Latest / Elevate Podcast: Powered by Braden / Elevate Ep 27: From Teacher to CXO, with Lori Winkler, CXO of BlueSky Commerce

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Elevate Ep 27: From Teacher to CXO, with Lori Winkler, CXO of BlueSky Commerce · Elevate Podcast: Powered by Braden

• 0:10
  Welcome to the Elevate podcast powered
• 0:13
  by Braden. This is your front row seat
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  to the stories of local leaders, both
• 0:18
  nonprofit and for-profit, who are
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  shaping our communities. Every episode
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  brings you leadership insights, lessons
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  from challenges, and practical
• 0:27
  strategies you can use today. And yes,
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  we'll keep it real and have some fun
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  along the way. If you're ready to
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  elevate your leadership, hit subscribe
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  and follow us on LinkedIn for updates
• 0:38
  and behind the scenes content. Now,
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  let's dive in. Hey everybody, Jason here
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  with another episode of the LD Powered
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  by Braden podcast and I've got a new
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  friend with me. We met just not too long
• 0:50
  ago. Super cool story, a lot of good
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  opportunities to learn something from
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  Lori. But Lori, welcome to the show.
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  >> Thank you. I'm excited to be here.
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  Honored to be here.
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  >> Awesome. It was great meeting with you
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  and having a great chat a couple weeks
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  ago.
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  >> I appreciate you. Thank you. So, Lori,
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  who you with today?
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  >> So, I am with Blue Sky Commerce. I'm
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  their CXO, chief experience officer. Um,
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  fancy title for um I oversee our agency
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  side of the business and then I oversee
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  all of our customer experience team.
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  >> Okay.
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  >> Uh focusing on providing moments that
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  matter.
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  >> Awesome. By the way, I love that
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  tagline. That's cool. We'll get to that
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  part of your story, but we're not quite
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  there yet. So, let's go back to the
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  beginning. Where are you from?
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  >> Well, originally I was born raised in
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  Dyer, Indiana. So, I am a region rat.
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  >> A region rat as they
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  >> as they likely almost maybe bears
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  country.
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  >> Brian, if if if Indiana ends up with the
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  Bears, what a travesty for I can't even
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  imagine. He's in the Bears. Seriously?
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  >> Yeah. It's unbelievable. Although, you
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  know, it's growing up in dire I was
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  really on the state line. So, Illinois,
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  Indiana.
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  >> Yeah.
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  >> Uh Chicago was maybe 17 miles from our
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  house. But everything around us was like
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  Chicago media.
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  >> So, I kind of felt like I lived
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  >> You're more of an Illinois than you are
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  an Indiana person. And your time was
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  different or different now, right? Still
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  different.
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  >> Yep. It was growing. Yes. Yes. So coming
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  here to Indianapolis, I'm like when I
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  got here, nobody changed the time in
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  Indie.
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  >> That's right. Just you guys up there in
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  Lake and Porter County or whatever they
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  were. Right. Okay.
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  >> So now that the time change is here,
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  we're still behind.
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  >> So but uh yeah, great. Uh went to
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  Andrean High School in Marville, uh
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  Marville Gary area.
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  >> Okay.
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  >> And um and then moved on to college at
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  St. Joe's College.
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  >> All right. So Andrean, right? That's
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  obviously if you're basketball fan, you
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  get Dan Doitch and all that kind of
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  stuff, right? So,
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  >> and Ditch was probably ahead of you in
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  school.
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  >> He was he was in my sisters, my sister's
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  class. Yep.
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  >> I got you. Okay. So, Andrean, what was
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  uh as you're leaving high school and
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  you're thinking about going to St.
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  Joe's? What was the plan? What were you
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  going to plan to study? And where did
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  you think, you know, I'm finished with
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  college. I'm going to do this.
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  >> Yeah. Well, I'm gonna be honest. Um, I
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  first went to Purdue, so I wasn't really
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  thinking about St. shows.
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  >> Okay.
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  >> Uh I took I did spend a year uh at
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  Purdue and then I spent a year out of
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  Purdue.
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  >> Okay.
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  >> Um thinking about why I was actually
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  going to college.
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  >> So when you went to Purdue, I So and
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  this is great. This is a great part of
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  the story because I think a lot of
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  people leave high school and they have
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  no idea what they want to do. I've heard
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  it a million times. So that original,
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  you know, 18-year-old Lori going to
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  Purdue, what were you thinking? Were you
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  going to study engineering? Were you
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  What were you thinking?
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  >> Yeah. Psychology was always the path um
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  for me. And um when I got to Purdue, I
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  went to Purdue mostly because my brother
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  and sister went to Purdue and my other
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  sister went to Notre Dame.
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  >> Okay.
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  >> And so Notre Dame was not an option uh
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  for me unfortunately. But uh so it just
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  kind of was a natural evolution like oh
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  they go to Purdue so you should go to
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  Purdue too.
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  >> Okay.
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  >> When I was there um I it was big. I
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  mean, I came from a smaller private high
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  school and and I'm more of a community
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  type person and so it felt very big and
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  overwhelming.
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  >> Oh, no kidding. Okay.
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  >> And uh and so, you know, you'd make a
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  lot of friends, but then you'd never see
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  them again across campus. And so for me,
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  it was it was um I was introduced to
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  drinking, you know, and I was like,
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  well, this is fun. And you can do pretty
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  much any fun thing at Purdue. Yeah. had
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  away from home.
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  >> Yeah. But then your classes were huge
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  and accountability probably
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  was not where it needed to be. So, um I
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  took a year off
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  >> and uh and once you've had that college
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  life, this is what's so funny. My mom
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  did it so well. She I came back and
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  she's like, "Well, you're going to start
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  paying rent.
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  >> You're going to get your full-time job
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  >> and you're going to start um paying
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  attention to my rules again."
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  >> And so it was like you're going to be in
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  by 11.
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  >> Yep.
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  um full-time job and you're paying for
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  all your food and rent to live at your
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  house you grew up. I was like, I'm not
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  let
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  >> how do I go quickly? What's next?
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  >> I'm like I will be a good student from
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  here on in. And so my dad had gone to
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  St. Joe's. Okay. Uh in Rolier and so um
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  when I went on campus, it just really
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  really clicked for me.
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  >> Just felt right.
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  >> Yeah. It just felt right. And and my dad
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  died when I was young. So I think
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  um maybe I felt a little bit of just
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  that connection
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  >> to him because of going there and it
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  turned out to be literally the best
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  decision in my life. I've made the best
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  friends like just
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  >> it just set me on the right trajectory
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  really. Okay. So um very grateful for
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  that.
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  >> So after a gap year of working hard and
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  paying to pay to live in your own house
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  where you grew up you go you go to St.
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  Joe, you had originally started studying
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  studying psychology. What were you doing
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  at St. Joe? Same thing.
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  >> Yeah. So, I well I did a double major
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  and graduated with double major
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  elementary education and psychology.
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  Okay.
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  >> And I did that mostly because I thought
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  I would want to eventually go into child
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  psychology or potentially be a school
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  counselor.
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  >> Okay.
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  >> And so, um, I wanted to go ahead and get
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  both. And um
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  and really I had thought about going to
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  uh get my masters and go on to become
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  the full psychologist but quite honestly
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  I was paying for my own college
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  >> and um that was not probably in the
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  cards for me. So I went in and started
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  teaching fourth grade in inner city
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  Chicago
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  >> is where I started my career.
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  >> So okay so from Ren was it St. in Renoli
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  is right. Okay. So from Renelier,
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  Indiana all the way up to Chicago which
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  by the way kind of felt more almost like
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  home at that point, right? Indie was
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  further away, Chicago was closer.
