Mark Emonet has come full circle, from selling guns in the Kmart sporting goods department to working as a vice president and chief financial officer for Lipsey’s, a local wholesale gun distributor.
Before joining Lipsey’s about nine years ago, Emonet was an assistant vice president with the United Companies and helped start Aegis Mortgage. When United Companies ran into financial troubles, Richard Lipsey approached Emonet about a job.
“It’s a very unique transition I made,” Emonet says. “But Mr. Lipsey told me I would never regret going to work for him, and he’s pretty much been right.”
Emonet says the good thing about his job is the freedom he has to get involved in outside activities. “The company allows me to get involved in the community, and Mr. Lipsey is very supportive of the things I do,” he says. “My wife also lets me do all this, too.”
He’s helped raise money for victims of Hurricane Rita in Cameron Parish. “We’ve got a major duck camp in Cameron, the Oak Grove Hunting Club, and Hurricane Rita destroyed that area,” he says. “We wanted to help those people get through Rita.”
Emonet recently helped take three local World War II veterans to Washington, D.C., to visit the National World War II Memorial as part of the Louisiana Honor Air program. The trip held a special significance. “My grandfather died in August,” Emonet says. “He served in the Pacific during the war and earned a couple of Purple Hearts.”
Emonet says he hopes to play a role in more trips for Louisiana Honor Air. “They’ve only had three flights out of Baton Rouge, but they’ve taken 1,300 veterans out of Louisiana,” he says.
One of the things that Emonet has cut back on is coaching. He used to serve as a baseball and basketball coach for Baton Rouge CYO. “I’ve got two little girls now,” he says, referring to his 2 1/2-year-old and 6-month-old daughters. “But hopefully as they get older, I’ll be able to coach them.”
Age: 39
What is your best business advice?
“Don’t look at your 401[k]. Just ride it out and hope things get better.”
Click here for the complete list of 2008's Forty Under 40 winners.
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