Latest / The Inspired Stories Podcast / From Military Command to Staffing Success: Stennett Rey's Leadership Transformation

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From Military Command to Staffing Success: Stennett Rey's Leadership Transformation · The Inspired Stories Podcast

0:04
Welcome to another edition of the Inspired Stories podcast,
0:08
where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from
0:11
their successes and be inspired by how they've overcome
0:14
adversity. My name is Anthony Kotaspodi,
0:17
and today's guest is Stennett Ray, owner and strategic partner
0:21
at Pride Staff San Diego. They're a top staffing agency
0:25
that connects skilled professionals with temporary and
0:28
permanent opportunities. Now, Pride Staff is known for
0:32
matching people in roles like office administration, finance,
0:36
human resources, and more. The agency has earned the Best
0:40
of Staffing, Client and Talent Diamond Award, placing it among
0:45
the best in the industry. Stedit began his career in human
0:49
capital consulting and change management, leading efforts in
0:53
leadership development and talent growth for various
0:55
organizations. He also held significant roles
0:59
in the US Armed Forces, working in human resources and business
1:02
development. Today, he applies those lessons
1:06
to help PRIDE staff continue improving workplaces and
1:09
strengthening communities. He holds a master's in business
1:12
from USC Marshall School of Business and a master's in legal
1:16
studies from Arizona State University.
1:19
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1:22
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1:50
All right, back to our guest today, owner and strategic
1:53
partner of Pride Staff San Diego, Stennett Ray.
1:56
I appreciate you making the time to Share your story today.
2:00
Thank you, Anthony, and thanks for having me and I'm looking
2:02
forward to this conversation. I think it'll be a great.
2:05
Yeah, I'm excited too. I guess I want to start out
2:08
first by saying thank you for your service.
2:11
How long were you in the military and which branch did
2:14
you serve? Thank you for that
2:17
acknowledgement, Anthony. I was 29 years service for the
2:21
United States Marine Corps, so it's a great, great, what I
2:26
would call personal achievement for me and a family, but it
2:33
really taught me a lot about myself and how to engage with
2:36
the world around. When you say it was a personal
2:40
achievement for yourself and your family, can you say more
2:42
about what that means? Yes, You know, as most folks you
2:48
know in the military, you know, you're always involved in
2:52
something, whether you're training or you're preparing for
2:54
some form of deployment. And I think throughout the
2:58
years, there's quite a bit of sacrifice that goes on, not only
3:02
for the individual, but for the family, your your family,
3:06
whether you're married and have children or your extended
3:08
family, the folks who you left after high school or college or
3:11
whatever it is. So to get through it and get to
3:15
the other side with an honorable discharge, whether you do four
3:18
years, 20 years or 30 years is, is quite the accomplishment.
3:22
And, you know, I wouldn't be where I am today without, you
3:25
know, that time that I spent in the military.
3:29
What's something valuable that you learned during your time in
3:32
the military that's useful to you today?
3:36
You know, one of the main things is discipline and, and sometimes
3:40
when you hear the word discipline, you automatically go
3:42
to the negative aspect of the word, right, That definition
3:46
where it just seems that there's a negative connotation.
3:49
But you know, the military really teaches you that it's not
3:53
just about, you know, disciplined and being good,
3:57
right? It's about being more
3:58
disciplined in your actions, right?
4:00
Whether those by the way you make decisions or whether you
4:03
approach the work that has to be done, and then being very
4:07
consistent. So I I think discipline,
4:10
consistency and accountability are three of the things that I
4:14
learned the most to apply in the military.
4:19
So if I've got my timeline here correct, you concluded your
4:22
service back in May of 2023, So just a couple years ago, what
4:28
was behind the decision to move on into a new chapter of life?
4:35
That, you know, for active enlisted persons, you really
4:40
have 30 years and there are some, there are some instances
4:43
where you can receive a waiver to serve beyond 30 years.
4:47
So you'll have some of us to preface that to do that.
4:50
But I was getting towards the end, I had a great conversation
4:53
with my family because we've done quite a bit of prep, you
4:56
know, making sure that my education was was established
4:59
and that was completed prior to transition.
5:03
And we thought about where is it that we want to live post
5:06
military. My wife is from San Diego.
5:10
So that became, you know, the number one place on the list.
5:13
And, you know, we made that family decision because with
5:16
kids going into high school and everything, looking at their
5:19
stability, we just had to make a decision on whether we wanted to
5:24
leave one more time, whether it was time for us to, you know,
5:27
plant roots and, and stick around and, and do some things
5:31
that for the family instead of going for another two or three
5:35
years as active research. I've loved my time.
