April 4, 2022 • 44 mins
Scott Hamberger CEO Fortessa
Larry Blue CEO Bell Howell
Michael Sharp Founder Sharp Financial Group
Todd Schumacher CEO Vici Media, Inc
Larry Blue CEO Bell Howell
Michael Sharp Founder Sharp Financial Group
Todd Schumacher CEO Vici Media, Inc
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
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(00:10):
Welcome to Executive Leaders Radio, yourspot in the corner office, the radio
show where executives share their secrets tosuccess. Executive Leaders Radio. You're listening
to Executive Leaders Radio this year hostHerb Cohen with my co host Frank Hennessy,
Premier Planning Leaf Rain, Dasha Thomas, Jamayah and Ryan students from the
(00:35):
Laguarie Academy. They're co hosting withus today. Frank, can you please
give us a rundown on who wehave on the show? Sure, Herb
got a great show lined up.We have the pleasure of getting to know
our guest, Scott Hamburger, CEOof Fortessa and Larry Blue, CEO of
Bell and Howell, let's get toknow our first guest, Scott Hamburger,
CEO of Fortessa. Scott, whatis Fortessa? What are you guys doing?
(00:57):
We're a tableware company, so westill trying to glassware and metalware.
We supply the retail industry, soyou'll find our products in about six thousand
stores and eighty websites. And wesupplied the commercial food service industry hotels,
clubs, restaurants, resorts, etc. She'll find us across the country in
better quality of summercial free service location. How'd you get a job with this
company? I started her? Allright, where you're from originally? How
(01:19):
many brothers and sisters? And whereare you in the pecking order? I
grew up in south central Pennsylvania,York County, who lived in the country.
There one brother who's two and ahalf years older than I am.
So give me an idea of whatwere you? What was going on with
you? Eight to fourteen? Isa kid eight to fourteen growing up in
the country was a wonderful thing.A lot of time outdoors, a lot
of time working. We certainly werenever idle on the farm, and our
(01:42):
parents kept as very busy. Soif you didn't have something to do,
they would certainly find find one foryou. Frank Scott, tell us what
kind of jobs were you doing onthe farm? You wanted that teach you
whatever needed to be done, sowhether it was weeding or mowing, or
plants or picking. And what ittaught me to do was the value of
work. I learned to work hard, and I learned to be tenacious about
(02:07):
me. And you learned that fromyour father, from both my parents.
Both my parents are very hard workers. They're both entrepreneurs, setting a great
example in that regard leaf. What'syour question, all right, Scott,
where did you get your business ideafrom? So it was never a question
for my brother and me as towhether we would start a business. It
was a question of what kind ofa business it would be. He'd been
(02:28):
traveling internationally. He came back fromhis travels and he said, Hey,
I've got a great idea. Whydon't we start a business in international trade?
And I said, sure, soundsgreat. He said, how much
can you get in your credit card? And that's how we got started with
a credit card advance. Thomas,what's your question? I want to know
how did you go from life ona farm to the business you're in now?
(02:49):
Well, a few things happened inbetween, including high school and college,
so it didn't happen immediately. Butagain, even from a young age,
I was pretty confident that I wouldstart my own business at some point,
so it seemed like a natural progressionover those years. Rain your question,
do your work ethic from the farmto the to now your business?
(03:12):
Definitely? And I would say thatninety percent of success in entrepreneurship is hard
work and focus and having a goodwork ethic is critical, and certainly as
the company has grown and as I'vehad to develop in my own leadership skills,
setting a good example from a workethic perspective is a very important thing.
Dasha, was it hard to adaptfrom the country to the city.
(03:37):
Actually, no, When being akid in the countryside and a teenager in
the city is a is a prettygood order of operations. So I was
happy to be in the city atthe age that I was there. JAMIAHU
who Mum? Who was your motivation? Glowing that? I would say that
(03:58):
my parents were my primary inspiration,and they were very motivating and as parents,
they certainly were supportive of us,believed in us, encourage us to
do things, encourage us to trythings and fail. You know, one
of the best ways to learn inlife is to make a mistake, and
certainly the deepest scars leave the verybest learned lessons. So they always encouraged
(04:19):
us and motivated us. Ryan,what being the goalie on your soccer team
have to do with your business?So I was always comfortable with leadership roles.
It was something that I sought outand being a goalie is a leadership
role, certainly on the defensive endof the field. It's also a role
(04:41):
that's very much of one on onein terms of shootouts, in terms of
breakaways. So I would say thatI do not mind leading. I'm comfortable
in leadership role, and I'm verycompetitive, and those things certainly have had
application in business. Frank, whatelse you're thinking, Well, it's interesting
you did every job you needed todo one form, and your mom taught
you creative skills, so I cansee how that helped you design and develop
(05:04):
and market and distribute everything you needto do with business. But you talked
about doing business the right way,and you talked about virtue. Why is
that important, Scott? And howdo you develop a culture of doing business
the right way? So I talkI talk a lot about virtuous leadership,
and I believe that leading through virtue, leading through action says a lot more
(05:27):
than any words can say. Iwould also say that there's a notion that
somehow people get ahead and business bybeing tricky and conniving and slick and taking
advantage of others. That may workfor a short period of time, it
never works in the long term.The most important asset that any business has
is its reputation. You build areputation, and you keep a reputation by
(05:48):
doing things the right way. Soyou hear it said that you do well
by doing good. It is absolutelytrue. In the long term, good
behavior will always redound to your benifity, says the guy who's been in business
for thirty years. That's true.If you meet somebody Scott that you think
is tricky or deceptive, do youwant to do business with them? No?
(06:12):
And fortunately we have the luxury ofbeing somewhat choosy about the people with
whom we do business. And youmay have heard said the customers is never
wrong, Well that's not true.Some customers are actually never right. You
want to find people that you cando business with that are reliable. And
what you'll find is that when youdo business with the right people, they
(06:34):
inspire you to give your absolute bestefforts to them because you respect them,
you care about them, you wantthem to succeed. So your life is
too short to do business with unpleasantpeople. So, like anything else in
life, surround yourself with the kindof people that you want to be and
you'll find yourself rising to new levelsas an individual. Sounds more like a
(06:56):
business. It sounds like a meaningfulexperience. Well, thank you, and
that certainly is our vision to createmeaningful experiences. And you know, certainly
when people use our product, webelieve that adds meaning to it, makes
it more than just a meal.But it's also in how we do business.
It's how we do business with ourcustomers, it's how we do business
with our associates within the company,and how we treat our vendors. We
(07:17):
want everyone having meaningful experience in workingwith and around the company. What's the
best part of your job? Imean, why do you do your people?
People? I am very confident thatwhen I die, the Good Lord
is not going to ask me howmany plates I sold, But I do
think he will ask me how manylives I touched in a positive way.
(07:38):
And the greatest joy of being anentrepreneur is to create a situation where people
have the opportunity for personal and professionalgrowth and for economic self sufficiency. So
the greatest joy for me is tohave created a company where those things happen.
So interacting with people, coaching people, teaching people, learning from people
is the greatest joy in what Ido. Give me. Then again,
(08:01):
I'm not sure I understand the depthof what you're talking about, what do
you mean in terms of so whenwe all have something to show for our
lives? Right, and people keepscores in lots of different ways. Some
people are motivated by money. AsI said, when I die, I
don't think that God is going toask me how many plates I so old
(08:22):
or how many customers I had.But I do think that he will ask
me how many lives I touched.And so having created a business where people
have an opportunity to grow personally,to grow professionally in an environment characterized by
integrity, is the single greatest accomplishmentof my life, other than my wonderful
wife and children. How many kidsdo you have three and how old are
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they am? What have you learnfrom your kids? It's helped you build
the business. My kids are twentyone, nineteen, and sixteen, and
I would say that being a parenthas made me a better manager and a
better leader. So number one,you learn a certain amount of humility.
(09:13):
So I'll never forget. My sonwas about three years old. He looked
at me, maybe before he lookedat me and said, Daddy, you
can't fly, as if the factthat I had never chosen to fly in
front of him didn't mean that Icouldn't actually fly when I wanted to.
And I had this this sudden,sudden revelation of oh my gosh, how
disappointing. This kid thought that Iwas omnipotent, that I could do anything
(09:37):
I wanted to do, and nowhe realizes that I'm just an ordinary human
being. And I think that oneof the things that we have to learn
as children is to forgive our parentsfor the fact that they are only human.
