Doug Stewart — CEO | Color Craft Group
In his personal relationships , Stewart likens altitude to communication , airspeed to dealing with issues in real time , and brains to showing empathy and being selfaware . When asked how he ’ s kept up communication with his kids throughout the pandemic , Stewart responded , “ I talk to them all the time , lots of Face Time calls . We were already big users of technology to communicate with some pretty fun text and Snap strings keeping us all up to date , but the last year we really leveraged it , and added a few more Zoom game nights than usual .”
Stewart has always had an entrepreneurial mindset . While just a college student , he imported handmade shorts made by seamstresses in Sri Lanka and sold them out of his truck at street fairs . In 1998 , after working traditional corporate jobs for a while , including a stint with Goodrich Aerospace at what is now Aviation Technical Services in Everett , Washington , he embarked on buying his first business . “ I didn ’ t realize it at the time , but the only reason I was able to find a business to invest in that fit my small budget and lack of experience , was that I blindly bought a business that was in terrible shape . So , by default I had to quickly learn how to fix up a broken business .” That small business , along with several later acquisitions , turned into Caliber Inspection , a leading material testing and engineering business which Stewart later sold to a public company looking to expand in the Northwest . “ Twenty-two years later and I am still learning and still having fun ,” he says .
In almost every case , Stewart evaluates new opportunities with an eye toward altitude , speed , and brains . “ Turning a business around is sometimes as simple as identifying what they are really good at ( brains ) or pushing the team to act fast when opportunities present themselves .” In 2011 , Stewart was approached about buying the assets of Color Craft in Seattle . At the time it had only four employees , some equipment , and a rather tenuous relationship with its customers — including Boeing .
APRIL | MAY 2021 ISSUE NO . 20 57