Meet Grayson Mask | State Portfolio Business Analyst & Blogger

We had the good fortune of connecting with Grayson Mask and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Grayson, can you tell us about an impactful book you’ve read and why you liked it or what impact it had on you?
Recently, I’ve read the book Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World. It dives into many concepts but I loved the Charles Darwin passage where it brings up the importance of collaboration, networking, and noticing the talents of others. It showed that many think of Charles Darwin exploring the Galapagos solo and all of his grand discoveries are from his own efforts , when in reality it came from a massive academic network. He had a correspondence with 231 scientific pen pals where he had opportunities to listen to opinions from a vast range of scholars. This highlights that some of the wisest individuals achieved great successes by remaining open-minded and always seeking for new viewpoints. The rest of the novel speaks on range, where talents you gain from one field can actually have benefits in a totally unrelated field. I relate to this a lot because I’ve crossed departments in my current company and have done internships in a variety of industries.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
In my full-time role, I analyze sales data for wine/spirits products and create new marketing strategies based on it. I love the alcohol industry and so far it’s been a very collaborative environment. Outside of this role, I’m currently writing on The Platinum Mask, a blog dedicated to hearing from various professionals in the DFW area on how their businesses adapt to COVID-19. I would love to see this blog grow into new series with high-level guests and branding opportunities. I could see there being networking events connected to this blog after the pandemic passes. The road to the blog and my current role had some of its difficulties. In college, I would be involved in a finance internship, working an on-campus job, attending night classes, stopping by student government meetings, mentoring business students, volunteering off-campus, and doing other projects all on the same week. Obviously, juggling that with a social life and parties was impossible and I started to neglect certain relationships. I’m not saying that I had any regrets for those situations and I believe it made me prepared to work hard after graduation, but probably will remember to maintain core friendships along the way.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Hmm it depends if we’re talking right now during COVID-19 or hypothetically in a pre-covid world. If we’re speaking hypothetically with no limitations, we would start the days off at a top brunch spot like Jonathon’s Oak Cliff, the Rustic, and Ellen’s. During the day, if it’s sunny out, we can go kayaking at the Grapevine Lake or hiking at the Cedar Ridge Preserve. I love artistic venues so I love to check out events at the Deep Ellum Art Company or see if there’s any special deals at the Dallas Art Museum. The night could end at a club like Theory or go into the EDM scene at Stereo Live. It’s hard to decide because I’m someone who really hates doing the same thing two weeks in a row and decide based on new events. I’m down for EDM events, art festivals, concerts, bar hopping, 5Ks, and anything weird. During this pandemic, I would strongly recommend outdoor events like kayaking, hiking, and walks in nature. I would probably do a small drive down to Eagle Eye Ranch and do some horseback riding or cliff jumping.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I got to dedicate my shoutout to my family who have instilled the core values of efficiency, honesty, and passion in me. There’s also many others in the DFW community who have been a part of my growth like mentors at the University of North Texas. That school gave me wonderful academics to set high goals for myself and a stellar network of like-minded peers. At college I had the opportunity to not just be active in the classroom with professors who gave thought-provoking lectures, but to also be a core member in many extracurricular activities on the campus. I represented the College of Business in student government, joined multiple internships, was a college ambassador, and got lots of opportunities from the College of Business Dean, Marilyn Wiley. She originally recommended me to take on a financial project where I would help the UNT System Board of Regents with a financial modeling system. She then recommended me as the Distinguished Finance Student to attend a Financial Executives International event in Dallas and represent the school on the CFA Research Challenge. In college, I had great mentors like Michael Ware, the Vice President of Wealth Management & Trust at First State Bank, to give me key advice on things like career opportunities. After graduation, I’m very glad that I’ve had key managers at the Republic National Distributing Company who have placed my career goals in high-regard. This includes my current manager, Joe Corpuz, who has always been very collaborative on how I can help out with current processes. When I leave the office, I have positive organizations to be a part of like the Dallas Global Shapers.

Website: https://theplatinummask.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/graymask12/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/graysonmask/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/grayson.mask