Round the Rotary with JP Warren

Join us on a very special Halloween Special! Today we have Jake Voss and Monika Leigh Warren on the show to discuss what we love: Music and Horror Movies. We dive into the soundtracks of our lives, favorite horror movies, what character we'd be in a horror film and much more.

On this episode of Round the Rotary Collin Placke (Founder Rigs to Real Estate) joins us to share his story on how he decided to stop relaying on the booms and busts for his main source of income. After the 2015 crash Collin decided to pursue his passion and began to look at real estate as a second source of income. He shares his insights and outlooks on pursuing your passion to generate additional income. He is an advocate for following your dreams, taking those first steps, and executing your plan to thrive during these times of reduced activity. Check out Rigs to Real Estate Podcast for more information and background on how he took the leap and made it to where he is today! Thanks Collin for speaking with me, truly enjoyed it!

On this episode Jacob Folz (VP - Drilling at Laredo Energy) joins us and gives us his background of how he went from a football player/chemical engineer starting on the service side to setting his goals to be on the operator side of the business. This was done by him going to the field for long stretches, but most importantly: his mentorships throughout his career. Jacob took on several roles he didn't feel comfortable with, but that uncomfortableness helped push him to understand operations from a 30,000' view. To him relationships matter, often viewing service companies and personnel as friends and partners. He goes into how to "add value" to a drilling program with practical examples. We then dive into how the O&G industry can be proactive and self-regulate several of our industry "black eyes". It is up to us to be proactive in our efforts to "leave it better than we found it" as we compete for capital not just among our industry, but outside of it as well. 

On this episode Nick Goree (Drilling Manager at Earthstone Energy) joins us to give us his background from a physics major to switching to Petroleum Engineering and how he fell in love with drilling. We discuss everything from him taking roles that were out of his comfort zone, how his network helped him obtain his current role, to his overall industry outlook and forecast. During times like this communication is key, as well treating people with kindness. We get into the current state of affairs with the cancellation/comparison culture that's all around us as today and how not to get overwhelmed by unplugging from everything and focus on what you can control. We then discuss what his passions are and it sounds like it would make a nice man candle: bourbon, cars and woodworking. 

On this episode, Jon Dinkins (Executive Account Manager - MS Directional) joins us as we go off script in this episode! We dive in how he began his career in the oilfield (3rd generation oilfield) and how he landed in Sales. We go into what else he enjoys besides the oilfield and the friends we've made. We go into music, how he enjoys playing guitar, some stories of causing a little trouble in high school, how everything is politicized during these times and how to unplug from the chaos. Then just kind of go into random rants, which was a great time. 

On this episode of Round the Rotary, Josh Hegg (Reservoir Engineer Manager: Permian Basin/Eagle Ford for Noble Energy) visits with us and tells us how he went from playing baseball at New Mexico State as a Chemical Engineer to switching to Colorado School of Mines and going after his Petroleum Engineer degree. He discusses what brought him to focus on his strengths and pick Reservoir Engineer as his main focus as it provided him with the big picture of operations. He goes into how his mentors in his previous roles has shaped him and challenged him to be where he is at today. He also discusses how being a mentor and lifting your team up and showcasing their work over his has helped his team achieve the results he strives for. He's excited for the future of the Oil & Gas industry and believes technology will drastically reshape to how we operate in our industry. He leaves us with the advice: focus on what you can control and stay active and utilize available tools to help you stay on top of your game.

On this episode Ethan Etzel (CEO - Royal Composites, LLC) joins us to discuss how he got into the oil and gas industry after switching focuses from medical, to business to mechanical engineering. After several years doing various roles, he met his business partner and formed his current company. Ethan discusses how their company was able to adapt and pivot quickly during these times while maintaining their QA/QC. He gives a pretty optimistic stance on the oil and gas industry as it relates to renewables. We discuss how during these times it's important to take care of your mental health by: getting outside, unplugging from social media and the news, touching base with friends, separating work and personal life. His goal is to eventually go on a cell phone smashing spree as everyone is now addicted to them and he's tired of how things are progressing. Be dynamic with your expectations and unplug from the noise. 

On this episode of Round the Rotary Maria Mejia (CFO/SVP Ulterra Drilling Technologies) stops in to discuss how she took a step down (in position and salary) from a trucking company to begin her career in oil and gas at Ulterra. She discusses how she can't sit still and part of how she's been so effective in her role is her ability to meet with employees of Ulterra from the field to the office. She comments how it has been her personal relationships she's made internally that have helped her in her career and her role. She discusses how in the beginning of her career she would teach herself from reading books after work, to sitting in on meetings she wasn't invited to. She leaves us by going into her personal passion: racing cars. Great time talking with her and truly enjoyed this one!

On this episode of Round the Rotary Dena Demboski (VP - Operations at Upcurve Energy) joins us today to discuss how she started off in the oilfield (moving from mechanical engineering to petroleum engineering). She goes into detail of each role and how they helped and shaped her to where she is at today. From spending several years in the field to betting on herself for her next several roles. She gives real world advice to service providers out there when trying to arrange a meeting and how to make a great impression by valuing everybody's time. She also leaves us with a great question: "What have you done during the downturn?" 

On this episode of Round the Rotary Alan Bernard (Senior Vice President - Gyrodata) joins us and dives into his background and how he got started in the oilfield at Gyrodata 32 years ago. He goes into how his mindset of never saying "no", helped him take on challenges and new roles in his career. From a 4 month stint (turned into 11 years) in the Middle East to another position in Kuala Lampur, his experience conducting business in various international assignments showed that taking culture norms into consideration is crucial in being successful. For someone with over 3 decades at the same company, he explains that it is teamwork that allows people to have such long and great careers at Gyrodata. He discusses he focuses on the strengths of his teammates, not the weaknesses, for if you focus on the strengths, the weaknesses will be filled in with other people's talents. His message for the audience is: never stop learning and it isn't your induvial achievements that are important, it's how well you can operate as a team. He concludes it with a rather funny story from his travels abroad at a dinner in China where he didn't know the language and they didn't know his.