Proud AV DAD: Celebrate Father’s Day 2021
By: Patrick Whipkey, Director of USAV
I began my AV career not even thinking about starting a family. I, like many, stumbled into this crazy industry from my love of music and all things technology. I’ve noticed an unspoken trend in this industry, and that is family. There are a lot of us that have either unintentionally or intentionally chosen this career for family reasons. Some had to “get off the road,” others wanted to find a more stable income. Whatever the case is, family is at the center of many of those decisions.
I use the term family with a few different meanings. You could be raising a family yourself, or you could call your co-workers and industry friends “family.” There are a lot of us that spend more time with our colleagues than we do with our family. I think that is the unique thread that bonds us all together. I ended up getting married and having three daughters. The funny thing is, I didn’t think I would ever have three girls. I’ll be honest, empathy and patience are not my best skills and I think that is part of why I now have three girls. Every day I’m learning how to manage not only their emotions but my wife’s and also my own. In business, you learn how to work with different personalities and not only managing your own emotions under pressure but the best can manage others under pressure as well. My family has continued to teach me how to manage the emotions of many. I take these small lessons and I work to apply them in my business communications.
Being a full-time working father is a daily struggle, but one that I would not change. When people ask, “how’s the family?” I usually respond with, “they are great; it’s a daily circus in my house!” I use that term in an endearing but funny description because right now it is crazy. I have an eight-year-old, a six-year-old and a two-and-a-half-year-old. We are dealing with everything from potty training to helping out with fractions. Did I mention my wife has a full-time job as well? We go from soccer to dance lessons to gymnastics, while also working to grow and excel in our own careers. It’s fun, exhausting, rewarding, stressful and sometimes a downright chaotic state of affairs, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.
I truly believe that sums up our industry. We all experience those same emotions every year, and that’s why the family thread runs so deep in this crazy industry. We celebrate the victories, we mourn the losses and we band together in times of need. This industry will always have its ups and downs and the key to it all is learning from each experience and growing together to become better people and a better industry. Yes, I’m a proud dad of three girls and happily married but I am also a proud family member of this technology community. Thank you for welcoming me into this community and cheers to all the proud dads. Enjoy each other’s company, be good to one another and together our family will grow and be strong.
