January 9, 2025 • 24 mins
Celebrating 10 years of W3 Sales provides a platform for reflection, growth, and valuable lessons learned. Nancy delves into the importance of learning from mistakes, nurturing team culture, adapting to market challenges, and embracing failure as part of the journey.
• Reflecting on the past as a critical step for growth
• Importance of learning from mistakes to avoid the insanity cycle
• People-centered approach as the company's DNA
• Establishing and maintaining a strong company culture
• Importance of teamwork and building friendships in the workplace
• Building a solid infrastructure to support clients
• Navigating the complexities of the marketplace and technology
• Embracing new ideas while ensuring the right timing
• Learning to embrace failure as part of the growth journey
• Importance of mentorship and positive relationships
Please like, comment, and subscribe. Stay tuned for more of this special edition Top 10 series.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Confessions Beyond the Food.
I'm your host, nancy Redland.
Let's dig in and get inspired.
Hi, welcome back to ConfessionsBeyond the Food.
My name is Nancy and I'm withW3 Sales.
So we started W3 Sales 10 yearsago and this month, in January,
(00:26):
marks our 10th birthday.
So we're super excited thatwe're still here after 10 years
and we've built it from theground up.
Everything has been organicgrowth and it's just really cool
to celebrate 10 years ofcreating my ultimate dream
(00:47):
company and, while it's beenfilled with lots of bumps and
bruises and getting knocked down, but it's also been full of
many triumphs and awesome peoplethat I've met along the way and
people that I've learned from,and especially our team.
Our team is super, very, veryspecial people, group of people
(01:11):
who care about what we do, andI'm just really, really honored
to be sitting here today at 10years.
So, and I love birthdays Ifyou're my friend, you know I
love.
I love birthdays because it'sjust a really great time to be
around people and reflect on youknow the past year and you know
(01:36):
what went great and all thatsort of thing, and it really
ties in with the new year, withthe new year.
So, with us being 10, we'regoing to be doing 10 podcasts
and about just you know, ourjourney throughout the year, so
(01:56):
we will sprinkle these inthroughout the year and it'll
always be around about thenumber 10.
So I don't know about you, butI love new beginnings.
I think new beginnings are greatbecause it's a great time to
kind of refresh and start over.
And that's what I think a lotof people think about in the new
(02:17):
year is you know what is thisnext?
You know you get to dream alittle bit about what you want,
what you expect for things tohappen.
And, of course, you know youget to dream a little bit about
what you want, what you expectfor things to happen.
And, of course, you never knowwhat's going to go down in the
next year.
Right, I used to say this isour year, you know, ever since
2020.
And it has not been our year.
(02:38):
You know as what I planned, butwhen I look back, it was our
year and it's important to lookback, and that's why number one
is it's really important to lookback and see you know what
worked and you know what hasworked and what did we fail at
and what are obstacles that keepus from achieving our goals.
(03:03):
The number two thing we look atis I like to learn from our
mistakes.
So this is probably the mostimportant thing, because if you
keep doing, if you don't addressthe mistake, if you're not able
to step back, look at honestly,very honest, without shaming,
(03:28):
and but just, you know yourfailures and, um, where you know
you need to grow, you knowthat's when.
That's when breakthroughs come,come about.
Uh, we often talk about if wecontinue repeating mistakes or
not changing.
You're just on the insanitycycle, and the insanity cycle is
(03:54):
doing the same things over andover again and expecting
different results, and that isnot going to happen.
And so it's important to youknow, really pinpoint.
You know, where was thismistake, where was the miss,
what can we do differently?
(04:15):
And you might not know theanswer, and that's okay.
That's when you ask peoplearound you, your teammates, your
you know other people in theindustry that you look up to,
other businesses like yourself,people outside of your industry.
(04:35):
So I think this is reallyimportant and to just get really
good and honest feedback aswell, I like to ask you know,
how are we doing with ourclients?
What are we doing well?
What do we need to do betterand I think, with these two
things is looking back andlearning from our mistakes and
(04:58):
you can really set yourself up,you know, with a solid
foundation.
The third thing that we like tolook at is obviously the most
important thing is our people.
