Focus on Leadership: Jimmy Tuley parlays a manufacturing background into business leadership – January 2025

Interview by Kemp Harr

Jimmy Tuley grew up in Montgomery, Alabama and pursued a degree in industrial engineering at the University of Alabama, where he also served as the place-kicker for the college’s football team under Coach Gene Stallings. After graduation, Tuley took a job at Milliken, where he served as a plant manager for nearly nine years before accepting a job with Mannington as director of operations. In his more than 12 years at Mannington, he has served in a variety of roles, and most recently was named president of residential business in January 2024.

Tuley and his wife Beth live in Salem, New Jersey. The pair share three high school- and college-aged children.

Q: What is your fondest memory from your childhood in Montgomery, Alabama?
A: I was blessed to grow up in an active, happy family. My dad was a high school football coach, and I grew up in a locker room and on a sideline with my brother and sister. When I was a senior, my little brother was a sophomore, and we went to school, practice and then home together every day. It was a fantastic time!

Q: What did you learn as a place-kicker on Gene Stallings’ national football championship team that you still use in business today?
A: I learned a lot of really hard lessons. I was not as successful as I thought I would be, but I have two lessons that really stand out. The first is that you can’t be afraid of losing. It happens to everyone, and the important thing is that you learn from it. The second is that when you surround yourself with exceptional people, there is no end to what you can accomplish!

Q: What was it like to have a little brother who was the place kicker at Auburn, your biggest in-state rival?
A: The good news was that he wasn’t very good either! Just kidding, we have always had great fun, and we have always been each other’s biggest fans. He is a very successful attorney, husband and father, and I am very proud of everything he has accomplished.

Q: What led you to focus your career on the flooring business?
A: Like many, it feels like flooring found me rather than the other way around. I grew up in manufacturing at Milliken and made products for several businesses and finished my time there as the plant manager of Live Oak, where we printed carpet. That led to a connection with Mannington, and the rest is history!

Q: What led to you leave Milliken and join the Mannington Mills team?
A: I loved my time at Milliken and learned so much, but after 15 years of manufacturing, I really wanted to solve and work on some different types of problems. Mannington gave me a path to do that, and I have loved every minute of it. Both Mannington and Milliken are family-owned companies and both have great people, so it was just about the opportunity to experience all the things I have at Mannington.

Q: What are the benefits of working for family-owned businesses?
A: Family is everything to me, and I feel I fit in this environment well. I love the personal feel of a family company. I think sometimes people feel that family companies don’t have the same sense of urgency that others do, but I don’t agree with that at all. It is not just urgent in a family company, it is personal, too. I have loved the chance to learn from the Campbell family leaders, Keith and Zack, and to get to teach and mentor the next generation as they work their way through the company.

Q: How does your manufacturing background help you in the president’s role at Mannington?
A: Manufacturing is a great base to build a business career on. So many people think of machinery and equipment when they think about manufacturing, but I think of people. It is about developing trust and relationships to get the best results from teammates. When you have that, they will make the machines hum. It is also very immediate and requires you to challenge yourself to get better every day. Like sports, you are always going to have challenges and bad days to overcome, and you have to have the courage to face them and be accountable.

Q: Was there an ‘aha’ moment in your career where you learned what it takes to successfully lead a team?
A: Millions honestly. This role has particularly stretched me. When you lead especially talented people, like we have at Mannington, it requires a ton of humility and makes you want to be better for them.

Q: What character traits do you look for when you’re building out your leadership team?
A: Trust and ownership. Talent without trust is toxic and almost always leads to breakdowns in communication and loss of performance.

Q: Understanding the importance of relationships, how do you stay plugged in with your customers?
A: Compared to some of my peers, I am relatively new to the residential flooring customers. Growing up in manufacturing has many advantages, but growing up in sales or more customer-facing roles allows for decades of relationships that I am still working to earn. The times I have at shows and buying group events are critical, but it is hard to develop deep relationships there, so I take every opportunity to go to see key customers and spend time on trips and other events.

Q: Who were your mentors, and what did they teach you?
A: The list is long, and they know who they are. I am so grateful to the leaders that have poured into me and showed faith in me. The ones I admire most have taught me how to stand up under adversity and to grind when the going gets tough. They modeled how to keep your priorities in order when the world is going crazy around you.

The most recent one that I would like to mention is Ed Duncan-the former president of Mannington’s residential business. He was my first leader after I moved out of manufacturing. He is smart, steady and kind while being challenging and demanding. He took none of the credit and all of the blame, and I loved the example he set for our whole team.

Q: What was the biggest challenge of moving your family from Georgia to Salem, New Jersey?
A: I do think moving hundreds of miles away from support and other family made us a team that is hard to beat. I am irritatingly proud of my children, and it is so exciting to see all three carve out exceptional life experiences while they grow into being great people!

Q: What was your biggest takeaway from your recent leadership training event at Mannington?
A: My biggest takeaway was how blessed I am to be a part of such a great team. It was so interesting to hear how each of my peers was challenging themselves to go to the next level. I really learned as much from them as I did from the content. I also think that it got our broader teams on the same page. Tom Pendley talked about stewardship of the next generation of management and challenged us to leave an almost 110-year-old company just a little better than we found it. I really love that thought and hope I can do my part.

Q: How have you balanced the demands of your career with your role as a husband and a father of three children?
A: I was blessed with a mom and dad that set a great example for me. You don’t miss your kids’ events. Being a critic is not my job as a parent, being present is. So, sometimes you work after they go to bed or before they get up on Saturday, but when they walk on the field or the stage, I want them to know how happy I am to see them do their thing! I learned from my parents that they don’t need to be reminded of the ball they dropped or the goal they missed, just that you love to watch them play.

Q: What do you and Beth do for fun when you aren’t focused on growing Mannington’s residential business?
A: Didn’t you just mention the three kids? Like many parents of college- and high school-aged kids, it seems like their activities are what we do for fun! We are looking forward to travel and golf and more golf, but for now, I am enjoying watching the last high school soccer games for a while.

Q: What advice have you given your three children about what it takes to be successful in life?
A: I am not sure if I taught them or if they taught me, but here are two. Define what success means to you; do not let the world do that to you or for you. And second is, be the man in the arena and never the critic. It is my oldest’s favorite quote, and they are words to live by.

The quote is taken from remarks by Theodore Roosevelt; “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

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