And if we accomplish that, thenmaybe our own kids will forgive us
our own humanity as well. Thosekinds of experience around kids get a lot
(10:01):
of insight into understanding people in general, and without a doubt, the other
thing that kids teach you is thethings that you do that you don't even
realize that you do, the ticksand the habits you have that may not
be so attractive, and when yousee them repeated back to you, it
provides a bit of inspiration to correctthem in yourself. Website address to this
organization known as for Tessa for Tessafoartssa dot com. We've been speaking with
(10:26):
Scott Hamburger, CEO for Tessa hereon Executive Leaders Radio don't forget to visit
our website. It's Executive Leaders Radiodot com. That's Executive Leaders Radio dot
com. Or more about our ExecutiveLeaders Radio. Don't forget to stick around
me back in a moment, rightifto just quick break. This is Herb
COO and your host of Executive LeadersRadio. And if you're a business consultant,
(10:50):
if you consult to business owners orto business owners team members, then
we'd like to speak with you becausewe're getting requests from people all over the
country, from entrepreneurs all over thecountry that are starting and building their businesses
(11:11):
where they're looking for help and maybewe can help connect you. Why don't
you email us at consult at ExecutiveLeaders Radio dot com. That's consult at
Executive Leaders Radio dot com. Andperhaps we can connect you to folks,
(11:31):
to entrepreneurs and their team members allaround the country that are looking for help.
That's consult at Executive Leaders Radio dotcom. We're back here listening to
(11:56):
Executive Leaders Radio. This is yourhost urd Coe. We like to introduce
Lowry Blue, CEO of Bell andHowell. Lowry, what is Bell and
Howe? What are you guys doing? Bell and Howell is an automation Equipment
service company. Our eight hundred fieldservice packs are out there fixing equipment and
factories, warehouses and retail stores.Were your farmer originally? How many brothers
(12:20):
and sisters and where are you inthe pecking order? Well, I'm the
oldest. I have a younger brotherand a younger sister, and I was
born and raised in Fort Wayne,Indiana, on a farm. And tell
me a little bit about what wasgoing on with you eight to fourteen years
old. Well, from eight tofourteen was really working on the farm,
you know, bailing hay, cuttinggrass, you know, weeding the garden,
(12:43):
taking care of those kinds of things. I was playing baseball and basketball
for the local elementary school and thenon into high school. Did you tell
me from eight to fourteen you actuallymoved around a lot from kindergarten to fourth
grade. And if that's the case, isn't that frightening and rotten? It
had? It had upsides and downsides, herb it was. It was frightening
(13:05):
because you are always trying to adjustand adapt to a new environment. But
the upside was, you know,I learned to read and understand people a
little bit better because I had towait a minute. Now, you were
frightened moving from neighborhood to move inneighborhood when you're kindergarten the fourth grade.
Now you're the CEO of an eighthundred person company. Do you think that
(13:28):
those skills that you were forced todevelop moving from neighborhood to neighborhood as a
kid have helped you become the CEOof this eight hundred person company. Oh,
I think it's been instrumental. Understandingpeople and understanding what motivates them,
what demotivates them. How to havea conversation sometimes about tough topics is always
(13:52):
an important trait for a leader.Frank so Lowry being forced to adapt to
new environment when you were so young, how do you use what you learned
there to help create an environment amongeight hundred people that foster's creativity and participation.
Well, I try and get peopleto communicate, to be transparent,
(14:15):
and to be able to talk aboutwhat's bothering them, what are the things
that are on their mind. Becauseyou find that if you listen more than
you talk, you have two earsin one mouth that sometimes you can motivate
people in the right way. RainUm, why started tech when you had
(14:37):
other skills. Rain. The reasonwas I was really into both science and
math in grade school and high schooland very interested in technology. My first
job, you know, outside ofthe farm, was working in an electronics
department at a department store. Dasha, what was your position in your sports
(15:01):
when you play sports? Like?What was your position and work in a
position today? In baseball, Iwas the first baseman, uh played also
a little bit outfield. In basketball, I was probably the shortest center in
the league. But those were thepositions I played. Um. I think
(15:22):
what it's taught me in business isto be adaptable. Some days I would
start it first, some days I'dstart in the outfield, and you had
a little bit different skills that wererequired and you had to adapt to the
situation. And I think that's taughtme a lot in business. Or what
was a little is your motivation?Well, you know, I think a
(15:46):
lot of things that motivate me.Or self doubt. Um, you know
a lot of folks I know thatare successful have also had self doubts and
they use those to drive themselves alwaysdo better. And I think that's a
key motivator for me. Leaf allright, Larry, when you meet someone
(16:07):
new how like, what good andbad qualities can you distinguish from them immediately?
Well, you know, sometimes it'sharder to distinguish the bad qualities,
but you can determine an awful lotby listening. By watching visual cues,
both facial cues and e body language. You can also learn a lot by
(16:30):
the vocabulary that an individual uses andthe eye contact that they give you when
they're talking to you. So it'salways worthwhile to pick up on all of
those cues. Thomas, how longdid it take you to become CEO of
the company you are at now?And what is your favorite part of being
(16:52):
a CEO? Well? I washired here as the chief operating officer in
twenty fourteen and was mooted to CEOin twenty eighteen. Uh, this is
my second CEO stint. My firstone was not a success, and as
you know we've talked about in thepast. You know, not every UH
(17:12):
CEO has a linear path to success. Most of us have had our share
of failures and learning experiences. Ryan, how did it um? How did
you sharpen your social skills the skillsand how did you implement them into your
business? I think the best wayto sharpen social skills is to challenge yourself
(17:37):
to sometimes be afraid of of aninteraction, to go outside of your comfort
zone and and uh go meet people, get out uh and uh and reach
out to others uh, particularly peoplethat aren't exactly like you and uh and
(17:59):
and use that as an opportunity tolearn more about the environment the world around
you rank so low you talk aboutfear and self doubt and lack of confidence.
Many people wouldn't admit that. Whyis it important to admit that?
And how do you suggest that onegets past those fears? You know,
(18:19):
I think I'm old enough now tonot kid myself or early on I didn't
admit that that's what was driving me. But these days, you know,
you're to a point in your careerwhere you could admit it and hopefully help
others admit that may be part ofthe position, and the pomp and circumstance
(18:41):
that people bring to a job mightjust be bluster, and maybe you want
to get underneath that. As amanager, what's the most important thing in
your business? Is it the abilityto read and lead people, or is
it the ability to fix and servicethings? For me, it's the ability
to present a vision and to leadpeople toward that vision. For my guys,
(19:06):
it's seeing a new environment, newequipment that they might not have seen
before and still be confident enough tofix it for the customer. After all,
when equipment is down, our customersare not making any money in their
business. You know, I havea question for you. I'm afraid to
admit my mistakes and I'm afraid tobe vulnerable. What advice do you have
(19:27):
for me? Get over it?No, that's a little bit glib.
I think as you challenge yourself moreand get out and feel more comfortable with
yourself, you can, in factbecome more comfortable with admitting mistakes. I
(19:48):
know raising my kids has taught meto get real comfortable with my mistakes.
Well, what are you talking about? What do you mean? Well,
you know they don't you know theone thing you don't have to get a
license for as to be a parent. And we all learn as we go
um with with a lot of these. All three of my kids are great.
They're they're very different, and they'vethey've taught me humility, They've taught
(20:15):
me a lot of things about myself, and they've given me enough confidence to
be able to say when I'm wrong? So are you vulnerable at work?
I mean, do you admit yourmistakes at work? I mean you're the
CEO. You don't make mistakes?Oh? I make one? I make
at least one every day. It'sI tell the team I'm good for one
(20:37):
good idea a week and at leastone mistake a day. Please don't be
a yes man. Correct me whenI'm wrong? Yeah? Do you do
you actually tell them to correct youwhen you're I thought you were the boss.
You're supposed to tell everybody what todo? Right that? That's uh,
that's probably nineteen fifties thinking. Thesedays, good leaders surround themselves with
(20:59):
good people, people smarter than theyare. And if you don't let people
who are smarter than they are showthat they're smarter than you are than you're
you're not being a good leader.Huh. What this organization known as Bell
and Howell? What's your website address? It's a Bell Howell dot net,
(21:22):
Bell and Howell. Look give methat again, Bell Howell dot net,
Bell Howell dot net. You've beenspeaking with Larry Blue, CEO of Bell
and Howell. Frank, can yougive me a rereadown on who we've had
on the air today. Please sure, Harb, great show today thanks to
our guest at Scott Hamburg or CEOof Plutessa, and Larry Blue, the
CEO of Bell and How and thespecial guest to there are students from the
(21:45):
Labori Academies who helped us with ourco host and responsibilities, asking some very
provocative questions. Don't forget to visitour website, Executive Leaders Radio dot com.
