June 2, 2025 • 46 mins
Step into the greenhouse of Idaho’s most enduring family business as Callie Zamzow opens up about the 92-year journey of Zamzows – from accidental beginnings to becoming a beloved institution with 12 thriving locations across the Boise Valley.
The story begins with a missed train when Callie’s great-grandfather stepped off in Meridian for a sandwich and couldn’t get back on – a fortunate mishap that planted the seeds for generations of entrepreneurship. From those humble Depression-era beginnings mixing animal feed on the ground with shovels, the Zamzow family built their legacy one bag at a time, with Callie’s grandmother literally hand-stitching each one.
Today, Callie Zamzow serves as Co-CEO of Zamzows, as well as Dynamite Specialty Products and Zamzow Family Holdings. A Boise State biology graduate, she’s co-led the family businesses since 2004 alongside her father Jim, brother Joss, and husband Clint Scott. With her 18-year-old daughter heading off to college this fall, Callie reflects on the evolution of leadership, legacy, and what it means to truly grow something lasting.
Callie brings us into the fascinating world of her father Jim, the “mad scientist” whose passion for soil health and plant nutrition led to the creation of hundreds of innovative products. His deep understanding of the relationship between microbes, nutrients, and plants became the foundation for staples like “Tomato Boom” that local gardeners swear by. This commitment to soil health isn’t just marketing – it’s a core philosophy that drives everything they do.
After initially resisting the family legacy—including a stint as a stockbroker at Merrill Lynch—Callie describes the moment when returning to Zamzows finally “clicked.” Over the last 25 years, she’s carved out her own leadership identity, one that honors her family’s rich tradition while embracing innovation, clear communication, and personal growth.
What truly sets this conversation apart is Callie’s wisdom about growing not just plants, but people. With around 200 employees during peak seasons, she’s cultivated a workplace culture grounded in passion for animals, plants, and sustainability. The result? A team of true experts who love what they do and the customers they serve.
Outside of work, Callie is also a watercolor artist, writer, podcaster, speaker, and golfer—proof that leadership, like gardening, flourishes when nurtured with creativity and balance.
Want to dig into more garden wisdom? Zamzows is launching a new podcast called The Nobody Knowz this summer, continuing their legacy of practical, region-specific gardening knowledge for Idaho’s unique growing conditions. Subscribe now to grow alongside this remarkable family business.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Today on the Ever Onward podcast we have Callie
Zamzo.
She is the CEO of Zamzo's 12locations here in the Valley,
92-year-old family businessstarted by her
great-grandparents.
We've been wanting to have heron for a while this is one of
our pillar local companies totalk about her family business,
the growth of the business andwhat she does here in the
community as a philanthropist.
(00:20):
Can't wait to hear today fromCallie Zamzo.
Prior to hearing from Callie,we will have Mark Cleverley and
Holt Haga giving us an Allquistupdate.
Good morning.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Mark Cleverley, chief Leasing Officer with Allquist,
here with Holt Haga.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Holt Haga, vp Leasing Allquist.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Development.
It's been a few weeks since wedid an update here and driving
in this morning I thought wecould give a quick update on 10
Mile.
So by the time this thing hitsthe streets this update we will
be the owners of additional 34acres out at 10 Mile.
We already own 78 acres, sowe'll own a total of 112 acres
(01:04):
out there.
Yeah, so I thought it'd be goodto go through, um, just kind of
where we're at and um kind ofwhat we're seeing and in the
position that we're in right now.
So if you want to give a quickupdate, I'll kind of talk a
little bit too about the entire10 mile area, but give us an
update yeah, well, you know it's, it's interesting.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
Um, I remember when we, like when you look at
projects we're working on, youknow, 10 mile crossing, and I
think this is back in 2017, whenyou know tommy started looking
westward and and had you know, Ithink we started targeting this
piece back in like 2017 or 2018.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Yeah, it was back when we were still with Gardner.
I remember working on it.
It was like 2016.
It was really when Paylocitycame to town, I mean, and we had
no.
I mean we had to find a spotfor him.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
We had to find a spot , yeah, and so it was the east
side of 10 Mile and the freewayon the east side.
And no sooner did we.
I think we had just deliveredPalocity and we were looking at
our second project when Tommywas like, hey, there's this
other piece over across 10 Milewe need to look at.
Yeah, and I don't know, thatwas maybe a year or two later,
maybe 2018, 19.
But just thinking about it, howlong it actually takes for
(02:24):
these things to, like, getmomentum and, you know, come to
fruition.
I think that was the first timewe made a run at.
It was back then, and so we'vebeen looking at this piece of
property for a long time.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
It was kind of assembled two pieces, but it's a
great project, it's it's.
It's a great project.
It's sort of, I think, when wetook down the first piece and
now we're taking down thisadditional 34 acres, which is
like a grand slam.
It's like checks all the boxes,right, yeah, it's got, it's got
, it's got everything um and soum.
(02:58):
But when you look at where it'spositioned in the valley, it's,
it is.
It's like it's just such astrong project because a it's on
i-84, so you've got the freeway, the exposure, you know 160 000
vehicles per day, highest inthe state, by like three times.
And then it's bookended by the,the two fastest growing sub
markets, you know in our state,right, north meridian and south
(03:21):
meridian, yeah, and so it's justit's incredibly strategically
located and now, with the newHighway 16 corridor going in
right, like you throw a baseballand hit it from this project.
It's just like the positioningof the project.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
I can hit a baseball that far you could throw it.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
I could get it like a quarter of the way there.
I could hit a golf ball Okay.
But it's just like the location.
I think, just starting with thelocation, it's just such a it's
like right in the path ofdevelopment.
And so I think when guys likeyou know, when our team, you
know, steps back and looks atthis and say, what are we going
to do here?
Um, is this going to be asuccessful project?
How long is it going to take tostabilize Um, these are all
(03:59):
things that we kind of consider.
But but the location in and ofitself, fundamentally speaking,
is really as good as it gets forthe unit mix and the product
mix that we're talking about,and we can dive into that too.
But you know, it's kind of gotthe project overall kind of has
everything right.
It's like we've got residential, we've got some industrial,
we're going to have office,we've got hotels, and then we've
(04:20):
got kind of this like retailpower center that we're working
on Correct and I wish I meanwe'll be ready soon to announce
all these groups.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
We're close, we're not quite ready.
Yeah, we're not going to jumpthe gun today.
As soon as we can.
I mean, I think people will see.
Oh yeah, it makes a ton ofsense why all this activity has
come here.
Right, so backing up to 10 milecrossing really quick I know we
don't have a lot of time, butreally quickly we built about a
(04:54):
million square feet of office.
There's nearly a thousand unitsof multifamily.
We met with Shields.
I remember flying into Fargo,north Dakota, almost 10 years
ago it was like nine years ago.
Flying in.
It was one of the scariestflights of my life.
We don't need to get into that,but it was.
(05:15):
So.
That took time, right.
I mean that took like seven,eight years to even finally get
them to open their store.
So you got Shields over therewho, like what we're hearing
about their daily visits andtheir annual visits is off the
charts.
And then you go across thestreet and what we're going to
add to that is going to beamazing.
(05:38):
It's going to be whereeverybody wants to congregate.
It's going to be I mean people,I mean you talk about live work
, play wants to congregate.
It's going to be.
I mean people, I mean you talkabout live work, play.
It truly is.
That entire area of 10 milestruly is a mixed use live, work,
play, right, I mean it's, it's.
It's really cool to be a partof um.
We're set to close on ittomorrow, may 15th.
(05:59):
Um so excited to get I mean tocontinue to work at 10 Mile.
Right, we filled out of themillion square feet that we have
out there.
We're 100% leased, 100%.
We are one like there is novacancy in our office buildings
out there, which is incredible,right.
I mean you look at the officemarket in general and you hear
(06:21):
it nationally and people come toour market and they're like how
do you guys do it?
Like well, I mean, you'restrategically located in great
projects and we live in a statewhere people want to go to work.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Yeah, yeah, you've got the simple as that Right and
you've got a such a critical,fundamental macro economic
driver which is probably thestrongest economic driver
population growth, yeah, I mean.
I mean we've got like thisfunnel of demand and so really
it's like we kind of have todeal more with the supply side
of the equation and so it'sreally just, are we overbuilt,
(06:53):
underbuilt, are we built toequilibrium?
But really it's like the demandside is there.
It's kind of interesting.
We're very fortunate to findourselves in that position, yeah
, yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Love it.
Well, it's going to be excitingto talk about 10 Mile here in
the near future too.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
It's probably worth bringing up too.
Just on the retail side, likewe've done, you know, kind of
our initial, like you know, wego out to very specific sort of
uses and groups and restaurantsand companies that we really
want to see there.
Yeah, and we've got commitmentsfrom those groups for a handful
of the pads.
But we're also going to havemulti-tenant retail buildings
that we're going to be coming.
We haven't come to market withthose yet, we're going to be
(07:31):
coming to market with those.
We will have space that is forlease class, a retail space in
this power center that we willbe announcing some very exciting
anchors and all that.
But more to come, obviously,and we're excited to sort of
bring all this to fruition andcome to market with all this
stuff.
Yep, love it.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Thanks, man, cool Good update.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Callie, thank you so much for coming on today.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
Hey, it's my pleasure .
Speaker 1 (08:07):
This will be fun.
Speaker 4 (08:08):
I think so too.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
This will be fun.
Well, it's fun to spend sometime.
I've spent a lot of time inyour stores.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
Oh well, thank you, we appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
No, I think it's just a staple here in the Valley and
your family.
The ads on the radio.
Speaker 4 (08:24):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
There's a lot to talk about, but let's start by just
telling us a little bit aboutthe family business when it
started, and just a little bitabout you, okay.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
Well, so we Zanzos is a 90, I think we're at 92 years
now.
Started in 1933 by mygreat-grandparents.
Both of them had come here withtheir families, so that's the
first generation of Idahoans.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Where did they come from?
Speaker 4 (08:52):
One came from Minnesota and the other one came
from Missouri, I think.
Yeah, yeah, interesting storiesthere too.
My great-grandfather.
Actually.
He stowed away on a train withhis brother and they were headed
to California actually, andthey stopped off in Meridian and
my grandfather, mygreat-grandfather, stepped off
(09:12):
the train to go get a sandwichand when he came back the train
was moving and he couldn't getback on the train and so he
stayed here in Meridian andthat's how he ended up here.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
What a great story.
Yeah, it's wild and then.
So then and talk about, I mean,coming out West just looking
for a new life, looking for, youknow, opportunity.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
Exactly, yeah, I think they his brother ended up
being a garlic farmer.
I think that's what they wereending up to.
They wanted to get toCalifornia and be farmers and
just get away from home.
And they had a lot.
There were a lot of childrenand I think they just figured
out they needed to headsomewhere else.
So kind of interesting how theyended up here very accidentally
.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Yeah, and then talk about the start of the business.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
So 1933, heart of the Depression, my
great-grandmother andgreat-grandfather had a farm.
It's actually where the automall is, near the mall.
That's where their farm was.
My great-grandfather decidedthat they needed to sell it in
order to make ends meet.
They sold it and ended upbuying.
The old Snotgrass Mill is whatit was called.
