Meet the Orolia Beacons Sales Team

Get to know the two salesmen behind our global SARBE Combat Search & Rescue Beacon Product Line. Read below to learn about how Douglas Swoope and Edouard Puthod got into the industry, what their advice is, and what they do outside of work.

Advice:

One of my mentors once told me that customer facing sales team members are the tip of the spear and by design are thrust into many unknown situations.

He told me, “Your job is to step into the grey unknown and make the call, are we on a black square or white? Should we proceed with the given opportunity or pass? It’s YOUR job to make the call and to get it right, more often than not. We have a lot of resources to aid in your efforts, but nothing will ever replace sending you into the field, meeting with the customer, and making the call.”

How I Got Here:

I served in the US Navy in the 1980’s as a propulsion engineer and as such I worked with a lot of sailors who grew up in the Philippines. Engineering spaces are loud and verbal communication is difficult under the best of circumstances. Years later while leading non-aerospace sales for a polymer company, I was called into a meeting with McDonnel Douglas on their new C-17 program and I could tell my teammates were struggling to understand the buyer who had grown up in the Philippines. As soon as someone figured out I could understand the buyer with little issue, my career jumped the tracks and I’ve spent the last twenty plus years working in Commercial Aerospace and Defense Programs.

Free Time:

Two daughters and two adopted sons can, at times, make for a very busy household, but it becomes handy when I need help with either our little two-acre ranch home in Snohomish, Washington, or the beach front cabin on the west side of Camano Island that’s been in the family for nearly 50 years. We enjoy traveling both as a couple of 31 years, and as a family.

My Background:

My LinkedIn profile looks like a specialist (hired gun) to open new markets, launch new products, repair broken sales channels, and execute customer communications under trying circumstances resulting in the FAAThe Federal Aviation Administration is the regulatory transportation agency in the Unites States responsible for regulating all aspects of civil aviation in the US. issuing an AD. I am a traveler of products for Defense/Aerospace markets these many years. I watch others who spend their career working for a large OEM and wonder what that must be like. Plus, I take comfort in knowing I’m a travelin’ man whose career has been one few would choose.

Advice:

During a course on teamwork, one of my university teachers stressed the importance of pooling our strengths to go further and faster. He summarized it as follows: “Know your limits and know how to ask for help”.

This is probably some of the best advice I’ve heard in my life. I think it shows humility and intelligence. It is essential to give selflessly in order to achieve great things, but it is also essential to rely on our common strength to increase our effectiveness and our ability to find solutions. Alone we can be good, together we are bound to be better.

Business:

I started working in Paris after my studies and was given the opportunity to join Safran Aircraft Engines in Munich, the assembly site for the TP400, the engine of the A400M. A wonderful program in a wonderful region.

I had the chance to work in an international team, based between Spain and Germany, which opened up the horizons of aeronautics to me.

The multicultural diversity and ingenuity of this constantly innovating sector are incredible assets, with which I continue to evolve within Orolia today.

Outside of Work:

Recently married, I have just moved into my new home in Brittany. This region is located by the sea and offers a beautiful setting for sports, especially sailing. I like the feeling of discovering new things every day. It is important for me to be surrounded by my relatives whom I see in France or during my trips abroad.

My Background:

With a commercial background, I have always evolved in a world of engineers. First, in the world of payment and digital, then in aeronautics. The complexity of the technical environments and the range of possibilities they offer make the work exciting.

Greatest Life Lesson:

During a trip to the mountains, I was able to sleep in a monastery for a few nights. One evening, while I was chatting with a person, she summed up her philosophy of life like this: “Be more real, to be more free”.

This is a saying that I find particularly interesting: “Don’t be afraid to show yourself as you are, you will be all the more willing to take risks and enjoy every moment.”