We'll be back in a moment rightafter this quick break. Don't go
away. You're listening to Executive LeadersRadio, Real World Leaders Broadcasting and conjunction
(22:15):
with Laguari Academy here in Philadelphia.This is your host, Herb Cohen with
my co host kay Leif, ChristianRain and Dasha and we have great guests
on our show today including Michael Sharp, founder of Sharp Financial Group, and
Todd Schumacher, CEO of Vichy Media. Let's get to know our first guest,
Michael Sharp, founder of Sharp FinancialGroup. Michael, what is Sharp
(22:38):
Financial Group? What are you guysdoing? We're a integrated financial services company,
So basically we provide a comprehensive arrayfinancial services and integrated fashions under one
room and tell me a little bitabout where you're from originally, how many
brothers and sisters? And where areyou in the pecking order. I'm from
Philadelphia, Rowhouse of Philadelphia, oldestof three, Royal House in Philadelphia,
(23:03):
oldest three. How many teammates doyou have in your business? We have
about forty people right now. Fortypeople? All right, So tell me
what was the effective you're growing upthe oldest of three back then? Well,
I really learned how to lead.My mom and dad both worked at
a young age, So at eightyears old, I was kind of a
(23:23):
leader of the family take care ofmy two siblings. So did your parents
tell you to take care of yoursiblings? Did you just sort of like
assume that authority? Pretty much justassumed it. Well, what's assuming authority
have to do with you building thisorganization known as Sharp Financial Group. Well,
it certainly gave me a little bitof an entree into what it would
(23:47):
be like to lead, and soI kind of have done that throughout my
life, including up to now.And tell me what was your favorite sport
back then and what was your roleon the team. Sport? Was it
still as basketball? And my rolewas a shooting guard? Which I loved,
and I love a lot of theprinciples of basketball apply a lot of
(24:10):
them to the business today. Wellwait a second, So you were the
shooting guard. What's the shooting guardhas to do with being the says here,
you're the founder of Sharp Financial Group. Shooting guard in some respects,
unlike a point guard, still hasto lead because he's the guy that has
relied upon to score. Very similarto the business having getting things done scoring
(24:30):
in a different way. Alrighty,kay leaf question you got Did you have
any huge obstacles that you ran intothat considered that made you consider giving up?
No? Not really. We allhave obstacles, don't get me wrong.
A lot a lot of obstacles happentoday. But always had the mindset
(24:53):
that I was as good as anybodyelse could get it down. Dasha,
do you still coach basketball? Idon't. I run an AAU basketball organization
now. I don't actually coach.Stopped coaching a few years ago. Rain,
I'm not a big math person,but I would like to make a
(25:15):
lot of money. Were you alwaysgood at dealing with numbers and money?
I was always pretty good at dealingwith numbers, not always good with dealing
with money. Christian who influenced youas a child. Um, I think
you know my mom and dad,certainly you know my brother, but also
(25:41):
I had a lot of good alot of good friends, and a lot
of a lot of mentors that thathelped me. You mentioned you grew up
in a rowhouse and Philadelphia. Howmany kids were in the neighborhood and what
was your role amongst those kids?There was probably around twenty or so kids,
and my role, much like it'salways been, was kind of to
(26:03):
lead, lead the group and variousactivities. Yeah, you told us earlier
in the green room that you're alwayscoming up with ideas of what the twenty
of you guys could do, andthen you were organizing everybody. I guess
that's what you're doing a sharp financialgroup, coming up with new ideas and
organizing everybody. That's not not muchdifferent. Same same with coaching, all
kind of the same. Um kay, Leaf, is do you have like
(26:27):
anything you want to do after thisor are you're just gonna keep doing this
to the end of the line.I'm pretty much just going to keep doing
this. However, the two mainthings I would like to kind of get
back to one is coaching, notjust running the organization but actually get back
to coaching. And second is growingour business into various locations throughout the country,
(26:48):
which we've started to do. Dasha, how do you handle your money
today? How do I handle thatis? That's a question. Again.
We do a lot of financial planninghere, and I think one of the
misconceptions with what we do is thatit's intimidating money, and it's actually not.
(27:14):
It's very very basic in terms ofyou know what you make, having
a budget for what you spend andwhat you try to save, and try
to figure out what you want todo, what the financial goals are that
you're trying to meet in doing that. So it's it's really what I manage
money and try to teach other peoplethat it's anybody can do it. It's
(27:37):
really just it's not rocket science.It's just a matter of making being disciplined
and being committed to a plan.Um watching your father go from job to
a job that they have an effecton you the way you operate your business.
Now, I did. It mademe more focused in my business and
(27:57):
really having me keep my my myeye on the prize and and and not
not get out too much of youknow, what the what the goals are,
and what the what the focus isChristian? So what does a simple
day look like for you at thejob? A simple day for me really
(28:22):
is about what my life is about, which is serving people. Um that
could be my uh, my staffhere, it could be the clients,
that could be my family, myfriends. It's really all about what it
is that that you could do forpeople, and that always has a way
of coming back and helping you yourselfto be successful. Not by what you
(28:45):
take, but what actually you give. What do you mean? It's what
you give, not what you take. You're running a very successful integrated financial
services firm. It's very sophisticated withforty team members. You know, you
grew up in a rowhouse in Philadelphia. You've made a lot of money.
What are you talking about? It'sit's what you give as opposed to what
(29:06):
you take. What are you talkingabout, Well, it's as opposed to
looking at from the perspective of whatcan I get out of something? It's
really the focus being on what itis that I could give to serve the
situation and by doing the very bestI can and bringing that to whatever it
is I'm doing. I don't haveto worry about what the outcome will be,
(29:30):
because the outcome, I trust willbe pretty favorable more times than not.
You mentioned that you really enjoyed coaching, and if I remember correctly,
you coached the basketball team that wasnumber sixteen in the country. What is
it did you enjoy about coaching them? Why do you want to go back
to it? Well, I loveto lead, I love sports. A
(29:52):
love basketballs more specifically, and Ithink it's a great team sport, probably
the greatest teams sport. And Ilove working with kids. And I always
thought if I could teach them theway through basketball and show how you can
apply that in your adult life towhatever it is you do, then that
would be the greatest thing I coulddo. And by the way, those
(30:14):
years of coaching one of the greatestyears of my life, and I learned
so much from my players and theirfamilies that I would never be the person
I am today had it not beenfor that experience. Now you're running this
very successful firm, You've made alot of money, You've got some very
well known clients in the different sportsworld, etc. And what I'm wondering
is, like, what is Itreally turns you on what do you really
(30:38):
get up for? I really getup for helping people and solving solving problems.
Helping people and helping them to solvetheir problems, that's what I get
the most from. Do you eversit down a link with families and help
the husband and the wife and thekids understand the financial plan? Do you
(31:00):
do that kind of stuff? That'sbasically the foundation of what it is that
we do. What do you mean, no matter what aspect of finance you're
talking about, tax, cash flow, debt, whatever you're talking about,
business or personal at all starts witha sound financial plan and a commitment to
(31:22):
that plan and knowing what that planis. Interesting, So you've developed you
really you really understand the world ofwealth management financial management. But it's really
you know, you come from theperspective of as opposed to what's in it
for me? How do I serveothers? Yeah? So I really understand
(31:44):
the world of wealth management because Iunderstood everything else about what it takes to
be a good person and serve peoplein this life. The wealth management and
all those other things I learned,like anybody else could learn that. Really
it really was based on the foundationof a certain principle and principles that really
(32:05):
is a very good person. What'sthe website address for Sharp Financial Group.
It's Sharp LLC dot com. We'vebeen speaking with Michael Sharp, founder of
Sharp Financial Group, here on theExecutive Leaders Radio Real World Leaders. Don't
forget to visit our website Executive LeadersRadio dot com to learn more about our
Executive Leaders will be back in themoment right after this quick Breakdown't go away.
(32:28):
This is herbco when you're hosted ExecutiveLeaders Radio dot com. Regarding your
career, if you're trying to figureout how to make the most money and
also enjoy your career. That's enjoyyour career, I mean really enjoy your
career and make the most money.You ought to talk to our CEOs.
They've got the bird's eye view ofwhere the really profitable jobs are, where
(32:52):
the really profitable jobs are going tobe, and they're willing to speak with
you regarding their vision for the futureand where you may fit into it.
In order to make the most moneyand really enjoy your career. Email us
consult at Executive Leaders Radio dot com. That's consult at Executive Leaders Radio dot
(33:15):
com to get help from our CEOsregarding where you may want to go in
your career to make the most moneyand really enjoy your career. Consult at
Executive Leaders Radio dot com. We'reback. You're listening to Executive Leaders Radio.
