Patriotism at Precor

Do you have an American flag waving outside your house?

Is an American flag sticker or magnet proudly displayed on your car?

Do you consider yourself patriotic?

My name is Frank Palmer and I sell Precor fitness equipment to the US Military worldwide. It is the best damn job on Earth! My personal mission statement is posted on my bathroom mirror and it reads, "Everyday, by having the best fitness professionals in the world covering my 6, I try to improve our troops quality of life while they help to protect ours". How many of you have been able to turn one of your passions (fitness for me) into your livelihood? Are you lucky enough to bolster your patriotism while while pursuing your passion and make good money at the same time? I am that lucky and I thank God for my good fortune everyday. Now I am going to tell you a story about some other patriotic people that I am very proud and happy to have met.

Approximately 350 ships comprise the Navy Fleet ranging from amazing Trident submarines to awe-inspiring aircraft carriers. Every cubic inch of space is valuable on even the largest of these floating fortresses and you will find fitness equipment crammed into the most unlikely of places onboard these ships. You see, fitness is deemed "mission essential" by Navy Command and the equipment is used around the clock. The Navy Fleet had been buying our justifiably famous elliptical crosstrainers for inclusion in their onboard fitness programs. These models were built around rather large and robust one-piece steel frames. To get these EFX's to their desired locations, many had to be disassembled, cut into small pieces, and welded back together. The Navy has some of the best welders in the world, but let's face it, this installation procedure was not ideal for boosting sales.

Several years ago I convinced senior management at Precor that an opportunity existed. If we could design an EFX that could be disassembled to fit through a 23" hatch, then we would sell more units. Over 4,000 Navy EFX models later, the program can be deemed a success.

During one of my many visits to Precor Corporate in Seattle a few years ago, the product manager who had helped me realize my Navy EFX dream, had a terrific idea. Why didn't I visit the production team that builds the Navy units? Her idea led me to one of the most rewarding and heartwarming experiences I have ever had while at work.

Precor EFX's are manufactured in "cells", which are simply small teams of people that take a collection of parts and craft them into finished products. The cell that manufactures the Navy EFX model is tooled primarily to produce a different model of EFX. The relatively small number of Navy EFX's needed cannot support a full time cell, so production time is shared. The Navy product manager's idea was for me to visit production, meet the team manufacturing the Navy EFX's, and tell them about their model's application aboard the ships. Well, as it turned out, this team was way ahead of me.

I was introduced to the 30 or so members of the team. They consisted of about 20 Cambodian women who were recent immigrants, with the remaining workers being a mix of other nationalities and genders. I thanked the team for their help in making a personal dream of mine come true and I apologized if the switching back-and-forth between models was disruptive to their production flow. I told them stories of how their Navy EFX's were used and what the lonely and dedicated life onboard ship was like for our sailors. I talked about the young men and women who found health and a temporary escape from their important missions while using the equipment that they had built. And as I said goodbye, I told them that I would like to humbly represent the sailors and thank them for their efforts. The cell's manager took me aside and told me that, without provocation from anyone, the women in the cell had taken it upon themselves to write notes inside the boxes in which these units would be shipped. He told me that they wrote things like, "God bless America" and "We love you! Come home safe", and "Thank you for protecting us".

I have not been this proud or moved in a long, long time.

Thank you for reading my story and...

God Bless America!