Let’s go ahead and get this out of the way right off the bat: I’m the bosses’ kid. My grandparents, Jud and Bobbe Stanion, started Stanion Wholesale Electric in 1961. Now their daughter and son-in-law, my parents, run the show. So yes, I more or less grew up in this company and in electrical distribution. But neither my grandparents nor my parents ever pressured me whatsoever to join the family business. Still, I always saw myself being in the business world, and around junior high, I started to think seriously about Stanion as a career choice.
By the time I graduated from high school in 2000 (hard to believe it’s been 20 years!), I had all but settled on getting a business degree in college and working for Stanion shortly after graduation. Getting a degree in Management, along with a minor in Economics, helped me to understand what being in business entails. A couple of years at Wells Fargo Financial were invaluable for learning about real-world business, finance, and work.
Getting started
Finally, in July 2006, I packed up and moved to Wichita so I could start in Stanion’s management trainee program. Although I had worked in the Pratt and Manhattan warehouses in high school and college, this was a brand-new experience. Working in the Wichita branch and in the trainee program allows our trainees to learn so much about what our company does for its customers, how it works with our suppliers, and what our employees do day in and day out. Part of the program focuses on product knowledge, and part of the training focuses on company operations. Sometimes trainees are sent to work in other branches for short periods. I was fortunate enough to get to travel to five different branches as a trainee. It was eye-opening to see how, even though every branch is mostly the same thing, they all do it a little differently.
After graduation of the trainee program, I moved to Kansas City and was the assistant manager there for a few years. This was a new challenge. Kansas City is one of our largest branches and is in our biggest market. Getting things done in that branch was different than any other branch I’d ever worked in. I had new responsibilities and encounters. Each branch is different, so each assistant manager will have different duties. For about three years, I helped run the branch, and I dealt more with customers daily than I had ever done before. And in 2011, it was announced that the Lawrence branch manager was going to retire in February 2012.
Next big step
It was time for me to try my hand at being a branch manager. I applied for the position and started working in the Lawrence branch in late 2011. Once I became the manager in spring 2012, it felt like the training wheels really came off. Just like before, there were new challenges to face and new opportunities to learn and grow. When it was time for me to host my first branch meeting as a manager, I admit that I was nervous. I had hoped that the promotion was earned, and I certainly wanted the Lawrence staff to know that I had been climbing the ladder. At that first meeting, I told the crew that I had earned a business degree, completed NAED’s EPEC program, graduated from the company’s trainee program, worked in nine different branches, and moved for the company three times in six years.
Our company tells our branch managers to run the branch like they own it. There is of course corporate oversight, but managers have a lot of say in the budget, the sales planning, staffing, operations, daily procedures, and the overall vision of the branch. Managing the Lawrence branch for those six years was the best thing for my career so far. Hiring, training, wearing many different hats, and daily dealings with sales, operations, personnel, and our corporate offices certainly made every day different and new. After those great, difficult, fast years in Lawrence, I was asked to move back to my hometown of Pratt and become a vice president.
What’s yet to come
In 2018, my family and I moved for what is hopefully the last time. We’re settled in Pratt, and it’s been nice being back. The past 14 years went by very quickly. It’s almost impossible to think about and put into words what I’ve learned. Everything that I’ve worked on, and all the different places I’ve worked, have taught me so much. That’s how this company operates. One of our hopes when we hire someone is that we’re hiring someone for a long-term career. We start employees off with training at the base level of the company, and we encourage employees to keep learning and growing. There is always something to learn, and we strive to supply and inspire continuous product and business learning opportunities for our employees.
This company tries to promote from within as much as possible. An employee does not need a degree to find success here. There are avenues to learn and grow available to anyone who wants to take advantage of those opportunities. If you show up ready for work, willing to learn, and prepared to put forth effort, you’ll be given chances to move up the ladder. Working here in the corporate office has been another step and helped me to learn even more. There is still so much more to do and learn. As the old saying goes, the more I know, the more I know how little I know!
