PPB November 2017

Robe r t F i veash A Culture Of Caring 76 | NOVEMBER 2017 | CONNECT R obert Fiveash knows how to keep busy. “I love to jog (the hotter the better), play guitar (still bad after 30 years, but I just bought an electric so I’ve recommitted!), paddle (kayak or whitewater canoe), coach (girls’ lacrosse), and travel with my family,” he says, ticking off a laundry list of activities. The resident of Virginia Beach, Virginia (he recently moved from Norfolk) shares a home with his wife, Amy, their two daughters— Grayson, 14, and Anne Burns, 12—and the family dog, Bear. “Bear is the office mascot, so he hitches a ride with me pretty much every day,” says Fiveash. Fiveash works in the Norfolk location for distributor Brand Fuel, headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina; he and co‑president/co-founder Danny Rosin, CAS, launched the business nearly 20 years ago. “My first job in the industry was starting Brand Fuel with my bestie [Rosin] in 1998. I moved down to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, after getting my MBA fromWilliam & Mary in 1998, and we opened up shop behind a Domino’s Pizza,” he recalls. “It’s crazy how time has flown.” In that time, Fiveash and Rosin have committed to growing a business where culture reigns supreme. “This will sound odd perhaps, or maybe like an excuse, but I bet we could have been two times our size at this stage if we had concentrated on growing the number of salespeople instead of company culture,” he says. “I guess you can do both successfully, but it’s really hard.” Fiveash is also committed to volunteering, with Big Brothers Big Sisters and as president of industry non- profit PromoKitchen, as well as with PPAI and his regional association. Read on to learn more about a typical day at the office for Fiveash. Describe your office atmosphere. Dog-friendly. Open door policy. Music. Lots of fun rock-and-roll art on the walls. Shared space with a kick-ass tech company. It’s really a great place to come every morning. For Robert Fiveash, putting employees ahead of profit drives Brand Fuel’s success. by Jen Alexander