Kristian Read is the Spring Face of MFMA
The Face of MFMA is a quarterly initiative where we interview our members and ask them to share some perspective on their job, organization, daily life, and how they are making an impact on the sports flooring industry.
Kristian Read of Tom Brown Performance Floors was named our Spring Face of MFMA. We share his insights in the interview below.
How did you get started in the sports floor industry?
Kristian: My wife, Whitney, and I were living in Albany, NY and working in television when we decided to move back to her hometown of Pittsburgh in 2012. Whitney’s dad, Tom Brown, was gracious enough to offer me a change in career by joining his wood floor division. I’ve been learning from him and everyone in the office ever since.
Who was the biggest influence in your career?
Kristian: Rich Mahler was the superintendent of the company when I first arrived here. His no-nonsense way of treating customers was eye opening. It taught me that people don’t want a sales pitch. They just want someone they can have an honest conversation with. Rich’s salt of the earth persona always made that happen in a natural way.
How does your company help the sports flooring industry?
Kristian: I hope our company helps the sports flooring industry by providing a finished product that makes other schools want the same thing. The more basketball courts there are, the better.
What do you feel are your keys to success?
Kristian: At the risk of sounding trite, showing up on time is 90% of the battle. I’m pretty sure it was Woody Allen who said it first, but how could a guy named Woody be wrong when we’re in the MFMA? Being present and consistent gets you most of the way there.
What one thing has impacted the sports flooring industry the most in your career?
Kristian: The industry is constantly evolving so it’s hard to pick a single thing. Although I would say that the advances in water-based finishes and paints have changed productivity in a major way.
Do you have a saying or mantra that helps you stay motivated or motivate others?
Kristian: My Grandmother loved to tell me that “Rolling stones gather no moss”. It’s a proverb that can be interpreted in a lot of ways, but she lived to be 96 so there’s a solid case study for it. For me, it means keep moving and good things normally follow.
What is the weirdest thing you have ever seen done to a sports flooring surface?
Kristian: I recently had a client stain a repeating QR code on a floor. It amounted to thousands of randomly spaced squares. Picking the vinyl from the paint mask alone took days. I’m still not sure what it was for.
How has the sports flooring industry changed since you started in the industry?
Kristian: I’ve been lucky to have a group of installers that have been with us for years, but it keeps getting harder to find new people with an interest in flooring. It will be interesting to see if the AI revolution pushes more people back into skilled labor, which may be the best career choice one can make these days.
What is your best advice to someone starting out in the industry?
Kristian: Don’t get discouraged. Because wood and customers are a fickle bunch, it’s important to anticipate that new problems will always come up. Treat every job like a unique challenge, where the reward is a solution, and you’ll be a lot happier.
Kristian is a native New Englander. He was born in Maine, attended high school and college in New Hampshire, followed by a stint in Boston. Looking for a change, he went to Syracuse University in 2003, where he got a master’s degree in Broadcast Journalism. This eventually landed him as sports anchor in Vermont, where he met his future wife, Whitney. They changed careers and moved to Pittsburgh in 2012 and have lived there ever since. Kristian and Whitney have two daughters, Kaylin and Laila.
Kristian Read
Tom Brown Performance Floors
