Managing director UK & Ireland, Ingram Micro UK
Career so far
I have been almost eight years with Ingram Micro; I was senior director of sales for Ingram Micro Canada. I was promoted to vice president and general manager of DBL Distributing, a consumer electronics distributor acquired by Ingram Micro. I relocated to Scottsdale, Arizona to lead a turnaround effort in 2009. I completed that and was promoted to managing director of Ingram Micro UK, and relocated here in February 2013. Prior to that I worked for Dell Canada for eight years in a variety of sales leadership positions.
What was your first job and were you any good at it?
I worked at Canada's busiest car wash when I was 16. I won the award for selling the most waxes for 19 consecutive months. As a result I was the guy they put in front of the customer rather than the guy actually spraying the cars. It was great!
Who was your top teenage pin-up?
That would have been in the 1980s. It would have to be either Heather Locklear or Christie Brinkley. Christie still looks awesome.
My colleagues won't know this about me but...
I did a kick off video in 2011 for the US business starring Chris Bridges - better known as Ludacris - where I got to do a little acting with him.
What is your favourite snack?
Poutine (it's a Canadian thing).
What has been your career high point to date?
Achieving a great turnaround at DBL. Watching the hard working people in that organisation succeed was very rewarding. It also created the opportunity for me to advance my role here in the UK.
Has 2013 been good, bad or ugly?
Good. So far I've been able to handle the challenges that come with relocating across the world while driving some improvement to our business here in the UK. We have some good energy and are building momentum.
What do you say when asked at a party what you do for a living?
I work for Ingram Micro. Then I need to explain who Ingram Micro is - the largest company you haven't heard of.
If I wasn't working in the channel I would probably be... renovating and flipping homes.
What will be the channel's biggest challenge in 2014?
The continued transition to the cloud and services poses significant challenges as well as opportunities to the channel. The ability of the channel to make the necessary changes to their businesses will be significant in the short and longer term. Ingram Micro would like to help its customers achieve this.
