6 Questions: Claude Blackburn

1 | Who are you, and what do you do?

My name is Claude Blackburn. I am the founder of Dri-Eaz Products, now part of Legend Brands.

I am currently retired and a philanthropist, husband, father, friend, private pilot, and pickleball player.

2 | How did you get started, and what are you known for in the industry?

When I was 20 (1971), I moved to Mount Vernon, Washington, with US$35 to my name. A high school dropout, I had no job or prospects. I had a Zep vacuum, a foam carpet cleaning machine, a 1959 Chrysler Newport, two children, and a young wife. I knocked on 10,000 doors, asking for work. If they didn’t want carpet cleaning, I would offer to clean their windows or weed their garden.

I joined the Carpet Cleaners Institute of the Northwest (CCINW) and began learning the trade. I was an early adopter of portable steam carpet cleaning (1973), truckmounted steam carpet cleaning (1974), and water damage restoration (1975). I started teaching water damage restoration in 1978, and by 1980, I had written a popular manual, The Carpet Cleaners Guide to Water Damage Restoration.

I invented, manufactured, and sold the first high-density foam blocks for carpet cleaners. By 1981, I was traveling and offering my $98 seminar on water damage restoration, which thousands of carpet cleaners attended.

In the 1980s and 1990s, I was known for providing state-of-the-art drying products and education. We were the first company in the world to manufacture plastic air movers. When I sold the company in 2005, its annual sales had grown to $50 million. As a philanthropist, I aim to donate 50% of my net worth to charitable causes.

3 | Who has impacted you the most in life?

My parents taught me the value of money. At 11 years of age, I started working as a dishwasher at Hong’s Café. From then on, I purchased everything I needed, including my school clothes. My dad was a tough negotiator. So, I learned about earning and managing money before I finished grade school. I can’t say I ever had a true mentor, but I watched and listened.

I was positively influenced by books by Dale Carnegie, Stephen Covey, and Jim Collins, as well as dozens of others related to technology, sales, marketing, management, and leadership.

4 | If you could have dinner with one person from history, who would it be, and why?

Chatting with someone who overcame obstacles to change the world would be fun. I relate to those disadvantaged by sex, race, upbringing, or education.

A recent favorite is June McCarroll. She was the first person to delineate highways with painted lines, separating lanes of traffic in 1917. She was driving a vehicle when women didn’t often drive. She was first a nurse, then a traveling doctor who drove her car to help patients. Far ahead of her time, she overcame many obstacles to becoming a doctor. She may not have changed the world like other famous women, but I like how she created her envisioned life.

5 | What hobbies or activities do you love, and do you have any that some may not know about?

I was a classic workaholic from 1980 until I sold my business in 2005. However, I’ve always loved flying. In the 1970s, I flew, trained, and sold hang gliders and powered ultralights. When I sold my business, I bought a new Diamond DA-40 airplane, took flying lessons, and received my pilot’s license. I still fly locally today and love seeing the world from above.

I enjoy pickleball and arrange games at the Blackburn Pickleball Pavilion at Skagit Valley College, one of the country’s few covered nonprofit pickleball facilities.

6 | What personal philosophy of life motivates you the most?

I adopted many Covey habits, particularly the following: Seek to understand first, then be understood, and withhold judgment of others until I have taken enough time to understand the person and situation.

I created a world-class business using the Baldrige Criteria, a framework organizations use to improve performance and achieve excellence. I also enjoy sharing with others and work to have few expectations for reciprocation because I get so much pleasure in giving.