Meet Shawn Rule | Serial Entrepreneur & Investor

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

Hi Shawn, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?

Starting a business to me came very easy. From the time I was a young man my dreams have always to be a businessman. I’ve always wanted to create and offer things or services to people that were not available. I remember my very first business was in the 8^th grade selling candy to my classmates. I felt like I was the man. Providing a product that was more accessible and making 50 bucks in a day was the life for me.

Living in Midland, Texas owning a few businesses throughout high school, college, being surrounded by my parents and so many great businessmen it was in my bones to achieve so much more. Being in this area, it was almost a no brainier that the next steps in my entrepreneur career would be in the oil and gas industry. I always knew before starting my entrepreneur journey in this field I had to work in the industry, learn and study the ins and outs before jumping out on my own. Working at Oxy (Occidental) gave me that opportunity to get where I am now. I certainly had my challenges I learned from, but at the same time I made it look very easy. Unfortunately or fortunately I didn’t have that financial support to help when big issues arise and everyone knows if there are issues in oil and gas patch it comes with a huge price. I managed to soar through those challenges with a lesson learned to move forward and not give up.

Once I found what the need was in the field, which was HDPE poly pipe, I knew from that point I could execute and make it happen. I wanted something that allowed me to be able to do business smarter and not harder. After the restless nights of my past companies, I knew exactly what I wanted next and that was my now company Americ-Line.

What should our readers know about your business?

My company is called Americ-line. We specialize in manufacturing HDPE poly pipe for oil and gas and municipal applications. The HDPE poly pipe is used for the transportation of oil, gas, and water from one place to the other.

What sets Americ-Line from others is that, while we are in the same industry, the quality of our products, the efficiency in which our product is made and turnaround times are differentiators. We also operate very lean and that certainly helps with our bottom line in terms of pricing with our clients.

I got to where I am today truly by the grace of God, family and people in the industry that wanted to give me a chance in doing business with them even through my failures. This has not been easy. There were many challenges along the way I had to learn, tough ones at that. I overcame those challenges by simply not giving up, encouraging words from my wife Jessica, motivational podcast and even witnessing other people’s successes in business. I enjoy seeing people win, it’s probably one of my biggest motivations.

Lessons learned during this journey are not trusting so easily and truly protecting yourself from those who do not mean well for you in business. If anything, that was my biggest lesson. Always trust that gut feeling because you relying on your heart in business will often make you lose.

Though the oil and gas industry is my foundation,  my creative talents go so much further. In the future I will be investing in more up and coming projects and diving pretty heavy into the tech world. I am beyond excited for that next chapter.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?

Oh, this is dangerous. Recently a few friends came into town and of course what’s a trip to Dallas and not having the best food, drinks and entertainment. Since it is during the week let’s just say they came on a Tuesday because a full week is not fully welcomed haha.

Tuesday- Catch a good Improv out in Addison to laugh at some good comedy. Of course, it may be a simple night so we would eat and drink at the venue.

Wednesday- Dinner: Elephant East, Drinks: Dusty Gin Martinis with blue cheese olives. Night cap: Candle Room

Thursday- Dinner: The Charles (back room) Drinks: Tequila Old Fashioned. Night cap: The Mexican. (Brandon) the best bartender.

Friday- Happy Hour: Hudson House. Drinks: Gin Martinis. Dinner: Carbone Vino (because we can’t get into Carbone because we are last min hehe) but I’ve gone to Carbone a couple times 9/10. Drinks: Regular Old Fashions. Night cap: Lounge 31 Drinks: All the drinks!

Saturday- Katy Trail, Cool down Toulouse: Drinks Texas Refresher. Relax: My pool. Dinner: Monarch. Drinks: Expresso Martini, Gin Martini and Old Fashioned. Dancing: Citizen.

Sunday- Pool: Dinner: Sushi House or Rafas Cafe……….drop them off at that airport.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?

Over the years of being in business I work very hard to allow my family the access to experience the greatness of life. Nothing beats having memories with your loved ones. More importantly my wife Jessica Rule. As she is also an entrepreneur, she knows exactly what it takes to be in business for yourself and to make these dreams become our reality. So, my shoutout will be definitely to my wife who keeps me grounded and also seeing the talent in me when at times I don’t see it in myself.

Website: Americ-Line.com

Instagram: Shawn_ Rule

Linkedin: Shawn Rule

Image Credits
Jessica Tj Andrea