February 19, 2022 • 44 mins
Patricia Wellenbach, President & CEO (Please Touch Museum); Phil LaFata, President (Dunmore); Mike Regina, Co-Founder (Big Sky Enterprises); Brendan Cawley, Founder & CEO (RTZN Brands & Righteous Felon Craft Jerky)
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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 Mike co Is, Jeff
mac Newmark Klein, Poppas Handlin,David jack Witz, Evolution Financial Group,
(00:30):
Matthew Shapiro Obermeyer or Matthew Nail orCrumbdale Partners. Jeffrey. Can you give
us a rundown on who we haveon the air today? Please? Sure
her. We have Trish Wellenbach,President and CEO of Please Touch Museum,
Phil la Fata, President of Dunmore, Mike Regina, co founder of Big
Sky Enterprises, and Brendan Cauley,Founder and CEO of Artisan Brands. I'd
(00:52):
like to introduce our first guest.Let's get to know our first guest,
Trish Wallenbach, President and CEO ofPlease Touch Museum. Trish, what is
Please Touch Museum? What do youguys doing? We welcome children every day
to discover the joy of learning toplay and our vision as a world where
all children will be confident, creative, curious and compassionate. Wow, and
you're told us in the green room. You're seeing about a half a million
(01:14):
kids a year. Where you're fromoriginally? How many brothers and sisters?
Where are you in the packing order? Bergen County, New Jersey, Cresci
oldest of five children, the oldestof five kids? And what kind of
stuff were you up to eight tofourteen years old? What's that list look
like? Well, I was tallas a little girl, and my mom
had a lot of kids, andshe was a suburban mom at home,
and so I could make breakfast startingat about age eight, So breakfast and
(01:38):
lunch for the kids every day.And big neighborhood community, suburban community of
New York, bedroom community, lotsof different families, probably about forty kids
in the neighborhood. And did you'rebeing the oldest the five help plant the
seeds for your being the president CEOof the Police Touch Museum. Probably you
(02:06):
know. I'm a good problem solver, and I take responsibility very seriously.
Oldest children often do, and soI think my parents gave me a lot
of responsibility, and I leaned inon it. I was often seen as
like an old soul and a youngchild. People used to say about me,
what do you Jeffrey True. Theeffect that the neighborhood had on you,
(02:27):
the forty kids and people like GrandmaTestili, It's also about how that
affected you. Yeah, these bedroomcommunities coming out of the Bronx and Brooklyn
were all first generational immigrants Italians,Irish, Polish, German, and in
many households it was multigenerational. That'swhat they did in New York and Grandma's
lived with families and yeah, Grandmatest Less, you know, she had
(02:51):
authority to discipline any child, regardlessof your last name. So if you
were messing it up in the neighborhoodwhere you were playing, she was in
charge. And what do you thinkto them? Yes, I'd take that
to work because it was it wasa place of play and joy, no
fences, no boundaries. You playedevery day with all kids and we learned
together. David Trisian the green Room. You mentioned that you were babysitting when
(03:16):
you were twelve. What did youdo differently than all the other people that
kids that were babysitting. It wasn'tjust babysitting for money. I was taking
care of other parents children and sowhen I was there, I had to
be like a parent and take careof them, and that man, if
a kid got sick, it wasn'tjust you know, ignoring it, but
cleaning up from it and getting everythingready for when the parents came home.
(03:37):
And I think parents felt safe leavingtheir children with me. They knew how
I was with my brothers and sisters. So what does that have to do
with what did do today? Ijust think that when you invest in young
children and supporting them socially, emotionallyand intellectually, you build a generation of
leaders. To Comma, Matthew,you're talking about taking care of all these
(03:59):
kids. You're the oldest of five. I'm curious how young were you when
you were interested in creating interesting playenvironments for kids. I was probably eight
or nine setting up little schoolrooms inmy house for my brothers and sisters or
whoever else had to be around oroutside. You know again, no fences,
big stiffball games, riding bikes together. It's what we did. It
(04:20):
was the sixties. And when Iasked you where you got the kind of
skills to create those interesting environments,you pointed to your grandmother. Tell me
about your grandma. She had amassive influence in my life. She was
a remarkable woman. I carry herwith me to this day. And she
gave me a sense of confidence,you know how. She taught me how
to iron, how to make myown clothes, how to balance my check
(04:44):
book. She reinvented herself in herforties after her husband died, and when
she retired as the secretary of thechairman of a major corporation, they hosted
her retirement party as a secretary atWindows on the World Trisian. What if
Grandmam was here today, List,She's looking down on you and she sees
what you're doing with the Police TouchMuseum. How do you think she needs
to feel? Oh, she'd bedeeply proud. She was a great giver
(05:09):
to community. She actually used tovolunteer in the Fouling Home in New York
and feed babies whose mothers had abandonedthem. And I think she always felt
that kids were the biggest investment youcould make it. And that's what you're
carrying with it. That's what you'recarrying with you today from her every day,
Caleb, So we're hearing Grandma Tessi. Alessie was kind of the disciplinarian
(05:30):
in the neighborhood. I get thesense in a Brooklyn neighborhood, there's a
lot of other parents that have someleeway to discipline children. Tell us about
the other parents in the neighborhood,Yes, all suburban moms. You know.
Dad went to work every day.Mom stayed at home and they were
in charge. And if you messedup in the neighborhood house two doors down,
that mom could say, yeah,get over here and kill whack on
(05:51):
back ahead and say behave go home, time to have lunch. So everyone
cared for everyone. It was thisnurturing world and I think it's what we've
lost a little bit of today.Neighborhood and community is what helps children gain
the confidence they need as they moveinto the world. I'm not just in
classrooms, but in life. Definitelygetting the sense of accountability in the community.
(06:14):
So I'm wondering, as the CEOand president of the Police Touch Museum,
I'm sure you have a lot ofemployees, how do you take those
lessons with how you interact with youremployees throughout the day. Every employee is
personal to me, and it's notjust the individual employee. They have a
whole family and a community behind them. Working through a pandemic, having to
lay people off. Each individual Ihave to respect them and honor them.
(06:35):
And I am a very present,very front of house CEO. I'm out
on the floor. I'll do anyjob I need to do. People need
to see me working. If Iwork alongside them, they work better.
I work better. It sounds likethat stuff you did with the babysitting where
you know the child you were babysittingfor we got sick, and you change
the sheets and you put them inthe pair. It's like you're just like
(06:57):
taking responsibility. Mister Naylor. Yeah, Trish, earlier you talked about girl
Scouts, and I'm just wondering,how did you get involved with girls DUTs?
Did your mom and dad like forshe had to do that? No,
my grandmother said you should become aBrownie, Trish, and I did.
And I worked all the way upfrom being a Brownie to a Junior
Scout, and I was so proud. My first bag was my cooking badge,
(07:20):
and my grandmother helped me. Iwas ten and I cooked dinner,
a Sunday dinner for the entire family, soup to nuts, including the apple
pie that I made, which didthis day. My brothers and sisters still
talk about so not so bad.Frish, that's very interesting. What does
that have to do with being theCEO today? I think it's about accomplishing
things and setting out a task foryourself and not being afraid to get out
(07:43):
of your comfort zone. When youget out of your comfort zone, you
find your true talents. If you'rein your lane like that's easy, you
can mail at it. Get outof your comfort zone, do stuff you're
not qualified for, take a leapand see where you can discover inside of
yourself. It's pretty amazing. Didn'tyou mention that you were well qualified for
every single job you've had in yourcareer. No, her, My tabline
(08:05):
is that I have never been qualifiedon paper for any job that I've gotten,
including as the president and CEO ofthe Police Said museum, because I'm
not a museum person, I'm notan educator. I'm a nurse trained person.
I don't have an MBA. Ijust lean in and do good work,
and I always find opportunities to learn. If I'm not in a job
that is teaching me something, I'min the wrong talk Jeffrey, that,
(08:28):
Trish, you've raised two children ofyour own. What have you learned from
your two children. Oh my goodness, everything. When I toasted my son
a couple of years ago during thepandemic when they were living with us hit
Happy birthday to the child who taughtme how to be a parent. Absolutely
And at the Police Touch Museum,what's the headline? What's going on that
the public would be interested to know? Now? Big news our supermarket experience,
(08:52):
the number one children's exhibit space inthe country, has been totally reimagined
to an exhibit called Food and Family. Three styles and square feet of imagination.
Plague, the journey of food fromthe farm to the store, to
the home table to the neighborhood,and how that all connects joy sadness.
Food is what brings people together.And it's in food and gathering around a
(09:15):
table that you bring families and communitiestogether. And that's where all the good
conversations happen. Think about it ineveryone's home growing up, It's where it
really happens. You mentioned earlier thatwhen you were a child, somewhere along
your life somebody mentioned to you thatyou're like an old soul, an old
soul in a young body. Whatwas that all about. I think I
was just I was born with somethingin me that inspired me to reach and
(09:39):
take on more responsibility. And youdon't always see that in young kids.
And I think I was about twentyfour or twenty five when I felt like
it had really finally connected. Whenwhat's finally connected? Like my old soul
and my body were like okay,but it was all there. I was
a gawky teenager, not very popularin school, and then all of a
(10:00):
sudden, I started to find myselfstarted What do you mean you started to
find yourself. I moved to Philadelphiawhen I was twenty one. I didn't
know a soul, not a soul. It was the nineteen seventies. No
one elected to move to Philadelphia ifthey grew up in the suburbs of Manhattan
and went to school in Boston unlessshe had an aunt Lucy living at ninth
and Passion or something. I camehere not knowing a soul, and forty
(10:22):
plus years later, I'm proud tobe running one of the most remarkable Chills
museums in the country. What's thewebsite address to the police Touch Museum.
