Jessica Crotty, CEO of C. Crane | CEO's You Should Know

Jessica Crotty, CEO of C. Crane | CEO's You Should Know

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, everyone, This is Steve Dawson and welcome to this
week's edition of CEOs. You should know I am thrilled
to be joined by Jessica Crowdy, the CEO of C Crane. Jessica,
thanks for being here today.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
Thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 1 (00:12):
We're so excited to be able to jump into the
conversation and learn more about you as well as Sea Crane.
So why don't we kick things off and you could
start off by telling everyone a little bit about your
journey with Sea Crane and what really drew to the
company thirty years ago. Yes.

Speaker 3 (00:27):
So I was working at a gym at the time
and one of the ladies at our church actually worked
at Sea Crane, and she thought that I would be
great because I had told people I was looking for
something else. I had recently gotten married and I was
ready to try something else. And yeah, so they were

(00:48):
growing and we had a bunch of interview like three interviews,
I think, and I kind of gotten to the spot
where I was like, I don't know if they're going
to hire me, And so then I.

Speaker 2 (00:56):
Was calling and they're like, no, no, no, we really are.

Speaker 3 (00:59):
We just have to guess bought for you, because they
were like literally adding desks for people as they were hiring. So, yeah,
that August I got hired, and then I actually found
out immediately after that that I was pregnant, and then
it was it was a very surprised thing was not

(01:19):
what we had planned, and and then I had to
go back and tell them because back then, you know,
you didn't have the protections that you have now, and
so I remember being like, but then, yeah, now, thirty
years later, apparently it worked out and it was all
meant to be.

Speaker 1 (01:38):
Yeah, absolutely, And I know you started originally in customer
service and now obviously you worked your way up to CEO.
What did that path look like and what were some
of the lessons you learned along the way?

Speaker 3 (01:49):
Oh gosh, Yeah. So we were growing really fast at
the time when I started. So Art Bell, who was
on air back then, he had started on Kadon and
then started getting syndicated, and so he was growing and growing,
and we when I started, I think he was like

(02:10):
maybe five stations or ten stations, and then it was
like they'd add ten more stations, and the funds were
just kind of going crazy, and so it was like
we had a single line phone system, so it just
ring and then if nobody was there, ring to the
next scene. So it was like you go home and
like not want to talk on the phone ever. And

(02:31):
it was just it was kind of wild how busy
it was. We also had answering machines like apes that
recorded the voicemails at night, and so some of us
would transcribe the tapes, and sometimes when it was got
so busy, we'd actually have people stay of the night.

Speaker 2 (02:45):
To flip the tapes because they's so full. We had
this whole bank. Yeah, it was.

Speaker 3 (02:50):
It was a really like wild time. And then an
opportunity presented itself. We had a manager at the time
who did all the programming and all of the network
and all of that kind of stuff. And so when
I started, we were on a coactual network, which if
you're not familiar with that, that's like where it's stacy
chain together and network cards were not a thing really

(03:12):
yet for regular business. So he needed some help and
I was like, I've never done anything like that, but
I'm pretty smart, so I think I could figure it out.
And if not, you're no worse off. You can hire somebody, right,
So that traveled me into it, and I spent bot
I mean I still spend a lot of time really

(03:32):
and it because everything's it now. But I spent probably
good twenty years of my career here in a combo
of IT and sales and marketing with customer service thrown
in kind of everywhere. But that was really the path
that took me onto a lot of trouble and a
lot of opportunity sales and marketing, also going to shows

(03:56):
meeting radio people. So Talkers started, I think in ninety nine,
and we went to the first one and had our
little booth and met all these different radio hosts over
in New York, and so as a twenty something year old,
it was very like star struck. So that was the

(04:16):
path over the time, and as far as like lessons learned,
every different place was a lesson a lot of patients,
especially in it, especially when it was dial up in
PC anywhere, and all of those things, so and persistence
and patients, and then how to treat customers. I think

(04:38):
the company was founded very much on how we treat
people and not trying to just get a sale, always
taking care of the customer, even if that means telling
them we don't have the right product for them, and
so nobody's on commission as far as that kind of
stuff goes, and we always support the sale after we
have people calling twenty years later that still have a

(04:59):
radio that they've that long ago, and we still do
our best to service that or serve them.

