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By Mary Godinez

The passion for storytelling was instilled in Brian Armentrout at an early age. Appreciating television journalists like NBC’s Tom Brokaw, he never doubted his love for the profession.

Armentrout started his journey to television broadcasting by working as a board operator with the local radio station in Webster City.

While a Greenlee student, Armentrout landed a dream job with KCCI-TV in Des Moines after having interned there his senior year. There, his excitement continued to grow for the dynamic industry.

“It’s really the ability to do something different every day,” Armentrout said. “You come to work in the morning, you get your assignment, you go out and you do it, you go live or it airs later, then you go home. And it all begins again tomorrow.”

Armentrout bounced around different news stations for half his professional career, working at other TV studios in Des Moines, Waterloo and San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara, Calif.

But in 2006, he threw in the TV reporting towel and pursued his interest in solar energy.

“I saw a new opportunity for the way people are harnessing and generating the power for their homes,” Armentrout said. “And knowing that the traditional sources aren’t sustainable for the long term, I felt like I wanted to do something to accelerate the growth of solar energy in mainstream society.”

He worked his way up to his current position as director of product management for Just Energy in Houston. Despite the dramatic career change, Armentrout still found the storytelling aspect that he loves so much in his new field.

“What I do now is make the news and create the news and tell the story about that news,” Armentrout said. “Marketing is storytelling and I’ve been able to use my previous work experience for my current work.”