Please Touch Museum dot org. You'vebeen speaking with Trish Wallenbach, President and
CEO off Please Touch museum here onExecutive Leaders Radio. Don't go anywhere.
Stick around. We'll be back ina moment. Right after this quick break.
(10:43):
This is Herb Coo and your ExecutiveLeaders Radio host and the CEOs we've
interviewed on this show are interested inhelping you get your business started and helping
you grow your business. Whether you'reaware of the issues or whether you want
the CEOs to give your hand identifyingthe issues in getting your business started and
(11:05):
or in growing your business, whydon't you email us at consult at Executive
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(11:28):
growing your business, send us anemail at consult at Executive Leaders Radio dot
com and we'll be sure to getback to you shortly with some help.
(11:54):
We're back. You're listening to ExecutiveLeaders Radio. This is your host,
Herbcoen. Like to introduce Jola foughtUp, President of Done More Phil.
What has Dune Moore? What areyou guys doing? Done Moore? We
make technical films easy. We area manufacturer of films, fabrics and foils
for aerospace tapes. And labels andother industrial applications. How larger housemall is
the team? Where you're from?And how many brothers and sisters. We've
(12:18):
got two hundred people across three factories, Philly, New York, and Germany.
I'm from Detroit, Michigan. I'mthe oldest of three kids. You're
the oldest of three kids. Andyou also told us in the green room
when we're getting to know, you'rethe first family member to ever run this
business. And we'll dig into thatin a second. What kind of stuff
were you up to eight to fourteenyears old? What's the list look like.
(12:41):
I was active in sports and reallyactive in school. I went to
Catholic schools on the south side ofDetroit and had lots of friends, lots
of kids in the neighborhood, andyou know, basketball camps in the summer,
basketball all winter, and lots oflots of fun and friends, lots
of family. All righty and hustCaleb, give me a hand, please,
(13:05):
So, Phil, was basketball yournumber one sport? Yes? It
was. It was actually the onlything I was good at. Did it
come naturally to you? Not atall? I sucked at it. When
I was in I started playing whenI was in fourth and fifth grade,
and I was terrible, and ittook me a long time to actually become
a good skilled basketball player and startto compete at a level that wasn't embarrassing.
(13:28):
So what did you do to getbetter? You know, I worked
really hard body, physically, myskills, but I saw coaching. I
mean I really sought out my coachesand other older kids in the community that
would play with me and beat meup, and I did. I played
a lot with my dad in thebackyard, and he used to really go
He'd never took it easy on me, so he always pushed me hard and
(13:50):
I got a lot better. Coachabilityreally important in life and in business.
So I'm wondering. You mentioned thatyou're the first non family to be the
president of Done Moore, So doyou think your coachability kind of has the
board of directors there a little moretrustworthy in you? Absolutely, yeah,
I believe that. You know,from the owner of Steel Partners and you
(14:13):
know my immediate supervisors there at Steel, they trusted me with this business because
they wanted a change agent. Theywanted somebody that would come in and help
build up the business, not tearit. Down. David, you mentioned
in the grief room that your fatherwas the janitor your at private school.
Wasn't that embarrassing for you? No, David, not at all. Actually,
(14:37):
my dad's a really cool guy anda really smart guy, and you
know, he just happened to nothave a very successful job, and so
it was nice it got I gota discount to go to school, and
that was the reason why I wasable to go to count the schools,
and it was nice having my dadaround. So I don't think at that
point we realized that we were maybelower class. So how do you think
(15:01):
that experience ties into what you dotoday? Well, I mean I'm in
manufacturing, and so in manufacturing wehave a lot of labor, and the
labor is the most important part ofwhat we do. If it wasn't for
the guys on our shop floor thatwe're working hard and you know, really
making the product, I wouldn't havea business. So it's extremely important that
(15:22):
they're happy, that they're paid well, that they're safe, and that we've
got a great community of labor andworkers and a good relationship with that.
Jeffrey Phil Donemore is not your firstrodeo. You've grown and multiple businesses.
What have you learned from your priorentrepreneurial experience and have you brought some of
(15:43):
your team along with you to thenew companies? And great question. I
absolutely I'm an entrepreneur. I'm somebodywho starts things and builds them up,
a growth and strategy guy. Andthat's what I learned is you know you're
going to knock your head into thewall a couple of times, but you've
got to keep trying to keep pushingand never quit and will be willing to
admit you're wrong and changed course.And so that's helped a lot at Dunmore.
(16:06):
And absolutely there's there's several people inthe past that that have brought in
the business. One in particular wasmy former boss at Arlan, the business
in California that was running um andhe's not running my he's my director of
sales and marketing. Gave Maxwell beenextremely successful and great to have him back.
And why does Dave Maxwell follow you? What does he see in you?
That so? So? Gabe andI've been friends for a while after
(16:33):
that, and I helped him alot grow his part of the business and
it was fair to him and workedreally hard and helped support him. And
you know, in one skill set, and I think him and I compliment
each other really well. What I'mgood at, maybe he's not as strong,
and what he's really strong at,I'm weak at. So we have
a great compliment on our team.Matthew, Well, he spoke to us
(16:55):
in the green room about the importanceof going to Catholic school and you're upbringing.
Can you tell me a little bitabout that. Yeah, I mean
the discipline, the community and thestructure that Catholic schools provided helped me kind
of see that, you know,I could be something more than what I
am today. You know what Iwas at the time as a child,
and I always wanted to I wantedto learn. I was curious, and
(17:18):
it gave me the structure in ain a peaceful, safe environment to learn
and focus on myself and development.And you also talked a little bit about
how you felt in a cat growingup in a Catholic school when you were
excelling at something. Tell me aboutthat part of it. Yeah. I
mean, most of the time,when you're a leader and you're at the
top, people want to tear youdown, and you know, people are
(17:41):
interested in seeing those who soar kindof hit the ground and come back to
earth. And I never experienced that, you know, in my school,
you know, kindergarten through twelfth grade, I always had success in the community
building each other up, rather thanhow young were you when you when the
community was building you up? Iwas. I started becoming kind of who
(18:04):
I am today in fifth sixth grade, And I'd say in sixth grade is
really when I started to excel atsports and when I started to really feel
that support and that you know,add a boy. And that made me
feel great and gave me a tonof confidence to keep going and keep persevering
and keep trying to be way betterthan I am today and strive to be
(18:26):
great. So what do you dotoday to the people who you work with
to build them up in the sameway that that community built you up in
sixth grade? You gotta give themlots of time. You have to be
willing as a CEO to give yourtime to the people that work with you
and work for you and support them. And I always say, you know,
(18:48):
if you are willing to be openand honest with people, whether that's
an easy conversation or a tough one, and help chart their course and in
part some of the wisdom. Youcan't always help somebody you know from maybe
making a mistake, but you canallow them to make the mistake and learn
from it. And I think that'sextremely important as a leader, mister Naylor.
(19:12):
Yeah, Phil, Earlier, you'vespoken a lot about the neighborhood and
sports and Catholic school, and there'ssomething there about relationships that's unique to you.
What impact has that hit on youtoday? Huge? I always had
positive My parents supported me. Theywere always there for me. My dad
(19:33):
went to every single game, mymom was always there, and kind of
my community, my brother and sisterand my friends. They were always a
positive influence because they never had anybodytrying to tear us down. And so
it allowed me to build relationships ina constructive manner and not worry about what
I'm going to get out of arelationship or what I'm going to get out
(19:56):
of a situation, but how bothof us can win. And I know
it sounds cliche, but I dotruly believe that if you take if you
look at things positively and optimistically,and you try to help each other in
a situation, you both can win. No what does that have to do
with being a CEO and a leader. Well, you know, it's not
always about yourself, and it shouldn'tbe. If you go around wearing your
(20:17):
title on your forehead, I thinkyou've lost right. And you've got to
be there. You've got to you'vegot to lead by example, and you've
got to be willing to do thedifficult things that not everybody's willing to do.
But you also have to be theone that cheers everybody and keeps everybody
going when things are tough, andthings aren't always easy, and if they
were, there'd be a lot morepeople in our positions. And I think
(20:38):
it's extremely important what I learned whenI was a kid to bridge those gaps
and relationships through thicker thin you stickwith people, you stay loyal, and
you keep on going in that direction. Mister Shapiro, Yes, so let's
apply this specifically. You join thiscompany that had been a fifty year old
family run company. How did youactually persuade the family that they could trust
(21:03):
you to build it up and nottear it down. Yeah, it's a
great question. I mean, westill have Paul Sullivan, Vin Sullivan,
you know, Joe Sullivan Daniel Engelimwho are still family members in hugely important
positions in the business. And youknow, I came in as a total
outsider and from the parent company,right the corporate parent and I bridge gap
(21:23):
on the relationships because I put myselfin their shoes and tried to figure out
exactly what they do and what impactsthem and what's important to them. And
I also wanted to find out whatwas the soul of Dunmore, why are
we important? And they were willingto work with me. Well, what's
the website address of Dunmore Dunmore dotcom. Even speaking with Lavata, president
(21:44):
of Dunmore. And back in amoment right after this quick break, we're
(22:11):
back. You're listening to Executive LeadersRadio. This your host Herb Cohen,
like to introduced Mike Regina, cofounder of Big Sky Enterprises. Mike,
what is Big Sky Enterprises? Weare construction managers and design builders specializing in
churches, healthcare and retail. Andhow large your house malls? The team,
where you're from, and how manybrothers and sisters? We are a
(22:32):
team of ten and one brother.All righty, you're older or younger?
