Spend a little time perusing the profiles of MANA members and it’s obvious that the majority of independent manufacturers’ representatives began their careers by selling. They either grew up in a family-owned agency or made the move from the manufacturer’s side of the desk to the rep’s side for any number of reasons. However, a closer look at those profiles will show an interesting variety of career beginnings.

Over the years, Agency Sales has profiled agents who have been involved in everything from law enforcement, business consulting, and even professional sports. Somewhat typical of the move from one career to another are the experiences of four agents (two of whom began as teachers, one as an attorney, and another as a metallurgist) who now find themselves plying entirely different trades.

A bit atypical of experiences being described here, however, is Trevor Rollman, an independent manufacturers’ representative who exited college with an undergraduate degree in biblical studies and a master’s in education. Today Rollman finds himself as a high school math teacher. But that’s not all. Added to those full-time educational duties, he’s also a commercial fisherman — not to mention independent agent.

Rollman, of Wasilla, Alaska, is a manufacturers’ representative of fine architectural finish products. His one-man agency, SpecAlaska, works with designers, architects and installation contractors to add value to their work from design phase all the way through installation of the finished product. The agency serves the entirety of the 49th State.

​A life-long Alaskan, born and raised in the Anchorage area, Rollman worked at MANA member 9Wood for two years while earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Oregon. He has been a rep for 9Wood since 2009, adding two other companies last year.

Rollman’s path to becoming an agent began while he was between degrees in college and working with reps as an estimator for 9Wood, a Springfield, Oregon, manufacturer of custom wood ceiling systems. Upon graduation and returning to Alaska and his teaching career, the manufacturer stayed in touch with him and asked if he’d be interested in serving as their rep in Alaska. Rollman agreed even though he didn’t know all that the position entailed. “It was going to be somewhat of an experiment for both of us.” The experiment obviously was successful.

To accommodate his busy schedule, Rollman explains that after a day of teaching, he sets appointments with prospects in the Anchorage area for later in the day.

Learning from MANA

He notes that at the beginning, “I thought of reps as a little bit like used car salesmen. Now with more than six years under my belt, I truly know what they do and consider myself a true independent agent. Thankfully for me, repping comes easy because the companies I represent have high-quality products. In addition, I’ve had the benefit of learning quite a bit from MANA. The association has provided a wealth of information about the value of the rep-principal relationship and that’s made my job a lot easier.”

He adds that it’s been very helpful to have the steady paycheck that comes with teaching. On the rep side, “Whenever my children complain about how busy I am, they don’t mind it when a commission check comes in and we’re able to use it to enjoy a family fun night.”

Lest we forget the final piece of business that Rollman is involved with, he explains that during his months of the year away from teaching, he makes use of his free time commercial fishing. “I fish for salmon. This is more of a lifestyle activity for me but it’s something I really enjoy. It’s proven to be worth my while and provides me with the time to appreciate the ebb and flow of life.”

Also following an education path to a successful career as an independent manufacturers’ representative is Marty Grimes.

Selling Education to Teenagers

Looking back more than 30 years when he spent a year teaching and coaching, Grimes explains that “The year I spent in education, trying to sell education to 15-17 year-olds, five classes a day, with 25-30 students in each class, taught me a lot that would benefit me later in my career. I learned so much about the need for discipline, preparation, and the need to make a good appearance in my face-to-face contacts with people. I remember that sometimes the job was a little like trying to herd cats, but it was a very positive experience. I loved the teaching and coaching part of it. It taught me how to get organized and matured me.”

Grimes explains that after his first year as a teacher/coach, “I had the opportunity with what I thought would simply be my summer job. It was an internship with a consumer products company in Cincinnati. I learned right away that I enjoyed the independence of the job, not to mention the challenge of working with clients and customers. After two weeks there, however, they approached me with the prospect of working full-time.” That was the beginning of his career away from teaching, which has taken him today to the head of Assembly Solutions, Inc., Covington, Kentucky. The agency represents premier assembly automation companies who provide the solutions and help manufacturers successfully deploy either automation or an assembly system. Based in Northern Kentucky, Assembly Solutions services parts of Southwest Ohio, Southeastern Indiana and the entire State of Kentucky.

