Daniel Martiny

Degree brings job promotion

Daniel Martiny’s job promotion is proof that having a college degree can make a profound difference.

Daniel is the new operations manager for Roswell-based Single Source Inc., a leading supplier of automotive painting. Single Source, which has 37 stores across 15 states, promoted Daniel to the position after he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration at LaGrange College in May.  He is now among Single Source’s youngest operations managers in the country and heads its largest store.

The 23-year-old had already held a full-time job for quite some time, and on the urging of his mom, he enrolled at LaGrange’s Evening College when he was 19 so he could continue working while earning his degree.

“I heard about Evening College through my mom, who was going here for her nursing degree,” Daniel says. “Things came up in my life, and she said, ‘You need a college education; you need a better future.’ So she dragged me up here into Professor (Linda) McMullen’s office, and it pretty much started from there.”

Before enrolling as a freshman, Daniel juggled two jobs, so he was no stranger to the time management that comes with working full-time while pursuing a degree.

“I worked from 9 to 5, and then I had college at 5:50,” he says.

Huge life changes came between his freshman year and graduation day, including getting married to his wife, Michelle. The couple then had little Landon, who’s now 2. He said his biggest time-management challenge came when he played LaGrange College soccer two fall seasons ago.

“I know now that I took on too much, but I’m very grateful to Coach (Jeff) Geeter; he was awesome just to give me the opportunity,” Daniel says. “I would work 8 to 4, have soccer practice from 4:15 to 7, then class from 8 to 10, and then get home and do homework.

“I did it through half the season, and I liked it a lot. But time-management wise, it was an unnecessary stress on my family and me, and in retrospect probably was not the smartest thing.”

Though Evening College classes are most often filled with older students who are starting or returning to college—usually all who are balancing work, family and studies—Daniel says he didn’t feel out of place at all when he began taking night classes at 19.

“There was one other guy who was two weeks younger than I was, and everyone else was older than us, but it really didn’t matter,” he says. “We all meshed just fine.”

Daniel says he’s glad he persevered and finished the degree that resulted in his promotion.

“Life just gets busier as it goes on,” he says. “It’s one of those things that you just have to discipline yourself and do it.”