Aaron Coyle

“Don’t be scared to make mistakes. Very few can’t be fixed. Instead, push yourself and learn from them. Success is accompanied with mistakes along the way, but how you reconcile them can set you apart.”

Since he joined Ferguson in 2011, Aaron has seen his division grow by leaps and bounds. And he’s been part of the growth every step of the way. Let’s do a little math.
Aaron got his start in inside sales in valve automation for Industrial, which at the time was just adding 2 people, him and a technician. Today he’s an instrumental leader for a team that includes more than 16 people: 7 in valve and automation inside sales, 5 valve automation technicians, 2 master machinists, a drafter/designer, and him, plus area sales managers, and an outside team with specialized valve automation know-how. In that time sales growth has also been off the charts. The team brings in about 35 times more than it did back then. That’s impressive math!

However, Aaron will be the first to admit his mentors and his Industrial teammates are a major reason for this division’s success, as well as his own. “Our leadership, from the beginning to now, has invested in many ways and coached how to be the best at our jobs. And all our Industrial Teammates, from Inside to Outside to Shop, have always been on board to help in any way they could, and that is a recipe for success. I’ve been blessed to be a part of this Team.”

Aaron graduated from Tennessee Tech with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a minor in mathematics. About 3 years after graduation, he was looking for something new when he landed at Ferguson. After nearly 4 months of training, he went to work — where he continued to learn on the job. Aaron credits dedication and creativity with helping him gain traction in those early days. It allowed him to gain the skills to make operational improvements, for example getting a customer’s quote faster, as well as develop more complex solutions, like diagnosing and engineering more effectively. Even after 12 years, Aaron still gets excited to learn and consistently strives to discover new solutions that will benefit his team, like creating efficiencies that save both time and costs.

There are three things that really swing Aaron’s feet out of bed in the morning, ready to give his best every day. His faith and wife are two, and his team is another. “We all put in a lot of hours and hard work every day, and I want to show up for my team to honor that and be the best manager I can be for them,”. In fact, he says creativity and a personal drive to achieve are two key qualities for success as a Ferguson associate — qualities that can’t be taught and instead must come from within. It’s clear Aaron brought those qualities to Ferguson more than a decade ago, and they have fueled his own success as well as the success of his division.