May 9th, 2007
Darryl Gresham, International Brother
One of charters for blackinbusiness is to tell the stories of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. I have reviewed my barbershop, a business in paradise, car wash, and Thomas Jackson along with BM or Bill Minix. It is time for a new one.
I am very proud of many people I have worked with over the years. Darryl Gresham was a member of my first team I managed as a sales manager. Man, what a team and many of these sales pros from that team has gone on to do great things. We had fun, raised hell and kicked butt with attitude and style.
At that time, Abbott had 31 sales teams in the nation and we were ranked # 2 out of 31 and # 1 in our region of 7 teams. “Gresh” as many of his friends and colleagues called him, was a big reason for our success. I first met him when I told the local recruiters to find me some one black that wanted to do great things. I met Gresh in my office in Buffalo on a fall afternoon. Our meeting was at 1pm and it was a slow day. I had forgotten the meeting and returned to the office late. Darryl was waiting, powerfully built and pissed. The smirk on his face said it all,” Nword, how could you keep me waiting?” I knew before the interview started, I had my man.
Gresh was born and raised in the infamous Homewood section of Pittsburgh. Raised primarily by his His mother, grandmother and two older sisters, they instilled a strong work ethic, pride in accomplishmented and a love of women. He exhibited the ego that he wanted to win and talk smack about it. Gresh knew what it took to win…..commitment and self-purpose. . He found out the hard way by flunking out of the Prestigious Carnegie- Mellon University after his sophomore year. Gresh’s mom explained how disappointed she was in him and as a strong black women can and will, booted him in the butt for not giving his best and accepting failure. It never happened again. Gresh returned after a year and successfully graduated from Carnegie Mellon with a degree in Mechanical n Engineering.
We hired Gresh in the fall of ’85 and shortly thereafter, we (Abbott Diagnostics) launched a new product line for pregnancy testing. It was an exciting urine test with a plus, minus symbol to determine indicate pregnancy. The slogan was “You are positive when it’s is positive and positive when it is negative”! Gresh was one of the top salesmen in the nation for that product line as and was a new rep, which was only the beginning. His remarkable run in his career has lead to stops for promoted positions in Cleveland, Philadelphia, St Louis, Chicago, Dallas, and Detroit holding positions as Sales Specialist, Product Manager, Marketing Manager, District Sales Manager, and Director of a Business Unit. Currently he and now is residing in Germany where he is the Director of Commercial Training for Europe, Middle East, and Africa and India. The Homewood kid has traveled the world, wears custom suits, drives Benzes and has prepared well for retirement.
Gresh worked directly for me at 3 different levels and has always given back to the community. As a manager he always had teams that included a high percentage of black professionals. In fact, the team I hired Gresh onto was 40% black and was one of Abbott’s best sales team. Gresh’s teams were always one of, if not, the best. He is a star. Gresh early on studied a lot of math and science and is committed to being the best. He goes on to say, be flexible and, you have to be willing to relocate to give yourself more opportunities to be successful. to different cities. At the same time, stay committed to helping others move up. “First get into a position to make a difference, then once there, please make a difference!
Please help other blacks move up. One of Gresh’s greatest accomplishments is was starting launching the Black leadership Leadership Council in the Diagnostics Division at Abbott. This council united black professionals and provided mentoring along with putting pressure on the company to make the environment more black inclusive. The mission was simple; Recruitment, Retainment and Development of African Americans professionals. He has helped many black professionals find corporate success.
Gresh, I personally want to thank you for all the years we worked together and most of all, for your production and friendship, yes in that order!
May 9th, 2007 at 12:28 pm
Excellent Post JD, I am always encouraged when I can show people proof of positive African-American men and I can say “Yes, they do exist”.
I applaud Gresh on being a African-American worthy of being a role model to our youth
May 9th, 2007 at 1:20 pm
LDW, Gresh’s story is one of my favorite one’s. Often times in the coporate world you find blacks that try to hind their culture. They become Toms and shy away from other blacks. The brothers and sisters, I will highlight will be true to the race. thanks for commenting
May 9th, 2007 at 5:42 pm
Definently sounds like a brotha that makes things happen. Thanks for the post Jim!
May 10th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
Bradley, my hope is by sharing stories of success, more people can see what is possible.
May 10th, 2007 at 2:33 pm
Really inspiring bio, this proves once and for all that absolutely nothing on earth could stand in the way of anyone who’s determined to pursue excellence!
“We had fun, raised hell and kicked butt with attitude and style.” And that’s what it’s all about lol.
May 10th, 2007 at 3:49 pm
Jo, we realy did all that and more, the attitude and style was Gresh’s comment but we did take style to new levels. Soon I am going to post about another remarkable team member. This one will be a white man
May 12th, 2007 at 12:49 am
Although Gresh resides in Germany, I currently work with him from the Dallas office and it’s hard to believe that Gresh flunked out of anything. I guess he’s human after-all. Without saying a word, he has a way of looking at you with those piercing eyes to get the information that he’s looking for. Gresh and his entourage personally launched the Black Leadership Council at our Dallas site, where it remains our most active organization for leadership development. In addition to his professional success, he’s really a down-to-earth guy and a loyal friend. I’m proud to claim him as one of ours.