(10:16):
That's the Fairview Avenue storethat is there today so that's
the very first store and theyjust started off by mixing feed.
Literally, they would mix thefeed on the ground with shovels
and then they would bag it upand my grandmother would hand
sew them.
And that's how it all very,very humble, and my brother and
I laugh like they did that for20 years before we got a feed
(10:38):
mill.
Like 20 years they were doingthat.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
That was their work, so started in animal feed ag
base certainly exploded into awhole bunch of everything else.
Speaker 4 (10:48):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
But at that store that's a great story.
Yeah, and then when did itreally start growing?
Speaker 4 (10:54):
Oh gosh, you know, my grandfather grew it a little
bit, and then my father and hisbrother are the ones who
actually ended up really kind ofexpanding and blowing things up
.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
And your father's, jim.
Speaker 4 (11:08):
Jim, yes, the man.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
Jim from the radio Jim the man right.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
Yeah, and talk about the evolution.
It made sense probably becausethey were doing feed.
They had all these people therethat had the need and filled
the need and just kind of keptintegrating vertically with what
made sense, right more intogardening.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
So I think he's the one who began that process of
adding gardening things.
And then my dad is a madscientist.
I mean, if he could just be inhis lab all day, that's what he
would do, and he loves to inventthings and he just does all
these fun trials.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
How old is your dad now.
Speaker 4 (11:48):
Let's see He'll be 78 this year Still running as hard
as ever.
Oh, yeah, very much so.
Yeah, we always laugh thatZamsos never retire, which I'm
not sure that may end with thisgeneration.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
I don't know that it's good for everybody.
Yeah, I agree If you've gotsomething you love and if you're
cranking away and for sure.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
I know that if my dad , if if he wasn't allowed to
continue to invent products, hehe'd be very unhappy.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Gosh, I have so many things I want to ask you, but
let's start there because I knowkind of the science and kind of
the marketing is Idaho soilsproducts for us in the Valley
kind of a slant.
But talk about the sciencebehind it and why he loves it so
much and why it's been soimportant to your growth.
Speaker 4 (12:38):
I think it was people that he met when he was young,
various people that helped himreally understand the soil.
Primarily, that was his bigthing and understanding how
nutrients behave in the soil,how the life that is in the soil
behaves with the nutrients, andthen how the plants behave when
you have the nutrients and thelife in the soil Always been
(13:00):
fascinating to him.
He's got this long list of veryinteresting characters in his
life that have taught himvarious things and he holds onto
that data.
He's a very smart man so he cantell you stories from way back
about all these various thingsthat he learned and how he
learned them.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
What's his educational background?
Speaker 4 (13:16):
various things that he learned and how he learned
them.
What's his educationalbackground?
He went to Boise State, I thinkhe technically, I think he was
actually doing pre-vet medicine.
I think that was the track thathe was on and then his father
really put the pressure on forhim to get a business degree
because he wanted him to work inthe business and I think that
was a turning point for my dad.
So he had enough of the biologyand understanding the science
that he was like okay, that'swhat I like, but I will do this
(13:39):
business.
I'm just going to figure out howto incorporate what I love into
the business.
So there was kind of aninteresting moment in time, I
think, there, where he made thedecision okay, I'll go ahead and
go with the business, but I'mgoing to bring the science with
me, see what we can do.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
So he formulates truly all of the so in full
confession here as a long, long,long time customer, because I
lived for 20 plus years down atChinden and Eagle, okay, and
your store's right down thestreet there, right, so that was
where we went for everything.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Sure.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
So you look at those shelves and the products.
How many products did youdevelop that into?
Speaker 4 (14:14):
I mean, it's it's a lot of them.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Hundreds, I mean it's , it's a lot of them Hundreds.
Speaker 4 (14:19):
I mean it's a lot.
Well, yes, if you include,because so we have the ZAMZO
company, but then we also haveother companies and we
distribute in other ways as wellthat have nothing to do with
ZAMZO.
So, yeah, there literally arehundreds of products that in
some I was laughing with him theother day.
He has one right now that he'sletting go because and he's like
I can't really do anything withit right now because I can't
get anybody to pick up and doanything with and I'm ready to
(14:39):
move on and do something else,and so he actually has some that
we haven't even marketed.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
So it is kind of about the next thing oh, very
much he gets bored.
Speaker 4 (14:48):
Once he figures something out and he really
understands it, then he's like,okay, I've it's, it's
fascinating.
And he always has experiments.
If you go into the lab he will.
He'll come in and say, comelook at this.
And we'll be like, okay, whatam I looking at?
What a fascinating you shouldhave had him on with you.
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
So he just does that's what he does for fun.
And then, and then what's theteam like?
Do you have a team that then Imean it's not as easy as hey
figuring this thing out.
And then I mean talk aboutgo-to-market and those ideas,
and this is an incredible Idahocompany, small business, that's
doing great things.
So how do you scale it then?
Speaker 4 (15:28):
Well, so I think in the beginning, I think he really
tried to find partners whocould do it, but they didn't
understand what he had come upwith.
You know, there wasn't any sortof precedence there.
So then he was like all right,well, we're going to figure out
how to manufacture this at abigger scale.
So for with the fertilizerproducts, he just said, all
right, I'm going to figure thisout.
So he, he's a he's a wonderful,you know, figure it out through
(15:49):
other people.
Like, meet somebody, okay,teach me this.
Okay, Now I understand that andI can do this.
So, yeah, he, he ended upbuilding his own little
fertilizer manufacturing.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
It's the old see one, do one, teach one.
Speaker 4 (15:59):
Yes absolutely.
Yeah, yeah, it's veryinspirational to watch how he
does things, because he just hedoesn't really take no for an
answer, like if something, if hehits a brick wall, he's like,
oh, that didn't work thatdirection, I'm going to try this
direction, and he seems to dothat very well.
A lot to learn from that andtry this direction, and he seems
to do that very well.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
A lot to learn from that.
Yes, yeah, a lot to learn fromthat.
So then, you do have your own.
You have your own.
Do you do a lot of themanufacturing here?
Do you does that get?
Do you have partners in theregion?
Or how do you produce so muchproduct?
Speaker 4 (16:31):
Well, it depends on the product.
But when it comes to thefertilizer, currently we're I
mean, we're pretty close tocapacity right now, honestly.
So we're kind of working onbuilding out, but right now
we're able to do our ownfertilizer.
We handle all that in house,Some of our, you know, we have
the feed mill, the Meridian theold feed mill that's still fully
operational, still kicking outour formulas, and so that
(16:53):
actually has gotten to capacitywhere we have to have toll
millers do some of our millingfor us.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
It's incredible that right there downtown yeah.
It's so amazing how many peopledon't think that it's still a
functioning mill and it's a veryfunctioning mill and it's very
cool because if you think of theheritage of Meridian, I mean
Meridian's grown, I mean I can'teven believe what Meridian's
done right.
Speaker 4 (17:11):
No, it's wild.
And you know, when my, when mygreat-grandfather jumped off the
train and ran into town, he wasprobably running past that mill
as it was being constructed.
The time frame is such that heprobably ran past the
construction site.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
Wow, yeah, and then how long have you owned that
mill?
I'm just thinking, how longafter he ran by it, getting off
the train, your family bought it.
Speaker 4 (17:31):
Yeah, so probably 30 years later, so in the 50s.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (17:35):
Yeah, and actually it was a flour mill originally, so
for human consumption.
So it's a very clean mill.
Everything is made so that itcan be ingested by humans.
So it's a very you know lots ofadded things that a normal mill
wouldn't have.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Are you also in farming too, then, or do you buy
from farmers?
We buy from farmers yeah andthen have I know what you have.
But for those listening, youhave actually.
Can we go to the website here?
So your fertilizer, you got thefeed side, the fertilizer feed.
I'm just fascinated by how youhave so many different things.
(18:10):
I know In a little, it's not alittle family business, it's a
big family business.
But how many employees do youhave?
Speaker 4 (18:18):
Well, it depends on the season.
Right now we're in spring andwe're at about 200.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
So all of this, and then Grandma Z's talk about that
.
What does that refer to?
Speaker 4 (18:30):
So that's considered our high-end, mostly feed items,
so high-end things, and our dogfoods and things like that.
My great-grandma she was was, Ithink, in her nineties, when
they developed that brand andshe was very opposed to it.
She said I cannot, this is notgood.
And she kept pushing back andthen finally one day she was
meeting with my father and shesaid, jim, will it help the
company if we do this brand?
(18:52):
And my dad said yeah, it will.
And she said, okay, I'll do it.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
So the Grandma Z's is your.
Well, here's all the stuff thatI've just bought.
The tomato boom right.
Speaker 4 (19:04):
Yes, absolutely Fantastic product that's all
made with feed ingredients.
So we make that out of our feedmill, which is unique.
It's not like from ourfertilizer division, it's a I
mean, it's all very healthyedible items.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
We talked a little bit about that because I know in
today's world there's a lot ofstuff I listen to and I'm
learning about, but just aboutsoils and the depletion of
minerals and everything else inthe soil.
And then the flip side of it isjust the safety of what is put
on our plants and vegetables andpesticides and what they mean
(19:43):
and what's safe and what's notsafe.
Speaker 4 (19:45):
What are your?
thoughts on that my latest thinghas just been chemical
fertilizer in particular, seemlike they're just fine.
They're just nutrients.
It's not that big of a deal.
My concern and it's onlybecause my father has taught me
this is what it's doing.
On the surface it's really notthat big of a deal.
(20:06):
But when you look at whathappens to the living things in
the soil, all the microbes andeverything that are breaking
down things and making thingshealthy, when we put chemicals
in any way, shape or form, evenif it's just a fertilizer, it
causes a disruption in thatbalance, and so it matters.
It matters what we kind ofstill have to be even with
(20:28):
things that seem so little likewhat am I going to put on my
tomatoes.
That matters because in the endyou're actually improving or
degrading your soil, and on alarge scale.
We're doing that in farming ingeneral.
That's happening On a smallscale just in your yard.
You'll find that you'll behappier and that everything will
be better in your yard if youjust try to cut back on things
(20:50):
that are affecting the life inthe soil.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
Yeah, it's always nice when things that are good
for soils and environment alsoline up with what's good, you
know.
I mean it's good when you havesynergies like that, where
you're like, hey, take care ofit, it's better for you, it's
better for the environment.
That's when there's a win-winfor everybody, right.
Speaker 4 (21:07):
Yeah, I agree, I agree, and I think the fun part
about my dad's products is thatthey always work.
Yeah, he messes with it andmesses with it, and messes with
it until he's like that's it Nowit works, and it's all stuff
that's going to be improvingeverything else.
It's going to be doing a lot ofthings behind the scenes that
you have no idea that it's doing.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Who comes in behind Jim?
Speaker 4 (21:26):
That's a good question.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Is there someone else in the family that's got that
passion for the science?
Part of it.
Speaker 4 (21:32):
There are a mix of people that have various parts
of various things, but there'sno there's no there's no other
jim's he's the og for sure.
Yeah, I think I think with thecombination of of various people
there that we've kind of piecedit together.
But you know, as far as justhis, he has such a heart for it
yeah and it's that's such aunique thing he's really driven
(21:52):
to to make the world a betterplace, starting with the earth,
with the soil, soil.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Do you always have that?