Older, you're the older brother andI understand when you were about five,
mom and dad got divorced. Tellme more about that. What was going
on. Yeah, that was thefirst time obviously coming home and experiencing you
know, not having both parents athome, you know, when came back
from school or dinnertime. So itwas just a new way of living life.
(22:56):
So it was it was definitely adifferent experience for me. Sounds to
me like you adapted pretty well.I mean as it posed to a shocker
and blowing you off your feet andbecoming a victim, sounds like you just
kept on rocking and rolling. Absolutely, you know what, we have to
adapt in life, just in general, and especially as kids. I think
kids typically are have a pretty goodability to be able to adapt, mister
(23:18):
Naylor, Like earlier you told usshe spent a lot of time in the
summer with your dad. Yeah.Absolutely, you know, my parents were
divorced, and you know, duringthe school year, stayed with my mom,
but in the summers with my dad. And it was just a break
for me because I was down theshore, so I was able to surf
multiple times a day, morning,noon, and night. So I was
able to experience the beautiful life downthe beach, and he also, I
(23:42):
think told us you had a summerjob too. Absolutely, my first up
job was actually had my own business. I had a car wash in detail
center at my dad's two office buildingsthroughout high school. So that was my
first taste of the entrepreneurial experience.And I think I also heard earlier before
you said your dad was pretty disciplined. Yeah, my parents were both disciplinarians,
(24:03):
but my dad very much. Soyou know, he was from the
city, so you know, camefrom, you know, a tough background,
and he did instill that into us, which I'm very grateful for it
today. What does that have todo with you today as a leader.
I just think discipline in general isreally a requirement if you are going to
be a leader. It just helpsyou stay organized, focused, and also
(24:25):
more productive. Mister jack Witz,Mike, you mentioned in the Dream Room
about you mentioned that your mom wasvery special to you and you kind of
had a special relationship. Can youtell us a little bit more about that.
Yeah, my mom was just anincredible woman. She was just a
great supporter of me. She never, you know, nothing was ever an
issue. She drove hours and hoursyou know, to all of my games
(24:48):
and practices and not once did Iever feel like I was a burden.
So how do you think that tiesinto you running the company today? You
know, I just have to tobe able to be understanding, compassionate towards
others and just know that you know, everyone is in a different place and
to just respect and just give itall whatever it is, you know,
(25:10):
to each person and relationship within thecompany. M Jeffrey, Mike, You're
in a tough business, especially todayin construction. Where'd you get that tough
toughness to be able to operate inan environment that you do? Sure?
You know growing up in the constructionbusiness, my dad was a developer and
a builder and also had a concretecompany when I just graduated high school.
(25:33):
So that was my first real tastein the construction business in concrete, and
you know, he took me froma boy to a man in two hours
from seven am to nine am,the first dad did it. So you
work for your dad absolutely in thelabor capacity. So did you have to
do you have to work harder thanthe other guys always? You know what,
I'm going to work harder no matterwhat. But yes, especially when
you're working for your father. Youknow, everyone's sitting there looking at you.
(25:56):
How is how is the boss goingto treat his son? And I
get tell you right now that mydad said he didn't care. He's going
to treat us harder. You mentionedyou pick something up about concrete and running
a business. What's the connection betweenconcrete and running a business? You know?
I think concrete is a business thatevery person should get into. And
the reason why for that is becauseone it is physically demanding. But number
(26:19):
two, you only get one chanceto finish concrete. You can't go back
the next day and finish it.You got one shot, And it's just
like that in business. Okay.I just wanted to make sure I understood.
Matthew. I'm curious. Did yourbrother do the same jobs with your
father too? It's a younger brother, right, Yes, actually he did,
and you know what, I haveto give him credit. He did
(26:41):
pretty good as well. And tellme when when you were watching him go
through those same experiences that you hadpresumably gone through three years before, right
three years, I think, whatdidn't that feel like for you? And
did what was what did that dofor your relationship with your brother? You
know, at that point you know, my brother and I we still had
that brother brother related ship. Youknow, we really hadn't really matured,
(27:02):
even though I might have been incollege that day, and but it was,
you know, it was still goodto see him. I mean,
look, we had to get stuffdone, and our dad was one of
those like, hey, guys,we need to get concrete done. Let's
go. We had to do whatwe had to do, so I think
he told us in the green roomthere was a point where you and your
brother kind of shifted over to beingbest friends. Can you tell me a
little bit about that? Yeah,absolutely so. Actually, the last time
(27:26):
that my brother and I actually hada real, actual physical fight was a
question that was asked at a restaurantwhen my mom's boyfriend at the time said
who has better grades. Two minuteslater, we're actually out in the parking
lot into a fist fight. Cameback in blood all over, a shirt's
all ripped. I went home thatnight cried for three hours. By the
grace of God, two years later, my brother and I are best friends
(27:48):
and it hasn't changed since. Anddo you still ever get a chance to
work together or anything like that?We do. We have multiple companies together,
and there is not one person otherthan him that I rather do business
with. Wait, you're saying he'syour partner, partner, everything, best
friend, you name it, He'smy boy Caleb. Hey, Mike,
(28:11):
let's go back to being a surfergrowing up. What does that mean?
You roll out of bed at elevenor noon, surf all day, party
all night, you know what?I wish that was the case. But
really, being the first child,I kind of paved the way for my
parents on how to raise a kid. So I grew up with a little
bit more discipline than my brother did. And honestly, I wasn't one of
those guys that enjoyed being in trouble. I just wanted to enjoy the things
(28:34):
of life and be able to goout and surf. So not really,
but in terms of the surf lifestyle, I felt like I had a pretty
good experience. How do you staydisciplined now, Well, you know what
it's all about, discipline. I'mone of those very regimented people. I'm
up at two thirty to three amevery morning. First thing I do is
(28:55):
quiet time, and then I goto the gym, and then I'm in
the office. Do you think thathelps you set your day, run your
business a little more efficiently one hundredpercent. Look, I'm one of those
believers that you have to take careof yourself first in order to give more
of it. Mister Jackwitz, youmentioned this close knit friendships you had and
this reliability on your friends. Howdoes that tie into you run in the
(29:18):
business today? You know, everythingis about relationships. I speak on it
professionally. You know, we can'tdo anything without relationships. Still talked about
it earlier. You know, we'reas good as the people that we have
around us. So relationships is everything, whether it be business people that are
working in your company or your clients. Oh wait a minute, So when
(29:41):
you get up in the morning,what's the goal? Crush the deck?
What's that look like? What's thatmean? All in? You know,
going one hundred miles an hour andyou know, doing everything that you can
to make sure. You know,Chris talked about, you know earlier about
putting out fires. You know it'sit's all about you know, being a
problem But I also have a tendencyto be a problem starter. So it
(30:03):
depends. Um, So you're comingup with ideas, oh always, you
know what, I'm more of avisionary, you know, high level,
like like a dashboard type view.I'm not one of those ones that you
know, enjoys being in the weeds. I like directing and and uh,
you know, leading from that person. So if you're an idea guy,
why why a relationships so important toyou? Listen? Relationships are great because
(30:26):
that allows you to go into anydifferent business that you want with a foot
in the door, because it offersthe opportunity for introductions and things of that
nature. Well, Mike, howdy, young were you when you were aware
of yourself bringing discipline to order?I just think, you know what,
just at a young age. Idon't know if I necessarily know the exact
age that I was, but Ijust always enjoyed sports, competitiveness and being
(30:51):
so busy you had no choice butto be disciplined in terms of your schedule.
Where did that? Where did thatcome from? That need to be
disciplined and busy. I think it'sjust like the will to win. I
just you know, enjoy it andin order to do it, you know,
you're you're either practicing or you're playing. And you have three kids,
right, how old are that?Nineteen eighteen and eleven and I'm curious that
(31:17):
need for discipline and competition in all. What did you learn about that part
of yourself from having three kids andwatching them go through it? You know
what, It's interesting. I thinkone of the hardest things as a parent
is that your kids are different thanyou are, and you have to really
understand that each one needs to beraised and coached differently. It's not one
(31:37):
size fits all. That is probablyone of the biggest challenges that I've been
in my life, you know,is being a parent. And I understand
you're the co founder of Big SkyEnterprises. At home who whoo? Who
runs the show at home? Mywife? You know what, I've been
so blessed and fortunate to have anamazing wife who's been home and helped obviously.
(31:59):
I mean, she's my partner,you know, in the business.
She might not be at the business, but she's a partner in the business
because you know, she took careof the kids on a daily basis,
and that is a huge commitment.Anyone that is hyper focused on being a
stay at home mom, I'll tellyou what, that they have the hardest
job in the world. In mypay what's the website addressed for Big Sky
Enterprises Big Sky LLLC dot com.We've been speaking with Mike Regina co found
(32:22):
their Big Enterprises. Back in themoment right after this quick break. This
is Herb Coo. When you're hostedExecutive Leaders 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
(32:44):
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 the really profitable jobs are goingto be, and they're willing to speak
with you guarding their vision for thefuture and where you may fit into it.
In order to make the most moneyand really enjoy your career, email
(33:08):
us consult at Executive Leaders Radio dotcom. That's consult at Executive Leaders Radio
dot com to get help from ourCEOs regarding where you may want to go
in your career to make the mostmoney and really enjoy your career. Consult
at Executive Leaders Radio dot com.We're back. You're listening to Executive Leaders
(33:49):
Radio. This your host Herb Cohen. We'd like to introduce Brendan Calley,
founder and CEO of Artisan Brands.Brendon, what is artists and brands?
