Parker Fain

“I want to better myself so I can be better for my people. When they succeed, I succeed.”

Parker is the textbook definition of a team player. You would expect him to repeat the familiar phrase about teamwork: “There is no ‘I’ in team!” And he does. Yet he also strongly believes there is an important “I” in team — and that “I” is him, a leader who is all-in to bring his best to the table every day so he can empower others to succeed. In that sense he plays the roles of both coach and cheerleader for his team.

Parker earned his Industrial supervisor stripes after progressing from a trainee straight out of Oklahoma State University and then to inside sales before taking on his current role. He credits Ferguson for teaching him “everything he knows,” and for giving him the tools to achieve his professional goals. He says he thrives in Ferguson’s culture, which is centered around working hard, and loves showing up every day to learn and strive to be his best.

As a supervisor Parker embraces that same mindset of hard work and learning, and is driven to help his team succeed. He says he wants his team to hold him to high standards, so he can help them improve and progress through their own careers. For his team he mirrors his own thirst for knowledge by encouraging them to ask questions and learn from the people around them. And he believes that by bettering themselves he and his team contribute to bettering Ferguson as a whole.

According to Parker, there are three qualities that make a great Ferguson associate. The first is the drive to come to work every day and give your best, something he believes is innate and can’t be taught like products and processes. The second is adaptability, in order to deliver what the customers want and need. And the third is a team mentality. “The company isn’t where it is today because of one person,” he says. “Ferguson is where it is because of all of us.”