June 10, 2026 • 44 mins
Inflation is squeezing consumer paychecks, forcing shoppers to trade down to smaller pack sizes and private labels just to get by. Navigating this hyper-competitive landscape requires immediate adaptability because retail space is earned every single day. Brooke Hardin, an experienced entrepreneur who has spent 15 years navigating the Walmart ecosystem from store leadership development to the broker side, breaks down exactly how small brands can survive and scale in this environment.
We sit down to unpack the tactical blueprint for modern supplier success. Our conversation covers the strict execution of the sundown rule, optimizing the digital shelf via ecom penetration, budgeting for search spend through Walmart Connect, and utilizing clean data visuals to tell an immediate story. Brooke also shares her unique philosophy on why the best vendor meetings involve closing the PowerPoint entirely to prioritize organic dialogue.
The operational reality of retail means managing tight margin windows and holding partners to incredibly high standards. You will walk away from this episode with a system for auditing your price slope against the rest of the market and a framework for asking buyers open-ended questions that uncover their true category pain points.
If you care about retail supply chains, category management, and strategic brand growth, you’ll get a lot from this. Please remember to Subscribe and Share. Let us know in the comments: What is the single biggest question you need to start asking your buyers to truly understand their margin pressure?
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Hello and welcome to the Retail Journey podcast.
I'm one of your hosts, charlesGreathouse.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
And I am James Harris , and today we're talking to
Brooke Harden.
Brooke is somebody I've workedwith for a lot of years and is,
more importantly, just a very,very good friend, and I've been
looking forward to thisconversation for a long time.
Thank, you.
Welcome to the Retail JourneyBrooke.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
I appreciate it.
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
So for the few people that might be listening to this
that haven't met you, tell usabout yourself.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Yeah, so I've been calling on Walmart in some
aspect for 15 years.
Really, the basis of thesuccess is I would call myself
an entrepreneur.
I get to help these smallbrands within Walmart move the
needle, figure out the bigquestions, the little questions,
and I do a lot of stuff on theside too.
(01:04):
My husband and I have a realestate and do RV parks and have
a bike shop.
So we just came together and wesaid, when we're old and gray,
we don't want to regret notdoing something.
So we've opened every door andin my career, you know, I always
say that failure is the mostinformation rich data stream you
(01:27):
can ever get.
And so we failed.
But we've opened every door andit's, you know, come with great
lessons.
But you know what a blessingthat we live in this part of
Arkansas where we have all theseopportunities and we all have,
you know, great talent and allthese suppliers and Walmart with
(01:49):
all of these stores.
You know it's such an anomalythat we get to do what we do
where we do it.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Yeah, I heard this fact this week.
Assuming it's a fact, assumingit's true that Northwest
Arkansas has the highest percapita number of fortune 500
companies, Second only to NewYork city.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Well, if you think about that, that's, that's
opportunity, like why would youleave this?
Why would you leave Exactly?
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Yeah, yeah.
When did you get here?
Speaker 3 (02:20):
into this world.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Yeah, or it's a Northwest Arkansas, that's fair.
I'm like which way are we goingwith this?
Speaker 3 (02:30):
I started in 2010.
I originally started withAcosta and their leadership
development program, where youwork in stores.
You have a territory, and soeverything comes back to
execution right.
You have a territory and soeverything comes back to
execution right.
Worked on the vendor side andthen am now on the broker side.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Yeah, so from Northwest Arkansas, or
originally, or you came here forwork From Northwest Arkansas.
Cool.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
Grew up in Fort.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Smith Gotten to see a lot of change, all the growth
Over the years.
Yeah.
Rvs and bikes.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
I'd love to hear some origin story on uh getting into
the rv world.
Um, fun fact, I've neveractually been rving, but I know
how to read a pnl this is goodyou know, a lot of boomers are
selling their businesses, andthis was a boomer who, um was
(03:30):
aging out.
He built it himself and, um,I've wanted to get into them for
about four years and, uh, wewere going to build one out um
put that on the back burner andthought, okay, let's buy one
first and not just start fromscratch.
And saw the opportunity, readthe P&L and then also saw the
(03:50):
opportunity on the property toadd an additional quite a few
spots to build it out.
So it's a math equation.
You look at anything in realestate and you go.
The math works.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
It's a math equation.
It's a good question to ask.
There's lots of scenarios wherethe question should be asked
does the math, math Does?
Speaker 3 (04:11):
the math, math.
Well, my husband uses ishnumbers and I use an Excel
spreadsheet.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
I worked with your husband for a couple of years
and he loves the ish number.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
And it always works out.
We're like within.
I swear $10,000 of each otherevery time which is so
irritating?
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Yeah, because you spend a lot of time.
Bottoms up forecast.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Some people's guts work better than others.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
He's just got that good math in his head and it
works.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
That's really funny.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
Yeah, so that's how we got into RV parks.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
That's cool.
Yeah, covid was a prettyterrible time overall, but it
was kind of boom times forcertain segments, certain
industries and.
Rvs sold like crazy during thattime, so now it's either parked
or you're using it.
Right.
So it makes sense that thatwould be a….
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Yeah, it's been interesting to learn.
You know we're on water, sowater, you know having
attraction always helps.
But yeah, we've been in the mudfor about six months building
this thing, getting dirty.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Awesome.
So where is it?
I have to ask.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
It is in between Greenland and West Fork.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Okay, cool.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Yeah, should I plug it?
Speaker 1 (05:17):
It is beautiful, absolutely.
Plug away.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Skipping Rock RV Park .
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Skipping Rock RV Park , If I ever get an RV we'll come
, stay there, you're going tocome Come join us.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
That's amazing.
When I take my first RV trip,I'll call you.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Yeah, that's awesome.
So, like I said, we've workedtogether and you're known for I
know you for tenaciously solvingproblems and great customer
service.
Yeah, where does that come from?
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Yeah, great question and it's really hit me um hit me
hard this past year.
So, um I have had a great ummentor, father, um leader in my
and I lost him this past year.
I lost my father, yeah.
Um.
(06:08):
I had the opportunity to carefor him in his last year and, um
, I feel this greatresponsibility of the things
that he had taught, that he'staught me, and so, um, as he was
passing, I sat there and Ithought it doesn't matter how
much money this man has in thebank account, you know he was
(06:29):
very successful and entrepreneurand I sat there and I looked at
his life and I was like it washow well he served his neighbor.
It was how well he served hiscustomers.
It was people.
I would listen to him come homefrom work.
I would listen to him be on thephone with his customers and he
(06:51):
cared.
He cared about their kids, hecared about if the project was
done, how it was going.
He just cared really well andhe had great customer service.
So, as I lost him in theprocess of losing him and
looking at his life, it's justgiven me a great glimpse of life
(07:11):
to look at differently, thatyou know we are so blessed to
have great brands coming in andout of this area.
Um, we get to sit in thesequick meetings but, um, it's
about people the people make ithappen.
And I pulled this Sam Waltonquote because it says if you'll
take care of your employees,your employees will take care of
(07:34):
your customers and yourbusiness will take care of
itself.
Simple, right.
Like we get so stressed outabout so many things in this
industry, Like we get sostressed out about so many
things in this industry, but atthe end of the day, it's the
people.
And you can't lose sight of that, I think.
And so, as I was, I've beensitting with, all you know, a
(07:55):
heavy year, you could call it,and I think you could sit in it
or you could go.
You know what would this manwant me to walk with, as he's
left me with, and it's reallybeen that customer service, the
care, the people I feel reallyresponsible for when I leave
somebody I've met or a buyingmeeting, you know.
(08:17):
Thank you, Thank you for yourtime.
I mean, these buyers are busierthan they've ever been.
Arguably one of the harder jobsover there.
You've got so many masters.
I don't know how they getthrough all the emails.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
It's been years since Charles was a buyer and he
didn't get through all theemails.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
I still have emails for sure in my inbox.
They're left.
Are they?
Speaker 3 (08:37):
unread Charles and they're unread 100% 100%.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Oh, that's funny.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Oh, um, you know they're trying to predict the
future, essentially.
Yeah.
Um, so you know, I I don't, Idon't know if they get enough
appreciation for you know whatthey're doing.
So, um, you know, greatcustomer service is so important
in every aspect, um, and Ithink that's something that I
(09:04):
don't take lightly and I'vereally thought about.
You know, I think the buzzwordis, if you ask somebody how
they're doing, we all love tosay busy now, right.
So when you're talking on thephone with the buyers, you know
I'm not at length, talking tothem for 30 minutes or an hour,
like I know I've got to getthere.
(09:25):
You know, ask them how they'redoing, you know any relative
question, but you have to besensitive to time but also care
within that short time period.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Yeah, it's a caring thing to have a bullet point.
You know the specific thingthat's needed, the action that's
required.
Yeah, some of those details,sorry for your loss.
Yeah, and what a legacy, though.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Thank you, I feel Life well lived.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
Yeah, we got to really think about 10 to 20
years worth of life in a year.
He was in a nursing home uphere and my husband is so
amazing and he would say we'regoing to pick up your dad and
we're going to go to Chuck ECheese today.
(10:12):
I was like, okay, you know,there were days that all he
wanted to do was drive his carand he couldn't drive his car,
so we took him to ride go-kartsy'all.
