Who Was Turner? What’s an Email?
“Where did the name Turner come from?” I get asked this question a lot and the short answer is, it was my married name when I started the company. I have since taken my maiden name of Douglas back and have kept it since then. When I started Turner Group in 1992 I was an individual with a dream and a passion for the plastics industry. I happened into the industry out of college when I was hired as a Marketing Assistant at Xaloy in Pulaski, VA in 1986.
In 1991, I was sitting with Jack Fisher, owner of Vaupell Industries in Seattle, WA sharing my dream of starting a rep agency. Jack asked me what I loved to do and the short answer was to help people. He encouraged me to use that passion, helping customers in the industry following it with the question, “are you going to get one of those emails?”. I replied, “what’s an email and went on to assure him that I was willing to invest in a fax machine. So much has changed since 1992 when I founded Turner Group.
I was blessed to meet Norm Boshoff when I arrived in Seattle and a few years later, Chuck Roehm. Chuck, Norm and I found that we were like-minded and shared the same passion of service, to our customers, our suppliers, each other and our community. In 1997, inspired by the book, “Pour Your Heart Into It” by Howard Schultz, founder of Starbucks, we set out to write our mission statement on Chuck’s sailboat off Vashon Island, WA where Chuck lived. That mission statement was our North Star for the next 20 years.
As the company grew, we discovered that our commitment to service and integrity as the center of our business, kept us in good stead with the industry, our families, communities and the world.
In 2017, twenty years later after Chuck and Norm had both retired, Turner Group had a retreat on Vashon Island where we went through the process of “Start With Why” by Simon Sinek, uncovering our company why and purpose. It was inspiring to see that the passion for service had not changed over those 20 years of growth.
Our team has remained true to our core principles and we are grateful to share this journey with you.