June 20, 2023 • 31 mins
Brian Slipka is the founder and serves as the leader of True North. Throughout his career as a senior executive, Brian began investing in numerous independent operating companies, eventually forming the framework of today’s True North Equity Partners. Over time, and with his own hard-earned capital, Brian began acquiring controlling interest in independent operating companies across varied and diverse industries. Among these are Sunbelt Business Advisors and True North Mergers & Acquisitions, where he serves as chairman and CEO. He also is the founder and CEO of Honour Capital, LLC, focused on equipment financing. Today, the combined family of over 20 independently owned small businesses has revenues in excess of a quarter billion dollars. Brian’s experience includes building a startup, buying existing (including distressed) businesses, selling/exiting businesses, and angel investments in numerous companies, as a limited partner/investor, while serving on the boards of many. He is the owner of multiple types of commercial real estate, inducing retail, multi-tenant, medical office, and commercial. He is the very definition of “self-made”.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Welcome to CEOs. You should knowI'm Adam West and with me is Brian
Slipca True North and True North Familyof Companies the CEO. Right, yeah,
correct, thanks for being here today. Great to be here, Adam.
We're gonna talking a little bit aboutTrue North. What are the True
North Family of companies. Well,True North is really a collection of twenty
plus businesses across multiple industries and sectors. We really have five work streams.
(00:23):
We got the m and A workstreamwhich most of the folks in the Minneapolis
marketplace, no, no, prettywell, that's the Sunbelt Business Advisors and
True North Mergers and acquisitions. Andthen you have the transportation workstream, where
of eight transportation and logistics companies allaround the Upper Midwest that makeup to Senka
workstream. The family of private mainstreak businesses. Those are manufacturing, distribution,
(00:49):
and quite a few other types ofbusinesses that's been fun. Those are
the heartbeat of America kind of companies. Then you have the True North Sports
which is which is my Sioux FallsCans as well as Pillbox Pillbox bat company
out of Winona, Minnesota that MLBlicensed bats that are pretty pretty cool.
And then the last, the lastwork stream is on our Capital, so
(01:10):
capital finance, where specialty finance provideracross the entire country. I came my
backgrounds. I came from tcf UHand have that capital finance background and brought
that over to on our Capital.Launched on our Capital three years ago and
now we're one of the fastest growingcapital finance companies in the US. Well,
diversified, a lot of tentacles,Yeah, a lot of fun,
a lot of great people, alot of great UH partners and leaders within
(01:34):
the businesses, and it's just beena it's just been a blessing all the
way through. Yeah, networking mustbe a piece of cake for you.
It's just people, tons of peopleout there. Yeah, well there are
there's not usually many folks I talkedto where there there's not some sort of
connection or some sort of interruptability oractivation that we can make together. So
it's it's it's it's been a lotof fun of the last handful of years.
(01:55):
So what led you to where youcurrently are? The you know,
the CEO of True North and allthese all these different companies are all these
different things that you do. Well, you know, just like a lot
of people have in life, theygo through they go through life, and
they're like, hey, what whatam I chasing? Right? And And
one of the things that I startedto realize when I was climbing the corporate
ladder and and and being in differentparts of the country, traveling all around,
(02:17):
was, you know, this questionkept kept coming up. What am
I chasing? And what really filledmy cup or gave me energy was the
more I helped people, the moreI stirred people, and the more I
helped people grow and realize their dreams, the more fulfilled I was. So
what started to emerge through my careerin my thirties, Um, you know,
I'm in my mid forties. Sowhat started to emerge in my thirties
(02:38):
was this notion like, how doI put myself in a position I'd always
been fairly entrepreneurial, but I wasin a corporate realm, and how do
I how do I transition into amore entrepreneurial setting where I can help fulfill
that? Right? You know,I'm more fulfilled, but then I can
help other people a lot too.So really, our collection of companies really
helps business owners, helps business leadersin multiple ways. And it's I tell,
(03:01):
I tell folks all the time.I don't ever feel like I'm working.
I mean this, I worked,right, I quote unquote work.
I'm a lot, but I don'tfeel like I'm working. It's it's a
freedom based model. Every day.Which one was your first with? Which
of those areas was your first?Wouldn't? Well? You know the quick
story is my my dad again,what are you chasing in life? Yeah?
(03:23):
My father, My father asked meon his deathbed. He died of
cancer about ten years ago. Heasked me that question, Brian, what
are you chasing? You're traveling allaround the country, You're doing you're doing
well financially, professionally and all thatstuff, But you know, what are
you chasing in life? Because Iwas kind of complaining to him about you
know, corporate America and all thatand and uh, and he said,
(03:43):
why don't you go after these?When I say go after like, go
acquire or go work with or investin these heartbeat of America businesses where the
people just work hard, they grind, they toil every day, they don't
complain a whole heck of a lot, and they just work hard. And
that resonated with me. So afterhis passing, that's That's when I really
got going with the True North vision. And the first company was a manufacturing
(04:03):
company up in Anoka, still owingit to this day, still part of
it to this day. And thenmoved into a transportation business, and then
moved into some other businesses and handfulof businesses. Still had a day day
job, a corporate job, andthen finally moved into, um, this
is a full time pursuit about fiveyears ago. Are you guy that makes
quick decisions? Because I think aboutthe things, the very little few things
(04:26):
that I've involved with takes a whileto kind of noodle it over, and
I've imagine you have to think reallyquickly on your feet. I'm a calculated
risk person, but then but thenI'm a ready, aim, fire kind
of guy. Yeah, looks good, feels good. You know, um,
you know it checks enough of theboxes, let's go. Yeah,
I got that feeling. How haveyou seen your business or these businesses,
these different parts of the business changeover the last five years. Well,
(04:48):
there's been a dramatic shift. Imean you think think about what's happened in
the last five years. I meanit isn't an amazing you. You had
this ecoignment that was going pretty gangbusters, and then COVID brings it to a
grinding home and then business as weknow it has been redefined and people have
had to regrip, reposition, startover. Um. It's just a little
(05:11):
bit of everything and all the issuesthat that the pandemic created in the wake,
you know, wake of it andum and so it's things have changed
dramatically. I think the small businessuh that that you know and the family
of companies I represent and lead havea unique opportunity to to help really help
our lead our country. You know, I tell people this all the time,
but the heartbeat of America, thesmall business drives almost half of the
(05:34):
GDP, and yet it's it's oftentimesneglected in the in the overall conversation at
the national level, right And soI think, you know, bringing more
awareness to that even in the twincities around around the heartbeat of America and
how we really drive the US economy, that that that's what gets me excited.
So when you think about the lastfive years, I think that notion
(05:55):
and that concept has really started tobe elevated and people are starting take notice
of that small business really has achance to help lead our country. Speaking
of small business and you talk aboutmergers and acquisitions, and I know I've
I've done some work for Sunbelt talkingabout you know, when people are ready
to exit. Tell me a littlebit about that, because it is a
lot of small business owners that's theirpride and enjoy. How do you work
through some of the emotional parts ofthat. Yeah, I mean the m
(06:18):
and a part of our family ofcompanies is really where I spend a lot
of my time and a lot ofa lot of the general public knows knows
us the best, and that's theSunbelt Business Advisors as as you mentioned.
