Brooks’ successes built from lessons learned

Colortech Inc. is Terry Brooks' first plastics job.

"I honestly was not interested from the beginning as I sort of fell into the industry due to one of my wife's colleagues," Brooks, 26, said in his Rising Stars survey. "Ever since I have learned so much and met so many people here at Colortech. They have established a wonderful environment that has positioned me and other colleagues to grow from within."

He started at the manufacturer of color and additive concentrates in Morristown, Tenn., in 2011 as a lab technician then was promoted to color matcher in 2013.

Brooks graduated from Tusculum University with a bachelor's degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing while working, then he moved into a sales representative position in 2016.

"Leading a territory for a leader in the market of color, additive concentrative and masterbatch manufacturing," Brooks said about his current challenge at Colortech. "This entails effective communication and collaboration with many experts, such as research and development, manufacturing, marketing, supply chain, technical service and senior leadership."

Brooks' greatest achievement so far, he said, has been the development of "outstanding relationships" and "growth with key companies in our industry."

"Failure has taught me so much. It has taught me that you do not always have control in what happens," he said. "You do, however, have control of how you respond. I believe if you are true to yourself and are open-minded, failure is just a lesson learned and a stepping stone to success.

"I cannot tell you how many times I have worked on penetrating an account but only to receive rejection," he added. "Each time I analyze the call and/or visit to try and take a step back on what I could have done or said differently."

To someone else considering a career in the plastics industry, Brooks said to be open-minded because "this is a constantly growing industry that continuously evolves and adapts."

"The industry is like a family," he said, "and we all want to see each other prosper."

Brooks said that part of the plastics industry that has surprised him is the innovation involved in producing "the everyday products that we use in the modern world." He is also interested in the recyclability as an advancing technology that continues to grow.

Brooks, who is associated with the Society of Plastics Engineers and Noah's Arc Animal Rescue, said he would eventually like to be an owner of a company someday.

"[N]o one will ever believe in you if you do not believe in yourself," he said. "All success was built off failure."