Highlighting our Leaders

Lance Gunn, VP of Sales

Lance graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Degree in Marketing in 1993. Immediately after graduation, Lance launched his career in professional football and played for the Cincinnati Bengals, New Orleans Saints and Frankfurt Galaxy in NFL Europe.

In September of 1996, Lance returned to corporate America, joining PepsiCo as a sales representative. He quickly rose through the ranks at PepsiCo earning the titles of District Sales Leader, Business Manager and Account Manager with recognition as a nationally ranked manager for controlling selling expense and bringing a 43rd ranking division to #1 status.

In January of 2005, Lance joined Pulte Homes as the Vice President of Customer Relations for the Austin Division. Lance has received his MBA from Texas A&M University and was featured as an emerging leader in the homebuilding industry in the February 2006 issue of Big Builder Magazine.

Why might it be a good time for women to have a career in homebuilding and more specifically at Pulte Homes?
From a national perspective, whether the market is up or down, the home building industry is always a topic of interest. It is exciting to be a part of an industry that is in a lot of ways the center piece of our country's economy. From a Pulte standpoint, I believe the home building industry is going to go through quite a bit of change over the next 5 to 10 years. I think the long term business strategy we have in place, distinguishes Pulte Homes as "the homebuilder of choice" as our industry continues to evolve.

What are one or two leadership characteristics that you possess that have helped you obtain a successful career at Pulte Homes?

• Courage / Confidence: not being afraid to make a decision or do something that I believe in, or ask a tough question or take an unpopular stance on an issue. At the same time I am not afraid to say I do not understand something or that I made a mistake or should have handled a situation differently. At Pulte Homes, your unique point of view is always valued.
• I love working with my Pulte family and through them I have developed a strong understanding of how people within teams / organizations work and interact with each other.

What are some Tips/Traps for minorities in our industry?
We get an opportunity to go to speak to college students 2 or 3 times a year. Without regard to which company they end up working for, I encourage them to gain a working knowledge of the financial aspects of how their company does business as soon as possible.

Why is inclusion and diversity important for Pulte Homes' long term growth and success?
The inclusive culture at Pulte will add to our competitive advantage by enabling us to become a cross-industry employer of choice and provide us with a better understanding of our customers’ needs.