Don’t Mind If I Do…
This past week, I was asked to write a short “Life Bio” by a lovely lady at the Great Plains Technology Center in Lawton, OK. The reason she asked for this bio was because she was nominating me for the “Young Entrepreneur of the Year” in Oklahoma. I was actually taken aback when she asked me to write the bio below; nevertheless, I was even more honored. I had a serious problem though; I suck at writing about myself. I didn’t even know where to begin! Do I start from birth? Do I start when we opened our shop (my father and myself)? Since it’s a business thing she probably wants to hear about my business centered life. Right? Wrong. I wrote a bio the night before it was due to turn in to the board and went straight to bed when I finished. When I woke up and immediately regretted everything I wrote on that page. It was only about 600 words the first time around and every word was regrettable at best. Those kinds of papers are the reason I steered away from writing for so long, because I would write it, sleep on it, think about it, hate it and, in the end, wad it up into the tiniest ball possible and throw it into the sun.
On the way to work the next morning, I was talking to my dad about the paper and what I needed to do. It had got to the point of thinking about this paper so much I feared turning in anything at all. I didn’t even want the award at this point. He gave me some advice and a few kind words about what I could write about and how I could compliment myself and I completely rewrote that paper in my head on the 45-minute drive to work. Every word, comma, period, semicolon, etc. When I got to work I set my laptop out, shut my office door, and typed the whole paper in about 30 minutes. 1100 words of bragging, talking myself up, and ass kissing later, I had my secretary proofread it and send it in with 1 hour to spare until the deadline. As I previously stated, there was a point when I had no desire to win this award. That time has passed, and I now want to destroy my competition with thermonuclear weapons.
Below is the actual life bio I sent in to the Great Plains Tech Center for my entry into the contest. Hope you like it!
Life Bio
I grew up in my dad’s machine shop around his workers in Tyler, TX when he owned King Manufacturing and I was the mascot of the shop. I learned the terminology, how the machines work, helped measure parts, packaged parts and helped with shipping. Whatever they asked me to do, I was there with a smile. My work ethic was never questioned. When we moved to Wichita Falls in the middle of my high school career, he got me a job at the CNC machine shop he was managing at the time as a trainee on some of the new CNC equipment. Within months I quickly worked my way into a machinist position. This experience and exposure to the world my father worked in gave me the base knowledge I needed to begin building the career I had ahead of me.
I am Daniel Perry, I am 20 years old, and I am Operations Manager of Cozart-Perry Industries, inc. in Lawton, Oklahoma.
Our company has been open since October of 2013 when my father, Danny Perry, came out of retirement after he won his battle with cancer. My father, his best friend and business partner Wes Cozart, and myself leased a building on F Avenue in Lawton to start our venture. This occurred just three months after I was offered a choice; either a full ride to Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, TX to pursue a business degree or start a machine shop with my father who had been in business all his life and get a chance to work next to him every day. The decision was easy, and at the same time quite difficult. I was about to turn away from everything I had worked so hard in high school for; the excellent grades, test scores and honor awards I had collected; to start a business venture I had high hopes for, but was ultimately unsure of. In 2012 I graduated from Wichita Falls High School and we began our search for a building. The leap of faith I took and the trust I put in God paid off more than I could have ever hoped and today we are still standing strong.
For the last two and a half years we have worked to build a successful manufacturing business around a system of quality and personal service unknown to the Lawton area of manufacturing. I am responsible for our two large customers, Goodyear Lawton and Map Oil Tool based out of New Iberia, Louisiana. Both of these companies have consistently increased the amount of work they do with our company, and each year we hit new milestones. My responsibilities have grown with the increase in size of the company and our roles with our different customers. With the title of “Operations Manager” comes quite a bit of responsibility, but not without equal authority. I am the supervisor of all of our contract labor inside the plant at Goodyear, where our skilled workforce keeps the plant’s non-powered transportation running at full capacity. As of now, we have four teams inside the Lawton plant totaling nine people with zero lost time incidents or injuries and double the production of previous companies in the same position.