5:39
And don't get me wrong, Anthony, you know, I loved wearing a
5:41
uniform. I loved the job that I was
5:43
doing. But at some point you do have to
5:45
figure out what's the next next step for you.
5:49
I guess I think that surprises me is I didn't realize that
5:55
we've got quite a bit of echo. Did you hear?
5:58
That Senate, I don't hear the echo.
6:01
You don't. OK, All right, we'll edit this
6:05
part out. I guess the part that surprises
6:10
me, excuse me, Senate, is I didn't realize that the Marine
6:13
Corps had a limit. 30 years for service seems a little
6:18
counterintuitive. You would kind of want your best
6:20
people to stick around and continue on in leadership roles.
6:24
What's the thought process there?
6:26
Are you aware? You know, just, you know, my
6:30
understanding of it is, you know, there's a limited number
6:34
of, of folks who can join the military, right?
6:36
So there has to be a point where, you know, you reach
6:40
service limitations. And for an enlisted service
6:44
member, your service limitations are 30 years.
6:47
And that's not to say that you couldn't get a waiver.
6:50
For instance, if at the 29 year mark instead of retiring, I had
6:55
submitted for another position and that position allows you to
6:59
submit a waiver to serve beyond 30 years.
7:02
And that would have been a consideration by the by the
7:05
Marine Corps to say, OK, in this specific instance, because you
7:09
were going on to a position of increased responsibility.
7:14
We will approve a wave a few years served beyond 30 years as
7:18
an enlisted Marine. Now as an officer, there are a
7:21
few different rules. So you know, officers can serve
7:24
beyond 30 years and, and a lot of them do.
7:27
So you look at your general officers and flag officers, a
7:30
lot of them have 30 plus years in military.
7:34
So you you are retaining that corporate knowledge, but on on
7:38
the enlisted side, there has to be a a service limitation so
7:42
other people have opportunities to get promoted into positions
7:46
of of increased responsibility. Gotcha.
7:49
OK, So you. Guys made.
7:50
The decision to move to San Diego and you have to decide
7:56
what's next. What were some different options
7:58
that you considered? Yeah.
8:01
You know, I really enjoy providing advice, consultation
8:08
to to anyone. And I was looking to get into
8:12
the consulting space. If you remember back in 2023
8:17
that was things were changing in business with, you know, the
8:22
incorporation of artificial intelligence and technology.
8:26
So businesses were trying to figure out how they were going
8:30
to incorporate these technologies and so head counts
8:34
across the consultant space were either staying steady or will
8:39
being reduced. So that definitely took an
8:42
option off the table for me. As I was going through the
8:46
transition. I was also taking a look at, you
8:49
know, business opportunities, you know, to invest in a
8:52
business. So I was reviewing a few
8:56
businesses to get into more on a passive side because consulting
9:00
was really where I wanted to be. And as I was, you know,
9:05
reviewing P and LS and, and asking questions to business
9:10
owners, I found myself thinking, well, you know, if this person
9:15
ran a business for the last 10 years and they can absolutely do
9:19
a bit more to be profitable, why aren't I taking a chance on
9:24
myself, right. And so that kind of switched the
9:28
model for me. And I said, you know, I'm going
9:30
to take a look at something that inspires me, something that I
9:36
feel passionate about and find a way to be involved as a business
9:41
owner. And that's what got me to this
9:43
side of the entrepreneurial journey, if you will.
9:48
And so you looked at different companies, maybe multiple in the
9:51
staffing space, but you ultimately decided to purchase a
9:55
franchise in the Pride Staff family.
9:59
Why Pride Staff? What did you like that you saw
10:02
there? Yeah, Pride staff, their values
10:05
aligned very well. What I experienced in the room
10:09
for, you know, we have our, our, our courage commitment every day
10:16
come in and you're trying to get your best to serve others.
10:19
And that's what service is all about.
10:23
When I first spoke to the previous owner of of this
10:26
office, you know, he was just telling me how great of an
10:30
organization pride staff was and how the the corporate office was
10:36
really invested, each individual owner being successful, right.
10:41
And there's a lot of people that say that they're invested.
10:44
But when I went for my what we call the discovery day and it
10:49
brought it all home. I mean their values aligned with
10:51
exactly, you know, the type of organization that I'm going to
10:54
be a part of and help to represent, you know, the mission
10:58
statement, you know, you know, focusing on what you know,
11:02
clients value most resonated with me.
11:06
And after that conversation, I said sign me up because so it
11:09
was a two way St. up there. I said sign me up.
11:12
They said with Mikey, come on board.
11:14
So that's that's how I got to be here in San Diego.
