40 Leaders Under Forty 2013 - David Yarbrough

40 Leaders Under Forty 2013 - David Yarbrough

As seen in the Greensboro / Winston Salem Business Journal

David Yarbrough

Age: 36

Title: Executive vice president

Employer: Yarbrough Transfer Co.

Address: 1500 Doune St., Winston-Salem 27127

Phone: (336) 725-7552

Email: davidyarbrough@yarbroughtransfer.com

Twitter: @YarbroughTran

Why selected: After the recession reduced sales by 40 percent, he guided the company back to pre-recession sales and profits by evaluating vendors, recruiting talented managers and refocusing sales efforts and management. He served as the youngest-ever chairman of the N.C. Trucking Association and remains a key industry leader.

Education: Bachelor’s, English, University of North Carolina; law degree, Tulane University School of Law

Three adjectives that describe you? Forthright, analytical, purposeful

Greatest career achievement: Developing and executing a long-term strategic plan for Yarbrough Transfer Co. that involved succession, financial and technology planning, culture change and recruiting.

Most meaningful volunteer activity: N.C. Trucking Association

Who is your mentor and what did he or she teach you? My father, Jim Yarbrough. He was, for obvious reasons, my earliest mentor in my personal life, but because we have been working together since 2007, he also now is my professional mentor. From a very early age, he ingrained in me that no matter what I do in life, I should always make a difference at it.

Favorite sports team? Tar Heels!

If I won the lottery, I would buy ... an expensive sports car, perhaps a Bugatti Veyron. I am a car nut!

Where is your favorite place to take out-of-town guests? Smithfield’s Chicken and Barbecue, particularly those who are not from North Carolina.

If you had to pick another job or career, what would it be? Professional golfer.

Best advice you’ve ever received? (1) don’t ever threaten or promise to do something that you are not willing or able to do; and (2) don’t focus on the situation. Focus on your response, because that is all you can control.

Lesson learned the hard way: Always put it in writing.

Moment in life when you felt like an all-star? The summer after my first year of law school, I was selected to be a member of the Tulane Law Review.