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2022-02-24
We sat down with Wade Russell, Sales Director in our Nashville office for the Sales and Systems Integration Division, and House of Worship Global Market Leader at Solotech.
Summary of our chat with Wade, who joined Solotech in March of 2021, when Solotech acquired Morris and InteRise in Nashville.
Q: Wade, what roads did you take to get to Solotech? Give us some background about you!
WR: I started my career working in local churches: Bell Shoals Church in Brandon, FL, The Crossing Church in Tampa, FL, and The Church at Rock Creek in Little Rock, AR.
I served in the Church tech world for about 10 years, and then in 2010, I started with a company in Memphis, TN. I was there for five and a half years and started working with Morris Integration/InteRise in January of 2016. Morris/InteRise were acquired by Solotech in March of 2021.
Q: What does any given day look like for you?
WR: Any given day I will be doing market research for House of Worship, touching base with clients for current and future projects, helping my sales team with presentations or our approach on handling sales. I maintain relationships with vendors, troubleshoot project complications and discuss ideas with the design team. Lots of meetings for future planning and development! And always have room to help the marketing team with pics of recent jobs that my team has taken onsite.
Q: When you were growing up, what did you want to be?
WR: Funny enough, when I was growing up, I wanted to be a Technical Director at a large Church. I achieved that at the age of 20 and decided I needed to have a loftier goal. Since then, I have pursued my passion for tech and ministry by continually improving my knowledge of the industry.
Q: What is the best part about your job?
WR: I would say the best part is seeing the ideas and a group of gifted people come together and on the opening day of the project, being able to look at our work and know that we have achieved something greater than we could ever do by ourselves.
Q: What has been your favorite project to work on since starting with Solotech?
WR: Central Baptist Church in Jonesboro, AR was completed in the fall of 2021 and was a project that I started the discussion with the client about 8 years ago. It was great to finally see the dreams, ideas, designs, hard work, and programming all come together to serve the ministry of the Church.
Q: What sets Solotech apart from our competitors?
WR: We can supply installation and production rental at the highest scale. We have competitive pricing and a huge resource of industry experts.
Q: What is something not everyone knows about Solotech that we should talk more about?
WR: Solotech has now done the two largest House of Worship d&b soundscape systems (Pinelake and Healing Place Church) in the United States. Immersive audio and our experience with it are on the front line of technology. We also are the first integrator to use soundscape for a Choir monitor solution.
And because Wade is a much-appreciated colleague, a member of his team had kind words about him: “Wade really cares about his team and helping them be successful. On several occasions, he has gone out of his way to help me work through issues I have had during my tenure at Solotech. Through multiple transitions in our company, he has maintained a great attitude and created a positive environment for our team. Wade is the perfect example of a great leader.” Michael Casey, Business Development Representative.