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  >> So fourth grade teaching teaching in
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  Chicago. How was that experience?
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  >> That was eye opening. Yeah.
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  >> Um it was it but yet um I had a I had a
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  really open principle like where hey if
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  you've got ideas we'll take them. And so
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  she allowed me to basically um I was
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  probably ahead of my times. I was very
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  hands-on uh curriculum. And so instead
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  of using your normal like basil readers
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  and things, I wanted the kids to have
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  real life experiences. So I just kind of
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  created the curriculum to make sure that
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  it still checked the boxes and
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  >> but I wanted to be creative. And I think
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  it goes back to the experience. If kids
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  can't if you know you're teaching them
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  things that they don't it's not their
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  dayto-day especially the kids that I was
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  teaching fourth grade most of my kids
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  had been honestly thrown out of other
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  schools.
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  >> Yeah.
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  >> They had a lot of lot of issues at home
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  and
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  >> and so you know they're dealing with so
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  much stuff that I wanted them to see the
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  world differently than maybe what
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  reading a book
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  >> really
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  >> I let them do.
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  >> So that it's it's interesting and
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  there's two parts to that right. The
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  first thing he said was you had a
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  principle that kind of allowed you to be
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  open. That that's actually really
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  interesting. In many roles, no matter
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  who your leader is, sometimes they don't
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  allow that,
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  >> right?
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  >> But you were checking the boxes, doing
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  the things they could tell something was
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  in you that you wanted to try to make a
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  difference with these kids.
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  >> But I'm curious though, where did the
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  experience come from? Like so where did
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  instead of coming in and having a
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  classroom and walking through the book
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  and here's your test and here's this and
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  checkbox checkbox checkbox where did it
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  come you know where did this idea come
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  from to give them a different experience
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  and do it more um maybe like you said
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  ahead of your time.
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  >> Yeah, great question actually and I
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  hadn't really thought about it but I
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  would I would probably say it comes from
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  again personal experience. Um, you know,
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  my dad died when I was in third grade.
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  So, I was teaching fourth grade.
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  >> Mhm.
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  >> And, um, he passed away suddenly from a
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  heart attack when I was in third grade.
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  And my world was so different then.
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  >> Yeah.
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  >> Um, and you're dealing with so much and
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  everything changes. You know, income
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  changes. We, you know, my mom had a
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  inhome daycare and so, you know,
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  financially everything changes. So, the
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  stressors that you're going through just
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  showing up and reading out of a basil
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  reader about
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  >> Yeah. you know, something science-wise
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  or um it just it didn't connect with me.
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  My, you know, I I needed something a
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  little bit more, I guess, stimulating to
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  to help me almost escape from
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  >> what I was feeling or to see the world
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  and the possibilities a little bit
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  different. And so I just knew that and I
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  think that was my whole thing about
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  being a student. I wasn't, you know, I
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  had my brother and two sisters were like
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  straight A validictorian in high school,
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  >> you know, number one at Notre Dame. So,
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  you know, here comes Lori and I'm
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  >> C student and and I think it's because
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  it just it just didn't connect with me.
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  And you know, I just it I and so I
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  thought, you know what? If if I'm
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  feeling this way, then I'd like to get
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  into a school and
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  >> yeah,
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  >> see how I can get these kids to really
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  embrace education and and love it when,
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  you know, they don't love too much else
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  in their life.
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  >> That's awesome, by the way, that that
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  your experience, you leverage that
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  thinking that other kids are going
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  through that same thing. And the the
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  truth is they are.
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  >> I'm the youngest of three boys, right?
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  older too, wicked smart. Here comes
• 10:49
  Jason. Is this kid even ours? Where
• 10:52
  where did where did he come from? All
• 10:53
  that kind of stuff because I wasn't
• 10:55
  interested in those things either,
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  right? I like the experience. I like to
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  to learn from doing and those types of
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  things. And so that's the kind of kid I
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  was. So fourth grade teacher downtown
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  Chicago. How long are you doing that? I
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  >> I only did it a year. And the only
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  reason for that is um I ended up
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  marrying my college sweetheart and he
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  his job was in uh Columbus, Ohio.
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  >> Okay.
• 11:20
  >> So um he was in operations and logistics
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  and I was a Catholic school teacher so
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  he made a little more than me.
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  >> So it meant I was going to be moving
• 11:29
  over to Ohio.
• 11:30
  >> Okay.
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  >> And in Ohio they have different
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  licensing standards and so I wasn't able
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  to start teaching right away. Um, and
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  luckily I found a position in a
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  community educator. Okay.
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  >> Uh, in a healthcare
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  >> uh company and and that was more of a
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  sales
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  >> position. And I I just it was me.
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  >> Oh, really?
• 11:53
  >> Business and going out and helping
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  people.
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  >> Yeah. Sure.
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  >> Educate people on something that makes
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  life a better, right? And so it just
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  resonated. So I never went back.
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  >> Never went back to teach them. So, so
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  now now you're in sales, right? So, how
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  does how do you go from sales to chief
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  experience officer? What what's that
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  journey look like?
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  >> Well, um you know, it's so fast forward,
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  I was doing sales for um it was about a
• 12:22
  year and a half and uh my husband's from
• 12:25
  Indianapolis.
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  >> Okay.
• 12:26
  >> And his father who was a IMPD had a um
• 12:31
  brain hemorrhage and very tragic. uh he
• 12:35
  was in a coma and this is just when he's
• 12:38
  51. So we decided we needed to move back
• 12:40
  here
• 12:42
  >> and so um I took a sales role for a
• 12:46
  recruiting company and did that and I
• 12:48
  was introduced to a sales trainer Bill
• 12:51
  Casy who's here um in Carmel.
• 12:54
  >> Yeah, sure.
• 12:54
  >> And uh I his whole training is based on
• 12:58
  the psychology behind selling.
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  >> Oh, right up your alley.
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  >> Yeah. And I was like, "Oh, this is
• 13:03
  great." because I'm not the,
• 13:05
  >> you know,
• 13:06
  >> Yeah. Yeah.
• 13:07
  >> I'm a problem solver and I like to help
• 13:10
  people and so um and I like to help them
• 13:14
  think about ways that they can solve
• 13:16
  problems. And so he trained on that and
• 13:19
  >> Okay.
• 13:20
  >> And I felt like it wasn't moves and this
• 13:22
  is what you say in a script and here's
• 13:24
  how you do your cold calls. It was it
• 13:26
  was just meaningful. How do you help
• 13:28
  people?
• 13:29
  >> Mhm.
• 13:30
  >> And uh and so I did that. he hired me
• 13:34
  and it was just he and I um gosh I think
• 13:37
  I was 29 and I'm out training large
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  companies and
• 13:42
  >> sure
• 13:43
  >> business owners and and um so did that
• 13:46
  for some time and then um from there I
• 13:49
  was introduced to a a marketing agency
• 13:52
  and and one of the things for me is when
• 13:54
  you're sales training
• 13:56
  and you're teaching people like high
• 13:58
  intent sales and problem solving and
• 14:01
  then all the marketing feature benefit
• 14:03
  feature benefit and
• 14:04
  >> you got a mismatch.
• 14:05
  >> Yeah, you really do. And I thought,
• 14:06
  well, now I got to get over to the other
• 14:08
  side and start understanding the
• 14:11
  marketing side of things. So, I worked
• 14:13
  for an agency downtown. Okay.