And really there's this tsunami of boomers, baby boomers that are transitioning their life's
work. And so when you askthat question, it's, you know,
there's this huge opportunity for us tocome alongside through our our collaborative approach and
(06:43):
really help these folks transition their life'swork in a meaningful and thoughtful and empathetic
way. And and there really hasn'tbeen that thought partner, thought leader that
they've had to lean on over allthese years. I mean a lot of
these boomers were trying to retire beforethere was in two thousand and eight and
nine, and yet then the recessionhit and they're like, you know what,
We're just going to hang on fora few more years. Well now
(07:05):
fifteen years later they're saying, Hey, I need to retire. I'm in
my seventies or whatever the case maybe. And I think they just need
to come alongside folks that they trust, and that's that's where we that's where
we really help guide them through theprocess. And I think there's a huge
opportunity for us to do that ina greater extent the next few years.
(07:26):
I'm guessing you see some of thesecompanies, maybe they were thinking about retiring
five years ago or kind of wining, trying to wind things down, and
then COVID happened, and some ofthem are more successful maybe now than they
were before for sure for sure.And so when you when you had the
conversation with them, is hey,what do you want? You almost got
to separate the financial decision from thehuman decision, Because the financial decision you're
(07:46):
gonna always be able to justify waysas a business owner to hold the business
a hit another handful of years,especially successful ones why because they're making money,
So so to part with that isparting with a profit machine right or
flow machine correct. On the otherhand, it's like I want to spend
time with my grandkids. I've hadsome health problems, or I'm going through
a life change, or I'm justgetting older and I'm as I'm not as
(08:07):
hungry as I used to be,or frankly, my business is making a
lot of money, but it's beenstuck in neutral for the last ten years.
And what it needs is a youngyou know, young young professional to
come in and really really invest time, energy and effort and passion that I've
sort of lost over the last tentwenty years. Like those are the types
of conversations we're having to really helpthem, come alongside them and separate those
(08:30):
decisions. Uh. And what weultimately will find is it's actually financial is
important, Like they need to theyneed to get a fair price and a
top dollar price. And frankly,some belts, no one's better than some
belt are helping helping our clients getthat top price. However, it's really
understand their human reasons for selling,because the human reasons really drive deal structures
(08:52):
or really drive m you know whowho who the buyer is those types of
things, because so often to thesesellers, you know, they they care
about their their employees and some ofthem maybe you still are a part of
it later and I'm assuming yep.And now there's new regulations coming through with
the SBA effective August first of thisyear, where there's going to be the
(09:13):
ability for the SBA to finance partial, partial transitions and just different different structures
that make it a lot more creative, which I believe will be a huge
online for sellers to really start totransition their life's work more intentionally and quicker.
So huge opportunity there. We talkeda little bit about the last five
years and kind of talking about whatyou you know, how that all works.
(09:35):
Now, how about the next fiveyears. You know, I think
the next five years are going tobe us executing on what we just spoke
about. We're really helping these businessowners transition their life's work. I think
the Trune North Holding Company will participatein that as a buyer in some strategic
cases, but generally speaking, it'sreally helping come alongside those owners and being
opportunistic to really really highlight the powerof the Upper mid West work ethic,
(10:01):
to highlight the the the the abilityof the small business to really drive the
the economy in a greater way.And I think the more that our country
and nation and local leaders and allthat stuff starts to start to realize and
see how much value the small businessdrives the economy, it's again there's that's
(10:22):
another onlock. That's a huge onlockand a competitive advantage for the Upper Midwest.
I like when you see I mean, I'm from the Upper Midwest.
I'm from here, from the TwinCities. I mean, is that a
noticeable difference among people in the industry, Like that whole work ethic thing,
is it or is it just somethingwe make up? You know? I
think no, it's definitely. There'sdefinitely an element of truth to the to
the the heartland, right and andI say highlands, the Upper Midwest,
(10:43):
all the way down down to youknow, down to Texas. I mean,
you get that heartland of the USthat a really strong work ethic.
I'm not and I'm not trying toto to say anything less about the coasts,
but but there's a uniqueness about usin the heartland. And and I
think that we out of raising ourb raising our hands saying hey, like
we're here to we're here to help. We're here to take on more responsibi.
It's a huge opportunity for economic boonin the US, and so from
(11:09):
an overall national perspective, I justthink we have a huge opportunity. We're
talking to Brian Slipke, the CEOof True North and the True North family
of companies. So I, um, maybe I should have asked this first.
I asked about the next five years, But how about the next year?
Because things are changing super fast,oh boy. I mean, even
the way the market has changed withinterest rates, the inverted yield curve for
(11:31):
banks, which changes the financial sectordramatically. I mean, I just came
from a meeting this morning with awith a leader of a of a community
bank, multibillion dollar community bank wherewhere they're you know, they're short term,
their short term bar and is moreexpensive than long term borrowing. I
mean, that doesn't make any sensein the global economic realm. But but
it but you know, eventually it'llcorrect itself, right, but how long?
(11:54):
And in the meantime, what doesthat mean for the consumer? What
does that mean for the business owner? What does that mean for the borrow
or what does that mean for thelender? I mean, like the like
the banks, I mean, thebanks are gonna have to hold on,
you know, because the inverty yelkeris going to create a margin compression that
will last. And So from afrom the layman's terms perspective, does that
mean for those who are listening,Well, it means that, like there's
(12:16):
gonna be more of a ill liquidity, an icing up of access to capital
over the next year or two,so specifically the next year. So what
I've been telling everybody, there's aflight to quality going on. And so
what does flight to quality mean?Will flight to quality means that there's like
the business buyers, for example,who have capital, who have cash,
(12:37):
are going to be in in agreat, great advantage over the ones that
are traditionally using leverage to borrow.Right, flight to quality means means that
that people are gonna start making choicesthat are less about cheap money or like
like hey, I got a reallyhot interest rate on this deal or whatever
I'm doing, and they're gonna goafter smart money. Flight to quality.
Smart money was smart money. Imean, I mean it might mean I
(12:58):
pay more or for the cost ofcapital. However it's more flexible, it's
more the terms are better you knowthat sort of thing, And that's that's
what you're gonna see a lot ofYou've already started to see it, but
you're gonna see a lot more ofthat trickle down and ripple down to the
consumer. What would be an exampleof leverage if you don't go to the
capital route, if you the leveragepart of it. Well, so,
(13:20):
I mean from a leverage perspective whenI'm talking about is like when you're borrow.
When you're borrowing, you're using leverageto create purchasing power. So like
when you when you I'll just againtry to try to make it makes sense
for the consumer. Right, So, if you're buying a house, Okay,
you're going to pay more higher interestrate based on where the market is
(13:41):
right now, Right, However,could could there be a solution that provides
a better better terms to still helpyou on the cash flow side of it?
Right? That's that's what I'm tellingyou. That's more smart money.
Right. You're you're gonna pay forit later. Don't get me wrong.
It's not like you still have topay for it later, but there's gonna
have to be um things emerge thathelp help the the You know, all
(14:01):
of us, uh create that,you know, continue to have that velocity
of of flow happen. You reada lot, don't you. I read
a lot of Uh, I reada lot of like the Wall Street Journal.
