Jonathan Wheelis began as an Operations Engineer, increasing his responsibilities to become Area Manager for our Haynesville BU. He is native to Louisiana and built his career in his home state. At the end of last year, he was awarded the 2024 Young Professional of the Year Award by the Greater Shreveport Chamber.
What makes the Haynesville area so special?
This area is home to me. I grew up in Ruston, Louisiana, my family is from here, and now I’m raising my own family here.
I love Louisiana sports and the state offers a variety of outdoor activities such as fishing, hunting and golf — all of which I enjoy doing. I was very fortunate to grow up on approximately 80 acres of land, and I treat the areas in which we operate the same as if it were my own property.
How would you describe your job to a neighbor or friend?
This is a tough one to answer because my days always look different! One day I may be fighting a well control issue, presenting to local and state legislatures the next, collaborating with technical teams, etc. I would explain it simply as I am the individual who clears the path to allow individuals and teams to safely extract, produce and deliver natural gas to market each and every day.
Which of Expand Energy’s core values resonate with you most? Why?
The two core values that stick out to me are Stewardship and Disrupt as both work directly together in my mind. Stewardship is essentially our license to operate as EXE. It’s the excellence we perform every day in our jobs.
But, we can’t get stuck — we must challenge the status quo. Challenging the norm helps us achieve better outcomes for energy consumers while ensuring the safety of our team and not causing any environmental issues within our operating areas. I truly enjoy challenging the status quo to push the organization forward and I encourage my team to do the same.
What does success look like for your team?
Success to me looks and feels like a team who is having fun each and every day. When you walk into the office or onto location and individuals are laughing and having fun, but also holding each other accountable and owning safety, I know we’re delivering what we said we would. That is success to me.
What do you do when you’re not at work?
I love to watch my kids play whatever sport they are into, fishing in our pond, or chasing a golf ball around the course. My wife and I love the beach, so we make a trip down every year.
