Outside Sales Engineer

I started working for Great Lakes Pump in March of 2024; however, I have been working alongside GLP as a customer since 1997, using their pumps, motors, and heat exchangers. What I like most about working at GLP is the family atmosphere—it’s amazing—and we truly have the best customer service support in the industry.

My main roles include outside sales, customer support, and product support and service of what I consider to be the best products in the world!

One experience I will never forget was replacing my very first mechanical seal while serving in the Navy. I was working on a large seawater pump buried deep in the engine room of a submarine, with little room to maneuver and corrosion everywhere. After four attempts and some choice words, I finally got the seal replaced and leak-free. I felt great overcoming the challenge and vowed to never change a mechanical seal again. Little did I know where I would end up later in life—I now have no issues replacing mechanical seals.

The most difficult thing to understand in fluid hydraulics is that pumps are designed to pump fluid, not air. Air is compressible and liquid is not, so air in the system negatively affects pump performance. It’s very easy to introduce air into a pump, but there are few ways to get it out once it’s there.

My top ‘hard to believe’ moment happened when I worked for a large filter company. A customer called about noise in a brand-new cantilevered vortex sump pump. When we pulled the pump, we found a 3” x 4” x 12” piece of angle iron inside the discharge pipe. The pump was so good at pumping solids that it pulled the angle iron up through the suction, passed it through the volute, and into the discharge. The angle iron would rise while the pump ran and fall back into the volute when it shut off. We covered the warranty—even though angle iron wasn’t an intended solid.

One thing I continue to encounter over and over is pumps that are still running after 30 or even 40+ years of operation. I still get calls from customers looking for wear parts for pumps that only have handwritten bills of material. I love knowing that we have products that are extremely robust and long-lasting.