So Our people make the DNA ofW3 sales and they are very
important to me.
(05:19):
Retaining them is veryimportant to me.
So we're a little bit different, because we typically bring
people outside the industry intoW3, into the food service
industry, w3, into the foodservice industry, because right
(05:39):
now there's not a lot of people,that not a lot of new blood
coming in, and it's harderBelieve me, I know, I realize
why.
It's definitely the road lesstraveled, because they get in,
they may not like it, it may notbe what they thought it was
going to be, and they get out.
So because our job is prettytough and our days go by really,
(06:00):
really fast and it can be agrind and it's not like the
super glamorous job thateverybody has and you're a
professional schlepper and soit's really checking in with our
people and making sure they'reokay, you know, and asking them
(06:21):
how's it going?
Do you enjoy coming to work?
Is this a place where you cangrow, that you feel like you
have opportunities.
It's really challenging in asmall company versus a large
corporation because, you know,in a large corporation you can
see, okay, I'm going to startoff as inside sales and then I'm
(06:43):
going to go up to sales, andthen I'm going to go to be a
sales manager and then all theway up to CEO and you can really
see that progression.
But with smaller companies,just because we're small doesn't
mean that you don't have anopportunity to grow.
We really like to figure outwhat people are good at,
(07:10):
obviously, and where theirstrengths lie and what they love
to do and outside of sales,like are they artistic, do they
do well with technology and allthose things?
And as far as management goes,you know how do they relate to
others.
We use a system calledEnneagram and if you don't know
(07:31):
about it, I definitely recommendyou check it out, and they do
have Enneagrams for businesses.
But this really goes into acrazy deep dive of who you are
in terms of traits,characteristics, blind spots,
(07:52):
and that's been something thathas really helped me, as a
leader of the business,understand my people and how
they respond to things, how theyengage with people, and it also
helps our employees in thatthey can see hey, this is where
I need to grow, this is what I'mdoing great at, so it really
(08:15):
gives them a breeding ground forgrowth, and so looking back at
our people is super important.
Going right along with that isour culture.
So we want, from the inside out,we want to be walking the walk
and talking the talk, and what Imean by that is that we have a
list of 12 core values that wehave established within our
(08:38):
company, and throughout the year, we do activities to remind
everybody about those corevalues, and, while you may not
have seen that, if you check outW3 Sales, our social and our
website, we don't really saythose things.
We want to show those things,we want to be those things, and
(09:00):
so you really have to start fromthe inside and work your way
out.
It's pretty hard to fake thesevalues when you're face-to-face
with people, and as far ashaving a reputation people when
you know and as far as having areputation On the flip side is
(09:21):
that social can make everyonelook amazing, and so and and I
mean I love a good filter, I'mnot going to lie and we are all
about being splashed all oversocial media, but important
thing is that we want to reflectwhat we're showing from the
(09:42):
outside.
So the outside has to match theinside and it really does start
with the inside and leadershipmaking sure that I am living up
to the goals that we have setand the standards, the
characteristics leading with aservant heart and working as a
(10:03):
team.
So I have to follow.
I am actually probably moreaccountable to the core values
just because I'm asking peopleto do that and they want to see
that, that I'm gonna step up aswell.
And we're not all perfect, andI know that it's gonna shock you
that I'm not perfect, justkidding, I'm very imperfect and
(10:30):
I think it's important, if youhave a manager that you're
struggling with is to realizethat they're not perfect and
every there's no perfectscenario.
We are all human but we could.
These can be opportunities toyou know, if you do have a
manager, to talk to them, likeabout things you're working on
(10:52):
and developing and and beingopen to having a better working
relationship with them.
So it's a really good time todo a check, not only if you're
an owner, but if you're anemployee, and to figure out,
like, hey, what are the corevalues of my company and what
can I do to live those out?
(11:13):
And maybe the core values don'talign with what, you know, your
personal values are, and sothat would be a really good gut
check too.
Another thing that we andculture, and culture again is a
really big deal for us is youknow, w3 is very adaptable.
(11:33):
You know, w3 is very adaptable.
We're a young company.