Wow, that's amazing.
It was a beautiful thing, but itdoes make you realize each day
is a blessing and to really showup and try hard and care.
(10:38):
I think that's what we'retrying to instill in our kids.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Absolutely.
I was having a conversationwith somebody this week on a
similar topic and made thecomment that we're all going to
end up on a bed and that's goingto be the last place.
We are Right, yeah, and I don'tknow anybody that asked for
their files or their computer ortheir awards.
They're asking for the peoplein their life that matter, yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
At my dad's funeral, a consistent message was that he
was a great neighbor.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Wow, that's cool.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
It's so simple to be a great neighbor, right To show
up for your community, and soI've thank you for that, charles
.
Yeah.
It was.
But I'm left with.
I've got big things to do,right like.
I've got love to share.
I've got knowledge to share,which is why I'm here with you
guys today, so he wouldn't wantme to be stuck in the past, so
(11:36):
that's kind of where I've leftwith it's about people and
helping people and being real.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
I deeply appreciate conversations that go to the
deep end.
I appreciate you going there.
It's quite a bit shallower totalk through.
Okay, what are the tacticalthings that help in the day job?
But at the end of the day,that's where we that is where we
spent the day, you know was wasat work and working with others
(12:08):
and grateful for the manydifferent relationships I've
been able to to start the manymore that are yet to come, and
being able to honor people asyou you walk through and help
each other and achieve commongoals is a is a huge blessing.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
So kind of on that vein of moving to our day jobs,
very basic question how can asupplier be really successful
with Walmart?
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Yeah, it's a great question, right the
million-dollar question.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
There's just one answer, Okay.
Speaker 4 (12:42):
Brooke, we're ready.
There are only three answers.
There's three, all Okay.
Brooke, we're ready.
There are only three answers.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
There's three, all right, let's go In the simplest
form, I mean the sundown rule,right.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Nice, yeah, the sundown rule.
I haven't heard that term in awhile.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
I haven't heard it either, and that's why, when I
was thinking about this today, Iwas like I don't hear it
anymore.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
I wonder if some of the younger positions know of
that rule I was just about tosay for anybody that relatively
new to the industry, the sundownrule is one of Sam Walton's
rules that if you had an email,a phone call, a request, it got
answered before the sun wentdown.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
And you don't have to have the answer necessarily,
but you have to say, hey, I'mworking on it or I'm going to
talk to so-and-so and I'll getback with you in two days or
whatever.
But it's a standard that I holdmyself to, it's a standard that
I hold my suppliers to and it'ssimple.
(13:37):
It's great communication reallyat the core of it.
An email, a text, a phone callbut it's just the sundown rule.
It's saying that you're a greatcommunicator and there's things
within Walmart that a buyer mayhave the trickle effect if they
have to communicate it tosomebody else internally.
So I think you're also thinkingoutside of yourself, outside of
(14:00):
who they might have to reportto.
Definitely the sundown rule.
I mean it's not overlycomplicated.
You know, it's kind of thatbasic blocking and tackling.
And then the second thing isgreat email communication, like
(14:21):
you know it should never beparagraphs.
It should never be paragraphs.
It should never be paragraphsLike if you need something
finished, it should be bulletpoints, Never long-winded If
you're following up with a thirdor fourth time with a buyer.
These buyers have so manyemails.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
So true.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
You're changing your email subject.
Is it time sensitive?
Is this my second follow-up?
It's great email communicationbecause we're reading things
quickly, we're on our phones andwe're not writing essays on
emails because you know you'velost me.
(15:01):
After sentence three.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
There's an awesome tool now that I wish I had 20
years ago, but chat GPT.
Do you use that?
Speaker 3 (15:08):
at all for email writing yes, drop it in there,
make it short and concise, yeahthat would have been a fun one
as a merchant.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
It's probably overwhelming guilt inside of me,
but I just want to talk to mysuppliers.
I'm really sorry I didn'tfollow the sundown rule.
It's probably overwhelmingguilt inside of me, but I just
want to talk to my suppliers.
I'm really sorry I didn'tfollow the Sundown rule.
I had one Sundown rule folderand I had sort of interpreted
the email structure of everystore operator and so I had a
rule where if it wasstrwalmartcom that it would be
(15:42):
in my went my sundown folder.
I would answer those by the endof the day.
But for the many emails that Ihave still yet to answer from
you know, the was it six yearsago.
I was a merchant.
I'm really sorry, sorry aboutthat deleted yeah, so that rule,
I just delete that folder everyyou're killing the sundown rule
now.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Yeah, so now it's definitely one of those you you
see and understand I thinkyesterday was the sun up and
sundown day, wasn't it spentsome good time on?
Speaker 1 (16:10):
the keys yesterday just, but that's uh.
You know, that is part of whereit goes and it's also deeply
affirming to hear the commentson you know bullet points and
emails.
Structure matters because Ifeel like such an over lurking
leader when I'm coaching someonethrough how that should be
(16:33):
written.
Because I know how eyes track.
I know what will actually getdone.
A subject line of here you gowill actually get done.
A subject line of here you gonever works.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
It keeps you up at night, doesn't it?
Speaker 1 (16:48):
The subject line has to just be the shortest version
of what exactly I actually amtrying to say, and so grateful
for that kind of precision.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
What does it hit you now, with all of the subjects
line saying external, internal,know, oh, yeah, yeah, it's
bothering me yeah, because I Ijust read one this morning.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
Um, I feel like I'm a trustworthy guy.
You should be on the inside, umno I just I just feel like I'm
a trustworthy guy and this is aclient, so it's not the walmart
side, it's like external, andCharles at
highimpactanalyticscom doesn'temail you very often.
So you should read this Treatwith great caution and I'm just
(17:30):
kind of like, oh, your emailcarrier is being rude.
I don't know what I have to doto build trust with your machine
, but could you just read itwith some optimism.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
Maybe you should ask at GPT.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Okay, how can I get whoever this guy's carrier is?
Speaker 2 (17:46):
to.
It wasn't your domain, it wasthe words you used.
Maybe it was.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Yeah, I don't know about this guy and it is funny
to see now the you know sirisummary uh, it's not called siri
.
Uh, apple intelligence summaryof emails and the the action
items that it reflects on yourphone, and then when you read
the email, it's like that wasnot it?
Um, so they still need to workon how they how they read.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
You kind of started in the broker world, went to the
vendor world, back to thebroker world.
You've either been in or workedwith what?
Hundred suppliers over theyears probably somewhere around
there all across the, except forapparel.
Yeah, and the kind of companieswe work with.
They tend to be like we'regetting them into Walmart right.
Let's talk a little bit aboutthat.
(18:33):
Getting in is one thing, yeartwo is harder, year three is the
hardest.
Of the suppliers you've workedwith or worked in that have done
the best.
How does a company, a smallcompany, specifically align
itself to really serve WalmartWell?
Speaker 3 (18:54):
yeah, right, like responsible growth.
So it's like starting in your.
You know the dream is going toWalmart and getting 4,500 stores
right, but it's also can be anightmare because you're
backtracking and that P&Ldoesn't look so great.
So really it's responsiblegrowth and so it it.
(19:15):
It's looking, you know, whereare your markets, where you're,
where you're performing reallywell, where is that BDI, that
brand, really high?
And so, going somewhere in thedepth of what does 1,500, 2,000
doors look like?
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Because that's like several chains outside of
Walmart, which is a home run.
It's a home run.
Speaker 3 (19:39):
It's still a home run and managing those expectations
right, and so, then, makingsure you're supporting it Like
it's still a home run, inmanaging those expectations
Right, and so, then, making sureyou're supporting it.
You have all the lenses ofWalmartcom covered.
Making sure your price slope isright to rest of market.
Making sure that your value onshelf or your competition what
(20:00):
does that look like?
Speaker 2 (20:02):
I think, more than ever this past year with
inflation, we've learned priceright like woof, like yeah,
price matters, saying people arebuying small pack sizes towards
the end of a month because ofmoney I've seen the data
available.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
Yeah, I get it it's eye-opening yeah, um, what
private meant.
you know the transfer to privatelabel and the growth there.
So you know, just keeping youreye on really what price looks
like on that shelf and so, yeah,it's the get in, it's the stay
(20:38):
in and then it's the grow.
And I think with that is justgreat communication up front
with your supplier and withinWalmart.
You know what is that buyerlooking for for you.
On velocity, do you think youcan hit it and then you get in?
How are you managing thoseexpectations?
(20:59):
Are you hitting it?
Why aren't you hitting it?
Do we need to dial into, youknow, price or rollback or
things like that.
It's effectively communicating.
Really, in that first year of,are we hitting your hurdles?
Because if you're not, thenit's you don't want to manage it
.
Too late, right.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
And that window's pretty tight.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
It's a tight window right.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
It's valuable space and you have to earn it every
day every single day.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Nothing's guaranteed anymore.
Um, new brands are coming inleft and right and private
labels growing left and right.
That shelf space is growing, so, um, you've got to keep running
the race and being meaningfulon the shelf and innovating.
(21:48):
The days of the same item, thesame size, the same packaging,
the same marketing strategy isover.
