When Noveon Magnetics Inc. CEO Scott Dunn talks about his time outside of the office, he joked that he sounds like every guy on Earth: he splits his time equally between family, house work and hobbies.

But, as the CEO of a rare earth magnets manufacturer, he's anything but an ordinary guy.

Dunn and his wife, Dani, recently moved to San Marcos to be closer to his job leading Noveon. They also recently celebrated the birth of their first child, a daughter, and have a son on the way. He spends his free time following his beloved Baltimore Orioles, fly fishing in the Guadalupe River, watching foreign movies or sci-fi television shows, or doing work on the home.

While he grows his family, he's also growing his company. Noveon recycles discarded rare earth magnetic materials — a category of rare metals that includes promethium and holmium — to produce magnets that are used to power everything from electric vehicle motors to wind turbines and other sustainable applications.

Noveon has received $35 million from the U.S. Department of Defense and raised $75 million in series B funding in an effort to try to bring an industry primarily housed in China back to the United States. The company started with 10 employees and now has 85 — with plans to reach 150 workers — at its new 150,000-square-foot production facility between Austin and San Antonio.

Dunn admitted that, as a leader, he can be a little self-critical. As they've gotten bigger, he hasn't been able to have the hands-on capacity as a leader he's had in the past. Macro environments have made business difficult, and finding the right talent is their biggest challenge. But being a dad admittedly has helped him soften a bit.

"What I was surprised by is you don't have this totally weird epiphany moment. It's not like the baby is born and you hold it and your life is different. There is just this weird, growing building change that becomes more and more profound almost every day as you're growing into your identity, but also your family's identity, as your family is changing," he said.

When you're driving to work, what do you listen to?

I'm gonna reveal some cards, when I'm supposed a really smart, deep-thinking CEO, right? I've been listening to Howard Stern since I was eight. I listen to a lot of MLB Radio ... I listen to a lot of Bloomberg, and after that it's like any other thing I kinda like see or notice on Twitter or a buddy sends that I'm just kinda adding to my episodes, and then I'll throw on a podcast. And if it's not a podcast or something like that, it's music. I listen to pretty much everything that's not like really, really mainstream regular old country. I go like old school rock, I go classical, all the way to absolutely deep totally bizarre like Berlin house music. I'm into all that stuff.

What is your favorite restaurant in the area?

I used to live on the east side (of Austin). I remember when I got priced out of the east side and that when I was like "Austin is changing." That was 2016. Me and my wife would always have our nicer night out at Justine's. Once upon a time, the east side was just a bunch of houses and tattoo shops and coffee shops. Peche is fantastic and that guy really cares about his restaurant. When I think about things I miss the most in Austin – I mean, the you miss a lot, not being in Austin anymore – but Justine's and Peche were really solid French food and great food. I love Lim Dim Sum over on West Sixth Street. I miss Tacodeli. ... But down here in San Marcos — it's more of an ice house, they got a food truck and everything — Zelicks.

If you could pick any person to be your neighbor, who would you pick?

Because I think he would be a great neighbor and we could talk baseball and watch baseball with each other, I'm going to go Buck Showalter. We're both not going to need to say hi to each other every day, but then we're gonna have those really enriching hangouts and maybe watch a couple of games. But then we don't need to be in each other's hair all the time.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

I went all over the place. I still fantasize about what I want to be when I grow up today. Anybody who plays a sport, when you were young and you don't anything about what your limitations, you think you're gonna play and be an athlete. I always wanted to be a baseball player, I was a pitcher. ... When I got a little bit more serious, I was probably convinced I wanted to be a doctor of some kind.

Would you consider yourself more of an advice giver or an advice taker?

I think both. But if I had to pick one, I definitely am one to impart – kind of like it or not – my opinion, including on other people's lives like my siblings or friends that I care about. But I actually would think I am more of a taker than a giver. I think that's self awareness, listening, respecting wisdom and mileage and scars. That was something I was taught and ... how I've been able to have some success working with others to build a business like this.

What is the best piece of advice you've received?

There really is a difference between your mind, your heart and your gut. And it's very important to know the difference, and always listen to your gut. That's the first thing. But it dovetails into this concept that the most regret around any decision has either made or not made in their lives is usually because they waited too long as opposed to doing something on a more aggressive timeline or making a decision a little bit more swiftly.

What is the most influential book you've ever read?

I think the two most influential I've ever read are one of the same ... it was sort of what made me fall in love with reading. ... "Brave New World" and "1984."

Scott Dunn

Title: CEO, Noveon Magnetics Inc.

Age: 35

Hometown: Bel Air, Maryland

Education: University of Southern California, bachelor's of science in environmental science (transferred from The Naval Academy)

Family: Wife, Dani; Daughter, Ciara; Dog, Bluebonnet, aka "Bonnie"