Speaker 4 (21:59):
I think.
So you know, he describes whenhe was a child kind of, you know
, not being kind of consideredstupid.
I think he was told many timesas a kid that he was kind of
dumb and I think he, and I thinkthat caused him to turn to well
, I'm going to figure things outmyself.
Then If the teacher thinks I'man idiot, then to well, I'm
going to figure things outmyself.
Then If the teacher thinks I'man idiot, then I'm just going to
(22:21):
go and figure out things on myown.
So I think he probably did.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
Yeah, I think he probably has always had that.
It's always what's alwaysinteresting I get to.
One of the reasons I like doingthis is I you learn and talk to
fascinating people and hearstories mostly of businesses,
small businesses, people thathave really been passionate
about something and then donegreat things.
But when you hear some of theorigin stories right, so clearly
(22:48):
there was an origin storybefore your dad but then you
hear the passion, energy, effort, time, commitment there is
always a reason that is genuineand authentic and is on fire
that burns beneath these folksthat do great things.
It just is, and it's really funto see it, because you hear the
story and you're like, oh,that's why you look at those
(23:11):
products that we just scrolledthrough.
They're authentic.
There's probably a story behindevery single one of them.
Speaker 4 (23:16):
Absolutely, and a lot of times he invents something
for one thing, but then herealizes that it's too soon, the
public won't get it, and sohe's like, well, it also does
this, so that's what we'll sellit for, is this?
And then people will get thebenefit.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
So he's a pretty good marketing guy too.
Speaker 4 (23:29):
Yeah, he does have an idea for that.
Yeah, Wow.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
So tell us a little about you and the company
growing up.
Did you always know you wantedto follow in the path of the
family business?
Speaker 4 (23:42):
You know, I think people ask me that.
I said I'm almost 50.
And like, literally, I'mknocking on 50.
When's?
Your birthday June 6th.
Oh wow, so it's yeah, happybirthday.
Thank you.
Thank you.
It's an interesting transitionperiod for me and my daughter is
heading off to college thisfall, and so there's this, this
like kind of reckoning andlooking back on like where am I
(24:04):
where, what, what was happeningbefore and where I am now.
And so I've thought a lot aboutthat.
I think as a small child I did,I did want to.
I think I always thought that Iwas going to be part of the
family business.
When I went off to college Iwanted to be a veterinarian, and
so I kind of went that path andthen I couldn't get into vet
school.
I tried for three years in arow and that was a no-go.
(24:24):
And then I still didn't want toturn to the family business.
I ended up going to work forMerrill Lynch and tried
stockbroking for a while and Ireally tried to fight it and
then when I ultimately came intothe business, everything
clicked.
I was like, oh, I think this istotally what I'm supposed to be
doing.
And then I kind of embraced itand realized, okay, yeah, this
is, and it's been 25 years now.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
Yeah, I think when you have a family business we
talk to people that do.
There probably is a little bitof that push and pull thing of
hey, it's all I've known growingup.
It kind of consumes things,because if you're running a
small business and a familybusiness, it's kind of what you
do, right?
I'm sure your stories ofgrowing up were all involved the
business and things surroundingthe business.
(25:09):
So I understand when sometimesthere's this yearning of well,
maybe I want to get out of hereright Whatever that means.
Speaker 4 (25:16):
Absolutely Well, and I think also that the name is so
big and it's been going for solong.
How do I be my own person andnot be just, you know, another
cog, you know, and it's familyso.
So there's a love part of that,but then there's that
individuality where you're like,wait a minute, what mark am I
going to make it's very clearwhat my great-grandfather did,
(25:38):
what my grandfather did, what myfather has done.
Where will I go?
Where will I fit in?
Speaker 1 (25:43):
And I think that's where the magic happens, right?
If you can find your ownpassion within something that
already has so much legacy andheritage, it's your dang legacy
and heritage, right.
Speaker 4 (25:53):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely heritage.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
It's your dating legacy and heritage, right?
I mean that ZAMZO spirit runsthrough your blood and if you
can then connect to that, Ithink it becomes a beautiful
thing.
But you kind of have to getthere through your own way,
right?
And I think people that don'tauthentically have that drive
and passion, then it's adifferent deal, right?
Speaker 4 (26:08):
Right, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
So how many kids did your mom and dad have?
Speaker 4 (26:13):
Two, so my brother and I work together.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
We're actually co-CEOs which is always a topic
of conversation.
Speaker 4 (26:21):
I saw that, yeah, how does that go?
Is he older or younger?
He's older, he's just two years.
So we're pretty close in age,we've always been very close,
and so this isn't anything newhe and I working together and we
work kind of in a together andwe work kind of in a.
Sometimes I'm really amazed athow well we like co-think, we
(26:45):
bump into heads.
Sometimes, like on occasion, wewill bump into each other, and
mostly it's because we haven'tcommunicated well.
So for he and I, our latestthing has just been working on
really really clearcommunication, which seems
really strange for your sibling.
You think you communicate withthem well, but when you run a
business together, thecommunication has to go to a
totally different level, andwe've had to explore some
interesting things to kind ofmake sure that we have each
(27:07):
other's backs.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
Yeah, people that know me get sick of hearing this
, but it's that vision, clarity,plan, action, right.
Yeah, a lot of great companies,people, things, projects fail
without clarity.
Speaker 4 (27:19):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
And it's just, it's so critical.
And the problem with it is Iwas talking to my partner here,
Ryan, about this this week.
We get going so fast and hardthat the first thing to slip is
clarity because, hey, we've gotthis combined vision and we're
going, let's go.
But then all of a sudden we'relike, hey, where did we get off
step here?
So it just, you know, it makes,I mean, it's common sense,
(27:46):
right, but it takes effort.
Speaker 4 (27:48):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
Conscious effort to how are we going to communicate?
Stay on the same page.
Speaker 4 (27:50):
Exactly, and especially, I think, our team,
you know, because my brother andI'll be running and then we'll
be like where is everybody?
Oh wait, we maybe forgot totell them, Right?
Speaker 1 (27:59):
So that happens on occasion and something with your
team.
They trust you.
They'll follow you.
But if they understand yourheart and mind and reason for
where you're going, it's better.
It's easier to follow and it'sa lot more fun and it's a lot
more fun.
And it's a lot more fun, butthat takes conscious effort too,
right?
It does Talk a little bit aboutthat, with that many employees
(28:23):
just creating a team.
I'm going to tell you we'venever talked about this, but I
don't know how many years I wentto your store over there and so
cycled through lots ofdifferent employees, but the
culture of people was alwaysexceptional.
Speaker 4 (28:41):
I love hearing that.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
Like I don't.
I mean I can think of in allthose years, never like it was
just pleasant and helpful andwonderful and the kindest people
.
So I think I know the brand,the name means a lot because
it's your name on it.
But how did you create?
How did you and how do youcreate and maintain a culture?
Speaker 4 (29:02):
Yeah, I think that this is something that we're
consistently working on.
I think that my brother and Iare particularly.
This is the area that we enjoythe most working with people,
developing people and I thinkthat it starts with strangely
enough, it just starts with thebrand itself, because a lot of
employees come to work for usbecause they like what we do,
(29:24):
they like the plants, they likethe animals, they like that
we're earthy, and so that's whythey are even attracted to us.
So then we have that like andlike together, and so it makes
for a you know, it kind ofbuilds itself, I think, but you
know, we're always doing thingsas a group that are in keeping
with what we're doing in thebusiness as well.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
So the mission statement vision is not.
They're not just words on thewall.
Speaker 4 (29:49):
Right.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
They're the heart, and soul mind of everyone that
works there, right.
Speaker 4 (29:53):
Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
As you were saying that, I'm thinking it's also
pretty dang pleasant to beworking in a nursery.
Speaker 4 (29:59):
Right.
Around plants and justgenerally happy people.
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
It is a very good environment, right, and that
probably it's not like I don'tknow other high-pressured,
probably places where it's alittle harder to do.
But customer service is stillthe same.
It is how you interact, how yousell, how you treat people, how
you're educated on products.
There's still a lot to it.
Speaker 4 (30:24):
Absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
How does that work?
Speaker 4 (30:28):
You know, that is one of the biggest challenges that
we have, because every spring weget this influx of seasonals
that come in and so there's thismassive amount of training
there has to be.
You have to have that spark orthe interest in plants, or else
they tend to spin out and notstay.
(30:48):
Because it's not, it just hasto be part of who you are, is
that you're interested inlearning, and then sometimes
what comes out of somebody who'sbeen an employee for three to
five years even is these experts.
They become, you know, pillarsin our business, because they
are like the foremost expert onthis particular type of you know
lizard, for instance, and youknow it's amazing how that then
(31:12):
you know we celebrate that Thenthey're teaching other people,
and so there's this kind ofwonderful community of learning.
Learning is a big part of whatwe do.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
I'm going to go all over the place, but I'm going to
ask you another question.
So I've been fascinated by thisbecause my kids over the years
have obviously bought theirlizards from you.
But how did you decide?
Because not all stores are thesame and you have some that have
animals for sale and some thatdon't, and then the types of
animals you have.
You have some exotic things.
So whose passion is that andwhat's that algorithm look like?
Speaker 4 (31:46):
Yeah, you know, in the beginning, I think, the ones
who had pet rooms this wasbefore my brother and I.
Really, those employees werethere for many, many years and
they began to develop.
Each, each store had their own,you know, development of which
animals that they liked or theyknew and that sort of thing.
Um, it has has continued on inthat when we bring people in,
(32:08):
they are attracted to, like Iwant to work in the pet room
because I am, you know a fishexpert or whatever, and so it I.
Speaker 1 (32:16):
it's so people-centric as far as Well,
and hey, I'm assuming there's alot of new people to the Valley
that might be listening to thisoh sure, you've seen, as how
many stores do you have now inthe Valley?
12.
So you have 12 stores.
So you've driven by one or seenthem.
But talk through, because it isa big like.
You've got the fertilizer,you've got the plants, you've
got the gardening, you've gotthe home there's a little home
(32:37):
improvement but then you've gotthe pet thing.
How many of the stores havepets?
Speaker 4 (32:41):
Well, now we actually have all of them do.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
They all do yes.
Speaker 4 (32:44):
Yes, we used to the smaller stores.
We used to not have them, butnow we and we call it the ZamZoo
.
Speaker 1 (32:50):
Yeah, because you didn't down in off Chinden.
Speaker 4 (32:53):
Right, exactly.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
The whole time.
I think that happened.
That was my store, yeah.
Speaker 4 (32:57):
Sometime in the last three years, I think we would
have to drive somewhere elsewith our kids.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
Try to talk them out of getting the whole kit, for,
whether it was, I never didsnakes.
Speaker 4 (33:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:07):
I did everything else , though, and you have lots of
fish, you have reptiles, youhave reptiles, you have birds.
Speaker 4 (33:13):
Yes, yes, we even have insects now that are exotic
insects that people keep interrariums, and yeah, it's
amazing, it's evolving, everevolving.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
It's diverse.
I mean it's like you thinkabout how fun it would be to run
something like that, where youget to oversee all of that.
Hey, what's it like?
I always like women CEOs to askthese questions, but what's it
like being a CEO?