Speaker 1 (05:05):
That's awesome. All those different experiences probably got you ready
for the role in your now, So that's awesome to be.

Speaker 2 (05:10):
So you know, if anything you can see you ready for.

Speaker 1 (05:14):
That's true. So I know Sea Crane's been around for
almost more than four decades. What do you think is
kept the company so strong and relevant even with the
ever changing technology that's around.

Speaker 3 (05:29):
I think I think the service is a big part
of it. I think the commitment to quality and also
really knowing the customer and understanding radio. And so the founder,
Bob Crane is avid radio listener, and so that when
he was designing the products, it was very much with

(05:52):
the intent of making things in a way where it
was like they would know that this was done just
for those people that were just love radio, whether it's
where the buttons are positioned, understanding that you're like in
the middle of the night, trying to fumble around, and
so making it easy, making the displays work in certain ways.
I think that's a big part. And then the reliability.

(06:14):
You know, radio works when nothing else does. All the
technology and all the things sometimes can get overwhelming too
and be complicated, and it's like do you really want
to download one more up? Do you really want to
fill in one more form? I think people enjoy the
simplicity of it. You just turn it on and it works,

(06:34):
and they kind of all not work exactly the same,
but similarly so, it's not like you're having to get
a PhD in radio every time.

Speaker 1 (06:43):
If you get one, it's so true. I love that
philosophy of having that passion for radio but also for
the consumer. And I know that you've emphasized really having
that high quality product, that attention to detail you just
kind of took us through, and obviously the joy for
being able to bring that to the customer. Can you
share an example of how that mission has shaped one

(07:05):
of your products.

Speaker 3 (07:07):
Yeah, So the recent one, the CC Radio Bluetooth. We
had an original version that didn't have the bluetooth, and
everybody was like, this is great if it only had Bluetooth,
or if it only you know, and so we did that,
and we also made a couple other changes along with it,
as far as like some of the way the buttons
were set up and the way that some of our

(07:28):
instructions read and really listened to our customers about that,
and so now it has Bluetooth and we're always trying
to do that. Then we also the CC Radio three
button placement. It was like, oh, if you're going to
add Bluetooth, it would be great if we didn't have
to cycle through everything, and so they actually split them
into two separate buttons so that people got their their preference.

Speaker 1 (07:53):
Yeah, it's great to see how you guys take the
feedback from the customer and incorporate it into your products.

Speaker 3 (07:59):
Yeah, we're I think I think we're really good at that.
You can't always do it. Sometimes cost comes into play
and it just becomes like, well, we would love to
do that, and there's or there's not the same demand
for certain features that people would like. But as a whole,
we really do try to listen to that, and then
we we do on that detail side. If you go

(08:21):
and read our reviews online, you'll see people say and
the instructions manual is actually in English and it does
what you know, the rip product says you can follow along,
and it's actually accurate because we write them here and
so all the staff here is involved in that. There's
people that talk to the customers that edit, so we

(08:41):
get feedback from our team also and incorporate that like, hey,
this part is really hard for the customer. We're constantly
having to do it. And then we have FAQs also
that we for the same reason, so we're constantly trying
to listen and respond and well.

Speaker 1 (08:58):
It definitely shows you can tell from from the narrative
you're telling us right now, So it's I mean to
be proud of. So I know Secraine helps improve how
well listeners can receive station signals and really strengthens that
connection between stations and their audiences. Why is that supporting
that connection so important to you?

Speaker 3 (09:18):
Ah, we feel like our radio is an underserved market
and we always feel like it has been especially am
You know, it's huge. I don't think people realize how
big it still is. People are listening maybe a little
differently now, maybe they're listening through a stream, but a
lot of our customers still listen even on a stream
on a radio. So we've found that helping listeners get

(09:44):
what they want how they want. It is really important
because they have a sense of community and like a
sense of trust with that station. A lot of the
people that we talk to, they listen every day. You know,
they're very loyal and very committed. In some cases, they've
listen and for years, like decades in some cases because

(10:05):
some of these hosts have had the same slot with
the same time frame were Yeah, decades. I mean the
Coast to coast for example with now George Nori started
with Art Bell. So it's been on the entire time
that I've been at Sea Crane and we've been a
supporter of that and so we just we've that connection

(10:25):
and that community and then from the station side of
just being kind of one of the only American radio
companies that supports radio in that way through advertising dollars,
but also the product itself, So helping people get their signal,
which is something that we think is, Yeah, if they

(10:46):
want to listen, they should be able to.