What are you guys doing? Wecreatebute premium snack food brands around the country,
primarily Righteous Stonecraft jerky M. Wereyou from originally? How many brothers
and sisters and where were you inthe pecking order? From Downingtown, Pennsylvania
(34:14):
outside of Philadelphia. I have twobrothers, one's younger and one is older,
so you're in the middle of thethree and eight to four team.
What was the list of stuff youwere up to as a kid. Just
tons of sports around the neighborhood andan organized sports, you know, playing
soccer, baseball, hockey, andbasketball. You mentioned you also did something
with guitar and fishing in the greenroom. That's right. Yeah, I
(34:37):
had a lot of diverse interests,but music and playing guitar and doing some
outdoor stuff with fishing and cup scoutswere all, you know, part of
the mix. And how young wereyou when you started making money and would
you do different than all the otherkids? First job was actually just just
outside the neighborhood up at farm Slashnursery. That was, like I said,
(34:59):
outside of you know, close toour neighborhood and doing anything that had
to be done on the farm thatday, whether it was watering some of
the water and the crops, cleaningout the chicken coops, driving the truck
around, you know, moving thingsaround, cleaning up places, you know,
whatever had to be done that day. So you're you're willingness and your
ability to do a wide variety ofthings at the age of thirteen, and
(35:22):
the owners of that farm that hiredyou how to give you the responsibility evidently
you were capable of taking it.What's that have to do with your role
as founder and CEO of Artisan Brands? Yeah, I'd say everything you know
we have. We don't have aton of resources at the company, so
it's a it's a bootstrap business,and that means that we have each person
(35:43):
has a wide scope of responsibility anda wide skill set, and that's one
of the you know, one ofthe things that differentiates us from a lot
of the competition. Got you,Jeffrey, But Brendan, you bought your
first dehydrator at age twelve and workingwith your friends in middle school creating a
product. Are those tell us aboutthose relationships? Are they long lasting relationships.
(36:07):
Are your friends with them today,Are any of them in the business
with you? Absolutely? So.I've been been blessed with awesome people around
me my entire life, starting withmy family and then even the friendships I
made in you know, through sportsand in middle school and uh, you
know, those four or five guyswho I was very close with in middle
(36:27):
school are still my best friends today. And they were helped me launch the
company and helped drive it to whereit is today. And a few of
them have even joined in the lasttwo years as full time employees here to
help keep up and drive the growth. So it's been awesome to keep in
touch with them, both personally andprofessionally. Matthew. Yeah, Jeff just
(36:50):
had in his question there that youbought a dehydrator at twelve. But I'm
a little bit confused by that.First of all, where'd you get the
money to buy a dehydrator at twelve? And second of all, why would
you buy a dehydrator? Yes,I was a strange kid with some strange
hobbies, but I did have ahad an uncle, Adam Pittsburgh, who
worked at the steel mills. Hehad his own little jerky hustle where he
was making uh, you know,ten or twenty pounds a week in his
(37:15):
basement and selling it to his coworkers at the steel mill. I was
visiting one time and kind of caughtwind of it and helped him out with
a batch or two, and wasjust you know, blown away by the
process and the magic of you know, we're all beef transforming into this dry,
shelf stable snack as a kid,And as soon as I got home,
I think I had a birthday aroundthe corner or Christmas, and collected
(37:37):
some some birthday money and I wentand spent it on a Denny dehydrator at
KMAR. So I'm curious, whenyou're watching your uncle doing that, were
you fascinated by the scientific process orwas it that you thought the result was
delicious or did you already think youwere going to be able to make money
on it? Like what was it? Definitely not the scientific process I was
(37:57):
twelve, But it was magic experiencewhere this thing just you know, went
into this box is one thing andit came out as something completely different.
And I think that's what really stuckwith me. And then just the the
ability to experiment on top of that, like once you have that base recipe
and know how you can go anywherewith the flavor profiles and the branding and
(38:20):
if you know, if you checkout Righteous Felling, that's exactly what we
do. And how young were youwhen you realized there was actually a money
making opportunity there. Well, wedid start to sell it in our middle
school. That's a little bit ofthe backstory of Righteous Selling. We got
in trouble for that for that firstfirst take of the business. We didn't
revisit it until fifteen or twenty yearslater, and that's when we really launched
(38:45):
it and realized just the potential ofthe industry, the size of the industry,
and how we can kind of differentiateand find our niche in it.
Excellent questioning, David. You mentionedyou're playing basketball when you were younger and
that you were the point guard onthe team. What is being the point
guard in basketball have to do withyour running the business today? Sure?
(39:07):
Yeah, Well a point guard isyou know, kind of runs the show.
Is the floor general and not justresponsible for knowing you know, your
own game plan, but the gameplan of all your teammates as well as
the other team and the players they'rerunning the defenses, their plan and that,
you know, I don't know ifthere's any better analogy for what you
do as a you know, asa leader of a business is just assessing
(39:30):
the competition and finding your you know, finding the weak points and going after
it. And then I heard thislong list of things that you did to
keep busy when you're a kid sportsand you also mentioned you were a guitar
player. Where did you find thetime to fitting guitar lessons? I did?
I didn't take guitar lessons. Ijust got a guitar and got some
(39:51):
chordbooks, I believe, and juststarted figuring out, you know, how
it worked. And we didn't haveYouTube yet, so I can't. I
don't remember exactly how I learned,but it was just a lot of trial
and error and you know, figuringthings out. So you're a self taught
guitar player, you're figuring things outwith a dehydrator. Would you say you're
kind of like a tinkerer growing up? Tinker is how most people describe me,
(40:15):
sometimes not favorably either, maybe overover Tinker. So how did that
help you grow the business? Well, I think business is all about trial
and air and testing a b testingand optimizing, and you know that's that's
essentially what tinkering is at the endof the day, is trying different things,
(40:35):
measuring them and comparing them to theother options that are on the table.
And that's, you know, tinkeringwhat I want, mister Nailer.
Friend In earlier, you're just speakingabout the neighborhood and friendships and relationships,
and you know, it's just interestingto me. How do those friendships and
relationships impact you today? Yeah,I'm lucky to say that the folks I
(41:01):
grew up with, including my twobrothers, are both all partners in the
company. Um. Maybe the companyis the reason we've stayed together for so
long, but they're just guys that, you know, I have two biological
brothers and several other brothers and justcan't imagine run in the business or or
(41:22):
being where I'm at today without thoseguys. It's, uh, you know,
it's it's everything I have in mylife. But Brendan, how does
it make it be a better leaderand a better CEO? UM? I
think it's, uh, you know, guys that have known you your whole
life have hold you more accountable thanI think employees would. UM. And
so you know, there's a lotof trust there both ways and uh and
(41:45):
it makes you know, make surethat we are executing and holding up kind
of the promises that we've made toeach other when we started the company,
you know, every day as wegrow and kind of hit these new heights
as you know, as a growingcompany. I go back to when you're
in middle school, absolutely, andyou're playing around with this dehydrator. Where'd
(42:06):
you get the products to make yourfirst batch? My mom My mom would
take me to BJ's and we wouldbuy, you know, try to get
the cheapest prices on soy sauce andbeef, and I remember dropping maybe eighty
or ninety dollars and thinking that wasmore money than I'd ever seen in my
life. And it's funny to thinkabout, you know, those ingredient costs
(42:28):
today, given you know where ourvolumes are at today, and I'm curious
where you already thinking about what yourmargins were going to be and whether you
were going to make that ninety backor didn't matter. At the time,
it didn't matter. I didn't reallyfigure out the whole margin equation until I
was working in finance after graduation,and that's really where the the passion for
(42:50):
beef jerky and the know how ofmanufacturing finance kind of came together and the
light bulb went off, and somy mom just kind of supported the tinkering
and let you run wild with it. Yeah. She my mom is she's
an all star and she's you know, she's supported me throughout, you know,
everything in my life and has distilleda lot of the hard working and
(43:12):
you know, never complained type attitudethat I think defines our company. Brendon,
you started making this beef jerky recipewhen you're a kid, and now
you're having pretty explosive growth out there. What's your revenue like or how have
you been growing over the past coupleof years? Yeah? We Uh,
we're doing about twelve million a yearright now. Uh the year Pride of
(43:32):
last year was four and a halfmillion UM. We had plans to hit
close to twenty this year. Soeach year we're kind of raising the bar
and challenging ourselves to uh to keepup with this hundred one hundred percent growth
year a year, which obviously getsgets more difficult. And then what's the
press for artisan brands artzen Brands dotcom and righteous Film dot com. Excellent.
