Account Manager at Applied Medical
Years as a Camper:
I was a camper for eight years from 2004 to 2011 with my last two years being a part of the Trainee Program.
Years as a Staff Member:
I spent four full summers on staff.
2012 – Cabin 9 Rangers
2013 – Cabin 24 Spartans
2014 – Cabin 23 Spartans
2015 – Administrative Staff
Did you hold any positions?
I was the Spartan Unit Leader in 2014 and the Head Male Counselor in 2015.
Current Profession and Title/Years in role:
Upon graduating from Clemson University over six years ago, I began working with Applied Medical and am still with Applied as an Account Manager in Charlotte, NC.
Can you provide a brief overview of your job responsibilities?
As an Account Manager for a medical device company, it’s my responsibility to sell and support Applied Medical’s full line of abdominal surgical products. Day-to-day, I am working with surgeons, nurses, and supporting staff in the operating room across a variety of surgical specialties to ensure proper use of Applied’s products and to increase their utilization. In my role, I have the opportunity to teach surgical techniques with innovative products that are improving patient outcomes and reducing the cost of healthcare.
Do you have any career advice for members of our Camp community?
Set personal goals and expectations without the influence of comparing yourself to others. Just like how Camp wouldn’t run next summer without everyone playing their role, we all have a role in this world that is no more or less valuable than anyone else’s.
What do you believe have been some of your greatest personal and professional accomplishments? Is there a goal toward which you are currently working?
This past year, my wife and I took on the formidable task of planning our entire wedding ourselves in a venue that was a flight, a car ride, and a ferry away from where we currently live. Although it was difficult, it was incredibly rewarding to watch over a year of planning our vision for our big day be executed to perfection. Above all, I’m most proud to have found the love of my life and the person I want to spend the rest of my life with!
When I was hired by my current company, I was promised a fast track to becoming an Account Manager with the tradeoff that they could place me anywhere they wanted throughout the country. I ended up taking the challenge and was placed hours away from my nearest friend or family member. I kept my head down, worked hard, and after a year, I earned a position in Charlotte, NC where I had always wanted to begin my career and have enjoyed it ever since!
Currently, in my career I’m working towards moving into a product specialist role where I can have a bigger impact teaching new techniques to surgeons but personally, I’m working on checking off a long list of all the ski resorts I hope to visit within the next few years.
What is a lesson or skill that you have taken from camp and used in your personal or professional life?
As a camper, I usually didn’t know any of my cabinmates, so camp helped me build the confidence to put myself out of my comfort zone and make friends with complete strangers in less than a week. I work with new people daily and attribute my ability to build relationships with strangers to my time at camp.
There are countless leadership opportunities for teens and young adults at camp and I am incredibly grateful for the leadership opportunities that I was given. The leadership skills I gained while at camp have undoubtedly helped me in my professional career.
One of the greatest lessons I learned is that camp and life are not as much about where you are and what you have, but who you’re with and how you treat them. Investing in your relationships with the people around you will always give you the greatest reward.
How do the values or skills you learned at Camp show up in your everyday work and/or personal life?
Leading a song at flagpole, a devotion in your cabin, or an activity with a group of energetic campers is the most valuable public speaking class you can take and has absolutely contributed to my comfortability presenting and teaching in my career. I’ll likely never have to teach a camp one riflery class or participate in another Makeover Monday after my last summer at camp, but the soft skills that each part of camp has taught me have had a lasting influence.
Is there a person or a situation that had a huge influence on you while you were at Camp? How and why did they/it impact you?
I was fortunate to have consistent mentors throughout my journey from my last year as a camper to my last year on staff with Ben Pruitt and Rory O’Brien.
Ben was my counselor, my trainee coordinator, and then head male counselor once I became a counselor. With the example he set and advice he gave throughout that time, I gained the confidence to lead at camp and beyond. Most importantly, he taught me to challenge the status quo - just because things have always been done a certain way, doesn’t mean they can’t be improved.
I’m also thankful for Rory for being someone to look up to as a consistent leader in my time at camp. Working with him as a director while I was on Ad-Staff, I developed a further appreciation of Rory as being the most selfless person I know. I always admired his ability to be patient and give grace to those who are learning and that he always gave 100% of himself to every part of camp he touched.
What advice would you give your younger self?
If you want something you have never had, you must be willing to do something you have never done.
What three words best describe you?
Courteous, competitive, compassionate.
What is your favorite camp memory?
Too many to count! However, what immediately came to mind was the staff week skit competition my summer as the Spartan Unit Leader. I was anxious to be the best leader that I could be, and was worried how the counselors in my unit that had never been to camp before as a camper or counselor would respond to acting/dancing in the bizarre skit we created which can only be described as a Michael Jackson musical with the loose plot of the movie 300, but everyone absolutely crushed it, we had a blast, and we ended up winning! In the end, it gave the new counselors the opportunity to come out of their shell and it set the tone for our unit to have an incredible summer I’ll never forget!