I read a lot of um,you know, uh current events type
of things. Yeah. I readfull books, but I do it through
audible at about one point three onepoint four speed. But probably the most
(14:26):
important is all you know, thefinancial stuff and like you said, current
events and stuff like that. Yeah. Yeah, I mean I think I
think if our if, if ourum, if the general population could educate
themselves more on some of the currentevents and the and and how how money
flow works and just just simple economics, I think I think our nation would
be in a much better position movingforward. And frankly, this is a
(14:46):
political stuff. This has nothing todo with politics. This is just more
education. Um. This is justus, us being smarter um relative to
the to the global environment. AndI think I think we'd put ourselves in
a really competitive advantage. You probablyhave a team you lean on a little
bit for some of this. Absolutely, I mean I have a great team.
I mean, you know, whenI think about like sun Belt or
trun Earth mergers and acquisitions. Ithink of Chris Jones, who's who's fairly
(15:11):
well known in the community. He'sa president of sun Belt and he's done
a great job leading in that companycompany for many many years. We've done
a really good job together as partnersto really grow that business. When I
think about some of the other linesof business, like Honor Capital Shay Houston,
I got a great the holding company. I got a great administrative team
that's that's led by very seasoned veterans, and so that helps me scale.
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So I can stay above the frayand really focus on strategic and directional goals
and objectives and not get meyer downand a lot of the details right,
And that's the only way you canscale. I mean, think about even
in life, right, I mean, it's gonna be really hard to scale
or take on more if you ifyou are doing more, right, So,
how do you actually um, howdo you actually produce more by doing
(15:56):
less? And like what's your highestand best use. I'm a real big
believer in culture and a real bigbeliever in reducing displaced energy in life,
right, So, like a lotof these contemplations, as being a CEO
is is managing like life skills likethat. Yeah, frankly more than like
the business side. Interesting. Yeah, so it's yeah, you do have
(16:18):
to be the human as well atthe end of the day. You can't
just be focused on the margins andand all that stuff. Yeah for sure.
I mean and culture, the culture. We have culture creeds a lot
of our companies just so we allkind of agree to, hey, this
is what we're chasing. Ready break, I mean some belt for example.
I love talking about some belt becausesome belt we have a culture creed that's
so real. It's it's it's it'sreally built around helping people and successful follow
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So if you really take a mindsetwhere you walk in the office every day
where you're you're committed to helping people, so you aren't thinking about yourself.
In fact, your steam of yourself, you don't think less of yourself,
like your steam is really high,but you just your thoughts aren't on yourself.
Think about how transcendent that is toreally helping people into advance productivity and
(17:07):
and and and helping people achieve theirgoals and dreams. And so that's one
of the reasons why some belts youknow, tripled, you know, production
over the last you know a handfulof years is because like people are realizing
that, people are seeing that whereour heart is is to really help people
and and and it's crazy how successsuccess follows. How do you cultivate that
culture? Can you can you intentionallymake it happen or does it just have
(17:30):
to sort of come about organically?Wouldn't do you do anything special? Well,
we have a chief culture office forBen Utech, former former Super Bowl
champions for the Yeah, so Ben, Ben's Ben's been a great part of
that. UM. But but Benalways talks about and I do as well,
talking about how hey, culture iseither by design or default. So
I'd rather have it be by design. So we're very intentional about having a
(17:52):
culture where we're UM, where we'retalking about servant leadership over and over and
over, and we check our wecheck our ego at the door, we
check our um, you know,our our self our self ambition at the
door to help others and and reallycontinuing to focus on that every day.
UM. It's again it's head transcendentsort of results primarily for for the folks
(18:15):
that we serve, and and that'sthat's what it's all about. So there's
really no way to answer that otherthan just it's very intentional, you know,
it's by design. And over time, you know, folks that really
subscribe to that mantra and that mindsetwill rise and do really really well.
Those that don't will dissipate, andeventually we'll work themselves out of the organization
(18:36):
or just won't be uh, theywon't realize their potential, but they'll be.
They'll they'll be frankly just outpaced byby those that do. You do
some fun stuff in there though,too, I mean you know, oh
yeah, I mean, I mean, I mean for sure, I mean,
uh, just just on a personalfront, you know, like we
uh, you know, one ofthe one of the one of the assets
that's part of the holding company isthe Sue Falls Canaries, the base minor
(18:56):
league baseball team, um and someof the other things that we do.
So whether we have events like ata baseball game, we're big, we're
big believers and shared experiences. Youknow, you've build in a relationship through
shared experiences. So think about that, you know, So what does that
mean in the business world? Whilelike we're during the pandemic, when everybody's
working from home and keeping their distance, think about it. You aren't having
shared experiences. You are at throughzoom. So if you already had had
(19:19):
a relationship, zoom and teams andall those, you know, those are
just fine. That that perpetuated relationships, but you weren't able to build relationships.
So what we were intentional around duringthe pandemic to the extent we were
allowed and we're able to. Westill maintained a lot of community during the
pandemic, face to face, andI think that separated us. That allowed
(19:42):
us to build a relationship. Anduh, we continue to focus on that
too. So yeah, we havelike we've finished out our we readed our
office at some belt a few yearsago. We put a putting green at
at our at our balcony. Whybecause shared experiences. You know, when
you bring a client, let's goput and talk for a little bit.
That's a shared experience, right,Let's go have a cocktails and conversations at
(20:03):
the office, which we have ahandful of times throughout the year, but
formally, but then informally we probablyhave it two or three times a week.
I mean, that's like those sharedexperiences are real and this this isn't
anything new for a lot of businessowners. Or business leaders. But what
I think what is different is thefocused intentionality to do it and UM and
that that that that again allow usfor us to have transcendent sort of success
(20:27):
and impact. So that's what makesyour company is a great place to work.
And yeah, yeah for sure,I mean, I mean, I
just a great place to work.Some Belt has been honored in the last
handful of years again to as oneof the best places to work in the
Twin Cities. I mean, that'swhy we focus on shared experiences. Uh,
we're gonna we're gonna recognize as asthe largest and most successful by the
(20:49):
International Business Broker Association, Uh,the most successful office in the US.
And and that's by number of transactions. And again that's not by accident,
that's by design, right, that'sbeen are very intentional by by thinking less
of our you know, of selfishambition and more on others and and that
and that's UM, that's been ahuge differentiator for us. How many people
(21:11):
work for you, Well, itdepending upon how you look at all the
companies. But when you when youfactor in people, um, whether it
be UM just all the all thedifferent companies, it's it's over a thousand.
I mean across all the businesses UMand those those extend into different states
and whatnot as well. But um, uh the sun Belt Truth M and
A office has about sixty five professionalsthat are that are tied to the organization
(21:34):
and uh and uh we're growing.So I mean that's that's been a fun,
fun part to talk about. Ithink the at least the names sun
Belt is known throughout the community,what the baseball team is as well,
those tu falls can areas and um, probably all of them. How do
you guys get out in the community? How are you? How are you
known? Medling in the business world, but just by anybody out there?