I think we're constantly facedwith social media and
influencers now, and how are youplaying within that space?
And I think that space can be alittle bit smoke and mirrory.
(22:10):
Um, so I think that's somethingthat I'm learning and figuring
out in that space.
There's great people in thisarea that are doing it and that
can help with that.
Spending on com.
That's never going to besomething that we don't say
again.
Right, with Walmart Connect.
(22:30):
So, having that budget for itand having it on the front end
and knowing that when yoursuppliers are budgeting with
Walmart, that that has to be apart of it.
Now I think that that marketingbudget within Walmart for each
supplier is probably getting alittle thicker, from my opinion,
for these small suppliers thanit has been in the past.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
You have to get noticed.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
Well, it's like I don't know it kind of originally
, was literally showed up as astore number in DSS, which has
sort of helped my thoughtprocess of being like this is
Walmart's top store and now it'sgrowing to like no, it should
be.
You had a merchant tell me thismorning 25% of their business
(23:15):
is what the objective is fore-com penetration.
So okay, what if 25% of thestores are being treated this
poorly?
What do you need to do to fixthat, to make sure that things
are where they should be?
You mentioned real estate earlyon.
You're in some of that when youthink of a PDP without any sort
(23:37):
of search spend.
It's like having a house forsale and all you've done is put
like a little paper sign infront of the house.
You know there's no traffic,it's out farmland.
It's a big size.
Right, it means it's never goingto be found.
You have to pay for search, youhave to get customers to find
the PDP before it's, then in thesort of traffic wheel, if you
(23:59):
would.
Speaker 3 (23:59):
I feel like a lot of people don't get it and our
habits have changed rightArguably, would.
I feel like a lot of peopledon't get it changed right
arguably, like we're doing moregrocery pickup more online
shopping.
So I get it.
The times are changing, howwe're shopping is changing, so
how we're marketing and howwe're spending has to change.
Yep, competition is good,competition is healthy.
So um, it's not just googleanymore we're Ask Jeeves, isn't
(24:24):
that where we started?
I think so.
When was the last time youheard that?
Speaker 2 (24:28):
It's been a while, oh yeah.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
Walmartcom and Amazon can be search engines.
Now is what you hear, right,yeah?
Speaker 2 (24:40):
Analytics is big in our background as a company.
How do you work with data totell a story, to move the needle
, to maybe overcome an obstacle?
Speaker 3 (24:53):
I think with data, it's important to have visuals.
You can have a spreadsheet allday long, but you visually have
to be able to tell that storyreally quick so they can grasp
it.
Does it look like a heat map?
Does it look like a bar graph?
I know it sounds simple, butit's all in the visuals of that
(25:17):
data and how you're showing itto the supplier and to Walmart,
to the supplier and to Walmart,but it's visually, I think,
representing that data to whereit's easily digestible.
We've lost a little bit of itwith the new Walmart data
package.
We've lost market baskets and alittle bit of that data
(25:41):
demographic data that I thoughtwas meaningful.
So we're working around nothaving all the bells and
whistles of retail link but atthe end of the day, other
retailers don't have the datathat Walmart has.
So, we're still in a greatposition to have what we have.
(26:01):
Go to another retailer andyou're kind of a little blind.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
Well, if you've had the conversation and it's clear
what we're doing is growing thecategory with a merchant.
Then there's a lot ofcollaboration as far as filling
in the gaps.
Am I pointing the rightdirection?
Am I looking at the right thing?
I mentioned e-com penetration,and this is with a supplier that
doesn't have visibility totheir e-com penetration.
(26:28):
So we're we have to have somemerchant collaboration on like.
Your goal is here Great.
Where are we today?
And we'll keep following up andtracking down as we work
through how to close those gaps.
Speaker 3 (26:40):
So I think there's good questions too that you can
ask that are more broad.
Like tell me a range of atarget, right?
Yeah, am I meaningful?
Some of this data, like you'resaying, isn't propped up to us
anymore, but I think there'sstill great questions.
You know, ask great questionsIf they can't answer them,
that's okay, but I still, ifthey can't answer them, that's
(27:01):
okay.
But I still, like you're saying, like you know, am I meaningful
on com?
What's the range?
You know, I think there's a lotof questions that buyers can't
answer and you don't want toblur that line, yeah, but I
think asking great questions ofyou know, am I hitting my hurdle
(27:23):
rates?
Am I being meaningful onWalmartcom?
You know, is there anythingyou're feeling pressure from on
your side that I need to go backwithin my organization and
check with?
I think we seldom forget thatthese buyers also have people
(27:43):
they report to and objectivesand bosses and margin targets
right, like we come to the tableand we're negotiating in its
products, but we forget thatthere's a bigger picture that
everything has to roll up to andthen roll up again, right.
So I don't think it goeswithout saying the pressure that
(28:04):
they're feeling on their side,even with tariffs.
To hit something and grow andmake it be meaningful is
important.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
It feels like the easiest thing for me to do when
things get complex is all right.
How simple can I make theproblem we're trying to solve?
It all comes back to a customerat some point.
We're both very much aligned onsolving customer problems in a
way that engenders loyalty.
Loyalty in retail is like anabsence of a better alternative,
(28:39):
be it quality, price,availability, convenience.
So it's a matter of earningthat customer loyalty day in,
day out and being able to focuson all right.
Where are you seeing customersdelighted?
Where are you having customersget disappointed?
What things have you seen thathave made you reconsider how
you're approaching the category?
(29:00):
And those kinds of questionsallow us, on the side of without
full visibility to the category, understanding what's working,
what's not working, which we'llbe trying to replicate versus
risks we need to go mitigate ina category.
As customers keep shifting andcompetitors within retail other
(29:22):
retailers are out there alsochanging their strategy and
finding different ways toapproach customers.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
You know when we have our meetings with Walmart and
our line reviews.
You know you've got 30 minutesright.
Right.
And it goes by so quick itfeels like 10.
But don't forget to take thatfirst five minutes to let them
talk, because that then shouldgear the rest of your time.
You know, like you're sayingwhat's happening in your
(29:51):
category, what are your painpoints?
You're right.
I mean, if I was a new suppliercoming into Walmart like open
up with questions, don't justdig into this PowerPoint so
quickly.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
Which is hard because you spent a lot of time on that
PowerPoint and you're ready tojust, you know, talk about it
and and the meeting.
You know 30 minutes, which isgreat.
The first two minutes we'regetting the previous vendor out
of that out of that room.
Trying to get into the room.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
That's been one of the hardest learned lessons of
my life.
I mean to ask questions versusmaking statements.
I mean it took way too manyyears for it to break through.
I mean in sales, yes, butmarriage relationships with
having children.
If you're stating you're notlistening, and that was the
thing that finally kind of brokethrough to me and everybody I
(30:42):
want to be listened to,Everybody wants to be listened
to.
Took me way too long, but nowI'm a believer.
Speaker 3 (30:50):
I love that.
I started it with mysix-year-old boy.
I've started saying, hey, isthere anything I can do better?
Just opening it up, being inthe mind of a six-year-old.
I said that the other night.
I was like, hey, is thereanything I can do better?
He goes.
Yeah, I needed to print offmore birthday invitations.
(31:12):
I handed them all out.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
I was like you got it , buddy, but you're right like
opened ended questions.
Speaker 3 (31:22):
Right can lead you down so many topics that you
don't even didn't even arguablyknow that they were out there
yeah, yeah, rewind back to.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
You know early stage brooke, give her some advice.
What are the questions shemight ask entering into this
retail space?
Speaker 3 (31:43):
Some questions I would ask buyers.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
Yeah, you would tell Brooke too.
Speaker 3 (31:46):
Yeah, that's a great question.
I would start with talkingabout the category.
So, tell me what you're seeingwithin the category.
I would say tell me your topthree objectives over this next
year.
What are your margin targets?
(32:07):
I would say what's your painpoint, what's not working?
Speaker 1 (32:20):
I'd love to hear if you can recall some of your
first meetings.
Are those the questions youasked?
Speaker 3 (32:26):
You were probably one of my first meetings.
Yeah, how did it go?
You were probably early on.
Yeah, calling on you.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (32:36):
Ask me that question again.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
Did you ask those questions?
Do you have any?
Always been a great question,oh good, asker I will tell you.
Speaker 3 (32:42):
It is what I would call.
My superpower is I'm, I, I, I.
I don't necessarily love to doall the talking, I love to do
the question asking so being apodcast guest has been great I'm
out of my comfort zone, but I'mhere to share my knowledge
You're crushing.
Speaker 1 (32:59):
It's great, thank you .
Speaker 3 (33:00):
I'm about to switch roles and ask you the questions.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
Yeah, turn around, we're good Can we change seats.
Speaker 3 (33:07):
Yeah, let's pause for a second.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
Everybody on the couch now.
Speaker 3 (33:13):
You know you think earlier on in your career of
calling on Walmart and to betotally vulnerable, you would, I
would get so nervous.
Oh yeah.
Like you know, I know everything, I'd study, I'd study, I'd
study, you know.
And then you write notes oneverything and you kind of get
those bubbles in your stomach.
(33:34):
I would give anything to havebubbles in my stomach and
nervous jitters before a meeting.