• 14:15
  >> Um as their VP of sales and strategy and
• 14:19
  I was there for nine years. I had worked
• 14:23
  up to be their CEO. I was appointed the
• 14:25
  CEO of that agency. and um uh great
• 14:30
  agency, great people and um but then
• 14:34
  decided to go on on my own.
• 14:37
  >> So now wait a second here. So there
• 14:39
  there's always there's always this point
• 14:40
  where people say they go from being a
• 14:42
  entrepreneur to an entrepreneur. So I'm
• 14:44
  curious. So nine years in sales training
• 14:48
  people on sales and then go over to the
• 14:51
  marketing side leading that marketing
• 14:52
  effort. By the way, great experiences
• 14:55
  get a chance to be the CEO of that
• 14:56
  organization. So now you're not only are
• 14:58
  you kind of running the sales, but
• 15:01
  you're also running the company and and
• 15:03
  leading people and and in that role to
• 15:06
  make the decision to go from CEO to
• 15:08
  business owner. What what were what kind
• 15:11
  of sparked in you to say, "Hey, I think
• 15:13
  I want to hang my own shingle or I want
• 15:14
  to throw my hat in the ring."
• 15:16
  >> Well, you know, I I think at the time I
• 15:19
  just I've always been so passionate
• 15:21
  about helping people
• 15:23
  >> and um and business, like the two
• 15:26
  things. And so I thought, how do I marry
• 15:28
  these? Um, and I I loved I was on
• 15:32
  several boards, nonprofit boards, and I
• 15:35
  just really gravitated to how do I help
• 15:38
  them because
• 15:39
  >> the one thing they always struggle with
• 15:41
  is sales and marketing in nonprofits.
• 15:44
  They don't even call it that really. No.
• 15:45
  Uh, development, marketing,
• 15:48
  >> uh, fundraising. And and in fairness,
• 15:51
  they're they're told, "Don't spend any
• 15:53
  money on this." Mhm.
• 15:55
  >> And the thing I was really good at was
• 15:57
  going out and figuring out how do I find
• 15:59
  you some money so that we can tell more
• 16:01
  people about your organization and
• 16:03
  mission really drive bigger change than
• 16:05
  what you're doing.
• 16:06
  >> Y
• 16:06
  >> and so we ended up I I started WDM
• 16:10
  Creative um and had that for 10 years
• 16:13
  and it our big niche was nonprofit. So,
• 16:18
  >> um, and nonprofit government. So, we
• 16:20
  worked on, um, we launched the On My Way
• 16:23
  PreK here in Indianapolis, um, the free
• 16:27
  child care program, Brighter Futures
• 16:28
  Indiana. We spent a lot of time in early
• 16:30
  education, interestingly enough.
• 16:32
  >> Go figure, right?
• 16:33
  >> Yeah. So I worked with the department of
• 16:35
  education and so we really helped um
• 16:39
  families figure out how to find child
• 16:41
  care and um from a technology side and
• 16:45
  from really a consumer education
• 16:49
  >> and then I had quite a few nonprofits
• 16:52
  that we work with on a consistent basis
• 16:55
  still work with um and and you know I
• 16:59
  felt like I was feeding
• 17:02
  >> my soul kind at the same time, right?
• 17:04
  >> Great. What great job. What a great
• 17:06
  business because it speaks to everything
• 17:09
  that's kind of been you to your core.
• 17:11
  You're helping people. You're solving
• 17:13
  problems. I think you're exactly right
• 17:15
  with the nonprofit space. They're told,
• 17:16
  "Don't spend any money."
• 17:17
  >> Right.
• 17:18
  >> The truth is they got to go get in front
• 17:19
  of people who might become passionate
• 17:21
  about what they're doing, what they're
• 17:22
  solving, get them involved. That's how
• 17:24
  they grow.
• 17:25
  >> Yep.
• 17:25
  >> Right. And so you're helping them do
• 17:27
  those things, having a blast. This what
• 17:30
  a great role.
• 17:31
  >> Yeah. Yeah. It's and at the time uh
• 17:33
  since we were talking books and
• 17:35
  different things, one of the books that
• 17:36
  inspired me was Dan Pilada.
• 17:38
  >> Okay.
• 17:38
  >> Um it's uncharitable and
• 17:42
  because I am very much a business
• 17:43
  person, I always have gravitated towards
• 17:46
  business. Interestingly enough, you you
• 17:48
  know what's fun for me is learning about
• 17:50
  business um
• 17:52
  >> and understanding everything about
• 17:54
  business. But, you know, he Dan Palada
• 17:57
  really came at it from, you know, we we
• 18:01
  recruit, you know, Harvard education
• 18:03
  people that come out making $400,000 a
• 18:06
  year. They're the brightest of the
• 18:08
  bright. And then we tell a nonprofit,
• 18:10
  >> your CEO should only make $60,000 and
• 18:13
  how dare they make any more. And
• 18:15
  >> and it's it's it's backwards. Like, you
• 18:18
  would never go to an entrepreneur and
• 18:19
  say, "Don't spend on people, don't spend
• 18:21
  on marketing, and don't spend on sales."
• 18:24
  And those are the three areas that are
• 18:25
  considered overhead
• 18:28
  >> um at nonprofits. And so if we really
• 18:32
  want to start changing the world, we
• 18:33
  probably need to start rethinking how we
• 18:37
  um manage nonprofits. And so knowing
• 18:41
  that we're not there yet. It was how can
• 18:44
  I go out and help them find money from
• 18:47
  the sales perspective. So understanding
• 18:49
  if you had $2 million tomorrow, what
• 18:52
  would you do with it?
• 18:54
  >> And when you get nonprofit leaders and
• 18:56
  board members thinking that way, the
• 18:58
  next thing you know, it's like, okay,
• 18:59
  well, let's go find it. That's really
• 19:01
  there's somebody who cares about
• 19:03
  >> That's right.
• 19:04
  >> what you just said. And and there are
• 19:06
  people who will spend money to see that
• 19:09
  kind of change happen and and so I would
• 19:11
  help them on that end and then, you
• 19:13
  know, we'd be able to we'd be off to the
• 19:15
  races.
• 19:16
  >> That's awesome. Yeah. So, it was a lot
• 19:18
  of fun.
• 19:19
  >> What a cool business.
• 19:20
  >> Yeah.
• 19:21
  >> So, how long does that go? And then from
• 19:23
  there, is that where you're going into
• 19:25
  Blue Sky?
• 19:25
  >> Yep. So, that I was there 10 years.
• 19:29
  Okay.
• 19:29
  >> 10 years about almost 10 years. And uh
• 19:32
  Blue Sky, the two owners, Todd Irwin and
• 19:34
  Eric Warren, I actually served on the
• 19:37
  board of a special organization to me,
• 19:38
  Brooks Place, with Eric's wife. Yeah.
• 19:40
  Yeah.