We've had to be really quick onour feet and we have to be able
(11:54):
to.
You know, we get pulled in lotsof different ways, and so, you
know, being adaptable is awesome, but you have to balance that
with being consistent, so thatevery time that we sit down and
have a meeting, it's not goingto be like, okay, stop
everything, we're doing, we'rescratching everything, we're
going to try this other thing,and or just doing.
You know, fire drillsconstantly, and this is easy,
much easier said than done.
(12:15):
It's something we've alwayswanted to be good at, but we've
had to fine tune that each year.
Another thing is just having ateam culture.
So team is very important to me.
Within our organization, wework together, because if we
work together we can accomplishmuch bigger things than working
(12:38):
individually, and that's youknow, mind share like, hey, what
are you doing that works?
What are you you know?
What are you struggling with?
You know having you know thatbond, those friendships.
I recently saw a post that waslike don't get too personal with
your fellow coworkers, and Ihave a problem with that because
(13:02):
I mean, obviously you need tomake sure it's a safe place to
be a friend with that person.
However, I think it's reallyimportant to establish
friendships.
We work most of our days Idon't know the exact percentage,
but we work a lot of our days,more than I'm with my family.
(13:22):
So I definitely want to workwith people that I enjoy working
with.
So, establishing thatrelationship, that friendship
outside and then just with beingin outside sales, it can be
really tough and it's reallynice to go back to a team that
you feel supported and that youfeel that they're going to
(13:44):
cheerlead you through whateverstruggle you're going through.
So the fifth thing that wereally look at is our
infrastructure and our big thingis we, as we grow, we want to
be able to support our clientbase.
We have people spreadthroughout Texas and Oklahoma
(14:04):
and my vision, my promise to myfactories, is I want you to have
the same experience as we grow,as you did when we first took
on your on your line, and thatis um, and that's something
that's been challenging, becausesometimes people say, oh yeah,
(14:26):
we'll hire these three peopledown the road, don't worry about
it.
We want to make sure that wehave the right infrastructure,
the right coverage, the rightresources so that this factory
can grow, because you're a teamand they're taking, you know,
when you work with a client,whether it be somebody you know
(14:47):
who's using your services,they're trusting you, you know
with their business and becausethere's lots of other options
out there, and so our job assalespeople is to make sure that
they get the experience that wesold them on.
The sixth thing that we kind oflook at is the marketplace, and
(15:08):
I know it's really reallydifficult to predict the
marketplace right now.
There's just every year thereseems to be some crazy challenge
and that you know upcoming.
This year we're looking atpotential tariffs and many other
things, and I think this isreally important for you to not
(15:30):
just make a broad generalization, especially if you cover
multiple states or multiplecities, because every city is
different, every customer isdifferent, they all have their
own unique challenges and so toreally go through those
customers and figure out like,hey, what are they going to face
(15:52):
, like what is it to walk intheir shoes and how can we come
up with solutions to helptechnology?
So the real fun thing lately isAI and so, whether you agree
with it or not agree with it,you're not on board, you don't
(16:13):
want to figure out.
I recommend checking into itbecause it's not going to go
away and I think it's reallyimportant.
You may not, you know, even ifit's just picking off a little
piece of that technology andimplementing it to make it work
for you.
And that's what we're planningon doing this year.
And then my favorite part aboutplanning for the year is number
(16:36):
eight is what do we want to trythis year?
What are our new ideas?
And oh my gosh, if you were tosit in one of our think tanks or
leadership meetings or just bein my head for a minute, I mean,
the ideas are just, they'realways coming, and that's a
really fun thing is to thinkabout what if we did this, what
(16:58):
if we did that?
The challenge is number nine,once you figure out those ideas,
is evaluating.
Does it make sense?
Is this the right time to adoptthis.
It may be an incredible idea,but the timing of it is probably
not one that's going to work atthis time.
And how do you figure that out?
(17:19):
So several mentors that I'vereached out over the past couple
of years and just as we'vegrown and how to grow our
infrastructure with that, everysingle one of them have said
make sure you have the timeavailable to do it, the
resources, the talent, the money.