Yeah, I mean I think wherewhere we've really started to uh garner attention
(21:59):
is through our frankly philanthropy and UMfocus on community, focused on giving,
focus on giving back. Um.You know, I look at what we
did from an impact perspective. Wedid an impact report for twenty twenty two
across all the businesses. I meanI reflected on that impact report. What
became abundantly clear is that that we'refrankly probably almost too it can never be
(22:25):
too generous, but but like wehave such an intentionality around being generous that
that you look up and you're like, wow, like we did a lot
of good work. And so nowit's it's almost getting to the point where
we're being known more as like aphilanthropic sort of arm in many circles and
in areas than we are just beingbeing business leaders. And and well that's
right or wrong. I don't reallycare. I just I want our heart
(22:49):
to I want our hearts and ourintent to shine through. Like our our
focus isn't on ourselves, it's notreally helping others. That's great. Um,
what's one piece of advice you've gottenfrom somewhere or you thought about you'd
like to just you know, layon somebody that would be helpful for anything
could have been. You know whenyou're first starting this, you know,
the time right after your dad passedor two right now? Yeah, that
(23:11):
I went right to I went rightto that when you ask the question,
uh, that question, My dadasked, what, Brian, what are
you chasing? Because think about everymorning when you wake up as a human,
we're all chasing something like we're allwe're getting up to go to work.
We're getting up to and why arewe getting up to go to work?
To provide for our families or youknow, whatever the case may be.
(23:32):
Or we love our job and wecan't wait to you know, provide
helful self fulfillment. So it's differentfor for all sorts of different people.
But just to ask that question andto solemn lyns and really, um,
just as you ask yourself that question, just what am I chasing? And
just be self aware and be honestwith yourself. I think that's probably the
(23:56):
best advice I ever got. Andand to be able to share that with
other or is like and have themself reflect I think is critical and important
for today's today's society, probably morethan ever. And um, what else
would you like to people to knowabout True North and the True North family
of companies? You know, Ijust directionally speaking, you're going to see
(24:17):
us, I believe, continuing togrow and be a prominent part of the
community. I do believe that wewe represent the heartbeat of America in so
many different ways, whether it bethe companies we run and operate, whether
it be the M and A firmsthat we where we help people in that
in that heartbeat area of the economy. Uh. And I think you're just
going to continue to see us asadvocates for for small business. You're going
(24:41):
to continue to see us give backin the community in multiple ways, be
more involved in things that provide fulfillmentfor folks, whether it be you know,
like the world of sport, whetherit be the world of uh,
you know, advancing just different nonprofitpursuits and uh. And I look forward
to meaning a lot of people inthe community in the years to come.
(25:02):
But but I think the one,the one overarching theme would be the question,
you know what, what are weall chasing? Because if we can
answer that, you know, theworld's gonna be a better place? Are
you guys hiring always? Always we'relooking for quality, right yeah? Yeah,
absolutely, And and and I um, that's one of the greatest stories
I have coming to quote unquote workevery day is being able to talk to
(25:26):
people and seeing where we can helpthem let their light shine. And a
lot of companies will will focus on, hey, we need to we need
somebody for this role, for thistask, for this specific purpose. And
I really like that person, butcan they do that role? We when
we bring in people, we assessthrough through a multitude of of of systems
and processes. We go through whetherit be the interview process or some behavioral
(25:48):
essential things we have them inventory,they take on themselves. How can we
let their light shine? In fact, how can we bring out the best
in them? I think that's afundamental difference from like corporate versus small business.
Right, So we're we're hiring thehuman. We're not hiring for the
role. So that's that's now.It's never it's never exact, right.
(26:12):
I mean, we still have towe have things we have to have done,
but but by and large we're hiringyou know, the human and how
can we let their light shine morethan we are hiring for like a specific
task. So that's that's a difference. So we're doing a little preview before.
Brian, you mentioned something about speedof trust. What exactly does that
(26:32):
mean? You know, speed oftrust is one of those things that we
all encounter as as as human beings, as being in a relationship with others.
And so a speed of trust,when you think about a competitive avantage
in the marketplace, is if youhave the foundational element of trust. You
know, wow, how powerful isthat? How and how critical it is
to grow a business with people?Right, So at the turnour family companies,
(26:56):
we really focus on establishing trust.In other words, we call the
speed of trust. How are weat establishing trust, speed of trust as
quickly and efficiently as possible, reducingdisplaced energy, establishing that foundational element of
trust, because with trust you cando almost anything. And frankly, and
you look at what we've done overthe last three four years and how we've
grown all these different businesses, it'sbecause of the speed of trust we've been
(27:19):
able to scale in a really efficientway without having a lot of displaced energy.
So that's that's really so then theintentionality around focused on trust. How
do you do that? You buildin a relationship. How do you build
a relationship through shared experiences? Howdo you create share experiences? You got
to create a culture that's intentional.All of that is billion blocks to to
(27:41):
do what we've been doing. Giveme a quick example of displaced energy or
is it just energy that's not reallymaximized? Displaced energy. Let's see when
I when I get up, whenI get up and look look for like
that shoe, that a pair ofshoes that I wanted to wear this morning,
I can't find it. To me, that is displaced energy. So
managin in the time. It wastedtime. So think about in the workplace
(28:02):
when you're fumbling around trying to beefficient with trying to solve some problem like
you know, you can't find afile on your share drive, right or
things like those are all displaced energy. So how what are we doing to
be intentional about, you know,reducing displaced energy. Well, it's having
systems and processes that are that arelike a wire frame. Right. You
guys remember Bob Ross. Yeah,so that all right, So I'm gonna
(28:26):
get I'm gonna tell a story inBob Ross. Okay, Bob Ross.
When you would watch Bob Ross asI did as a kid, Bob Ross
would be all soft and gentle,and he'd be he'd be he'd be just
starting to paint and whatever and andand he'd it was crazy. I mean,
he's an artist. But what youwould realize through every episode of Bob
Ross is that there was a systemand there's a process to create his art.
(28:48):
So that's the point, right,is you still need even if even
if we're all artists, everything wedo in life is art, right,
but within that, there's systems andprocesses to make that aren't beautiful, to
make us unique and so so thatthat extends into this whole concept of um
of really ethering we're talking about tobe able to scale and grow and all
(29:08):
that and and to reduce displaced energy. Great analogy as far as some about
business advisors. So when you yousit down with somebody, you're talking about,
you know, what's going to happenwith their company if they're exiting?
What is sort of the what what'sthe biggest thing that business owners struggle with?
The biggest thing they struggle with isis, uh, a couple things.
(29:30):
But but they're they're kind of tiedtogether this whole one more year,
like if they're if they're running profitablebusinesses, just one more year, one
more year, and they look up, it's been fifteen years and now there
in their mid seventies. That's aproblem, right, But part of that
is closely tied to legacy, andthey really care about their legacy and transitioning
a business in a manner that doesn'timpact their employees, doesn't impact the success
(29:53):
of their you know, their businessor their customers that they care deeply about.
And so you know, we youtry to take a position of stewardship.
We're stewards we're stewards of their business, right so how can we as
a as a as a transaction advisorUM as an intermediary help them transition this
this legacy and be a steward ofthat to the next buyer and then also
(30:15):
me as a buyer with some ofthe businesses we've acquired, you know,
making sure we're that we focus onstewardship of their desires, like their their
hopes and dreams for that company,for their legacy, for their employees,
for their customers. Those are thethose are the big things, all right.
If you like what you hear rightnow and you're thinking, I've got
a company that maybe you know,we want a sunset or you know,
(30:37):
uh, move along, or maybejust want to know more about the True
North family companies, how do peopleget a hold of you? Well,
I mean you can definitely go toSunbelt Midwest dot com. That's the Sunbelt
website. If you're a business ownerlooking to transition your life's work TNMA dot
com, True North Mergency Acquisitions dotcom UM is another way to do it.