• 19:41
  >> So, I have known both Todd and Eric for
• 19:43
  some time and they had really been
• 19:45
  trying to um
• 19:48
  they specialize in e-commerce Blue Sky
• 19:50
  and the technology building e-commerce
• 19:53
  uh platforms and
• 19:55
  you know they said we're missing the
• 19:57
  piece about the customer experience, the
• 20:00
  marketing, what is the user experience
• 20:03
  and so um from a digital standpoint you
• 20:07
  know they just were trying to build it
• 20:09
  internally but said you what we don't we
• 20:12
  don't have the team we don't have the
• 20:14
  knowledge so um would you be interested
• 20:16
  in coming here bringing your
• 20:19
  >> uh merging with blue sky and you know it
• 20:22
  took some thought but but you know and I
• 20:26
  probably honestly Eric and Todd are
• 20:28
  phenomenal people and I I will say it
• 20:30
  hadn't really crossed my mind to ever do
• 20:32
  that
• 20:33
  >> and I don't think I would have done it
• 20:35
  if it weren't for who they were as
• 20:37
  people
• 20:38
  >> and uh I felt like it gave
• 20:42
  um even my team as a smaller business we
• 20:45
  had seven I think um it just it and a
• 20:48
  lot of contractors we used
• 20:49
  >> sure
• 20:50
  >> freelancers but um it gave them
• 20:53
  opportunity to grow
• 20:54
  >> and expand at a faster pace so I felt
• 20:58
  like it was a good decision we were able
• 20:59
  to you know still maintain we were able
• 21:01
  to bring over client base um and then
• 21:05
  help theirs and add to it so it it was a
• 21:07
  good fit so it's I just had 7 years
• 21:10
  anniversary from uh that date when we
• 21:13
  all first started.
• 21:14
  >> Yeah. And interestingly enough, two of
• 21:17
  the employees that we have that um on my
• 21:21
  team have started with me at Sanders
• 21:24
  Group. So we've been working together
• 21:26
  for 25
• 21:27
  >> No kidding.
• 21:27
  >> plus years. Yeah. So
• 21:30
  >> So that's awesome.
• 21:31
  >> Yeah.
• 21:32
  >> That that's terrific. You have that kind
• 21:34
  of history in 10 years. So if seven
• 21:35
  years goes by, you're the CXO. I guess
• 21:39
  maybe tell us more. Blue Sky, what do
• 21:40
  you guys do? Who you serving? Those
• 21:42
  types of things.
• 21:43
  >> Yeah. So, Blue Sky, we just had our 20th
• 21:46
  anniversary also in March. Um so Blue
• 21:49
  Sky started as a uh technology
• 21:52
  consultancy but really with that
• 21:55
  specialized uh skill set in e-commerce
• 21:58
  and 20 years ago
• 22:00
  you know they they
• 22:02
  were part part of the pioneers really in
• 22:05
  build some of the you know platforms you
• 22:08
  see and use today. Um, and so they uh
• 22:15
  focus they partner with a lot of ecom
• 22:18
  platforms. So we're really more of the
• 22:19
  SI side of it. So more implementation.
• 22:22
  >> Yeah.
• 22:23
  >> And um work with mid to large size uh
• 22:27
  enterprise organizations
• 22:29
  and I mean honestly they I that was part
• 22:33
  of it too. You meet anybody at Blue Sky
• 22:35
  these people are smart. Feel like I'm
• 22:37
  hanging out with my sister and brothers
• 22:39
  again.
• 22:41
  um you know the whole I'm not worthy. Um
• 22:44
  they are very very good at what they do.
• 22:46
  So everything from data architects to
• 22:50
  BAS, business analysts. Um so they go in
• 22:53
  and and work on highly highly complex uh
• 22:56
  e-commerce strategies and and not even
• 22:59
  just the platform but the whole
• 23:01
  ecosystem right like
• 23:03
  >> as and we really specialize have moved
• 23:06
  we started more in retail
• 23:07
  >> but have moved in the last probably 10
• 23:10
  years heavy B2B it's so complex. Y
• 23:14
  >> and our team has so much experience.
• 23:16
  They're able to kind of dissect
• 23:20
  >> the business side of things, the data
• 23:22
  side of things to and the multi-
• 23:24
  channelannel sales side of things in
• 23:26
  order to really understand what what
• 23:28
  does this customer need to satisfy their
• 23:31
  customer.
• 23:31
  >> Yeah.
• 23:32
  >> Um so
• 23:33
  >> that's very cool. So serving clients mid
• 23:35
  to to mid to large enterprise. Can they
• 23:38
  be anywhere in the United States?
• 23:40
  >> We Oh yes, we actually are global. Okay.
• 23:43
  Okay.
• 23:43
  >> Um we have an office in Canada. We have
• 23:45
  an office in India.
• 23:47
  >> Okay.
• 23:47
  >> And we have clients all over. Got it.
• 23:50
  >> Primarily North America, but we have
• 23:52
  done other
• 23:53
  >> can serve anywhere. Right. So anywhere
• 23:55
  that somebody's doing that new system
• 23:57
  change, you got the ability to do the
• 23:59
  implementation. So the CX CXO role, what
• 24:02
  what's that look like? What are you
• 24:04
  doing?
• 24:04
  >> Sure. So David, for me, I do a lot of
• 24:08
  the strategic work. One of the things um
• 24:11
  that I do think differentiates us from
• 24:13
  just technology is we'll spend a lot of
• 24:16
  time first looking at the customer, the
• 24:19
  buyers.
• 24:20
  >> It goes back to um a lot of companies
• 24:24
  make the mistake without knowing that
• 24:27
  it's a mistake of okay, we're going to
• 24:29
  get on this platform. They do a platform
• 24:32
  analysis and these three are Gartner's
• 24:34
  best platforms and then they haven't
• 24:37
  looked at the complexity and the buyers
• 24:40
  be who will be using the platform and so
• 24:45
  they make a choice and then try and fit
• 24:47
  the
• 24:48
  >> platform to the buyers and they only
• 24:50
  find that out typically after the
• 24:52
  platform's been deployed and no one's
• 24:54
  adopting it. Yeah.
• 24:55
  >> It's got a lot of friction points in it.
• 24:57
  And now you're spending a gazillion
• 24:59
  dollars on the other site. So for me,
• 25:01
  >> you bought a square platform, but you
• 25:03
  actually have a round, you know, serve
• 25:04
  customer.
• 25:05
  >> Everybody does that. They call the
• 25:06
  technology first. They the platform the
• 25:09
  the software company whether it's Adobe
• 25:12
  or whoever. Yeah. Um and so they do this
• 25:15
  analysis internally and it may be you
• 25:19
  know it or whomever or some business uh
• 25:23
  areas but but they they don't
• 25:26
  necessarily take a look at who are our
• 25:28
  buyers, what mode are they in? Are they
• 25:30
  just repurchasing? Are they finding out
• 25:33
  about us? Are they comparing? you know,
• 25:36
  and really mapping out that first y
• 25:39
  >> so then you can feasibly see very
• 25:41
  clearly. Here's the kind of technology
• 25:44
  you're going to need to be able to do
• 25:47
  that in the best way possible um for
• 25:50
  your customer and for you.
• 25:52
  >> And so we do a lot I particularly work
• 25:55
  with our clients on that buyer mode,
• 25:58
  understanding the customer experience
• 26:00
  they're going to need to have. Yep.
• 26:01
  >> Um I work side by side with the tech
• 26:04
  team and then uh my team does a lot of
• 26:07
  the CX analysis. Um they'll build out
• 26:10
  those journey maps, those personas, the
• 26:13
  buyer modes and then um together we make
• 26:17
  we help the client make the best
• 26:18
  decision. What a what a great model by
• 26:21
  the way because as as you said a lot of
• 26:24
  people go they look at the tech they
• 26:26
  they buy the square finds out that they
• 26:28
  actually need the triangle one but they
• 26:29
  don't find out till the end and they
• 26:31
  spend an awful lot of money trying to
• 26:33
  hammer people into something
• 26:35
  >> where if they could spend a little bit
• 26:36
  of time up front
• 26:38
  >> a little bit of money
• 26:39
  >> might make a better decision because
• 26:40
  what you actually then implement is
• 26:42
  what's what actually solve the problems
• 26:44
  for the clients and the users
• 26:45
  downstream. That's terrific that you
• 26:47
  guys do that and that's that's that's
• 26:50
  probably when they seven years ago when
• 26:52
  they came to you that might have been
• 26:53
  one of the challenges that they saw and
• 26:54
  something you could solve, right?
