The Transition Expert: Tim Temple
The next time you find Chilean grapes or raspberries at the Safeway, you have Hill resident Tim Temple to thank. Well-known these days as the owner of Splash Car Wash and as a member of the Capitol Hill Chorale, this ex-government exec, entrepreneur, life-long singer, Spanish-speaking father of the lovely redheaded, twelve year-old Phoebe, has made more transitions than Capitol Hill has banks. Growing up, Tim was always on the move. His father was an Admiral in the Naval Air and by the time he was 17 years old, he had moved 13 times. One longer initial stay was in Rio de Janeiro where his father trained Brazilian pilots and Tim picked up Portuguese and a love for that part of the world. In the late ‘60s after stints at the Landon School, Trinity College in Hartford, the Army, and GW in its Masters in International Finance program, Tim went to Santiago, Chile as a loan officer for AID. That’s where he helped finance a project that used ‘chillers’ and oxygen replacement equipment to keep grapes fresh from the Chilean fields all the way to the Hill. But Tim wanted to learn private sector finance. So in 1968 he went to Legg-Mason as a stock broker where he landed most of the OAS pension account, a major investment client. All was going smoothly until the day he was riding his classic BMW autobahn motorcycle and a woman ran a stop sign and smashed Tim’s leg and arms in so badly that it took him months of swimming at the Natatorium before he could walk again. He used the hefty insurance settlement to buy the piece of land at South Capitol and I Streets SE that would later become Splash Car Wash, his most entrepreneurial venture. Then through friends in his network, he went back to work, first applying his financial expertise as a Senior Financial Analyst at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), then as a consultant for the electrical utility industry and in San Salvador for the Inter-American Development Bank, and finally as a capital markets expert with the Resolution Trust Corporation. “My network of friends made all the difference in being able to move from one assignment to the next”. Throughout this, he was focusing on the design and construction of Splash. When the bank funding Splash’s development short-changed his accurate budget, Tim was able to turn to his networks of friends, former co-workers and neighbors on the Hill for the investment funds that permitted Splash to be built. A generous retirement buyout from RTC kept him alive when Splash opened its doors in July, 1996. Tim says the three biggest friends of the carwash business are drought, salt, and pollen. But Tim’s first two years at Splash were the rainiest two-year period in Washington DC history and, fourteen months behind on his second mortgage, with the bank calling for its loan payments, a small weather-related miracle occurred in the form of a summer-long drought. While the rest of us were all desperately worcapitalcommunitynews.com ★ 123
ried about our gardens, Tim and Splash were making enough money to pay off the mortgage holder and become current. During all of his transitions Tim always made time to indulge his passion for singing. At the age of six, he made $5 a week singing for Paul Callaway as part of the Washington Cathedral Boys Choir. Later he became one of the founding members of the Capitol Hill Chorale with his friend Parker Jayne. “My favorite piece of music of all time is The Brahms Requiem and I will go anywhere to sing it,” said Tim. True to his word, he commuted once a week to Philadelphia for several months to rehearse the Requiem with a major chorale. This spring Tim discovered a chance to sing with the very exclusive 20-voice Umbrian Serenades, a group which performs in Umbria and Tuscany. But how could he audition long distance? With his typical entrepreneurial spirit, Tim rounded up his old friend Parker Jayne and together they created an audition CD for Tim and shipped it off with much technical and artistic apprehension. Their CD did the trick, and Tim was accepted. So this July, Tim will be singing in Italy. What’s the moral of this tale? Develop an expertise in something that you’re interested in, be willing take risks – if you won’t bet on yourself, why should anyone else bet on you - and have a passion that you are willing to follow wherever it takes you. And remember to reach out to friends and colleagues in your network when you need information or help—you never know where you will find it. ■
ASK PETER...
Dear Peter, Last month you described how to identify the characteristics of my ideal job. I looked at your criteria, and what I have been doing, and it is no wonder I dread going to the off ice. My job is as far from ideal as I can get. I have about three more years in my government agency before I can take full retirement. What makes sense as a next step? - Stuck in the wrong job Dear Stuck, Grinding out the last few years before retirement in the wrong job is the longest 1,000 days anyone can spend. You didn’t say anything about how transferable your skills are in the government, but it sounds like it’s time to find out. First, make sure that you understand your ideal job characteristics. Then identify what you have done for Uncle Sam that produced a result that you like to tell people when they say, “tell me a little about your work.” Think of two more accomplishments and then look to see if you see a pattern in what you did well, or what you enjoy doing. A pattern offers major clues about where you will thrive. The best news about working for the government is that literally every possible occupation is represented. Start to read job announcements, not so much to look for a position right away, but more as research. Where do you see the characteristics of your ideal job described? Are they in a particular job series or a particular agency? Ask to see the hiring manager to get more information about the job. If there are other people doing the kind of work in the announcement, ask them to lunch to give you the real scoop. The more you know, the better your chances of uncovering whether a spot is ideal. The key is to get active. Waiting to retire, day after day, is a ticket to professional depression. Nothing changes your point of view faster than actually taking charge of your next move. ■
124 ★ HillRag |January 2008