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From Boots To Boardroom: The 54-Year Journey of Darrell Hallmark from Warehouse to Senior Vice President
"I started before your mama even thought about having you."
That’s how Darrell Hallmark introduces himself to host Hari Vasudevan, and he isn’t joking. With a career spanning 54 years, Hallmark has seen the utility industry evolve from the inside out. He didn’t start with a corner office or an engineering degree. He started in a warehouse in 1972, handling transformers and transmission materials for Texas Power and Light.
Hallmark’s story is the definition of "Boots to Boardroom." He rose from a high school dropout working night shifts at a convenience store to a Senior Vice President turning around multimillion-dollar construction companies3. His approach wasn’t built on textbooks or MBA theories. It was built on fifty years of listening to the men and women holding the tools.
From Warehouse to Senior VP: The 54-Year Climb
Hallmark’s journey began with grit and a GED4. In the early 70s, he worked multiple jobs—a candy company by day, a convenience store by night, and framing houses on weekends 5. When he landed a job at Texas Power and Light making $525 a month, he thought he was rich6.
He spent seven years running the storeroom, learning every piece of material that goes into building a substation or transmission line7. That inventory knowledge became his foundation. He moved into Field Contract Coordination (FCC), inspecting work for utilities8. Eventually, he became a lead coordinator overseeing more than 200 contract FCCs9.
But Hallmark realized he had a knack for more than just inspection. He found himself practically running the contractor crews he was supposed to be watching because their management didn't know the business10.
"I would end up running the crew. So they came and made me an offer... It was about double what I was making at Oncor." 11
That offer took him to Tesco, a contractor that looked good on paper but was actually in deep trouble.
Turning Around a Sinking Ship
When Hallmark arrived at Tesco, the reality hit him hard. He realized the company had "one foot in bankruptcy"12. The pressure was so intense he remembers calling his wife in tears, wondering if he’d made a mistake. Her response was simple: "You better get a damn thing turned around... because we got to pay bills." 13.
This wasn't a problem he could solve from a desk. Hallmark’s strategy for fixing a broken company is aggressive and grounded in reality: get boots on the ground immediately14. If you sit in the office, you’ll never know why you’re losing money.
He went to the field for two weeks, watched the crews, and realized the problem was a mix of bad personnel, poor equipment management, and a lack of accountability15151515. He called a meeting in the yard and laid it out plainly: do it the right way, or hit the gate.
"There was about close to a hundred of them, I guess. And when I got through, there was 25 left." 16
He rebuilt the company with those 25 people. Within seven years, he went from General Superintendent to Senior Vice President, and the company was sold successfully 17.
"Common Sense is Always Key" — Core Wisdom for the Working Professional
Hallmark’s success comes from simplifying the complex. He doesn't believe in over-engineering a solution when a simple conversation will do. Here are three lessons from his half-century in the trade.
1. Incentivize Ownership, Not Just Attendance
At Tesco, Hallmark realized hourly wages weren’t enough to make crews care about the bottom line. He introduced a bonus program where crews shared in the project's profit—but there was a catch. If they damaged equipment or had a safety incident, it came out of that bonus 18.
The behavior change was instant.
"The shredders, the equipment that they didn't really need in the first place got off the job. Soon as they got through with the equipment, they got it off the job." 19
Workers stopped letting rental equipment sit idle. They stopped taking two-hour lunches and started bringing their own food20. By tying their wallet to the company’s wallet, he turned employees into business owners.
2. Listen Before You Speak
Hallmark admits he often looked like the smartest guy in the room simply because he kept his mouth shut. In planning meetings, he would have five different guys trying to talk over each other.
"I'd look like the smartest guy in the room because I could take a little bit from each guy and tell him what the plan is going to be... I didn't have to make the plan. I just had to listen." 21
Collaborative leadership isn't about having all the answers. It’s about recognizing good ideas when you hear them and giving credit where it’s due.
3. The "Family" Firing Method
Letting people go is the hardest part of leadership, but Hallmark views it as a necessary wake-up call. He doesn't make it personal; he makes it about potential. When firing talented but underperforming staff, he would ask them a haunting question:
"So what did you do for your family today by getting fired?" 22
He would tell them, "You've got all the talent in the world, but you're not using it... I hope that one day I have to eat my words and hire you back." 23. Surprisingly, many of those fired employees later called him back, thanked him for the wake-up call, and some even returned to work for him again24.
The "Tax Trap" in Modern Supply Chains
Beyond leadership, Hallmark highlights a critical shift in how the industry handles materials. In the 1970s, warehouses were full. If you had a job to build, the material was there25. Today, the industry is crippled by "mins and maxes"—inventory limits driven by tax avoidance26.
Companies keep inventory low to avoid paying taxes on materials sitting on a shelf 27. The result is a snowball effect: utilities don't cut purchase orders until the last minute, manufacturers don't buy raw materials until they have a PO, and lead times skyrocket 28.
"A lot of times these jobs don't get started on time because... they don't have the material." 29
For operational leaders, this is a reminder that financial efficiency strategies often have expensive operational consequences. Saving money on inventory taxes is pointless if it delays a multimillion-dollar project by months.
"You Don't Have to Have an Education to Make a Good Living"
Hallmark is proud of his path. He worked alongside engineers who sometimes looked down on him because he didn't have a degree30. But inevitably, when the drawings didn't match the field conditions, they had to come to him to learn how to actually build it 31.
His advice to the next generation is clear: College is great for becoming well-rounded, but it’s not the only path to a six-figure career or the boardroom 32. Whether you hold a degree or a pair of pliers, the secret is the same: find a balance.
"God and family is in your job. That's the three things that are important," Hallmark says33. After 54 years of hard work, he knows that if you take care of your company, it will take care of you—but only if you never lose sight of who you’re working for.
To hear the full story in the guest’s own words, listen to this episode of From Boots to Boardroom -