And being a woman in yourindustry and in the Valley.
Speaker 4 (33:47):
You know I was speaking with some fellow I
don't know if it's fellows whenwe're women, but we were talking
about that.
I think what's interesting,particularly about my age group,
is that if we are women leaders, we were probably taught how to
be a leader by a man.
Likely, we were led by a man,which is different.
Men lead differently than womendo, and I think that for me
(34:12):
personally, it's been a journeyof learning how to go from a
hard edge that I thought I hadto have in order to make it and
be taken seriously to this muchmore authentic me.
That is now, and I'm so muchhappier.
And it turns out that peoplelike to be led by a leader who's
authentic and not one who'strying to be something they're
not.
Speaker 3 (34:31):
Isn't that true?
Speaker 4 (34:33):
Absolutely, and there's just so much more joy to
it.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
Yeah, it's always an interesting question for me to
ask, because I came up throughhealthcare and most of my
leaders and mentors were women.
Speaker 4 (34:46):
How interesting.
Speaker 1 (34:47):
If you think about healthcare, I mean like
literally almost the entire waythrough the leaders of my
department, the leaders in thehospital, the leaders were women
, and so it was only when I kindof started transitioning out
that I'm like, oh, this is justdifferent, right, in fact you'd
be in some rooms and there'sjust not as many women in the
corporate banking and that kindof world.
(35:10):
So it's been interesting and Iwould.
So it's always, like you justsaid, most of the leaders you
were around were probably menand now you're taking over, but
for me it's an interestingperspective.
Speaker 3 (35:23):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (35:25):
What are the traits that you think have helped you?
You said authenticity.
What are the other tricks ofthe trade for those listening to
?
A lot of people listen that arejust looking to improve their
leadership and the way theymentor and lead other people.
What do you find important toyou?
Speaker 4 (35:42):
Hmm, I mean, my journey to being more authentic
has meant that I've had to lookat things that I truly love and
the things that make me tick,and I think we have to connect
with that.
We have to understand that andlean into that and not feel, you
know, because I'm a people-yperson and I think that
sometimes, when I think back onhow the prior generations of the
(36:06):
Zanzos ran things and whattheir personality types were,
it's very different than mine, Ithink.
For a long time I tried to denymyself that, and so I think, in
order to be a good leader, youdo have to find your authentic
self and own it and be holyyourself.
I think continuing education isa must.
That's great, yeah.
Just, you always try to learnand grow, and it doesn't
(36:27):
necessarily have to be throughbooks, I think that's great.
And seminars, that's great.
Speaker 1 (36:38):
I think it's getting to know other people and
learning from them and how theydid things and leaning into that
too.
Don't you think that's one ofthe great, I think,
misconceptions when you'reyounger is that somehow the
people above you have kind ofjust figured it out.
And then, as you get older, Ithink the people that I like
being around the most are theones that are just always
learning, always.
Hey, did you read this?
Did you see that?
Did you listen to this?
And not just actively lookingfor ways that they might improve
(37:03):
what the strengths that theyhave, but they're also looking
for their own weaknesses,absolutely.
Speaker 4 (37:08):
Because I think, as you get, older, I'm not, hey,
listen that was super sensitive.
Callie, it's not sensitive atall.
Actually, I'm excited aboutbeing 50, so no biggie you are.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
I am Okay, I wasn't, it was a big one for me, but I
think you start getting a littlemore reflective.
Speaker 4 (37:22):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (37:23):
And I don't think you stop growing.
I think I'm 57 now or 58.
Yeah, 57 now or 58.
But you look at growth andmaybe blind spots and things
that I did, that I could havebeen a better leader, I could
(37:44):
have been a better dad, I couldhave been a better husband.
I could have been a betterwhatever.
And I think, admitting that andsaying, hey, there's some
things I've learned along theway that it's hard, though when
you look back sometimes You'relike I probably should have
handled that different.
Speaker 4 (37:59):
It's some of the hardest stuff ever to look back
and regret and then you know,kind of give yourself a hug and
say you did what you did at thetime.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
It was the best you could do.
Speaker 4 (38:08):
And with the tools you had, you have new tools now.
Speaker 1 (38:14):
That's why you can see it differently now and say I
should have done thatdifferently.
I'm older than you, but I thinkthat is something new.
With our generation maybe, andour kids, I think there's a
little bit more reflection thanI think of my father or my
father-in-law.
I think that generation beforeus stayed pretty stoic and hard
(38:34):
and I think it's okay to say,hey, I might have had that wrong
.
Speaker 4 (38:38):
Yeah, absolutely yeah .
I think also, as I send mydaughter off to college, I'm
thinking back on what led towhere we are now.
There's a lot of thinking backright now about those kind of
things and I find myself whenshe was younger I kind of kept
that all to myself.
Now that she's 18 and she'sheading out, I find myself
(39:00):
actually expressing it to her.
Hey, remember, when thishappened, I kind of wish I'd
have done that differently.
Which has been theseconversations are?
I mean, I could eat them with aspoon.
They're just so good anddelicious.
And to have her say, oh, that'snot how I saw it at all, and
then talk it through.
Speaker 1 (39:14):
That is awesome.
Speaker 4 (39:15):
Yeah, it's really cool.
Speaker 1 (39:17):
Isn't it awesome?
Speaker 4 (39:18):
It really is I agree.
Speaker 1 (39:20):
I don't know, I've been more reflective lately.
I don't know.
I don't know why, and I'mtaking.
I think, when you getinspiration, or whatever you
want to call it, to expressyourself to someone you love,
you just got to jump all over it, like.
I'm just thinking of this lastweek I was listening to a Luke
Combs song and it was about hisdad and the line was the S on
(39:50):
his chest is starting to fadeand I stopped exactly in my
tracks and I wrote my dad a biglong text.
Like I was crying the whole timeI did, and I just said, and I,
because that's kind of I, I seehim as my.
You know, this guy that wasjust just superman and never was
going to get older yeah and heis.
He's sounds like he's about thesame age as your, your father,
but um, but I, but man.
It meant a lot to him that Iwould stop and like, reflect and
(40:11):
say those words, but we need todo more of that.
I.
Speaker 4 (40:13):
I agree.
I agree, and it's interestingbecause we are, I guess we're
considered the sandwichgeneration.
We're between our aging parentsand our children that are
adults now, and so it is aninteresting space to pause for a
moment and reflect on both andreally be fully present and not
just rush through thisparticular phase, because I
(40:35):
think this is really important.
Speaker 1 (40:38):
I'm sure the one other thing I wanted to touch
with you is mentorship.
In your role, you probably havethe ability to help and mentor
a lot of people that work foryou around you.
You're very influential, do youenjoy?
That is the first question.
Speaker 4 (40:52):
That's one of my favorite things, absolutely one
of my favorite things.
When you talk about things thatmake our hearts sing that is
what makes my heart sing.
Speaker 1 (40:59):
And then in that, do you have any advice?
Because I think one of the bigconcerns I have as I look at my
life now is, I think, thebusyness of life, the
introduction of just I'm notthis is not a negative on media
or social media or whatever Ijust think that there's not very
much quiet time in our livesnow there's just not.
(41:20):
And I think most of the timewhere I really was mentored by
someone I think back to thosetimes in my life it seemed quiet
, it seemed like for me and mymentor that there was times that
we were able to reflect andconnect.
And I'm wondering if I createenough of those opportunities,
when I'm quiet and reflective,to mentor someone and then I'm.
(41:43):
The second thing is are they ina place to really make those
connections?
Speaker 4 (41:48):
It seems like you have to be more deliberate today
than in the old days Much more,with things being able to just
be so right in your face and youcan get quick answers to things
, and the stopping you almosthave to, I think, the first time
have it be a forced put allthese things in place to make it
happen and then, once you'vefelt it, then it will constantly
(42:09):
, it'll be there.
Speaker 1 (42:10):
It feels good.
Speaker 4 (42:11):
It feels real good.
Speaker 1 (42:12):
And you're like.
I want to do more of that.
But, that's been my latestthing.
I'm going to try to consciouslyslow down and have interactions
with the people that I loveeither way and make sure that
I'm still.
You know, I don't know.
I think it's good to get old.
Speaker 4 (42:26):
I think so too.
This is why.
Speaker 1 (42:31):
I say I'm not unhappy about turning 50.
Well, this is great.
You got a new podcast out.
Let's talk about that.
Speaker 4 (42:36):
Yeah, so we had the old ZAMZO show.
It's still on At this point.
It's still on in KBOI onSaturday mornings.
It used to be that people wouldcall in and we would answer
questions and that was kind ofthe ZAMZO show.
Speaker 1 (42:48):
By the way, it was awesome.
Speaker 4 (42:49):
Yeah, it was very fun .
It kind of ran its course.
The reason why it ran itscourse is that nobody wants to
work on Saturday morning andanswer radio calls, so we've
struggled with finding somebodywho's willing to do that.
But with podcasting you canobviously do some of the same
things and people can listenwhenever they want.
So we're actually revamping thepodcast It'll be rolling out
here this summer.
It'll be called the.
Nobody Knows.
Speaker 1 (43:10):
So the Nobody Knows with a Z at the end yes, exactly
.
And be able to be found on anyone of the, any one of the.
I'm sure that your topics willbe much like your Saturday show
was.
Speaker 4 (43:19):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (43:20):
Great stuff and for people here in the Valley, very,
very, very practical things.
Speaker 4 (43:24):
Yes.
Like things that you would gooh, I've never done it that way
and I should probably do it theway Grandma Z's been doing it
for a long time, exactly, and wewant to build in some cultural
things too, about Boise and whowe are and that sort of thing.
So yeah, it'll be good stuff.
Yeah, I'm excited.
Speaker 1 (43:41):
That's great, and what else, business-wise,
anything else.
While you're here, our timewent by way, way, way fast.
Speaker 4 (43:49):
It did go very fast.
This was a lovely conversation.
Speaker 1 (43:51):
But zamzoscom, all your links there For anyone that
hasn't been in a store nicestpeople, greatest products.
I mean.
I will tell you, though I'm not, grandma Z Shannon and I we're
planning our garden this weekend.
We're going to come grab ourstuff, but we've gone from being
(44:14):
pretty prolific, like I don'tknow how many items we would put
in there, to I think we'rebasically down to like a few
kinds of tomatoes, cucumbers,peppers, jalapenos.
I think we're giving up onpumpkins this year.
Speaker 4 (44:25):
Yeah, I mean you get real practical After you've done
the big garden.
You kind of get practical.
Speaker 1 (44:29):
We still love it, but we're just.
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (44:32):
Easier things.
There's something about agarden.
I mean it really.
It is work, you know.
Speaker 1 (44:36):
So having a smaller garden.
It's so fun though, isn't it it?
Speaker 4 (44:38):
is, and there's just something about picking
something that you grew.
It's awesome and eating it, andit tastes better.
Speaker 1 (44:46):
Making salsa every year.
It's so great.
It is great, but over the yearsI know this is weird.
I can think of what it smellslike in there.
Does that probably make senseto you, right it?
Speaker 4 (44:57):
does I know the smell ?
Speaker 1 (44:57):
Because when you walk into any of these Amso's, it
has the same smell of the soiland the greenhouse.
