Stay Curious, Stay Useful: Tim Reynolds on Learning, Leading, and the Facilities Life - Episode #114

In this episode, Jay Culbert sits down with Tim Reynolds, a facilities manager at a growing manufacturing business who has built one of the more unconventional careers in the industry. Tim's background spans painting, computer information sciences, a bachelor's in classics and political science, special education teaching (including a master's degree and administrative licensure), and ultimately a full return to the trades. Now managing 52,000 square feet solo as both facilities manager and EHS officer, Tim brings a grounded, curious, and self-aware perspective to everything he does. At the core of his philosophy is something deceptively simple: keep asking questions, actually listen to the answers, and never stop learning.

From sourcing vendors through word of mouth to navigating safety in a machine shop environment, Tim covers real challenges with refreshing honesty. He also gives listeners a peek behind the curtain at some of his personal passions, including hand-carved wooden spoons and a Viking shield maiden costume he made for his dog.

Takeaways:

• Lifelong learning is a practice, not a personality type. Tim credits a genuine curiosity about how things work and why people do what they do as the engine behind his career. Whether it's a textbook, a YouTube video, a 20-year-old equipment manual he found on Google, or just a conversation with someone next to him, learning is always on the table.
• Ask for help — and mean it. Tim returns to this idea multiple times throughout the conversation. In facilities, there's never enough time in the day. Asking for help when you need it isn't a weakness; it's one of the most practical tools available. Most people are genuinely willing to assist if you're willing to ask.
• Face-to-face communication beats everything else. Tim uses email where it fits, but when something needs to be resolved, he walks directly to the person. Clarity, tone, and relationship all improve when you show up in person.
• Word of mouth is the best vendor sourcing tool you're not paying for. Tim inherited an outdated vendor list when he took his current role and has had to build parts of his network from scratch. His method: ask other vendors for referrals, lean on trusted relationships, and keep looking until you find the right fit.
• Safety requires designing for inattention. As EHS officer, Tim knows that people focused on getting work done aren't always thinking about safety in the moment. The job is to build systems and environments that protect people even when their attention is elsewhere. A personal injury early in his career, cutting a tendon in his thumb with a putty knife, drives this point home.
• Saying yes first is often the right move. Tim's career has been defined in part by accepting opportunities before he knew exactly how to execute them. His approach: say yes, then figure it out. He notes that at this point in his career, the only regrets he carries are the times he didn't say yes.
• The diversity of your background is an asset. Tim's path through painting, tech, the classics, special education, and now facilities management might look scattered from the outside. But each chapter gave him something: patience, communication skills, problem-solving instincts, and technical knowledge, which make him better at his job today.

Quote of the Show

• "Ask. Ask. And then more importantly, and I think this is the thing a lot of people forget, listen."

Links

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothy-reynolds-99905b13b/
• IFMA Boston https://ifmaboston.org/

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