(33:42):
Real World Leaders is your host termcom with my co hosts kay Leef,
Christian Rain and Daisha. Let's getto know our next CEO, Todd
Schumacher, CEO of VICI Media.Todd, what is VICI Media? What
are you guys doing? We providedigital average rising services to radio and TV
companies and ad agencies around the UnitedStates. Where you're from originally? How
(34:06):
many brothers and sisters and where areyou in the pecking order? I grew
up in Milwaukee, had two brothers, and I'm the middle child. So
what was the effect of you growingup the middle of three brothers? Constant
competition, especially with my older brother. I would try to beat him in
everything, often failed, but alwaystried. Huh And what kind of sports
(34:30):
did you play as a kid?What was your favorite sport and what was
your role on that team? Iplayed everything, but my favorite was baseball
and I was the catcher. Whydo you like playing the catcher? What's
that have to do with your personality? I loved it because I was in
on every single play, so you'realways in where the action was and what's
(34:51):
being in on the action every play? Have to do with being the CEO
of each media, I think itrelates. I get to touch every part
of the a business. I getto work with our clients, our employees
and different parts and get to spenda little bit of time and every facet
of the business. Okay, DookieRain, want to give me a hand
(35:12):
with me also being a middle child, I'm very competitive. Does you being
competitive helpless your drive to be moresuccessful? I think it has because I
always compared myself to others and alwayssaw something I wanted or somebody I wanted
to be like and wanted to figureout how I could be better than that.
M Desia, would you recommend everyoneto be as competitive as you say
(35:37):
you are. It's worked for me. I think different things can lead to
success. You know, every everybody'sa little bit different. It's worked for
me. I think it's made mework a little bit harder and maybe focus
in on things that I wanted toachieve. Christian, So what specifically we
could do you do for radio stationsdo is they're used to selling radio commercials
(36:02):
to people, which it's getting alittle bit tougher and tougher as more people
moved to wanting to advertise online,So we help their sales staffs and if
people in their organization understand all thedifferent options in different ways, you can
place targeted ads to people on websitesand apps. Rain you said you compared
(36:29):
yourself to others. Did it helpyou like or does it stop your progress?
I think it's helped me because itwas a way for me to always
measure what I wanted to do next, and once I would achieve something that
I would look to do something else. And so it was I would just
naturally competitive, and I think itmade me work harder than others. And
(36:52):
I think that really helped, especiallyearly in my career. So as you
receive certain levels of success, wouldyou would increase the ramp angle you would
keep on going for more and moreand more. Once you achieve something,
then you find something else that youwant to you want to achieve. Sure,
Dasha one lose into others or notbeing as good as them, would
(37:14):
that upset you? Yeah? Imean it doesn't feel good. Nobody likes
to lose, right, but ithappens. And I always try to look
at it as a learning experience tofigure out, Okay, what didn't I
do right or what could I dodifferent to change the outcome next time around?
For your clients the radio stations andfor your clients clients, how do
(37:36):
you know what to advertise and towhom and how and what and where and
when? How do you know wetalk with them about who their their advertisers
are trying to reach. And thenthere's thousands of different options online of how
you can target people based on behaviors, based on where your devices have been.
(37:58):
There's a number of different techno alogiesout there. So what I think
we're really good at is figuring outwhat people are trying to achieve and then
matching it to the right technology andthe right targeting so that we're getting the
most relevant ads to the people whoare most likely to be a consumer Christian.
So how long did it take youto get to this level? As
(38:21):
assessed that sight. Our company's eightyears old, and I would say the
first eighteen months it was a littlea little touch and go is we were
building and figuring everything out, butsince then it's been some pretty pretty steady
growth after the first eighteen months,Well, why don't you just go sell
the business and go to Florida andretire and sit on the couch? Are
(38:44):
you making me an offer her?No? I you know what, I
love it. I mean I getup every day and I love what I'm
doing, and I'm really enjoying thisbusiness. And a great thing about advertising
in general, and about digital advertisingright now, is it changes all the
time, so it constantly evolved.It's really hard for me to get bored
(39:06):
with this. So I'm loving whatI'm doing. Wait wait, wait,
wait, wait, it constantly changes. But doesn't that make it more and
more difficult for you to serve yourclients and your clients clients because you've got
the opportunity to make it more andmore mistakes all the time, and everybody
getting mad at you. Well,it's also an opportunity because things change.
If you do a good job onstaying up on things and changing with the
(39:30):
new technologies and evolving with it,then your clients come to trust you and
rely on you, so they don'thave to worry about that. So it's
a big service that we provide forour clients is they don't have to worry
about the next technology or what's changing. They rely on us to take care
of that for them. So thefact that things are changing all the time,
you've actually turned that into a competitiveadvantage because because you're so good on
(39:53):
staying on top of stuff and keepingyour clients and your clients clients happy,
keep the clients and the clients clientstend to stick with you because you don't
disappoint them. We learned at avery early age that we had to adapt
if we were going to stay inbusiness, and the products that we offered
(40:14):
back in twenty fourteen, many ofthem don't even exist today because new,
better technologies, better targeting options thatare more successful have come up. So,
yeah, that was something we learnedin the first year that okay,
this was something we needed to spenda lot of time on to make sure
that we were going to be relevantin our industry. I guess the benefit
(40:35):
of being the CEO of each mediais that you get to go into work
at ten or eleven o'clock and leaveit, leave it two or three,
and you don't got to work weekendsor lights or anything like that. Right,
I work all the time. I'mnot so much of an early person,
so maybe eight o'clock for me.But I work a lot of nights,
and I worked every weekend, soI mean there's always at least something
(40:59):
to do. I mean to beworking all day on Saturday and Sunday,
but you always at least have acouple hours every day. Well, well,
why do you Are you getting paidby the hour or something? Why
would you do that? It's it'sI don't know, it's fun. I
still think this is really fun.And you know, this is kind of
a new emerging field that is verymuch growing and changing, and it's it's
(41:23):
fun being at the forefront and helpingto shape that and help our clients.
So as long as it's still fun, I don't mind putting in the hours.
Do you think you're ever going toretire? Are you always going to
be working? I think I'll alwaysbe doing something. I mean, i'd
work this many hours at some pointin my life. But I can't imagine
(41:43):
people that are retired and I justdon't know what they do all day.
I would I'll always be doing something. I think it's just part of the
nature of who I am. Soyou really find business challenging. I mean,
it's like a personal challenge to you, isn't it. Yeah. I
love solving problem. To me,the greatest joy I get is when you
have a problem or you have asituation and you can achieve an outcome where
(42:07):
everybody's happy, or you figure somethingout. To me, that's the best
feeling in the world. Wait,wait, wait, wait, wait wait
wait. I don't understand that.I thought business was somebody wins and somebody
loses. That you just said basically, you find solutions where everybody wins.
I do I have the wrong impressionof business. There's many times where you
(42:29):
should be able to come up witha solution where it should work for everybody,
And for us, it's making somethingwork for our clients that works for
their clients, making We always say, we try to make them look like
rock stars to their clients. Andif we're doing that, then we're doing
our job. Wow. So,like, you know, you really risk
losing your clients if you don't keepyour clients clients happy. On the other
(42:52):
hand, if you keep each client'sclients happy, you get to keep your
client. So you've got a lotto lose By disappointing people, but you
find that challenging and rewarding and youlook forward to that every day. Yeah.
You know, to me, Ilove being challenged and if we can
do that every day, our businesskeeps growing because our clients feel good about
(43:14):
what they're getting, they feel goodabout the solutions, and they bring more
of their clients to us. Soyou know that that's how our business has
has grown over the years. Andyou know, to me, that's that's
the fun part of the job.Well, you really you've grown through referrals,
through people really liking you and yourwork, and then bringing other folks.
What's the website address for your organization? That is VICI Media vc Media
(43:37):
Inc. Dot com at vicimedia IMCdot com. This is your host,
Herb Cohen, and today we've hadthe opportunity of speaking with Scott Hamburger CEO
of Fortessa, Larry Blue CEO ofBell and Howell, Michael Sharp, founder
of Sharp Financial Group, and finallyTodd Schumacher, CEO of Vichi Media.
