Everyone knows someone who you wonder how they get everything done. They always seem to have a million projects on the go, but they appear calm and collected and aren’t pulling their hair out like you no doubt would be. Adam Parks is one of those people. Already running a successful marketing agency and compliance management platform, he also recently joined Investment Retrievers as its Chief Acquisitions Officer. Keep reading to learn more about how Adam gets everything done and still has time to scuba dive.
Name: Adam Parks
Company: ComplyARM and Investment Retrievers
Length of time at current company: Founded ComplyARM 3 years ago, joined Investment Retrievers in August 2016.
Length of time in industry: 10 years
How did you get your start in the industry? I started working for an immigration law firm after finishing my MBA working on EB5 investment visas. I was spending so much time on the road that I wanted to find an opportunity that allowed me to spend more time at home in Florida. I had a friend that was working for CreditMax as a debt broker and he recruited me to join the company in 2006.
What is your career highlight so far? Founding ComplyARM and having the opportunity to develop new technology from the ground up. It was exciting to identify an emerging opportunity, then actually get to design and build the tool. I was intimately involved from the original whiteboards to the architecture and even the graphic user interface.
Which industry professional do you admire most? Marian Sangalang from The Bureaus, Inc. Marian started in the industry as a collector and has worked her way through the ranks to become Vice President of the company. All of her experience at different levels of the company has given her a very well-rounded skill-set as an executive.
What is one thing you do better than everyone else? I believe that my strongest skill set is the application of technology to solve business problems. This has been true at every organization I have worked with. I am able to identify business problems and find or create solutions to improve efficiencies and bottom-line results.
When or how are you most productive? I have always been a night owl. I am most productive after the phones have stopped ringing for the evening and I can really immerse myself in whatever task is in front of me. My peak time is probably between 7pm and midnight.
What do you like most about this industry? My favorite thing about the receivables management industry are the people. We all know that there are some rouge operators out there, but the majority of industry professionals are small business owners that have banded together through our associations and other resources to collectively solve the problems we face as an industry.
What is one thing you wish you could change about this industry? The one thing I would change about our industry is the perspective that the world has about what we do. When people think of debt collections, they only see the negative. They don’t see how the receivables management industry plays a critical role in the overall economy.
If you weren’t in this industry, what would you be doing? As much as I enjoy the challenges of the receivables management industry, I have business interests in other industries as well. If I was not in this industry, I would operate my other companies while continuing to identify and explore new opportunities as an entrepreneur.
Describe a typical work day. My typical work day starts when I arrive in the office around 10am. I spend my mornings and early afternoons conducting GoToMeetings to discuss current or new potential projects with clients to keep all my projects moving forward. I usually leave the office around 4pm to take a short break with my family before “plugging in” for the evening to write content, code software or work on other projects uninterrupted.
What is your guilty pleasure? Scuba diving at night. Living in South Florida we are able to go diving year-round and I try to get in the water as often as I possibly can. We live about 30 minutes from one of the best dive spots in the world and I love to go on night dives to take videos of the different creatures that I come across. I have a YouTube channel filled with videos of octopus, fish, ship wrecks, eels and so much more.
What is the best advice you’ve ever received? The best advice I ever received came from one of my MBA professors at Lynn University, Dean Ralph Norcio. He told us “the three most important things in business are CASH FLOW, the TIMING OF CASH FLOW and the RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH THAT CASH FLOW.”
What are you currently reading? I am currently reading a book called “The Problem is They Don’t Know the Problem” by Robert Sandleman. Mr Sandleman is the father of sales promotion, and he invented many of the sales promotion materials we see every day, but never really think about. He created the “gold card” bringing prestige to American Express credit cards, end-caps at grocery stores among many other marketing tools. I was fortunate enough to have him as a professor at Lynn University and I enjoy re-reading his book every year. I find that it helps to keep looking at problems from new perspectives.
What is one fact you’d like everyone in the industry to know about you? I think the one thing that I would like everyone in the industry to know about me is that I have recently joined Investment Retrievers in Folsom, Calif., as its Chief Acquisitions Officer. In addition to my roles at Branding Arc and ComplyARM, I am now assisting Investment Retrievers with acquiring portfolios from creditors and debt buyers on a national level.
Who else would you like to see answer these questions? Lexi Knight at Investment Retrievers, Tony Delia at Acumen Solutions Group, and Matt Maloney at First Financial Asset Management