Speaker 1 (10:47):
Yeah, for sure, one hundred percent. And I know that
something you believe in is that every home should have
a reliable radio. What role do you see radios playing
in today's digital first world?

Speaker 3 (10:59):
Yeah, so I think that we're very reliant on digital first,
and we've seen in recent weeks everywhere, so in Texas
recently with the flooding with Maui and the fires with
LA and the fires with North Carolina and the hurricane,

(11:21):
nothing worked. Radio was it that was all that worked
and you had boots on the ground people that were
able to provide information that's local. I mean, it's great
if you have even if your Internet is working, if
it's not telling you information that's actually valid and valuable
to you because it's telling you where the shelters are,

(11:42):
what's open, what streets are closed? Can I go here
or there? Then it's really not very useful if you're
in that immediate situation. And so we found time and
again over the period of time that we've been in
radio is that that's where radio really can shine in
this digital first. On the other side of it, I

(12:03):
think there's a portion and it's interesting to see even
a younger generation now kind of starting to lean in
to not wanting to be the product. And so they're
tired of being everything tracking, you know, your microphone listening,
everything being tracked, and radio isn't that, and so it's
a way to be anonymous still and to listen to

(12:26):
what you want. And so if you want to listen
to conservative and you want to listen to liberal, it
doesn't really matter.

Speaker 2 (12:30):
Nobody's going to know. Nobody can then market to you
in particular way.

Speaker 3 (12:35):
So I think that there's definitely a piece of that
that that resonates with the audience.

Speaker 1 (12:43):
What do you think makes Secreting different from other manufacturers.

Speaker 3 (12:47):
I think one of the big things is that we
listen to the radio. I think that a lot of
people don't, and so that's that's a big part. I
think the other part is our commitment to the customer
and the quality. But we're also, again American based, and
so most of our competition, I think there's only one

(13:08):
or two, and most of those are in very specialty
markets that are American based, so therefore and owned. And
so obviously when you're coming from a different country, there's
a different perspective as far as what's important, and then
how the product performs is different, because boy, when we
test stuff like in development stage, it performs much differently

(13:31):
overseas than it does here because our properties of everything
are much different. Just even from a distance perspective, you know,
so I think those those are some of the things
I think also understanding. Like one of the things that
we really focus on is voice focused audio because we
feel like there's a lot of music out there right,

(13:52):
Like there's different products that you can buy from music.
There's all the speaker systems and all the things that
are again very focused on that, and so we've focused
on voice, which has expanded. So a voice used to
be just for the radio, and now there's podcasts and
there's audio books, and so if you're doing Bluetooth our product,
I mean, I listen all the time to our CC

(14:14):
Solar Blue Tooth in my kitchen audio books because those
are one of my favorites and podcasts and they sound
amazing compared to like, my son has this speaker and
he's like, actually that sounds terrible because it's so basy,
you know, you can't.

Speaker 2 (14:28):
Hear the words.

Speaker 1 (14:29):
So what where do you see the company heading? What's
next in the next five to ten years? Are there
any new products or markets you're you're especially excited about.

Speaker 3 (14:39):
Yeah, So it's interesting. It's an interesting time in radio
because it's it's certainly not like a from a product side,
It's not like a huge growth market. As far as
new goes from the product side, though, we do we
we have been working on a looking at We're still
investigating because it's not easy and it's gotten more challenging

(15:02):
with all of the things that are going on with
importing and exporting and chips and all of that. But
American radio or at least some capacity of that, so
that that's been a long term goal for the company.
I don't know if we'll be able to pull it off.
We're in the throes of trying to figure out that.