(43:59):
This has been producing conjunction with theLaguari School, the Liguori Academy in Greater
Philadelphia, and our co hosts havebeen Frank Hennessey Premier Planning along with Leaf,
Rain, Daisha Jemiah, Ryan Thomas, kay Leaf, Christian Rain,
(44:21):
and we'd like to thank our listeningto audience for listening. Hopefully we were
bringing you an educational, entertaining show. Without you our listening on this,
we wouldn't have a radio show.Don't forget to visit our website Executive Leaders
Radio dot com. That's Executive LeadersRadio dot Comular or more about our Executive
Leaders. Thank you for joining ustoday and have a nice day. Bye bye,
Welcome to Executive Leaders Radio, yourspot in the corner office, the radio
show where executives share their secrets tosuccess. Executive Leaders Radio. You're listening
to Executive Leaders Radio this year hostHerb Cohen with my co host Frank Hennessy,
Premier Planning Leaf Rain, Dasha Thomas, Jamayah and Ryan students from the
(00:35):
Laguarie Academy. They're co hosting withus today. Frank, can you please
give us a rundown on who wehave on the show? Sure, Herb
got a great show lined up.We have the pleasure of getting to know
our guest, Scott Hamburger, CEOof Fortessa and Larry Blue, CEO of
Bell and Howell, let's get toknow our first guest, Scott Hamburger,
CEO of Fortessa. Scott, whatis Fortessa? What are you guys doing?
(00:57):
We're a tableware company, so westill trying to glassware and metalware.
We supply the retail industry, soyou'll find our products in about six thousand
stores and eighty websites. And wesupplied the commercial food service industry hotels,
clubs, restaurants, resorts, etc. She'll find us across the country in
better quality of summercial free service location. How'd you get a job with this
company? I started her? Allright, where you're from originally? How
(01:19):
many brothers and sisters? And whereare you in the pecking order? I
grew up in south central Pennsylvania,York County, who lived in the country.
There one brother who's two and ahalf years older than I am.
So give me an idea of whatwere you? What was going on with
you? Eight to fourteen? Isa kid eight to fourteen growing up in
the country was a wonderful thing.A lot of time outdoors, a lot
of time working. We certainly werenever idle on the farm, and our
(01:42):
parents kept as very busy. Soif you didn't have something to do,
they would certainly find find one foryou. Frank Scott, tell us what
kind of jobs were you doing onthe farm? You wanted that teach you
whatever needed to be done, sowhether it was weeding or mowing, or
plants or picking. And what ittaught me to do was the value of
work. I learned to work hard, and I learned to be tenacious about
(02:07):
me. And you learned that fromyour father, from both my parents.
Both my parents are very hard workers. They're both entrepreneurs, setting a great
example in that regard leaf. What'syour question, all right, Scott,
where did you get your business ideafrom? So it was never a question
for my brother and me as towhether we would start a business. It
was a question of what kind ofa business it would be. He'd been
(02:28):
traveling internationally. He came back fromhis travels and he said, Hey,
I've got a great idea. Whydon't we start a business in international trade?
And I said, sure, soundsgreat. He said, how much
can you get in your credit card? And that's how we got started with
a credit card advance. Thomas,what's your question? I want to know
how did you go from life ona farm to the business you're in now?
(02:49):
Well, a few things happened inbetween, including high school and college,
so it didn't happen immediately. Butagain, even from a young age,
I was pretty confident that I wouldstart my own business at some point,
so it seemed like a natural progressionover those years. Rain your question,
do your work ethic from the farmto the to now your business?
(03:12):
Definitely? And I would say thatninety percent of success in entrepreneurship is hard
work and focus and having a goodwork ethic is critical, and certainly as
the company has grown and as I'vehad to develop in my own leadership skills,
setting a good example from a workethic perspective is a very important thing.
Dasha, was it hard to adaptfrom the country to the city.
(03:37):
Actually, no, When being akid in the countryside and a teenager in
the city is a is a prettygood order of operations. So I was
happy to be in the city atthe age that I was there. JAMIAHU
who Mum? Who was your motivation? Glowing that? I would say that
(03:58):
my parents were my primary inspiration,and they were very motivating and as parents,
they certainly were supportive of us,believed in us, encourage us to
do things, encourage us to trythings and fail. You know, one
of the best ways to learn inlife is to make a mistake, and
certainly the deepest scars leave the verybest learned lessons. So they always encouraged
(04:19):
us and motivated us. Ryan,what being the goalie on your soccer team
have to do with your business?So I was always comfortable with leadership roles.
It was something that I sought outand being a goalie is a leadership
role, certainly on the defensive endof the field. It's also a role
(04:41):
that's very much of one on onein terms of shootouts, in terms of
breakaways. So I would say thatI do not mind leading. I'm comfortable
in leadership role, and I'm verycompetitive, and those things certainly have had
application in business. Frank, whatelse you're thinking, Well, it's interesting
you did every job you needed todo one form, and your mom taught
you creative skills, so I cansee how that helped you design and develop
(05:04):
and market and distribute everything you needto do with business. But you talked
about doing business the right way,and you talked about virtue. Why is
that important, Scott? And howdo you develop a culture of doing business
the right way? So I talkI talk a lot about virtuous leadership,
and I believe that leading through virtue, leading through action says a lot more
(05:27):
than any words can say. Iwould also say that there's a notion that
somehow people get ahead and business bybeing tricky and conniving and slick and taking
advantage of others. That may workfor a short period of time, it
never works in the long term.The most important asset that any business has
is its reputation. You build areputation, and you keep a reputation by
(05:48):
doing things the right way. Soyou hear it said that you do well
by doing good. It is absolutelytrue. In the long term, good
behavior will always redound to your benifity, says the guy who's been in business
for thirty years. That's true.If you meet somebody Scott that you think
is tricky or deceptive, do youwant to do business with them? No?
(06:12):
And fortunately we have the luxury ofbeing somewhat choosy about the people with
whom we do business. And youmay have heard said the customers is never
wrong, Well that's not true.Some customers are actually never right. You
want to find people that you cando business with that are reliable. And
what you'll find is that when youdo business with the right people, they
(06:34):
inspire you to give your absolute bestefforts to them because you respect them,
you care about them, you wantthem to succeed. So your life is
too short to do business with unpleasantpeople. So, like anything else in
life, surround yourself with the kindof people that you want to be and
you'll find yourself rising to new levelsas an individual. Sounds more like a
(06:56):
business. It sounds like a meaningfulexperience. Well, thank you, and
that certainly is our vision to createmeaningful experiences. And you know, certainly
when people use our product, webelieve that adds meaning to it, makes
it more than just a meal.But it's also in how we do business.
It's how we do business with ourcustomers, it's how we do business
with our associates within the company,and how we treat our vendors. We
(07:17):
want everyone having meaningful experience in workingwith and around the company. What's the
best part of your job? Imean, why do you do your people?
People? I am very confident thatwhen I die, the Good Lord
is not going to ask me howmany plates I sold, But I do
think he will ask me how manylives I touched in a positive way.
(07:38):
And the greatest joy of being anentrepreneur is to create a situation where people
have the opportunity for personal and professionalgrowth and for economic self sufficiency. So
the greatest joy for me is tohave created a company where those things happen.
So interacting with people, coaching people, teaching people, learning from people
is the greatest joy in what Ido. Give me. Then again,
(08:01):
I'm not sure I understand the depthof what you're talking about, what do
you mean in terms of so whenwe all have something to show for our
lives? Right, and people keepscores in lots of different ways. Some
people are motivated by money. AsI said, when I die, I
don't think that God is going toask me how many plates I so old
(08:22):
or how many customers I had.But I do think that he will ask
me how many lives I touched.And so having created a business where people
have an opportunity to grow personally,to grow professionally in an environment characterized by
integrity, is the single greatest accomplishmentof my life, other than my wonderful
wife and children. How many kidsdo you have three and how old are
(08:48):
they am? What have you learnfrom your kids? It's helped you build
the business. My kids are twentyone, nineteen, and sixteen, and
I would say that being a parenthas made me a better manager and a
better leader. So number one,you learn a certain amount of humility.
(09:13):
So I'll never forget. My sonwas about three years old. He looked
at me, maybe before he lookedat me and said, Daddy, you
can't fly, as if the factthat I had never chosen to fly in
front of him didn't mean that Icouldn't actually fly when I wanted to.
And I had this this sudden,sudden revelation of oh my gosh, how
disappointing. This kid thought that Iwas omnipotent, that I could do anything
(09:37):
I wanted to do, and nowhe realizes that I'm just an ordinary human
being. And I think that oneof the things that we have to learn
as children is to forgive our parentsfor the fact that they are only human.
