Dan Watkins has taken each opportunity life has thrown at him new jobs, new states, new careers and turned them into success stories.
Watkins works for Minor Advertising and Public Relations. It's a new career for the veteran salesman, but like most everything that's come his way, he's relishing the experience.
Born in Brooklyn, Watkins decided to join the Air Force. He was a young man looking for a career, and ended up being trained as a jet engine specialist. He worked on B-52s in Guam, but the early part of his military career was spent in Riverside, Calif., which changed the course of his life.
While stationed there, he was hanging out with some buddies at a gas station. A bunch of Boy Scouts were pestering the men for rides on the car lift, but they were told it was too dangerous.
A group of young ladies passed by on their way into a nearby pool hall. One particularly pretty, tall girl caught Watkins' eye, and he told the Scouts if they could get those girls to come back out, he'd give them their ride.
The girls returned. Not long after, Watkins turned to his friend, and in storybook fashion, pointed out the tall girl and said, "That's the girl I'm going to marry." He and Sharon, the pretty tall girl, have been married for 43 years, and have two children; daughter Jennifer and son Danny.
After a year-long courtship, Sharon moved from her home near Riverside to New York where Watkins, now out of the military, worked as an aircraft mechanic for Braniff International Airways. The couple eventually decided to return to the small-town atmosphere where Sharon grew up, and moved to El Centro, Calif. Watkins left with the promise of a job, but spent just one day as a mechanic for a crop-dusting outfit.
"They started me out doing flagging for the pilot, and their joke was to dump that toxic dust on the new guy," he explains. "I said no thanks and left."
After that misstep, he opened a Mobil Gas station for a year, then went to work as a firefighter for the city of El Centro. He spent ten years in the job, eventually becoming a battalion chief.
Looking for a change of scenery, the family was set on a move to Oregon. Watkins sent resumes, and also checked with the Muscular Dystrophy Association about any possible openings. Watkins had been a volunteer with the local MDA chapter for year, even serving as president and producing local telethons. There were no job openings in Oregon, but the association did have an opening in Reno, for district director.
"I had spent a couple days here, on a trip back (to New York), and I liked it," he says. "We love to fish, camp, be in the outdoors. So we moved here in 1980."
Watkins spent the bulk of his time with the MDA raising funds. The rewards were two-fold, he says. The success he had fundraising was gratifying, but to be involved in the cause those dollars went to was an even greater reward.
"I got to see those kids going to summer camp. They live for that. They get to not be in reality for one week," he says. "They play games they don't normally get to play."
Due to the taxing nature of the job, the average "job tenure of the district director was barely more than two years. Watkins lasted 12.
"Where my skills as a sales person come from, I don't really know. As a young person, I always needed money. The family was fine, but there was no extra. So I sold Christmas trees, lemonade stands, did pantomime shows in the backyard. I even went to the local ballfield and sold Kool-Aid and gumballs, before there was a concession stand," he says.
When it was time for a change. Watkins went to work for KOLO TV in Reno as an account executive, and eventually became the local sales manager.
"I really enjoyed the relationships; a lot became friends," he says. "When I went to work there, TV was really dominant, but there were 28 radio stations also making cold calls. Clients were a little irritated; they'd already had people in their offices. So I turned to the telephone, and people were like 'Wow, Channel 8 is calling me!' Most folks thought they couldn't afford TV. I said, 'You must have been talking to my competitors.'"
Watkins worked for the station for 18 years. Like many in this economy, he found himself at a crossroads when KOLO decided to eliminate his position. He talked with Jim Minor, owner of Minor Advertising, and Watkins once again set off in a new career.
"I love it. I really do. I can do so much more for the client. When you sell TV that's all you sell. It's a lot of fun because I do everything," he says.
The sales guy:
Who: Dan Watkins
What: Associate with Minor Advertising
Family: Wife, Sharon. Daughter, Jennifer and son Danny
He says: "Everything right now is a good value for the client so negotiations are good."