(15:25):
Other than that, we also are working on a new
Wi fi radio, and that one would be more supportive
of podcasting. And so the cool thing about our WiFi
radios is they organize the content by genre or by
station and so people can search. So it's kind of
an aggregating so you don't have to go find all
the different stations online or find this app and search

(15:48):
through everything. It gives you a little more condensed, I
guess version for you to sort through, because twenty five
thousand stations can be very overalled.

Speaker 1 (15:57):
Yeah, that can be overwhelming.

Speaker 3 (15:59):
And the same thing with podcasts. You know, people get
in there and they're like, oh, there's so many.

Speaker 1 (16:03):
Yeah, like what I'm going.

Speaker 2 (16:05):
To listen to?

Speaker 3 (16:06):
Yeah, So I think that that's very very much is
what we're doing. And then we do have some stuff
that we're working on that's totally unrelated to radio that
I can't share yet.

Speaker 2 (16:17):
No problem.

Speaker 3 (16:18):
That part is a big pivot and so something that
that's been in progress for about eight years.

Speaker 2 (16:24):
So but I'm sure that we will.

Speaker 1 (16:26):
Be marketing he.

Speaker 3 (16:29):
Yes, hopefully very soon. And I'm sure we'll be marketing
it on the radio, just because that's where our roots are.

Speaker 1 (16:34):
I love that. Now. I'm sure throughout your journey, as
many ups as there's been, I'm sure there's been some
challenges along the way. Thinking about your time at Secraine,
what has been one of the toughest challenges that you
faced and how did you navigate it and learn from it?

Speaker 2 (16:49):
Oh?

Speaker 3 (16:50):
Yeah, I saw that question. I was like, boy, you're
gonna you're gonna hit hard there. Honestly, I mean, like
from the business side, I took over the company in
twenty twenty two and officially, but I started that journey

(17:10):
in twenty seventeen, twenty eighteen where I said twenty eighteen
where I said yes, and then COVID happened where yeah,
and that was really like its own challenge, like where
everything felt like a life or death you know, and

(17:31):
like what do we do with our team members and
how do we support yes, like, so that part was
was very challenging. We did well during that time. We
were very fortunate. When people think the world's going to end,
radio does particularly well, at least it has in the past.
This time though right now, I think for me personally,
the tariffs have been really really challenging, probably more so

(17:54):
than anything, just because from the timeframe perspective, it was
like our right, well, you have nine.

Speaker 2 (18:00):
Days right to figure this out.

Speaker 3 (18:05):
Yeah, and we're working on six and eight month lead times,
so like nothing is nine days, nothing's thirty days, nothing's
ninety days. And then you add that into the mix
and so then our manufacturers are also dealing with that,
and so there's their delays and just you know, kind

(18:26):
of piggybacks and then just figuring out like what does
cash flow look like? And for me, I didn't have
that background. So I did not have a degree in
business or any background in finance or any of that.
So for me, that's been kind of the biggest learning
curve of figuring out like how to make sure we
have the money that we need to do the things
that we need to do and that we can be

(18:46):
stable as a company, and then also figuring out too
with like you said, the digital first shift. We've even
seen it in our operations side where not people don't
call as much.

Speaker 2 (18:58):
Like they used to.

Speaker 3 (18:59):
They still call, but they don't call the same So
the work has shifted. And so you know, when you've
always done things a certain way, it's it's and we
have a lot of people that have been here a
long time that part is challenging too of to like
I think we called it shooting your Dave Ramsey calls
it shooting your sacred cows. And you end up with

(19:19):
a lot when you've been in business for a long
time of things like well, we've always done it that
way or whatever, instead of challenging all those belief systems.

Speaker 2 (19:26):
To go, well, how should we do it?

Speaker 3 (19:29):
Like if we were starting from scratch and we didn't
know anything, how would we do and how could we
best serve the customer? How can we bust build a product?
I know we've always done it that way. And then
also not like taking out all the things that you've
learned that have served you really well from a quality
control perspective, from a financial perspective, to make sure you
know you're being a good steward. So that part has

(19:52):
been from a learning perspective, probably the most challenging. But
as far as like actual stuff and then people is
is challenging. You know, personal stuff, everybody's got it. And
we've had a lot of people here with people who
have lost parents, We've had people who have lost kids,
people who have lost siblings, and we're so small, it's

(20:14):
a very tight knit group.

