The Great Ones-Dave Brittain and John Tufts

The Great Ones

Dave Brittain and John Tufts

It took me a while to be able to write this “memoir”. No, I don’t mean I was teary eyed at the passing of these two important people in my life; I just needed time to reflect. Both John and Dave were intricate in my career path and they are due a well thought out ode to what they brought to the game. Let’s start in the beginning….

When I decided to leave the horse world and dive into a career in animal health, all I had was a list of people Brandon Manning gave me. We were good friends who had been at Tarleton at the same time and followed similar career paths. I wanted to try something else in the ag field other than what I was doing at the time and Brandon had recently made the switch to Allflex, the ID ear tag company. He was very convincing and I still thank him for his help. Brandon gave me a list of animal health distributors and other animal health companies. Oddly enough, both Dave Brittain’s Coastal Ag Supply and John Tuft’s SunWest Industries were on the list.

I sent out well over 50 resumes and letters to prospective companies and the only positives were Pfizer Animal Health and Coastal Ag. Pfizer was not looking to hire for several months and my finances were beginning to shrink. I called Dave and asked if he had seen my resume that I had sent him. He replied in a hurried response, “I haven’t had time to look at it, but I will.” Yeah sure, I pondered. I called Dave back a few days later and he said that his wife (Miss Betty) had set it on his desk, but he STILL had not looked at it. I again said I would call back later. The third time I called he said he had glanced at it. I forcibly pressed my will to him and said, “How about I come by next week and we can meet?” Dave seemed to reluctantly accept the date and I began planning our meeting. Mind you, I had never seen, met or heard anything about this man. I put on a suit and tie and drove down to Houston that next week, resume and college course list and grades in hand.

Remember, that in 1992 I was 5’9” and tipped the scales at 150 lbs. soaking wet. I walked in the office doors of Coastal Ag and was met by this 6’6” bear of a man. I had been a little brazen to literally demand the interview, and when I saw how big Dave was, I became slightly intimidated. He was the complete opposite of what I expected. We talked about what I had been doing after school and he was all ears. He told me he had room for me to start from the ground up and I jumped all over it. The pay was a little on the meager side, but hey, it was money. Thus, my career in animal health began. At the bottom. Again.

Dave had me fill orders and help load trucks for the first several months. I then was sent on deliveries and even began checking orders for delivery. Finally, he asked me if I wanted to sell tack. We had a trailer that was basically a catalog on wheels. I towed it to various accounts all over Coastal’s sales area. I did that for about 6 more months and then Dave acquired a warehouse in Seguin, Texas. I started helping Dave and his son Eric get the place ready for business and Dave asked me if I wanted to move to Seguin. I jumped at the chance and made the move. Dave even let me use a Coastal Ag trailer to move my stuff. He thought, “Why don’t I have Tim move his furniture and get him to haul some inventory to the Seguin warehouse at the same time?” My first thought was that Dave was pretty smart in doing this. He could write off my moving expenses and get some product moved at the same time. He didn’t tell me until I arrived to hook up the trailer that the product was 4 pallets of Dursban Insecticide Granules. I swear my couch smelled like a fertilizer warehouse for 3 months.

I worked at the Seguin warehouse for about 3 or 4 more months and the south Texas rep Jim Moseman decided he didn’t want to travel to the Rio Grande Valley anymore and Dave asked me if I wanted to. I thought about it awhile and turned it down. When I told Dave this, he started fuming, “Well by God, somebody is going down there or I’ll fire one of you and hire someone who will!”. I was a little taken aback and said, “ Well, I guess I’m going to the Valley after all.” I talked to one of my co-workers, Robert Boley and he told me to never turn down an offer. Very good words of wisdom. Dave eventually told me a few days later that we wasn’t going to fire me and if I wanted to stay in the warehouse, I could. I took it like, “You can stay in the warehouse and rot.”

Dave ended up being a great teacher and guide for me. When I sold some Gopher Bait under the contracted sales price, he called me a “giveaway artist”. I didn’t know any better, but I never made that mistake again. All the Coastal reps called Dave each morning to discuss various things. One morning I called in and we talked business for a bit and then he gave me the advice of “staying away from hairy legged women when you’re on the road”. Thanks Dave.

I got a phone call on a Sunday night in January. John Tufts with SunWest (Walco) was calling to see if I would be interested in going to work for him in my present territory. I was shocked to say the least. I mean, who was I? I definitely was not some hot shot sales rep, just a very avg rep trying to learn the ropes. I agreed to meet John later in the week.

I met John at a restaurant in the hotel he was staying at in Austin. Once again, I had no clue about this man. Didn’t know his reputation, his persona, nuttin. I walk in with my tie once again haphazardly tied, and a man with shaggy hair and beard, shorts and flip flops walks up to me and introduces himself. Oh shit, what have I got myself in to? We sit down in the bar and visit about the industry and the area. John asked me if I called on my customers in a tie. I didn’t know what to say, but John started laughing and I sheepishly grinned along with him. Turns out that Walco has had very little, if none, dealer presence in south Texas since the 80’s. My girlfriend (now the lovely Mrs. Guest) was a buyer at a Callahan General Store in Austin and her main supplier was Kenneth Caffey with SunWest. Slowly the pieces began falling in place to me.

