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Dustin Vogt is a senior team leader who helps facilities clients find solutions to their infrastructure challenges. About ten years ago, Dustin was tasked with spearheading Olsson's expansion into the Tulsa, Oklahoma market.
In this Q&A, he discusses his approach to building strong client relationships and why he sees so much value in an entrepreneurial mindset.
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What brought you to Olsson?
Well I had been at a firm here in Tulsa for more than a decade. An industry connection reached out about an opportunity and scheduled an introductory lunch with Dave Roberts (who today is Olsson's chief development officer). Dave, who I hadn't previously met, flew down to meet with me. The more I learned about Olsson and its culture, the more excited I got. You could tell this was a firm with a purpose. A firm that was looking to do something exceptional.
That was just about a decade ago. Since then, we’ve really taken off in Oklahoma. And across the country too. It’s been fantastic.
What is different about Olsson?
One of our core tenets is that we exist for our employees. We put them at the heart of every decision. Tenets are easy to put on a break room wall. But they’re hard to live out in practice. We live them out here.
The longer I’ve been here, the more impressed I am with our company. The way we continually thread culture and an employee-focus throughout every day. We don’t have to. But the fact we do makes working here so much more enriching.
"I love getting the chance to connect the dots for clients and watch my colleagues knock it out of the park."
Another thing we are is entrepreneurial. When people here have an interest in something. Olsson is great about saying, 'Hey, what do you need? What infrastructure can we provide?' And then we let individuals go do it. I find that extremely exciting.
Speaking of entrepreneurial spirit, you were one of our first employees when we expanded into Tulsa.
That’s correct.
How was that experience, introducing Olsson to a new community?
It was an exciting challenge. Our first few projects in Tulsa were purely formed from relationships I had in the industry. They’d worked with me before at a smaller firm. With Olsson, I was able to come into their office and tell them that, yes, we can do M.E.P. work, but we also have a huge range of expertise in so many other areas.
They were willing to give us a shot. And through strong project execution, we succeeded. Get a small project, knock it out of the park. Get a medium one, knock it out of the park. And then you get the large ones, and you knock those out of the park too. It’s just a progression of development and trust.
What is your approach to working with clients?
Relationships are crucial. Strong personal relationships are key to good communication. And good communication leads to good project management, which leads to good outcomes.
The old consultant model goes like this: you tell me what the scope of work is, I’ll give you a number, and if it makes sense, we’ll do the job.
That’s not how we approach it. Because we have good relationships, clients call me up and say 'Hey Dustin, I have a problem.' So I'll head out and walk a job site or sit down at a table and have a discussion. We’ll talk about their challenges. Discuss ideas on how to solve them. And design a path forward together. That’s a very different approach than just executing a scope.
Your background is in electrical engineering, right?
That's right. I’ve always been drawn to math and science. And I really enjoy helping clients with their M.E.P. challenges.
But the beauty of Olsson is that we have such a wide swath of expertise. Sometimes I’ll be in a meeting and a client will mention they need help with something that isn’t in my electrical or mechanical wheelhouse. But I know one of my Olsson colleagues in Phoenix or Denver or Dallas has the exact skillset that the client needs.
We just have so much expertise: whether it’s water, transportation, environmental, structural … you name it. We have an incredible telecom team that can do both outside the plant and inside the plant work. We’re one of the country’s top data center firms. It’s hard to find an area that’s out of our comfort zone.
I love getting the chance to connect the dots for clients and watch my colleagues knock it out of the park. That’s fun.
What are some of your personal favorite projects?
I really have a special place in my heart for Oklahoma State. I graduated from OSU and my family has deep roots on campus. My grandfather, Calvin Vogt, is one of the best men I've ever known. He was an incredibly accomplished electrical engineer and a member of the OSU Engineering Hall of Fame. The school means a lot to me.
To answer your specific question, we just finished renovating Boone Pickens Stadium. That was fantastic. It’s so fun to go back for a football game and hear people talk about the renovations and think to myself 'that was Olsson.' That’s pretty fun.
We're involved in several more upcoming projects for Oklahoma State. I’m really excited to watch those progress and continue our relationship with the university.
What do you tell people who may be considering a career with Olsson?
I describe Olsson as a high-effort, high-reward type of environment. People around here want to work hard. We want to do meaningful things with our career. And we have large, complex, exciting projects to show for it.
If you want to run the extra mile, if you want to do something meaningful, Olsson is going to be a great place for you.