(17:41):
So if you have those things,then that would be a good time
to adopt it.
If you don't, it's probably nota good idea.
That doesn't mean that youwon't be able to never do it,
but you have to do first thingsfirst and really prioritize
what's important.
(18:01):
Then the last thing number 10, Ihave to say, is probably
especially with it being our10th birthday is just, I have to
say, is probably especiallywith it being our 10th birthday
is just not being afraid to fail.
And this is hard because I hatefailing.
Failure is never an option, butunfortunately that's just part
of life is that we're going tofail.
And I'm going to be honest,there's been days where I'm just
(18:24):
like I quit, I can't do thisanymore and I feel not to be
honest, there's been days whereI'm just like I quit, I can't do
this anymore and I feel not tothe ground but I just start
going.
I don't.
I haven't lately been puttingas much pressure to just jump up
and be like you know, becausethat's not sometimes I can't do
it, do it and so just crawlingis all I can do.
(18:47):
And then I can, you know, standup, you know, and then start
walking, and then I can, youknow, get back into the run.
But I think that during ourfailures, really good things can
come out of that.
Again, same thing going backthrough this list of looking
through all these steps.
(19:09):
But the most important thing, Ithink, is every day is a new day
and we're not perfect and wehave to remember that we are not
our worst moments.
I don't make you know greatdecisions all the time.
I know another shockingrevelation, but no, just kidding
(19:30):
.
But I make you know we all makemistakes.
We all.
We all could have done thingsyou know a little bit better and
you don't want to be stuck in ashame game and the thing is, is
you just want to keep movingforward?
They have a saying in my churchand I just love it.
It's okay to not be okay, butjust don't stay there.
(19:51):
And so I have found myself inthese, like I'm on the ground.
I don't want to do this anymore.
I just want to quit and I justkeep taking little steps and
then eventually you can lookback and see wow, look at this
hill that I've climbed out ofthis deep, dark crevice and it's
(20:13):
been really helpful.
And I think in these situationstoo, it's really really
important to have positivepeople around you, people that
will support you, people thatpush you.
I have a mentor.
I have a personal mentor.
I have mentors within theindustry, but I have a personal
(20:37):
mentor and she is one of thescariest ladies I've ever met
and she's really really nice.
However, she can look at me andshe can just tell, she can pull
out what I'm really thinkingand she will call me out and I
can't sell my way out of itbecause she can just really read
(21:00):
me and I pray for a mentor foryears like that and I'm so
thankful to have her in my lifeand to be able to run things by
and make sure it makes sense.
You know as far as my, you knowwhat my purpose here on life is
and what I want to do with thecompany.
(21:22):
You know, in the 10 years it's.
In the beginning I thoughtwe're going to make so much
money, and if you're wanting tomake billions of dollars, this
is not the job to do.
However, it is a very rewardingevery you know moving forward,
(21:48):
because if I focus on my peopleand I focus on our culture, I we
give.
You know we were always lookingto improve the industry.
You know, that's what, that'sthe legacy I want to leave
behind.
So so, yeah, so this year we'rejust going to be taking a look
at, you know 10 things.
(22:08):
You know that we've learnedalong the way Funny times, crazy
times, you know all the thingsaround 10.
So I'm really excited aboutthis year.
My confession is that I don'tknow about you, but I am not a
resolution person.
I stink at diets, and so I'mmore about just adjusting some
(22:37):
of the behaviors and um, but I'mnot giving up chocolate.
I'm not giving up wine.
Um, dry January I did.
However, I found those newmocktails that can make you
relax, you know.
So I might put those in, but sothat's another thing is just
don't, don't get down.
You know, I mean with, andresolutions might work for you,
and that's great.
(22:58):
But I like to focus more on aword, a behavior that I want to
work on, and not just beatingmyself up when I don't achieve
that, you know every day, ofevery single second, because
it's just not possible.
But I hope in all this you areable to find some encouragement,
some things to maybe thinkabout for your upcoming year.