And if we accomplish that, thenmaybe our own kids will forgive us
our own humanity as well. Thosekinds of experience around kids get a lot
(10:01):
of insight into understanding people in general, and without a doubt, the other
thing that kids teach you is thethings that you do that you don't even
realize that you do, the ticksand the habits you have that may not
be so attractive, and when yousee them repeated back to you, it
provides a bit of inspiration to correctthem in yourself. Website address to this
organization known as for Tessa for Tessafoartssa dot com. We've been speaking with
(10:26):
Scott Hamburger, CEO for Tessa hereon Executive Leaders Radio don't forget to visit
our website. It's Executive Leaders Radiodot com. That's Executive Leaders Radio dot
com. Or more about our ExecutiveLeaders Radio. Don't forget to stick around
me back in a moment, rightifto just quick break. This is Herb
COO and your host of Executive LeadersRadio. And if you're a business consultant,
(10:50):
if you consult to business owners orto business owners team members, then
we'd like to speak with you becausewe're getting requests from people all over the
country, from entrepreneurs all over thecountry that are starting and building their businesses
(11:11):
where they're looking for help and maybewe can help connect you. Why don't
you email us at consult at ExecutiveLeaders Radio dot com. That's consult at
Executive Leaders Radio dot com. Andperhaps we can connect you to folks,
(11:31):
to entrepreneurs and their team members allaround the country that are looking for help.
That's consult at Executive Leaders Radio dotcom. We're back here listening to
(11:56):
Executive Leaders Radio. This is yourhost urd Coe. We like to introduce
Lowry Blue, CEO of Bell andHowell. Lowry, what is Bell and
Howe? What are you guys doing? Bell and Howell is an automation Equipment
service company. Our eight hundred fieldservice packs are out there fixing equipment and
factories, warehouses and retail stores.Were your farmer originally? How many brothers
(12:20):
and sisters and where are you inthe pecking order? Well, I'm the
oldest. I have a younger brotherand a younger sister, and I was
born and raised in Fort Wayne,Indiana, on a farm. And tell
me a little bit about what wasgoing on with you eight to fourteen years
old. Well, from eight tofourteen was really working on the farm,
you know, bailing hay, cuttinggrass, you know, weeding the garden,
(12:43):
taking care of those kinds of things. I was playing baseball and basketball
for the local elementary school and thenon into high school. Did you tell
me from eight to fourteen you actuallymoved around a lot from kindergarten to fourth
grade. And if that's the case, isn't that frightening and rotten? It
had? It had upsides and downsides, herb it was. It was frightening
(13:05):
because you are always trying to adjustand adapt to a new environment. But
the upside was, you know,I learned to read and understand people a
little bit better because I had towait a minute. Now, you were
frightened moving from neighborhood to move inneighborhood when you're kindergarten the fourth grade.
Now you're the CEO of an eighthundred person company. Do you think that
(13:28):
those skills that you were forced todevelop moving from neighborhood to neighborhood as a
kid have helped you become the CEOof this eight hundred person company. Oh,
I think it's been instrumental. Understandingpeople and understanding what motivates them,
what demotivates them. How to havea conversation sometimes about tough topics is always
(13:52):
an important trait for a leader.Frank so Lowry being forced to adapt to
new environment when you were so young, how do you use what you learned
there to help create an environment amongeight hundred people that foster's creativity and participation.
Well, I try and get peopleto communicate, to be transparent,
(14:15):
and to be able to talk aboutwhat's bothering them, what are the things
that are on their mind. Becauseyou find that if you listen more than
you talk, you have two earsin one mouth that sometimes you can motivate
people in the right way. RainUm, why started tech when you had
(14:37):
other skills. Rain. The reasonwas I was really into both science and
math in grade school and high schooland very interested in technology. My first
job, you know, outside ofthe farm, was working in an electronics
department at a department store. Dasha, what was your position in your sports
(15:01):
when you play sports? Like?What was your position and work in a
position today? In baseball, Iwas the first baseman, uh played also
a little bit outfield. In basketball, I was probably the shortest center in
the league. But those were thepositions I played. Um. I think
(15:22):
what it's taught me in business isto be adaptable. Some days I would
start it first, some days I'dstart in the outfield, and you had
a little bit different skills that wererequired and you had to adapt to the
situation. And I think that's taughtme a lot in business. Or what
was a little is your motivation?Well, you know, I think a
(15:46):
lot of things that motivate me.Or self doubt. Um, you know
a lot of folks I know thatare successful have also had self doubts and
they use those to drive themselves alwaysdo better. And I think that's a
key motivator for me. Leaf allright, Larry, when you meet someone
(16:07):
new how like, what good andbad qualities can you distinguish from them immediately?
Well, you know, sometimes it'sharder to distinguish the bad qualities,
but you can determine an awful lotby listening. By watching visual cues,
both facial cues and e body language. You can also learn a lot by
(16:30):
the vocabulary that an individual uses andthe eye contact that they give you when
they're talking to you. So it'salways worthwhile to pick up on all of
those cues. Thomas, how longdid it take you to become CEO of
the company you are at now?And what is your favorite part of being
(16:52):
a CEO? Well? I washired here as the chief operating officer in
twenty fourteen and was mooted to CEOin twenty eighteen. Uh, this is
my second CEO stint. My firstone was not a success, and as
you know we've talked about in thepast. You know, not every UH
(17:12):
CEO has a linear path to success. Most of us have had our share
of failures and learning experiences. Ryan, how did it um? How did
you sharpen your social skills the skillsand how did you implement them into your
business? I think the best wayto sharpen social skills is to challenge yourself
(17:37):
to sometimes be afraid of of aninteraction, to go outside of your comfort
zone and and uh go meet people, get out uh and uh and reach
out to others uh, particularly peoplethat aren't exactly like you and uh and
(17:59):
and use that as an opportunity tolearn more about the environment the world around
you rank so low you talk aboutfear and self doubt and lack of confidence.
Many people wouldn't admit that. Whyis it important to admit that?
And how do you suggest that onegets past those fears? You know,
(18:19):
I think I'm old enough now tonot kid myself or early on I didn't
admit that that's what was driving me. But these days, you know,
you're to a point in your careerwhere you could admit it and hopefully help
others admit that may be part ofthe position, and the pomp and circumstance
(18:41):
that people bring to a job mightjust be bluster, and maybe you want
to get underneath that. As amanager, what's the most important thing in
your business? Is it the abilityto read and lead people, or is
it the ability to fix and servicethings? For me, it's the ability
to present a vision and to leadpeople toward that vision. For my guys,
(19:06):
it's seeing a new environment, newequipment that they might not have seen
before and still be confident enough tofix it for the customer. After all,
when equipment is down, our customersare not making any money in their
business. You know, I havea question for you. I'm afraid to
admit my mistakes and I'm afraid tobe vulnerable. What advice do you have
(19:27):
for me? Get over it?No, that's a little bit glib.
I think as you challenge yourself moreand get out and feel more comfortable with
yourself, you can, in factbecome more comfortable with admitting mistakes. I
(19:48):
know raising my kids has taught meto get real comfortable with my mistakes.
Well, what are you talking about? What do you mean? Well,
you know they don't you know theone thing you don't have to get a
license for as to be a parent. And we all learn as we go
um with with a lot of these. All three of my kids are great.
They're they're very different, and they'vethey've taught me humility, They've taught
(20:15):
me a lot of things about myself, and they've given me enough confidence to
be able to say when I'm wrong? So are you vulnerable at work?
I mean, do you admit yourmistakes at work? I mean you're the
CEO. You don't make mistakes?Oh? I make one? I make
at least one every day. It'sI tell the team I'm good for one
(20:37):
good idea a week and at leastone mistake a day. Please don't be
a yes man. Correct me whenI'm wrong? Yeah? Do you do
you actually tell them to correct youwhen you're I thought you were the boss.
You're supposed to tell everybody what todo? Right that? That's uh,
that's probably nineteen fifties thinking. Thesedays, good leaders surround themselves with
(20:59):
good people, people smarter than theyare. And if you don't let people
who are smarter than they are showthat they're smarter than you are than you're
you're not being a good leader.Huh. What this organization known as Bell
and Howell? What's your website address? It's a Bell Howell dot net,
(21:22):
Bell and Howell. Look give methat again, Bell Howell dot net,
Bell Howell dot net. You've beenspeaking with Larry Blue, CEO of Bell
and Howell. Frank, can yougive me a rereadown on who we've had
on the air today. Please sure, Harb, great show today thanks to
our guest at Scott Hamburg or CEOof Plutessa, and Larry Blue, the
CEO of Bell and How and thespecial guest to there are students from the
(21:45):
Labori Academies who helped us with ourco host and responsibilities, asking some very
provocative questions. Don't forget to visitour website, Executive Leaders Radio dot com.
