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Kenova native returns to share business savvy
Brad Smith, a Kenova native who is now CEO of Intuit, will speak today to the Charleston Area Alliance.
Purchase this photoKENOVA -- He started singing "Country Roads" before the jet landed at Tri-State Airport on Monday afternoon.
And after Brad Smith deboarded, he was spilling with kind words about his home state, a place that taught him many of the values that have helped in business and in life.
In January, the 43-year-old Kenova native became CEO of Intuit, a Fortune 1,000 software company that developed Quicken, QuickBooks and TurboTax, and tonight he'll be talking to the Charleston Area Alliance about how important he feels it is to display his West Virginia values with pride.
Smith said about everyone in his company has heard him talk about his West Virginia roots, about his mother and father -- Judie and the late Larry Smith -- and about Ceredo-Kenova High School, where he graduated in 1982. Last year, he bought every member of his leadership team a copy of "We Are Marshall" for their holiday party gift, and he has the movie's poster, signed by director McG, hanging in his office.
He feels blessed to come from a place where people are likely to ask what family you're from before they ask what you do for a living, and where kindness isn't mistaken as a sign of weakness.
But even in the cutthroat environment of business, "The things I've learned in West Virginia are very much a part of me," Smith said. And they've led him to success.
Intuit is located in Mountain View, Calif., in the heart of Silicon Valley. The software company is estimated to bring in more than $3 billion in revenue this year and has about 8,400 employees.
Smith has been with the company since 2003 and believes in it because, "We make products that we hope change people's lives," Smith said. QuickBooks is a computer software that helps small businesses organize their finances. Quicken is a personal finance software, and TurboTax helps organize finances for the purpose of filing taxes.
Intuit was listed in Fortune Magazine as "America's Most Admired Software Company," Smith said.
Always working toward improvement, the company lately has been increasing its Web services and connections between the software and the Internet. Intuit also is building products that make it possible to use the software with mobile phones. It's hooked the software up to Apple's iPhone, which so far has been a hit with Apple employees, Smith said.
His route to Intuit brought him and his family to eight states on the way to California. He recalls his father's advice about trying a variety of business fields to see "what made his heart beat faster" and to get a broad band of experience that would eventually help him get a job in general management.
After Smith graduated with a business degree from Marshall University, he moved to Indianapolis and joined a rotational program working with Pepsi. He started out managing a fleet of truck drivers and then worked four or five other jobs with the company.
Smith's resume also includes positions with 7Up, and then an advertising and marketing firm called Advo Inc. Later, he worked with ADP, which outsources payroll and human resources services.
He joined Intuit in 2003 and worked as vice president and general manager of Intuit's Accountant Central and Developer Network in Plano, Texas, before rather quickly climbing through the company.
Throughout it all, Smith says three values he learned growing up in West Virginia have been tools of success -- integrity, humility and teamwork.
"You can be kind and be successful," he said. Intuit donates software to families in need through a state program in California and through the "Free File Alliance," through which West Virginians can receive services. Intuit also gives employees 36 paid hours during which they can go out and perform community services.
Teamwork is also essential -- in work and in life, he said. "Always do something to help the person beside you be great, and it will (benefit everyone) in the long run," Smith said.
And as an aside, he's proud of his West Virginia accent.
When he was working for Pepsi, he was sent to a program to help him improve as a public speaker, which included a segment on erasing his accent.
It didn't work.
"What I've learned is that it helps me stand out in a crowd," he said in his slight Appalachian lilt. He's even detected it on the voice of his daughters, Payton, 13, and Devon, 10. His wife is attorney Alys Smith, whom he met while working in Akron, Ohio.
On his trip home this week, Smith said he plans to visit family before his speaking engagement tonight. Judie Smith still lives in Kenova, as do his brothers, Brent and Larry Jr. His father, Larry E. Smith, a mayor of Kenova in the 1990s, passed away in 1996 after a heart attack.
Larry E. Smith had worked in sales for Nestle, and his son credits him for his business style and helping him come up with a strategy for his career.
Smith credits his mother for his character, and the ability to take his lumps. She taught that for a champion, it doesn't matter how quickly you hit the canvas, but how quickly you get back up, Smith said.
How proud is Judie Smith of her son?
"Well, need you ask?" she said. "I'm proud of all three (sons). They wouldn't have to do a thing for this mamma to be proud."
Brad, she said , has always been an achiever. "He's always just had such a strong character," she said. "He had a strong belief in right and wrong and the days of chivalry."
He's always been a leader, too, she said. Smith, a black belt who enjoys tae kwon do, taught at Tri-Star Karate Academy through high school and college, she said. He also was head lifeguard at Dreamland Pool.
"I am so proud that he is so proud of his roots and that he loves Marshall and loves it back here," she said.
Smith speaks tonight at the Clay Center for the Charleston Area Alliance's annual dinner, which is nearly sold out with about 650 guests.
Smith was a perfect fit as keynote speaker for several reasons, said Matt Ballard, president and CEO of the alliance.
He's a West Virginian who's succeeded in business. Meanwhile, his company creates a product that is relatable to anyone, Ballard said. And he's a fairly young businessman, which is inspiring to the area's young professionals, Ballard said.
"There were many factors that led us to choose Brad," Ballard said. "We're so thankful he could come."
Brad Smith bio
Work experience
President and chief executive officer of Intuit since January 2008. Intuit is the Mountain View, Calif.-based developer of TurboTax, QuickBooks and Quicken. It's a Fortune 1,000 software company with more than $3 billion in revenue.
Senior vice president and general manager of Intuit's Small Business Division (May 2006 to December 2007). In that position, he was responsible for the company's portfolio of QuickBooks, Quicken and Payroll products.
Ran the company's QuickBooks Group from May 2005 to May 2006, Intuit's Consumer Tax Group in San Diego from March 2004 through May 2004, and served as vice president and general manager of Intuit's Accountant Central and Developer Network from February 2003 through February 2004.
Joined the company in 2003, previously working as senior vice president of marketing and business development at ADP.
Education
Master's degree in management from Aquinas College and a bachelor's in business administration from Marshall University.
Home life
Born and raised in Kenova, he now lives in Menlo Park, Calif., with his wife, Alys, and two daughters, Payton and Devon.
