Watson Story – Jason Martin

I grew up in Thunder Bay, Ontario, and moved to Calgary when I was 27. I started with Watson in 2016 and I’ve been here since then, so it’ll be 10 years in July! 

I enjoy spending time outdoors, taking my dog for hikes, golfing, and sipping some Margaritas with friends. I also love to cook – I’m happiest when I’m in the kitchen. Growing up I was quite active in martial arts for about 15 years. I was on the national karate team for about 10 years as a competitor. I have a second-degree black belt and a number of other belts in different disciplines. 

When I was looking for a job at the time, I stumbled upon an ad looking for a new CSR in the Watson Calgary branch and I applied. After a few interviews with Kirk McManes (Senior Director, Sales Operations) and Kasey Whitman (CEO & President), I landed the job. It was a very different role back then compared to what it has evolved to now. 

I worked as a CSR for about five years and then I moved into a National Sales Assistant role, which was about the time when we launched our U.S. operations, so I looked after many of our U.S. customers in that role. From there, I was promoted to Customer Operations Specialist. 

And just recently I’ve stepped into a new role as Logistics Specialist. It’s still very, very new so I’m still learning all about it but I’m excited to get started! 

What I enjoy most is the people that I work with. We have an excellent team here. Everybody brings different views and experiences, and it really helps us thrive and grow together. We have a good relationship with everybody here, and I just enjoy coming into work and working alongside them every day. Also, a lot of it has to do with the Moore family and being a family-owned company – I’ve never worked for a company that treats its employees so well, and that all starts from the top.

To me, it means representing a brand that we can all take pride in. So, it’s things like being first to market with sustainable options, the details that go into all our S.W.A.T onsite assessments, and being industry leaders in a crowded market which is definitely something to take pride in. We just recently won Supplier of the Year at Indica. That’s a big deal, right? And each and every one of us contributes to that, which is important. It’s rewarding to know that the work we do every day contributes to the overall goal and help the company continue to grow. Being a Watsonator means maintaining that reputation and being a reliable part of the team.

One of the things I’m most proud of is being part of our U.S. operations and seeing it grow from its earliest days. When we first started processing U.S. orders, we had only a couple of customers that would send in maybe one order a month, which I would process myself and pass along to the warehouse. Today, the U.S. operation is a thriving, standalone division with a dedicated branch in Mesa, Arizona, its own team, and defined sales targets. The growth of the U.S. division over the past six years has been remarkable, and I’m proud to have played a role in building it from the ground up and handing it off before stepping into my next role.

I’ve received a lot of advice over the years, mostly because I’m the type of person who asks a lot of questions. Sometime so many that people joke, “How do you still have more questions?” haha… But over the years, I’ve learned a lot from Melissa McKee (Senior Director, Technology and Data Operations). She’s been a source of knowledge and ideas. It’s very rare that I go to her with a question she doesn’t have the answer to. And when I’m on the right track but need help getting across the finish line, she’s always there to point me in the right direction. Her support, guidance, and instruction has been instrumental to getting me to where I am today, and I’m very grateful for that.

One of the biggest things I’ve learned that’s shaped my career over the years is adaptability and building that skill over time. No two days are alike for me. I look after an active sales territory, and I’m now crossing over to operations. I also volunteer as the branch IT point person here in Calgary. Every day is something different and may require me to switch between different roles. So being adaptable, and being able to shift from a sales hat to a customer operations hat, and occasionally jumping in to support IT, all while staying focused and being effective. It’s taught me how to prioritize quickly, understand who needs what most, and move forward from there. That adaptability has definitely helped me be a more reliable and collaborative teammate.

There are so many good ones. I’m a big fan of puns, so Van Goat is a good one, just because of Vincent Van Gogh. I like the Black Velvet because that song is just iconic. But I think my favourite glove is the Colonel. The fact that the glove itself is made of biobased corn husks and it’s called the Colonel, that’s a great name.