We'll be back in a moment rightafter this quick break. Don't go
away. You're listening to Executive LeadersRadio, Real World Leaders Broadcasting and conjunction
(22:15):
with Laguari Academy here in Philadelphia.This is your host, Herb Cohen with
my co host kay Leif, ChristianRain and Dasha and we have great guests
on our show today including Michael Sharp, founder of Sharp Financial Group, and
Todd Schumacher, CEO of Vichy Media. Let's get to know our first guest,
Michael Sharp, founder of Sharp FinancialGroup. Michael, what is Sharp
(22:38):
Financial Group? What are you guysdoing? We're a integrated financial services company,
So basically we provide a comprehensive arrayfinancial services and integrated fashions under one
room and tell me a little bitabout where you're from originally, how many
brothers and sisters? And where areyou in the pecking order. I'm from
Philadelphia, Rowhouse of Philadelphia, oldestof three, Royal House in Philadelphia,
(23:03):
oldest three. How many teammates doyou have in your business? We have
about forty people right now. Fortypeople? All right, So tell me
what was the effective you're growing upthe oldest of three back then? Well,
I really learned how to lead.My mom and dad both worked at
a young age, So at eightyears old, I was kind of a
(23:23):
leader of the family take care ofmy two siblings. So did your parents
tell you to take care of yoursiblings? Did you just sort of like
assume that authority? Pretty much justassumed it. Well, what's assuming authority
have to do with you building thisorganization known as Sharp Financial Group. Well,
it certainly gave me a little bitof an entree into what it would
(23:47):
be like to lead, and soI kind of have done that throughout my
life, including up to now.And tell me what was your favorite sport
back then and what was your roleon the team. Sport? Was it
still as basketball? And my rolewas a shooting guard? Which I loved,
and I love a lot of theprinciples of basketball apply a lot of
(24:10):
them to the business today. Wellwait a second, So you were the
shooting guard. What's the shooting guardhas to do with being the says here,
you're the founder of Sharp Financial Group. Shooting guard in some respects,
unlike a point guard, still hasto lead because he's the guy that has
relied upon to score. Very similarto the business having getting things done scoring
(24:30):
in a different way. Alrighty,kay leaf question you got Did you have
any huge obstacles that you ran intothat considered that made you consider giving up?
No? Not really. We allhave obstacles, don't get me wrong.
A lot a lot of obstacles happentoday. But always had the mindset
(24:53):
that I was as good as anybodyelse could get it down. Dasha,
do you still coach basketball? Idon't. I run an AAU basketball organization
now. I don't actually coach.Stopped coaching a few years ago. Rain,
I'm not a big math person,but I would like to make a
(25:15):
lot of money. Were you alwaysgood at dealing with numbers and money?
I was always pretty good at dealingwith numbers, not always good with dealing
with money. Christian who influenced youas a child. Um, I think
you know my mom and dad,certainly you know my brother, but also
(25:41):
I had a lot of good alot of good friends, and a lot
of a lot of mentors that thathelped me. You mentioned you grew up
in a rowhouse and Philadelphia. Howmany kids were in the neighborhood and what
was your role amongst those kids?There was probably around twenty or so kids,
and my role, much like it'salways been, was kind of to
(26:03):
lead, lead the group and variousactivities. Yeah, you told us earlier
in the green room that you're alwayscoming up with ideas of what the twenty
of you guys could do, andthen you were organizing everybody. I guess
that's what you're doing a sharp financialgroup, coming up with new ideas and
organizing everybody. That's not not muchdifferent. Same same with coaching, all
kind of the same. Um kay, Leaf, is do you have like
(26:27):
anything you want to do after thisor are you're just gonna keep doing this
to the end of the line.I'm pretty much just going to keep doing
this. However, the two mainthings I would like to kind of get
back to one is coaching, notjust running the organization but actually get back
to coaching. And second is growingour business into various locations throughout the country,
(26:48):
which we've started to do. Dasha, how do you handle your money
today? How do I handle thatis? That's a question. Again.
We do a lot of financial planninghere, and I think one of the
misconceptions with what we do is thatit's intimidating money, and it's actually not.
(27:14):
It's very very basic in terms ofyou know what you make, having
a budget for what you spend andwhat you try to save, and try
to figure out what you want todo, what the financial goals are that
you're trying to meet in doing that. So it's it's really what I manage
money and try to teach other peoplethat it's anybody can do it. It's
(27:37):
really just it's not rocket science.It's just a matter of making being disciplined
and being committed to a plan.Um watching your father go from job to
a job that they have an effecton you the way you operate your business.
Now, I did. It mademe more focused in my business and
(27:57):
really having me keep my my myeye on the prize and and and not
not get out too much of youknow, what the what the goals are,
and what the what the focus isChristian? So what does a simple
day look like for you at thejob? A simple day for me really
(28:22):
is about what my life is about, which is serving people. Um that
could be my uh, my staffhere, it could be the clients,
that could be my family, myfriends. It's really all about what it
is that that you could do forpeople, and that always has a way
of coming back and helping you yourselfto be successful. Not by what you
(28:45):
take, but what actually you give. What do you mean? It's what
you give, not what you take. You're running a very successful integrated financial
services firm. It's very sophisticated withforty team members. You know, you
grew up in a rowhouse in Philadelphia. You've made a lot of money.
What are you talking about? It'sit's what you give as opposed to what
(29:06):
you take. What are you talkingabout, Well, it's as opposed to
looking at from the perspective of whatcan I get out of something? It's
really the focus being on what itis that I could give to serve the
situation and by doing the very bestI can and bringing that to whatever it
is I'm doing. I don't haveto worry about what the outcome will be,
(29:30):
because the outcome, I trust willbe pretty favorable more times than not.
You mentioned that you really enjoyed coaching, and if I remember correctly,
you coached the basketball team that wasnumber sixteen in the country. What is
it did you enjoy about coaching them? Why do you want to go back
to it? Well, I loveto lead, I love sports. A
(29:52):
love basketballs more specifically, and Ithink it's a great team sport, probably
the greatest teams sport. And Ilove working with kids. And I always
thought if I could teach them theway through basketball and show how you can
apply that in your adult life towhatever it is you do, then that
would be the greatest thing I coulddo. And by the way, those
(30:14):
years of coaching one of the greatestyears of my life, and I learned
so much from my players and theirfamilies that I would never be the person
I am today had it not beenfor that experience. Now you're running this
very successful firm, You've made alot of money, You've got some very
well known clients in the different sportsworld, etc. And what I'm wondering
is, like, what is Itreally turns you on what do you really
(30:38):
get up for? I really getup for helping people and solving solving problems.
Helping people and helping them to solvetheir problems, that's what I get
the most from. Do you eversit down a link with families and help
the husband and the wife and thekids understand the financial plan? Do you
(31:00):
do that kind of stuff? That'sbasically the foundation of what it is that
we do. What do you mean, no matter what aspect of finance you're
talking about, tax, cash flow, debt, whatever you're talking about,
business or personal at all starts witha sound financial plan and a commitment to
(31:22):
that plan and knowing what that planis. Interesting, So you've developed you
really you really understand the world ofwealth management financial management. But it's really
you know, you come from theperspective of as opposed to what's in it
for me? How do I serveothers? Yeah? So I really understand
(31:44):
the world of wealth management because Iunderstood everything else about what it takes to
be a good person and serve peoplein this life. The wealth management and
all those other things I learned,like anybody else could learn that. Really
it really was based on the foundationof a certain principle and principles that really
(32:05):
is a very good person. What'sthe website address for Sharp Financial Group.
It's Sharp LLC dot com. We'vebeen speaking with Michael Sharp, founder of
Sharp Financial Group, here on theExecutive Leaders Radio Real World Leaders. Don't
forget to visit our website Executive LeadersRadio dot com to learn more about our
Executive Leaders will be back in themoment right after this quick Breakdown't go away.
(32:28):
This is herbco when you're hosted ExecutiveLeaders Radio dot com. Regarding your
career, if you're trying to figureout how to make the most money and
also enjoy your career. That's enjoyyour career, I mean really enjoy your
career and make the most money.You ought to talk to our CEOs.
They've got the bird's eye view ofwhere the really profitable jobs are, where
(32:52):
the really profitable jobs are going tobe, and they're willing to speak with
you regarding their vision for the futureand where you may fit into it.
In order to make the most moneyand really enjoy your career. Email us
consult at Executive Leaders Radio dot com. That's consult at Executive Leaders Radio dot
(33:15):
com to get help from our CEOsregarding where you may want to go in
your career to make the most moneyand really enjoy your career. Consult at
Executive Leaders Radio dot com. We'reback. You're listening to Executive Leaders Radio.