11:19
And so purchasing a brand new franchise or were you acquiring
11:24
one that had already existed? Yes, this office has existed
11:30
saying every year for 20 plus years.
11:33
I'm the third owner of this office.
11:39
And that probably came with a lot of advantages.
11:41
You know, a, a team that already knew the ropes, knew what they
11:44
were doing. You're walking into a situation
11:46
where you've got a client base already.
11:48
Am I correct? In that.
11:51
So it has its pros and cons, OK. I think the the pros were, you
11:57
know, an established system where there were some folks
12:00
working here. But I would tell you, Anthony,
12:02
that all of those employees are gone and I have a new team here.
12:09
The advantage of purchasing and establish offices, yes, you have
12:13
some clients that you can rely on.
12:15
So I didn't have to go out and build and do a lot of business
12:19
development right away. I had a little bit of a runway
12:23
to learn about the business and how to apply what I wanted to do
12:27
to the structure that was already here.
12:31
But this is a people's business and I also recognize that the
12:36
previous owner had some clients that were clients only because
12:41
of him and his wife. So there was a bit of a drop off
12:45
in some of our clients because those relationships just, it
12:49
wasn't the same, not because we couldn't deliver, but you know,
12:53
if you're in a people business, it really is about the folks
12:56
that you have established you trust with and all those things.
12:59
So we had to do some work, but it was definitely a lot easier
13:02
than coming in and opening a brand new office.
13:06
Well, and that staff turnover, I'm sure wasn't easy to manage
13:09
either. But it sounds like I'm sort of
13:10
connecting the dots here that maybe that was done
13:13
intentionally. You had in mind a certain
13:15
culture that you wanted to instill there, and you had to
13:19
make sure that you had the right people in place for that.
13:23
Absolutely, you know, making sure that First off, taking a
13:27
look at how things were, you know, the activities of the
13:31
office and then figuring out what each person is doing and
13:34
then trying to establish, you know, some the new norms for the
13:38
office. You know, some of that can be
13:40
challenging because folks get comfortable and I recognize
13:44
that. And so, you know, I, I did my
13:46
best to take my time and hiring, which is what I did.
13:50
And I found a phenomenal team that was willing to come in and
13:54
do the work that needed to be done to grow as a business.
13:57
And, and they're doing a great job now.
14:01
But you're right, you know, the, the, the change management side
14:05
of it is absolutely relevant that whenever you have a new
14:10
person coming in that wants to establish a new culture.
14:15
And So what were some of the things, whether it's here or,
14:19
you know, the work that you were doing in the military that you
14:22
found helpful in terms of recruiting and retaining folks?
14:29
Yeah. And what I found helpful is
14:32
First off being understanding what it is you really want,
14:37
right. What what are you looking for?
14:40
This is the role, but what type of individual are you looking
14:44
for? I think sometimes we skip over
14:46
that part. We say, well, this is the
14:48
position, I'll figure it out. I'll bring someone in and
14:52
hopefully I can get them to fit into the activities that need to
14:56
be conducted every day. Whereas I take a different
14:59
approach. I go, you know, really what I'm
15:01
looking for is, you know, some attributes, right?
15:03
Are you someone that just doesn't say they're a hard
15:06
worker? But there are, there's proof,
15:09
there's tangible proof of your work.
15:11
Let's talk to you that are you a people person?
15:14
Like can you have a conversation?
15:16
Are you OK with picking up the phone and cold calling?
15:18
Because that's, that's a bit of what we do as well.
15:21
Are you good at maintaining a relationship?
15:24
Because that's really what this business is about.
15:26
So those are the things I really focused on.
15:30
And in business, as you know, you're walking a tightrope
15:34
sometimes where you want the person to show up with
15:37
everything. But that's not always going to
15:40
happen as a as an owner or anyone in a decision making
15:44
space. You have to be willing to train
15:46
and develop. And that's the thing in the
15:48
military that I've used and, and brought that over and go,
15:51
listen, people come to you with a set of skills and then it's
15:56
your job as the owner to get them the other part of the way
16:00
there. So I took a, a really good
16:03
approach in saying, hey, I'm going to bring in and I'm also
16:06
going to provide this training and development as a foundation
16:10
so you can grow within the organization.
16:12
And what I've found is, is that for those who really took to
16:16
that type of model, they're still here and they're still
16:19
working really hard. So let's talk a little bit about
16:24
how you handled that turnover in terms of the client side.
16:28
What were some strategies that you found successful in kind of
16:32
building up that client stable again?
16:38
One of them is being genuine. If if I could use just something
16:43
that I prospect told me yesterday at a discovery meeting
16:48
and at the end of it, at the end of the meeting I said, hey, do
16:52
you have any questions? Yeah, this person says I don't
16:56
have any questions, but what I can tell you is after talking to
16:59
you and having this conversation, I trust you.
