Doug Wintzer, Sales & Marketing Manager
Before joining the family business, Doug started his career with a privately owned auto parts manufacturer. With his ‘can do’ attitude and willingness to learn, he quickly made his way around multiple business functions stepping up for leadership when and where they needed a hand. In addition to his own role on the shop floor to load and unload shipments, Doug was exposed to the importance of a smooth operating shipping department. He assisted the scheduling team and learned how to operate most of the machinery on the shop floor. Eventually, he ended up in sales helping clients make informed decisions by sharing his knowledge for the different products.
Doug enjoys problem solving and the satisfaction that comes when he helps others improve their situation. His curiosity towards the different auto parts the company was manufacturing drove him to study the catalog and their offerings even after hours. This helped him better understand the challenges his company solved for their clients. With this lens of expertise and access across the many functions within the company, he gained trust from his clients and teammates and quickly became one of the highest performing sales associates within 4 years’ time.
Doug started at Advance while attending welding school to become a certified welder. The aspect where welding takes the strongest materials known to man and conforms them into anything we wanted, fueled Doug’s passion for creation and desire to take on different challenges. Doug enjoyed his time on the shop floor learning skills of the trade but knew he could be a significant asset towards Advance’s business initiatives.
His next step into his current role answered leadership’s call to grow and diversify Advance’s portfolio as a company. In its 20+ years in business, Advance had historically served mostly repeat and referral clients. To remain competitive and expand Advance’s reach, Doug wanted to use his experience in sales to help serve more clients with quality custom steel fabrication.
As with his former experience at the auto parts manufacturer, Doug had the opportunity to work in different positions on the shop floor at Advance. This opportunity has allowed him the insight of how interdependent each team member and their roles are.
“Having worked in every department on the shop floor gives me a window to the challenges, possibilities, obstacles, and successful milestones for each function. The interdependence and cohesive network builds towards project delivery excellence.”
Doug enjoys the big, diverse, and fun projects Advance’s clients brings to them. Being able to see the end product, feel it, and have the ability to tell when welds are done properly makes him proud. He also enjoys working through the current
challenges in the marketplace environment, as he is confident that the rest of the Advance team and himself cares deeply about their clients.
Being involved in many sports, especially on the lacrosse team when he was younger, helped build Doug’s team spirit growing up. He has a great desire to make sure everyone on his team is heard and knows their importance. When Doug is not in the office, you can find him enjoying a Columbus Crew soccer game with his friends, playing massive multi-player online role-playing games, or making sure he’s offering Foxie, his dog an American Dingo, the best life she can have.