First of all, I was felt tremendously honored that someone came to me about a job, as opposed to the opposite. I also found out that John had talked to 2 other co-workers of mine. I called John back the next week and told him, “If you’re still offering, I’m a taking.” I had not considered the fact that John had not actually offered me the job, usually a necessary cog in the job-getting business. Fortunately, John said he would put the papers together and send them to me. One of the other co-workers turned out to be Kelly Wilkey. Here I thought that I was some kind of catch for John and Walco. I was actually the last person John had called. Oh well, it felt good for a little bit to be a star.

Driving to Houston to tell Dave Brittain I was quitting him, was one of the most difficult and stressful periods of my young life. I had told Eric Brittain I was leaving, but Dave was in Houston and I needed to tell him to his face. I called the office, but Dave had already left for the day. I spoke to one of Dave’s other sons, Scott and asked him not to mention anything to Dave. Crazy to think Scott wouldn’t say anything to Dave…

I tossed and turned all night and finally woke up around 4:00 AM and headed out the door to Houston. My stomach was in knots and at one point I almost pulled over to puke. When I got to the office I found Dave and immediately knew that he was in the know. I told him I was leaving and he immediately fumed and fussed that I was going to work in “his backyard”. I just pursed my lips and let Dave rant. He then abruptly lowered his voice and said very calmly, “Dr. Red, you need to do what you feel is best. We can still compete and be friends.” I was relieved to say the least. For a minute, I thought my picture would be on the news that night; “Scrawny Salesman Strangled by Very Large Man”. Dave then told me words that stuck with me to this day. “You’ll be out there tryin’ to kick my ass and I’ll be doin the same to you”. Getting my ass kicked is much better than death by strangulation… I saw Dave a few more times over the years and he was always kind and sincere. I stopped at the office in Seguin about 10 years ago to call on Eric. I hear a deep voice behind me say, “Hey, you old SOB.” I looked around a Dave was grinning from ear to ear. He looked a lot older than I had remembered him, but that probably tends to happen to heart transplant patients. I told Dave and Betty that they had a great family of ex-employees that were in the industry. Betty smiled and said something to the effect of “We do have a big family don’t we?”

John Tufts was a very hands-off boss. He had a bit of the “silver spoon in the mouth birth” but John’s dad taught him well. His dad John Sr. had started the business and when his dad passed away, John ended up selling the company to Walco. Luckily, Walco kept John or I wouldn’t be sharing this story. John told us that one time he ordered a truck load of head gates and squeeze chutes and when the shipment arrived, there was no one but John to unload it. He said he called his dad to complain, but the senior Mr. Tufts matter-of-factly explained to John Jr, “You ordered them, so you can unload them.”

As much of a big wind as John could be at times, he was pretty humble also. Kelly and I played golf with John at times and John couldn’t stand to lose. He would use his heel to make a tee in the fairway grass to give him a better lie. But he always paid for our golf and bought us a big meal. We were driving home from a meeting one day and his car phone rang. “No, I can’t play today. I’ve got my reps with me, but I can play tomorrow. See ya Spud.” Turns out that John lived in the same neighborhood that Spud Webb lived and Spud was putting together a pick up basketball game. Lifestyles of the rich  and famous.

Kelly told me that John called him one day and asked him why he was selling a pistol grip syringe so cheap. Kelly said he promised the customer the price and wanted to hold up his end of the bargain. John told Kelly, ”I guess you let your mouth overload your ass this time?” Isn’t it strange how the best life lessons we learn are the ones we learn when we’re young?

John had a habit of surrounding himself with, not good people, but great people. Our buyer, Cary McClary was probably one the best buyers in the industry. Our warehouse had people that had worked for John for years. Luis Pippin would help John at a moment’s notice. They absolutely loved the man.  I always thought that manufacture reps liked John because he didn’t take himself too seriously. Yeah, John liked to show off from time to time, but I think he was laughing at himself on the inside.

Once he drove a Porsche to a golf outing we went to. I rolled my eyes at John and this crazy antic, but it helped keep his image floating. Turned out the car had been repossessed by the bank that John was a partner in. He pissed off everyone else at the event but did John care?

Hell no.

Walco was sold in the late 90’s and John became a disposable asset of sorts. A lot of the old guard retired or moved on and John was kind of left swingin’ in the wind. As always, he bounced back and he stayed in the industry. He was truly a survivor and he loved the animal health business and the people that are in it. On my last day at Walco, Tim Cooke took me and a few others out to eat that night. As we were leaving, can you guess who walks in the door? John just happened to be eating there that night and it was almost kind of weird that John was the person I saw on my first day and my last day at Walco.  

Last time I saw John was at Dean Lane’s memorial service in Fort Worth. This was easily 15 years ago and John was definitely showing his age. He and Russ Lewis had driven together to the service and I saw them just as I was leaving. I never had a really friendly relationship with John. He was, simply put, my boss and nothing more. I have always respected the chain of command, plus, I didn’t think John was super proud of me as a hire. More of just another rep that worked for him, but I was no shining star. At this point in his life and mine, I finally felt we were peers. He smiled and asked how I was doing and what I was doing. I asked about his kids and he asked about Susie.

At that minute, I suddenly realized that I had made it in this industry. Once again, nothing of a superstar, but I had been accepted into a group I had been wanting to be a part of for many years. I had been inducted to the long timer’s group. Why is that such a big thing for me?

I get to laugh at the kid interviewing in a tie for a job where a tie will never be needed. I hope John and Dave are smiling as I write this, because I damn sure am.