(23:22):
Whether you're a salespersonand you have a big number to
chink away, to chisel away Idon't know what the word would
be or that you are a salesmanager and you have people that
you want to train and grow, andjust to look at all of these
(23:43):
factors, and then, of course, asa business owner, there's
nothing more important is tohave a really good, solid plan,
a good understanding of whereyour Achilles heel is and what
you guys' strength is and alsowhat's going to bring your
clients value.
So, in all that, I wish youguys a happy new year, happy
(24:07):
planning, and I'll see you soon.
For more inspiration, followour social media at W3Sales.
Please like, comment andsubscribe.
You know all the things wewould love to connect with you.
Welcome to Confessions Beyond the Food.
I'm your host, nancy Redland.
Let's dig in and get inspired.
Hi, welcome back to ConfessionsBeyond the Food.
My name is Nancy and I'm withW3 Sales.
So we started W3 Sales 10 yearsago and this month, in January,
(00:26):
marks our 10th birthday.
So we're super excited thatwe're still here after 10 years
and we've built it from theground up.
Everything has been organicgrowth and it's just really cool
to celebrate 10 years ofcreating my ultimate dream
(00:47):
company and, while it's beenfilled with lots of bumps and
bruises and getting knocked down, but it's also been full of
many triumphs and awesome peoplethat I've met along the way and
people that I've learned from,and especially our team.
Our team is super, very, veryspecial people, group of people
(01:11):
who care about what we do, andI'm just really, really honored
to be sitting here today at 10years.
So, and I love birthdays Ifyou're my friend, you know I
love.
I love birthdays because it'sjust a really great time to be
around people and reflect on youknow the past year and you know
(01:36):
what went great and all thatsort of thing, and it really
ties in with the new year, withthe new year.
So, with us being 10, we'regoing to be doing 10 podcasts
and about just you know, ourjourney throughout the year, so
(01:56):
we will sprinkle these inthroughout the year and it'll
always be around about thenumber 10.
So I don't know about you, butI love new beginnings.
I think new beginnings are greatbecause it's a great time to
kind of refresh and start over.
And that's what I think a lotof people think about in the new
(02:17):
year is you know what is thisnext?
You know you get to dream alittle bit about what you want,
what you expect for things tohappen.
And, of course, you know youget to dream a little bit about
what you want, what you expectfor things to happen.
And, of course, you never knowwhat's going to go down in the
next year.
Right, I used to say this isour year, you know, ever since
2020.
And it has not been our year.
(02:38):
You know as what I planned, butwhen I look back, it was our
year and it's important to lookback, and that's why number one
is it's really important to lookback and see you know what
worked and you know what hasworked and what did we fail at
and what are obstacles that keepus from achieving our goals.
(03:03):
The number two thing we look atis I like to learn from our
mistakes.
So this is probably the mostimportant thing, because if you
keep doing, if you don't addressthe mistake, if you're not able
to step back, look at honestly,very honest, without shaming,
(03:28):
and but just, you know yourfailures and, um, where you know
you need to grow, you knowthat's when.
That's when breakthroughs come,come about.
Uh, we often talk about if wecontinue repeating mistakes or
not changing.
You're just on the insanitycycle, and the insanity cycle is
(03:54):
doing the same things over andover again and expecting
different results, and that isnot going to happen.
And so it's important to youknow, really pinpoint.
You know, where was thismistake, where was the miss,
what can we do differently?
(04:15):
And you might not know theanswer, and that's okay.
That's when you ask peoplearound you, your teammates, your
you know other people in theindustry that you look up to,
other businesses like yourself,people outside of your industry.
(04:35):
So I think this is reallyimportant and to just get really
good and honest feedback aswell, I like to ask you know,
how are we doing with ourclients?
What are we doing well?
What do we need to do betterand I think, with these two
things is looking back andlearning from our mistakes and
(04:58):
you can really set yourself up,you know, with a solid
foundation.
The third thing that we like tolook at is obviously the most
important thing is our people.
So Our people make the DNA ofW3 sales and they are very
important to me.
(05:19):
Retaining them is veryimportant to me.
So we're a little bit different, because we typically bring
people outside the industry intoW3, into the food service
industry, w3, into the foodservice industry, because right
(05:39):
now there's not a lot of people,that not a lot of new blood
coming in, and it's harderBelieve me, I know, I realize
why.