Also, our Trunoorth Equity Partners isour kind of our holding company,
(31:00):
and you'll be able to get intouch with us without any problem, all
right, Brian Slipkat, CEO ofTrue North and the True North family companies,
thanks so much. Yeah, thankshaving for having having me appreciate it.
Welcome to CEOs. You should knowI'm Adam West and with me is Brian
Slipca True North and True North Familyof Companies the CEO. Right, yeah,
correct, thanks for being here today. Great to be here, Adam.
We're gonna talking a little bit aboutTrue North. What are the True
North Family of companies. Well,True North is really a collection of twenty
plus businesses across multiple industries and sectors. We really have five work streams.
(00:23):
We got the m and A workstreamwhich most of the folks in the Minneapolis
marketplace, no, no, prettywell, that's the Sunbelt Business Advisors and
True North Mergers and acquisitions. Andthen you have the transportation workstream, where
of eight transportation and logistics companies allaround the Upper Midwest that makeup to Senka
workstream. The family of private mainstreak businesses. Those are manufacturing, distribution,
(00:49):
and quite a few other types ofbusinesses that's been fun. Those are
the heartbeat of America kind of companies. Then you have the True North Sports
which is which is my Sioux FallsCans as well as Pillbox Pillbox bat company
out of Winona, Minnesota that MLBlicensed bats that are pretty pretty cool.
And then the last, the lastwork stream is on our Capital, so
(01:10):
capital finance, where specialty finance provideracross the entire country. I came my
backgrounds. I came from tcf UHand have that capital finance background and brought
that over to on our Capital.Launched on our Capital three years ago and
now we're one of the fastest growingcapital finance companies in the US. Well,
diversified, a lot of tentacles,Yeah, a lot of fun,
a lot of great people, alot of great UH partners and leaders within
(01:34):
the businesses, and it's just beena it's just been a blessing all the
way through. Yeah, networking mustbe a piece of cake for you.
It's just people, tons of peopleout there. Yeah, well there are
there's not usually many folks I talkedto where there there's not some sort of
connection or some sort of interruptability oractivation that we can make together. So
it's it's it's it's been a lotof fun of the last handful of years.
(01:55):
So what led you to where youcurrently are? The you know,
the CEO of True North and allthese all these different companies are all these
different things that you do. Well, you know, just like a lot
of people have in life, theygo through they go through life, and
they're like, hey, what whatam I chasing? Right? And And
one of the things that I startedto realize when I was climbing the corporate
ladder and and and being in differentparts of the country, traveling all around,
(02:17):
was, you know, this questionkept kept coming up. What am
I chasing? And what really filledmy cup or gave me energy was the
more I helped people, the moreI stirred people, and the more I
helped people grow and realize their dreams, the more fulfilled I was. So
what started to emerge through my careerin my thirties, Um, you know,
I'm in my mid forties. Sowhat started to emerge in my thirties
(02:38):
was this notion like, how doI put myself in a position I'd always
been fairly entrepreneurial, but I wasin a corporate realm, and how do
I how do I transition into amore entrepreneurial setting where I can help fulfill
that? Right? You know,I'm more fulfilled, but then I can
help other people a lot too.So really, our collection of companies really
helps business owners, helps business leadersin multiple ways. And it's I tell,
(03:01):
I tell folks all the time.I don't ever feel like I'm working.
I mean this, I worked,right, I quote unquote work.
I'm a lot, but I don'tfeel like I'm working. It's it's a
freedom based model. Every day.Which one was your first with? Which
of those areas was your first?Wouldn't? Well? You know the quick
story is my my dad again,what are you chasing in life? Yeah?
(03:23):
My father, My father asked meon his deathbed. He died of
cancer about ten years ago. Heasked me that question, Brian, what
are you chasing? You're traveling allaround the country, You're doing you're doing
well financially, professionally and all thatstuff, But you know, what are
you chasing in life? Because Iwas kind of complaining to him about you
know, corporate America and all thatand and uh, and he said,
(03:43):
why don't you go after these?When I say go after like, go
acquire or go work with or investin these heartbeat of America businesses where the
people just work hard, they grind, they toil every day, they don't
complain a whole heck of a lot, and they just work hard. And
that resonated with me. So afterhis passing, that's That's when I really
got going with the True North vision. And the first company was a manufacturing
(04:03):
company up in Anoka, still owingit to this day, still part of
it to this day. And thenmoved into a transportation business, and then
moved into some other businesses and handfulof businesses. Still had a day day
job, a corporate job, andthen finally moved into, um, this
is a full time pursuit about fiveyears ago. Are you guy that makes
quick decisions? Because I think aboutthe things, the very little few things
(04:26):
that I've involved with takes a whileto kind of noodle it over, and
I've imagine you have to think reallyquickly on your feet. I'm a calculated
risk person, but then but thenI'm a ready, aim, fire kind
of guy. Yeah, looks good, feels good. You know, um,
you know it checks enough of theboxes, let's go. Yeah,
I got that feeling. How haveyou seen your business or these businesses,
these different parts of the business changeover the last five years. Well,
(04:48):
there's been a dramatic shift. Imean you think think about what's happened in
the last five years. I meanit isn't an amazing you. You had
this ecoignment that was going pretty gangbusters, and then COVID brings it to a
grinding home and then business as weknow it has been redefined and people have
had to regrip, reposition, startover. Um. It's just a little
(05:11):
bit of everything and all the issuesthat that the pandemic created in the wake,
you know, wake of it andum and so it's things have changed
dramatically. I think the small businessuh that that you know and the family
of companies I represent and lead havea unique opportunity to to help really help
our lead our country. You know, I tell people this all the time,
but the heartbeat of America, thesmall business drives almost half of the
(05:34):
GDP, and yet it's it's oftentimesneglected in the in the overall conversation at
the national level, right And soI think, you know, bringing more
awareness to that even in the twincities around around the heartbeat of America and
how we really drive the US economy, that that that's what gets me excited.
So when you think about the lastfive years, I think that notion
(05:55):
and that concept has really started tobe elevated and people are starting take notice
of that small business really has achance to help lead our country. Speaking
of small business and you talk aboutmergers and acquisitions, and I know I've
I've done some work for Sunbelt talkingabout you know, when people are ready
to exit. Tell me a littlebit about that, because it is a
lot of small business owners that's theirpride and enjoy. How do you work
through some of the emotional parts ofthat. Yeah, I mean the m
(06:18):
and a part of our family ofcompanies is really where I spend a lot
of my time and a lot ofa lot of the general public knows knows
us the best, and that's theSunbelt Business Advisors as as you mentioned.
And really there's this tsunami of boomers, baby boomers that are transitioning their life's
work. And so when you askthat question, it's, you know,
there's this huge opportunity for us tocome alongside through our our collaborative approach and
(06:43):
really help these folks transition their life'swork in a meaningful and thoughtful and empathetic
way. And and there really hasn'tbeen that thought partner, thought leader that
they've had to lean on over allthese years. I mean a lot of
these boomers were trying to retire beforethere was in two thousand and eight and
nine, and yet then the recessionhit and they're like, you know what,
We're just going to hang on fora few more years. Well now
(07:05):
fifteen years later they're saying, Hey, I need to retire. I'm in
my seventies or whatever the case maybe. And I think they just need
to come alongside folks that they trust, and that's that's where we that's where
we really help guide them through theprocess. And I think there's a huge
opportunity for us to do that ina greater extent the next few years.