Nowadays I'm just like I guessafter 15 or whatever years
you've had everything thrown atyou in some capacity where
you're just like well, we canfigure it out in some way.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
Yeah, and your client , the supplier, whose first time
here is just so nervous it'sover whose first time here is
just so nervous it's over, youknow, or thinks that everything
is like they're getting.
You know all the entire line4,500 stores, exclusive rights
to one P.
Speaker 3 (34:07):
You know like no, no, no, no.
I'm going to click that.
I'm going to fix thatexpectation, yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:14):
Oh, that's fine.
I was always in a salesorganization, but I started in
analytics, like most people dothese days.
So my first actual sales job ofcarrying a bag was with
Unilever at Target, and I don'tknow how many meetings line
reviews I had, and I walked infor a 30 minute meeting with 30
minutes worth of talking points,points, um, and it targets a
(34:40):
little different where you canlike have a meal you know with,
with somebody that works therein a way that's unique to
walmart.
Um, and it was when I washaving my monthly lunch with one
of my larger buyer that boughtthe majority of what I sold.
That's when I started askingquestions and all of a sudden,
we've established this rapport.
We've got projects that we'repursuing, like the growth went
(35:00):
from this to this, you know, andit completely changed the way I
walked into a meeting.
I went from 30 slides to 10.
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (35:10):
Yeah, my dream meeting is probably not even
opening up the slides.
Speaker 2 (35:14):
Exactly.
Speaker 3 (35:14):
It's the conversation back and forth that gets to the
core of what they want to talkabout and it gets to the core of
their issues.
That's my dream meeting iswhere you don't even open up the
PowerPoint You've got.
You know your talking points,you know your products, you know
your price points and then youhave that open dialogue.
Right, it's an organic meeting.
(35:36):
It's what conversation andbanter back and forth is
supposed to be, like um, butwe've gotten just a little
robotic and a little bit umcompany oriented to where you
know we have these longpresentations and they're needed
, like there are times whenthey're needed, but I, I.
There's nothing I love morethan the when you have these
(35:58):
meetings and you get that flowof conversation that is
meaningful and unscripted.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
Yeah yeah, I was dropping off a updated artwork
of a new item sample andsometimes for timing, it's
required that I know we're doingthat in person.
I got to go, I have to, butmostly just really enjoy being
able to have a conversation.
(36:26):
I know that season when you'rein the layout center and it's
very busy, but also sometimesyou need to come up for air and
kind of see the world around youand enjoyed 30 minutes of just
talking through some strategicinitiatives, pressure in the
business where we see thingsgoing, and I think that comes
(36:49):
from.
I don't think there's a love ofretail at the root of that.
I think it's a love of justhelping people.
And once you've been in retailand you start to understand what
that looks like, you can't shopthe same.
James to your point earlier now.
You look at the.
What do I see?
What items have I had any kindof influence on?
(37:10):
You look at strategies.
As you walk through the aisles.
You don't visit any retail shopor what's made it even harder
now is website, because I can doa comp shop between meetings
with just a site, walk ofsomebody's site and you're just
always collecting little signalsof what's working, what's not
(37:31):
working, and it's hard toprocess those in a structured
presentation.
That's part of kind of the joyof collaborative problem solving
and probably the thing I missthe most is just being a
merchant talking with othermerchants and other players on
the team.
(37:52):
All right, what are you seeinghow are you attacking this issue
?
Yeah, because you're all in ittogether right, yeah you're
probably, in some aspect,experiencing some of the same
woes yeah um, and so that pricepressure you know exists across
the box and if someone's doing aterrible job of stewarding it,
(38:14):
I always blame the Gatorade,like sorry Isotonix merchant
when I was there.
But, like you know, they raisedtheir price to close a quarter
Like great.
Now the customer has less, like$1.50 less, and I'm in a
category where you might nothave to have it but you did have
(38:34):
to have hydration for the youknow the games this weekend, and
so there is this very communallike we're fighting for the same
thing.
What's it look like?
Speaker 3 (38:43):
I think everybody really feels that way, though
more than ever right Over thesepast two years, with all of the
inflation, um, I, I feel itcertainly Um, and I know that
the Walmart buyers probably havefelt it more than ever, because
that paycheck is spread, it'sbeing squeezed and squeezed and
(39:04):
squeezed.
Speaker 2 (39:05):
In my career, we've had a few recessions, but we've
never had this kind of inflation, which is, I think, harder on
people and harder to manage thaneven an economic downturn.
Speaker 3 (39:16):
And we haven't even experienced tariffs like this.
Right yeah.
So it'll be interesting to seewhat happens over the next year
with this.
Speaker 1 (39:24):
It's going to be creative problem solving,
without a doubt you got a rockand a hard place.
Speaker 3 (39:29):
Put that on your resume, yeah.
Speaker 2 (39:31):
We have taken a tremendous amount of your time,
so we'll bring it to thelightning round and let you get
back to all of the fun stuffyou're going to do today.
Speaker 3 (39:40):
I enjoyed the time, thank you.
Yeah, appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (39:42):
So, um, you know you talked about failure being the
best um teacher.
If you look back over yourcareer or it could be personal
that applies to career.
What's the what's one of thethings that stands out of you
know, stubbing your toe but youreally learned something from it
(40:04):
.
Speaker 3 (40:05):
I think, when you're choosing the people, that you're
partnering with have reallyhigh expectations of them.
Yeah, Because if you're not ahundred percent sold, there's
not a day that you're going tobe a hundred percent sold.
Yeah.
So it's just you know have highexpectations of the people that
you partner with, have highexpectations of the people that
you work with.
Yeah, so it's just you knowhave high expectations of the
people that you partner with,have high expectations of the
people that you work with.
Yeah.
Um, because I certainly wantpeople to have high expectations
(40:26):
of me, and I think that'ssomething I've learned over the
past two years.
Um, yeah, Is you know?
totally being with.
You know good people that makeme better that raise that bar.
Um, I had picked a arguably asupplier that wasn't doing that
for me and you know people cankeep you up at night cause you
(40:47):
have problems and you want tosolve them, but it's different
than when they were keeping upfor other reasons.
So I just think highexpectations of people that
you're working with and thatyou're spending time with.
Speaker 1 (40:57):
Yeah, at the end of the day, that's the thing that
matters is the people you get toinvest in and invest in you and
you can be both nice and holdpeople accountable and hold
yourself accountable.
Speaker 3 (41:11):
Absolutely For sure.
Speaker 1 (41:12):
Yeah, they're not.
It's the loving thing to do.
Truly All right, like content.
What are you reading?
What are you listening to?
What?
Speaker 3 (41:21):
are you reading what's inspiring you?
I'm doing a lot of meditation.
Speaker 1 (41:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (41:26):
Something that I've gotten into the past year.
I am the busiest body that youwill ever meet.
I wake up at 4.30, 5 in themorning.
I am bugs, I'm.
Speaker 1 (41:38):
Energizer Bunny I'm always going.
Speaker 3 (41:40):
I'm always on my feet , so to say that meditation was
hard for me is an understatement.
Speaker 1 (41:44):
I love that but it's definitely.
Speaker 3 (41:47):
I wanted to do something hard that challenged
me, that made my brain better,that made me think outside
myself.
So I've been reading a lot ofEckhart Tolle, like the Power of
Now, controlling your ThoughtsBe an Observer of your Thoughts
a great book.
Napoleon Hill Outwitting theDevil great read.
(42:08):
So a lot of meditation.
I want to be better.
I want to show up better.
I want to control what'shappening in my head.
Speaker 2 (42:18):
Books- yeah, I've gotten away from meditation and
I need to get back into it.
I'm letting the busyness rule.
Speaker 3 (42:28):
Yeah, I would say set a timer for five minutes, put
your phone down, close your eyes, try to shut down your thoughts
.
I mean don't have highexpectations, start small eyes,
try to shut down your thoughts.
I mean don't have highexpectations.
Start small, um, and thenyou'll crave more and you'll
realize that you're meetingproblems differently, that
you're falling asleep better.
Um, so I would.
(42:48):
I did not excel at it at firstbut.
I won't go without it, for surethick knock.
Speaker 2 (42:56):
if I'm saying his name right, he's a Vietnamese
Buddhist that was exiled toFrance during the Vietnam War,
wrote a number of books and hesaid there's no such thing as
being good at meditation.
You can only just meditate.
Speaker 3 (43:11):
You can't be bad at it, right yeah?
Speaker 2 (43:13):
He's like as long as you're trying to do it, you're
doing it.
Speaker 3 (43:16):
It's beautifully said .
Yeah, it's beautifully said,it's true.
Speaker 2 (43:20):
And then, lastly, biggest learning of the last
year, just a real eye-opener.
Speaker 3 (43:25):
Learning.
I think it's price.
When I'm talking about Walmart,I think I've never focused on
price more.
I think they're doing morerollbacks.
Speaker 2 (43:33):
That's come alive again, so you're seeing a lot of
rollbacks.
Speaker 3 (43:37):
But I think it's really about price, like keeping
price where it's at squeezingmargin a little bit on our side,
if we can, just because youdon't want to take that price up
in this environment.
So I'd say over 2024, it's beenprice.
Speaker 4 (43:49):
Yeah.
