Employee Spotlight July 2021 - Seth Thompson

Name: Seth Thompson

Title:  Contract Fuel Specialist

Location: Florida

Years with Phillips 66: 5

Describe yourself in three words. Considerate. Competitive. Evolving.

What do you love most about your job?  I love assisting flight operators and FBOs with finding value in our programs, while sharing my experiences/knowledge and learning from theirs. It’s an ever-changing industry, and all of us in it learn new things every day.

What’s the most unusual or interesting job you’ve had?  I worked in a factory making pole vaults for two years while attending school at night. Multiple world records and Olympic gold medals were set and won utilizing our equipment built from scratch in central Illinois. The factory had no air conditioning or heat, which made it both the hottest and coldest job I’ve ever had.

What’s your background in aviation?  I started in aviation as a line guy while also assisting behind the counter at an FBO. From there, I moved up to a role as a dispatch/scheduler in our flight department before eventually managing the flight operations team, launching over 500 flights a year around the world as an air ambulance, executive charter and cargo op.

Where are you from? Have you lived anywhere interesting?  I grew up in a town of 900 people in east central Illinois. I believe this would be the antithesis of interesting, but no matter where I’ve lived, and for how long, it will always be where I’m from. My victories are theirs and theirs are mine. I’m proud to say I’m from Newman, Illinois and will always be grateful for the life lessons and work ethic instilled in me growing up in our community for the first 16 years of my life.

What do you enjoy doing in your free time?  I love to golf, and I love to skydive. Any time I can jump and play 18 in the same day is a pretty fulfilling day.

What’s your favorite place to travel to?  Any trip I can take to spend time with my family and friends – or their visits to see me since Covid-19 – are the best. These trips have always been my favorite, but it’s been really cool to be able to hug loved ones after so long. I certainly appreciate it more now and didn’t think that was possible.

What are you currently reading? Range by David Epstein

How do you define success?  Happiness. The definition of happiness is completely subjective, but knowing what makes you happy and finding those things daily both professionally and personally, is succeeding in life.