Yesterday Allison Outdoor Manager of Sales Keith Horton talked about what he’s learned in a 44 year career selling out of home.  Today he talks about getting into out of home and what made Allison Outdoor such a great place to work.

How did you get into the out-of-home business?

I guess I’m one of the lucky ones. My dad was a barber—a master barber—so you could train under him in the shop, then study for the board exam and go to Columbia, South Carolina to take the test.  At the time, I was living in Spartanburg and working in the shop with my dad.  One of my customers was Darrell Merchant.  Darrell was a friend of ours, and we were hunting buddies.  Darrell was the General Manager for Naegele Outdoor Advertising in Spartanburg.  One day, he brought R.O. Naegele and Dick Condon into the shop, and I cut everybody’s hair.  Mr. Naegele turned to Darrell and said, “You need to hire this guy as an account executive so he can help us in Greenville.”

At the time, Naegele was buying the Greenville market from Creative Displays.  And that’s how I got into the OOH business in 1982.

You’ve said Allison Outdoor is the best place you’ve ever worked. What made Allison so special?

I was able to come in and help modernize the company and shape our operations to run like other companies I’d been part of during my career.  A unique strength of Allison Outdoor is the customer base—so many small businesses on annual contracts—which gives the company a strong foundation every year.  We’d see some of the partners throughout the year, and it always meant a lot having the owners tell me they appreciate the job I was doing.

Whoever takes over my position will be stepping into a great situation.  I know without a doubt that they will be able to help shape the future of this company and continue to make it better, just like I got to do

What’s next for you?

I live in Anderson, South Carolina, about two hours from the office. I travel on Monday, stay in Sylva, and head back to Anderson on Thursday after work. On Fridays I work from home. In retirement, I’m looking forward to spending more time with family, watching the grandkids’ ballgames, and going fishing.

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