March 7, 2024
Employee Spotlight: Matt Asbill
We want to congratulate Matt Asbill for celebrating his 5th Anniversary as part of the Energy Metals team. His career spans over 15 years of industry experience, including ten years working with our sister company, J&J Alloys.
Matt has experience in sales and sales management, giving him a unique perspective of the variables that influence the decision-making processes.
Matt is in the purchasing department at Energy Metals and is currently pursuing his MBA at Baylor University.
Here is Matt’s full interview about his experience with Energy Metals and the Texas Pipe Family of Companies:
Why do you like being part of the Texas Pipe Family of Companies?
Sometimes it feels like the TPS Family of Companies is everywhere, and involved in dang near everything. We support such a wide array of market segments, with an army of fantastic (and numerous) people, and yet the feeling of collaboration and support is ever-present in all interactions with your colleagues in other departments and locations.
Please describe your journey as part of the Texas Pipe Family of Companies, what you are most proud of in your career so far, and how your role has evolved over time since you’ve been here.
This is actually my second 5th work anniversary with the a TPS owned company. I started in the in the IPFV industry back in 2006, and spent 10 years with J&J Alloys. I briefly left the industry, for about 18 months, and then returned to J&J Alloys as the Branch Manager in 2018. Following the acquisition, and integration, of the Multalloy group by TPS, I transferred to the Energy Metals team. The folks who I once viewed as fierce competitors became fantastic teammates and great friends that I have profound personal and professional respect for.
What is one thing you wish that people knew about your job?
Purchasing at Energy Metals (EMI) is an extension of the Sales Team. Sure, we interact with vendors and buy inventory, but we work with and support the greater EMI Sales Team’s efforts. Customer and vendor relationships are important, but the team-oriented environment that EMI possesses has been the true nature of our success.
What’s one thing people don’t know about you that they would be surprised to find out?
I got into this industry at a card game.
I was playing poker at a bar, and I impressed one of the players at the table with my ability to describe (in great detail) a complex hand of cards from several weeks prior. That player worked at a sister-company of J&J Alloys, and asked if I might be interested in a job in sales because he knew of an opening. The rest is history…like that hand of poker that I lost 17 years ago with a pair of jacks.
If you could teach or create a course about the industry, what would it be?
Sales Analysis or Technical Sales Communications Management.
I spent 4 years as a salesperson, and 10 years as a sales manager. My shift to product management, and now to purchasing, has provided me with a unique perspective of the variables that influence the decision making processes of both a salesperson and a sales manager. As is common with most things, a repetitive cause of negative outcomes is poor communication between parties. This can be caused by a myriad of factors, chief among them a poor understanding of the other party’s priorities. I think a deep dive into this topic would be fun to pursue.
What advice can you give to someone entering the PVF industry?
Seek understanding, not answers.
It’s easy to ask a colleague for an answer to something that you’ve never encountered before. I mean…why not? You’re busy, and you want to finish up so you can get home for the day. The problem here is, each time this happens you’re taking a step away from being a value adder. It’s ok to ask for help, and it’s even ok to ask for answers. But follow that up with a determination to understand ‘why’ it is the answer. This is how you transform into someone who adds value to the team. Before you know it…peers and mentors will be asking you for answers to their own questions.
What do you enjoy most about working here?
The people.
We have a collection of great minds dedicated to the same cause: making our customers’ lives easier. This also allows us to earn our customers’ trust through delivering superior support, and what they need, even when they don’t realize they need it. It takes people who respect and trust one another to achieve this, and is something that is absolutely present here.