• 26:55
  >> Yes. That's exactly right. And it and it
• 26:58
  it we see it over and because we get a
• 27:00
  lot of the pickup like this system won't
• 27:02
  work and so now what do we do? Because
• 27:06
  that implementation they'll say the
• 27:07
  implementation went bad. Well, it went
• 27:09
  bad before it already started. And uh
• 27:12
  and so I think that's what makes Blue
• 27:14
  Sky honestly it's just really different
• 27:17
  and we see it all the time is that you
• 27:20
  know we take that collective approach
• 27:22
  and understanding the whole um because
• 27:25
  it is so you mentioned it it's very
• 27:28
  pricey. So when you're doing enterprise
• 27:31
  or mid-level, especially in B2B, a lot
• 27:33
  of these companies maybe are early in
• 27:36
  getting into this. And so those
• 27:39
  decisions have big impacts when you have
• 27:41
  dealer, distributor, internal sales,
• 27:44
  independent sales. Now everybody's mad.
• 27:47
  >> Yeah.
• 27:47
  >> Because maybe we didn't manage the
• 27:49
  change first to see like what are we
• 27:51
  going to do with our sales team? What
• 27:52
  are they going to sell versus what how
• 27:54
  are we going to ask our customers to use
• 27:56
  these platforms? And then you have
• 27:58
  dealers and distributors who are like,
• 28:00
  "Wait a minute, are you going direct to
• 28:01
  customer now and cutting us out?" I
• 28:03
  mean, so we that's part of that whole
• 28:06
  front-end um analysis. And while it is
• 28:10
  spending a little bit, it I every time
• 28:13
  it saves astronomical dollars because a
• 28:16
  lot of people spend on platforms
• 28:19
  and that's part of the problem you see
• 28:21
  every day. software companies will come
• 28:23
  in and say it's out of the box
• 28:27
  immediately every it you can do all that
• 28:29
  serox it's going to do all that out of
• 28:31
  the box
• 28:32
  >> but they don't even know what all that
• 28:33
  is so once you start digging in and
• 28:35
  trying to build it
• 28:36
  >> it's not out of the box so that's where
• 28:39
  you get all these delays in
• 28:41
  implementation you get change requested
• 28:43
  to death and then you get low adoption
• 28:46
  and to us
• 28:47
  >> and and my team is really big
• 28:50
  everything's about outcomes And this
• 28:52
  should be a growth engine. It's not a
• 28:55
  transaction.
• 28:56
  >> Y
• 28:56
  >> it's a growth engine for your
• 28:58
  organization. And so you have to look at
• 29:00
  it not just it's like go happens after
• 29:05
  implementation. Let's make sure we keep
• 29:07
  going. So part of my job too and our
• 29:09
  team is the marketing side. So how do we
• 29:12
  get people once you have it, how do we
• 29:14
  get people using it? How do we how do we
• 29:16
  convert and what does that look like?
• 29:19
  How do we get them to find it? And so we
• 29:21
  have that digital uh winging arm too.
• 29:23
  >> Yeah. But think about your model, right?
• 29:24
  And this is in and I know a lot of the
• 29:26
  competitors are in the space and I
• 29:27
  happen to have been technical and worked
• 29:29
  in this area, right? So most of the time
• 29:32
  a buyer is going to say, "Well, I don't
• 29:34
  want this upfront cost of of you
• 29:37
  figuring out really what we should do."
• 29:38
  Well, it's not a cost, it's an
• 29:40
  investment. At the end of the day, when
• 29:41
  I'm investing these dollars, my expected
• 29:43
  outcome is a higher return. a cost is
• 29:46
  something I'm not going to make a return
• 29:47
  on. But at the end of the day, your
• 29:49
  users will be happy. People will be able
• 29:51
  to leverage it. And the bookend, what
• 29:54
  you do, which is really cool, I didn't
• 29:55
  realize this part. You do this front-end
• 29:57
  analysis, you pick the right system, you
• 30:00
  put the system into place, you start
• 30:02
  using it, and then you can help people
• 30:03
  market it.
• 30:04
  >> Yes.
• 30:04
  >> Your knowledge that you gathered up
• 30:06
  front actually helps the back end of the
• 30:09
  process because you understand those
• 30:10
  buyers, the journeys they're going
• 30:12
  through. Yeah. So from a marketing
• 30:14
  standpoint, what a great story.
• 30:15
  >> Yeah, it's it's great. And and it us too
• 30:19
  is marketing a lot of times from our
• 30:21
  customer side. They're not invited to
• 30:23
  the party.
• 30:24
  >> Yeah.
• 30:24
  >> In any of those early conversations. So
• 30:27
  we that's a piece that we ensure like
• 30:30
  you they need to be part of this.
• 30:32
  >> Sure.
• 30:33
  >> Because they're the ones who have to
• 30:34
  drive people. They're the ones who have
• 30:36
  to create the experiences and really
• 30:38
  they have to show their ROI. The only
• 30:40
  way they're going to do that is if you
• 30:41
  get it right.
• 30:42
  >> Absolutely.
• 30:43
  >> Right front. So, it's it's investment
• 30:45
  and it's to me it's it's
• 30:49
  a not a nice to have. It's a need to
• 30:52
  have if you want to maybe it's not risk.
• 30:55
  It's actually avoiding.
• 30:56
  >> That's right. It's risk avoidance at
• 30:58
  that point.
• 30:58
  >> A lot of risk at the back end.
• 31:00
  >> And again, remember these are big
• 31:02
  dollars these folks are putting out
• 31:03
  there to make this stuff work. And the
• 31:04
  longer it takes, the longer it takes to
• 31:06
  implement, the more it takes to fix.
• 31:08
  just more time, more money, more time,
• 31:09
  more money. And so, what a really cool
• 31:12
  business.
• 31:12
  >> Yeah, it's been great. And and we're
• 31:14
  lucky. We have companies that come to
• 31:17
  us. We have one right now that's um in
• 31:19
  Canada and uh a large uh financial
• 31:23
  company and they're they're looking at
• 31:26
  doing more e-commerce and but they don't
• 31:30
  have it yet. So, we're starting from the
• 31:32
  business side of things and the go to
• 31:34
  market strategy. Is it a US? Is it, you
• 31:37
  know, is it international? Like where
• 31:40
  what's going to make the most sense for
• 31:41
  your business? And so they're they're
• 31:43
  investing in that front end to make sure
• 31:45
  that
• 31:46
  >> we don't they don't make a huge mistake
• 31:50
  that in the long run because clients,
• 31:52
  you know, they're hard to come by and
• 31:54
  employees are. And yeah,
• 31:55
  >> it's equally as disruptive sometimes to
• 31:58
  employees when something like that of
• 32:00
  course
• 32:00
  >> gets implemented. And so um having
• 32:04
  having that your
• 32:06
  everything. What is it? Dotted eyes and
• 32:09
  tees. Yeah. Yeah, I was right. Yeah,
• 32:11
  >> I haven't heard that in a while. Yeah.
• 32:13
  >> Um, you know, it's it's to me I think
• 32:16
  that is
• 32:18
  probably the best thing you could do for
• 32:20
  your company.
• 32:21
  >> Yeah, agree 100%. So, seven years for
• 32:24
  you at Blue Sky, 20 years for the
• 32:26
  organization. One of the things we talk
• 32:28
  about is we're a technology company.
