More on George Hayward

The article/posting below this one tells a great history of my friend and colleague George Hayward. The word icon probably doesn't really tell the story on Georgie. George was bigger than life. It doesn't matter if you loved George and hung on his every word or you disagreed with George - George was George and you knew where he stood. Always respectful, always confident and never short on words. Many people are found to not be short on words but also not have much of value to say. Not George, when he spoke he most likely had an idea, a thought, a suggestion etc that was going to be of value to you. If not today, sometime down the road it would come back to you.

Dave Johnsons description and history of George in the posting below is a great one. Other trade publications have published similar info but Dave did a great job in describing our friend and colleague. My experience with George goes back to the late 1980's. I was working for Zee Medical here in Irvine as a National Manager and George and I met at the Industrial Hygiene show.

In those days I didn't really understand the role of an Independent Rep but George was certainly willing to help me understand. Little did I know that in 1993 I would strike out on my own and start my own rep agency. Early on I had George and his experience, thoughts, opinions and relationships to help mentor me whenever I asked. George always knew "the guy to talk to" and was always willing to share and support. George knew the strengths and weaknesses of a company and the ins and outs of representing them in the market. You could always count on George.

Over the years every time I had a question I knew I could count on George and I was fortunate to get to know his two boys Tom (Tommy to me) and Todd as well. Over time I got to consider Tommy and Todd as friends along with their dad George. In 2003 when I left the rep biz and joined Tim McDuffie at STARDUST Spill Products I started to interview rep agencies. Guess who I called first? You bet-George and United Sales Associates.

I will never forget the first NSC show that Tim and I did. We were so focused on demo'ing our products to end users that when George, Todd, Tommy, Mark, Paul.......... stopped by our booth the Icon George couldn't figure out why the 6'8' Tim didn't have time for him and kept swirling that damn broom. Tim was selling and George was selling-they just were selling different things and to different people but in the same space and time. Somewhere we needed a buyer. Georgie stormed off! A year later or so our company hired (or maybe they agreed to pioneer our new line of products) George and the team and and I have enjoyed watching Tim and George reminisce that moment at the NSC show with guttural laughs a number of times.

As Tommy and Todd along with Mark and Paul have driven the business ahead I have enjoyed watching George slow down a bit and do his writing, his travel and pontificate on the state of the state. George and I have had many a conversation about contracts, product profiles, markets, channels, etc etc etc. As our business has grown over the past few years and I became a family man I havent had the same opportunity to take advantage of the sage advice of George as often as I'd like. Of course it wasnt always easy to find the jetsetter either-London, Dusseldorf, Napa, Florida.......!

I will miss George, I will miss knowing he is there for a question here and there. I will miss George holding up his numbered plaques during the USA Invitaional telling me how many minutes left in my presentation. I will miss George holding court at a lunch table at the back of the NSC or IH show. I will miss reading his writings. What I am happy for is the time that I did get to share with George and I am happy that I continue to work with his sons and his team.

I know that hundreds and hundreds of people have shared their love and thoughts with Mo, Tom and Todd in the past few weeks and I hope that soon their tears will turn to smiles when they remember the lives and careers that George touched-mine included!