1. How did your business degree help prepare you for your career?

In business management, I don’t think there was a single course that didn’t apply to what I’m doing now. I didn’t like accounting, and I still don’t like accounting – that’s why I have good accountants around me – but I have to understand it. Another one I didn’t think I would use is law. In any business, you deal with legal matters. I have reflected back on my law classes a lot more that I thought I would. I didn’t think it would pertain to me, especially in construction, but it does.

2. Did you have any favorite classes or professors?

Brack Smith. He’s retired now, but he was a management professor. One of the things that sticks out when I reflect back – and I still use this principle today – is the “Hot Stove” principle. When someone does something – let’s say it’s something unsafe in construction or completely against the rules – the way you treat them should be the same as you would anyone else in company, whether it’s a vice president or a laborer. When you touch a hot stove, it burns you the same no matter who you are. When you’re in management, you have to make sure you treat everyone equally. You can’t play favorites, and I tell people that all the time. I don’t care if they have been here for 30 years – they should be treated the same as someone who has been here for one year.

3. What are your favorite memories from your time at Radford?

I really enjoyed the higher-level business management classes. They were small, and the professors knew me. Maybe it was because I talked too much, or maybe it was because they really cared and they got to know their students. For me, the professor-student ratio was important. I wouldn’t have done well at a bigger school; I would not have been as engaged. Also, the fountain – the centerpiece of Radford University. Our fraternity donated that in honor of our fraternity brother who passed away from cancer.

The Sigma Phi Epsilon brothers have established a long history of giving back to the Radford community through volunteer leadership and contributions to scholarships, as well as the Chip Perkins Memorial Fountain.

4. What career advice do you have for current students and recent graduates?

I cannot recommend enough to intern during the summertime. If students would do internships during their freshman or sophomore year, not only would it help them tailor their major, but as they get into their junior and senior year, it would also help them have a better understanding of their classes. They already understand real-world applications. And this goes without saying: it will also further their careers and make getting a job easier. They’ll already have experience. Look for those internships – they’re out there.

5. How have you seen Radford grow, and what excites you most about the future of the university?

I am impressed by how many first-generation students graduate from Radford. For me, college wasn’t an option – it was a given. My parents went, my grandparents went. That makes you lose touch with the fact that so many people don’t go to college. To see Radford continually graduate more and more first-generation college students is huge. I think the close faculty-student ratio is a big part of that. The growth of first-generation students is important to me, and it’s important to the Commonwealth of Virginia.