Christian Celeste was born in Augsburg, Germany. When he was two years old, his family made the big move over to the United States to Medford, Long Island. At 10 years old, his family moved back to Germany as his father was in the US military and was restationed there. Christian spent the rest of his youth overseas.
After finishing high school in Germany, Christian pursued his education in the retail trade. He also served in the German military from 1983-1987, with a specialty in Mountain Infantry. Christian left the military at the rank of Staff Sergeant and afterwards obtained an education as an Operational Protection Specialist, which was his occupation for the next 11 years.
Christian’s journey to DILO began after moving back to the USA in 1999 where he worked in the commercial construction industry until 2006. He then owned a business in the same field until 2010. That same year, Christian began working in metal fabrication, powder coating, and home remodeling during which time he met a DILO employee who asked if he would be interested in coming in for an interview. During the interview the then CEO, Lukas Rothlisberger, hired Christian on the spot. That was 12 years ago now – crazy how fast time flies!
At DILO, Christian started out as a shop technician. In February of 2012, he was promoted to Production Manager, which was his role until 2015 at which time he became the After Sales Manager. Christian has recently taken on the additional role of Environmental Health & Safety Manager. DILO’s General Manager, Billy, has the following to say about having Christian as part of the team:
“Christian started with DILO as a lead in the production area. His abilities and knowledge of our recovery systems and gas handling equipment and accessories made him the perfect candidate to lead our Aftersales department.
Christian's knowledge and capabilities have raised our customer service level of quality to highest they have ever been. He continues to raise the bar by leading his team to great success.”
DILO’s Sales Director, Corey Ratza, has the following to add about Christian:
“In addition to his After Sales responsibilities, Christian also takes on a role at DILO as the Environmental Health & Safety Manager overseeing the general day-to-day of DILO's safety program. Christian continuously improves our workplace safety culture by creating and implementing health and safety policies, training employees on safety standards, and conducting safety inspections.
At DILO, we measure our success on Quality and Safety. When it comes to the reliability of our products and customer service and the safety of the people behind those products, the consistency and impact of Christian’s leadership in After Sales and Safety Coordination guarantees our organization's and team's success.”
In his free time, you can find Christian enjoying life on the beautiful Florida Beaches with his fiancée and their two dogs.
We are lucky to have such hardworking and dedicated members on the team at DILO. Thank you for all that you do, Christian!
You can see more of Christian in action in this pro-tip video below, where he explains the DILO Direct Connect feature.