Yeah, that makes sense Samwould love that wouldn't he.
Speaker 1 (43:52):
Right, I mean what's old is new, and again when it
gets complex, the simple truthtends to hold Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (44:02):
Thank you so much for joining us.
This was fun.
Speaker 3 (44:04):
I enjoyed it Awesome.
Speaker 2 (44:06):
And thank you for tuning in as always.
You can find all of ourpodcasts, video audio on our
website athighimpactanalyticscom, and
thank you for joining us.
Hello and welcome to the Retail Journey podcast.
I'm one of your hosts, charlesGreathouse.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
And I am James Harris , and today we're talking to
Brooke Harden.
Brooke is somebody I've workedwith for a lot of years and is,
more importantly, just a very,very good friend, and I've been
looking forward to thisconversation for a long time.
Thank, you.
Welcome to the Retail JourneyBrooke.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
I appreciate it.
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
So for the few people that might be listening to this
that haven't met you, tell usabout yourself.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Yeah, so I've been calling on Walmart in some
aspect for 15 years.
Really, the basis of thesuccess is I would call myself
an entrepreneur.
I get to help these smallbrands within Walmart move the
needle, figure out the bigquestions, the little questions,
and I do a lot of stuff on theside too.
(01:04):
My husband and I have a realestate and do RV parks and have
a bike shop.
So we just came together and wesaid, when we're old and gray,
we don't want to regret notdoing something.
So we've opened every door andin my career, you know, I always
say that failure is the mostinformation rich data stream you
(01:27):
can ever get.
And so we failed.
But we've opened every door andit's, you know, come with great
lessons.
But you know what a blessingthat we live in this part of
Arkansas where we have all theseopportunities and we all have,
you know, great talent and allthese suppliers and Walmart with
(01:49):
all of these stores.
You know it's such an anomalythat we get to do what we do
where we do it.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Yeah, I heard this fact this week.
Assuming it's a fact, assumingit's true that Northwest
Arkansas has the highest percapita number of fortune 500
companies, Second only to NewYork city.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (02:09):
Well, if you think about that, that's, that's
opportunity, like why would youleave this?
Why would you leave Exactly?
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Yeah, yeah.
When did you get here?
Speaker 3 (02:20):
into this world.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
Yeah, or it's a Northwest Arkansas, that's fair.
I'm like which way are we goingwith this?
Speaker 3 (02:30):
I started in 2010.
I originally started withAcosta and their leadership
development program, where youwork in stores.
You have a territory, and soeverything comes back to
execution right.
You have a territory and soeverything comes back to
execution right.
Worked on the vendor side andthen am now on the broker side.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
Yeah, so from Northwest Arkansas, or
originally, or you came here forwork From Northwest Arkansas.
Cool.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
Grew up in Fort.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Smith Gotten to see a lot of change, all the growth
Over the years.
Yeah.
Rvs and bikes.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
I'd love to hear some origin story on uh getting into
the rv world.
Um, fun fact, I've neveractually been rving, but I know
how to read a pnl this is goodyou know, a lot of boomers are
selling their businesses, andthis was a boomer who, um was
(03:30):
aging out.
He built it himself and, um,I've wanted to get into them for
about four years and, uh, wewere going to build one out um
put that on the back burner andthought, okay, let's buy one
first and not just start fromscratch.
And saw the opportunity, readthe P&L and then also saw the
(03:50):
opportunity on the property toadd an additional quite a few
spots to build it out.
So it's a math equation.
You look at anything in realestate and you go.
The math works.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
It's a math equation.
It's a good question to ask.
There's lots of scenarios wherethe question should be asked
does the math, math Does?
Speaker 3 (04:11):
the math, math.
Well, my husband uses ishnumbers and I use an Excel
spreadsheet.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
I worked with your husband for a couple of years
and he loves the ish number.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
And it always works out.
We're like within.
I swear $10,000 of each otherevery time which is so
irritating?
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Yeah, because you spend a lot of time.
Bottoms up forecast.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
Some people's guts work better than others.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
He's just got that good math in his head and it
works.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
That's really funny.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
Yeah, so that's how we got into RV parks.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
That's cool.
Yeah, covid was a prettyterrible time overall, but it
was kind of boom times forcertain segments, certain
industries and.
Rvs sold like crazy during thattime, so now it's either parked
or you're using it.
Right.
So it makes sense that thatwould be a….
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Yeah, it's been interesting to learn.
You know we're on water, sowater, you know having
attraction always helps.
But yeah, we've been in the mudfor about six months building
this thing, getting dirty.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Awesome.
So where is it?
I have to ask.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
It is in between Greenland and West Fork.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Okay, cool.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Yeah, should I plug it?
Speaker 1 (05:17):
It is beautiful, absolutely.
Plug away.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Skipping Rock RV Park .
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Skipping Rock RV Park , If I ever get an RV we'll come
, stay there, you're going tocome Come join us.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
That's amazing.
When I take my first RV trip,I'll call you.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Yeah, that's awesome.
So, like I said, we've workedtogether and you're known for I
know you for tenaciously solvingproblems and great customer
service.
Yeah, where does that come from?
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Yeah, great question and it's really hit me um hit me
hard this past year.
So, um I have had a great ummentor, father, um leader in my
and I lost him this past year.
I lost my father, yeah.
Um.
(06:08):
I had the opportunity to carefor him in his last year and, um
, I feel this greatresponsibility of the things
that he had taught, that he'staught me, and so, um, as he was
passing, I sat there and Ithought it doesn't matter how
much money this man has in thebank account, you know he was
(06:29):
very successful and entrepreneurand I sat there and I looked at
his life and I was like it washow well he served his neighbor.
It was how well he served hiscustomers.
It was people.
I would listen to him come homefrom work.
I would listen to him be on thephone with his customers and he
(06:51):
cared.
He cared about their kids, hecared about if the project was
done, how it was going.
He just cared really well andhe had great customer service.
So, as I lost him in theprocess of losing him and
looking at his life, it's justgiven me a great glimpse of life
(07:11):
to look at differently, thatyou know we are so blessed to
have great brands coming in andout of this area.
Um, we get to sit in thesequick meetings but, um, it's
about people the people make ithappen.
And I pulled this Sam Waltonquote because it says if you'll
take care of your employees,your employees will take care of
(07:34):
your customers and yourbusiness will take care of
itself.
Simple, right.
Like we get so stressed outabout so many things in this
industry, Like we get sostressed out about so many
things in this industry, but atthe end of the day, it's the
people.
And you can't lose sight of that, I think.
And so, as I was, I've beensitting with, all you know, a
(07:55):
heavy year, you could call it,and I think you could sit in it
or you could go.
You know what would this manwant me to walk with, as he's
left me with, and it's reallybeen that customer service, the
care, the people I feel reallyresponsible for when I leave
somebody I've met or a buyingmeeting, you know.
(08:17):
Thank you, Thank you for yourtime.
I mean, these buyers are busierthan they've ever been.
Arguably one of the harder jobsover there.
You've got so many masters.
I don't know how they getthrough all the emails.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
It's been years since Charles was a buyer and he
didn't get through all theemails.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
I still have emails for sure in my inbox.
They're left.
Are they?
Speaker 3 (08:37):
unread Charles and they're unread 100% 100%.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Oh, that's funny.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Oh, um, you know they're trying to predict the
future, essentially.
Yeah.
Um, so you know, I I don't, Idon't know if they get enough
appreciation for you know whatthey're doing.
So, um, you know, greatcustomer service is so important
in every aspect, um, and Ithink that's something that I
(09:04):
don't take lightly and I'vereally thought about.
You know, I think the buzzwordis, if you ask somebody how
they're doing, we all love tosay busy now, right.
So when you're talking on thephone with the buyers, you know
I'm not at length, talking tothem for 30 minutes or an hour,
like I know I've got to getthere.
(09:25):
You know, ask them how they'redoing, you know any relative
question, but you have to besensitive to time but also care
within that short time period.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Yeah, it's a caring thing to have a bullet point.
You know the specific thingthat's needed, the action that's
required.
Yeah, some of those details,sorry for your loss.
Yeah, and what a legacy, though.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Thank you, I feel Life well lived.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
Yeah, we got to really think about 10 to 20
years worth of life in a year.
He was in a nursing home uphere and my husband is so
amazing and he would say we'regoing to pick up your dad and
we're going to go to Chuck ECheese today.
(10:12):
I was like, okay, you know,there were days that all he
wanted to do was drive his carand he couldn't drive his car,
so we took him to ride go-kartsy'all.
Wow, that's amazing.
It was a beautiful thing, but itdoes make you realize each day
is a blessing and to really showup and try hard and care.
(10:38):
I think that's what we'retrying to instill in our kids.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Absolutely.
I was having a conversationwith somebody this week on a
similar topic and made thecomment that we're all going to
end up on a bed and that's goingto be the last place.
We are Right, yeah, and I don'tknow anybody that asked for
their files or their computer ortheir awards.
They're asking for the peoplein their life that matter, yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
At my dad's funeral, a consistent message was that he
was a great neighbor.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Wow, that's cool.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
It's so simple to be a great neighbor, right To show
up for your community, and soI've thank you for that, charles
.
Yeah.
It was.
But I'm left with.
