Kirk Townsend

For the past 10 years, Kirk Townsend has been the Director of Corporate Development with the Ariel Corporation, a large privately held U.S.-based oil and gas manufacturing company. With offices in Dubai, Sydney, Beijing, Moscow, Buenos Aires, Mumbai, Singapore and Mexico, Kirk is responsible for all international operations.

“Our channels to market are strictly through our tightly-controlled distribution model. I make sure our distributors have all the tools necessary to properly sell and service our products in addition to worldwide coverage that our end users have come to expect.” Prior to Ariel, Kirk spent 30+ years with Exterran – a systems and process company providing infrastructure solutions — eventually becoming President of the organization.

Kirk considers himself a Baylor guy. “Baylor propelled me to an amazing career. The classes I remember most, some of the most difficult for me, such as Old Testament, Statistics, Chemistry, and Intro to Accounting, have served me well in my career.”

Professionally, Kirk is proud to lead an oilfield service company of over 6000 people. “Through good and bad, it has been most rewarding.” Personally, his greatest achievement has been raising two wonderful Christian girls along with his wife. “Both graduated from Baylor and are outstanding women and leaders to boot.”

Aside from being a member of the ProSales Advisory Board, Kirk has been a part the Star of Hope mission in Houston, the Epilepsy Foundation, the Yellowstone Academy, and the Baylor College of Medicine along with numerous oil and gas-focused organizations.

“My advice to anyone moving into professional selling is to take the perceived hardest, most difficult assignment and prove your worth there. Anyone can succeed when given the cupcake accounts, but leadership will notice and respect those who succeed under less-than-optimal settings. Now is the time to bust your butt and set the stage for later life.”