Posted December 15, 2016

In 1984, then Parkdale Chairman & CEO Duke Kimbrell hired his son-in-law, Andy Warlick, from Milliken & Co. to bring new ideas and a fresh perspective to his rapidly growing yarn production company. And, together, they would lead the company to new heights for the next three decades.

Kimbrell, named the #2 most influential textile leader of the 20th century by an industry magazine in 1999, was receptive to the changes Warlick wanted to bring to Parkdale, even when met with resistance by the company’s “old guard.” (Read more in this week’s lead story, naming Parkdale eTC’s 2016 Industry Champion in this, its 100th anniversary year.) And Warlick had plenty of ideas to improve the company after having served at Milliken & Co., one of the industry’s most progressive companies.

You might say Warlick was the yin to Kimbrell’s yang, each with his own perspective and experience. And, together, they forged a formidable relationship that worked beautifully for many years.

“I was a young guy who was able to do a lot of things because I was exposed to them by my father-in-law at a young age,” said Warlick. “He made me president when I was 32.  And even at ages 32 and 65, there was no filter between us. Most companies that had a 65-year-old CEO had a 60-year-old president – not a lot of difference in opinion.”

One of the things Warlick admired about Kimbrell was the rapport he had with company employees, leadership, customers, along with the respect he had in the industry, he said.

“Mr. Kimbrell was a man’s man,” Warlick said, “and people could see it. He always wanted to be successful and he had a strong desire to succeed. He was a hands-on guy, always out in the plants or out with customers – he was really great with customers. He had a lot of charisma. And one of his real gifts was sales and marketing.”

When Warlick arrived on the scene, he said he witnessed Kimbrell’s willingness to change in order to improve and weather the coming storms in the industry.

“We had some great conversations about the future,” Warlick said. “We had such a great relationship. I was really big on cutting and eliminating costs and improving quality. When I came here, after he saw what I was trying to do, he never once made the statement, ‘we have to cut our costs or improve our quality’ because he knew I was already doing that.”

While Warlick was given free rein to implement his changes for the betterment of the company, Kimbrell meanwhile continued to do what he did best: work with customers, Warlick said. He told a story about their travels together to meet customers, many in the Northeast. During those visits, it was common for Kimbrell to meet with the owner of a family business while Warlick was asked to “hang out” with that owner’s son or daughter. That was a practice Kimbrell had learned from former owner J. Lee Robinson, with whom he had made similar travels during his formative years, and was designed to form bonds between the companies’ future leaders, Warlick said. Business in those days was built on friendships and relationships.