May 12th, 2007 at 10:43 am
When they made Darryl “Gresh” Gresham the mold was broken.
I wish I had an announce of his drive and tenacity.
Mr. Gresham, you are truly an inspiration to every person of color in corporate America. To have a “can do” and ” will do ” attitude shows how determine and persistent you were on being successful and wanting to give back to others.
What an amazing story..
Knowing how punctual you are, I could just imagine the look on your face when it was time for your interview.
Please continue to do what you do…
A true role model..
R. Goodson
May 13th, 2007 at 12:06 pm
Verronna, Gresh is the man. He did flunk out but his mom would not let him fall into a life of Could have been. Gresh is a star and deserves even more that he has recieved from Abbott for his loyality.
May 13th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
Mr Goodson, Thanks for your kind comments about Gresh. I am very proud of him as is my children and wife. Together we were unbeatable, and it was fun to see the anger black success would bring out in white corporate racists. It is another great thing to see the number of blacks Darryl has inspired.
May 13th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
JW.. Darryl is a true role model… I know his work is not done…
May 14th, 2007 at 12:42 pm
Ms Goodson, thank you for commenting, I agree Darryl’s work and influence is far from complete
May 14th, 2007 at 5:37 pm
I recall when I was first acquainted with Darryl Gresham. I was new to Abbott’s Diagnostic division. All I heard from other African Americans, was how Abbott was sending him to China. I remember running into him in the elevator and saying “so you are off to China, is this a permanent move?” His response was “now what would a brotha do in China?. I cracked up and from that trip on I beleive his career has easily taking him just about all over the world!
One of his greatest assests, is his mental strenth and ability to stay focused. These are definately characteristics we could all benefit from possessing.
May 14th, 2007 at 6:23 pm
Ask Gresh about the night he and I flew from Geneva to London and hung out all night at Cafe De Paris. We had a lot of fun.
May 15th, 2007 at 11:14 am
I am inspired by the story of Gresh. We have a sister here in Fort Worth that runs a hiring agency to fill positions pay $18 a hour and up. She wants to fill those positions with black men, so she asked me to help. So far, she has 35 people lined up, and corporate executives flying in to interview them. From this I will know the quality and caliber of people that corporate America is looking for. Thanks Black in Business for visiting my site. By back-tracking, I was able to find this wonderful and informative site.
May 15th, 2007 at 12:01 pm
Eddie, thanks for your nice comments. You and Esq Holland are way pass me in terms of the value you bring to the blog world.Is your contact in Ft Worth, Terry? You are doing a great thing, many times we need an opportunity. Gresh and myself could have both easily gone into a life of crime and despair if not for important family members that kept us on track
May 15th, 2007 at 7:07 pm
Great article on Gresh, Jim! I’ve always found the biographies of other Black people to be very inspiring.
Today, my Brazilian step-daughter helped me to write and edit an article that we submitted to a little weekly newspaper here in Brazil, about the possible election of the first woman or Black president in the United States. My daughter asked me, “Why are you writing this article if you are not getting paid for it?” I explained to her that in life often you have to give first to get later, and that opportunities come from offering oneself to others, often for free at first. This made no sense to her, so I told her a parable and then a real-life story of how this works:
There was a grandmother who lived in the woods with her grandson and they had a garden on which they depended on for their vegetables. When the grandmother had to go to the big city for a month, she told her grandson to water the vegetables every day. But, as soon as she left, the grandson said, “I am only going to water the vegetables when I see them sprout and I have tasted the fruits.” You know the rest of the story. Because he was unwilling to water his fields prior to seeing the results, his fields never sprouted at all.
In the year before I applied to law school, I also read that an up and coming lawyer had landed a very important government job. I wrote to him and offered to work with him for free as an intern, devoting four hours a week to doing anything that would him to be more successful in his new job. He accepted and I worked with him over six months, spending perhaps 100 hours with him on different projects. Because I wasn’t a lawyer yet, I was limited in what I could do, but it didn’t matter. I proof-read documents, did research and he appreciated my help.
When it came time to apply for law school, he recommended me for a scholarship that I won based on his recommendation. The scholarship was worth $25,000 per year, for a total of $75,000 dollars. You might say that I “earned” $750.00 for each hour that I spent with the lawyer, working “for free.”
A lot of people say they “can’t find a job, because they lack contacts.” I say, maybe they can’t find a job because they have been unwilling to give of themselves in an effort to MAKE contacts.
May 17th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
Esq Holland, thank you for your great gift of sharing your life experiences in an educational way. You are someone I want to have my contacts bebefit from. Your comments contribute towards that goal.