Celebrating the Legacy & Retirement of David Peebles
David Peebles is a pillar of DMP. One of the first two employees hired at the company, David joined DMP when he was just 17 years old. In August 2026, David retired, finishing his DMP journey as Vice President of Training. Through 49 years of service and leadership, David has shaped DMP’s culture — inspiring humility, grace, respect and a willingness to keep learning. David’s influence will live on through every DMP employee who has had the privilege of being his student. In this interview, David reflects on his time with DMP and teaching others.
We wish you happiness in your well-deserved retirement, David!
What has made DMP such a special place for you over the last 49 years?
Two things. The people, and our Purpose — which is about people.
I’ve had the opportunity to do a lot of different things at DMP over 49 years, but when I look back, I don’t think first about products or positions. I think about people.
I’ve had the privilege of working with some incredibly talented people, including the guy who first recommended me for a job, Marc Mills. Marc has been my friend for 54 years, and there are many others who have become lifelong friends. Rick and Jan Britton welcomed me into their family, gave me opportunities and trusted me with responsibilities that I never imagined.
Our Purpose also makes DMP a special place for me. We protect lives and livelihoods, and our mission and values define HOW we do that. It’s a noble undertaking. I believe that. But while I love what we do, I love WHY we do it even more. And that is expressed in our Core Purpose: “We manufacture security systems, to create jobs, that support families, because the security of families determines the strength of society, and a strong society reaches out to the rest of the world.”
DMP has never just been where I worked. It’s shaped my life in many ways, and I’ll always be grateful for that.
How did you first become involved in training?
I didn’t start at DMP thinking, “someday I’m going to be a trainer.” But whether I was managing production, shipping, purchasing or quality (and the list could go on), I found myself teaching. I discovered that I enjoyed helping people understand things that seemed complicated to them. I would study what my new responsibilities were, then I would teach the people entrusted to me what I’d learned. Rinse. Repeat.
What did you want people to walk away with after one of your training sessions?
Confidence and competence, leading to excellence as they put the training to use. If they understood the product or the process, knew where to go when they needed help, and felt more confident walking into the next installation or service call, then we had done our job.
I won’t claim I’ve never fallen into really trying to impress students with what I know. But I’d like to think I’ve spent a greater amount of time working to equip students with the knowledge and skills they need to do what they need to do.
You’ve spent so much of your career teaching and helping others. What have the people you’ve trained taught you in return?
The biggest thing my students taught me is that teaching is a two-way street. I may have been the one standing in front of the room, but I’ve learned an awful lot from the people sitting in it. Their questions have made me think differently and shown me better ways of doing things.
They’ve taught me that you can’t measure good training by how well you present something. I’m all for excellence in communication; it’s important. But it’s not the only important thing. You measure training by what people can do when they leave your class. There’s been nothing more rewarding for me than seeing someone I helped train become confident and successful, then turn around and teach somebody else.
Is there a moment when you realized the training programs you helped build were making a difference? How did that feel?
Hearing from dealers that somebody we trained returned and solved a problem. The feedback I’ve received over the years from our dealers has been overwhelmingly positive. “So-and-so came and inherited quite a mess. They got us straightened out on an important installation and we’re equipped for next time.”
It’s no secret that I truly love teaching our Foundations class to new employees. The greatest compliment I’ve received from a student was after sharing DMP’s culture at a Dealer Roundtable. An attendee approached me and said, “Now I get it. You are the soul of DMP.” I loved that, but all I’ve done for decades is repeat what Rick’s taught us with a genuine passion. Never lie. Take care of the customer FAST! Be kind. Make a profit and generate cash.
Being that mouthpiece has been extremely satisfying.
How has the way you train and teach people changed over the years? What has stayed the same?
The tools have changed. We’ve transitioned from traditional classroom instruction to webinars, online learning, remote training and all kinds of technology we couldn’t have imagined years ago.
What hasn’t changed is how people learn. They still need to know why something matters. They still need a chance to do it. They still need to be able to ask questions. And they need an instructor who cares if they understand it. They need us to provide multiple opportunities to access and repeat the learning. The Law of Forgetting is real, and repetition is the key.
Who are some of the people who have had the biggest influence on you throughout your career?
There are far too many to name without leaving out somebody important, but certainly the Britton family. They trusted me, challenged me and allowed me to grow right along with this company.
One of the gifts of being somewhere for 49 years is that you realize you’ve been shaped by hundreds of people. I’m a product of a lot of people who invested something in me. In the early, early days, Rick’s father, Marvin, would come to me to check on things, ask questions and listen. He would often say, “What a guy could do…” followed by an idea he wanted me to consider. I was young and naive enough to marvel at the great ideas I’d come up with after those sessions with Marvin.
New York Yankees great Yogi Berra said, “You can observe a lot by just watching.” Rick taught me so much by simply allowing me to be present. He showed me that when you combine extreme generosity and tenacity, you can change the world. Does Rick expect a lot of us? Absolutely. I remember Rick telling Marc and me not long after we moved into our new building on Industrial Drive, “We don’t have room for anything but excellence at DMP.”
If you could go back and give yourself one piece of advice on the first day of your DMP journey, what would it be?
Don’t blink.
That’s the advice I usually give to a young couple expecting their first child. But from where I’m standing now, just on the other side of — let’s call it semi-but-mostly retirement — it all passed by so quickly. I blinked.
Know this: The work will change. The technology will change. Your job title will change. Many of the things that seem terribly important today won’t seem nearly as important in 20 or 30 years. But the relationships you build, the people you help and the way you treat people will stay with you.
I wish that teenager who walked into DMP 49 years ago had understood just how quickly it was all going to go.
And I want to say thank you. To the Britton family, to the people I’ve had the privilege of working with, and to our dealers who trusted us all these years—thank you. DMP has given me far more than a career. It has given Judy and me friendships, opportunities, memories and a life we could never have imagined. I’m incredibly grateful. And I believe the best days for DMP are still ahead.
What are you looking forward to most about retirement?
I don’t have it all figured out yet, but I want more time with Judy, more time to read and write, exercise, play some golf, volunteer and learn some new things. But I’m not disappearing. I’ll still be around DMP, teaching Foundations and helping wherever I can be useful.
I’m not really looking at this as stopping. I’m just changing what I get to say yes to. And sleeping in.