniously terminated the contract with M&N. Colombians and Puerto Rican’s apparently have a natural animosity to begin with. I always treated the Colombian’s with great respect as I stated every time I was asked a question by the judge. M&N had their macho offended and wanted the courts to make things right. They had hired Bud Bran to work for them as a salesman and Ron Moran to get the inside dirt on RO. Ron was a huge opportunist so I am sure he was paid handsomely. Ron’s brother was an attorney in Houston and intentionally bought the phone number that was one digit different from the public defenders phone number. He received many errant phone calls requesting representation. One client was suing an oil company for an on the job injury. Ron’s brother settled the case for several millions. Of course he received the majority of the settlement. The M&N case was found in favor of RO and M&N was told to pay our attorneys fees.
My success would have allowed me to stay in the international business for many years. However, I had a family. My travel was excessive. I was trying to manage the entire world and I was one person. I was gone three weeks at a time every other month. Priscilla pointed out I had a family with young children ages nine and eleven years old that needed a father at home and attending their events at school. I listened carefully because everyone else I knew that was in the international business was divorced. My obvious option was to find a new job at another company. I had been at RO for sixteen years. Then a miracle happened. Bud Bartelt asked me if I would consider transferring back to the industrial business (USA) to be the Director of Industrial Marketing.
Ron Moran, the national sales manager, never got along with his marketing counterpart Dave Doray. Ron was not a liberal. There was open hostility at sales meetings between the two. Then one day Ron walked into the men’s room and saw Dave not wearing a shirt. Dave had a massive yeast infection all over his body and was trying to apply ointment. Ron could not believe a man could have a yeast infection. The rivalry became so intense Bud fired them both. Jim O’Malley who was being out placed from the consumer sales team was offered the industrial sales manager position. I accepted my new position immediately.