Eric Tate began his career with Aires in 1994 and has held positions with successive responsibility in the Pittsburgh, PA, Houston, TX, and Huntington Beach, CA, offices. A member of Aires’ executive board, Tate currently serves as Vice President, East Region at Aires. He manages sales and operations in our Danbury, CT, regional office and manages the Danbury and Pittsburgh offices as Vice President of the eastern half of the United States. In honor of Aires’ 40th anniversary, we recently sat down with Eric to hear his story.
No Suit, No Problem
You could say that Eric Tate’s career journey began with an interview he wasn’t properly “suited” for.
“I was first joining the job market and was just looking for something permanent – something that felt like home,” said Eric. He began speaking with a recruiter and was set to interview at Aires’ Pittsburgh, PA, office. The only problem: he didn’t have a suit.
“This will be funny, but at the time I was doing some modeling at a mall, and I was wearing a suit from a company,” Eric said. “I asked the guy if I could wear the suit because I had an interview. It wasn’t hemmed and still had a price tag on it, but I figured there would be a solid table that I would interview on.”
To his surprise, Eric was led to a glass table when he arrived for the interview.
“I was sitting there the entire time during the interview, half-worried about him seeing a price tag and unhemmed pants,” said Eric. Luckily for him, Aires was more focused on who he was as a person than his outfit choice, and he was hired as a sales trainee.
Seizing the Day
That first day as a sales trainee led to more than 25 years with Aires, and Eric knows what it takes to stay motivated and get the job done.
“I’m a strong believer that every day you wake up, you have a choice to make it a good day and to be happy,” said Eric.
Along with choosing to keep a positive mindset, Eric is dedicated to facing challenges head on.
“When you come to work and there’s a challenge, you can choose to put it off and do it at the end of the day, or you can choose to get it out of the way first and overcome that challenge. Once you’re done with it, the sense of accomplishment you feel is often way greater than any worry you had about the problem going into it,” said Eric.
To be effective as a leader, he recognizes the importance of not only having self-awareness, but also having a strong focus on others.
“Emotional intelligence has become more important than ever. Understanding what motivates people, what their goals are, what’s important to them, and creating an atmosphere that they’ll work successfully in is super important as we go forward,” he said.
Looking Forward to the Future
Over the years, Eric has seen Aires evolve into a leading full-service global relocation and assignment management company through continuous innovation and improvement.
“It’s amazing – the changes that have happened over the years, the complexity of the services we provide, and the tools that we’ve created to allow our staff to help the relocating families,” said Eric.
Even after countless technological enhancements and service additions, the Aires team still has a significant dedication to evolution.
“The thing I’m most excited about right now is all of our strategic goals – being a part of those and watching those be executed. It gives me purpose and it gives me vision. I’m excited to share that with the whole organization,” Eric said.
Eric’s also looking forward to seeing his friends and colleagues grow with the company.
“There are so many people that have been here for more than 20 years, and I feel like they’re my family. We’ve grown up together, and to see them excel in their careers is just a great feeling.”