Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Campbell
Hi Michael, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I could say A LOT about the story of Campbell’s Pro-Line, but I will do my best to summarize the best I can. I played football my entire life and so I naturally stay around the game as much as possible in my adult life. One of my first jobs out of college was selling field paint for a small family owned business. This kept me around the game I love, but it wasn’t a feasible job for me at that time in my life. Since 2016, I’ve worked a couple different jobs from B2B, B2C, recruiting, construction… I’ve learned a lot about working for a business but always wanted to try my hand at starting my own business. The first business I ever started was an on site fleet washing company. At the time, I was a fleet maintenance salesmen and I saw a need my company didn’t provide. So after the company I worked for would fix their trucks, I would come out later in the evening and pressure wash the trucks to clean them. I believe that business could have been successful, but I realized that outside of the extra money, I found no interest in what I was doing. So I decided to shut it down and focus back on my full time job. Fast forward a few years and I am now a salesman in roofing distribution. I’ve learned a ton about different manufacturers and how to sell different products instead of selling just a service. Through every opportunity I’ve ever had, I try to learn everything about that business and what makes that business successful.
This all leads in to how Pro-Line was started. I was at an Auburn Football game on October 21st 2023 against Ole Miss. That was an electric atmosphere and I realized how much these universities invest into the “show” of the events they put on for their fans. I was amazed when Auburn would score a touchdown, they would do light shows with the new LED lighting systems being installed across the nation on every stadium from college to the NFL. The big thing I noticed was that when the lights were off, you couldn’t see the logos or lines on the field. A light bulb went off in my head and I couldn’t get the idea out of my mind. Is there a way I could develop something that allows the field paint to be seen when the lights are shut off? For weeks after that game I couldn’t shake the thought, so I got to work developing a field paint that could be seen in the dark. There were so many things I tried through my process of development. Not only did I need the paint to work, but I also needed to make sure the product would not be an environmental issue by killing grass, or some how hurting the players that were on it. All of this was going to require investment. I quickly realized that in order to continue with this project I was going to need capital. But before I go seeking out some type of investment, I need to make sure that IF I do get this product to work, I’m not going to be able to sell too much of it since there are only so many night games during a season of football. Not only that, but are they going to want to use this product every single night game? Probably not. So I got to work figuring out how to start my own line of field paint. I studied my potential competitors, I studied the market, I studied the demand… so many things. Then I sought out a manufacturer of field paint. Luckily, I found a wonderful family owned local paint manufacturer called Florida Paints that had a line of field paint already developed. So the next day I drove over to their headquarters and walked in the front door. Not sure how, but ended up sitting down with the VP and CEO of Florida Paints and asking them questions about their paint, their history, their pricing… all of this lead to the conversation about opening me up as a distributor of their field paint. Somehow I convinced them to allow me to become a distributor of their paint, and with a verbal commitment and a handshake, I went home that day to begin the process of starting Campbell’s Pro-Line Athletic Field Paint.
We began the process together. I had to figure out how their paint worked, if it competes to the big dogs on the block (Pioneer and World Class field paint), how to find customers.. Through all of this I ended up creating a successful field paint distribution company with enough profit to continue my work on the glow in the dark field paint.
After about 3 months of trial and error I finally finished the development of the prototype. Then the real work began. How do I market this? How do I scale it up for manufacturing? How do I test in a stadium environment? How much of this could I actually sell? How do i protect it?
Fast forward to today, I have a patent pending on a product called Glo-Line Field Paint and a successful profitable business called Campbell’s Pro-Line Athletic Field Paint.
it’s been a long road, but the journey is just beginning. I still have a lot of work to do.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Not at all. Starting a business from scratch has been an incredibly difficult process, but I have had an absolute blast on this journey.
Even after getting the entire business up and running, I learned why my competitors offer different product lines of their paint. They offer what people in sales call “Good, Better, Best” options.
Basically means:
Good: Value product. Least expensive, worst quality, but still gets the job done.
Better: Better than the base line product, but not the best. Middle of the road in cost.
Best: Top tier, top quality, top cost.
I only have on line of field paint. My Pro-Line field paint actually compares to Pioneers “Best” option called “Game-Day” field paint. Pro-Line is a top quality product. I learned that Pioneer sells this product to Universities and professional teams because they have the most buying power and largest budget. They also want their field to look top quality when so many fans are coming to see their events.
Pioneer sells their “brite-stripe” as their “Good” option. to mainly high schools and parks and rec’s that do not have a need for a top quality product.
For right now, my customers are getting a top quality product for the cost of a “good” option. So my profits are minimal at the moment. I am now in the process of having my manufacturer develop a “good” option for me that will be coming to the market as “Campbell’s Base-Line”
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I work in sales. Right now, I work for a roofing distribution company as an outside sales executive.
I think what sets me apart from my competitors in sales is my curiosity for life. The least of my concern is the price and how much money I can make.
I genuinely am fascinated by what goes on around me. I like to soak up knowledge this world has to offer like a sponge.
I think people enjoy teaching, telling their story, talking about themselves. So if you are genuinely interested in anything and everything that goes on around you, people gravitate towards that. If you are honest in your life and respect yourself and others, people want to do business with you.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
No my business was not operating during the Covid 19
Contact Info:
- Website: https://campbellsproline.com
- Other: https://linktr.ee/campbellsproline
Image Credits
Michaela Campbell
Cooper Campbell
