“It all comes back and it helps us later”

Darryl Fuller was born in Minneapolis March 13th, 1958. His family moved to a small town where he spent his early childhood.  After that a move to Chicago changed his life. There, he graduated high school.  He started his college career at Carthage College in Kenosha, WI.  In 1978 he transferred to the University of Minnesota where he eventually dropped out to take on a full time job opportunity .  Darryl has two sons and now resides in a Minneapolis/St. Paul suburb with his wife.

“I kinda moved into a work, a job, where school became part time.”

I was more of a party kind of guy I think than you are.  But when I was going to school academics wasn’t necessarily the highest priority.  I told myself that if I passed the class that I did pretty good. (laughter)  And then where is the next beer or dubee.  But anyway that was kinda where I was at.  I wasn’t a good student quite frankly, I would wait to the last minute, studied up all night, studied, take the test, if I was last minute I was kinda a party guy that found a way to get by.

Kenosha is well known for it's picturesque lighthouses

So when I, the part time job that I got in---.  Well I had part time jobs when I was in Kenosha as well trying to make ends meet.  And so the moral of the story for---. One thing I learned is learning how to work while in college was not the best for a student to be in because it’s hard enough anyway to muster your way through it.  And a part time job--- you know a little side money isn’t bad but I kinda used the job to make money.  I kinda moved into a work, a job, where school became part time.  And then it happened that where I was working which was in a warehouse with a company which is in the business that I’m working with today.  They offered me an office position that was full time which I needed money.  And then that really moved me more so into a part time college scenario where I had a couple classes at night. And then, gradually, my work in that place got going, but college got to be “ah, I’ll pick it up later.”

Darryl started his career in a warehouse

Yeah so I was at the warehouse pulling components. Parts, if you will. And one of the managers noticed me and said that I stuck in their mind and they thought I was kind of a person who could work with people and thought I should be into sales or something to let me know that I could work in the office. They give you a job they called customer service but I had to go full time. That’s where my college life changed. Going full time, that changed my availability for school. And then you’d get in with a customer over the phone and in those days, we didn’t really have computers, we had faxes and different kinds of old technology that were more manual ways of communicating. Most of it was over the phone. And then from there I moved into inside sales and it was actually a hundred percent commision back then. And then I transferred to inside sales manager. And then, I tried to change and update so I went into field sales and then when I was in field sales, I moved to a different company as a field sales rep and then from there I went to field sales management and then from there I went into we called in general management where I worked. And then I did that for many years and then I became like a manager of people. That was the function: a manager of people. And then maybe about six years ago I’ve always kind of carried a bag on the side so I can call customers on a sale and stay close to what’s going on and have our senior players tell us where our big dollars were. And so I eventually got to where I am now.  Y’know I’d rather just be a sales guy than in management. Now I’m a sales guy working through--- y’know with other people. So that’s what I do now. I’m a issued sales guy. And and that’s what I do.

“Well now it goes from I to we pretty quick.”

The Mall of America, the largest mall in
the United State, is located in Bloomington.

Well, [my wife], she was a pole dancer. nah I’m just kidding (laughs) But anyway actually when I met my wife was she got a job at the office at the company I was working when I initially started in the business. And then we were friends and then it got to be more than that and I actually went to work for another company kind of because of that. And then well we were married in 1980. And we’re still married today.  And she’s from Minnesota. Bloomington or a suburb in Minnesota so she’s kind of a suburban kid.

So for the kids, if there was something that they had that was going on, I could be attending because as long as I could plan my day around family stuff, it could all work. I just don’t really have long vacations. You know cuz at work, I’m not really making commission so for me, the most time I’ve ever taken off at one time is like a week. Usually I’ll stay home for long weekends but that’s because I’ve just always had to work.

Well now it goes from I to we pretty quick. All you gotta do is manage yourself and then all of a sudden you’re... Well life becomes more complex. And in order for it to work, you need to be kind of sharing and giving because if one particular spouse has to do all the work, it doesn’t work so good. It’s kind of a team deal. I think in general that people grow up. Some never go from I to we but most people graduate more to we than I as they get older. And I mean there's selfish people out there but I think we need to get over that.

“I mean in spite of the idiot that I am, I still found a way to be out there still kickin’

The other thing I’ve figure out--- I like to think-- I think what I want to say I like to think in my family and my work environment that I’ve added some value. In the case of the work environment, where there are a number of people who are successful people in our business today that I brought into the business, I hired, I brought em in and they not only succeeded but they made their careers out of it so I often even compete with. They are people I now compete with. And I like to think I was helpful in my own way with those people. Family,  I’d like to think that now that I’ve had a couple of kids, I’m still married after all these years, I mean in spite of the idiot that I am, I still found a way to be out there still kickin’. I think the main thing that I’ve...I think if you can be helpful with people, helpful along the way, considerate along the way, it all comes back and it helps us later.

Image Credits (Listen in order as they appear)

• • Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of the U.S.: Eastern Wisconsin." Lighthouses of the U.S.: Eastern Wisconsin. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 11 Nov. 2014. Web. 8 Oct. 2015.
  • "New Warehouse." New Warehouse. Sports South LLC, 2008. Web. 8 Oct. 2015.
  • Lee, Brent. "Did You Know... The Mall of America Has No Central Heating?" Minnesota Connected. Minnesota Connected, 7 Mar. 2014. Web. 8 Oct. 2015.

Story Facilitators

Adam Peterson and Cheyenne Laatsch