I've got big things to do,right like.
I've got love to share.
I've got knowledge to share,which is why I'm here with you
guys today, so he wouldn't wantme to be stuck in the past, so
(11:36):
that's kind of where I've leftwith it's about people and
helping people and being real.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
I deeply appreciate conversations that go to the
deep end.
I appreciate you going there.
It's quite a bit shallower totalk through.
Okay, what are the tacticalthings that help in the day job?
But at the end of the day,that's where we that is where we
spent the day, you know was wasat work and working with others
(12:08):
and grateful for the manydifferent relationships I've
been able to to start the manymore that are yet to come, and
being able to honor people asyou you walk through and help
each other and achieve commongoals is a is a huge blessing.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
So kind of on that vein of moving to our day jobs,
very basic question how can asupplier be really successful
with Walmart?
Speaker 3 (12:36):
Yeah, it's a great question, right the
million-dollar question.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
There's just one answer, Okay.
Speaker 4 (12:42):
Brooke, we're ready.
There are only three answers.
There's three, all Okay.
Brooke, we're ready.
There are only three answers.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
There's three, all right, let's go In the simplest
form, I mean the sundown rule,right.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Nice, yeah, the sundown rule.
I haven't heard that term in awhile.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
I haven't heard it either, and that's why, when I
was thinking about this today, Iwas like I don't hear it
anymore.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
I wonder if some of the younger positions know of
that rule I was just about tosay for anybody that relatively
new to the industry, the sundownrule is one of Sam Walton's
rules that if you had an email,a phone call, a request, it got
answered before the sun wentdown.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
And you don't have to have the answer necessarily,
but you have to say, hey, I'mworking on it or I'm going to
talk to so-and-so and I'll getback with you in two days or
whatever.
But it's a standard that I holdmyself to, it's a standard that
I hold my suppliers to and it'ssimple.
(13:37):
It's great communication reallyat the core of it.
An email, a text, a phone callbut it's just the sundown rule.
It's saying that you're a greatcommunicator and there's things
within Walmart that a buyer mayhave the trickle effect if they
have to communicate it tosomebody else internally.
So I think you're also thinkingoutside of yourself, outside of
(14:00):
who they might have to reportto.
Definitely the sundown rule.
I mean it's not overlycomplicated.
You know, it's kind of thatbasic blocking and tackling.
And then the second thing isgreat email communication, like
(14:21):
you know it should never beparagraphs.
It should never be paragraphs.
It should never be paragraphsLike if you need something
finished, it should be bulletpoints, Never long-winded If
you're following up with a thirdor fourth time with a buyer.
These buyers have so manyemails.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
So true.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
You're changing your email subject.
Is it time sensitive?
Is this my second follow-up?
It's great email communicationbecause we're reading things
quickly, we're on our phones andwe're not writing essays on
emails because you know you'velost me.
(15:01):
After sentence three.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
There's an awesome tool now that I wish I had 20
years ago, but chat GPT.
Do you use that?
Speaker 3 (15:08):
at all for email writing yes, drop it in there,
make it short and concise, yeahthat would have been a fun one
as a merchant.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
It's probably overwhelming guilt inside of me,
but I just want to talk to mysuppliers.
I'm really sorry I didn'tfollow the sundown rule.
It's probably overwhelmingguilt inside of me, but I just
want to talk to my suppliers.
I'm really sorry I didn'tfollow the Sundown rule.
I had one Sundown rule folderand I had sort of interpreted
the email structure of everystore operator and so I had a
rule where if it wasstrwalmartcom that it would be
(15:42):
in my went my sundown folder.
I would answer those by the endof the day.
But for the many emails that Ihave still yet to answer from
you know, the was it six yearsago.
I was a merchant.
I'm really sorry, sorry aboutthat deleted yeah, so that rule,
I just delete that folder everyyou're killing the sundown rule
now.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Yeah, so now it's definitely one of those you you
see and understand I thinkyesterday was the sun up and
sundown day, wasn't it spentsome good time on?
Speaker 1 (16:10):
the keys yesterday just, but that's uh.
You know, that is part of whereit goes and it's also deeply
affirming to hear the commentson you know bullet points and
emails.
Structure matters because Ifeel like such an over lurking
leader when I'm coaching someonethrough how that should be
(16:33):
written.
Because I know how eyes track.
I know what will actually getdone.
A subject line of here you gowill actually get done.
A subject line of here you gonever works.
Speaker 3 (16:46):
It keeps you up at night, doesn't it?
Speaker 1 (16:48):
The subject line has to just be the shortest version
of what exactly I actually amtrying to say, and so grateful
for that kind of precision.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
What does it hit you now, with all of the subjects
line saying external, internal,know, oh, yeah, yeah, it's
bothering me yeah, because I Ijust read one this morning.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
Um, I feel like I'm a trustworthy guy.
You should be on the inside, umno I just I just feel like I'm
a trustworthy guy and this is aclient, so it's not the walmart
side, it's like external, andCharles at
highimpactanalyticscom doesn'temail you very often.
So you should read this Treatwith great caution and I'm just
(17:30):
kind of like, oh, your emailcarrier is being rude.
I don't know what I have to doto build trust with your machine
, but could you just read itwith some optimism.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
Maybe you should ask at GPT.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Okay, how can I get whoever this guy's carrier is?
Speaker 2 (17:46):
to.
It wasn't your domain, it wasthe words you used.
Maybe it was.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Yeah, I don't know about this guy and it is funny
to see now the you know sirisummary uh, it's not called siri
.
Uh, apple intelligence summaryof emails and the the action
items that it reflects on yourphone, and then when you read
the email, it's like that wasnot it?
Um, so they still need to workon how they how they read.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
You kind of started in the broker world, went to the
vendor world, back to thebroker world.
You've either been in or workedwith what?
Hundred suppliers over theyears probably somewhere around
there all across the, except forapparel.
Yeah, and the kind of companieswe work with.
They tend to be like we'regetting them into Walmart right.
Let's talk a little bit aboutthat.
(18:33):
Getting in is one thing, yeartwo is harder, year three is the
hardest.
Of the suppliers you've workedwith or worked in that have done
the best.
How does a company, a smallcompany, specifically align
itself to really serve WalmartWell?
Speaker 3 (18:54):
yeah, right, like responsible growth.
So it's like starting in your.
You know the dream is going toWalmart and getting 4,500 stores
right, but it's also can be anightmare because you're
backtracking and that P&Ldoesn't look so great.
So really it's responsiblegrowth and so it it.
(19:15):
It's looking, you know, whereare your markets, where you're,
where you're performing reallywell, where is that BDI, that
brand, really high?
And so, going somewhere in thedepth of what does 1,500, 2,000
doors look like?
Speaker 2 (19:35):
Because that's like several chains outside of
Walmart, which is a home run.
It's a home run.
Speaker 3 (19:39):
It's still a home run and managing those expectations
right, and so, then, makingsure you're supporting it Like
it's still a home run, inmanaging those expectations
Right, and so, then, making sureyou're supporting it.
You have all the lenses ofWalmartcom covered.
Making sure your price slope isright to rest of market.
Making sure that your value onshelf or your competition what
(20:00):
does that look like?
Speaker 2 (20:02):
I think, more than ever this past year with
inflation, we've learned priceright like woof, like yeah,
price matters, saying people arebuying small pack sizes towards
the end of a month because ofmoney I've seen the data
available.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
Yeah, I get it it's eye-opening yeah, um, what
private meant.
you know the transfer to privatelabel and the growth there.
So you know, just keeping youreye on really what price looks
like on that shelf and so, yeah,it's the get in, it's the stay
(20:38):
in and then it's the grow.
And I think with that is justgreat communication up front
with your supplier and withinWalmart.
You know what is that buyerlooking for for you.
On velocity, do you think youcan hit it and then you get in?
How are you managing thoseexpectations?
(20:59):
Are you hitting it?
Why aren't you hitting it?
Do we need to dial into, youknow, price or rollback or
things like that.
It's effectively communicating.
Really, in that first year of,are we hitting your hurdles?
Because if you're not, thenit's you don't want to manage it
.
Too late, right.
Speaker 1 (21:18):
And that window's pretty tight.
Speaker 3 (21:20):
It's a tight window right.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
It's valuable space and you have to earn it every
day every single day.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Nothing's guaranteed anymore.
Um, new brands are coming inleft and right and private
labels growing left and right.
That shelf space is growing, so, um, you've got to keep running
the race and being meaningfulon the shelf and innovating.
(21:48):
The days of the same item, thesame size, the same packaging,
the same marketing strategy isover.
I think we're constantly facedwith social media and
influencers now, and how are youplaying within that space?
And I think that space can be alittle bit smoke and mirrory.
(22:10):
Um, so I think that's somethingthat I'm learning and figuring
out in that space.
There's great people in thisarea that are doing it and that
can help with that.
Spending on com.
That's never going to besomething that we don't say
again.
Right, with Walmart Connect.
(22:30):
So, having that budget for itand having it on the front end
and knowing that when yoursuppliers are budgeting with
Walmart, that that has to be apart of it.
Now I think that that marketingbudget within Walmart for each
supplier is probably getting alittle thicker, from my opinion,
for these small suppliers thanit has been in the past.