It's definitely the road lesstraveled, because they get in,
they may not like it, it may notbe what they thought it was
going to be, and they get out.
So because our job is prettytough and our days go by really,
(06:00):
really fast and it can be agrind and it's not like the
super glamorous job thateverybody has and you're a
professional schlepper and soit's really checking in with our
people and making sure they'reokay, you know, and asking them
(06:21):
how's it going?
Do you enjoy coming to work?
Is this a place where you cangrow, that you feel like you
have opportunities.
It's really challenging in asmall company versus a large
corporation because, you know,in a large corporation you can
see, okay, I'm going to startoff as inside sales and then I'm
(06:43):
going to go up to sales, andthen I'm going to go to be a
sales manager and then all theway up to CEO and you can really
see that progression.
But with smaller companies,just because we're small doesn't
mean that you don't have anopportunity to grow.
We really like to figure outwhat people are good at,
(07:10):
obviously, and where theirstrengths lie and what they love
to do and outside of sales,like are they artistic, do they
do well with technology and allthose things?
And as far as management goes,you know how do they relate to
others.
We use a system calledEnneagram and if you don't know
(07:31):
about it, I definitely recommendyou check it out, and they do
have Enneagrams for businesses.
But this really goes into acrazy deep dive of who you are
in terms of traits,characteristics, blind spots,
(07:52):
and that's been something thathas really helped me, as a
leader of the business,understand my people and how
they respond to things, how theyengage with people, and it also
helps our employees in thatthey can see hey, this is where
I need to grow, this is what I'mdoing great at, so it really
(08:15):
gives them a breeding ground forgrowth, and so looking back at
our people is super important.
Going right along with that isour culture.
So we want, from the inside out,we want to be walking the walk
and talking the talk, and what Imean by that is that we have a
list of 12 core values that wehave established within our
(08:38):
company, and throughout the year, we do activities to remind
everybody about those corevalues, and, while you may not
have seen that, if you check outW3 Sales, our social and our
website, we don't really saythose things.
We want to show those things,we want to be those things, and
(09:00):
so you really have to start fromthe inside and work your way
out.
It's pretty hard to fake thesevalues when you're face-to-face
with people, and as far ashaving a reputation people when
you know and as far as having areputation On the flip side is
(09:21):
that social can make everyonelook amazing, and so and and I
mean I love a good filter, I'mnot going to lie and we are all
about being splashed all oversocial media, but important
thing is that we want to reflectwhat we're showing from the
(09:42):
outside.
So the outside has to match theinside and it really does start
with the inside and leadershipmaking sure that I am living up
to the goals that we have setand the standards, the
characteristics leading with aservant heart and working as a
(10:03):
team.
So I have to follow.
I am actually probably moreaccountable to the core values
just because I'm asking peopleto do that and they want to see
that, that I'm gonna step up aswell.
And we're not all perfect, andI know that it's gonna shock you
that I'm not perfect, justkidding, I'm very imperfect and
(10:30):
I think it's important, if youhave a manager that you're
struggling with is to realizethat they're not perfect and
every there's no perfectscenario.
We are all human but we could.
These can be opportunities toyou know, if you do have a
manager, to talk to them, likeabout things you're working on
(10:52):
and developing and and beingopen to having a better working
relationship with them.
So it's a really good time todo a check, not only if you're
an owner, but if you're anemployee, and to figure out,
like, hey, what are the corevalues of my company and what
can I do to live those out?
(11:13):
And maybe the core values don'talign with what, you know, your
personal values are, and sothat would be a really good gut
check too.
Another thing that we andculture, and culture again is a
really big deal for us is youknow, w3 is very adaptable.
(11:33):
You know, w3 is very adaptable.
We're a young company.
We've had to be really quick onour feet and we have to be able
(11:54):
to.
You know, we get pulled in lotsof different ways, and so, you
know, being adaptable is awesome, but you have to balance that
with being consistent, so thatevery time that we sit down and
have a meeting, it's not goingto be like, okay, stop
everything, we're doing, we'rescratching everything, we're
going to try this other thing,and or just doing.
