Russ Thompson

Negwer Materials (retired)

Where you grew up

North County (NoCo. to the locals.)

Where you went to school or did technical training

UMSL & University of Missouri Columbia

Personal hobbies

Wine, motorcycles, martial arts, stocks.

What do you do in your profession?

I wear a lot of hats. I do product education and promotion to architects and end users on everything from EIFS, Doors, Steel Truss’ Acoustical Solutions, and more. But to be clear, we have experts in those areas, I just look for the opportunity for our awesome team to provide solutions and win customers for life. I do some field measurements for our door division and am directly responsible for a regional market segment including hospitals, education and others with their own facilities divisions. I am the main contact for our Division 10 products. Together with my wife who is a Negwer Architectural rep, we are involved in many professional organizations.

What are your dream career and dream tasks to work on?

As I approach retirement age, Sommelier. Or teaching young people about compound interest and investing.

Advice for someone who wants to do the same job or career as you.

Push your comfort zone. Opportunity knocks, but it doesn’t knock on your door. You have to knock on doors to make opportunities. Make an appointment, tell the owner what job in the company you want. Get comfortable speaking in front of people. Ask people about themselves. Sharpen your saw. Listen to motivating professionals on YouTube. Get better, make genuine relationships, solve people’s problems and business follows.

If you were to go back and give advice to yourself at age 16, what would it be?

The next several years will be hard, but you are going to be fine, dig in, trust yourself. You don’t have to do it all yourself, asking for help isn’t weakness, people want to help. Fun is great, but balance is better. Go to bed, nothing spectacular is going to happen after midnight. And buy those Stevie Ray Vaughan tickets, he won’t be coming back through.

Any other comments or information that you would like to include.

Work to your strengths and let go of what you don’t excel at. Carve your successes in stone in your head and write your failures and mistakes in sand to be washed away by the ocean. Not the other way around.