And it's got to be lovely tohave that memory because it is
earthy.
Speaker 4 (45:10):
It's earthy.
That's a really good example.
Yeah, that's really cool.
Speaker 1 (45:14):
Hey, well, we appreciate what you do in the
community.
I mean, that's the other thingwe didn't hit on.
Maybe that's a place you couldend is how much you love this
place, Because I know ZAMZO'sgives back.
I mean, you're like you thinkof the pillar companies born
here, Like this company startsand makes means so much to this
valley.
What does the community mean toyou and your family?
Speaker 4 (45:34):
It's everything.
It really is everything.
I think ZAMZOs plunked in adifferent community wouldn't
exist.
I think Boise and ZAMZOs gohand in hand.
People have asked if we thinkabout moving out of the valley,
and we have, and we might atsome point.
It'll be an interestingexperience because I think that
there's something about Boiseand ZAMZOs that work really
(45:55):
really well together.
Speaker 1 (45:57):
Well, thank you so much for coming on and for what
you do.
It's been really fun to catchup.
Speaker 4 (46:01):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (46:02):
Thanks everybody.
Today on the Ever Onward podcast we have Callie
Zamzo.
She is the CEO of Zamzo's 12locations here in the Valley,
92-year-old family businessstarted by her
great-grandparents.
We've been wanting to have heron for a while this is one of
our pillar local companies totalk about her family business,
the growth of the business andwhat she does here in the
community as a philanthropist.
(00:20):
Can't wait to hear today fromCallie Zamzo.
Prior to hearing from Callie,we will have Mark Cleverley and
Holt Haga giving us an Allquistupdate.
Good morning.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Mark Cleverley, chief Leasing Officer with Allquist,
here with Holt Haga.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Holt Haga, vp Leasing Allquist.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Development.
It's been a few weeks since wedid an update here and driving
in this morning I thought wecould give a quick update on 10
Mile.
So by the time this thing hitsthe streets this update we will
be the owners of additional 34acres out at 10 Mile.
We already own 78 acres, sowe'll own a total of 112 acres
(01:04):
out there.
Yeah, so I thought it'd be goodto go through, um, just kind of
where we're at and um kind ofwhat we're seeing and in the
position that we're in right now.
So if you want to give a quickupdate, I'll kind of talk a
little bit too about the entire10 mile area, but give us an
update yeah, well, you know it's, it's interesting.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
Um, I remember when we, like when you look at
projects we're working on, youknow, 10 mile crossing, and I
think this is back in 2017, whenyou know tommy started looking
westward and and had you know, Ithink we started targeting this
piece back in like 2017 or 2018.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Yeah, it was back when we were still with Gardner.
I remember working on it.
It was like 2016.
It was really when Paylocitycame to town, I mean, and we had
no.
I mean we had to find a spotfor him.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
We had to find a spot , yeah, and so it was the east
side of 10 Mile and the freewayon the east side.
And no sooner did we.
I think we had just deliveredPalocity and we were looking at
our second project when Tommywas like, hey, there's this
other piece over across 10 Milewe need to look at.
Yeah, and I don't know, thatwas maybe a year or two later,
maybe 2018, 19.
But just thinking about it, howlong it actually takes for
(02:24):
these things to, like, getmomentum and, you know, come to
fruition.
I think that was the first timewe made a run at.
It was back then, and so we'vebeen looking at this piece of
property for a long time.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
It was kind of assembled two pieces, but it's a
great project, it's it's.
It's a great project.
It's sort of, I think, when wetook down the first piece and
now we're taking down thisadditional 34 acres, which is
like a grand slam.
It's like checks all the boxes,right, yeah, it's got, it's got
, it's got everything um and soum.
(02:58):
But when you look at where it'spositioned in the valley, it's,
it is.
It's like it's just such astrong project because a it's on
i-84, so you've got the freeway, the exposure, you know 160 000
vehicles per day, highest inthe state, by like three times.
And then it's bookended by the,the two fastest growing sub
markets, you know in our state,right, north meridian and south
(03:21):
meridian, yeah, and so it's justit's incredibly strategically
located and now, with the newHighway 16 corridor going in
right, like you throw a baseballand hit it from this project.
It's just like the positioningof the project.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
I can hit a baseball that far you could throw it.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
I could get it like a quarter of the way there.
I could hit a golf ball Okay.
But it's just like the location.
I think, just starting with thelocation, it's just such a it's
like right in the path ofdevelopment.
And so I think when guys likeyou know, when our team, you
know, steps back and looks atthis and say, what are we going
to do here?
Um, is this going to be asuccessful project?
How long is it going to take tostabilize Um, these are all
(03:59):
things that we kind of consider.
But but the location in and ofitself, fundamentally speaking,
is really as good as it gets forthe unit mix and the product
mix that we're talking about,and we can dive into that too.
But you know, it's kind of gotthe project overall kind of has
everything right.
It's like we've got residential, we've got some industrial,
we're going to have office,we've got hotels, and then we've
(04:20):
got kind of this like retailpower center that we're working
on Correct and I wish I meanwe'll be ready soon to announce
all these groups.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
We're close, we're not quite ready.
Yeah, we're not going to jumpthe gun today.
As soon as we can.
I mean, I think people will see.
Oh yeah, it makes a ton ofsense why all this activity has
come here.
Right, so backing up to 10 milecrossing really quick I know we
don't have a lot of time, butreally quickly we built about a
(04:54):
million square feet of office.
There's nearly a thousand unitsof multifamily.
We met with Shields.
I remember flying into Fargo,north Dakota, almost 10 years
ago it was like nine years ago.
Flying in.
It was one of the scariestflights of my life.
We don't need to get into that,but it was.
(05:15):
So.
That took time, right.
I mean that took like seven,eight years to even finally get
them to open their store.
So you got Shields over therewho, like what we're hearing
about their daily visits andtheir annual visits is off the
charts.
And then you go across thestreet and what we're going to
add to that is going to beamazing.
(05:38):
It's going to be whereeverybody wants to congregate.
It's going to be I mean people,I mean you talk about live work
, play wants to congregate.
It's going to be.
I mean people, I mean you talkabout live work, play.
It truly is.
That entire area of 10 milestruly is a mixed use live, work,
play, right, I mean it's, it's.
It's really cool to be a partof um.
We're set to close on ittomorrow, may 15th.
(05:59):
Um so excited to get I mean tocontinue to work at 10 Mile.
Right, we filled out of themillion square feet that we have
out there.
We're 100% leased, 100%.
We are one like there is novacancy in our office buildings
out there, which is incredible,right.
I mean you look at the officemarket in general and you hear
(06:21):
it nationally and people come toour market and they're like how
do you guys do it?
Like well, I mean, you'restrategically located in great
projects and we live in a statewhere people want to go to work.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Yeah, yeah, you've got the simple as that Right and
you've got a such a critical,fundamental macro economic
driver which is probably thestrongest economic driver
population growth, yeah, I mean.
I mean we've got like thisfunnel of demand and so really
it's like we kind of have todeal more with the supply side
of the equation and so it'sreally just, are we overbuilt,
(06:53):
underbuilt, are we built toequilibrium?
But really it's like the demandside is there.
It's kind of interesting.
We're very fortunate to findourselves in that position, yeah
, yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Love it.
Well, it's going to be excitingto talk about 10 Mile here in
the near future too.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
It's probably worth bringing up too.
Just on the retail side, likewe've done, you know, kind of
our initial, like you know, wego out to very specific sort of
uses and groups and restaurantsand companies that we really
want to see there.
Yeah, and we've got commitmentsfrom those groups for a handful
of the pads.
But we're also going to havemulti-tenant retail buildings
that we're going to be coming.
We haven't come to market withthose yet, we're going to be
(07:31):
coming to market with those.
We will have space that is forlease class, a retail space in
this power center that we willbe announcing some very exciting
anchors and all that.
But more to come, obviously,and we're excited to sort of
bring all this to fruition andcome to market with all this
stuff.
Yep, love it.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Thanks, man, cool Good update.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Callie, thank you so much for coming on today.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
Hey, it's my pleasure .
Speaker 1 (08:07):
This will be fun.
Speaker 4 (08:08):
I think so too.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
This will be fun.
Well, it's fun to spend sometime.
I've spent a lot of time inyour stores.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
Oh well, thank you, we appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
No, I think it's just a staple here in the Valley and
your family.
The ads on the radio.
Speaker 4 (08:24):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
There's a lot to talk about, but let's start by just
telling us a little bit aboutthe family business when it
started, and just a little bitabout you, okay.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
Well, so we Zanzos is a 90, I think we're at 92 years
now.
Started in 1933 by mygreat-grandparents.
Both of them had come here withtheir families, so that's the
first generation of Idahoans.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Where did they come from?
Speaker 4 (08:52):
One came from Minnesota and the other one came
from Missouri, I think.
Yeah, yeah, interesting storiesthere too.
My great-grandfather.
Actually.
He stowed away on a train withhis brother and they were headed
to California actually, andthey stopped off in Meridian and
my grandfather, mygreat-grandfather, stepped off
(09:12):
the train to go get a sandwichand when he came back the train
was moving and he couldn't getback on the train and so he
stayed here in Meridian andthat's how he ended up here.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
What a great story.
Yeah, it's wild and then.
So then and talk about, I mean,coming out West just looking
for a new life, looking for, youknow, opportunity.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
Exactly, yeah, I think they his brother ended up
being a garlic farmer.
I think that's what they wereending up to.
They wanted to get toCalifornia and be farmers and
just get away from home.
And they had a lot.
There were a lot of childrenand I think they just figured
out they needed to headsomewhere else.
So kind of interesting how theyended up here very accidentally
.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Yeah, and then talk about the start of the business.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
So 1933, heart of the Depression, my
great-grandmother andgreat-grandfather had a farm.
It's actually where the automall is, near the mall.
That's where their farm was.
My great-grandfather decidedthat they needed to sell it in
order to make ends meet.
They sold it and ended upbuying.
The old Snotgrass Mill is whatit was called.
(10:16):
That's the Fairview Avenue storethat is there today so that's
the very first store and theyjust started off by mixing feed.
Literally, they would mix thefeed on the ground with shovels
and then they would bag it upand my grandmother would hand
sew them.
And that's how it all very,very humble, and my brother and
I laugh like they did that for20 years before we got a feed
(10:38):
mill.
Like 20 years they were doingthat.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
That was their work, so started in animal feed ag
base certainly exploded into awhole bunch of everything else.
Speaker 4 (10:48):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
But at that store that's a great story.
Yeah, and then when did itreally start growing?
Speaker 4 (10:54):
Oh gosh, you know, my grandfather grew it a little
bit, and then my father and hisbrother are the ones who
actually ended up really kind ofexpanding and blowing things up
.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
And your father's, jim.
Speaker 4 (11:08):
Jim, yes, the man.
Speaker 1 (11:10):
Jim from the radio Jim the man right.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
Yeah, and talk about the evolution.
It made sense probably becausethey were doing feed.
They had all these people therethat had the need and filled
the need and just kind of keptintegrating vertically with what
made sense, right more intogardening.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
So I think he's the one who began that process of
adding gardening things.
And then my dad is a madscientist.
I mean, if he could just be inhis lab all day, that's what he
would do, and he loves to inventthings and he just does all
these fun trials.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
How old is your dad now.