You know, fire drillsconstantly, and this is easy,
much easier said than done.
(12:15):
It's something we've alwayswanted to be good at, but we've
had to fine tune that each year.
Another thing is just having ateam culture.
So team is very important to me.
Within our organization, wework together, because if we
work together we can accomplishmuch bigger things than working
(12:38):
individually, and that's youknow, mind share like, hey, what
are you doing that works?
What are you you know?
What are you struggling with?
You know having you know thatbond, those friendships.
I recently saw a post that waslike don't get too personal with
your fellow coworkers, and Ihave a problem with that because
(13:02):
I mean, obviously you need tomake sure it's a safe place to
be a friend with that person.
However, I think it's reallyimportant to establish
friendships.
We work most of our days Idon't know the exact percentage,
but we work a lot of our days,more than I'm with my family.
(13:22):
So I definitely want to workwith people that I enjoy working
with.
So, establishing thatrelationship, that friendship
outside and then just with beingin outside sales, it can be
really tough and it's reallynice to go back to a team that
you feel supported and that youfeel that they're going to
(13:44):
cheerlead you through whateverstruggle you're going through.
So the fifth thing that wereally look at is our
infrastructure and our big thingis we, as we grow, we want to
be able to support our clientbase.
We have people spreadthroughout Texas and Oklahoma
(14:04):
and my vision, my promise to myfactories, is I want you to have
the same experience as we grow,as you did when we first took
on your on your line, and thatis um, and that's something
that's been challenging, becausesometimes people say, oh yeah,
(14:26):
we'll hire these three peopledown the road, don't worry about
it.
We want to make sure that wehave the right infrastructure,
the right coverage, the rightresources so that this factory
can grow, because you're a teamand they're taking, you know,
when you work with a client,whether it be somebody you know
(14:47):
who's using your services,they're trusting you, you know
with their business and becausethere's lots of other options
out there, and so our job assalespeople is to make sure that
they get the experience that wesold them on.
The sixth thing that we kind oflook at is the marketplace, and
(15:08):
I know it's really reallydifficult to predict the
marketplace right now.
There's just every year thereseems to be some crazy challenge
and that you know upcoming.
This year we're looking atpotential tariffs and many other
things, and I think this isreally important for you to not
(15:30):
just make a broad generalization, especially if you cover
multiple states or multiplecities, because every city is
different, every customer isdifferent, they all have their
own unique challenges and so toreally go through those
customers and figure out like,hey, what are they going to face
(15:52):
, like what is it to walk intheir shoes and how can we come
up with solutions to helptechnology?
So the real fun thing lately isAI and so, whether you agree
with it or not agree with it,you're not on board, you don't
(16:13):
want to figure out.
I recommend checking into itbecause it's not going to go
away and I think it's reallyimportant.
You may not, you know, even ifit's just picking off a little
piece of that technology andimplementing it to make it work
for you.
And that's what we're planningon doing this year.
And then my favorite part aboutplanning for the year is number
(16:36):
eight is what do we want to trythis year?
What are our new ideas?
And oh my gosh, if you were tosit in one of our think tanks or
leadership meetings or just bein my head for a minute, I mean,
the ideas are just, they'realways coming, and that's a
really fun thing is to thinkabout what if we did this, what
(16:58):
if we did that?
The challenge is number nine,once you figure out those ideas,
is evaluating.
Does it make sense?
Is this the right time to adoptthis.
It may be an incredible idea,but the timing of it is probably
not one that's going to work atthis time.
And how do you figure that out?
(17:19):
So several mentors that I'vereached out over the past couple
of years and just as we'vegrown and how to grow our
infrastructure with that, everysingle one of them have said
make sure you have the timeavailable to do it, the
resources, the talent, the money.
(17:41):
So if you have those things,then that would be a good time
to adopt it.
If you don't, it's probably nota good idea.
That doesn't mean that youwon't be able to never do it,
but you have to do first thingsfirst and really prioritize
what's important.
(18:01):
Then the last thing number 10, Ihave to say, is probably
especially with it being our10th birthday is just, I have to
say, is probably especiallywith it being our 10th birthday
is just not being afraid to fail.
