As president of Fort Collins, Colo.-based Eldon James Corp., Marcia Coulson compares her responsibilities to that of a symphony conductor and makes certain that everyone is working together efficiently.
With nearly 40 years in business, Eldon James is a woman-owned manufacturer and supplier of more than 6,000 proprietary and customized tubing and fluid handling solutions. Its catalog offers a range of products for the transportation, automotive, food and beverage, chemical and general industrial sectors.
Coulson's career highlight happened in April this year, when the company revealed its new sterile connector to the pharmaceutical market and "received enormous excitement for this product," which took five years to develop.
Her first plastics job was "picking parts," the process of removing the runner from the finished parts. Her parents built a plastics business, and she and her siblings would simultaneously watch television and separate plastic parts. "I have picked millions of parts in my life," she added.
Coulson also works with her husband, William, who joined Eldon James nearly 20 years ago. "It's unusual to be able to work with your spouse and both thrive from the experience," she said.
Her current challenge is finding new employees with a strong work ethic.
The best advice she has received is that there is no overnight success: "It's the little things you do right every day that add up to the big things that lead to success."
Coulson advises others to learn something new every day since "there is a lot to learn," volunteer to become an internal auditor for your company, put yourself in a position to ask questions and learn, and cross-train whenever possible.
"I have a new list of things to do nearly every day. I make sure I listen to what our salespeople are hearing from our customers [and] what do our customers need, want, dislike, suggest for improvement, etc. If you make the customers happy, you can build a great company," Coulson said.
"I truly love our business, our employees and our customers," she added. "I've enjoyed most every day for the last 37 years."