What is your title?
Rental and Production Senior Account Executive
How long have you been with VLS?
28 years
What Office Do You Work Out Of?
Kentucky
What is your hometown? (City & State)
Indiana, PA Birthplace and childhood hometown of Jimmy Stewart
What do you like most about the lighting industry?
I enjoy the collaboration with my colleagues, the challenges our customers present, and the constant change. Nothing is ever boring. Lighting technology is constantly evolving and there are always new things to experiment with and wow the audience.
Who inspires you?
Many people inspire me. My wife, my children, my siblings. However, one person who is the reason I am in this industry is the late Patrick McCreary. Patrick was a professor of mine in school. I remember, before I was a theatre major, I had an intro to theatre class. The first day of class, this guy walks into class with a cup of coffee and sits down in the front row of the lecture hall. I am thinking to myself “who is this guy” he gets up and introduces himself. 2 weeks later I became a theatre major. Patrick touched many lives during his tenure at IUP!
What advice would you give to someone who wants to enter the lighting industry?
Always be willing to learn. The industry is always changing and evolving. Collaboration is key. Keep an open mind. Always remember work/life balance is very important!
What’s one thing — either industry-related or not — you learned in the last month?
That there is no minimum age to join AARP
What’s something about you (a fun fact) that not many people know?
Many people know this but I think it is still a fun fact. I have known I was adopted all of my life. I found my biological family a few years ago. I have 3 brothers and 3 sisters, many cousins, nieces and nephews
What’s the last book you read?
Sprinting Through No Mans Land. A book about the rebirth of the Tour de France following World War 1
What is your favorite hobby?
I enjoy cooking and homemade BBQ. If it can be put in a smoker I will try it!
What’s the first concert you ever attended?
Modern English in Pittsburgh
What’s the next place on your travel bucket list?
I would like to travel to a small village in France along the Tour de France route
If you had to eat one meal every day for the rest of your life, what would it be?
I could eat pizza anytime
What’s one item you can’t live without?
My season tickets to the Pittsburgh Steelers. After 23 years on the waiting list I am not giving those bad boys up!