Speaker 2 (22:53):
You have to get noticed.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
Well, it's like I don't know it kind of originally
, was literally showed up as astore number in DSS, which has
sort of helped my thoughtprocess of being like this is
Walmart's top store and now it'sgrowing to like no, it should
be.
You had a merchant tell me thismorning 25% of their business
(23:15):
is what the objective is fore-com penetration.
So okay, what if 25% of thestores are being treated this
poorly?
What do you need to do to fixthat, to make sure that things
are where they should be?
You mentioned real estate earlyon.
You're in some of that when youthink of a PDP without any sort
(23:37):
of search spend.
It's like having a house forsale and all you've done is put
like a little paper sign infront of the house.
You know there's no traffic,it's out farmland.
It's a big size.
Right, it means it's never goingto be found.
You have to pay for search, youhave to get customers to find
the PDP before it's, then in thesort of traffic wheel, if you
(23:59):
would.
Speaker 3 (23:59):
I feel like a lot of people don't get it and our
habits have changed rightArguably, would.
I feel like a lot of peopledon't get it changed right
arguably, like we're doing moregrocery pickup more online
shopping.
So I get it.
The times are changing, howwe're shopping is changing, so
how we're marketing and howwe're spending has to change.
Yep, competition is good,competition is healthy.
So um, it's not just googleanymore we're Ask Jeeves, isn't
(24:24):
that where we started?
I think so.
When was the last time youheard that?
Speaker 2 (24:28):
It's been a while, oh yeah.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
Walmartcom and Amazon can be search engines.
Now is what you hear, right,yeah?
Speaker 2 (24:40):
Analytics is big in our background as a company.
How do you work with data totell a story, to move the needle
, to maybe overcome an obstacle?
Speaker 3 (24:53):
I think with data, it's important to have visuals.
You can have a spreadsheet allday long, but you visually have
to be able to tell that storyreally quick so they can grasp
it.
Does it look like a heat map?
Does it look like a bar graph?
I know it sounds simple, butit's all in the visuals of that
(25:17):
data and how you're showing itto the supplier and to Walmart,
to the supplier and to Walmart,but it's visually, I think,
representing that data to whereit's easily digestible.
We've lost a little bit of itwith the new Walmart data
package.
We've lost market baskets and alittle bit of that data
(25:41):
demographic data that I thoughtwas meaningful.
So we're working around nothaving all the bells and
whistles of retail link but atthe end of the day, other
retailers don't have the datathat Walmart has.
So, we're still in a greatposition to have what we have.
(26:01):
Go to another retailer andyou're kind of a little blind.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
Well, if you've had the conversation and it's clear
what we're doing is growing thecategory with a merchant.
Then there's a lot ofcollaboration as far as filling
in the gaps.
Am I pointing the rightdirection?
Am I looking at the right thing?
I mentioned e-com penetration,and this is with a supplier that
doesn't have visibility totheir e-com penetration.
(26:28):
So we're we have to have somemerchant collaboration on like.
Your goal is here Great.
Where are we today?
And we'll keep following up andtracking down as we work
through how to close those gaps.
Speaker 3 (26:40):
So I think there's good questions too that you can
ask that are more broad.
Like tell me a range of atarget, right?
Yeah, am I meaningful?
Some of this data, like you'resaying, isn't propped up to us
anymore, but I think there'sstill great questions.
You know, ask great questionsIf they can't answer them,
that's okay, but I still, ifthey can't answer them, that's
(27:01):
okay.
But I still, like you're saying, like you know, am I meaningful
on com?
What's the range?
You know, I think there's a lotof questions that buyers can't
answer and you don't want toblur that line, yeah, but I
think asking great questions ofyou know, am I hitting my hurdle
(27:23):
rates?
Am I being meaningful onWalmartcom?
You know, is there anythingyou're feeling pressure from on
your side that I need to go backwithin my organization and
check with?
I think we seldom forget thatthese buyers also have people
(27:43):
they report to and objectivesand bosses and margin targets
right, like we come to the tableand we're negotiating in its
products, but we forget thatthere's a bigger picture that
everything has to roll up to andthen roll up again, right.
So I don't think it goeswithout saying the pressure that
(28:04):
they're feeling on their side,even with tariffs.
To hit something and grow andmake it be meaningful is
important.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
It feels like the easiest thing for me to do when
things get complex is all right.
How simple can I make theproblem we're trying to solve?
It all comes back to a customerat some point.
We're both very much aligned onsolving customer problems in a
way that engenders loyalty.
Loyalty in retail is like anabsence of a better alternative,
(28:39):
be it quality, price,availability, convenience.
So it's a matter of earningthat customer loyalty day in,
day out and being able to focuson all right.
Where are you seeing customersdelighted?
Where are you having customersget disappointed?
What things have you seen thathave made you reconsider how
you're approaching the category?
(29:00):
And those kinds of questionsallow us, on the side of without
full visibility to the category, understanding what's working,
what's not working, which we'llbe trying to replicate versus
risks we need to go mitigate ina category.
As customers keep shifting andcompetitors within retail other
(29:22):
retailers are out there alsochanging their strategy and
finding different ways toapproach customers.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
You know when we have our meetings with Walmart and
our line reviews.
You know you've got 30 minutesright.
Right.
And it goes by so quick itfeels like 10.
But don't forget to take thatfirst five minutes to let them
talk, because that then shouldgear the rest of your time.
You know, like you're sayingwhat's happening in your
(29:51):
category, what are your painpoints?
You're right.
I mean, if I was a new suppliercoming into Walmart like open
up with questions, don't justdig into this PowerPoint so
quickly.
Speaker 1 (30:03):
Which is hard because you spent a lot of time on that
PowerPoint and you're ready tojust, you know, talk about it
and and the meeting.
You know 30 minutes, which isgreat.
The first two minutes we'regetting the previous vendor out
of that out of that room.
Trying to get into the room.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
That's been one of the hardest learned lessons of
my life.
I mean to ask questions versusmaking statements.
I mean it took way too manyyears for it to break through.
I mean in sales, yes, butmarriage relationships with
having children.
If you're stating you're notlistening, and that was the
thing that finally kind of brokethrough to me and everybody I
(30:42):
want to be listened to,Everybody wants to be listened
to.
Took me way too long, but nowI'm a believer.
Speaker 3 (30:50):
I love that.
I started it with mysix-year-old boy.
I've started saying, hey, isthere anything I can do better?
Just opening it up, being inthe mind of a six-year-old.
I said that the other night.
I was like, hey, is thereanything I can do better?
He goes.
Yeah, I needed to print offmore birthday invitations.
(31:12):
I handed them all out.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
I was like you got it , buddy, but you're right like
opened ended questions.
Speaker 3 (31:22):
Right can lead you down so many topics that you
don't even didn't even arguablyknow that they were out there
yeah, yeah, rewind back to.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
You know early stage brooke, give her some advice.
What are the questions shemight ask entering into this
retail space?
Speaker 3 (31:43):
Some questions I would ask buyers.
Speaker 1 (31:44):
Yeah, you would tell Brooke too.
Speaker 3 (31:46):
Yeah, that's a great question.
I would start with talkingabout the category.
So, tell me what you're seeingwithin the category.
I would say tell me your topthree objectives over this next
year.
What are your margin targets?
(32:07):
I would say what's your painpoint, what's not working?
Speaker 1 (32:20):
I'd love to hear if you can recall some of your
first meetings.
Are those the questions youasked?
Speaker 3 (32:26):
You were probably one of my first meetings.
Yeah, how did it go?
You were probably early on.
Yeah, calling on you.
Speaker 1 (32:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (32:36):
Ask me that question again.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
Did you ask those questions?
Do you have any?
Always been a great question,oh good, asker I will tell you.
Speaker 3 (32:42):
It is what I would call.
My superpower is I'm, I, I, I.
I don't necessarily love to doall the talking, I love to do
the question asking so being apodcast guest has been great I'm
out of my comfort zone, but I'mhere to share my knowledge
You're crushing.
Speaker 1 (32:59):
It's great, thank you .
Speaker 3 (33:00):
I'm about to switch roles and ask you the questions.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
Yeah, turn around, we're good Can we change seats.
Speaker 3 (33:07):
Yeah, let's pause for a second.
Speaker 1 (33:08):
Everybody on the couch now.
Speaker 3 (33:13):
You know you think earlier on in your career of
calling on Walmart and to betotally vulnerable, you would, I
would get so nervous.
Oh yeah.
Like you know, I know everything, I'd study, I'd study, I'd
study, you know.
And then you write notes oneverything and you kind of get
those bubbles in your stomach.
(33:34):
I would give anything to havebubbles in my stomach and
nervous jitters before a meeting.
Nowadays I'm just like I guessafter 15 or whatever years
you've had everything thrown atyou in some capacity where
you're just like well, we canfigure it out in some way.
Speaker 1 (33:50):
Yeah, and your client , the supplier, whose first time
here is just so nervous it'sover whose first time here is
just so nervous it's over, youknow, or thinks that everything
is like they're getting.
You know all the entire line4,500 stores, exclusive rights
to one P.
Speaker 3 (34:07):
You know like no, no, no, no.
I'm going to click that.
