Paul Robinette

Currently a young widow raising two children on his own; Paul’s path to success is an unconventional yet one to be greatly admired. Never a great student, he dropped out of high school at age 17 and obtained his GED. He never considered college. He then worked many odd jobs through his late teens to mid-20’s including: Cashier, Dishwasher, Retail, Quality Control for medical device manufacturing, Tech Support, Security, and making printing ink. A chance conversation around a fire with some friends led Paul to the building trades, which he started in the fall of 2000. Initially he installed voice, data, CCTV, and fiber optic cabling. This led Paul to the IBEW/NECA Joint Apprenticeship Program for power limited systems, where he currently holds a state license as a Power Limited Technician. He then worked for several different contractors until 2003 when he started with a contractor that he would work for 21 years, until the day they closed in 2024.

In 2006 Paul started specializing in public address, intercom, and audio-visual systems. He learned system programming for PA/Intercom, AV control, DSP Audio, Access control, and Fire Alarm Systems. In 2017, Management brought him out of the field and into Project Manager/Estimator Roles. Paul bid public projects and provided quotes for their private clients, overseeing their construction projects from submittal to closeout; where he continued to do a majority of their systems programming.

Paul has been the lead installer for several High School Auditoriums as well as many Gymnasiums and Cafeterias. He helped develop the system integrations that many school districts around the metro area are still using for emergency messaging in their facilities. He is the only person in the state who fully understands how to keep those systems running (He is currently training other apprentices).

In the spring of 2024 after his contractor closed, Paul learned that a new contractor had had taken on the product line of PA and Intercom Systems that he had been working on for over 20 years. He ended up going to work for them and was hired as a Field Service Tech, and in the spring of 2025 was promoted to Assistant Project Manager. Paul continues to learn new AV systems and PA/Intercom skills as the equipment develops over time.

He started playing guitar at the age of 13 on a nylon string acoustic borrowed from his mom’s friend. He is mostly self-taught and has been in various bands since he was 15 years old. Paul is currently the rhythm guitar player/vocalist for Wasted Talent, who he has been playing with since 2016. He also plays Bass guitar and drums; however says he still has a lot to learn on drums.

Paul met my wife in the fall of 1999 when they were both working the Trail of Terror at the Renaissance Festival. They were married in 2004, bought a home in 2006, had their first child in 2011, and second in 2017. In 2021 his wife was diagnosed with Angiosarcoma and began treatments immediately. After many rounds of chemo and radiation it was found to have spread and in early 2022, she was given a prognosis of 3-6 months. They as a family did as much as they could with the kids including a once in a lifetime trip to Disney World and Universal Studios in Orlando, FL. She held on until March of 2023 when she passed away at 42 years of age. Paul now spends most of his time working and caring for his 2 kids, trying to help fill the void that has been left by their mom’s passing.

He enjoys woodworking, has built a few guitars, and some other projects; but there has little time right now however looks forward to hopefully someday getting back to those projects.