Life rarely ever goes as any of us plans it. It’s full of peaks and valleys, and, on occasion, plateaus of peace and serenity. Sometimes life is spontaneous and fun! Other times, chaotic and painful. Some things, like who you fall in love with and spend the rest of your life with can’t be planned out ahead of time. Some things, like education, careers, and retirement, can be. And sometimes, things beyond us change those plans completely. Occasionally, it’s for the worse, but I am inclined to think that, for the most part, it’s for the better. So it goes.
After serving for 10 years as the Engineering Manager for EXAIR corporation, I will be pursuing a new course in life. It wasn’t one that I sought, but rather, it sought me. Friday, July the 10th marked my retirement from engineering. Today, I started training for the full time ministry.
When I first came to EXAIR, there was no doubt in my mind that it was answered prayer. I had worked for small companies and Fortune 500 companies alike before coming here, and there was no doubt in my mind where I wanted to settle down and spend the rest of my engineering life. I wanted to work for a small, family owned business that genuinely cared for its employees, that actually manufactured durable goods here in Cincinnati, and that was close to home. I was blessed to find all three.
The work here at EXAIR was always interesting. Developing new products, redesigning existing ones, tracking down root causes of failure and cost accounting are just some of the things I did here as an engineer. And although designing custom products was always my favorite part of the engineering side of this job, where else could I get paid to be Professor Penurious? Good times indeed.
But what I really learned while working for the smartest guy I’ve ever known, is how a successful organization is run, en masse. From the outwardly perceivable things like manufacturing, procurement, marketing, sales, order entry, accounting, etc. to the unquantifiable, like how to treat employees, customers and vendors. Like the rest of life, sometimes it goes according to plan, and sometimes you fly by the seat of your pants. But if you’re always honest, diligent and sincere, you can rest easy at night knowing you’ve done the right thing. These are skills I’m confident will serve me well in my new job, and I’d like to thank all of you, especially Bryan Peters, for helping me learn them.
I had no intention of leaving EXAIR one second before I turned 59 ½ (if the stock market was good to me…) I quickly became good friends with everyone here and even during difficult times, I knew this was the job for me. It’s not that I wanted to leave here, far from it! But my path forward is clear and undeniable. I will miss the interesting customers and helpful suppliers, but mostly, I’ll miss the wonderful people I worked alongside this last decade. I can say sincerely and without hesitation that I love each and every one of you.
EXAIR has changed my life for the better. I hope that in some way, I have done the same for EXAIR. So it goes. So I go.
Dan Preston
Engineering Manager (ret.)
EXAIR Corporation
