Meet Greg Reid

We were lucky to catch up with Greg Reid recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Greg, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
Most problems I had in life at the age of 18 could be solved with money. I had just started my business right out of high school in 1983 and had some marketable skills but zero business acumen. I knew I could make money and figured I’d just buy my way out of any errors that would come my way as I learned how to avoid them. Consumer debt in the 80’s was a common scenario. Banks were handing out credit cards with large credit lines and very little qualification. I took immediate advantage of these easy lines of credit and financed my business as needed through the startup years. I racked up debt on cards and debt on everything else trying to pay those cards. I hated my mailbox. One check and 50 bills. Every now and then I’d land a big job and make 30 or 50k and then pay everything down back into a manageable amount. My business was making signs. Hand-painted signs was the only kinds of signs there was before computers existed, Hand-painted signs was my skill and trade. Jobs in the sign business really run the gamut from steady bread and butter jobs to big money jobs depending on how the phone rings. I always had a backlog of work that was determined by which job would pay the quickest. I thought nothing of debt because I could actually make a lot of it go away from time to time, so it was more about how cash would flow than if it would flow. In the 80’s my biggest problems were getting jobs out. I had to work 7 days a week to keep up with orders which was a good thing. The bad thing was the other side of the coin like business compliance, taxes, insurance, bonds, all of that kind of stuff. I had all of those things but it was duct-taped together at best and largely driven by my accountant who I had to pay to tell me who else I had to pay. This required more and more money which meant more and more work. When I was frustrated I would work because getting the checks made my problems that much better. When I was I was happy I would work because I genuinely loved my job.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
Being in the sign business the first ten years exposed me to many things I would otherwise have no opportunity or need to be exposed to. I really liked jobs that had an air of mystery about them and gravitated towards jobs that required Non-Disclosure Agreements. The next 30 years led me into a broad range of projects that included development and consulting for aerospace, outer space, national defense, emerging technologies, automotive, and marine. I had to learn my own way along the way to qualify for each step forward into the next job, the next project, then the next job and the next and incrementally found myself able to describe my life as a sign-painter as I am doing right now. I am 58 now and am still in the sign business every day. I also am an audio engineer, a construction contractor, a guest lecturer at NYU and I am debt-free.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Be humble or get humbled is the absolute truth. I was able to ask for and accept help from people and family along the way and that was the only reason I am here now. It was hard to hear I was wrong and making mistakes when I was.

Look for opportunities to elevate others. This has been my longtime go-to for personal conduct in life. It is rewarding and is the right thing to do. It’s also a bit of a contrarian approach in a world where everyone is focused on elevating themselves.

Debt is modern slavery. Try not to use it. Always pay it down or pay it off. Most people are ok with a little debt. Understand what it costs in money and in mental bandwidth to choose debt.

My two favorite quotes by famous people are:

“When money enters the room, God leaves.” Quincy Jones (American record producer, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer)

“Everyone has a plan until they get hit in the face.” Mike Tyson (American former professional boxer)

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?
My Sister. She is 12 years older than me and is always right. It took a long time to come to believe that but it’s true. She, along with her husband, were the ones who righted my ship when it was in rough seas. Tough love personified. Being an eternal student is something to not ever lose or move past from. When you can’t learn from others, that is where growth stops.

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