• 32:30
  We talk about technology and so
• 32:32
  obviously you guys are in tech as well
• 32:34
  but it I'm interested how is tech
• 32:37
  beginning to evolve in your space and
• 32:39
  maybe how are you leveraging technology?
• 32:42
  Have you guys used the words AI? Right.
• 32:44
  Everyone says AI 7,000 times a day and
• 32:48
  uh so but but how is tech beginning to
• 32:50
  evolve?
• 32:51
  >> Yeah, it's funny you use that word. Um
• 32:53
  tech it
• 32:56
  between AI and customer demand. I look
• 32:59
  at two things and customer expectations
• 33:02
  and they're kind of married, right?
• 33:04
  >> Everybody wants everything right now. I
• 33:05
  need the fastest answers. I need
• 33:08
  >> and um and so for us technology, it's
• 33:13
  it's almost hard to keep up. If you look
• 33:17
  at the ecom side of things, like these
• 33:19
  enterprise huge um platforms, it's hard
• 33:22
  to for them to adjust quickly. Mhm.
• 33:25
  >> Um so Blue Sky just over the past three
• 33:29
  years has has built their own headless
• 33:32
  storefront to which is called Evolve
• 33:35
  which is why I say there's evolve
• 33:37
  storefront
• 33:38
  >> where it's you know production ready so
• 33:41
  that you can your backend might require
• 33:43
  all of the enterprise level
• 33:47
  functionality but adapting to the speed
• 33:51
  that customers expect the
• 33:52
  personalization is not there and it
• 33:56
  costs a lot to make that happen. So we
• 33:58
  built uh Evolve for that reason. Um and
• 34:02
  so that way you could get more of that
• 34:04
  personalized storefront um production
• 34:07
  ready. But on also within that we've
• 34:10
  developed several AI tools that are
• 34:12
  within that platform. So we have the AI
• 34:16
  image search.
• 34:17
  >> So when you ask where do you see tech
• 34:20
  going? You know, one thing and again
• 34:22
  this is a lot ecom but it's it's across
• 34:25
  the board you know search SEO such a big
• 34:27
  thing right
• 34:29
  >> and even on your uh product pages and
• 34:32
  categories and your filters and taxonomy
• 34:35
  it's all like you got to have that
• 34:36
  perfect because of search.
• 34:38
  >> Yeah.
• 34:38
  >> And that's where everything your data
• 34:41
  everything gets if it's not good data
• 34:44
  your search isn't a good experience. And
• 34:47
  so we developed an AI um if you take
• 34:51
  like Google image search, but this is
• 34:53
  actually what you can put on your
• 34:55
  website. So where the text box for
• 34:58
  search is there's the camera. Yeah.
• 35:00
  >> You upload your photo and it finds the
• 35:02
  image. Right.
• 35:04
  >> And so that way right now most sites
• 35:07
  just you have to go to Google and it
• 35:09
  takes you off.
• 35:10
  >> Yep. Authority.
• 35:11
  >> Sure.
• 35:12
  >> And you don't want them
• 35:13
  >> you don't want them to leave, right? And
• 35:15
  so this and it works on any platform and
• 35:17
  it's it's just a separate AI tool that
• 35:20
  then you can use there. So if I'm have
• 35:23
  to reorder band-aids for my hospital or
• 35:25
  whatever the case may be, I can
• 35:27
  literally just take the box, have a
• 35:29
  picture, upload it, and it's there
• 35:32
  >> way easier.
• 35:33
  >> Yeah. So we're trying to build out AI
• 35:36
  tools that fit more of what do c again
• 35:39
  what does the buyer need
• 35:41
  >> and what does the buyer demand and how
• 35:43
  you differentiate how you capture market
• 35:45
  share because you're doing something
• 35:46
  with AI that
• 35:48
  >> your competitors aren't and so then we
• 35:51
  have the AI um dressing room so we've
• 35:54
  built that in so you can try on your
• 35:56
  clothes
• 35:57
  >> and um that is also platform agnostic so
• 36:00
  there's a couple tools that we built as
• 36:03
  a starter point first uh evolve
• 36:05
  >> but then you know also anybody can
• 36:08
  really purchase those. So we see I mean
• 36:11
  it's amazing what AI does with with
• 36:14
  shopping and and um customer experience
• 36:18
  but even internally we've just
• 36:21
  >> on the other side of the table it's how
• 36:23
  are we using AI right from a privacy
• 36:27
  standpoint so then you have that side of
• 36:29
  the thing it's how do you become more
• 36:31
  efficient but also
• 36:34
  >> um you know we deal with so much
• 36:36
  everybody does so much client sensitive
• 36:38
  information and having your own policies
• 36:40
  in place
• 36:42
  has been uh
• 36:44
  >> has been you know a constant discussion
• 36:47
  and adapting because it the you know
• 36:50
  everything changes so fast.
• 36:51
  >> It does. It's interesting you guys kind
• 36:54
  of live in that intersection because
• 36:55
  you're a tech company and so you're
• 36:57
  producing AI starting points for people
• 37:00
  to come in and be able to leverage a you
• 37:03
  know a starter for the dressing room. So
• 37:05
  here's 80% of it completed. we only need
• 37:07
  to customize 20%. Right? And so you can
• 37:10
  do those types of things, but you're
• 37:11
  also then at the end of the day, you're
• 37:13
  really in the people business. You are
• 37:16
  there to help customers understand who
• 37:18
  their clients are, how they operate, how
• 37:21
  their teams leverage their system. All
• 37:23
  of that is people, right? And you need
• 37:25
  to go understand those things. And you
• 37:27
  have to do that in a in a human way. You
• 37:30
  have to have conversations with people.
• 37:32
  And so as you see AI changing, I'm
• 37:35
  assuming what you'll want to find is
• 37:36
  that you're going to get time back in
• 37:38
  your day to have more human
• 37:39
  conversations to solve human problems
• 37:42
  leveraging technology, right? And so you
• 37:45
  guys have a cool business. I mean, you
• 37:46
  really truly do. And the organizations
• 37:48
  you guys support globally, you know, go
• 37:51
  out and support hundreds of thousands
• 37:53
  and millions of people across the globe.
• 37:56
  And so it's cool the challenges you guys
• 37:57
  get to work on. And uh what a super cool
• 38:00
  business. And so as you think through,
• 38:02
  you know, kind of thinking of that, the
• 38:04
  next thing we talk about is community.
• 38:07
  >> And so I know community is near and dear
• 38:09
  to your heart, right? Both local
• 38:10
  community, your business community,
• 38:12
  nonprofit community. But when you think
• 38:14
  about community, what comes to you and
• 38:16
  kind of how are you interacting with
• 38:17
  community? Well, I think community for
• 38:20
  me is um everything from your neighbors
• 38:24
  to the people that you work with um and
• 38:27
  how you can do and be there for them. Um
• 38:33
  I'll break it out. So, Blue Sky has Blue
• 38:36
  Sky Cares. So, we do a lot for the
• 38:38
  community. Um and it's an employee
• 38:41
  program. Um, but for me, I, you know,
• 38:44
  back to the nonprofits,
• 38:46
  I'm just
• 38:49
  I feel like, um,
• 38:52
  I need to be involved
• 38:55
  >> in in helping others um because so many
• 39:00
  people help me.
• 39:01
  >> Yeah.
• 39:01
  >> I feel like um and so specifically, I
• 39:05
  don't know if
• 39:05
  >> Yeah. Go for Yes.