(43:55):
We was speaking at Brendan Colley,founder and CEO of Artisan Brands,
Jeffrey, can you get us arundown? Who else we've had on the
air today, please? What agreat show? Her? We had Trish
Wellenbach, President and CEO of PleaseTouch Museum, Phil Lafata, president of
Dunmore, Mike Regina, co founderof Big Sky Enterprises, and Brendan Calley,
Founder and CEO of Artisan Brands.I'd like to thank my co hosts
(44:15):
including Jeff mac Newmark, Keilia PoppasHandlin, David Jackowitz Evolution Financial Group,
Matthew Shapiro Obermeyer and Matthew Nailler ColumbdalePartners for giving me hand structuring the questions,
hopeully providing our listening audience and educationaland entertaining show like thank our listening
audience for listening. Otherwise we wouldn'thave a radio show, So forget to
(44:37):
visit our website. It's Executive LeadersRadio dot com. That's Executive Leaders Radio
dot com. Thank you for joiningus today 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 Mike co Is, Jeff
mac Newmark Klein, Poppas Handlin,David jack Witz, Evolution Financial Group,
(00:30):
Matthew Shapiro Obermeyer or Matthew Nail orCrumbdale Partners. Jeffrey. Can you give
us a rundown on who we haveon the air today? Please? Sure
her. We have Trish Wellenbach,President and CEO of Please Touch Museum,
Phil la Fata, President of Dunmore, Mike Regina, co founder of Big
Sky Enterprises, and Brendan Cauley,Founder and CEO of Artisan Brands. I'd
(00:52):
like to introduce our first guest.Let's get to know our first guest,
Trish Wallenbach, President and CEO ofPlease Touch Museum. Trish, what is
Please Touch Museum? What do youguys doing? We welcome children every day
to discover the joy of learning toplay and our vision as a world where
all children will be confident, creative, curious and compassionate. Wow, and
you're told us in the green room. You're seeing about a half a million
(01:14):
kids a year. Where you're fromoriginally? How many brothers and sisters?
Where are you in the packing order? Bergen County, New Jersey, Cresci
oldest of five children, the oldestof five kids? And what kind of
stuff were you up to eight tofourteen years old? What's that list look
like? Well, I was tallas a little girl, and my mom
had a lot of kids, andshe was a suburban mom at home,
and so I could make breakfast startingat about age eight, So breakfast and
(01:38):
lunch for the kids every day.And big neighborhood community, suburban community of
New York, bedroom community, lotsof different families, probably about forty kids
in the neighborhood. And did you'rebeing the oldest the five help plant the
seeds for your being the president CEOof the Police Touch Museum. Probably you
(02:06):
know. I'm a good problem solver, and I take responsibility very seriously.
Oldest children often do, and soI think my parents gave me a lot
of responsibility, and I leaned inon it. I was often seen as
like an old soul and a youngchild. People used to say about me,
what do you Jeffrey True. Theeffect that the neighborhood had on you,
(02:27):
the forty kids and people like GrandmaTestili, It's also about how that
affected you. Yeah, these bedroomcommunities coming out of the Bronx and Brooklyn
were all first generational immigrants Italians,Irish, Polish, German, and in
many households it was multigenerational. That'swhat they did in New York and Grandma's
lived with families and yeah, Grandmatest Less, you know, she had
(02:51):
authority to discipline any child, regardlessof your last name. So if you
were messing it up in the neighborhoodwhere you were playing, she was in
charge. And what do you thinkto them? Yes, I'd take that
to work because it was it wasa place of play and joy, no
fences, no boundaries. You playedevery day with all kids and we learned
together. David Trisian the green Room. You mentioned that you were babysitting when
(03:16):
you were twelve. What did youdo differently than all the other people that
kids that were babysitting. It wasn'tjust babysitting for money. I was taking
care of other parents children and sowhen I was there, I had to
be like a parent and take careof them, and that man, if
a kid got sick, it wasn'tjust you know, ignoring it, but
cleaning up from it and getting everythingready for when the parents came home.
(03:37):
And I think parents felt safe leavingtheir children with me. They knew how
I was with my brothers and sisters. So what does that have to do
with what did do today? Ijust think that when you invest in young
children and supporting them socially, emotionallyand intellectually, you build a generation of
leaders. To Comma, Matthew,you're talking about taking care of all these
(03:59):
kids. You're the oldest of five. I'm curious how young were you when
you were interested in creating interesting playenvironments for kids. I was probably eight
or nine setting up little schoolrooms inmy house for my brothers and sisters or
whoever else had to be around oroutside. You know again, no fences,
big stiffball games, riding bikes together. It's what we did. It
(04:20):
was the sixties. And when Iasked you where you got the kind of
skills to create those interesting environments,you pointed to your grandmother. Tell me
about your grandma. She had amassive influence in my life. She was
a remarkable woman. I carry herwith me to this day. And she
gave me a sense of confidence,you know how. She taught me how
to iron, how to make myown clothes, how to balance my check
(04:44):
book. She reinvented herself in herforties after her husband died, and when
she retired as the secretary of thechairman of a major corporation, they hosted
her retirement party as a secretary atWindows on the World Trisian. What if
Grandmam was here today, List,She's looking down on you and she sees
what you're doing with the Police TouchMuseum. How do you think she needs
to feel? Oh, she'd bedeeply proud. She was a great giver
(05:09):
to community. She actually used tovolunteer in the Fouling Home in New York
and feed babies whose mothers had abandonedthem. And I think she always felt
that kids were the biggest investment youcould make it. And that's what you're
carrying with it. That's what you'recarrying with you today from her every day,
Caleb, So we're hearing Grandma Tessi. Alessie was kind of the disciplinarian
(05:30):
in the neighborhood. I get thesense in a Brooklyn neighborhood, there's a
lot of other parents that have someleeway to discipline children. Tell us about
the other parents in the neighborhood,Yes, all suburban moms. You know.
Dad went to work every day.Mom stayed at home and they were
in charge. And if you messedup in the neighborhood house two doors down,
that mom could say, yeah,get over here and kill whack on
(05:51):
back ahead and say behave go home, time to have lunch. So everyone
cared for everyone. It was thisnurturing world and I think it's what we've
lost a little bit of today.Neighborhood and community is what helps children gain
the confidence they need as they moveinto the world. I'm not just in
classrooms, but in life. Definitelygetting the sense of accountability in the community.
(06:14):
So I'm wondering, as the CEOand president of the Police Touch Museum,
I'm sure you have a lot ofemployees, how do you take those
lessons with how you interact with youremployees throughout the day. Every employee is
personal to me, and it's notjust the individual employee. They have a
whole family and a community behind them. Working through a pandemic, having to
lay people off. Each individual Ihave to respect them and honor them.
(06:35):
And I am a very present,very front of house CEO. I'm out
on the floor. I'll do anyjob I need to do. People need
to see me working. If Iwork alongside them, they work better.
I work better. It sounds likethat stuff you did with the babysitting where
you know the child you were babysittingfor we got sick, and you change
the sheets and you put them inthe pair. It's like you're just like
(06:57):
taking responsibility. Mister Naylor. Yeah, Trish, earlier you talked about girl
Scouts, and I'm just wondering,how did you get involved with girls DUTs?
Did your mom and dad like forshe had to do that? No,
my grandmother said you should become aBrownie, Trish, and I did.
And I worked all the way upfrom being a Brownie to a Junior
Scout, and I was so proud. My first bag was my cooking badge,
(07:20):
and my grandmother helped me. Iwas ten and I cooked dinner,
a Sunday dinner for the entire family, soup to nuts, including the apple
pie that I made, which didthis day. My brothers and sisters still
talk about so not so bad.Frish, that's very interesting. What does
that have to do with being theCEO today? I think it's about accomplishing
things and setting out a task foryourself and not being afraid to get out
(07:43):
of your comfort zone. When youget out of your comfort zone, you
find your true talents. If you'rein your lane like that's easy, you
can mail at it. Get outof your comfort zone, do stuff you're
not qualified for, take a leapand see where you can discover inside of
yourself. It's pretty amazing. Didn'tyou mention that you were well qualified for
every single job you've had in yourcareer. No, her, My tabline
(08:05):
is that I have never been qualifiedon paper for any job that I've gotten,
including as the president and CEO ofthe Police Said museum, because I'm
not a museum person, I'm notan educator. I'm a nurse trained person.
I don't have an MBA. Ijust lean in and do good work,
and I always find opportunities to learn. If I'm not in a job
that is teaching me something, I'min the wrong talk Jeffrey, that,
(08:28):
Trish, you've raised two children ofyour own. What have you learned from
your two children. Oh my goodness, everything. When I toasted my son
a couple of years ago during thepandemic when they were living with us hit
Happy birthday to the child who taughtme how to be a parent. Absolutely
And at the Police Touch Museum,what's the headline? What's going on that
the public would be interested to know? Now? Big news our supermarket experience,
(08:52):
the number one children's exhibit space inthe country, has been totally reimagined
to an exhibit called Food and Family. Three styles and square feet of imagination.
Plague, the journey of food fromthe farm to the store, to
the home table to the neighborhood,and how that all connects joy sadness.
Food is what brings people together.And it's in food and gathering around a
(09:15):
table that you bring families and communitiestogether. And that's where all the good
conversations happen. Think about it ineveryone's home growing up, It's where it
really happens. You mentioned earlier thatwhen you were a child, somewhere along
your life somebody mentioned to you thatyou're like an old soul, an old
soul in a young body. Whatwas that all about. I think I
was just I was born with somethingin me that inspired me to reach and
(09:39):
take on more responsibility. And youdon't always see that in young kids.
And I think I was about twentyfour or twenty five when I felt like
it had really finally connected. Whenwhat's finally connected? Like my old soul
and my body were like okay,but it was all there. I was
a gawky teenager, not very popularin school, and then all of a
(10:00):
sudden, I started to find myselfstarted What do you mean you started to
find yourself. I moved to Philadelphiawhen I was twenty one. I didn't
know a soul, not a soul. It was the nineteen seventies. No
one elected to move to Philadelphia ifthey grew up in the suburbs of Manhattan
and went to school in Boston unlessshe had an aunt Lucy living at ninth
and Passion or something. I camehere not knowing a soul, and forty
(10:22):
plus years later, I'm proud tobe running one of the most remarkable Chills
museums in the country. What's thewebsite address to the police Touch Museum.
