• Born in Sparta, North Carolina.

• Married for 26 years to his wife, Donna, and has two sons.

• Enjoys spending time with his family and attending his son's football games at Wingate University. He is also serving as the Booster Club president at West Rowan High School.

• Describes himself as a perfectionist who is dedicated and enjoys helping others.

• Served as a member of the advisory board and a chief judge tool inspector for the International Linemen's Rodeo.

Early Years

When I was 16, I saw a vehicle accident up the road from my house. A power pole was broken, and a transformer hit the ground. I watched the linemen put everything back up and restore the power, and I thought it would be a great job to have.

I also had family ties to the trade. My father, who served as an electrician in the U.S. Navy, was employed by Pike for a short time and worked on the Duke Power system. He later worked in the maintenance department of a few large companies and always had great job security. Growing up and learning many things from him, I wanted to take a job that couldn't be duplicated by computer program or automated.

I took an electrical installation and maintenance course at a local technical college and worked in the electrical field. After several years, I applied for a job at Duke Power and was hired as a distribution line helper in January 1987.

My first job at Duke was as a linemen's helper, or apprentice. I was basically a zero-voltage groundman who did many the jobs the linemen didn't like to do, like hand-digging pole holes and stocking the truck. The linemen's helper position was a learning position, and the senior linemen were there to help us learn to do the job without getting hurt.

Day in the Life

As a technical training specialist, no day is typical. We get calls and requests to train on many different topics and skills such as wood-pole fall-protection training. We train all the new employees and also those who are progressing through the ranks as linemen. One thing I really like about my current position is I still get to work directly with the linemen.

Challenges and Rewards

Linemen by nature are not quitters. We all like a challenge and will push ourselves to the absolute limit. At the same time, however, we also must maintain our focus on safety.

It's easy to get caught up in the moment when we are restoring power to customers who have been out of power for a long time. To see the expression on their faces when the lights come on and hear the kind “thank you” are all we need to push ahead and get one more order completed.

Safety Lesson

Something that really brought the importance of safety home for me was in 2006. We had an individual in the field who was doing the most routine job that there was to do. He fell off a pole from 17 feet and had a career-ending injury.

I was on the investigation committee, and we looked at what we could have done to prevent it. That was a turning point for Duke Energy in which we started focusing on wood-pole fall protection and prohibiting anyone to free climb on our system.

Memorable Storm

I've been on storm duty from Detroit to Florida and a lot of places in between. I will never forget the time we went to Detroit, because they have a unique system and frigid weather. It was so cold that when my hard hat blew off, it busted when it fell to the ground.

I also remember when I worked on hurricanes that crisscrossed Florida. I worked storm troubles for two-and-a-half weeks. They were all interesting, unique and different experiences and all enjoyable. During storms, you work yourself to death. We worked about 16-hour shifts, and we couldn't have made it without Gold Bond medicated powder.

Plans for the Future

I would absolutely go into this industry again. Every vehicle accident and storm is similar but unique. We get to use our hands and build something that will be there. I can look at power poles that I worked on 20 years ago and feel good about the job I had done.

In the future, I'd like to stay in touch with the line technicians directly because I enjoy working with them. I've been told that I am good at what I do in the training department, so I plan to continue to pursue that career path.