Another of my responsibilities at the company is all hiring and termination of employees. Anyone working for us currently, I have had a hand in hiring. The group of people under me has been hand picked by my managers and myself. They are a team I would stack against anyone. I oversee all purchasing that happens in the shop, as well as all sales that go out the door. If there is a job that comes across our desk for pricing, I handle all job bidding with a very high success rate. I visit customers, talk to engineers about new and current projects, and work with companies that have problems that need fixing that requires our shop’s special skill set of precision machining and fabrication. I coordinate with any and all customers and vendors to make sure the operation runs as smoothly as possible, which is the definition of an Operations Manager. Some could call it “General Manager in training”.
One of the things that’s helped steer me to success in management is my martial arts training. At a very young age I started karate under my father as my head instructor. In karate class, much like at the office, there was a separation of family and business. He was the instructor and I was the student. In business, he is the GM and I am his Operations Manager. I have heard many stories about father-son relationships deteriorating in the workplace, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth in this situation. My martial arts training also bred an attitude of discipline and assertiveness that has helped me in my training with the company as well as my sales success and attention to quality and detail with our customers.
That attitude was definitely tested along the way. Before our business venture began, my father was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. The doctors in Wichita Falls told us he was terminal, and at the time of his diagnosis gave him about three months to live. My father asked for a second opinion, and went to MD Anderson where they promptly started treatment. One of the caveats of the treatment was that he had to live in Houston for the duration, and required someone to take care of him. He and my mother moved to an apartment across the street from the hospital, and I was left to care for my brother and sister when I was 16. For someone my age to take care of his younger siblings was difficult to say the least, but I rose to the occasion to become big brother and parent at the same time. When my parents came back from Houston I was a different person. I had grown mentally and emotionally from not only taking up the role as “Man of the house”, but also balancing school and work at the machine shop in Wichita Falls. This created, or further instilled, a much disciplined attitude in me. This time in my life created a way of thinking that has carried me far in my current position: that if you only have one option or the choice is clear, it is very easy to do what you have to do. You just have to be strong enough to carry through. I hope that I can continue to be strong enough to carry this business we have started on my shoulders all the way. To be able to start and nurture and maintain my own business has been such an eye opener to me of what others before me have struggled with, and few succeeded. I hope to be constantly growing as a person, as well as in business for years to come, and bringing jobs to Oklahoma for as long as I am able.
-Daniel Cole Perry,
Operations Manager, Cozart-Perry Industries, Inc.
In all honesty, I do want to win this competition. The actual ceremony is the 26th of June, and I will be attending with high hopes. I would appreciate any thoughts or prayers on the subject, and may the best man win.
I wrote this whole thing a few days early because I’ve been feeling really productive lately. I believe its because I’ve been drinking a smoothie and eating a lot better and drinking nothing but water with lemon every day. I’ve had to make huge changes in my lifestyles lately after noticing the decline in my physical shape. I’ll be starting a work out routine this next week in which I will attempt to regain sexy beast status (who are we kidding, I never lost that). 3 days a week on a treadmill at a minimum of 1 mile and pushups/situps every night before bed goes a long way. To anyone trying to do the same thing, I understand the struggle is real, but at the same time it is worth it.
In other unrelated news to the other 2 unrelated subjects, my baby sister graduated last Saturday and she was a specimen of beauty. She’s planning on going to college here in Wichita Falls so she can pester me for a few more years before moving away and forgetting all about me. Pictured below is the post graduation meal at red lobster.
Written 100% to my wedding playlist I have been working on for the last few months trying to fine tune. That is going to be a glorious day when I get to dance with the woman of my dreams as my wife for the first time. August 8th can’t come fast enough.
Until next time my friends, stay safe. Stay awesome. For the love of God stay cool, because this sun is trying to melt us.
-Daniel “THE” Perry