Skip to content

Painting the town red (and green, and gold, and purple...)

17/08/2016

With his helpful manner, interest in others and ready sense of humour, it’s not surprising Jason Brown is assistant manager at Taupō’s busy Resene ColorShop.


Jason didn’t expect to build a career in retail. Born and raised in the small rural settlement of Manutuke, just outside Gisborne, he had enjoyed working on his uncle’s farm and studying for a qualification in forestry and management. But it was retail where he got the chance to shine.

“Liaising with people on a daily basis comes easily for me,” says Jason. “I love that side of retail. You have to be able to interact and converse with all kinds of people whether they live in a million-dollar home or a shoe box. If you treat everyone well, life is pretty easy.”

That doesn’t mean he thinks there’s nothing left to learn. On the contrary, though Jason had 15 years’ retail experience in the flooring industry, when he joined Resene in 2015, he wanted a role that would both credit his expertise and advance his knowledge.

Resene offers its employees nationwide the opportunity to further their skills and expertise with on-job training. The iconic Kiwi business provides a potent blend of ServiceIQ on-job retail training programmes that link to Resene’s in-house Awards programme.

Jason is currently completing a ServiceIQ National Certificate in Retail Level 2 programme.

“You need to have the qualifications to back up a role like this,” he says.

“Training reinforces some of the things I’ve learned over the years. I like the fact that it’s leading to a qualification that recognises all that time gaining experience in my other roles.

Jason Brown“Resene’s Awards programme is also really great for those people who want to further their learning. There are certain people who want to go to the top of the mountain and I’m starting out with small steps.”

He’s also overlaying his retail knowledge with all there is to know about paint and paint technology which is a big step-up from the flooring industry, he says. “It’s much more complex and there’s a lot to learn. From the limitation of products, to when and where different products can be utilised. The technology is really interesting and it takes time to get to know it really well.”

One of the biggest highlights is looking forward to a fresh day at work.

“Although I have a managerial role, I still like being part of the team. It’s a fantastic group and everyone works together to support each other and our customers. It’s been a long time since I worked in a business with such great people.”

For more information, please contact ServiceIQ on 0800 863 693 or email intel@ServiceIQ.org.nz