After graduating Ramona High School in 1979, Frank landed a job in the auto business selling new and used Fords.  Two and half years later, he realized that in order to accomplish any of his goals, it made sense to further his education. Frank enrolled at Mesa Junior College in 1982 with the goal of having his education paid for by athletics. After 2 years of hard work in both academics and athletics, he was offered a contract to pursue his dream, and he decided to sign with the Pittsburgh Pirates.  While attending Mesa Jr. College and competing in athletics he was awarded the Scholar athlete of the year for the State of California from a pool of 20,000 student athletes.  In addition he was voted the Pacific Coast Conference Player of the year in 1983-84.  After 2 years in the Pirates and Orioles organizations, his career was cut short by a serious injury and he decided that with a small family he needed a paycheck.  He wound up back in the car business for the next 5 and a half years.  While still in the Auto industry his wife Marla and he decided to open a retail storefront selling sports cards and memorabilia.  After 5 years of that and the realization that it was a declining industry, he decided to enter the chemical industry with a job opportunity working for his Uncle’s distribution business, The Kish Company out of Cleveland, Ohio.   When he started for Kish there were zero sales within the company west of the Mississippi.  He learned the business by diving in head first with some sales experience and a few products to sell, but very little knowledge of the chemical industry. Frank ended up being the champion of color pigments within the Kish Company by necessity as many of the low cost minerals were freight sensitive. By the time he left the Kish Company in 2007 they had built a nice sales territory on the West Coast.  FM Minerals & Pigments, Inc. was established in August of 2007 with the encouragement of several loyal customers, who’s trust he had gained over the years.   Operating in now our 11th year, we have become a west coast name that Manufacturers know they can trust.  He has also gained considerable technical knowledge in the coatings industry during his ownership and involvement with Premium Coatings of Texas, an industrial coatings manufacturer, from 2011-2017.