Last week, our blog featured an interview with Braun President, Kim Braun. Today, we bring you a candid conversation with her brother, Scott Braun. Scott is the Executive Vice President of Braun Industries and a member of the third generation of family leadership. He is a key figure in the ownership, quality, service, IT, engineering, and product development of our units, committed to delivering ambulances that are truly “Built for Life.” He is also an NFPA 1917 Technical Committee Member, serving the emergency vehicle industry at large by helping to develop new standards in ambulance safety and design.

Q: Did you work anywhere besides Braun prior to joining the company? 

A: Yes, I was enlisted in the United States Air Force as a Communications / Navigations Technician on the C-130 Hercules aircraft. I was also a member of the Security Forces and Emergency Response Teams. As part of an Air Mobility Squadron, I was deployed across the world in support of humanitarian relief missions, downed aircraft recovery, embassy resupply, Secret Service Presidential and Vice Presidential transportation logistics and security, ground troop support, and natural disaster response. These responsibilities in the technology and security sector were highly rewarding.

Q: What made you decide to join the company? 

A: I saw an opportunity to use my skills and leadership experience to enhance our family product and provide the latest in technology to our customers.

Q: What was your first job in the company? 

A: I did year-end cycle counting of obsolete inventory.

Q: What was the most memorable thing you learned from your father?

A: He had an excellent work ethic and took nothing for granted. He taught me to work hard and take time to play hard. He also taught me respect. He believed that you should build a quality product that you can be proud of, or don’t build anything at all.

Q: What was the most memorable thing you learned from your mother?

A: She taught me compassion and the belief that our employees are our greatest asset. She also believed if you find something you enjoy, it will never be considered work.

Q: What is the best thing about working for a family business?

A: The sense of pride I receive in knowing the difference our company and our ambulances make in the world; they play an important role in saving lives each and every day.

Q: What makes working for a family-owned business so unique? 

A: Simple, it belongs to us – not unattached investors and stock holders. It’s easy to make the right decisions every day and not get tempted to “make the numbers look good” for the next quarterly report. We have true and meaningful relationships with our employees, our customers, and our community.

Q: What is your best advice for other family-owned businesses? 

A: Ensure both strategic business planning and family planning are of the utmost priority. Surround yourself with successful business partners and provide assistance to others whenever possible. Don’t hold back on the tough, personal conversations necessary for contingency planning. If a key element to the business wasn’t able to come to work tomorrow, the rest of the team should already know exactly what to do.

Q: What are your plans for the next generation? 

A: Providing them with opportunity to be a part of the business, if they desire, in addition to helping them achieve set educational and business experience criteria.

Q: What are you most proud of at Braun? 

A: The structural integrity of our ambulances, as well as our company. Both have been put to the test, time and time again, and are continuously serving our industry strongly after 42 years.

Q: What do you want to be remembered for during your time as a leader at Braun? 

A: I want to be remembered for providing vision and direction for future ambulance designs and successfully preparing the company for the fourth generation.

For over 42 years, Braun ambulances has been a family-owned and operated company dedicated to Quality, Safety, and Innovation. Stop by Booth #3357 to see what we’ve been up to this year, as we display our latest ambulance model – The Responder – and our new EZ 02 Lift oxygen storage compartment and lift, among other things. Speak one-on-one with Scott Braun about how our units are designed and built, and what makes Braun unique from other emergency vehicles in the market.