By Keith Purtell
As a child, there were many things Brent Hutchins wanted to be when he grew up � from train engineer to businessman to preacher to senator.
Instead, he went to work at age 16 at Tumble In in Muskogee and worked there through the rest of high school before going off to Northeastern State University, where he graduated with a degree in business administration and a major in marketing.
After graduation, he came back to Tumble In and enjoyed his career in sales.
�You dream of graduating college and landing a great job,� Hutchins said. �Darrell and Tom offered to let me come back and buy in as a partner.�
The next big step in his life was about to take place because of that partnership.
�I met my wife Lisa Beth through my family,� he said. �My parents and her parents were good friends even in Midwest City. They continued to get together after we moved to Muskogee. She graduated from Harding University in Arkansas and got a job in Tulsa. She came to Muskogee to get a house, and then she came in to get a washer and dryer at Tumble In. We saw each other, and it was a special moment. Tom Hamby and I made the delivery that night, she and I went to a movie afterwards, and the rest was history.�
Phoenix Staff Writer Liz McMahan contributed to this story.
Family business opens up to him
Although Brent Hutchins had worked at Tumble In for almost 13 years, his new family ties as a married man opened a new door with MVP Marketing into the PVF industry � pipe, valves and fittings for waterworks, plumbing, oilfield, irrigation, industrial and fire protection markets.
�My father-in-law Tony Lightsey had been a manufacturer�s representative for more than 25 years,� he said. �He built that business and needed some help. It was quite a change to no longer be in retail, but instead working business to business. I�m still learning.�
Hutchins said he is pleased with his life because he has been able to keep his priorities straight.
Foundation makes life successful
Hutchins says his success in life is because of a firm foundation in traditional values.
�I have some wonderful parents,� said Hutchins. �They were a great example when it came to service. They�re honest people, and it all stems from the fact that they�re Christians. My dad, Alan, has impressed me with his honesty, his willingness to serve, and his work ethic. Donna, my mother, is incredible. She is very loving and is the kind of glue that holds us all together. She is also a very hard worker.�
Hutchins� childhood memories are of going to church (Chandler Road Church of Christ) three times a week and his family always having their evening meals together.
�It obviously provided a warm place to grow,� he said. �It gave me good foundations emotionally, socially and spiritually.�
Hutchins attended Muskogee Public Schools through high school, where he graduated in 1992.
�I had two really good friends in high school; Aaron Willyard and Chris Odom,� he said. �They were good guys and made it easier to be a good kid.�
The job is all about the people
While he sells pipe, valves and fittings, it�s the people he gets to see on the job that Hutchins likes best about his work.
�People in this position get to see a lot of the same people on each visit,� Hutchins said. �You get to know the people, get to know about their families.�
Hutchins drives about 40,000 miles a year to see his customers but arranges his schedule so that he�s not gone more than one night at a time and can be home with his family, he said.
He doesn�t worry about what will happen with the economy and its impact on his job.
�There is no security other than that found in Jesus Christ,� he said.