Speaker 1 (20:15):
And that's impactful.

Speaker 2 (20:17):
Yeah, So.

Speaker 3 (20:19):
Learning how to be a good leader in those situations
and care and still run the business so important. It's
it's very it's a it's a balance, right, and so
I think it's something that we we strive for is
to to really treat our people well here because we
find that we treat our people well, they treat people

(20:42):
to have and so but like I said, learning curves
all the way around as far as that stuff goes.
Because I just I didn't have that background and grow
up in in that that way.

Speaker 2 (20:52):
So that's been.

Speaker 1 (20:54):
You've definitely had an impressive journey though for anyone that
might be tuning in that are gain to grow within
their current company, what advice would you give them, based
on your own experience.

Speaker 2 (21:06):
Say yes.

Speaker 3 (21:07):
I mean, honestly, I tell my kids that the opportunities
present themselves to everybody, not everybody says yes. So people
will say that, well, you just got lucky, or I
haven't seen that to be true. I mean, yes, sometimes
there's a bit of luck you're in the right place
at the right time. But a big part of it,
I believe, is saying yes even when you're not ready,

(21:30):
even when you don't think like you have the skill set.
I always love it when people say, you know, there's
somebody way less qualified, way less smart, and they're doing
more than you are because they did it. And that's
really I think a huge part of how you grow
in a company. And then too you find out what
you don't want to do, Like I was really good

(21:52):
at it. Coding is soul sucking to me. I would
never want to do that day and day out there
and so but you know, you wouldn't know that, Like
I find that that's like your joy life. I am
one of my coworkers like he just lit up when
the button did the thing that he just coded it

(22:14):
to do. And I'm like, I am so glad that
that you love that, because you should do that all
the time.

Speaker 2 (22:19):
And I'll do all of this stuff over here.

Speaker 3 (22:22):
But yeah, So I think that that you learn about
yourself when you say yes and you do the scary thing,
and you say yes to travel too. I think that's
another one because a lot of people are afraid to
do that, but you, again, you get to see so
much and you gained so much perspective, and you meet
such amazing people, and the opportunities then open up differently

(22:44):
when you're willing to say.

Speaker 1 (22:46):
Yes, that's awesome. We we touched on this a little
bit earlier, and I know that you're you and your
company's dedication to customer service is extremely important. You have
a culture of dedication and making sure that your team
has ex in customer care. How do you maintain that
for people that might have bought the product twenty years
ago and are still coming back every single year.

Speaker 2 (23:08):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (23:09):
So we have a shelf kind of like this that
has all the products that we've kind of the flagship
stuff and even some of the random that we still support.
We have all of our instructure manuals. But we also
have company training. So just recently we've stopped for a
bit really can figure out our phone system changes. But

(23:30):
we had weekly company meetings and so all hands on deck, everybody,
and we would go through the products, we would go
through changes, we would talk about what's going on with
the company, we would go over numbers, and so we
try to run things very transparently. We also talk about
customer service challenges like what are you facing, how did

(23:50):
you solve it? A lot of coaching that would take place,
especially peer coaching, from like, oh, you know, if we
have a new team member, how they handle that challenging situation,
or maybe a customer that wasn't super happy about something.
What are some ideas that we could come up with.
And then we also I shared this as someone I've

(24:11):
I kind of I take for granted because I've been
here for so long, but we also have a large
group of blind customers, and so we actually that was
something Bob's been very intentional about when designing the products,
of making them as friendly as possible. And so button
placement there's typically like a raised button or some sort

(24:31):
of reference point so people can and then we have
audio instructions available done by another blind customers, so for
the with the tones and everything, and then we train
that way, so we will blindfold people and then have
they have to walk each other through because your instruction
looks much different when you're actually having to be that

(24:54):
person and instruct that person and watch what they're doing.
So we found that it just even if it doesn't
make us like super great at it all the time,
I think I feel like we are, but I'm biased,
but it does give you more patience and more compassion.
And so we have a lot of customers too that
are older and they maybe their site isn't as as

(25:16):
good so they're not blind, but they don't they can't
maybe read the instructions as well. So I feel like
we have a team that is super patient and not
patronizing and just very generous with their time and their
knowledge and willing to sit with the customer and walk
through what needs to happen. We try to make the

(25:37):
products as easy as possible so we don't have to
do as much of that. That's that's one of Michaels
is like try to reduce the calls so that we
so that we don't have as many calls.

