If there’s one thing being a father has taught me, it’s that life is a mix of surprises, challenges, and moments of pure joy. It’s the most important job I have, and it has convinced me that the best way through nearly anything is a good sense of humor, a logical mind, and a strong heart.
I started out in marketing and advertising, which suited my personality the way a good pair of boots suits a long walk. At Thomas P. Miller and Associates I came in as a project assistant and was soon handed the brand, the visual identity, and every proposal and piece of external material that left the building. It was a crash course in client management, internal negotiation, and project management, plus a useful education in how the world actually works.
In 2017 I married Madeline, and we moved to my home state of Maine, where I worked as an Account Executive and Project Manager at an advertising agency. Those years were invaluable: close to family, present for my nieces’ and nephews’ milestones, and learning to carry a dozen client needs and internal deadlines at once without dropping any of them.
Life had its own plans. When my father-in-law’s cancer returned and he passed away, Madeline needed to be near her family in Indiana, so we came home to the Hoosier State. I returned to TPMA as Marketing Director, a brief stint that ended for reasons I’ll gladly explain over a strong cup of coffee.
Burned out and still healing, I did the sensible thing and changed careers entirely: mortgage loan officer. I knew I had the people skills. What surprised me was how much I loved the work: the intricacy of the financial side, and the privilege of walking someone through the largest decision they’ll ever sign their name to.
Then came five years of running my own shop, Naylor Brand Consulting, where the sale, the delivery, the subcontractors, and the apology when something slipped were all me. Nothing teaches accountability quite like having no one else to hand it to.
These days I sell something you can hold in your hand. At Reed Rubber Products I work in custom TPV and thermoplastic gasket extrusions, and technical sales has taught me more in two years than I expected. Engineers can smell a pitch from across the plant, and they should; they need a partner who understands the tolerance, the durometer, and why the last profile failed in the field. So I learned to ask better questions and to arrive with answers rather than brochures.
Trust is the product. The gasket is just the receipt.
Executives buy differently. They aren’t weighing millimeters; they’re weighing risk, supply continuity, and whether the person across the table will still be straight with them when something goes wrong. Both conversations reward the same two things: preparation and honesty. Get those right and the pricing conversation becomes a discussion rather than a fight.
More than anything, my life revolves around my family. Madeline’s accomplishments fill me with pride, and supporting her is one of my greatest joys. Together we’ve built a life where laughter and love count for as much as logic and hard work, the lesson we work hardest to pass on to our son.
In everything I do, I aim to be not just well-liked but well-respected: easy to talk to, good company, and dependable when the situation stops being fun. Father, husband, friend, salesman: the same mix of wit, intelligence, and heart. I wouldn’t have it any other way.