Read this and catch up on John(ny) Bird!
Great info, friends. Thanks for sending it, John!!
Attached is an article written about me in a hard cover book that is being published by industry magazine BIC. I am one of 50 men and women being featured. (Why, I don’t know.)
John Bird
Alpine Specialty Chemicals (Retired 2009)
A product of a Christian family with a strong work ethic, Alpine Specialty Chemicals Sales Manager
“I used to think the old saying that God helps those who help themselves was scripture,” Bird said. “I found out, however, that it was actually written by Benjamin Franklin in Poor Richard’s Almanac. Nevertheless, I do believe that you have to put feet to your prayers.”
Bird’s father, who spent several years as a riverboat pilot for the Corps of Engineers in
Bird joined the Army Reserve after a stint at a community college. He served in the military for six years and during this time earned a degree in mass communications at
After a few years at Del Monte, Bird found an opportunity to work for a manufacturing company in
Out of work and struggling to find a new direction for his career, Bird found through his personal faith the strength and inspiration to be patient.
“I was in one of the most uncertain periods of my life,” Bird said. “My wife Judy had gone back to work for the first time since we started our family, our daughter Jenifer had gotten married and our daughter Julie had gone off to Texas A&M. I was ‘home alone’ one morning when I read a devotional in a book called Streams in the Desert. Through it, I clearly felt God saying that He had a plan for me and that I should not worry about a job or my future. I cannot trivialize how assured I was that everything would be fine. I was so moved that I hesitated to look up from the book, expecting God or an angel to be standing on the other side of the table. It was that real.”
Not long after that, Bird met Raymond Griffin, the father of a young lady Bird and his wife taught in Sunday school who worked for a chemical company called Sun Drilling Products.
“At Del Monte, our trainers would say that a sale is the engineering of an agreement,” Bird said. “When you’re selling a product, you have to believe in it, know how it works and that it will work for the customer’s particular situation. There is always a certain satisfaction that comes along with helping a customer drill a better well. That element has to be there if you want to be successful as a salesperson in our industry.”
Bird is a people person who takes interest in getting to know customers and colleagues alike. He believes this genuine interest in people is key to providing solutions in an industry that demands them every day.
“Some salesmen are so full of themselves that they think they can sell with their personalities alone,” Bird said. “It takes hard work and research to analyze the customer and know what his needs are. It’s a big mistake when salespeople believe that all they have to do is take someone out to lunch or on a golf outing in order to get their business. A customer will always remember you for your business acumen and problem solving, not for the
lunches you bought him or the golf games you played with him.”
Bird’s affinity for people has allowed him to build relationships on the spiritual level, as well. Many people in the oil and gas industry know him as the president and co-founder of the Oilfield Christian Fellowship (OCF), an organization that meets monthly and has chapters in
Among the most rewarding accomplishments of the OCF is the publication of God’s Word for the Oil Patch, a Bible that includes testimonies from a cross section of workers in the oil and gas industry, from rig hands to presidents. Bird conceived the book after Mike Chaffin, drilling manager for Valence Operating, shared a moving story about delivering Russian Bibles to a drilling rig near the
In addition, the OCF has facilitated the first man camp chapel in Big Piney,
“Proverbs 27:17 serves as a constant reminder of what the OCF is all about,” Bird said. “It reads, ‘As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.’”
On the job, Bird is creator of satisfaction within customers driven by a commitment to integrity passed on to him by generations of family members.
“There have been many mentors in my life, but I am who I am because of my father and mother and their parents,” Bird said. “They were all honest, hardworking and God- fearing people and I stand on their shoulders. For my wife and I, making Christ the Lord of our lives at 31 years of age was the beginning of real marriage, real happiness, real success, blessings to us and in turn blessings to others.
“I believe that Proverbs 3:5-7, if applied, can make a success out of anyone when these priorities are followed: God first, family second and employment third,” Bird said. “Turn this around and you will eventually lose your family and forget God. The verses read, ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding/In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight/Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.’”¨
- John and Judy have been married for 42 years and have two daughters and nine grandchildren.
Jenifer and husband Barrett and their five children live in
Julie, husband Kevin and four kids live in
Retiring in February, John now devotes the bulk of his time to promoting the Oilfield Christian Fellowship and serving as President.
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