Turnaround’s fair play

Luis Pena

* EDITOR’S NOTE: Today, the Daily Pilot begins a new feature: a

weekly “Q & A” with a senior in the community. For the inaugural

article, the Pilot’s Luis Pena sat down with Costa Mesa resident Doug

Drumwright, the 58-year-old chief executive officer of Parkview

Community Hospital Medical Center in Riverside.

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in south Louisiana, in Baton Rouge. It was a semirural

neighborhood. We weren’t out in the country, but we certainly were

not in the city, and it was a neighborhood of small, single-family

dwellings. I think the house I grew up in was slightly less than

1,000 square feet for my parents, sister and I. Pretty modest, but

that was pretty much what the neighborhood was like in general. It

would have been from the late ‘40s to the early ‘60s.

What kind of childhood did you have?

It was probably a pretty typical childhood in south Louisiana.

Outdoors, it’s a pretty warm climate. Very warm climate, actually.

So, I had a pretty normal childhood, with two parents intact and a

normal childhood, I think, in most respects, in probably a

middle-class family [in] Baton Rouge.

How did you end up in Newport-Mesa?

I kind of moved all over the country, working my way up the

corporate ladder in corporate America. When I finally moved out to

Newport-Mesa in 1986, I really came out here to help out with a

start-up company and subsequently started my own firm. Got into the

turnaround business, and I’ve been a turnaround CEO ever since. But

yeah, it was a business opportunity that brought me to Southern

California.

What are your greatest accomplishments in life?

That one is pretty easy. My greatest accomplishments in life are

my four kids. I have two boys and two girls, who are healthy, happy,

well-adjusted adults today. That is by far my greatest

accomplishment. Any reasonable part that I can claim for that

success, I am happy to claim.

If you could redo one moment or incident in your life what would

it be?

I would have handled the divorce from the mother of my children,

which took place 20 years ago, [differently]. I didn’t understand the

impact it would have on not only my ex-wife and I, but most

importantly the kids. I wish I would have had a greater understanding

of how emotionally difficult that whole process was going to be. I

probably would have handled it better.

What profession other than yours would you like to have tried?

It would have to be one of two things: either a professional

athlete, football, or a professional musician -- but I mean big time.

I think it would have been fun to have been one of the Beatles. Not

just the accolades or the money, but the fun they seem to have [had]

in creating what I consider to be modern-day poetry in the songs. I

think it’d be a kick. It wouldn’t be about the girls. I think it

would be about the fun you’d have doing something like that. It’s

such a self-expression. It’s a way to express yourself in a different

way than you typically do in the business world. You need the talent

to do that. I don’t think I have the talent to do either, but it

would have been a kick if I had it.

What are some differences between a typical day in your life now

versus a day your life 20 years ago?

It’s significantly different in two key respects. I always thought

that it would be more fun to be the boss, and since I’ve been in the

last 15 years, I’ve been the CEO in most of the companies that I’ve

been involved with. My business day is a lot more fun. The other

major difference is, 20 years ago, outside of work, my singular focus

was my children. Twenty years ago, I had four kids, and since they’re

grown, I don’t have that same focus outside of work today.

What is the greatest lesson you’ve learned in your life?

Probably just some real understanding of gratitude and humility.

Those are the two things that I think I have begun to learn in life,

anyway, that I think make the biggest difference for me, and they

weren’t always easy lessons to learn. When you get a little bit

successful, it’s easy to get sort of full of yourself and not fully

appreciate the good fortune you have and how easily that can be lost.

And so, it’s an appreciation, I think, of the level of gratitude and

humility that comes with understanding the blessings that you have

and that you have been given, just being born in this country and

educated. I mean, there are so many blessings I think I have a much

deeper appreciation for. I don’t take them for granted in the same

way I did earlier in my life. My professors always told me you’re

better off being lucky than good. I understand what that means now.

What do you treasure most?

I guess what I treasure most aside from my children and the

relations that I have with them is what I guess I just described.

There is sort of a different sense of life for me today than there

was 20 years ago or 30 years ago, and it’s a much more relaxed view

of life. Maybe a little bit greater wisdom, a little greater

understanding of what the struggle maybe is all about.

* If you know someone with an interesting story to tell, contact

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mail her at c/o Daily Pilot, 330 W. Bay St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627.