Peter has been in the hearth industry for over 30 years. When he was just 15 years old, he started helping his father with furnace installations. In 2001, his dad started The Tin Man, which was originally a sheet metal and fabrication shop. After a successful first year, the building with the basement his family rented went up for sale. They didn’t want to move and lose all the equipment they were renting, so they purchased the building and became a hearth store with a full fabrication shop overnight. Selling was always Peter’s thing, so he traded in his sheet metal snips and his welding helmet for a computer and a front counter position. For many years, he worked alongside other team members in The Tin Man’s showroom. In 2018, he purchased the company from his parents.

When the Fire Time Team asked Peter what advice he would give to other people in the industry, he offered an altered version of an old adage: “Treat customers the way you want to be treated.” He also added, “Helping customers solve their problems has been one of the best experiences in my career. When you forget about profit margins on each sale, listen to customers and their needs, and give them an honest opinion on what they should buy (versus what works best for you), then you’ve truly mastered the art of the sale.”

Outside of work, Peter spends most of his free time in the great outdoors. Luckily, he lives in western Newfoundland. Here, he gets to enjoy four distinct seasons, with high heat in the summer and 13 feet of annual snowfall in the winter. Peter loves motorized vehicles, so snowmobiling is his go-to hobby for relaxing in the winter. He also likes playing in the deep snow in the Newfoundland backcountry. Once the snow melts, he enjoys running the extensive fire road network with his family or riding solo on his adventure bike.

When Peter isn’t working the showroom floor or searching for outdoor adventures, he’s serving his community as a Captain with his local fire department and a trained medical first responder. When our team asked Peter what inspired him to volunteer, he responded, “Helping people is what I love to do.”

Thanks so much for helping the readers of The Fire Time Magazine serve their customers and grow their businesses, Peter. Our entire team appreciates you!