Please Touch Museum dot org. You'vebeen speaking with Trish Wallenbach, President and
CEO off Please Touch museum here onExecutive Leaders Radio. Don't go anywhere.
Stick around. We'll be back ina moment. Right after this quick break.
(10:43):
This is Herb Coo and your ExecutiveLeaders Radio host and the CEOs we've
interviewed on this show are interested inhelping you get your business started and helping
you grow your business. Whether you'reaware of the issues or whether you want
the CEOs to give your hand identifyingthe issues in getting your business started and
(11:05):
or in growing your business, whydon't you email us at consult at Executive
Leaders Radio dot com. That's consultat Executive Leaders Radio dot com. Whether
you're interested in having our CEOs speakwith you regarding getting your business started or
(11:28):
growing your business, send us anemail at consult at Executive Leaders Radio dot
com and we'll be sure to getback to you shortly with some help.
(11:54):
We're back. You're listening to ExecutiveLeaders Radio. This is your host,
Herbcoen. Like to introduce Jola foughtUp, President of Done More Phil.
What has Dune Moore? What areyou guys doing? Done Moore? We
make technical films easy. We area manufacturer of films, fabrics and foils
for aerospace tapes. And labels andother industrial applications. How larger housemall is
the team? Where you're from?And how many brothers and sisters. We've
(12:18):
got two hundred people across three factories, Philly, New York, and Germany.
I'm from Detroit, Michigan. I'mthe oldest of three kids. You're
the oldest of three kids. Andyou also told us in the green room
when we're getting to know, you'rethe first family member to ever run this
business. And we'll dig into thatin a second. What kind of stuff
were you up to eight to fourteenyears old? What's the list look like.
(12:41):
I was active in sports and reallyactive in school. I went to
Catholic schools on the south side ofDetroit and had lots of friends, lots
of kids in the neighborhood, andyou know, basketball camps in the summer,
basketball all winter, and lots oflots of fun and friends, lots
of family. All righty and hustCaleb, give me a hand, please,
(13:05):
So, Phil, was basketball yournumber one sport? Yes? It
was. It was actually the onlything I was good at. Did it
come naturally to you? Not atall? I sucked at it. When
I was in I started playing whenI was in fourth and fifth grade,
and I was terrible, and ittook me a long time to actually become
a good skilled basketball player and startto compete at a level that wasn't embarrassing.
(13:28):
So what did you do to getbetter? You know, I worked
really hard body, physically, myskills, but I saw coaching. I
mean I really sought out my coachesand other older kids in the community that
would play with me and beat meup, and I did. I played
a lot with my dad in thebackyard, and he used to really go
He'd never took it easy on me, so he always pushed me hard and
(13:50):
I got a lot better. Coachabilityreally important in life and in business.
So I'm wondering. You mentioned thatyou're the first non family to be the
president of Done Moore, So doyou think your coachability kind of has the
board of directors there a little moretrustworthy in you? Absolutely, yeah,
I believe that. You know,from the owner of Steel Partners and you
(14:13):
know my immediate supervisors there at Steel, they trusted me with this business because
they wanted a change agent. Theywanted somebody that would come in and help
build up the business, not tearit. Down. David, you mentioned
in the grief room that your fatherwas the janitor your at private school.
Wasn't that embarrassing for you? No, David, not at all. Actually,
(14:37):
my dad's a really cool guy anda really smart guy, and you
know, he just happened to nothave a very successful job, and so
it was nice it got I gota discount to go to school, and
that was the reason why I wasable to go to count the schools,
and it was nice having my dadaround. So I don't think at that
point we realized that we were maybelower class. So how do you think
(15:01):
that experience ties into what you dotoday? Well, I mean I'm in
manufacturing, and so in manufacturing wehave a lot of labor, and the
labor is the most important part ofwhat we do. If it wasn't for
the guys on our shop floor thatwe're working hard and you know, really
making the product, I wouldn't havea business. So it's extremely important that
(15:22):
they're happy, that they're paid well, that they're safe, and that we've
got a great community of labor andworkers and a good relationship with that.
Jeffrey Phil Donemore is not your firstrodeo. You've grown and multiple businesses.
What have you learned from your priorentrepreneurial experience and have you brought some of
(15:43):
your team along with you to thenew companies? And great question. I
absolutely I'm an entrepreneur. I'm somebodywho starts things and builds them up,
a growth and strategy guy. Andthat's what I learned is you know you're
going to knock your head into thewall a couple of times, but you've
got to keep trying to keep pushingand never quit and will be willing to
admit you're wrong and changed course.And so that's helped a lot at Dunmore.
(16:06):
And absolutely there's there's several people inthe past that that have brought in
the business. One in particular wasmy former boss at Arlan, the business
in California that was running um andhe's not running my he's my director of
sales and marketing. Gave Maxwell beenextremely successful and great to have him back.
And why does Dave Maxwell follow you? What does he see in you?
That so? So? Gabe andI've been friends for a while after
(16:33):
that, and I helped him alot grow his part of the business and
it was fair to him and workedreally hard and helped support him. And
you know, in one skill set, and I think him and I compliment
each other really well. What I'mgood at, maybe he's not as strong,
and what he's really strong at,I'm weak at. So we have
a great compliment on our team.Matthew, Well, he spoke to us
(16:55):
in the green room about the importanceof going to Catholic school and you're upbringing.
Can you tell me a little bitabout that. Yeah, I mean
the discipline, the community and thestructure that Catholic schools provided helped me kind
of see that, you know,I could be something more than what I
am today. You know what Iwas at the time as a child,
and I always wanted to I wantedto learn. I was curious, and
(17:18):
it gave me the structure in ain a peaceful, safe environment to learn
and focus on myself and development.And you also talked a little bit about
how you felt in a cat growingup in a Catholic school when you were
excelling at something. Tell me aboutthat part of it. Yeah. I
mean, most of the time,when you're a leader and you're at the
top, people want to tear youdown, and you know, people are
(17:41):
interested in seeing those who soar kindof hit the ground and come back to
earth. And I never experienced that, you know, in my school,
you know, kindergarten through twelfth grade, I always had success in the community
building each other up, rather thanhow young were you when you when the
community was building you up? Iwas. I started becoming kind of who
(18:04):
I am today in fifth sixth grade, And I'd say in sixth grade is
really when I started to excel atsports and when I started to really feel
that support and that you know,add a boy. And that made me
feel great and gave me a tonof confidence to keep going and keep persevering
and keep trying to be way betterthan I am today and strive to be
(18:26):
great. So what do you dotoday to the people who you work with
to build them up in the sameway that that community built you up in
sixth grade? You gotta give themlots of time. You have to be
willing as a CEO to give yourtime to the people that work with you
and work for you and support them. And I always say, you know,
(18:48):
if you are willing to be openand honest with people, whether that's
an easy conversation or a tough one, and help chart their course and in
part some of the wisdom. Youcan't always help somebody you know from maybe
making a mistake, but you canallow them to make the mistake and learn
from it. And I think that'sextremely important as a leader, mister Naylor.
(19:12):
Yeah, Phil, Earlier, you'vespoken a lot about the neighborhood and
sports and Catholic school, and there'ssomething there about relationships that's unique to you.
What impact has that hit on youtoday? Huge? I always had
positive My parents supported me. Theywere always there for me. My dad
(19:33):
went to every single game, mymom was always there, and kind of
my community, my brother and sisterand my friends. They were always a
positive influence because they never had anybodytrying to tear us down. And so
it allowed me to build relationships ina constructive manner and not worry about what
I'm going to get out of arelationship or what I'm going to get out
(19:56):
of a situation, but how bothof us can win. And I know
it sounds cliche, but I dotruly believe that if you take if you
look at things positively and optimistically,and you try to help each other in
a situation, you both can win. No what does that have to do
with being a CEO and a leader. Well, you know, it's not
always about yourself, and it shouldn'tbe. If you go around wearing your
(20:17):
title on your forehead, I thinkyou've lost right. And you've got to
be there. You've got to you'vegot to lead by example, and you've
got to be willing to do thedifficult things that not everybody's willing to do.
But you also have to be theone that cheers everybody and keeps everybody
going when things are tough, andthings aren't always easy, and if they
were, there'd be a lot morepeople in our positions. And I think
(20:38):
it's extremely important what I learned whenI was a kid to bridge those gaps
and relationships through thicker thin you stickwith people, you stay loyal, and
you keep on going in that direction. Mister Shapiro, Yes, so let's
apply this specifically. You join thiscompany that had been a fifty year old
family run company. How did youactually persuade the family that they could trust
(21:03):
you to build it up and nottear it down. Yeah, it's a
great question. I mean, westill have Paul Sullivan, Vin Sullivan,
you know, Joe Sullivan Daniel Engelimwho are still family members in hugely important
positions in the business. And youknow, I came in as a total
outsider and from the parent company,right the corporate parent and I bridge gap
(21:23):
on the relationships because I put myselfin their shoes and tried to figure out
exactly what they do and what impactsthem and what's important to them. And
I also wanted to find out whatwas the soul of Dunmore, why are
we important? And they were willingto work with me. Well, what's
the website address of Dunmore Dunmore dotcom. Even speaking with Lavata, president
(21:44):
of Dunmore. And back in amoment right after this quick break, we're
(22:11):
back. You're listening to Executive LeadersRadio. This your host Herb Cohen,
like to introduced Mike Regina, cofounder of Big Sky Enterprises. Mike,
what is Big Sky Enterprises? Weare construction managers and design builders specializing in
churches, healthcare and retail. Andhow large your house malls? The team,
where you're from, and how manybrothers and sisters? We are a
(22:32):
team of ten and one brother.All righty, you're older or younger?
