Interview by Abernathy Cochran intern and Gainesville High School senior Donangelo Marshall

Meet Brian Daniel! Brian has been the President and CEO of Carroll Daniel Construction Company since 2003 and is a Gainesville native. Celebrating its 75th year this year, Carroll Daniel Construction is a commercial construction services firm serving multiple markets in the public and private sector.

We want to thank Brian for taking time with us recently to tell us more about his life and love of Hall County.

Question: Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your family.
Answer: “I grew up in Gainesville and went to Gainesville High School. I then went to Auburn University, where I met my wife, Kristin. We have two children; a son, Stuart who is a freshman at Lakeview, and a daughter, Callie, a 7th grader at Lakeview. My son played football this year, and my daughter played volleyball and swims on the swim team, so we’ve had fun watching them playing sports.”

Q: What inspired you to led you to your current career?
A: “I grew up working in the family business, and I think I always knew that I was going to come back here. I usually worked on the jobsites at Carroll Daniel during the summers, but I had a few different jobs along the way. I worked for an architect one summer, and I worked in a men’s clothing store during the school year. I went to Auburn and thought I would major in building construction but ultimately majored in business. I think what drew me to construction, initially, was probably different from the things that I love about it now. I like the tangible aspect of construction: building things. It gives you a sense of accomplishment seeing that you created something. That was certainly the initial draw, but later as I learned more about business it was the people-oriented aspect that I enjoyed most. I love the people we work with here at Carroll Daniel, and we work with really interesting clients. We work with them in the most exciting times in the life of their business or organizations. They’re breaking ground on a new project that represents their future. Great things will happen, whether it’s an industrial building for Kubota or a school for Gainesville City or Hall County School systems. Building and growing a business has been a rewarding and fun journey for me. I didn’t create anything; I came into the business that my grandfather and father created, so I think of myself as more of a steward of an existing business, and I hope in my journey to leave it better than I found it.”

Q: What is your favorite restaurant in Hall County, and what do you like to get there?
A: “Without question, El Sombrero. Apologies to all my other restaurant owner friends, but we’re probably seen too often at El Sombrero. Mostly, I’m kind of a half order of Texas Fajita Nachos type guy.”

Q: How long have you lived or worked in Hall County?
A: “I was born and raised in Hall County and I am 46 years old. I left after graduating high school and went to Auburn; I lived and worked in Atlanta for about three years after school, other than that, I lived in Gainesville my entire life.”

Q: Who is the most interesting person you’ve met here in Hall County?
A: “The most interesting person in Hall County would probably be Jim Walters. He has been very successful and is such an interesting guy with a great story, has done a lot of different things. Anywhere you go in the state of Georgia when you say you’re from Gainesville the response is always, ‘you must know Big Jim.’”

Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would it be? And why?
A: “I love to travel; I have a bucket list of destinations that I would like to get around to one day. I would love to go to Istanbul, Turkey. I am a history buff, and I enjoy learning the history of places I’ve traveled to. Also, I’d love to go to Africa, Israel, and Australia. So, it’s a long bucket list, but I would like to see those places one day. COVID has keep us from traveling this year but last year we traveled to Peru and Ecuador.”

Q: What is your favorite movie? What is the first movie you remember seeing in a theater?
A: “My favorite movie is ‘It’s A Wonderful Life,’ we’ve watched that movie with a group of our friends every year for 20 years, and it’s a great movie with a great story. The first movie I’ve seen in a theater is probably one of the Star Wars movies.”

Q: What advice would you give to a crowd of people?
A: “Be yourself, never settle, always strive for excellence and work really hard for what you believe in.”

Q: What is something on your bucket list?
A: “Other than traveling, it would be getting a helicopter license.”

Q: What is your favorite music or three bands that you would like to see (dead or alive)?
A: “I like 90s rock, 80s classic country, and a little bit of classic rock. My favorite concert was George Straight and it was a really good show.”

Q: What current/former local business makes you the most nostalgic about Hall County?
A: “We have so many cool things in this town, but I’m going to say Green’s Grocery. When I was growing up the whole family was such an institution. It’s one of the things that has been a constant.”

Q: What is your favorite thing or something unique about Hall County?
A: “I like the community feel of Hall County where it’s just the right size, not too big and not too small. It gives us a sense of place, a sense of community, and there’s a lot to do here. We have enough resources, stores, people – it’s a fun and exciting place to live. I like that we have our own identity outside of Atlanta.”

Q: Where do you see yourself in five or 10 years?
A: “I’m 46 years old, and I see myself right here. I love what I am doing and hope to continue in this role for a long time.”

Q: (Even for friends or family), what is something interesting that most people don’t know about you?
A: “I can recite The Prologue to the ‘Canterbury Tales’ thanks to my history teacher, Ms. Johnson, at Gainesville High School. The author is Geoffrey Chaucer, and I remember that we had to memorize and recite it when I was in high school.”

Q: What’s your favorite thing about the new building Downtown?
A: “We had outgrown our existing location and had small offices scattered around the city. We wanted our team to be back together under one roof and we knew we wanted it to be downtown. Gainesville has great things going on in our downtown area; it’s an exciting time, we have great restaurants, retail and entertainment, and more to come with the Renaissance project on the fourth side of the square. We are excited to be part of that.”

Q: What three words or phrases come to mind when you think of the word HOME?
A: “Family, Happiness and Comfort.”