• 39:07
  >> specifically um when we talk about
• 39:09
  helping others. So I mentioned my dad
• 39:11
  died and when I was um
• 39:16
  here in well it was when I had WDM I had
• 39:19
  used a freelance photog or videographer
• 39:21
  and I we were talking about he's like I
• 39:23
  have a shoot at Brook's place and I'm
• 39:25
  like what's that and he's like well it's
• 39:27
  an organization that helps children who
• 39:29
  are grieving
• 39:31
  >> and going through grief and it's a
• 39:32
  peerto-peer and then they do individual
• 39:35
  counseling and I'm like what
• 39:37
  >> this been in my head so entrepreneur
• 39:40
  Lori. Even back
• 39:42
  >> Yeah.
• 39:42
  >> when I was young, I was like, man, I
• 39:43
  need to create something where kids like
• 39:45
  me, cuz back then, nobody was even
• 39:47
  divorced invite me. Like I was the
• 39:49
  weirdo with no dad.
• 39:51
  >> Yeah.
• 39:51
  >> And uh and so it just there was nobody
• 39:55
  around like me. So when I heard that
• 39:57
  this place existed, I'm like,
• 39:59
  >> sign me up.
• 40:00
  >> Yeah, absolutely. I want
• 40:01
  >> How do I volunteer? What do I need to
• 40:02
  do? And so um got on the board there
• 40:07
  >> and uh and ended up being on the board
• 40:11
  for the six years and was chair of the
• 40:13
  board and um they went through some
• 40:16
  pretty hefty transitions. So even at one
• 40:19
  point I served as their interim while my
• 40:22
  business. But
• 40:24
  >> um it was just you know that was that
• 40:26
  that was passion for sure. I mean, and
• 40:29
  uh we we I mean, it it was on rocky
• 40:32
  ground when I yeah
• 40:34
  >> came into it and um and we closed for a
• 40:38
  couple months and I was like, "No way,
• 40:39
  not on my watch. I finally found a place
• 40:41
  like this
• 40:42
  >> and I will do whatever it takes to make
• 40:44
  sure these kids have this help."
• 40:46
  >> And uh so now it's it's back to a
• 40:48
  thriving organization. And and if
• 40:50
  anybody ever said, "What are you most
• 40:52
  proud of?" like you've done so many
• 40:53
  great things, but this is the one that
• 40:56
  >> for me making sure that those kids and
• 40:58
  families had had what I didn't have. Um
• 41:02
  >> phenomenal.
• 41:03
  >> For folks that don't know, right, so
• 41:04
  third grade Lori loses her dad, right?
• 41:07
  So you were one of those kiddos.
• 41:09
  >> Brooks Brooks Place works with kiddos
• 41:11
  and families that have had a loss
• 41:13
  somebody like that.
• 41:14
  >> But I seem to remember there was a story
• 41:16
  when you're in college.
• 41:17
  >> Yeah.
• 41:17
  >> And the genesis of of Brooks Place,
• 41:19
  right? This is how small the world is,
• 41:21
  right? Sure. Remind me that that story
• 41:22
  of kind of how Brook's Place got
• 41:24
  started.
• 41:24
  >> Yeah. Um it's it is very interesting.
• 41:28
  And um once I was on the board, I
• 41:31
  they said, "Well, now did you meet
• 41:34
  Brooke?" And I was like, "No, I'm not
• 41:36
  even sure of the full story." you know,
• 41:38
  he said, "Well, if you recall the plane
• 41:41
  crash, the American Eagle crash uh in I
• 41:45
  think it was 94 um in Remington uh
• 41:50
  Indiana." Well, Brook's dad was on that
• 41:54
  plane that went down and passed away. He
• 41:57
  was Daagro and other um executives on
• 42:01
  the plane and it just stopped me in my
• 42:04
  tracks because I was at St. Joe's at
• 42:05
  that time. It was Halloween night, never
• 42:08
  forget it. And they had called on
• 42:10
  volunteers from the school to come to
• 42:13
  the crash site to, you know, just bring
• 42:15
  blankets and coffee and get be runners
• 42:20
  basically for the families and for the
• 42:22
  first responders.
• 42:24
  >> And so I saw Brooke and
• 42:27
  >> her mom. I mean, and here I am at
• 42:30
  Brook's place.
• 42:31
  >> Mhm.
• 42:31
  >> You know, 20 years plus later. and you
• 42:35
  know trying to save the organization and
• 42:38
  and just what a small world, right?
• 42:41
  >> What what a small world. But also, you
• 42:43
  know, you think about your career, just
• 42:44
  the journey
• 42:46
  going to Purdue, not feeling like you
• 42:48
  fit in, not making any friends too big,
• 42:51
  taking a year off. Bless your mom for
• 42:54
  saying, "Hey, you got to pay rent and do
• 42:56
  these things to come stay in the room
• 42:57
  that I raised you in." And uh hopefully
• 42:59
  my wife's listening to this. I have a
• 43:01
  couple of kids being schooled now, too.
• 43:02
  So, just a little joke there. But the uh
• 43:05
  but then going to St. Joe and St. Joe
• 43:08
  feeling like you're at home, right?
• 43:09
  Because it was the right place kind of
• 43:11
  gut feeling and then and then walking
• 43:13
  through your career journey, getting
• 43:15
  into sales, doing sales training,
• 43:17
  getting into the marketing side, you
• 43:19
  know, growing to be a CEO, take taking
• 43:23
  the leap to be an entrepreneur, right? I
• 43:25
  mean, there's a lot of entrepreneurs in
• 43:28
  the world and not as many go out there
• 43:30
  and take the leap. you get seven people
• 43:32
  working with you, you run the business
• 43:34
  for years and then uh end up merging
• 43:36
  with a great company like Blue Sky and
• 43:39
  you know what a cool career journey and
• 43:42
  then also though to think about all of
• 43:44
  that stuff when asked what was the
• 43:46
  biggest thing you were proud of. You
• 43:48
  said not on my watch, right? We're not
• 43:50
  going to let Brooks Place go down. I
• 43:52
  finally found a place that was for kids
• 43:53
  like me and they're thriving and doing
• 43:56
  well today. Imagine and so supporting
• 43:59
  kiddos that go through that tragedy. So,
• 44:01
  thank you for that. And so, you know,
• 44:03
  before we close out, obviously, you get
• 44:05
  to have a lot of fun at work, but
• 44:07
  outside of work, what's fun? What are
• 44:08
  you doing for fun?
• 44:11
  >> Well, you know, it's interesting. I'm
• 44:13
  trying to keep up with all the AI and
• 44:15
  the business stuff, and that's almost
• 44:17
  like a full-time job. Um, a little bit.
• 44:19
  Yeah.
• 44:20
  >> Now, we um I'm I'm just starting to take
• 44:22
  up pickle ball. Um although by starting
• 44:25
  to take up pickle ball, I mean
• 44:28
  really just starting to take up pickle
• 44:30
  ball.
• 44:30
  >> Everybody's picking up pickle ball.
• 44:31
  >> Yeah, it's fun. And first we just had a
• 44:34
  company event uh for the anniversary and
• 44:37
  went to the pickler here. Okay.
• 44:38
  >> And I was like, "Oh god, I'm not getting
• 44:40
  out there. I'm going to look like an
• 44:41
  idiot."
• 44:42
  >> Um and uh
• 44:44
  >> and God love Chris, my director of
• 44:46
  design. He's awesome. He's he was
• 44:48
  probably felt sorry. He was like, "You
• 44:50
  can be on my team." But we had the best.
• 44:52
  It was just the best time. It was so
• 44:54
  much fun.
