INTERVIEW
SteelGlide’s products have proven to be profitable for a long time. They work, are cheap and are automatic, proving to be big hits with customers.
“Yes, sir,” was Davis’s response. “When I was younger, my dad used to work me like a rented mule and people often think that would have taught me a great work ethic, but that is not the case,” he adds. “It taught me a great obedience ethic.”
Finding a way to the family business For Davis, the family business was ever-present from the age of 13 when his dad started the company. His teenage years were spent packing boxes and running errands whenever he was called upon, but he soon carved out his own career path outside the company’s walls. After his flirtation with writing, he became hooked on computers. He wanted to build them, program them and enjoy them. He would often stay up until dawn exploring their capabilities and learning more about how to use them. His passion for computers then led him to engineering, the second inflection point in his varied career. He pursued an electrical engineering degree and then embarked upon a 35-year career in the software industry. “For all but three years of my career, I have been an independent contractor, working for myself, taking on a broad range of clients, and essentially being an army of one,” he says. “Being a contractor means the landscape changes all the time, but it did allow me to squeeze enough money out of the stone to feed a family. And the variety of different experiences I have gained means I know a lot about a lot of things, including
28 Fall 2025 |
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an in-depth knowledge of technology and the social landscape. I see people every week who are trapped in their jobs, and that was never what I wanted,” he adds. The software industry brought him into contact with a huge range of industry sectors – railroading, logistics, trucking, wired telecoms, wireless telecoms, TV broadcasting, cable TV, satellite communications, defence, retail, ecommerce and foods, to name but a few. Fast-forward through a lot of software engineering, including founding his own software company that, while hardly his pot of gold, is still a going concern, to the third major turning point in his career – inheriting the family business.
Equipped with a strong technical foundation gained at engineering school, and a knowledge
of business gleaned from decades working for himself and observing clients in so many different industries, Davis found himself facing a huge choice upon the death of his parents – one that would decide his own future and that of the company bequeathed to him and his sister. The obvious choice might have been for
Mark Davis, president, SteelGlide
brother and sister to run the company together, but their wildly different approaches to money, investment and management meant that would probably have been a disaster. “There was no way my sister and I could run it together – she won’t get off a nickel and if I have a nickel I’ll spend two,” he explains. “So, we needed to resolve it, and the best way was for me to buy her out. When I inherited the 50-year-old business, life had already prepared me for the challenge. I’m back in the family business and looking forward to what’s next.” Charged with carrying the company forward, Davis knew he had to respect his parents’ legacy, but also try to open the next chapter for the business by not only acknowledging their desire to keep things simple and safe, but also using that as a platform to develop new products. “It is more than an obligation, it is a blessing,” he adds. “Few people have an operating business handed to them. Our products work, they are cheap and they are automatic – you just drop a stick in a tube every couple of months. Mom and dad were satisfied with that for 50 years and they operated the company efficiently and economically, but I am trying lots of things to
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