Meet David Berthiaume, director of business sales at Cox Business (www.cox.com) in Omaha.
Tell us a little about your business. – Cox Business is an exciting place to work as they continue to develop and invest in innovative new solutions that help businesses become more efficient and grow. Cox Business provides businesses end-to-end solutions including connectivity, security, fail-over, professional and managed services and cloud integration.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced professionally? – The biggest challenge I’ve faced was managing my time between an individual contributor sales role, going back to school to pursue my MBA and beginning a family. That time really taught me the importance of time management and organization. I learned to create daily and weekly plans for myself and to prioritize tasks in order to accomplish my short- and long-term goals.
What has been your most important achievement professionally? – I’ve worked with some amazing people in my career and what I’m most proud of is hiring people with high potential and helping them develop and grow into leaders of the business.
Tell us a little about your family. – I have a wife, Maggie, and son and daughter, Lane and Molly. Both kids are teenagers and are working and have active social lives. Maggie and I like relaxing on our deck with a refreshing drink, listening to music and enjoying a good laugh.
What do you see as one of the biggest turning points in your life? – Moving across the country to Seattle to work with a previous leader may have been one of the biggest turning points in my life. I had worked in the same Market/Office for 18 years and was comfortable. I knew my coworkers and accounts well. Being willing to take the risk and start a new journey with the encouragement of my family was an amazing experience. As a family, we got to enjoy new activities together and try new things. Professionally, I got to see other aspects of the business, work with new groups of people and help lead them to new levels of success.
What is your favorite thing to do on a day off? – I like to accomplish things. I always have a honey-do list and the more I can complete on a day off, the better I feel. If I can get the list short enough, I’ll try to get a round of golf in with friends.
What is the most unique or interesting thing about you that most people probably don’t know? – I owned a residential construction company and built one of the homes I lived in for 8 years. I did a large amount of the labor and love building things.
Who inspires you? – People that think differently. I’m a fan of Warren Buffett’s approach to buying stocks. He doesn’t chase after what is hot but instead looks for good businesses. He invests in companies that he likes the products of, and that methodology has made him a world-renowned investor. Elon Musk’s also inspires me with his ability to execute quickly and not be bound by what everyone else has done. His ability to develop and manufacture an iconic electric car when everyone else was just talking about them is amazing. His ability to use first principles to develop a reusable rocket when others never considered that a rocket could be used multiple times shows what is possible when you challenge norms.
What local nonprofit organization(s) are you passionate about or involved with, and are there any special reasons why? – I have been a longtime advocate and supporter of both the Open Door Mission locally and St Jude’s Hospital nationally.
What is your favorite local restaurant? – The Drover. It has 10/10 food, service and atmosphere.
If our readers would like to contact you, how should they do so? – David.Berthiaume@cox.com.