Grimes notes that ironically in sales and in being a sales manager, there are some similarities to what he did in his first career. “You’re still teaching and coaching as you’re selling. I’ve always looked at being a rep as being one leg of a three-legged stool. You’ve got the customer, the principal(s) and then you have the entire business side of the industry — the rep part of it. And in dealing with each of those legs you’ve got to remember to teach and coach.”

From Attorney to Agent

Then we have Denver, Colorado-based Brian Rodeno, who started out as an attorney, but quickly determined that the rewards of being an independent manufacturers’ representative were more to his liking. Today he finds himself with Marshall-Rodeno Associated, an independent agency serving the Rocky Mountains and Heartland Regions in commercial, industrial, plumbing, irrigation and HVAC industries.

Right out of college, Rodeno, whose father started an agency 30 years ago, was working in sales when he let his father know that law school was in his future. “I told him that he ought to go with ‘Plan B’ for moving ahead without me.”

What followed was law school and then five years as an attorney during which “I was involved in corporate law — mergers and acquisitions — and just about lived in the office. While I thoroughly enjoyed it, it became my life. It was tough both mentally and physically.”

He continues that one day while he was naturally still in the office, his father came back to him and asked if he wouldn’t be interested in giving sales another look.

“After we talked, I got to thinking that there’s a lot to love about being an attorney. You fix things, get to work with people and solve their problems. But you also get to do all that as an agent. I made the change.

“I’ve got to admit, however, that at the beginning it was a strange transition. For instance, in our dealings with principals and customers, we had a lot of correspondence. I was spending too much time proofreading and analyzing everything. My father quickly broke me of that habit.”

Rodeno notes that he’s not the only self-termed “recovering attorney” out there. “I’m running into attorneys everywhere among my customers and other reps. It’s an interesting experience and we enjoy the interaction.”

As he looks back at his past career, Rodeno says he has no regrets. “I enjoyed the opportunities to get plenty of mental exercise and there were plenty of positive experiences. But at some point in your life you become a little more self-aware and decide what you really want to do. That’s what happened to me.”

Technical to Sales

Finally, consider the move one rep made to leave a technical field for one devoted to sales. That’s what Ashwin Kalia, president of Chaparral Technologies, Fort Worth, Texas, did. Now, armed with just about 30 years worth of hindsight, he couldn’t be happier with the decision he made.

According to Kalia, a first-generation immigrant from India, “I’m a metallurgist and was working for an investment casting company in Texas. Throughout my work as an engineer in the casting industry, I was popular among our manufacturers’ representatives. All of them were eager to take me on sales calls with them as they got very positive results from those visits. I also realized that I enjoyed meeting different people and hearing about their particular situations and coming up with best solutions for them. I also found that customers were glad to see me as I could answer their questions on site and they trusted my input. This experience is what led me to become a manufacturers’ representative.

Chaparral Technologies, Inc., the agency that Kalia heads, specializes in precision mechanical component sales. The agency covers Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Southern Kansas, and states in Mexico bordering Texas

Kalia points to his technical background, coupled with his hands-on knowledge that proved to be key advantages for him in the agency business. “From the beginning of my rep career, I had a feeling that technical knowledge was going to become more of a requirement than ever before. I found that customers listen to the suggestions I offer on how they can cut costs and they believe in what I have to offer.”

As he considers his three-decade career as an independent agent, Kalia says he has no second thoughts on making the move he did. “I knew at the time that I was taking a risk in doing something different. I was also taking a reduction in salary, but my belief was that making the move to sales would only help my career development. I’ve never had any regrets over what I did. I wouldn’t have enjoyed any other career more than what I’ve done.”

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