From Mop Factories to Mentorship: Absorbing Life's Lessons

Lifelong learning starts with being a sponge – absorbing knowledge from every experience, job, and interaction around you. This mindset transforms everyday moments into valuable lessons that compound over time and fuel meaningful personal and professional growth.

• Asheville Business Summit coming in September with early bird tickets available July 4th
• Consider purchasing tickets for clients and prospects as a relationship-building opportunity
• Career advice to be a "learning sponge" in every job, even temporary positions
• Story about working at Greenwood Mop Factory at age 16 and learning about management styles
• Henry Bonds' memorable desk sign: "Let's compromise and do it my way"
• Daily habit recommendation: document what you learned each day to make lessons stick
• Observation of different management styles and employee engagement as a teenager
• Invitation to chat about scaling your business with no obligation

Reach out if you're interested in scaling your business – my contact info is available online, and I'd be happy to sit down for coffee to share a few growth ideas with no obligation.

Thanks for Listening. You may contact me or our team at https://billgilliland.biz/

All the best!
Bill

Thanks for listening. Please hit the subscribe button, leave us a 5 star review, and share this podcast. You can reach me at [e-mail] or at https://billgilliland.biz/

All the best!

Bill

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Hey there, hope you're having a fantastic week.
Just want to remind you thatthe Asheville Business Summit is
coming up in September.
There are a lot of ways to getinvolved.
First of all, you can get aticket.
They're going on sale.
You can get an early birdticket.
They're going on sale July the4th.
You get plenty, you can come,you can attend.
You can become a sponsor.
You get plenty, you can come,you can attend, you can become a

(00:25):
sponsor.
I tell you, a great way to takeadvantage of the summit that a
lot of people don't think aboutis buy a bunch of tickets and
invite your customers, inviteyour prospects, make it a day of
it, make an event of it, givethem something different than
what you're looking for.
So there's my take on that.

(00:45):
Hey, today I want to talk toyou about learning a little bit.
Now, when I was about 16 or 17,a friend of my dad's he's also a
friend of mine, you knowsomewhere sort of between our
ages, so he was closer to my agethan my dad's, but because he

(01:05):
had worked for my dad at onepoint and then he had gone off
and he was able to buy anotherbusiness and he was running that
and I was talking to him aboutcareers and jobs and I don't
even know how it came up, and hesaid, bill, it doesn't matter
whatever job you get, even asummer job, you want to be a
sponge, you want to learn asmuch as you can.

(01:27):
You want to take in everythingaround you so that you can use
that later in your career.
And I can't tell you how, howright he was about those things.
So I worked when I was 16, Iworked at a Greenwood Mop
Factory.
A man named Henry Bonds ownedit and he was a little bit of a

(01:51):
mentor to me.
I only worked there one summer,but I have many memories of
things that he said.
I mean one of the things he hadthis sign on his desk.
It was hilarious.
It said let's compromise and doit my way.
So he was a tough negotiator.
He wanted to.
You know, you just put that outthere in front of him.
But there were a lot of thingsI learned about having people

(02:15):
and supervising people.
I never had to supervise aperson when I was 16, but I
could see how some supervisorswere better at others.
Some were good at it, somepeople were enthusiastic
employees.
Some people were notenthusiastic and why that was
and what it took to actuallygrow and run a business.
And when I was 16, I waslearning that.

(02:36):
So teach your kids to be asponge, and you be a sponge too.
Wherever you go, wherever youlook, you're going to learn
something.
There's always something tolearn.
One of the things I challengemy clients on quite often is
what did you learn on vacation,when they take a vacation, what
did you learn?
So you know, let me know whatyou've learned recently.

(02:58):
Let me know what you've learned.
In fact, I'll give you a goodhabit.
A good habit is at the end ofevery day, sit down with a paper
and pen or a notebook or yourphone, or however.
You take notes and just writedown what is it that you've
learned?
What is it that you learnedtoday?
What are your learnings?
Make a note of it and you'll besurprised at how well those

(03:21):
will stick in your brain andyou'll be able to use them from
time to time.
Hey, I'd love to have a chatwith you about scaling your
business.
If you're interested in takingyour business to the next level
and want to grab a cup of coffee, then just hit me up.
Let me know in the comments, orwe're all over the Internet.
You know where.
You know how to find me.
My phone number's out there, myemail.

(03:44):
Just let us know somehow andwe'll be glad to sit down, no
obligation.
Just have a chat and find outif we can give you a couple
ideas to grow your business.
If it makes sense for us towork together, great.
If it doesn't, of course, we'llstill be friends.
Hey, until next time, all thebest.