Justin Worden: Success Through Knowledge

Estimated reading time: 1 minute

Justin Worden of ROCKA Solutions joined the electronics manufacturing industry just five years ago. He used associations like SMTA to quickly ramp up his knowledge, and he’s quick to credit SMTA with helping him quickly learn to speak intelligently about his customers' challenges and the projects they’re working on. Justin recently became president of the SMTA Austin chapter and comments on the value of networking at a grass-roots level.

Nolan Johnson: Justin, how have you been using SMTA as an educational resource? 

Justin Worden: Five years ago, I transferred from a finance-oriented industry, so I needed a crash course to help me learn as much technical knowledge as I could. I dove into the SMTA white papers and the website. It essentially became my virtual library, bringing me up to speed on the types of questions my customers were asking.

The sales and marketing strategies between these industries transfer very well, but I needed an understanding of that fine knowledge to have the greatest impact on my sales and marketing efforts. Using the information from SMTA helped me retain as much information as I could.

I'm now the president of the SMTA Austin chapter. Sean McMillan is our VP of membership, and our liaison to the high schools, and technical and community colleges. 

Johnson: It's interesting how engineers in the electronics space and doctors in the medical space are similar in that they subconsciously test your level of knowledge, and take you seriously based on how much you know. 

Worden: That's a very good point. I pride myself on never pretending to be something I'm not, and where I have found success in this industry is working with people who have a challenge. I’ve helped them find a solution—not by pretending I always know the answer, but by being able to direct customers to resources that can address their challenges. By doing this, I have found it's a lot easier to build a trusting relationship.

To read this entire conversation, which appeared in the July 2024 issue of SMT007 Magazine, click here.