Bradley is the sales manager at ISC Manufacturing and has been with the company for over two years. Bradley started as a production engineer and has learned a great deal about the overall manufacturing industry throughout his career. Over the years, he's seen many changes in the manufacturing world and attributes much of his success to his thirst for knowledge. Married with two boys, Bradley isn't all work. He enjoys spending time at home with his family, playing baseball, and attending church.
The Career Path
Post graduating from Mississippi State University with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Technology, Bradley's career journey took off as he began working for Milwaukee Electric Tools as a Manufacturing Engineer in the reciprocating saw blade cell.
After he left Milwaukee, Bradley joined Cameron, A Schlumberger Company, at the LeTourneau facility in Vicksburg, MS. There, he learned much about heavy fabrication inputs such as welding efficiency and metallurgy, as well as how to calculate labor costs while working with heavy-duty material aspects - information that is essential in his current roles.
Subsequently, Bradley shifted from the petroleum sector to motor vehicle manufacturing. At the end of his three-year tenure as a Quality Engineer at a tier one supplier for Nissan, Bradley's wife got an unexpected opportunity which lead them to the Lone Star State. After relocating his family to Texas, Bradley found a new home at ISC Manufacturing.
Starting with ISC
With over a decade of experience as a manufacturing and quality engineer, Bradley joined ISC in March 2020. Initially, he fulfilled various roles with the company but felt his responsibilities lacked definition.
As Bradley began dedicating more time to quality assurance and customer engagement, he started building relationships with customers which resulted in him closing a few deals. Bill, the owner of ISC, then advised that sales was probably an area where he should focus his energy moving forward.
Bradley enjoys the dynamic nature of sales and being challenged. With his diverse background in manufacturing, Bradley is able to connect with customer struggles and develop solutions. He's not an expert at any one thing; instead, he remains open-minded while always striving to learn more. This student mindset helps him stay flexible when it comes to tackling whatever life throws his way!
Message to the Future
Bradley frequently imparts wisdom to the younger generations who join ISC, “Don’t try to be an expert. You just always continue to try to learn and be a student.”
When you have the opportunity to mentor someone in your field, take it. Passing on the value of ongoing learning is invaluable and something Bradley loves doing: he's constantly honing his knowledge. Mark Ellis from ISC has been an inspiring role model for him; his success shows that with dedication one can become a master of their field - something Bradley aims to achieve too.
Working as a quality engineer in the automotive industry enabled Bradley to develop an invaluable capacity for bridging technical and engineering knowledge with customer needs. His experience taught him that honesty is key when dealing with customers, allowing you to take their guidance and use it within your business. By having this ability both sides of communication become fluid, making sure that all parties involved are satisfied.
That role is not much unlike Bradley's current one, with the only difference being that he can play a more pivotal part in controlling and developing the conceptual stage of projects through providing helpful best practices and advice to guarantee successful outcomes after purchase orders have been placed.
Home Life
Bradley, his wife and two young boys (ages 11 and 8) recently relocated to Texas. The family shifted from Mississippi where they've been living since birth, with the majority of their loved ones still residing there. Settling down into life as a Texan has kept them quite busy.
Thus far, the Downey family have completely fallen in love with their new Texas home. In fact, they believe it was the best decision they've ever made! They also found a church family to join two years ago and consequently are devotedly dedicating themselves among three tasks: baseball games, work commitments, and going to church services. If it isn't one of those activities, then it's likely that there is no more time for it on their schedule.
Bill’s background is in the business of raising capital, and helping companies all over the country raise money for their ventures. While Bill has experience assisting manufacturers to raise money, ISC is Bill’s first full ownership of a manufacturing company, an endeavor that he describes as being more challenging than he expected. Recognizing these challenges has resulted in Bill’s newfound respect for the challenging work that happens in the industry.
Bill, who is married with two grown kids, two grandchildren, and a third on the way, was born in Yakima, WA, then moved to Texas with his family when he was four years old. “I’m not a true native Texan,” Bill jokes, “but I’m pretty close.”
After graduating from high school, Bill went to university at Dallas Baptist University on baseball and academic scholarships. “My family didn’t have money to send me to school. It was either go on scholarship or do something else.”
Since ISC is not Bill’s only business venture, his spare time is limited. In the small amount of spare time that he does have, Bill enjoys visiting his mountain home and clearing his mind while running and hiking.
When asked about ISC’s trajectory, Bill shares that “the vision is to continue to develop the company.” Describing ISC as a company that has been around a long time, he values that people recognize the ISC name and the importance of the loyal customer base they have created. Part of Bill’s vision for ISC is to improve how ISC delivers products, ensuring that the quality of their products is second-to-none and that the delivery time for products to customers is improved. Bill also teases that there are some “things in the works in terms of new equipment” that will allow ISC to build products more efficiently and more consistently.
As for his team, Bill is clearly excited about the people he gets to work with. “They are good, sharp, hard-working people.” Joking that in the past, employees used to want to run out the door when the work day ended, “now we have a team full of people who have the attitude of ‘whatever it takes,’ which in this day and time is the attitude you need to have.” Also, due to the fact that so many competitor companies have people in charge who are nearing retirement age, ISC has taken advantage of the opportunity to hire a younger workforce that is open to developing their experience, growing, and providing innovative solutions.
When recommending some of the books that have influenced him as a business owner, Bill mentions Shoe Dog, the memoir written by Nike’s creator, and Steve Jobs’ biography, both of which speak to knowing when you have a good idea and sticking with that idea, recognizing that if something is going to be great, then you have to be proactive about making it happen. Also, despite recent events, Bill describes how reading about Elon Musk’s innovation and development of state-of-the-art products has taught him not to settle for what is but to always reach for what can be, striving to make things better on the way.
Bill truly has a passion for what he does, and for the vision that he has for the future of ISC. “I honestly enjoy working. I like to take time off to recharge so that I can go back to work. I like the competition of business. Every day is tough, but that’s what makes it fun.”