Speaker 4 (11:48):
Let's see He'll be 78 this year Still running as hard
as ever.
Oh, yeah, very much so.
Yeah, we always laugh thatZamsos never retire, which I'm
not sure that may end with thisgeneration.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
I don't know that it's good for everybody.
Yeah, I agree If you've gotsomething you love and if you're
cranking away and for sure.
Speaker 4 (12:11):
I know that if my dad , if if he wasn't allowed to
continue to invent products, hehe'd be very unhappy.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Gosh, I have so many things I want to ask you, but
let's start there because I knowkind of the science and kind of
the marketing is Idaho soilsproducts for us in the Valley
kind of a slant.
But talk about the sciencebehind it and why he loves it so
much and why it's been soimportant to your growth.
Speaker 4 (12:38):
I think it was people that he met when he was young,
various people that helped himreally understand the soil.
Primarily, that was his bigthing and understanding how
nutrients behave in the soil,how the life that is in the soil
behaves with the nutrients, andthen how the plants behave when
you have the nutrients and thelife in the soil Always been
(13:00):
fascinating to him.
He's got this long list of veryinteresting characters in his
life that have taught himvarious things and he holds onto
that data.
He's a very smart man so he cantell you stories from way back
about all these various thingsthat he learned and how he
learned them.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
What's his educational background?
Speaker 4 (13:16):
various things that he learned and how he learned
them.
What's his educationalbackground?
He went to Boise State, I thinkhe technically, I think he was
actually doing pre-vet medicine.
I think that was the track thathe was on and then his father
really put the pressure on forhim to get a business degree
because he wanted him to work inthe business and I think that
was a turning point for my dad.
So he had enough of the biologyand understanding the science
that he was like okay, that'swhat I like, but I will do this
(13:39):
business.
I'm just going to figure out howto incorporate what I love into
the business.
So there was kind of aninteresting moment in time, I
think, there, where he made thedecision okay, I'll go ahead and
go with the business, but I'mgoing to bring the science with
me, see what we can do.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
So he formulates truly all of the so in full
confession here as a long, long,long time customer, because I
lived for 20 plus years down atChinden and Eagle, okay, and
your store's right down thestreet there, right, so that was
where we went for everything.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Sure.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
So you look at those shelves and the products.
How many products did youdevelop that into?
Speaker 4 (14:14):
I mean, it's it's a lot of them.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
Hundreds, I mean it's , it's a lot of them Hundreds.
Speaker 4 (14:19):
I mean it's a lot.
Well, yes, if you include,because so we have the ZAMZO
company, but then we also haveother companies and we
distribute in other ways as wellthat have nothing to do with
ZAMZO.
So, yeah, there literally arehundreds of products that in
some I was laughing with him theother day.
He has one right now that he'sletting go because and he's like
I can't really do anything withit right now because I can't
get anybody to pick up and doanything with and I'm ready to
(14:39):
move on and do something else,and so he actually has some that
we haven't even marketed.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
So it is kind of about the next thing oh, very
much he gets bored.
Speaker 4 (14:48):
Once he figures something out and he really
understands it, then he's like,okay, I've it's, it's
fascinating.
And he always has experiments.
If you go into the lab he will.
He'll come in and say, comelook at this.
And we'll be like, okay, whatam I looking at?
What a fascinating you shouldhave had him on with you.
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
So he just does that's what he does for fun.
And then, and then what's theteam like?
Do you have a team that then Imean it's not as easy as hey
figuring this thing out.
And then I mean talk aboutgo-to-market and those ideas,
and this is an incredible Idahocompany, small business, that's
doing great things.
So how do you scale it then?
Speaker 4 (15:28):
Well, so I think in the beginning, I think he really
tried to find partners whocould do it, but they didn't
understand what he had come upwith.
You know, there wasn't any sortof precedence there.
So then he was like all right,well, we're going to figure out
how to manufacture this at abigger scale.
So for with the fertilizerproducts, he just said, all
right, I'm going to figure thisout.
So he, he's a he's a wonderful,you know, figure it out through
(15:49):
other people.
Like, meet somebody, okay,teach me this.
Okay, Now I understand that andI can do this.
So, yeah, he, he ended upbuilding his own little
fertilizer manufacturing.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
It's the old see one, do one, teach one.
Speaker 4 (15:59):
Yes absolutely.
Yeah, yeah, it's veryinspirational to watch how he
does things, because he just hedoesn't really take no for an
answer, like if something, if hehits a brick wall, he's like,
oh, that didn't work thatdirection, I'm going to try this
direction, and he seems to dothat very well.
A lot to learn from that andtry this direction, and he seems
to do that very well.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
A lot to learn from that.
Yes, yeah, a lot to learn fromthat.
So then, you do have your own.
You have your own.
Do you do a lot of themanufacturing here?
Do you does that get?
Do you have partners in theregion?
Or how do you produce so muchproduct?
Speaker 4 (16:31):
Well, it depends on the product.
But when it comes to thefertilizer, currently we're I
mean, we're pretty close tocapacity right now, honestly.
So we're kind of working onbuilding out, but right now
we're able to do our ownfertilizer.
We handle all that in house,Some of our, you know, we have
the feed mill, the Meridian theold feed mill that's still fully
operational, still kicking outour formulas, and so that
(16:53):
actually has gotten to capacitywhere we have to have toll
millers do some of our millingfor us.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
It's incredible that right there downtown yeah.
It's so amazing how many peopledon't think that it's still a
functioning mill and it's a veryfunctioning mill and it's very
cool because if you think of theheritage of Meridian, I mean
Meridian's grown, I mean I can'teven believe what Meridian's
done right.
Speaker 4 (17:11):
No, it's wild.
And you know, when my, when mygreat-grandfather jumped off the
train and ran into town, he wasprobably running past that mill
as it was being constructed.
The time frame is such that heprobably ran past the
construction site.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
Wow, yeah, and then how long have you owned that
mill?
I'm just thinking, how longafter he ran by it, getting off
the train, your family bought it.
Speaker 4 (17:31):
Yeah, so probably 30 years later, so in the 50s.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (17:35):
Yeah, and actually it was a flour mill originally, so
for human consumption.
So it's a very clean mill.
Everything is made so that itcan be ingested by humans.
So it's a very you know lots ofadded things that a normal mill
wouldn't have.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
Are you also in farming too, then, or do you buy
from farmers?
We buy from farmers yeah andthen have I know what you have.
But for those listening, youhave actually.
Can we go to the website here?
So your fertilizer, you got thefeed side, the fertilizer feed.
I'm just fascinated by how youhave so many different things.
(18:10):
I know In a little, it's not alittle family business, it's a
big family business.
But how many employees do youhave?
Speaker 4 (18:18):
Well, it depends on the season.
Right now we're in spring andwe're at about 200.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
So all of this, and then Grandma Z's talk about that
.
What does that refer to?
Speaker 4 (18:30):
So that's considered our high-end, mostly feed items,
so high-end things, and our dogfoods and things like that.
My great-grandma she was was, Ithink, in her nineties, when
they developed that brand andshe was very opposed to it.
She said I cannot, this is notgood.
And she kept pushing back andthen finally one day she was
meeting with my father and shesaid, jim, will it help the
company if we do this brand?
(18:52):
And my dad said yeah, it will.
And she said, okay, I'll do it.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
So the Grandma Z's is your.
Well, here's all the stuff thatI've just bought.
The tomato boom right.
Speaker 4 (19:04):
Yes, absolutely Fantastic product that's all
made with feed ingredients.
So we make that out of our feedmill, which is unique.
It's not like from ourfertilizer division, it's a I
mean, it's all very healthyedible items.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
We talked a little bit about that because I know in
today's world there's a lot ofstuff I listen to and I'm
learning about, but just aboutsoils and the depletion of
minerals and everything else inthe soil.
And then the flip side of it isjust the safety of what is put
on our plants and vegetables andpesticides and what they mean
(19:43):
and what's safe and what's notsafe.
Speaker 4 (19:45):
What are your?
thoughts on that my latest thinghas just been chemical
fertilizer in particular, seemlike they're just fine.
They're just nutrients.
It's not that big of a deal.
My concern and it's onlybecause my father has taught me
this is what it's doing.
On the surface it's really notthat big of a deal.
(20:06):
But when you look at whathappens to the living things in
the soil, all the microbes andeverything that are breaking
down things and making thingshealthy, when we put chemicals
in any way, shape or form, evenif it's just a fertilizer, it
causes a disruption in thatbalance, and so it matters.
It matters what we kind ofstill have to be even with
(20:28):
things that seem so little likewhat am I going to put on my
tomatoes.
That matters because in the endyou're actually improving or
degrading your soil, and on alarge scale.
We're doing that in farming ingeneral.
That's happening On a smallscale just in your yard.
You'll find that you'll behappier and that everything will
be better in your yard if youjust try to cut back on things
(20:50):
that are affecting the life inthe soil.
Speaker 1 (20:52):
Yeah, it's always nice when things that are good
for soils and environment alsoline up with what's good, you
know.
I mean it's good when you havesynergies like that, where
you're like, hey, take care ofit, it's better for you, it's
better for the environment.
That's when there's a win-winfor everybody, right.
Speaker 4 (21:07):
Yeah, I agree, I agree, and I think the fun part
about my dad's products is thatthey always work.
Yeah, he messes with it andmesses with it, and messes with
it until he's like that's it Nowit works, and it's all stuff
that's going to be improvingeverything else.
It's going to be doing a lot ofthings behind the scenes that
you have no idea that it's doing.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Who comes in behind Jim?
Speaker 4 (21:26):
That's a good question.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Is there someone else in the family that's got that
passion for the science?
Part of it.
Speaker 4 (21:32):
There are a mix of people that have various parts
of various things, but there'sno there's no there's no other
jim's he's the og for sure.
Yeah, I think I think with thecombination of of various people
there that we've kind of piecedit together.
But you know, as far as justhis, he has such a heart for it
yeah and it's that's such aunique thing he's really driven
(21:52):
to to make the world a betterplace, starting with the earth,
with the soil, soil.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
Do you always have that?
Speaker 4 (21:59):
I think.
So you know, he describes whenhe was a child kind of, you know
, not being kind of consideredstupid.
I think he was told many timesas a kid that he was kind of
dumb and I think he, and I thinkthat caused him to turn to well
, I'm going to figure things outmyself.
Then If the teacher thinks I'man idiot, then to well, I'm
going to figure things outmyself.
Then If the teacher thinks I'man idiot, then I'm just going to
(22:21):
go and figure out things on myown.
So I think he probably did.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
Yeah, I think he probably has always had that.
It's always what's alwaysinteresting I get to.
One of the reasons I like doingthis is I you learn and talk to
fascinating people and hearstories mostly of businesses,
small businesses, people thathave really been passionate
about something and then donegreat things.
But when you hear some of theorigin stories right, so clearly
(22:48):
there was an origin storybefore your dad but then you
hear the passion, energy, effort, time, commitment there is
always a reason that is genuineand authentic and is on fire
that burns beneath these folksthat do great things.
It just is, and it's really funto see it, because you hear the
story and you're like, oh,that's why you look at those
(23:11):
products that we just scrolledthrough.
