Dear friends, welcome to our June/July 2016 issue of BIC Magazine — your business, industry and community connection. Each year when I sit down to write this “From The Publisher,” I can’t help but think back to June 1, 1983, when I resigned as training manager from Hill Petroleum (now Alon) in Krotz Springs, Louisiana, to launch BIC Magazine on April Fool’s Day in 1984. I had gone to rock bottom in 1982 after my first business went bust during a downturn in the energy industry in the early 1980s. Many things contributed to my failure in business that also devastated my family. It took us decades of hard work, perseverance, faith and the helping hands of many of you to achieve the success our company enjoys today.
Thanks to being involved in several energy training organizations and being a strong believer in networking and sharing leads, I received great referrals that led to my job at Hill Petroleum. The lessons I learned between 1965, when I started out at Ethyl Corp., and 1980, when I started out in business — plus what I learned at Hill and over the past 32 years — played a vital role in paving the way for the success we enjoy today at BIC Alliance and our other companies. After that experience all those years ago, I vowed I would always stay active in business, industry, training and media organizations and try to help others who are starting out or starting over. The things I put my family, myself and others through over the years made me vow to make God, family and others first, and that is what I have tried to do for the past 18 years since a near-death experience almost 20 years ago.
When we think about starting out, many of us think of our first day of school when we were kids, our first love, our first day of college, our first job, or even our kids or grandkids starting out their new adventures in life. When we think about starting over, it could be starting over in a new personal or business relationship, career or job; trying to rebuild a marriage; relocating to a new city; starting over after the loss of a loved one, a business failure, or a natural disaster like a hurricane or fire; or returning from the armed forces.
When we are starting out or starting over, there is no substitute for hard work, an eagerness to learn and, most of all, treating others as we would like to be treated. When we started BIC Alliance and launched BIC Magazine in 1984, I was bust and knew the only way we could succeed was to work harder and longer and produce a publication that was unique and offered more editorial coverage and ancillary services than other energy publications. I also vowed to always show kindness and appreciation to others; to include articles and interviews from experts in BIC Magazine that help inspire, educate, motivate and train others; and to always treat others as I expected to be treated.
Other lessons I learned while at rock bottom are we are never alone and there are always those who need a helping hand and those who are willing to help us. Since I couldn’t afford to hire a lot of high-salary folks with production and media sales experience, I depended on my training skills to hire folks who were just starting out and on my management skills along with my empathy for those starting over to hire folks who were rebounding from personal or business-related adversity.
When my son-in-law, Thomas — who is now my partner and our president and COO — started out at Exxon, he asked me for some tips that may help him. My three tips were the same I have shared with thousands of others before and since. I’m sharing them with those of you who are starting out, starting over or know someone who is, and I hope you share these tips with them:
• Always show an eagerness to learn, and treat others like you want to be treated.
• Learn and practice the skill of networking, join every professional organization associated with your industry and get directly involved.
• Find the best mentor you can, and become the hardest-working, kindest protégé in your department or division.
You can find a wealth of additional tips in an article titled “Starting Over” on page 21 of our BIC Media Solutions’ book “Earl’s Pearls.”
I believe our timing is perfect to share a message of this type as our young folks are starting out at a new college, university or career in the workplace and over 100,000 people in the energy sector are seeking new job opportunities. Another reason why I think the timing is perfect is because later this summer BIC Media Solutions will release our latest book and short film, “Rock Bottom and Back,” which shares the amazing stories of 22 individuals who have gone to rock bottom and back and from desperation to inspiration.
In this issue of BIC Magazine, there are many great articles and interviews. No matter how busy you are, I hope you find time to read and share them with others. Among these are interviews with William Prentice, chairman and CEO of Meridian Energy Group Inc.; Stacy Putman, site manager of INEOS OLEFINS & POLYMERS USA’s Carson, California, facility; and Andrew Shackett, executive vice president of industrial services for Clean Harbors.
Be sure to look for our energy association feature, which includes commentary from groups on how their sectors of industry impact America. We also have a full-page article about the amazing folks featured in our “Rock Bottom and Back” book and film, and another half page about the folks we partnered with on this project. We also include information on how to preorder the book and film to read, watch and share with others.
In closing, I encourage each of you to join us in hiring interns this summer and to lend a helping hand to those who are starting out or starting over. As a reminder, if you need help finding the best people, please keep our BIC Recruiting division in mind.
