Island Sun Times

by John P. Ribner

Take a look at Frank Hutton’s very impressive résumé, and one thing becomes quite clear – this is a man who knows how to sell. For the past three years, Frank has served as Vice President of Sales for tanning product distributor CTS-Complete Tanning Service (a division of the Nailco Group.) His job is to drive the company’s sales efforts as well as build relationships with industry manufacturers and tanning salon professionals.

Before coming to CTS, he had a long and successful career leading sales teams for many major corporations from Spiegel to Domino’s Pizza, propelling revenues to unbelievable heights. But despite his sales success, Frank is not some smooth-talking salesman only out to get people’s money. As Vice President of Sales for CTS, and in life, he has always strived to be a man of honesty and integrity, just the way his father raised him to be.

Where it All Started
Frank Hutton is the oldest of three children born to Orville and Nancy Hutton, in Detroit, MI. Although Frank says he’s a lot like his father, it should be no surprise that he wasn’t named Orville Jr. “My dad never liked his name,” Frank commented. “He was born on the same day Orville Wright made his historic flight over North Dakota, so his mother gave him the same first name to honor the event. All his life, my father preferred the nickname ‘Lefty,’ which he got because he was left-handed.”

While young Frank might not have shared his father’s first name, what he did get from his dad were several of life’s lessons that still ring true with him today. “My father always taught me to live a life of honesty and integrity, and the way to do that is by always doing the right thing, even if it’s the more difficult thing to do,” Frank recalled. “He said that at the end of the day, you and only you have to live with the decisions you make.” Frank is proud to say that there were times during his career when he could have taken the “low road,” which would have meant more money, but instead stuck to his convictions. “It ended up costing me more in the long run, but I was able to sleep better at night, and you can’t put a price on that,” he added.

From Here to There, And Back Again
As a young man, Frank moved around the country quite a bit because of his father’s job with the Ford Motor Company. While he was born in Detroit, he also lived in Joplin, MO, Atlanta, GA, Denver and Oklahoma City before returning to his hometown just in time to start high school. Little did he know it then, but all the relocating helped prepared Frank for his future in sales-based leadership. “Although some don’t believe it, people are pretty much the same wherever you go, and when you move around as much as we did, you learn the art of making friends fast,” Frank recalled. “If you don’t, you won’t have any friends at all. My experiences growing up taught me how to be versatile and adapt quickly to changes, and that’s basically how one succeeds in sales.”

The Young Entrepreneur
While Frank excelled in both academics and athletics in high school, his greatest accomplishment was the business savvy he developed. Ever since he was a young man, Frank has earned his money the old fashioned way – through good old-fashioned hard work. “My dad said that if you want something in life, you have to be willing to work for it,” Frank recalled. “When I was a kid, I started mowing lawns and delivering newspapers and everything just kind of grew from there. By the time I was in high school, I had about six people working for me, and we were servicing more than 30 lawns on contract. I also worked my way up the ladder with my paper route to the point of heading up all of the deliveries.”

All that hard work certainly paid off for Frank. In addition to helping mold and develop his work ethic – which has served him well in life – it also allowed him to enjoy the fruits of his labors in a more tangible way. He still remembers one of the first big purchases he made as a young man – a white, 1965 Ford Mustang convertible – bought with money he saved while operating his lawn service. “I cut a lot of grass to get that car, but it was worth it,” he laughed.

A Guiding Hand
While many of Frank’s values were learned from his father, a good friend also stepped into the spot as mentor. When Frank was 21, a man named Bill Gooding gave him an opportunity at Total Petroleum, Inc. of Denver, CO. This would be Frank’s first job since graduating from Wayne State University with a degree in business, and Gooding’s guidance would set the foundation for Frank’s meteoric rise to the pinnacle of sales-based leadership. “I worked as Bill’s assistant for six months, and he was impressed with my work ethic, so he gave me the opportunity to lead a five-person sales force, which I gladly accepted,” Frank said. While such a promotion was certainly a terrific opportunity for someone as young as he was at the time, it wasn’t without its challenges.

In fact, those challenges were mostly because of his age. “Some of the people in the sales force I was leading had been with the company for 10 years or more, so some were a bit resistant to having someone who had only been on board for six months suddenly become their supervisor,” Frank laughed. Through hard work and success, however, he soon earned the respect of his peers and went on to enjoy great success at the petroleum distributorship.

During his years at Total Petroleum, Bill Gooding continued to mentor young Frank, providing him with a real-world business education. “My father passed away in 1977, so he wasn’t there to see all that I accomplished in my career, but I was very lucky to have Bill there for me,” Frank commented. “When Bill passed away in 1998, I was out of the country on business, so I wasn’t able to attend his funeral. As soon as I got back home, I contacted his family and told them how much I would miss him.”

The Next Chapter
Three years ago, Frank got tired of being retired. Having worked hard since 1969, he thought he’d kick back and enjoy some relaxation. He left a Divisional General Manager position at Domino’s Pizza’s Equipment and Supply Division in 2000, and before that, he worked for Midwest Energy, Inc., Spiegel/The Incentive Group, and American Distribution Systems, Inc. “I retired from Domino’s because I thought I needed more time to relax and play golf, but you can only play so much golf,” Frank laughed. “I quickly realized that I’m the kind of person who enjoys work too much to be retired so soon.”

Frank began to look for employment and discovered a job opening near his home – about 2.4 miles from his house, in fact. That was a position to lead the sales force at CTS. “Larry Gainor (Nailco owner) was looking for someone and I was looking for a job, so it was the perfect fit!” Frank exclaimed.

At CTS, Frank leads a 10-person sales team that strives to not only offer tanning salon pros the products they need, but also to establish and maintain great relationships with them. “We believe this to be our role as a distribution company – playing a part in the long-term success of our salon clients,” he said.

Fore!
Those who know Frank Hutton are aware of his interest in the sport of golf. When he takes to the green, his calm, oftentimes jovial manner disappears, and is replaced by that of a fierce competitor, one who’s out to beat himself! “When I was younger, I was a hacker who would play every now and again with business partners and co-workers, but I took the game up more seriously in 1994, when I had more time on my hands to devote to a hobby,” Frank said. “What I love most about golf is that it’s a sport you play against yourself and the course.”

The future looks good for Frank, both professionally and personally. “I’m very happy with my job and being a part of the indoor tanning industry,” he commented. “This year, I will seek a seat on the Indoor Tanning Association’s Board of Directors because I love this industry and would like to be a bigger part of it.”

As for life outside the industry, Frank plans to continue his love affair with golf while he patiently awaits the opportunity to be a grandfather. His daughter, Darlene Levine, who lives in California, has no children (as Frank likes to hopefully put it) “yet.”