They're authentic.
There's probably a story behindevery single one of them.
Speaker 4 (23:16):
Absolutely, and a lot of times he invents something
for one thing, but then herealizes that it's too soon, the
public won't get it, and sohe's like, well, it also does
this, so that's what we'll sellit for, is this?
And then people will get thebenefit.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
So he's a pretty good marketing guy too.
Speaker 4 (23:29):
Yeah, he does have an idea for that.
Yeah, Wow.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
So tell us a little about you and the company
growing up.
Did you always know you wantedto follow in the path of the
family business?
Speaker 4 (23:42):
You know, I think people ask me that.
I said I'm almost 50.
And like, literally, I'mknocking on 50.
When's?
Your birthday June 6th.
Oh wow, so it's yeah, happybirthday.
Thank you.
Thank you.
It's an interesting transitionperiod for me and my daughter is
heading off to college thisfall, and so there's this, this
like kind of reckoning andlooking back on like where am I
(24:04):
where, what, what was happeningbefore and where I am now.
And so I've thought a lot aboutthat.
I think as a small child I did,I did want to.
I think I always thought that Iwas going to be part of the
family business.
When I went off to college Iwanted to be a veterinarian, and
so I kind of went that path andthen I couldn't get into vet
school.
I tried for three years in arow and that was a no-go.
(24:24):
And then I still didn't want toturn to the family business.
I ended up going to work forMerrill Lynch and tried
stockbroking for a while and Ireally tried to fight it and
then when I ultimately came intothe business, everything
clicked.
I was like, oh, I think this istotally what I'm supposed to be
doing.
And then I kind of embraced itand realized, okay, yeah, this
is, and it's been 25 years now.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
Yeah, I think when you have a family business we
talk to people that do.
There probably is a little bitof that push and pull thing of
hey, it's all I've known growingup.
It kind of consumes things,because if you're running a
small business and a familybusiness, it's kind of what you
do, right?
I'm sure your stories ofgrowing up were all involved the
business and things surroundingthe business.
(25:09):
So I understand when sometimesthere's this yearning of well,
maybe I want to get out of hereright Whatever that means.
Speaker 4 (25:16):
Absolutely Well, and I think also that the name is so
big and it's been going for solong.
How do I be my own person andnot be just, you know, another
cog, you know, and it's familyso.
So there's a love part of that,but then there's that
individuality where you're like,wait a minute, what mark am I
going to make it's very clearwhat my great-grandfather did,
(25:38):
what my grandfather did, what myfather has done.
Where will I go?
Where will I fit in?
Speaker 1 (25:43):
And I think that's where the magic happens, right?
If you can find your ownpassion within something that
already has so much legacy andheritage, it's your dang legacy
and heritage, right.
Speaker 4 (25:53):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely heritage.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
It's your dating legacy and heritage, right?
I mean that ZAMZO spirit runsthrough your blood and if you
can then connect to that, Ithink it becomes a beautiful
thing.
But you kind of have to getthere through your own way,
right?
And I think people that don'tauthentically have that drive
and passion, then it's adifferent deal, right?
Speaker 4 (26:08):
Right, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
So how many kids did your mom and dad have?
Speaker 4 (26:13):
Two, so my brother and I work together.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
We're actually co-CEOs which is always a topic
of conversation.
Speaker 4 (26:21):
I saw that, yeah, how does that go?
Is he older or younger?
He's older, he's just two years.
So we're pretty close in age,we've always been very close,
and so this isn't anything newhe and I working together and we
work kind of in a together andwe work kind of in a.
Sometimes I'm really amazed athow well we like co-think, we
(26:45):
bump into heads.
Sometimes, like on occasion, wewill bump into each other, and
mostly it's because we haven'tcommunicated well.
So for he and I, our latestthing has just been working on
really really clearcommunication, which seems
really strange for your sibling.
You think you communicate withthem well, but when you run a
business together, thecommunication has to go to a
totally different level, andwe've had to explore some
interesting things to kind ofmake sure that we have each
(27:07):
other's backs.
Speaker 1 (27:08):
Yeah, people that know me get sick of hearing this
, but it's that vision, clarity,plan, action, right.
Yeah, a lot of great companies,people, things, projects fail
without clarity.
Speaker 4 (27:19):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
And it's just, it's so critical.
And the problem with it is Iwas talking to my partner here,
Ryan, about this this week.
We get going so fast and hardthat the first thing to slip is
clarity because, hey, we've gotthis combined vision and we're
going, let's go.
But then all of a sudden we'relike, hey, where did we get off
step here?
So it just, you know, it makes,I mean, it's common sense,
(27:46):
right, but it takes effort.
Speaker 4 (27:48):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
Conscious effort to how are we going to communicate?
Stay on the same page.
Speaker 4 (27:50):
Exactly, and especially, I think, our team,
you know, because my brother andI'll be running and then we'll
be like where is everybody?
Oh wait, we maybe forgot totell them, Right?
Speaker 1 (27:59):
So that happens on occasion and something with your
team.
They trust you.
They'll follow you.
But if they understand yourheart and mind and reason for
where you're going, it's better.
It's easier to follow and it'sa lot more fun and it's a lot
more fun.
And it's a lot more fun, butthat takes conscious effort too,
right?
It does Talk a little bit aboutthat, with that many employees
(28:23):
just creating a team.
I'm going to tell you we'venever talked about this, but I
don't know how many years I wentto your store over there and so
cycled through lots ofdifferent employees, but the
culture of people was alwaysexceptional.
Speaker 4 (28:41):
I love hearing that.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
Like I don't.
I mean I can think of in allthose years, never like it was
just pleasant and helpful andwonderful and the kindest people
.
So I think I know the brand,the name means a lot because
it's your name on it.
But how did you create?
How did you and how do youcreate and maintain a culture?
Speaker 4 (29:02):
Yeah, I think that this is something that we're
consistently working on.
I think that my brother and Iare particularly.
This is the area that we enjoythe most working with people,
developing people and I thinkthat it starts with strangely
enough, it just starts with thebrand itself, because a lot of
employees come to work for usbecause they like what we do,
(29:24):
they like the plants, they likethe animals, they like that
we're earthy, and so that's whythey are even attracted to us.
So then we have that like andlike together, and so it makes
for a you know, it kind ofbuilds itself, I think, but you
know, we're always doing thingsas a group that are in keeping
with what we're doing in thebusiness as well.
Speaker 1 (29:46):
So the mission statement vision is not.
They're not just words on thewall.
Speaker 4 (29:49):
Right.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
They're the heart, and soul mind of everyone that
works there, right.
Speaker 4 (29:53):
Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
As you were saying that, I'm thinking it's also
pretty dang pleasant to beworking in a nursery.
Speaker 4 (29:59):
Right.
Around plants and justgenerally happy people.
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
It is a very good environment, right, and that
probably it's not like I don'tknow other high-pressured,
probably places where it's alittle harder to do.
But customer service is stillthe same.
It is how you interact, how yousell, how you treat people, how
you're educated on products.
There's still a lot to it.
Speaker 4 (30:24):
Absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
How does that work?
Speaker 4 (30:28):
You know, that is one of the biggest challenges that
we have, because every spring weget this influx of seasonals
that come in and so there's thismassive amount of training
there has to be.
You have to have that spark orthe interest in plants, or else
they tend to spin out and notstay.
(30:48):
Because it's not, it just hasto be part of who you are, is
that you're interested inlearning, and then sometimes
what comes out of somebody who'sbeen an employee for three to
five years even is these experts.
They become, you know, pillarsin our business, because they
are like the foremost expert onthis particular type of you know
lizard, for instance, and youknow it's amazing how that then
(31:12):
you know we celebrate that Thenthey're teaching other people,
and so there's this kind ofwonderful community of learning.
Learning is a big part of whatwe do.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
I'm going to go all over the place, but I'm going to
ask you another question.
So I've been fascinated by thisbecause my kids over the years
have obviously bought theirlizards from you.
But how did you decide?
Because not all stores are thesame and you have some that have
animals for sale and some thatdon't, and then the types of
animals you have.
You have some exotic things.
So whose passion is that andwhat's that algorithm look like?
Speaker 4 (31:46):
Yeah, you know, in the beginning, I think, the ones
who had pet rooms this wasbefore my brother and I.
Really, those employees werethere for many, many years and
they began to develop.
Each, each store had their own,you know, development of which
animals that they liked or theyknew and that sort of thing.
Um, it has has continued on inthat when we bring people in,
(32:08):
they are attracted to, like Iwant to work in the pet room
because I am, you know a fishexpert or whatever, and so it I.
Speaker 1 (32:16):
it's so people-centric as far as Well,
and hey, I'm assuming there's alot of new people to the Valley
that might be listening to thisoh sure, you've seen, as how
many stores do you have now inthe Valley?
12.
So you have 12 stores.
So you've driven by one or seenthem.
But talk through, because it isa big like.
You've got the fertilizer,you've got the plants, you've
got the gardening, you've gotthe home there's a little home
(32:37):
improvement but then you've gotthe pet thing.
How many of the stores havepets?
Speaker 4 (32:41):
Well, now we actually have all of them do.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
They all do yes.
Speaker 4 (32:44):
Yes, we used to the smaller stores.
We used to not have them, butnow we and we call it the ZamZoo
.
Speaker 1 (32:50):
Yeah, because you didn't down in off Chinden.
Speaker 4 (32:53):
Right, exactly.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
The whole time.
I think that happened.
That was my store, yeah.
Speaker 4 (32:57):
Sometime in the last three years, I think we would
have to drive somewhere elsewith our kids.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
Try to talk them out of getting the whole kit, for,
whether it was, I never didsnakes.
Speaker 4 (33:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:07):
I did everything else , though, and you have lots of
fish, you have reptiles, youhave reptiles, you have birds.
Speaker 4 (33:13):
Yes, yes, we even have insects now that are exotic
insects that people keep interrariums, and yeah, it's
amazing, it's evolving, everevolving.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
It's diverse.
I mean it's like you thinkabout how fun it would be to run
something like that, where youget to oversee all of that.
Hey, what's it like?
I always like women CEOs to askthese questions, but what's it
like being a CEO?
And being a woman in yourindustry and in the Valley.
Speaker 4 (33:47):
You know I was speaking with some fellow I
don't know if it's fellows whenwe're women, but we were talking
about that.
I think what's interesting,particularly about my age group,
is that if we are women leaders, we were probably taught how to
be a leader by a man.
Likely, we were led by a man,which is different.
Men lead differently than womendo, and I think that for me
(34:12):
personally, it's been a journeyof learning how to go from a
hard edge that I thought I hadto have in order to make it and
be taken seriously to this muchmore authentic me.
That is now, and I'm so muchhappier.
And it turns out that peoplelike to be led by a leader who's
authentic and not one who'strying to be something they're
not.
Speaker 3 (34:31):
Isn't that true?
Speaker 4 (34:33):
Absolutely, and there's just so much more joy to
it.
Speaker 1 (34:37):
Yeah, it's always an interesting question for me to
ask, because I came up throughhealthcare and most of my
leaders and mentors were women.
Speaker 4 (34:46):
How interesting.
