David Brogdon, a Batesville native, became an accountant because he wanted to be “an important part of a growing company.” He’s achieved that goal at Bad Boy Mowers, which he joined in 1998.
Bad Boy’s revenue and its workforce have surged in recent years — revenue grew 31 percent in 2014 compared with 2013 — and Brogdon’s biggest challenge has been “keeping our infrastructure in line with our sales growth,” he said. Five or so years ago, “a couple of people could probably handle our payables,” Brogdon said. “Now, you’re needing three or four times that many people.”
He attributes Bad Boy’s success to several factors.
First: the company’s people. Batesville has seen a couple of plants close in recent years, and Bad Boy has been able “to cherry-pick the best people that were working at those places, which are some really talented people.”
In addition, Brogdon said, the company makes a quality product, zero-turn-radius commercial-grade lawn mowers.
Finally, the Bad Boy marketing department, headed by Lennie Foree, “has done a phenomenal job of branding Bad Boy” as something “cool” to own, Brogdon said. “To own a Bad Boy — to a lot of folks it’s almost like owning a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.”
Brogdon, 45, said his greatest accomplishment has been balancing his work as CFO and being a single parent. He has three children: His daughter, 25, is his assistant at Bad Boy, and he has custody of his two sons, a freshman and a senior at Southside High School.
Brogdon credits Bad Boy CEO Phil Pulley, who’s given him flexibility in his work hours, with helping him juggle his work and family responsibilities.
From his father, Brogdon said, he learned a strong work ethic and discipline. And from Pulley, he learned to moderate his competitive nature and value the skills of every team member.
Sign up for Daily E-news
