LookoutRI Johnny's Back Episode 06 - Legacy

Johnny shares why Taco mission is about much more than the products it makes.

Episode Transcript

(00:06):
This is Lookout Rhode Island -Johnny's Back.
I'm Matt Boline.
Thank you for joining us on a ten-minuteleadership journey with Rhode Island
manufacturers and business owner JohnHazen White, Jr.
Johnny, though different from his fatherin many ways,
understood that Taco ComfortSolutions had a larger responsibility
in its operation than to the productsit made.

(00:28):
A principle that has steered its leadersfor more than three generations.
My grandfatherand my father were world class sailors.
My dad was actually world championin the Star boat class,
which at the timewas the class of the class.
And so they had a close relationshipthat way.
My father was ultimately a DepressionEra guy.

(00:51):
He was a guythat wouldn't spend two nickels
if he didn't absolutely have to.
So he made things work the way they did.
I have had a totally different philosophy.
I've spent a lot of money to invest
in this companyfor the purpose of sustaining it.
But I will tell you thoughit was a different era in this respect.

(01:12):
Because Taco never made any money.
Never lost any money.
I mean it didn't it wasn't a loser.
But it wasn't you know,if you look at public corporations
and how we measure performance now,you know, financially and everything.
You know Taco was always your 1%kind of company, right.
The way he ranthe business was to do exactly

(01:34):
what a family business was to do.
It employed a lot of people.
Never missed a paycheck.
And those people's families grew,
developed, got educated.
He really without spending two nickels,he did a heck of a job
bringing the company along.
And so I've come to understand that.
He loved these employees.

(01:54):
He loved the people hereand treated them well.
To this day,
if you go out there,I mean, you're going to find people
that worship himand the ground he walked on.
And so that saysa lot about his interaction.
I think his relationshipwith the employees.
Back to the things you learn from people.
In the case of my father,I learned a lot of great things.
I also learned some things that I wouldn'tnecessarily perpetuate.

(02:19):
I watched him for many,many years in this company.
He had more ideas and more things
going on than any human beingI've ever known in my life.
He was quite entrepreneurial.
I would watch him have an idea
and bring in five, ten,20 people to something
all of a sudden today,this morning, and captivate these people.

(02:42):
100% for a week.
So nothing else got done.
We'd be running around doing the marketingand the engineering
and the everything elseon some idea he had.
And the next Monday he’d come and say,you know, forget that I got another idea.
And so ultimately,a lot of things just never got done.
I was watching people do exactlywhat they were told, not what they wanted.

(03:04):
You know,we would walk out of those environments
with him and people say, “Jesus,here we go again.”
I took that away in my lifeand decided I'm not going to do that.
I didn't want people having
to bounce from pillar to post not knowingwhere they were going to be next week.
I wanted consistency.
So I focused on succeeding at thingswith people and all's I provided.

(03:25):
There was a little leadership.
And that proved to me to be good.
Because whether something ended upworking out well or not, it was done.
Through witnessing a leader'sdamaging habits, Johnny unlocked a lesson.
The importance of self-awarenessand harmony.
The new idea raised in a meetingmay not be his, and it may not be perfect,

(03:46):
but embracing an employee's inputwould boost morale,
create more ideas,and ultimately lead to Taco’s success.
From the beginning of my tenure, ofof kind of running the place.
Before that I was just one of the soldierswalking around, marching all over.
But when I began running the place,what did I have?
I had a broken down a little company.

(04:08):
It was it was a it was a good companybut it was pretty broke.
And my dad gaveme the reins to to run. But
all asI knew to fall back on were the people.
And I always I always believe thatif people are happy and safe
and their familieshave the chance to grow and prosper,
the rest is going to happen.

(04:29):
You know, we've got 500 people herethat are gainfully employed, that
have a job and a good placeand and and their family.
There's so many people I canI could take you...
who whose families have been educated,housed, fed.
You know,as a result of this little machine.
You know and, you know Matt,I tell you, I'm not a business man.
I didn't have a business educationreally formally.

(04:49):
I've had some some of the one-offcourses here and there.
But but I was an English major.
So all of my success here,whatever that is,
and it's not all been successful,it's been sometimes questionable.
But anything that's happened to me,
particularly the good things, I attribute

(05:11):
to thefact that those people gave me a chance.
They supported me
and I'm grateful for that and I'll giveback to that to the best of my ability.
The magic that Taco hasis that it's privately owned.
Because come a bad time,
unless it's catastrophic,I can ride that out.

(05:32):
The public guy who's drivenby giving a return to the investors and I
understand, I mean, Taco’s responsiblefor giving a return to me, right?
I mean, I'm the investor.
But we can ride those times out.
I'm not going to go slashing and burningjust to get through the next three months.
I've seen that, though.
I've seen that side of things.
And it's just, I can't imagine beingthe person that gets slashed and burned.

(05:55):
There goes your family.
You're house, your car, whateverit is, your education for your kids.
It's just sad to think about
driving the business by the numbers.
2018 was a great example.
2017 we really hit thewe really hit the skids.
I mean, we just were damn lucky.

(06:15):
we still have a company.
And do you know, going through 2018,turning that around and it was by the way,
the banks will tell you,
my banks will tell you that it's possiblythe biggest single turnaround
they've short in a short period timethey've ever seen in their careers.
Okay. And
and in point of fact,
we never let go one person.

(06:38):
I totally, totally believeand this is proven itself to be right.
If people are happyand safe and committed,
the numbers will happen,you know, no matter what.
I've spoken with his employeesand asked his leaders.
Johnny, they say, stands by those words.
On the next Lookout Rhode Island,for Johnny

(07:01):
it's how you perceive problemsthat make slaying them less daunting.
With a commitment to understandingand the drive to knocking them down,
he often greetsbig issues with a big smile.
LookoutRhode Island is produced by Beauline
Media and was recorded in Cranston,Rhode Island.
It was written by Dylan Gerber, MelissaCarden, Bradley Glenn and Matt Boline.

(07:23):
Original Music and recordingsby Ray Memery.
Editing by Billy Florio.
Technical guidance by Matt Ohnemus.
Connect with us on socialand check out Lookout.com.
Thank you for sharing your storiesand comments with us.
Keep them coming.
Johnny would like to thank his sons.
Johnny, who gave him the couragewhen he was alive to do what he's done.

(07:46):
And Ben, who upholds the pledge.
To his wifeLiz, daughters-in-law, Kirsten and Kate.
To his granddaughters, Madison Marie White
and Winona Rose White,who keep the future bright.
To his best friends,whose caring and kindness uplift him.
And to all the employees of TacoComfort Solutions,
who simply gave him a chanceto be himself.

(08:09):
Thank you all for listening.