Eight years ago, Robbie Doman was serving as an Army staff sergeant in Iraq. His truck hit a roadside bomb, and he was gravely injured.
He spent six straight months at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and has undergone 14 surgeries on his legs and back. He says he learned a lot from those days at Walter Reed.
“I met people who had 50 surgeries, who had lost limbs; people who were just grateful to be alive as they learned how to use prosthetics,” he says. “When I was down and injured, I realized that I could change my life and make my attitude a lot happier.”
With this strong new outlook, he returned home to Greeley, Colo., where, prior to Iraq, he had been working as a supervisor at The Home Depot. This Home Depot veteran soon entered the store’s manager training program and, on Veterans Day 2015, he was promoted to his current managerial position and transferred to nearby Cheyenne, Wyo. There he quickly put his military experience to work as he began to prepare his new crew for success.
“Just like in the Army, you have to build good teams, get good people behind you and strengthen their abilities,” Robbie says of the leadership skills it takes to be a good manager. He says he is particularly suited to this position because his job in the military was to help lower-ranking people move up. “I now teach associates to move up and supervisors to become managers.”
Robbie says that before his injuries, he was very physically active. While he can’t return to some of his old favorites, like snowboarding or waterskiing, he says some of the skills he’s learned while working at The Home Depot has given him a new outlet for his energy. “I like to work on my house, fix things and remodel,” he says.
And, if he runs out of projects around his own house, he’s always ready to jump into Team Depot projects, helping injured veterans rebuild their homes. “I helped remodel a whole kitchen, dining room, living room and bathroom,” he says. “We built a big deck for another veteran — it was so cool because I had never built a deck before.”
Whether he’s serving customers, working with his associates or volunteering on a Team Depot project, Robbie says he always carries with him that positive attitude gleaned from his Walter Reed days. “I help others through customer service,” he says. “I treat people well and make sure they leave happy and face the day for the better.”
