Jason Hanson, Director of Sales
Jason Hanson helped shape J2 Resources before he even joined the team. By the time he came on board officially, he’d known Joe Dugan and John Brunetti for more than a decade — and had quietly helped set the company up for what it would become.
When There’s Work to Do, He Does It
Jason grew up in Pasadena, Texas in a house where work was never in short supply. His dad ran a commercial steel erection and fabrication company and his mom owned a local moving company. Between the two, there was always something that needed doing — and Jason did it.
He ran a lawn service. He spent summers on a shrimp boat with his grandparents. He worked commission-based moves as a teenager, doing the math early on what showing up and putting in the effort was actually worth.
It’s not hard to trace a line from those summers to a career now approaching 30 years in industrial sales.
Twenty-Nine Years, One Industry, One Long Climb
After high school, Jason entered oil and gas and eventually found his footing in fire and safety — a specialized, technical world that sits at the intersection of engineering and compliance. He worked his way from installations to design, to project management, to sales, to sales management, to executive leadership.
Along the way, he took on an international role — spending weeks at a time in Japan, Spain, Italy, and Alaska — and built a reputation for engineering solutions to problems most people hadn’t figured out yet.
“I’ve sat on technical boards and committees, hired people fresh to the industry and watched them become directors, VPs, and business owners. It’s what I’m most proud of.”
The Order That Greased the Skids
Jason’s connection to J2 started through a mutual friend and a shared transaction. A contact introduced him to John Brunetti when Jason was sourcing HDPE piping for firewater systems; they became mutual customers. He’d buy from them, and they’d buy from him.
When Joe and John eventually launched J2 Resources, the relationship held. And early on — when J2 was still operating more as a broker than a full stocking distributor — Jason handed them one of their first significant orders: a nearly million-dollar pipe deal for a large project in Corpus Christi that helped propel the company toward where it is today.
J2 came calling a few years later. He turned them down, six months away from his 25th anniversary at a previous company. After seeing that milestone through, the timing was right, and Jason moved to J2.
Same Customers. New Legos.
The pivot from fire and safety to PVF distribution was a real one.
Same Customers. New Legos.
The pivot from fire and safety to PVF distribution was a real one.
“My previous world was selling large engineered manufactured products, and J2’s world is selling the Legos to build them.”
The codes and standards are different. The vernacular is different. But the end customers — the refineries, the engineering firms, the contractors — are exactly the same. He didn’t have to learn a new industry, but he did have to learn a new product line.
That familiarity, combined with over a decade of trust built with Joe and John, made the transition work.
Building the Bench
As Director of Sales, Jason’s focus is on the team as much as the numbers.
“Mentoring is my ‘why’ in this role. I enjoy positioning people, young and experienced alike, to succeed.”
Jason inherited what he describes as an incredible and youthful team, and he’s been candid about the challenge of coming in as the new guy after years of being the subject matter expert. Earning trust from scratch, he says, was the hardest part — and one of the more rewarding.
He’s also building for what comes next: structured development programs, a deeper bench, and a clear path for the next generation of J2 sellers to grow into the role.
Outdoors, On the Water, and Still Paddling Out
Jason is the kind of person who grew up doing everything outdoors and never really stopped. He hunts, fishes, camps, and surfs — the last one a family tradition, with his dad and uncles making their own boards when he was young. He played every sport growing up and spent his early twenties on the beach volleyball courts before life got busier. He has four biological children and two bonus children, ranging in age from 20 to 29.
Travel is another constant. Italy was the bucket list trip — Rome, Venice, Capri, Pisa, all of it. A senior trip to Costa Rica with his son turned into waterfall rappelling, cliff diving, and tuna fishing on the Pacific coast. He’s been to Alaska more times than most people will ever go, and he’ll tell you the list still has a long way to go.
It’s the same instinct that drives him at J2: there’s always more ground to cover, and he’s not done yet.