I'm going to fix thatexpectation, yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:14):
Oh, that's fine.
I was always in a salesorganization, but I started in
analytics, like most people dothese days.
So my first actual sales job ofcarrying a bag was with
Unilever at Target, and I don'tknow how many meetings line
reviews I had, and I walked infor a 30 minute meeting with 30
minutes worth of talking points,points, um, and it targets a
(34:40):
little different where you canlike have a meal you know with,
with somebody that works therein a way that's unique to
walmart.
Um, and it was when I washaving my monthly lunch with one
of my larger buyer that boughtthe majority of what I sold.
That's when I started askingquestions and all of a sudden,
we've established this rapport.
We've got projects that we'repursuing, like the growth went
(35:00):
from this to this, you know, andit completely changed the way I
walked into a meeting.
I went from 30 slides to 10.
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (35:10):
Yeah, my dream meeting is probably not even
opening up the slides.
Speaker 2 (35:14):
Exactly.
Speaker 3 (35:14):
It's the conversation back and forth that gets to the
core of what they want to talkabout and it gets to the core of
their issues.
That's my dream meeting iswhere you don't even open up the
PowerPoint You've got.
You know your talking points,you know your products, you know
your price points and then youhave that open dialogue.
Right, it's an organic meeting.
(35:36):
It's what conversation andbanter back and forth is
supposed to be, like um, butwe've gotten just a little
robotic and a little bit umcompany oriented to where you
know we have these longpresentations and they're needed
, like there are times whenthey're needed, but I, I.
There's nothing I love morethan the when you have these
(35:58):
meetings and you get that flowof conversation that is
meaningful and unscripted.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
Yeah yeah, I was dropping off a updated artwork
of a new item sample andsometimes for timing, it's
required that I know we're doingthat in person.
I got to go, I have to, butmostly just really enjoy being
able to have a conversation.
(36:26):
I know that season when you'rein the layout center and it's
very busy, but also sometimesyou need to come up for air and
kind of see the world around youand enjoyed 30 minutes of just
talking through some strategicinitiatives, pressure in the
business where we see thingsgoing, and I think that comes
(36:49):
from.
I don't think there's a love ofretail at the root of that.
I think it's a love of justhelping people.
And once you've been in retailand you start to understand what
that looks like, you can't shopthe same.
James to your point earlier now.
You look at the.
What do I see?
What items have I had any kindof influence on?
(37:10):
You look at strategies.
As you walk through the aisles.
You don't visit any retail shopor what's made it even harder
now is website, because I can doa comp shop between meetings
with just a site, walk ofsomebody's site and you're just
always collecting little signalsof what's working, what's not
(37:31):
working, and it's hard toprocess those in a structured
presentation.
That's part of kind of the joyof collaborative problem solving
and probably the thing I missthe most is just being a
merchant talking with othermerchants and other players on
the team.
(37:52):
All right, what are you seeinghow are you attacking this issue
?
Yeah, because you're all in ittogether right, yeah you're
probably, in some aspect,experiencing some of the same
woes yeah um, and so that pricepressure you know exists across
the box and if someone's doing aterrible job of stewarding it,
(38:14):
I always blame the Gatorade,like sorry Isotonix merchant
when I was there.
But, like you know, they raisedtheir price to close a quarter
Like great.
Now the customer has less, like$1.50 less, and I'm in a
category where you might nothave to have it but you did have
(38:34):
to have hydration for the youknow the games this weekend, and
so there is this very communallike we're fighting for the same
thing.
What's it look like?
Speaker 3 (38:43):
I think everybody really feels that way, though
more than ever right Over thesepast two years, with all of the
inflation, um, I, I feel itcertainly Um, and I know that
the Walmart buyers probably havefelt it more than ever, because
that paycheck is spread, it'sbeing squeezed and squeezed and
(39:04):
squeezed.
Speaker 2 (39:05):
In my career, we've had a few recessions, but we've
never had this kind of inflation, which is, I think, harder on
people and harder to manage thaneven an economic downturn.
Speaker 3 (39:16):
And we haven't even experienced tariffs like this.
Right yeah.
So it'll be interesting to seewhat happens over the next year
with this.
Speaker 1 (39:24):
It's going to be creative problem solving,
without a doubt you got a rockand a hard place.
Speaker 3 (39:29):
Put that on your resume, yeah.
Speaker 2 (39:31):
We have taken a tremendous amount of your time,
so we'll bring it to thelightning round and let you get
back to all of the fun stuffyou're going to do today.
Speaker 3 (39:40):
I enjoyed the time, thank you.
Yeah, appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (39:42):
So, um, you know you talked about failure being the
best um teacher.
If you look back over yourcareer or it could be personal
that applies to career.
What's the what's one of thethings that stands out of you
know, stubbing your toe but youreally learned something from it
(40:04):
.
Speaker 3 (40:05):
I think, when you're choosing the people, that you're
partnering with have reallyhigh expectations of them.
Yeah, Because if you're not ahundred percent sold, there's
not a day that you're going tobe a hundred percent sold.
Yeah.
So it's just you know have highexpectations of the people that
you partner with, have highexpectations of the people that
you work with.
Yeah, so it's just you knowhave high expectations of the
people that you partner with,have high expectations of the
people that you work with.
Yeah.
Um, because I certainly wantpeople to have high expectations
(40:26):
of me, and I think that'ssomething I've learned over the
past two years.
Um, yeah, Is you know?
totally being with.
You know good people that makeme better that raise that bar.
Um, I had picked a arguably asupplier that wasn't doing that
for me and you know people cankeep you up at night cause you
(40:47):
have problems and you want tosolve them, but it's different
than when they were keeping upfor other reasons.
So I just think highexpectations of people that
you're working with and thatyou're spending time with.
Speaker 1 (40:57):
Yeah, at the end of the day, that's the thing that
matters is the people you get toinvest in and invest in you and
you can be both nice and holdpeople accountable and hold
yourself accountable.
Speaker 3 (41:11):
Absolutely For sure.
Speaker 1 (41:12):
Yeah, they're not.
It's the loving thing to do.
Truly All right, like content.
What are you reading?
What are you listening to?
What?
Speaker 3 (41:21):
are you reading what's inspiring you?
I'm doing a lot of meditation.
Speaker 1 (41:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (41:26):
Something that I've gotten into the past year.
I am the busiest body that youwill ever meet.
I wake up at 4.30, 5 in themorning.
I am bugs, I'm.
Speaker 1 (41:38):
Energizer Bunny I'm always going.
Speaker 3 (41:40):
I'm always on my feet , so to say that meditation was
hard for me is an understatement.
Speaker 1 (41:44):
I love that but it's definitely.
Speaker 3 (41:47):
I wanted to do something hard that challenged
me, that made my brain better,that made me think outside
myself.
So I've been reading a lot ofEckhart Tolle, like the Power of
Now, controlling your ThoughtsBe an Observer of your Thoughts
a great book.
Napoleon Hill Outwitting theDevil great read.
(42:08):
So a lot of meditation.
I want to be better.
I want to show up better.
I want to control what'shappening in my head.
Speaker 2 (42:18):
Books- yeah, I've gotten away from meditation and
I need to get back into it.
I'm letting the busyness rule.
Speaker 3 (42:28):
Yeah, I would say set a timer for five minutes, put
your phone down, close your eyes, try to shut down your thoughts
.
I mean don't have highexpectations, start small eyes,
try to shut down your thoughts.
I mean don't have highexpectations.
Start small, um, and thenyou'll crave more and you'll
realize that you're meetingproblems differently, that
you're falling asleep better.
Um, so I would.
(42:48):
I did not excel at it at firstbut.
I won't go without it, for surethick knock.
Speaker 2 (42:56):
if I'm saying his name right, he's a Vietnamese
Buddhist that was exiled toFrance during the Vietnam War,
wrote a number of books and hesaid there's no such thing as
being good at meditation.
You can only just meditate.
Speaker 3 (43:11):
You can't be bad at it, right yeah?
Speaker 2 (43:13):
He's like as long as you're trying to do it, you're
doing it.
Speaker 3 (43:16):
It's beautifully said .
Yeah, it's beautifully said,it's true.
Speaker 2 (43:20):
And then, lastly, biggest learning of the last
year, just a real eye-opener.
Speaker 3 (43:25):
Learning.
I think it's price.
When I'm talking about Walmart,I think I've never focused on
price more.
I think they're doing morerollbacks.
Speaker 2 (43:33):
That's come alive again, so you're seeing a lot of
rollbacks.
Speaker 3 (43:37):
But I think it's really about price, like keeping
price where it's at squeezingmargin a little bit on our side,
if we can, just because youdon't want to take that price up
in this environment.
So I'd say over 2024, it's beenprice.
Speaker 4 (43:49):
Yeah.
Yeah, that makes sense Samwould love that wouldn't he.
Speaker 1 (43:52):
Right, I mean what's old is new, and again when it
gets complex, the simple truthtends to hold Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (44:02):
Thank you so much for joining us.
This was fun.
Speaker 3 (44:04):
I enjoyed it Awesome.
Speaker 2 (44:06):
And thank you for tuning in as always.
You can find all of ourpodcasts, video audio on our
website athighimpactanalyticscom, and
thank you for joining us.
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