Speaker 1 (25:46):
You guys have that we do have it. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
We talked a little bit about what's to come and
innovations for Secret, But what's next for you? What do
you have on the horizon personally?

Speaker 3 (25:57):
Oh, personally, While that's a great question. So it's funny.
I was just talking with my life coach recently about that, like,
what's the second act? You know, I'm I turned fifty
this year, so it's kind of like a you know,
midpoint potentially hopefully.

Speaker 1 (26:17):
Yeah, absolutely, yeah, And I'm.

Speaker 3 (26:21):
I don't know if unique is the right word, but
I have littles all the way. So my youngest is
seven and my oldest is twenty eight. Wow, and I
have four And so that creates its own interesting dynamic
because I'm not where other people maybe would be just

(26:43):
for a decision making standpoint of being able to just
be like, oh, I'm gonna go do this other thing
completely because I still have these responsibilities over here. But
I have been interested in podcasting and talking about just
things that I feel like, again underserved, and so that
may be something that I persue. And then as far

(27:05):
as here goes, we have like I said, that new
product coming, uh, new vertical, and so I'm very passionate
about what we're what we're working towards, and then continuing
to serve and figuring out how to set up the
company in a way that it can continue whether I'm
here or not. That's one of my big goals, not
just for the company, but also for the team here,
so that it's not reliant on my skill set or

(27:28):
my me personally. Maybe the skill set has to be here,
but it doesn't have to be me personally.

Speaker 1 (27:33):
So that's it's always a great trait.

Speaker 3 (27:38):
Like go on long term being maybe in the next
like three years, we can figure that out.

Speaker 1 (27:42):
So that's awesome. What is one thing you want people
to take away about C crane story? What would that be?

Speaker 3 (27:53):
I think Sea Crane's story, especially if I look at
my Bom and Sue. I can't speak for them, but
I witnessed it, so that we're lifelong learners something I've
always admired about the company, and I'm very much that person,
and I think a lot of the people here are that,
and that's why they stayed because they get a lot

(28:13):
of opportunities to do all these different things and then
perseverance and courage it takes to actually say yes and
these things and then to be in such a niche market. Yeah,
I think that those would be and then like we

(28:33):
actually really do care. I mean, I know people like
that's the cliche and.

Speaker 1 (28:36):
People say that come through throughout our conversation.

Speaker 3 (28:40):
But we really do. We really try to create a
culture of care and hope that translates into monetary but
that's not really the point. The point is to take
care of the customers. And I mean, obviously we're in business,
so we need to be able to stay in business.
But it really is to serve.

Speaker 1 (28:58):
Yep, it's that ripple effect. Take care of them. They're
going to take care of you, guys. I completely agree.
So finally, if someone is tuning in then they want
to learn more about C. Craine or their products, what
should they do?

Speaker 3 (29:09):
Yeah, so they can go to our website. Our website
is ccrane dot com, which is c c R A
n E dot com, or they can call or eight
hundred number at eight hundred five two two eight eight
six three. We are open Monday through Friday eight fifteen
two five pm and I think we take an hour lunch.

(29:31):
I'm the worst when it comes to that part. Like
the details because I don't have to do any of
the scheduling or any of that anymore. But if you
go to our website, you can see what the hours are.
If we aren't here and you have to leave a voicemail,
we do call back and you will get a live.

Speaker 2 (29:43):
Person that's in the US. And yeah, so that's what
we do.

Speaker 1 (29:48):
That's awesome, Jessica. Thank you so much for being here today.
Thank you so much for taking us all through your journey,
Cecane's journey, and we're really excited to see what's next.

Speaker 2 (29:57):
Thank you very much. I appreciate you having me. It's
been a play sure.

Speaker 1 (30:00):
Absolutely, and thank you everybody for tuning into this week's
edition of CEOs. You should now tune in next week.