Older, you're the older brother andI understand when you were about five,
mom and dad got divorced. Tellme more about that. What was going
on. Yeah, that was thefirst time obviously coming home and experiencing you
know, not having both parents athome, you know, when came back
from school or dinnertime. So itwas just a new way of living life.
(22:56):
So it was it was definitely adifferent experience for me. Sounds to
me like you adapted pretty well.I mean as it posed to a shocker
and blowing you off your feet andbecoming a victim, sounds like you just
kept on rocking and rolling. Absolutely, you know what, we have to
adapt in life, just in general, and especially as kids. I think
kids typically are have a pretty goodability to be able to adapt, mister
(23:18):
Naylor, Like earlier you told usshe spent a lot of time in the
summer with your dad. Yeah.Absolutely, you know, my parents were
divorced, and you know, duringthe school year, stayed with my mom,
but in the summers with my dad. And it was just a break
for me because I was down theshore, so I was able to surf
multiple times a day, morning,noon, and night. So I was
able to experience the beautiful life downthe beach, and he also, I
(23:42):
think told us you had a summerjob too. Absolutely, my first up
job was actually had my own business. I had a car wash in detail
center at my dad's two office buildingsthroughout high school. So that was my
first taste of the entrepreneurial experience.And I think I also heard earlier before
you said your dad was pretty disciplined. Yeah, my parents were both disciplinarians,
(24:03):
but my dad very much. Soyou know, he was from the
city, so you know, camefrom, you know, a tough background,
and he did instill that into us, which I'm very grateful for it
today. What does that have todo with you today as a leader.
I just think discipline in general isreally a requirement if you are going to
be a leader. It just helpsyou stay organized, focused, and also
(24:25):
more productive. Mister jack Witz,Mike, you mentioned in the Dream Room
about you mentioned that your mom wasvery special to you and you kind of
had a special relationship. Can youtell us a little bit more about that.
Yeah, my mom was just anincredible woman. She was just a
great supporter of me. She never, you know, nothing was ever an
issue. She drove hours and hoursyou know, to all of my games
(24:48):
and practices and not once did Iever feel like I was a burden.
So how do you think that tiesinto you running the company today? You
know, I just have to tobe able to be understanding, compassionate towards
others and just know that you know, everyone is in a different place and
to just respect and just give itall whatever it is, you know,
(25:10):
to each person and relationship within thecompany. M Jeffrey, Mike, You're
in a tough business, especially todayin construction. Where'd you get that tough
toughness to be able to operate inan environment that you do? Sure?
You know growing up in the constructionbusiness, my dad was a developer and
a builder and also had a concretecompany when I just graduated high school.
(25:33):
So that was my first real tastein the construction business in concrete, and
you know, he took me froma boy to a man in two hours
from seven am to nine am,the first dad did it. So you
work for your dad absolutely in thelabor capacity. So did you have to
do you have to work harder thanthe other guys always? You know what,
I'm going to work harder no matterwhat. But yes, especially when
you're working for your father. Youknow, everyone's sitting there looking at you.
(25:56):
How is how is the boss goingto treat his son? And I
get tell you right now that mydad said he didn't care. He's going
to treat us harder. You mentionedyou pick something up about concrete and running
a business. What's the connection betweenconcrete and running a business? You know?
I think concrete is a business thatevery person should get into. And
the reason why for that is becauseone it is physically demanding. But number
(26:19):
two, you only get one chanceto finish concrete. You can't go back
the next day and finish it.You got one shot, And it's just
like that in business. Okay.I just wanted to make sure I understood.
Matthew. I'm curious. Did yourbrother do the same jobs with your
father too? It's a younger brother, right, Yes, actually he did,
and you know what, I haveto give him credit. He did
(26:41):
pretty good as well. And tellme when when you were watching him go
through those same experiences that you hadpresumably gone through three years before, right
three years, I think, whatdidn't that feel like for you? And
did what was what did that dofor your relationship with your brother? You
know, at that point you know, my brother and I we still had
that brother brother related ship. Youknow, we really hadn't really matured,
(27:02):
even though I might have been incollege that day, and but it was,
you know, it was still goodto see him. I mean,
look, we had to get stuffdone, and our dad was one of
those like, hey, guys,we need to get concrete done. Let's
go. We had to do whatwe had to do, so I think
he told us in the green roomthere was a point where you and your
brother kind of shifted over to beingbest friends. Can you tell me a
little bit about that? Yeah,absolutely so. Actually, the last time
(27:26):
that my brother and I actually hada real, actual physical fight was a
question that was asked at a restaurantwhen my mom's boyfriend at the time said
who has better grades. Two minuteslater, we're actually out in the parking
lot into a fist fight. Cameback in blood all over, a shirt's
all ripped. I went home thatnight cried for three hours. By the
grace of God, two years later, my brother and I are best friends
(27:48):
and it hasn't changed since. Anddo you still ever get a chance to
work together or anything like that?We do. We have multiple companies together,
and there is not one person otherthan him that I rather do business
with. Wait, you're saying he'syour partner, partner, everything, best
friend, you name it, He'smy boy Caleb. Hey, Mike,
(28:11):
let's go back to being a surfergrowing up. What does that mean?
You roll out of bed at elevenor noon, surf all day, party
all night, you know what?I wish that was the case. But
really, being the first child,I kind of paved the way for my
parents on how to raise a kid. So I grew up with a little
bit more discipline than my brother did. And honestly, I wasn't one of
those guys that enjoyed being in trouble. I just wanted to enjoy the things
(28:34):
of life and be able to goout and surf. So not really,
but in terms of the surf lifestyle, I felt like I had a pretty
good experience. How do you staydisciplined now, Well, you know what
it's all about, discipline. I'mone of those very regimented people. I'm
up at two thirty to three amevery morning. First thing I do is
(28:55):
quiet time, and then I goto the gym, and then I'm in
the office. Do you think thathelps you set your day, run your
business a little more efficiently one hundredpercent. Look, I'm one of those
believers that you have to take careof yourself first in order to give more
of it. Mister Jackwitz, youmentioned this close knit friendships you had and
this reliability on your friends. Howdoes that tie into you run in the
(29:18):
business today? You know, everythingis about relationships. I speak on it
professionally. You know, we can'tdo anything without relationships. Still talked about
it earlier. You know, we'reas good as the people that we have
around us. So relationships is everything, whether it be business people that are
working in your company or your clients. Oh wait a minute, So when
(29:41):
you get up in the morning,what's the goal? Crush the deck?
What's that look like? What's thatmean? All in? You know,
going one hundred miles an hour andyou know, doing everything that you can
to make sure. You know,Chris talked about, you know earlier about
putting out fires. You know it'sit's all about you know, being a
problem But I also have a tendencyto be a problem starter. So it
(30:03):
depends. Um, So you're comingup with ideas, oh always, you
know what, I'm more of avisionary, you know, high level,
like like a dashboard type view.I'm not one of those ones that you
know, enjoys being in the weeds. I like directing and and uh,
you know, leading from that person. So if you're an idea guy,
why why a relationships so important toyou? Listen? Relationships are great because
(30:26):
that allows you to go into anydifferent business that you want with a foot
in the door, because it offersthe opportunity for introductions and things of that
nature. Well, Mike, howdy, young were you when you were aware
of yourself bringing discipline to order?I just think, you know what,
just at a young age. Idon't know if I necessarily know the exact
age that I was, but Ijust always enjoyed sports, competitiveness and being
(30:51):
so busy you had no choice butto be disciplined in terms of your schedule.
Where did that? Where did thatcome from? That need to be
disciplined and busy. I think it'sjust like the will to win. I
just you know, enjoy it andin order to do it, you know,
you're you're either practicing or you're playing. And you have three kids,
right, how old are that?Nineteen eighteen and eleven and I'm curious that
(31:17):
need for discipline and competition in all. What did you learn about that part
of yourself from having three kids andwatching them go through it? You know
what, It's interesting. I thinkone of the hardest things as a parent
is that your kids are different thanyou are, and you have to really
understand that each one needs to beraised and coached differently. It's not one
(31:37):
size fits all. That is probablyone of the biggest challenges that I've been
in my life, you know,is being a parent. And I understand
you're the co founder of Big SkyEnterprises. At home who whoo? Who
runs the show at home? Mywife? You know what, I've been
so blessed and fortunate to have anamazing wife who's been home and helped obviously.
(31:59):
I mean, she's my partner,you know, in the business.
She might not be at the business, but she's a partner in the business
because you know, she took careof the kids on a daily basis,
and that is a huge commitment.Anyone that is hyper focused on being a
stay at home mom, I'll tellyou what, that they have the hardest
job in the world. In mypay what's the website addressed for Big Sky
Enterprises Big Sky LLLC dot com.We've been speaking with Mike Regina co found
(32:22):
their Big Enterprises. Back in themoment right after this quick break. This
is Herb Coo. When you're hostedExecutive Leaders 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
(32:44):
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They've got the bird's eye view ofwhere the really profitable jobs are,
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In order to make the most moneyand really enjoy your career, email
(33:08):
us consult at Executive Leaders Radio dotcom. That's consult at Executive Leaders Radio
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at Executive Leaders Radio dot com.We're back. You're listening to Executive Leaders
(33:49):
Radio. This your host Herb Cohen. We'd like to introduce Brendan Calley,
founder and CEO of Artisan Brands.Brendon, what is artists and brands?