(33:42):
Real World Leaders is your host termcom with my co hosts kay Leef,
Christian Rain and Daisha. Let's getto know our next CEO, Todd
Schumacher, CEO of VICI Media.Todd, what is VICI Media? What
are you guys doing? We providedigital average rising services to radio and TV
companies and ad agencies around the UnitedStates. Where you're from originally? How
(34:06):
many brothers and sisters and where areyou in the pecking order? I grew
up in Milwaukee, had two brothers, and I'm the middle child. So
what was the effect of you growingup the middle of three brothers? Constant
competition, especially with my older brother. I would try to beat him in
everything, often failed, but alwaystried. Huh And what kind of sports
(34:30):
did you play as a kid?What was your favorite sport and what was
your role on that team? Iplayed everything, but my favorite was baseball
and I was the catcher. Whydo you like playing the catcher? What's
that have to do with your personality? I loved it because I was in
on every single play, so you'realways in where the action was and what's
(34:51):
being in on the action every play? Have to do with being the CEO
of each media, I think itrelates. I get to touch every part
of the a business. I getto work with our clients, our employees
and different parts and get to spenda little bit of time and every facet
of the business. Okay, DookieRain, want to give me a hand
(35:12):
with me also being a middle child, I'm very competitive. Does you being
competitive helpless your drive to be moresuccessful? I think it has because I
always compared myself to others and alwayssaw something I wanted or somebody I wanted
to be like and wanted to figureout how I could be better than that.
M Desia, would you recommend everyoneto be as competitive as you say
(35:37):
you are. It's worked for me. I think different things can lead to
success. You know, every everybody'sa little bit different. It's worked for
me. I think it's made mework a little bit harder and maybe focus
in on things that I wanted toachieve. Christian, So what specifically we
could do you do for radio stationsdo is they're used to selling radio commercials
(36:02):
to people, which it's getting alittle bit tougher and tougher as more people
moved to wanting to advertise online,So we help their sales staffs and if
people in their organization understand all thedifferent options in different ways, you can
place targeted ads to people on websitesand apps. Rain you said you compared
(36:29):
yourself to others. Did it helpyou like or does it stop your progress?
I think it's helped me because itwas a way for me to always
measure what I wanted to do next, and once I would achieve something that
I would look to do something else. And so it was I would just
naturally competitive, and I think itmade me work harder than others. And
(36:52):
I think that really helped, especiallyearly in my career. So as you
receive certain levels of success, wouldyou would increase the ramp angle you would
keep on going for more and moreand more. Once you achieve something,
then you find something else that youwant to you want to achieve. Sure,
Dasha one lose into others or notbeing as good as them, would
(37:14):
that upset you? Yeah? Imean it doesn't feel good. Nobody likes
to lose, right, but ithappens. And I always try to look
at it as a learning experience tofigure out, Okay, what didn't I
do right or what could I dodifferent to change the outcome next time around?
For your clients the radio stations andfor your clients clients, how do
(37:36):
you know what to advertise and towhom and how and what and where and
when? How do you know wetalk with them about who their their advertisers
are trying to reach. And thenthere's thousands of different options online of how
you can target people based on behaviors, based on where your devices have been.
(37:58):
There's a number of different techno alogiesout there. So what I think
we're really good at is figuring outwhat people are trying to achieve and then
matching it to the right technology andthe right targeting so that we're getting the
most relevant ads to the people whoare most likely to be a consumer Christian.
So how long did it take youto get to this level? As
(38:21):
assessed that sight. Our company's eightyears old, and I would say the
first eighteen months it was a littlea little touch and go is we were
building and figuring everything out, butsince then it's been some pretty pretty steady
growth after the first eighteen months,Well, why don't you just go sell
the business and go to Florida andretire and sit on the couch? Are
(38:44):
you making me an offer her?No? I you know what, I
love it. I mean I getup every day and I love what I'm
doing, and I'm really enjoying thisbusiness. And a great thing about advertising
in general, and about digital advertisingright now, is it changes all the
time, so it constantly evolved.It's really hard for me to get bored
(39:06):
with this. So I'm loving whatI'm doing. Wait wait, wait,
wait, wait, it constantly changes. But doesn't that make it more and
more difficult for you to serve yourclients and your clients clients because you've got
the opportunity to make it more andmore mistakes all the time, and everybody
getting mad at you. Well,it's also an opportunity because things change.
If you do a good job onstaying up on things and changing with the
(39:30):
new technologies and evolving with it,then your clients come to trust you and
rely on you, so they don'thave to worry about that. So it's
a big service that we provide forour clients is they don't have to worry
about the next technology or what's changing. They rely on us to take care
of that for them. So thefact that things are changing all the time,
you've actually turned that into a competitiveadvantage because because you're so good on
(39:53):
staying on top of stuff and keepingyour clients and your clients clients happy,
keep the clients and the clients clientstend to stick with you because you don't
disappoint them. We learned at avery early age that we had to adapt
if we were going to stay inbusiness, and the products that we offered
(40:14):
back in twenty fourteen, many ofthem don't even exist today because new,
better technologies, better targeting options thatare more successful have come up. So,
yeah, that was something we learnedin the first year that okay,
this was something we needed to spenda lot of time on to make sure
that we were going to be relevantin our industry. I guess the benefit
(40:35):
of being the CEO of each mediais that you get to go into work
at ten or eleven o'clock and leaveit, leave it two or three,
and you don't got to work weekendsor lights or anything like that. Right,
I work all the time. I'mnot so much of an early person,
so maybe eight o'clock for me.But I work a lot of nights,
and I worked every weekend, soI mean there's always at least something
(40:59):
to do. I mean to beworking all day on Saturday and Sunday,
but you always at least have acouple hours every day. Well, well,
why do you Are you getting paidby the hour or something? Why
would you do that? It's it'sI don't know, it's fun. I
still think this is really fun.And you know, this is kind of
a new emerging field that is verymuch growing and changing, and it's it's
(41:23):
fun being at the forefront and helpingto shape that and help our clients.
So as long as it's still fun, I don't mind putting in the hours.
Do you think you're ever going toretire? Are you always going to
be working? I think I'll alwaysbe doing something. I mean, i'd
work this many hours at some pointin my life. But I can't imagine
(41:43):
people that are retired and I justdon't know what they do all day.
I would I'll always be doing something. I think it's just part of the
nature of who I am. Soyou really find business challenging. I mean,
it's like a personal challenge to you, isn't it. Yeah. I
love solving problem. To me,the greatest joy I get is when you
have a problem or you have asituation and you can achieve an outcome where
(42:07):
everybody's happy, or you figure somethingout. To me, that's the best
feeling in the world. Wait,wait, wait, wait, wait wait
wait. I don't understand that.I thought business was somebody wins and somebody
loses. That you just said basically, you find solutions where everybody wins.
I do I have the wrong impressionof business. There's many times where you
(42:29):
should be able to come up witha solution where it should work for everybody,
And for us, it's making somethingwork for our clients that works for
their clients, making We always say, we try to make them look like
rock stars to their clients. Andif we're doing that, then we're doing
our job. Wow. So,like, you know, you really risk
losing your clients if you don't keepyour clients clients happy. On the other
(42:52):
hand, if you keep each client'sclients happy, you get to keep your
client. So you've got a lotto lose By disappointing people, but you
find that challenging and rewarding and youlook forward to that every day. Yeah.
You know, to me, Ilove being challenged and if we can
do that every day, our businesskeeps growing because our clients feel good about
(43:14):
what they're getting, they feel goodabout the solutions, and they bring more
of their clients to us. Soyou know that that's how our business has
has grown over the years. Andyou know, to me, that's that's
the fun part of the job.Well, you really you've grown through referrals,
through people really liking you and yourwork, and then bringing other folks.
What's the website address for your organization? That is VICI Media vc Media
(43:37):
Inc. Dot com at vicimedia IMCdot com. This is your host,
Herb Cohen, and today we've hadthe opportunity of speaking with Scott Hamburger CEO
of Fortessa, Larry Blue CEO ofBell and Howell, Michael Sharp, founder
of Sharp Financial Group, and finallyTodd Schumacher, CEO of Vichi Media.
(43:59):
This has been producing conjunction with theLaguari School, the Liguori Academy in Greater
Philadelphia, and our co hosts havebeen Frank Hennessey Premier Planning along with Leaf,
Rain, Daisha Jemiah, Ryan Thomas, kay Leaf, Christian Rain,
(44:21):
and we'd like to thank our listeningto audience for listening. Hopefully we were
bringing you an educational, entertaining show. Without you our listening on this,
we wouldn't have a radio show.Don't forget to visit our website Executive Leaders
Radio dot com. That's Executive LeadersRadio dot Comular or more about our Executive
Leaders. Thank you for joining ustoday and have a nice day. Bye bye,
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