• 44:55
  >> And uh my husband and I had done some in
• 44:58
  uh
• 44:59
  >> in the past year. But
• 45:01
  >> that's on my agenda to pick up a little
• 45:03
  bit more. But uh we enjoy, you know, I
• 45:06
  spend a lot of time, my family is super
• 45:08
  important. Um my mom is here
• 45:11
  >> and my sister just moved back here. So
• 45:14
  um we spend a lot of time with them and
• 45:17
  I love to go boating. Uh, and so but a
• 45:21
  lot of it I I'm I'm a I'm a learner all
• 45:23
  the time. So in it doesn't sound sexy or
• 45:26
  exciting or anything of that nature, but
• 45:29
  I actually just really like to
• 45:32
  >> learn. And so whether it's reading a
• 45:34
  book or reading, you know, Harvard
• 45:37
  Business Review, whatever, I just I'm
• 45:40
  fascinated by business, it's it's what
• 45:42
  kind of gets
• 45:44
  >> gets you going.
• 45:45
  >> It's just really depressing.
• 45:47
  your your book was the power of moments
• 45:50
  I think right so tell me about the book
• 45:52
  >> yeah basically everything we talked
• 45:54
  about right is is the power of moments
• 45:57
  and um in your life that really stand
• 46:00
  out to you and kind of help guide where
• 46:04
  you're at and what I love about the book
• 46:06
  and I think this is why I chose that is
• 46:10
  it's I think people think moments happen
• 46:12
  to them
• 46:13
  >> right but you can design your own
• 46:16
  moments and that's What the book talks
• 46:17
  about is how do you design not just your
• 46:20
  own moments but take customers
• 46:23
  >> like don't don't just look at
• 46:26
  transactional things like when do you
• 46:28
  have the opportunity to really give them
• 46:31
  a delightful moment because it's those
• 46:34
  >> people go day in and day out but then
• 46:36
  little things happen and they always
• 46:38
  >> they always remember it and it's it's
• 46:40
  either you know people let's take people
• 46:44
  leaving um a
• 46:47
  You know, everybody says, "Well, you
• 46:48
  know, that was it just got really bad."
• 46:50
  Well, people don't leave
• 46:52
  >> because of one moment typically.
• 46:54
  >> That's right.
• 46:55
  >> And it's not typically money.
• 46:57
  >> It's typically all those little times
• 46:59
  you had the opportunity to create a
• 47:01
  moment for that person to recognize them
• 47:04
  or to
• 47:06
  >> um just have a conversation and see how
• 47:08
  they're doing. Um those are moments that
• 47:11
  stand out to somebody. And I think
• 47:14
  sometimes we need to step back and and
• 47:16
  look at that and really be intentional.
• 47:19
  And I think that's how I lead. It's more
• 47:22
  with intention than
• 47:24
  >> Yeah.
• 47:24
  >> And making sure that I'm creating those
• 47:26
  moments uh for people.
• 47:29
  >> And just I know we're wrapping up, but
• 47:32
  um I look back to um
• 47:35
  so when I was staying out for my year to
• 47:38
  think about why I was um going to go to
• 47:40
  college. Um my mom also sent me to a
• 47:43
  psychologist to make sure I'm so
• 47:45
  >> okay
• 47:46
  >> again when you said are you even ours um
• 47:50
  and so but this guy was phenomenal and
• 47:52
  and it was the moment probably that
• 47:54
  changed my life beside you besides St.
• 47:57
  Joe's um being the right moment but he's
• 47:59
  the one who got me to St. shows, right?
• 48:02
  Um, I had a lot in my head like you're
• 48:05
  not as good as they are because you're
• 48:07
  not as smart as they are and you like to
• 48:09
  be social, they don't. What's wrong with
• 48:11
  you?
• 48:12
  >> And I just they and not through anyone's
• 48:15
  fault, but everybody just worshiped, you
• 48:17
  know, like look at how smart they are.
• 48:20
  >> And so I never really I just kind of
• 48:22
  felt like I was the loser of the family.
• 48:25
  >> And uh that was me. Nobody really made
• 48:27
  me feel it. It was just how I felt.
• 48:28
  >> Sure. And um this guy, Dr. Hugent, still
• 48:33
  remember, he sat me down, handed me a
• 48:36
  journal, had my name on it, the journal,
• 48:38
  and he's like, "Okay, you're going to
• 48:41
  write your first chapter of the book."
• 48:43
  And so I think what I'm most curious
• 48:45
  about, Lori, is are you going to write
• 48:48
  the chapter or are you going to let your
• 48:50
  family continue doing that?
• 48:53
  >> And I don't know why, but it just hit me
• 48:56
  >> just like that. like, oh yeah, I am. I
• 48:59
  can make this whatever I want it to be.
• 49:01
  And it just made me look at the whole
• 49:03
  world.
• 49:04
  >> No.
• 49:05
  >> Instead of scarcity and negative, it
• 49:07
  just opened up like I could be anything
• 49:09
  I want to be. And I'm smart enough to go
• 49:11
  do all this. And
• 49:12
  >> yeah,
• 49:12
  >> and you know, I have the hard work and
• 49:14
  the effort and and uh so that so I did
• 49:17
  and I wrote that I was going to go back
• 49:19
  to college and I'm going to help people.
• 49:21
  That was my big thing is I want to be
• 49:23
  able to help people and um whatever that
• 49:25
  looks like. Um, that's what that's
• 49:29
  what's going to be guiding me.
• 49:32
  >> Wow.
• 49:32
  >> All the time.
• 49:33
  >> Well, what what what great advice. I
• 49:34
  mean, so you go in and and just like
• 49:36
  that, somebody says something and it
• 49:38
  kind of changes your whole course. And
• 49:40
  you can see that advice in each of the
• 49:43
  steps in your journey and the way you
• 49:45
  talk and the way that you lead. I love
• 49:47
  the book. Great example. I haven't read
• 49:49
  this one yet, but I certainly will. And
• 49:51
  because people tend to they'll pick the
• 49:53
  moments where somebody's done something
• 49:55
  a little wrong and they'll talk about
• 49:57
  that, but they do the 99 things that are
• 50:00
  right. We don't happen to say anything.
• 50:02
  And so I think you're right. People
• 50:04
  don't leave generally over one thing.
• 50:06
  But it's just over time they don't feel
• 50:08
  appreciated.
• 50:09
  >> At the end of the day, I think people
• 50:10
  just want to be known and they want to
• 50:12
  be appreciated.
• 50:12
  >> That's exactly right.
• 50:13
  >> And so when you have opportunities to do
• 50:15
  that, especially from a leadership
• 50:17
  perspective, that's when things are
• 50:18
  special. That's when cultures are
• 50:20
  special.
• 50:21
  >> You don't actually really talk about
• 50:22
  culture a lot of times when they're
• 50:24
  special. It kind of just happens because
• 50:25
  people are doing things naturally and
• 50:26
  they're taking care of people.
• 50:28
  >> Yeah.
• 50:28
  >> And it sounds like Blue Sky has been
• 50:30
  like that. You've got people you've
• 50:32
  worked with for 25 years,
• 50:33
  >> right?
• 50:33
  >> Yep. That can't be that bad, right?
• 50:35
  >> Yeah. At the end of the day, they've
• 50:36
  hung around for 25 years and so probably
• 50:39
  going to continue hanging around in the
• 50:41
  future and so cool story. Great to know
• 50:44
  you. Thank you for sharing.
• 50:44
  >> Yeah. No, thanks for having me on. This
• 50:46
  has been great. Oh, I appreciate it.
• 50:48
  Appreciate Braden. Appreciate
• 50:50
  everything.