Mirror photo by Russ O'Reilly / Collin Terchanik (left), petroleum pricing analyst, works with Daillard Paris Jr., director of supply and trading. Paris moved to Altoona about seven years ago to begin a job with Sheetz.

When Daillard Paris Jr. first moved to Altoona from New York about seven years ago, he admitted he had been comparing Altoona unfairly to the Big Apple.

“You can’t compare them,” he said. “There are things each has that the other doesn’t. When my family comes to visit me here, we are a short drive away from hiking, horseback riding or going out on a pontoon boat,” he said. “You can’t easily do that in New York.”

Paris had an office with a view of Times Square and was a successful logistical analyst, but he felt something missing.

He poured himself into screenwriting as a creative outlet, entering international competitions and contributing to a short film, but that path didn’t work for him either, he said.

Then he found Sheetz.

“I found a company that allowed me to be creative with my thinking,” he said.

Daillard Paris Jr. or “D” as his coworkers at Sheetz call him, is an out-of-the-box thinker coordinating the efforts that supply Sheetz with petroleum for the company’s fuel products.

“I look at a problem and try to see an uncommon answer,” he said.

In petroleum supply just as with screenwriting, there are scenarios that may play out or not, he said.

“The creative thinking I gained through working with people on plays gave me the ability to see all the possible scenarios that come with buying and selling petroleum,” he said.

Andy McConnell, Sheetz senior petroleum products scheduler, reports to Paris.

“When I think of D, it’s that he always has a positive attitude about work; to be honest, about life in general,” McConnell said. “He keeps everyone involved. He doesn’t make it seem like he’s giving orders — he’s getting you involved with a project.”

At the head of Sheetz’s petroleum supply operation is Mike Lorenz, executive vice president of petroleum supply.

“D is a super hard worker; he loves a challenge. He never stops working to get better. And he has a gregarious personality. When we heard he was from Brooklyn, we didn’t know how long he would stay; he’s been here for seven years. He’s found a home here, and it’s been a good marriage.”

Paris, 38, has also given back to the community by being a mentor in the Blair County Big Brothers Big Sisters organization.

“I was in the program when my dad was sick,” he said.

Paris’ father, Daillard Paris Sr., died after fighting the illness for years. “He was a gentle, giving soul,” he said of his father.

Paris’ father and his mother, Marie, are his role models. When his father became ill, Daillard — in the eighth-grade at the time — began having problems at school. To refocus him, his mother, Marie, wanted to connect him with another positive male influence.

There was one problem: “My ‘big’ didn’t make the first meeting,” Paris said.

“Everyone else was paired up, and there I was. I felt exposed. But that’s how I found out there was a program. Because I was once someone who needed someone, I thought I would get what one might need. A kid doesn’t need a pep talk. A kid just needs to forget for a moment all of the stuff that is going on. Everything else will come from you being a good human in front of them day in and day out,” he said.

Growing up in Queens, N.Y., he saw the guys who were older than him on the block, living lives he didn’t want to live. He set himself on a different trajectory: to the Marines.

After high school, he entered the U.S. Marine Corps and served for four years. After his service was fulfilled, he pursued an accounting degree at Hofstra University. At that time he also worked for a gas company; his responsibilities included handling reimbursement checks for employees. He made a mark by breaking away from the typical protocol of mailing the checks; instead, he hand-delivered them to employees to ensure they received them quicker. He knew there were people living paycheck to paycheck and it mattered that they get even a little bit to tide them over until payday.

The company’s traders took notice of the young accountant’s initiative and got him on track to be a trading analyst.

He subsequently moved into a position of petroleum scheduler before coming to Sheetz.

“I push the limits. I come with new ideas and they might fail, but we are always willing to try something new here to win,” he said.

And he said Sheetz pays attention to ideas of its employees.

“Sheetz allowed my ideas to blossom,” he said.