And this is hard because I hatefailing.
Failure is never an option, butunfortunately that's just part
of life is that we're going tofail.
And I'm going to be honest,there's been days where I'm just
(18:24):
like I quit, I can't do thisanymore and I feel not to be
honest, there's been days whereI'm just like I quit, I can't do
this anymore and I feel not tothe ground but I just start
going.
I don't.
I haven't lately been puttingas much pressure to just jump up
and be like you know, becausethat's not sometimes I can't do
it, do it and so just crawlingis all I can do.
(18:47):
And then I can, you know, standup, you know, and then start
walking, and then I can, youknow, get back into the run.
But I think that during ourfailures, really good things can
come out of that.
Again, same thing going backthrough this list of looking
through all these steps.
(19:09):
But the most important thing, Ithink, is every day is a new day
and we're not perfect and wehave to remember that we are not
our worst moments.
I don't make you know greatdecisions all the time.
I know another shockingrevelation, but no, just kidding
(19:30):
.
But I make you know we all makemistakes.
We all.
We all could have done thingsyou know a little bit better and
you don't want to be stuck in ashame game and the thing is, is
you just want to keep movingforward?
They have a saying in my churchand I just love it.
It's okay to not be okay, butjust don't stay there.
(19:51):
And so I have found myself inthese, like I'm on the ground.
I don't want to do this anymore.
I just want to quit and I justkeep taking little steps and
then eventually you can lookback and see wow, look at this
hill that I've climbed out ofthis deep, dark crevice and it's
(20:13):
been really helpful.
And I think in these situationstoo, it's really really
important to have positivepeople around you, people that
will support you, people thatpush you.
I have a mentor.
I have a personal mentor.
I have mentors within theindustry, but I have a personal
(20:37):
mentor and she is one of thescariest ladies I've ever met
and she's really really nice.
However, she can look at me andshe can just tell, she can pull
out what I'm really thinkingand she will call me out and I
can't sell my way out of itbecause she can just really read
(21:00):
me and I pray for a mentor foryears like that and I'm so
thankful to have her in my lifeand to be able to run things by
and make sure it makes sense.
You know as far as my, you knowwhat my purpose here on life is
and what I want to do with thecompany.
(21:22):
You know, in the 10 years it's.
In the beginning I thoughtwe're going to make so much
money, and if you're wanting tomake billions of dollars, this
is not the job to do.
However, it is a very rewardingevery you know moving forward,
(21:48):
because if I focus on my peopleand I focus on our culture, I we
give.
You know we were always lookingto improve the industry.
You know, that's what, that'sthe legacy I want to leave
behind.
So so, yeah, so this year we'rejust going to be taking a look
at, you know 10 things.
(22:08):
You know that we've learnedalong the way Funny times, crazy
times, you know all the thingsaround 10.
So I'm really excited aboutthis year.
My confession is that I don'tknow about you, but I am not a
resolution person.
I stink at diets, and so I'mmore about just adjusting some
(22:37):
of the behaviors and um, but I'mnot giving up chocolate.
I'm not giving up wine.
Um, dry January I did.
However, I found those newmocktails that can make you
relax, you know.
So I might put those in, but sothat's another thing is just
don't, don't get down.
You know, I mean with, andresolutions might work for you,
and that's great.
(22:58):
But I like to focus more on aword, a behavior that I want to
work on, and not just beatingmyself up when I don't achieve
that, you know every day, ofevery single second, because
it's just not possible.
But I hope in all this you areable to find some encouragement,
some things to maybe thinkabout for your upcoming year.
(23:22):
Whether you're a salespersonand you have a big number to
chink away, to chisel away Idon't know what the word would
be or that you are a salesmanager and you have people that
you want to train and grow, andjust to look at all of these
(23:43):
factors, and then, of course, asa business owner, there's
nothing more important is tohave a really good, solid plan,
a good understanding of whereyour Achilles heel is and what
you guys' strength is and alsowhat's going to bring your
clients value.
So, in all that, I wish youguys a happy new year, happy
(24:07):
planning, and I'll see you soon.
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