The Family Business CEOs to Watch Class of 2023 recognizes 23 exceptional business leaders. The CEOs honored run the gamut of family business leadership, from entrepreneurial founders to fifth-generation stewards of a multifaceted enterprise to non-family executives trusted by the family ownership group to lead and expand their operations.
Paige Patterson
CEO | Second generation | WORD Rock Drills, Elon, N.C.
Paige Patterson assumed leadership of WORD Rock Drills, a manufacturer of excavator and skid steer attachments, limited-access drilling equipment and dimensional stone automated drilling systems, in 2019. Under her leadership, the company has doubled its workforce size, seen significant financial gains and become a certified Women-Owned Small Business.
While growing up in Colorado, Patterson had many opportunities to travel abroad with her entrepreneurial father and gain perspective on business practices throughout different cultures, including living abroad after high school and college. These international experiences allowed her to gain exposure to new cultures, gain perspective on business practices and become fluent in Spanish.
Patterson double-majored in business management and marketing and hospitality management at Appalachian State University. During her college years, she spent time working for Allegiant Air and helped her family establish WORD Rock Drills, which had relocated from Colorado to North Carolina. Since graduating from college in 2010, she has worked at WORD full-time. Having worn many “hats” at WORD throughout the years, she has hands-on experience with every aspect of the organization.
Under Patterson’s leadership, WORD has more than doubled the number of machines manufactured each year, maintained a cash operating strategy, fulfilled several custom projects for customers and designed multiple new product lines to fill industry needs. Leaning into the company’s values as a faith-based, family-owned organization, Patterson has initiated several team programs and service opportunities to foster a strong company culture. In the coming year, WORD will be upgrading from its current 9,000 square feet of operating space to 40,000 square feet.
“Paige is an amazing person and leader. She is able to create a vision not only for the company, but how every single person plays a role in it. She tells the story with such conviction that attaining it is a foregone conclusion,” says Ryan McGarghan of Synergy Tax Solutions LLC, a fractional CFO who works with WORD. “She encourages her team to not only do their best in successful moments, but also know that there is beauty in mistakes and failures.
“She has decentralized the decision making to a leadership team, which then works with their team to achieve the vision. It permeates throughout the organization like a well-woven spider web. Everything and everyone is intertwined and moving harmoniously together. This collaboration is infectious and builds upon itself.
“I believe her team would tell you that they would walk through walls and go to battle for her. She is about culture, playing the long game. Everyone knows her values. Every decision and hire made are guided by those values.
“Paige combines business savvy with empathy. She is more concerned with creating a healthy culture than the bottom line. It shouldn’t surprise you that both are very healthy and continue to grow.”
“Paige is an amazing leader who focuses on building a strong company culture,” says Adam Chrisco, director of operations at WORD. “She works constantly on improving customer service and building strong relationships. She has an amazing business mind and is focused on doing the right thing for our customers and employees with every decision.
“Paige models integrity and is one of the most positive and influential people that I have ever met. Her direction has led to the company experiencing huge growth over the past three years. Paige is a true visionary leader, with a passion for helping people and one of the biggest hearts of anyone I have ever met. She is an absolute joy to work with, and her passion and enthusiasm is contagious.
“Her focus on developing and mentoring the leadership team has helped ensure success while contributing to the personal growth of other leaders in the company. She has a hands-on, roll-up-your-sleeves style that commands respect from everyone.”
“As a small business, WORD has many strong core values that help us to be a light within our industry because of the determination and leadership that Paige brought to the table when she acquired the company in 2019,” says Mikayla Smith, the company’s marketing manager. “Paige has focused her leadership skills on growing the company in order to better take care of the team members who work hard to make our product a success. Paige is always seeking resources and new benefits for the team to encourage both personal and professional development and overall make WORD a great place to work.”
“My passion for WORD is rooted in legacy and sustainability,” Patterson says. “Honoring the hard work of the generations before me, growing something great for the next generation to build on, and providing opportunities not only for my family but for the families on our team is the daily inspiration behind my decision making. Although working with family can have its challenges, I have found that family will work harder and has a built-in loyalty that is often the driving factor for our success.
“Growing up in a family business, you have a front-row seat to the hard work and sacrifice it takes to grow an organization. Feeling inspired to build upon the foundation of those before me has led me to pursue a career contributing to the successful transition of a multigenerational family business. It didn’t always seem fun to watch my parents and family working so hard, but I hope to model the same work ethic and be able to offer even more opportunities for my children!”