Speaker 1 (34:47):
If you think about healthcare, I mean like
literally almost the entire waythrough the leaders of my
department, the leaders in thehospital, the leaders were women
, and so it was only when I kindof started transitioning out
that I'm like, oh, this is justdifferent, right, in fact you'd
be in some rooms and there'sjust not as many women in the
corporate banking and that kindof world.
(35:10):
So it's been interesting and Iwould.
So it's always, like you justsaid, most of the leaders you
were around were probably menand now you're taking over, but
for me it's an interestingperspective.
Speaker 3 (35:23):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (35:25):
What are the traits that you think have helped you?
You said authenticity.
What are the other tricks ofthe trade for those listening to
?
A lot of people listen that arejust looking to improve their
leadership and the way theymentor and lead other people.
What do you find important toyou?
Speaker 4 (35:42):
Hmm, I mean, my journey to being more authentic
has meant that I've had to lookat things that I truly love and
the things that make me tick,and I think we have to connect
with that.
We have to understand that andlean into that and not feel, you
know, because I'm a people-yperson and I think that
sometimes, when I think back onhow the prior generations of the
(36:06):
Zanzos ran things and whattheir personality types were,
it's very different than mine, Ithink.
For a long time I tried to denymyself that, and so I think, in
order to be a good leader, youdo have to find your authentic
self and own it and be holyyourself.
I think continuing education isa must.
That's great, yeah.
Just, you always try to learnand grow, and it doesn't
(36:27):
necessarily have to be throughbooks, I think that's great.
And seminars, that's great.
Speaker 1 (36:38):
I think it's getting to know other people and
learning from them and how theydid things and leaning into that
too.
Don't you think that's one ofthe great, I think,
misconceptions when you'reyounger is that somehow the
people above you have kind ofjust figured it out.
And then, as you get older, Ithink the people that I like
being around the most are theones that are just always
learning, always.
Hey, did you read this?
Did you see that?
Did you listen to this?
And not just actively lookingfor ways that they might improve
(37:03):
what the strengths that theyhave, but they're also looking
for their own weaknesses,absolutely.
Speaker 4 (37:08):
Because I think, as you get, older, I'm not, hey,
listen that was super sensitive.
Callie, it's not sensitive atall.
Actually, I'm excited aboutbeing 50, so no biggie you are.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
I am Okay, I wasn't, it was a big one for me, but I
think you start getting a littlemore reflective.
Speaker 4 (37:22):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (37:23):
And I don't think you stop growing.
I think I'm 57 now or 58.
Yeah, 57 now or 58.
But you look at growth andmaybe blind spots and things
that I did, that I could havebeen a better leader, I could
(37:44):
have been a better dad, I couldhave been a better husband.
I could have been a betterwhatever.
And I think, admitting that andsaying, hey, there's some
things I've learned along theway that it's hard, though when
you look back sometimes You'relike I probably should have
handled that different.
Speaker 4 (37:59):
It's some of the hardest stuff ever to look back
and regret and then you know,kind of give yourself a hug and
say you did what you did at thetime.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
It was the best you could do.
Speaker 4 (38:08):
And with the tools you had, you have new tools now.
Speaker 1 (38:14):
That's why you can see it differently now and say I
should have done thatdifferently.
I'm older than you, but I thinkthat is something new.
With our generation maybe, andour kids, I think there's a
little bit more reflection thanI think of my father or my
father-in-law.
I think that generation beforeus stayed pretty stoic and hard
(38:34):
and I think it's okay to say,hey, I might have had that wrong
.
Speaker 4 (38:38):
Yeah, absolutely yeah .
I think also, as I send mydaughter off to college, I'm
thinking back on what led towhere we are now.
There's a lot of thinking backright now about those kind of
things and I find myself whenshe was younger I kind of kept
that all to myself.
Now that she's 18 and she'sheading out, I find myself
(39:00):
actually expressing it to her.
Hey, remember, when thishappened, I kind of wish I'd
have done that differently.
Which has been theseconversations are?
I mean, I could eat them with aspoon.
They're just so good anddelicious.
And to have her say, oh, that'snot how I saw it at all, and
then talk it through.
Speaker 1 (39:14):
That is awesome.
Speaker 4 (39:15):
Yeah, it's really cool.
Speaker 1 (39:17):
Isn't it awesome?
Speaker 4 (39:18):
It really is I agree.
Speaker 1 (39:20):
I don't know, I've been more reflective lately.
I don't know.
I don't know why, and I'mtaking.
I think, when you getinspiration, or whatever you
want to call it, to expressyourself to someone you love,
you just got to jump all over it, like.
I'm just thinking of this lastweek I was listening to a Luke
Combs song and it was about hisdad and the line was the S on
(39:50):
his chest is starting to fadeand I stopped exactly in my
tracks and I wrote my dad a biglong text.
Like I was crying the whole timeI did, and I just said, and I,
because that's kind of I, I seehim as my.
You know, this guy that wasjust just superman and never was
going to get older yeah and heis.
He's sounds like he's about thesame age as your, your father,
but um, but I, but man.
It meant a lot to him that Iwould stop and like, reflect and
(40:11):
say those words, but we need todo more of that.
I.
Speaker 4 (40:13):
I agree.
I agree, and it's interestingbecause we are, I guess we're
considered the sandwichgeneration.
We're between our aging parentsand our children that are
adults now, and so it is aninteresting space to pause for a
moment and reflect on both andreally be fully present and not
just rush through thisparticular phase, because I
(40:35):
think this is really important.
Speaker 1 (40:38):
I'm sure the one other thing I wanted to touch
with you is mentorship.
In your role, you probably havethe ability to help and mentor
a lot of people that work foryou around you.
You're very influential, do youenjoy?
That is the first question.
Speaker 4 (40:52):
That's one of my favorite things, absolutely one
of my favorite things.
When you talk about things thatmake our hearts sing that is
what makes my heart sing.
Speaker 1 (40:59):
And then in that, do you have any advice?
Because I think one of the bigconcerns I have as I look at my
life now is, I think, thebusyness of life, the
introduction of just I'm notthis is not a negative on media
or social media or whatever Ijust think that there's not very
much quiet time in our livesnow there's just not.
(41:20):
And I think most of the timewhere I really was mentored by
someone I think back to thosetimes in my life it seemed quiet
, it seemed like for me and mymentor that there was times that
we were able to reflect andconnect.
And I'm wondering if I createenough of those opportunities,
when I'm quiet and reflective,to mentor someone and then I'm.
(41:43):
The second thing is are they ina place to really make those
connections?
Speaker 4 (41:48):
It seems like you have to be more deliberate today
than in the old days Much more,with things being able to just
be so right in your face and youcan get quick answers to things
, and the stopping you almosthave to, I think, the first time
have it be a forced put allthese things in place to make it
happen and then, once you'vefelt it, then it will constantly
(42:09):
, it'll be there.
Speaker 1 (42:10):
It feels good.
Speaker 4 (42:11):
It feels real good.
Speaker 1 (42:12):
And you're like.
I want to do more of that.
But, that's been my latestthing.
I'm going to try to consciouslyslow down and have interactions
with the people that I loveeither way and make sure that
I'm still.
You know, I don't know.
I think it's good to get old.
Speaker 4 (42:26):
I think so too.
This is why.
Speaker 1 (42:31):
I say I'm not unhappy about turning 50.
Well, this is great.
You got a new podcast out.
Let's talk about that.
Speaker 4 (42:36):
Yeah, so we had the old ZAMZO show.
It's still on At this point.
It's still on in KBOI onSaturday mornings.
It used to be that people wouldcall in and we would answer
questions and that was kind ofthe ZAMZO show.
Speaker 1 (42:48):
By the way, it was awesome.
Speaker 4 (42:49):
Yeah, it was very fun .
It kind of ran its course.
The reason why it ran itscourse is that nobody wants to
work on Saturday morning andanswer radio calls, so we've
struggled with finding somebodywho's willing to do that.
But with podcasting you canobviously do some of the same
things and people can listenwhenever they want.
So we're actually revamping thepodcast It'll be rolling out
here this summer.
It'll be called the.
Nobody Knows.
Speaker 1 (43:10):
So the Nobody Knows with a Z at the end yes, exactly
.
And be able to be found on anyone of the, any one of the.
I'm sure that your topics willbe much like your Saturday show
was.
Speaker 4 (43:19):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (43:20):
Great stuff and for people here in the Valley, very,
very, very practical things.
Speaker 4 (43:24):
Yes.
Like things that you would gooh, I've never done it that way
and I should probably do it theway Grandma Z's been doing it
for a long time, exactly, and wewant to build in some cultural
things too, about Boise and whowe are and that sort of thing.
So yeah, it'll be good stuff.
Yeah, I'm excited.
Speaker 1 (43:41):
That's great, and what else, business-wise,
anything else.
While you're here, our timewent by way, way, way fast.
Speaker 4 (43:49):
It did go very fast.
This was a lovely conversation.
Speaker 1 (43:51):
But zamzoscom, all your links there For anyone that
hasn't been in a store nicestpeople, greatest products.
I mean.
I will tell you, though I'm not, grandma Z Shannon and I we're
planning our garden this weekend.
We're going to come grab ourstuff, but we've gone from being
(44:14):
pretty prolific, like I don'tknow how many items we would put
in there, to I think we'rebasically down to like a few
kinds of tomatoes, cucumbers,peppers, jalapenos.
I think we're giving up onpumpkins this year.
Speaker 4 (44:25):
Yeah, I mean you get real practical After you've done
the big garden.
You kind of get practical.
Speaker 1 (44:29):
We still love it, but we're just.
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (44:32):
Easier things.
There's something about agarden.
I mean it really.
It is work, you know.
Speaker 1 (44:36):
So having a smaller garden.
It's so fun though, isn't it it?
Speaker 4 (44:38):
is, and there's just something about picking
something that you grew.
It's awesome and eating it, andit tastes better.
Speaker 1 (44:46):
Making salsa every year.
It's so great.
It is great, but over the yearsI know this is weird.
I can think of what it smellslike in there.
Does that probably make senseto you, right it?
Speaker 4 (44:57):
does I know the smell ?
Speaker 1 (44:57):
Because when you walk into any of these Amso's, it
has the same smell of the soiland the greenhouse.
And it's got to be lovely tohave that memory because it is
earthy.
Speaker 4 (45:10):
It's earthy.
That's a really good example.
Yeah, that's really cool.
Speaker 1 (45:14):
Hey, well, we appreciate what you do in the
community.
I mean, that's the other thingwe didn't hit on.
Maybe that's a place you couldend is how much you love this
place, Because I know ZAMZO'sgives back.
I mean, you're like you thinkof the pillar companies born
here, Like this company startsand makes means so much to this
valley.
What does the community mean toyou and your family?
Speaker 4 (45:34):
It's everything.
It really is everything.
I think ZAMZOs plunked in adifferent community wouldn't
exist.
I think Boise and ZAMZOs gohand in hand.
People have asked if we thinkabout moving out of the valley,
and we have, and we might atsome point.
It'll be an interestingexperience because I think that
there's something about Boiseand ZAMZOs that work really
(45:55):
really well together.
Speaker 1 (45:57):
Well, thank you so much for coming on and for what
you do.
It's been really fun to catchup.
Speaker 4 (46:01):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (46:02):
Thanks everybody.
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