Tag Archives: 20th Anniversary

Celebrating 14 Years with Vicki Wadsworth

As Atlanta Design & Build celebrates our 20th Anniversary this year, we also celebrate the 14 years we have been blessed with the diverse skills of our Director of Administration, Vicki Wadsworth.

Learning sales and management from a young age

Raised in the Midwest, Vicki Wadsworth received her BS degree in Business Administration from Baylor University, in Texas. She graduated  with a dual concentration in Marketing and Management. Upon graduation, she began her career with AT&T in Oklahoma in business sales. Recounting the course of her career, Vicki appreciates the extensive training and diverse opportunities afforded her.

She gives credit to her dad for the most impactful training in sales she ever received. Rising thru the sales ranks for General Mills, he retired as their Director of National Sales Training.  According to Vicki, he could sell anything! He also made sure his three children were managed in sales principles from their earliest years. “I was raised chewing on Zig Ziglar and his motivational sales tools,” Vicki laughed.

Her AT&T career included additional opportunities and relocation.  She became immersed in the world of computer programming upon successful completion of Programmer Basic Training and relocated from Oklahoma to Florida. Beginning in system administration and ending up in charge of online security programming for AT&T’s Core Billing System. Vicki stated she valued this IT segment of her career for the strategic thinking the training and assignments provided her.

While working in IT, Vicki also worked with the AT&T personnel department conducting campus interviews. Later, an opening arose requiring a sales & programming background. Vicki was offered a position with AT&T personnel as the Management Employment Recruiter for the state of Florida. She thoroughly enjoyed running the remote office hiring for sales, programming, accounting and engineering departments. In 1991 when company budget cuts were needed, she recommended closing the Orlando, FL location and moved to the AT&T southeastern hub in Atlanta, Georgia.

Moving, Marriage and Family——The beginning of a new chapter

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Celebrating 20 Years with Mike Pike

As Atlanta Design & Build celebrates our 20th Anniversary this year, we also celebrate the 20 years we have been blessed with the incredible skills of co-owner and Senior Project Manager, Mike Pike.

Mike’s start in construction

Raised in southern Georgia, Mike started working, in his early twenties, as a “grunt’ for a company that did commercial/industrial electrical work. He worked on the electrical wiring for a college, a hospital and a paper mill, learning on the job as he went.

Then a friend who was framing houses asked Mike to work with him. Mike had no experience with carpentry, but he did like working with his hands. He discovered that he enjoyed construction work and was motivated to learn more. His friend was not the type of person who teaches his skills to others, so Mike had to pay very close attention to whatever his friend was doing. “I’d go home at night and practice with the tools, such as the speed square,” said Mike. “I didn’t know how he was coming up with all those angles.” After six years being attentive and willing to practice, Mike developed skills needed and sometimes found himself running the show by himself when his friend could not come to work.

Moving to Atlanta and expanding skills

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Celebrating 15 Years with Jamie Franks

A Passion for Construction in Many Generations

Jamie Franks believes that his passion for the construction industry and his abilities are a part of his DNA. His grandfather built houses, and his dad built and installed cabinets. “Even though I didn’t grow up with my dad,” says Jamie, “In terms of our engineering interests we are as much alike as Twinkies.” So it makes sense that Jamie would eventually find himself working full time in the construction industry.

He grew up in a small town that didn’t offer many employment opportunities. During high school he worked part time as a diesel mechanic. After graduation, that job turned into a full daytime position, while he also worked part time in steel fabrication at night.

Five years later, having the desire for more education in the engineering direction, Jamie joined the Navy as a member of the Seabees Naval Mobile Construction Battalion. He built school houses for children in the Dominican Republic. It was heavy commercial construction, and he feels the education he received was worth it. After the Navy, Jamie got into insurance work. This job helped him transition from government to civilian life.

Jamie Franks: Working Up the Ladder at Atlanta Design & Build

In 2001 he heard about a job opening at Atlanta Design & Build and he went for an interview. He was very impressed with Dale Contant and decided he wanted to work for him, even though it would mean a cut in his salary. He started out as a Helper on a three-person team primarily building decks. After two years, he became the Punch Guy because he could fix anything. Later he started running jobs as a Project Manager, and today he is Production Manager overseeing all the ADB projects. Continue reading Celebrating 15 Years with Jamie Franks