(07:26):
I'm guessing you see some of thesecompanies, maybe they were thinking about retiring
five years ago or kind of wining, trying to wind things down, and
then COVID happened, and some ofthem are more successful maybe now than they
were before for sure for sure.And so when you when you had the
conversation with them, is hey,what do you want? You almost got
to separate the financial decision from thehuman decision, Because the financial decision you're
(07:46):
gonna always be able to justify waysas a business owner to hold the business
a hit another handful of years,especially successful ones why because they're making money,
So so to part with that isparting with a profit machine right or
flow machine correct. On the otherhand, it's like I want to spend
time with my grandkids. I've hadsome health problems, or I'm going through
a life change, or I'm justgetting older and I'm as I'm not as
(08:07):
hungry as I used to be,or frankly, my business is making a
lot of money, but it's beenstuck in neutral for the last ten years.
And what it needs is a youngyou know, young young professional to
come in and really really invest time, energy and effort and passion that I've
sort of lost over the last tentwenty years. Like those are the types
of conversations we're having to really helpthem, come alongside them and separate those
(08:30):
decisions. Uh. And what weultimately will find is it's actually financial is
important, Like they need to theyneed to get a fair price and a
top dollar price. And frankly,some belts, no one's better than some
belt are helping helping our clients getthat top price. However, it's really
understand their human reasons for selling,because the human reasons really drive deal structures
(08:52):
or really drive m you know whowho who the buyer is those types of
things, because so often to thesesellers, you know, they they care
about their their employees and some ofthem maybe you still are a part of
it later and I'm assuming yep.And now there's new regulations coming through with
the SBA effective August first of thisyear, where there's going to be the
(09:13):
ability for the SBA to finance partial, partial transitions and just different different structures
that make it a lot more creative, which I believe will be a huge
online for sellers to really start totransition their life's work more intentionally and quicker.
So huge opportunity there. We talkeda little bit about the last five
years and kind of talking about whatyou you know, how that all works.
(09:35):
Now, how about the next fiveyears. You know, I think
the next five years are going tobe us executing on what we just spoke
about. We're really helping these businessowners transition their life's work. I think
the Trune North Holding Company will participatein that as a buyer in some strategic
cases, but generally speaking, it'sreally helping come alongside those owners and being
opportunistic to really really highlight the powerof the Upper mid West work ethic,
(10:01):
to highlight the the the the abilityof the small business to really drive the
the economy in a greater way.And I think the more that our country
and nation and local leaders and allthat stuff starts to start to realize and
see how much value the small businessdrives the economy, it's again there's that's
(10:22):
another onlock. That's a huge onlockand a competitive advantage for the Upper Midwest.
I like when you see I mean, I'm from the Upper Midwest.
I'm from here, from the TwinCities. I mean, is that a
noticeable difference among people in the industry, Like that whole work ethic thing,
is it or is it just somethingwe make up? You know? I
think no, it's definitely. There'sdefinitely an element of truth to the to
the the heartland, right and andI say highlands, the Upper Midwest,
(10:43):
all the way down down to youknow, down to Texas. I mean,
you get that heartland of the USthat a really strong work ethic.
I'm not and I'm not trying toto to say anything less about the coasts,
but but there's a uniqueness about usin the heartland. And and I
think that we out of raising ourb raising our hands saying hey, like
we're here to we're here to help. We're here to take on more responsibi.
It's a huge opportunity for economic boonin the US, and so from
(11:09):
an overall national perspective, I justthink we have a huge opportunity. We're
talking to Brian Slipke, the CEOof True North and the True North family
of companies. So I, um, maybe I should have asked this first.
I asked about the next five years, But how about the next year?
Because things are changing super fast,oh boy. I mean, even
the way the market has changed withinterest rates, the inverted yield curve for
(11:31):
banks, which changes the financial sectordramatically. I mean, I just came
from a meeting this morning with awith a leader of a of a community
bank, multibillion dollar community bank wherewhere they're you know, they're short term,
their short term bar and is moreexpensive than long term borrowing. I
mean, that doesn't make any sensein the global economic realm. But but
it but you know, eventually it'llcorrect itself, right, but how long?
(11:54):
And in the meantime, what doesthat mean for the consumer? What
does that mean for the business owner? What does that mean for the borrow
or what does that mean for thelender? I mean, like the like
the banks, I mean, thebanks are gonna have to hold on,
you know, because the inverty yelkeris going to create a margin compression that
will last. And So from afrom the layman's terms perspective, does that
mean for those who are listening,Well, it means that, like there's
(12:16):
gonna be more of a ill liquidity, an icing up of access to capital
over the next year or two,so specifically the next year. So what
I've been telling everybody, there's aflight to quality going on. And so
what does flight to quality mean?Will flight to quality means that there's like
the business buyers, for example,who have capital, who have cash,
(12:37):
are going to be in in agreat, great advantage over the ones that
are traditionally using leverage to borrow.Right, flight to quality means means that
that people are gonna start making choicesthat are less about cheap money or like
like hey, I got a reallyhot interest rate on this deal or whatever
I'm doing, and they're gonna goafter smart money. Flight to quality.
Smart money was smart money. Imean, I mean it might mean I
(12:58):
pay more or for the cost ofcapital. However it's more flexible, it's
more the terms are better you knowthat sort of thing, And that's that's
what you're gonna see a lot ofYou've already started to see it, but
you're gonna see a lot more ofthat trickle down and ripple down to the
consumer. What would be an exampleof leverage if you don't go to the
capital route, if you the leveragepart of it. Well, so,
(13:20):
I mean from a leverage perspective whenI'm talking about is like when you're borrow.
When you're borrowing, you're using leverageto create purchasing power. So like
when you when you I'll just againtry to try to make it makes sense
for the consumer. Right, So, if you're buying a house, Okay,
you're going to pay more higher interestrate based on where the market is
(13:41):
right now, Right, However,could could there be a solution that provides
a better better terms to still helpyou on the cash flow side of it?
Right? That's that's what I'm tellingyou. That's more smart money.
Right. You're you're gonna pay forit later. Don't get me wrong.
It's not like you still have topay for it later, but there's gonna
have to be um things emerge thathelp help the the You know, all
(14:01):
of us, uh create that,you know, continue to have that velocity
of of flow happen. You reada lot, don't you. I read
a lot of Uh, I reada lot of like the Wall Street Journal.
I read a lot of um,you know, uh current events type
of things. Yeah. I readfull books, but I do it through
audible at about one point three onepoint four speed. But probably the most
(14:26):
important is all you know, thefinancial stuff and like you said, current
events and stuff like that. Yeah. Yeah, I mean I think I
think if our if, if ourum, if the general population could educate
themselves more on some of the currentevents and the and and how how money
flow works and just just simple economics, I think I think our nation would
be in a much better position movingforward. And frankly, this is a
(14:46):
political stuff. This has nothing todo with politics. This is just more
education. Um. This is justus, us being smarter um relative to
the to the global environment. AndI think I think we'd put ourselves in
a really competitive advantage. You probablyhave a team you lean on a little
bit for some of this. Absolutely, I mean I have a great team.