What are you guys doing? Wecreatebute premium snack food brands around the country,
primarily Righteous Stonecraft jerky M. Wereyou from originally? How many brothers
and sisters and where were you inthe pecking order? From Downingtown, Pennsylvania
(34:14):
outside of Philadelphia. I have twobrothers, one's younger and one is older,
so you're in the middle of thethree and eight to four team.
What was the list of stuff youwere up to as a kid. Just
tons of sports around the neighborhood andan organized sports, you know, playing
soccer, baseball, hockey, andbasketball. You mentioned you also did something
with guitar and fishing in the greenroom. That's right. Yeah, I
(34:37):
had a lot of diverse interests,but music and playing guitar and doing some
outdoor stuff with fishing and cup scoutswere all, you know, part of
the mix. And how young wereyou when you started making money and would
you do different than all the otherkids? First job was actually just just
outside the neighborhood up at farm Slashnursery. That was, like I said,
(34:59):
outside of you know, close toour neighborhood and doing anything that had
to be done on the farm thatday, whether it was watering some of
the water and the crops, cleaningout the chicken coops, driving the truck
around, you know, moving thingsaround, cleaning up places, you know,
whatever had to be done that day. So you're you're willingness and your
ability to do a wide variety ofthings at the age of thirteen, and
(35:22):
the owners of that farm that hiredyou how to give you the responsibility evidently
you were capable of taking it.What's that have to do with your role
as founder and CEO of Artisan Brands? Yeah, I'd say everything you know
we have. We don't have aton of resources at the company, so
it's a it's a bootstrap business,and that means that we have each person
(35:43):
has a wide scope of responsibility anda wide skill set, and that's one
of the you know, one ofthe things that differentiates us from a lot
of the competition. Got you,Jeffrey, But Brendan, you bought your
first dehydrator at age twelve and workingwith your friends in middle school creating a
product. Are those tell us aboutthose relationships? Are they long lasting relationships.
(36:07):
Are your friends with them today,Are any of them in the business
with you? Absolutely? So.I've been been blessed with awesome people around
me my entire life, starting withmy family and then even the friendships I
made in you know, through sportsand in middle school and uh, you
know, those four or five guyswho I was very close with in middle
(36:27):
school are still my best friends today. And they were helped me launch the
company and helped drive it to whereit is today. And a few of
them have even joined in the lasttwo years as full time employees here to
help keep up and drive the growth. So it's been awesome to keep in
touch with them, both personally andprofessionally. Matthew. Yeah, Jeff just
(36:50):
had in his question there that youbought a dehydrator at twelve. But I'm
a little bit confused by that.First of all, where'd you get the
money to buy a dehydrator at twelve? And second of all, why would
you buy a dehydrator? Yes,I was a strange kid with some strange
hobbies, but I did have ahad an uncle, Adam Pittsburgh, who
worked at the steel mills. Hehad his own little jerky hustle where he
was making uh, you know,ten or twenty pounds a week in his
(37:15):
basement and selling it to his coworkers at the steel mill. I was
visiting one time and kind of caughtwind of it and helped him out with
a batch or two, and wasjust you know, blown away by the
process and the magic of you know, we're all beef transforming into this dry,
shelf stable snack as a kid,And as soon as I got home,
I think I had a birthday aroundthe corner or Christmas, and collected
(37:37):
some some birthday money and I wentand spent it on a Denny dehydrator at
KMAR. So I'm curious, whenyou're watching your uncle doing that, were
you fascinated by the scientific process orwas it that you thought the result was
delicious or did you already think youwere going to be able to make money
on it? Like what was it? Definitely not the scientific process I was
(37:57):
twelve, But it was magic experiencewhere this thing just you know, went
into this box is one thing andit came out as something completely different.
And I think that's what really stuckwith me. And then just the the
ability to experiment on top of that, like once you have that base recipe
and know how you can go anywherewith the flavor profiles and the branding and
(38:20):
if you know, if you checkout Righteous Felling, that's exactly what we
do. And how young were youwhen you realized there was actually a money
making opportunity there. Well, wedid start to sell it in our middle
school. That's a little bit ofthe backstory of Righteous Selling. We got
in trouble for that for that firstfirst take of the business. We didn't
revisit it until fifteen or twenty yearslater, and that's when we really launched
(38:45):
it and realized just the potential ofthe industry, the size of the industry,
and how we can kind of differentiateand find our niche in it.
Excellent questioning, David. You mentionedyou're playing basketball when you were younger and
that you were the point guard onthe team. What is being the point
guard in basketball have to do withyour running the business today? Sure?
(39:07):
Yeah, Well a point guard isyou know, kind of runs the show.
Is the floor general and not justresponsible for knowing you know, your
own game plan, but the gameplan of all your teammates as well as
the other team and the players they'rerunning the defenses, their plan and that,
you know, I don't know ifthere's any better analogy for what you
do as a you know, asa leader of a business is just assessing
(39:30):
the competition and finding your you know, finding the weak points and going after
it. And then I heard thislong list of things that you did to
keep busy when you're a kid sportsand you also mentioned you were a guitar
player. Where did you find thetime to fitting guitar lessons? I did?
I didn't take guitar lessons. Ijust got a guitar and got some
(39:51):
chordbooks, I believe, and juststarted figuring out, you know, how
it worked. And we didn't haveYouTube yet, so I can't. I
don't remember exactly how I learned,but it was just a lot of trial
and error and you know, figuringthings out. So you're a self taught
guitar player, you're figuring things outwith a dehydrator. Would you say you're
kind of like a tinkerer growing up? Tinker is how most people describe me,
(40:15):
sometimes not favorably either, maybe overover Tinker. So how did that
help you grow the business? Well, I think business is all about trial
and air and testing a b testingand optimizing, and you know that's that's
essentially what tinkering is at the endof the day, is trying different things,
(40:35):
measuring them and comparing them to theother options that are on the table.
And that's, you know, tinkeringwhat I want, mister Nailer.
Friend In earlier, you're just speakingabout the neighborhood and friendships and relationships,
and you know, it's just interestingto me. How do those friendships and
relationships impact you today? Yeah,I'm lucky to say that the folks I
(41:01):
grew up with, including my twobrothers, are both all partners in the
company. Um. Maybe the companyis the reason we've stayed together for so
long, but they're just guys that, you know, I have two biological
brothers and several other brothers and justcan't imagine run in the business or or
(41:22):
being where I'm at today without thoseguys. It's, uh, you know,
it's it's everything I have in mylife. But Brendan, how does
it make it be a better leaderand a better CEO? UM? I
think it's, uh, you know, guys that have known you your whole
life have hold you more accountable thanI think employees would. UM. And
so you know, there's a lotof trust there both ways and uh and
(41:45):
it makes you know, make surethat we are executing and holding up kind
of the promises that we've made toeach other when we started the company,
you know, every day as wegrow and kind of hit these new heights
as you know, as a growingcompany. I go back to when you're
in middle school, absolutely, andyou're playing around with this dehydrator. Where'd
(42:06):
you get the products to make yourfirst batch? My mom My mom would
take me to BJ's and we wouldbuy, you know, try to get
the cheapest prices on soy sauce andbeef, and I remember dropping maybe eighty
or ninety dollars and thinking that wasmore money than I'd ever seen in my
life. And it's funny to thinkabout, you know, those ingredient costs
(42:28):
today, given you know where ourvolumes are at today, and I'm curious
where you already thinking about what yourmargins were going to be and whether you
were going to make that ninety backor didn't matter. At the time,
it didn't matter. I didn't reallyfigure out the whole margin equation until I
was working in finance after graduation,and that's really where the the passion for
(42:50):
beef jerky and the know how ofmanufacturing finance kind of came together and the
light bulb went off, and somy mom just kind of supported the tinkering
and let you run wild with it. Yeah. She my mom is she's
an all star and she's you know, she's supported me throughout, you know,
everything in my life and has distilleda lot of the hard working and
(43:12):
you know, never complained type attitudethat I think defines our company. Brendon,
you started making this beef jerky recipewhen you're a kid, and now
you're having pretty explosive growth out there. What's your revenue like or how have
you been growing over the past coupleof years? Yeah? We Uh,
we're doing about twelve million a yearright now. Uh the year Pride of
(43:32):
last year was four and a halfmillion UM. We had plans to hit
close to twenty this year. Soeach year we're kind of raising the bar
and challenging ourselves to uh to keepup with this hundred one hundred percent growth
year a year, which obviously getsgets more difficult. And then what's the
press for artisan brands artzen Brands dotcom and righteous Film dot com. Excellent.
(43:55):
We was speaking at Brendan Colley,founder and CEO of Artisan Brands,
Jeffrey, can you get us arundown? Who else we've had on the
air today, please? What agreat show? Her? We had Trish
Wellenbach, President and CEO of PleaseTouch Museum, Phil Lafata, president of
Dunmore, Mike Regina, co founderof Big Sky Enterprises, and Brendan Calley,
Founder and CEO of Artisan Brands.I'd like to thank my co hosts
(44:15):
including Jeff mac Newmark, Keilia PoppasHandlin, David Jackowitz Evolution Financial Group,
Matthew Shapiro Obermeyer and Matthew Nailler ColumbdalePartners for giving me hand structuring the questions,
hopeully providing our listening audience and educationaland entertaining show like thank our listening
audience for listening. Otherwise we wouldn'thave a radio show, So forget to
(44:37):
visit our website. It's Executive LeadersRadio dot com. That's Executive Leaders Radio
dot com. Thank you for joiningus today and have a nice day.
Bye bye,
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