I mean, you know, whenI think about like sun Belt or
trun Earth mergers and acquisitions. Ithink of Chris Jones, who's who's fairly
(15:11):
well known in the community. He'sa president of sun Belt and he's done
a great job leading in that companycompany for many many years. We've done
a really good job together as partnersto really grow that business. When I
think about some of the other linesof business, like Honor Capital Shay Houston,
I got a great the holding company. I got a great administrative team
that's that's led by very seasoned veterans, and so that helps me scale.
(15:31):
So I can stay above the frayand really focus on strategic and directional goals
and objectives and not get meyer downand a lot of the details right,
And that's the only way you canscale. I mean, think about even
in life, right, I mean, it's gonna be really hard to scale
or take on more if you ifyou are doing more, right, So,
how do you actually um, howdo you actually produce more by doing
(15:56):
less? And like what's your highestand best use. I'm a real big
believer in culture and a real bigbeliever in reducing displaced energy in life,
right, So, like a lotof these contemplations, as being a CEO
is is managing like life skills likethat. Yeah, frankly more than like
the business side. Interesting. Yeah, so it's yeah, you do have
(16:18):
to be the human as well atthe end of the day. You can't
just be focused on the margins andand all that stuff. Yeah for sure.
I mean and culture, the culture. We have culture creeds a lot
of our companies just so we allkind of agree to, hey, this
is what we're chasing. Ready break, I mean some belt for example.
I love talking about some belt becausesome belt we have a culture creed that's
so real. It's it's it's it'sreally built around helping people and successful follow
(16:44):
So if you really take a mindsetwhere you walk in the office every day
where you're you're committed to helping people, so you aren't thinking about yourself.
In fact, your steam of yourself, you don't think less of yourself,
like your steam is really high,but you just your thoughts aren't on yourself.
Think about how transcendent that is toreally helping people into advance productivity and
(17:07):
and and and helping people achieve theirgoals and dreams. And so that's one
of the reasons why some belts youknow, tripled, you know, production
over the last you know a handfulof years is because like people are realizing
that, people are seeing that whereour heart is is to really help people
and and and it's crazy how successsuccess follows. How do you cultivate that
culture? Can you can you intentionallymake it happen or does it just have
(17:30):
to sort of come about organically?Wouldn't do you do anything special? Well,
we have a chief culture office forBen Utech, former former Super Bowl
champions for the Yeah, so Ben, Ben's Ben's been a great part of
that. UM. But but Benalways talks about and I do as well,
talking about how hey, culture iseither by design or default. So
I'd rather have it be by design. So we're very intentional about having a
(17:52):
culture where we're UM, where we'retalking about servant leadership over and over and
over, and we check our wecheck our ego at the door, we
check our um, you know,our our self our self ambition at the
door to help others and and reallycontinuing to focus on that every day.
UM. It's again it's head transcendentsort of results primarily for for the folks
(18:15):
that we serve, and and that'sthat's what it's all about. So there's
really no way to answer that otherthan just it's very intentional, you know,
it's by design. And over time, you know, folks that really
subscribe to that mantra and that mindsetwill rise and do really really well.
Those that don't will dissipate, andeventually we'll work themselves out of the organization
(18:36):
or just won't be uh, theywon't realize their potential, but they'll be.
They'll they'll be frankly just outpaced byby those that do. You do
some fun stuff in there though,too, I mean you know, oh
yeah, I mean, I mean, I mean for sure, I mean,
uh, just just on a personalfront, you know, like we
uh, you know, one ofthe one of the one of the assets
that's part of the holding company isthe Sue Falls Canaries, the base minor
(18:56):
league baseball team, um and someof the other things that we do.
So whether we have events like ata baseball game, we're big, we're
big believers and shared experiences. Youknow, you've build in a relationship through
shared experiences. So think about that, you know, So what does that
mean in the business world? Whilelike we're during the pandemic, when everybody's
working from home and keeping their distance, think about it. You aren't having
shared experiences. You are at throughzoom. So if you already had had
(19:19):
a relationship, zoom and teams andall those, you know, those are
just fine. That that perpetuated relationships, but you weren't able to build relationships.
So what we were intentional around duringthe pandemic to the extent we were
allowed and we're able to. Westill maintained a lot of community during the
pandemic, face to face, andI think that separated us. That allowed
(19:42):
us to build a relationship. Anduh, we continue to focus on that
too. So yeah, we havelike we've finished out our we readed our
office at some belt a few yearsago. We put a putting green at
at our at our balcony. Whybecause shared experiences. You know, when
you bring a client, let's goput and talk for a little bit.
That's a shared experience, right,Let's go have a cocktails and conversations at
(20:03):
the office, which we have ahandful of times throughout the year, but
formally, but then informally we probablyhave it two or three times a week.
I mean, that's like those sharedexperiences are real and this this isn't
anything new for a lot of businessowners. Or business leaders. But what
I think what is different is thefocused intentionality to do it and UM and
that that that that again allow usfor us to have transcendent sort of success
(20:27):
and impact. So that's what makesyour company is a great place to work.
And yeah, yeah for sure,I mean, I mean, I
just a great place to work.Some Belt has been honored in the last
handful of years again to as oneof the best places to work in the
Twin Cities. I mean, that'swhy we focus on shared experiences. Uh,
we're gonna we're gonna recognize as asthe largest and most successful by the
(20:49):
International Business Broker Association, Uh,the most successful office in the US.
And and that's by number of transactions. And again that's not by accident,
that's by design, right, that'sbeen are very intentional by by thinking less
of our you know, of selfishambition and more on others and and that
and that's UM, that's been ahuge differentiator for us. How many people
(21:11):
work for you, Well, itdepending upon how you look at all the
companies. But when you when youfactor in people, um, whether it
be UM just all the all thedifferent companies, it's it's over a thousand.
I mean across all the businesses UMand those those extend into different states
and whatnot as well. But um, uh the sun Belt Truth M and
A office has about sixty five professionalsthat are that are tied to the organization
(21:34):
and uh and uh we're growing.So I mean that's that's been a fun,
fun part to talk about. Ithink the at least the names sun
Belt is known throughout the community,what the baseball team is as well,
those tu falls can areas and um, probably all of them. How do
you guys get out in the community? How are you? How are you
known? Medling in the business world, but just by anybody out there?
Yeah, I mean I think wherewhere we've really started to uh garner attention
(21:59):
is through our frankly philanthropy and UMfocus on community, focused on giving,
focus on giving back. Um.You know, I look at what we
did from an impact perspective. Wedid an impact report for twenty twenty two
across all the businesses. I meanI reflected on that impact report. What
became abundantly clear is that that we'refrankly probably almost too it can never be
(22:25):
too generous, but but like wehave such an intentionality around being generous that
that you look up and you're like, wow, like we did a lot
of good work. And so nowit's it's almost getting to the point where
we're being known more as like aphilanthropic sort of arm in many circles and
in areas than we are just beingbeing business leaders. And and well that's
right or wrong. I don't reallycare. I just I want our heart
(22:49):
to I want our hearts and ourintent to shine through. Like our our
focus isn't on ourselves, it's notreally helping others. That's great. Um,
what's one piece of advice you've gottenfrom somewhere or you thought about you'd
like to just you know, layon somebody that would be helpful for anything
could have been. You know whenyou're first starting this, you know,
the time right after your dad passedor two right now? Yeah, that
(23:11):
I went right to I went rightto that when you ask the question,
uh, that question, My dadasked, what, Brian, what are
you chasing? Because think about everymorning when you wake up as a human,
we're all chasing something like we're allwe're getting up to go to work.
We're getting up to and why arewe getting up to go to work?
To provide for our families or youknow, whatever the case may be.
(23:32):
Or we love our job and wecan't wait to you know, provide
helful self fulfillment. So it's differentfor for all sorts of different people.
But just to ask that question andto solemn lyns and really, um,
just as you ask yourself that question, just what am I chasing? And
just be self aware and be honestwith yourself. I think that's probably the
(23:56):
best advice I ever got. Andand to be able to share that with
other or is like and have themself reflect I think is critical and important
for today's today's society, probably morethan ever. And um, what else
would you like to people to knowabout True North and the True North family
of companies? You know, Ijust directionally speaking, you're going to see
(24:17):
us, I believe, continuing togrow and be a prominent part of the
community. I do believe that wewe represent the heartbeat of America in so
many different ways, whether it bethe companies we run and operate, whether
it be the M and A firmsthat we where we help people in that
in that heartbeat area of the economy. Uh. And I think you're just
going to continue to see us asadvocates for for small business. You're going
(24:41):
to continue to see us give backin the community in multiple ways, be
more involved in things that provide fulfillmentfor folks, whether it be you know,
like the world of sport, whetherit be the world of uh,
you know, advancing just different nonprofitpursuits and uh. And I look forward
to meaning a lot of people inthe community in the years to come.
(25:02):
But but I think the one,the one overarching theme would be the question,
you know what, what are weall chasing? Because if we can
answer that, you know, theworld's gonna be a better place? Are
you guys hiring always? Always we'relooking for quality, right yeah? Yeah,
absolutely, And and and I um, that's one of the greatest stories
I have coming to quote unquote workevery day is being able to talk to
(25:26):
people and seeing where we can helpthem let their light shine. And a
lot of companies will will focus on, hey, we need to we need
somebody for this role, for thistask, for this specific purpose. And
I really like that person, butcan they do that role? We when
we bring in people, we assessthrough through a multitude of of of systems
and processes. We go through whetherit be the interview process or some behavioral
(25:48):
essential things we have them inventory,they take on themselves. How can we
let their light shine? In fact, how can we bring out the best
in them? I think that's afundamental difference from like corporate versus small business.
Right, So we're we're hiring thehuman. We're not hiring for the
role. So that's that's now.It's never it's never exact, right.
(26:12):
I mean, we still have towe have things we have to have done,
but but by and large we're hiringyou know, the human and how
can we let their light shine morethan we are hiring for like a specific
task. So that's that's a difference. So we're doing a little preview before.
Brian, you mentioned something about speedof trust. What exactly does that
(26:32):
mean? You know, speed oftrust is one of those things that we
all encounter as as as human beings, as being in a relationship with others.
And so a speed of trust,when you think about a competitive avantage
in the marketplace, is if youhave the foundational element of trust. You
know, wow, how powerful isthat? How and how critical it is
to grow a business with people?Right, So at the turnour family companies,
(26:56):
we really focus on establishing trust.In other words, we call the
speed of trust. How are weat establishing trust, speed of trust as
quickly and efficiently as possible, reducingdisplaced energy, establishing that foundational element of
trust, because with trust you cando almost anything. And frankly, and
you look at what we've done overthe last three four years and how we've
grown all these different businesses, it'sbecause of the speed of trust we've been
(27:19):
able to scale in a really efficientway without having a lot of displaced energy.
So that's that's really so then theintentionality around focused on trust. How
do you do that? You buildin a relationship. How do you build
a relationship through shared experiences? Howdo you create share experiences? You got
to create a culture that's intentional.All of that is billion blocks to to
(27:41):
do what we've been doing. Giveme a quick example of displaced energy or
is it just energy that's not reallymaximized? Displaced energy. Let's see when
I when I get up, whenI get up and look look for like
that shoe, that a pair ofshoes that I wanted to wear this morning,
I can't find it. To me, that is displaced energy. So
managin in the time. It wastedtime. So think about in the workplace
(28:02):
when you're fumbling around trying to beefficient with trying to solve some problem like
you know, you can't find afile on your share drive, right or
things like those are all displaced energy. So how what are we doing to
be intentional about, you know,reducing displaced energy. Well, it's having
systems and processes that are that arelike a wire frame. Right. You
guys remember Bob Ross. Yeah,so that all right, So I'm gonna
(28:26):
get I'm gonna tell a story inBob Ross. Okay, Bob Ross.
When you would watch Bob Ross asI did as a kid, Bob Ross
would be all soft and gentle,and he'd be he'd be he'd be just
starting to paint and whatever and andand he'd it was crazy. I mean,
he's an artist. But what youwould realize through every episode of Bob
Ross is that there was a systemand there's a process to create his art.
(28:48):
So that's the point, right,is you still need even if even
if we're all artists, everything wedo in life is art, right,
but within that, there's systems andprocesses to make that aren't beautiful, to
make us unique and so so thatthat extends into this whole concept of um
of really ethering we're talking about tobe able to scale and grow and all
(29:08):
that and and to reduce displaced energy. Great analogy as far as some about
business advisors. So when you yousit down with somebody, you're talking about,
you know, what's going to happenwith their company if they're exiting?
What is sort of the what what'sthe biggest thing that business owners struggle with?
The biggest thing they struggle with isis, uh, a couple things.
(29:30):
But but they're they're kind of tiedtogether this whole one more year,
like if they're if they're running profitablebusinesses, just one more year, one
more year, and they look up, it's been fifteen years and now there
in their mid seventies. That's aproblem, right, But part of that
is closely tied to legacy, andthey really care about their legacy and transitioning
a business in a manner that doesn'timpact their employees, doesn't impact the success
(29:53):
of their you know, their businessor their customers that they care deeply about.
And so you know, we youtry to take a position of stewardship.
We're stewards we're stewards of their business, right so how can we as
a as a as a transaction advisorUM as an intermediary help them transition this
this legacy and be a steward ofthat to the next buyer and then also
(30:15):
me as a buyer with some ofthe businesses we've acquired, you know,
making sure we're that we focus onstewardship of their desires, like their their
hopes and dreams for that company,for their legacy, for their employees,
for their customers. Those are thethose are the big things, all right.
If you like what you hear rightnow and you're thinking, I've got
a company that maybe you know,we want a sunset or you know,
(30:37):
uh, move along, or maybejust want to know more about the True
North family companies, how do peopleget a hold of you? Well,
I mean you can definitely go toSunbelt Midwest dot com. That's the Sunbelt
website. If you're a business ownerlooking to transition your life's work TNMA dot
com, True North Mergency Acquisitions dotcom UM is another way to do it.
Also, our Trunoorth Equity Partners isour kind of our holding company,
(31:00):
and you'll be able to get intouch with us without any problem, all
right, Brian Slipkat, CEO ofTrue North and the True North family companies,
thanks so much. Yeah, thankshaving for having having me appreciate it.
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