17:04
And, and I, I like the the way the conversation is going.
17:08
And so for me, that has been the, the best part of this job
17:13
is to be able to have a face to face conversation with someone.
17:16
And as a business owner, yes, I want your business, but I'm also
17:21
here to help your business grow and to provide any type of
17:24
consultation I can when it comes to staffing.
17:27
And if I need to help you and do business, understand, you know,
17:30
how to improve and increase your staff and do that in a way that
17:35
allows you to grow and, and, and remain have a consistent staff,
17:39
then that's what I'm going to do.
17:40
So for me, it's been all about those relationships and that's
17:44
how we've been able to generate, you know, new clients is they
17:47
trust us and they like what you do.
17:51
Can't put a price tag on that. And actually, I want to hear
17:56
more about this because I know you've got a lot of experience
17:58
in change management. And I want to hear more about
18:01
how you're able to leverage that experience in helping clients
18:06
kind of navigate the hiring process, especially now with,
18:10
you know, everything that's going on, the economy being
18:12
really uncertain. Yeah, it is.
18:18
That's a big one right there. Don't even know where to start.
18:23
Well, I'll start with this is, you know, First off is helping
18:26
people understand when we call because, you know, there,
18:30
there's quite a bit of, you know, cold calls going on from
18:33
the office. You know, it's pulling doors and
18:36
a lot of times you're greeted with, hey, listen, we don't have
18:38
time. You know, we have a staffing
18:40
agency, but the way we like to position ourselves is First off,
18:45
you know, having another relationship with the staffing
18:48
agency is great, but we're always here to provide a bit of
18:52
consultation. You know, is there anything that
18:54
you're going to review when it comes to how you screen and hire
18:59
individuals? And usually once we get into
19:02
those types of conversations, we're able to review kind of
19:05
their entire process and we can have a, a really good
19:09
conversation about why their process may not be successful.
19:15
Sometimes it's the amount of time that companies are taking
19:18
to review resumes. Are you, are you reviewing them
19:22
everyday? Do you have a list of attributes
19:26
that you're looking for that align with, you know, knowledge,
19:29
skills and abilities to find the right person?
19:32
Is that happening across the board?
19:36
And when it isn't and we sit down and we talk about it, it's
19:39
your job description. Is it asking for too much and
19:42
your compensation doesn't match what you're asking?
19:46
That could be part of the issue. So we really like to analyze
19:52
what a company is doing and then help them, you know, come up
19:55
with a plan to be successful. Now I do want to be the person
19:59
that helps in that effort, but I really do believe that at the
20:03
end of the day, if I can. Help you solve one of your
20:07
issues and help you be more successful.
20:11
We all win, right? And and business will come.
20:15
I absolutely believe that business will come.
20:17
Helping them recognize where they need to change some of
20:21
their policies and their procedures in order to be
20:24
successful is is a win for me. I also win for them.
20:30
So we touched on this a bit in the intro Senate, but I want to
20:33
kind of get into more details about more specifically the
20:37
services that you provide, the types of clients that are a good
20:40
fit for you, the geographies that you serve.
20:45
Yeah, You know, so Pride staff, each one of the offices, we have
20:49
our own territory. So for those familiar with San
20:52
Diego, I have a large territory. I mean, I go from Delmar
20:57
Fairgrounds, you know, all the way South to the border and
21:00
pretty much East India incorporated.
21:02
So if I had to put a number on the number, you know, the zip
21:06
codes I have, I think we're up to 35 zip codes that I cover
21:12
here in San Diego. The industries, let's say for
21:17
instance, you know, I cover of some medical manufacturing
21:21
companies, have some aerospace companies, I have small
21:25
companies like you know, attorneys offices, doctor's
21:28
offices, things like that. I have a few companies that they
21:33
assemble and manufacture things and then I have a few
21:36
warehouses. So those are the majority of the
21:40
core business. But to your point, you know,
21:44
what does pride staff offer? Well, we have, you know, three
21:47
different offerings. We have the temporary staffing,
21:49
which is, you know, anywhere from one to, you know, you name
21:53
debate how many days where an office might say they'll call me
21:57
and say, you know, Senate, my front desk person is going on
22:00
vacation for two weeks. We really can't afford not to
22:03
have someone. Do you have a great
22:06
administrative person we can come in and fill in for two
22:09
weeks. That would be an example of
22:11
temporary, temporary assignment attempt, attempt to hire work.
22:16
A lot of the manufacturing space uses it because it's an
22:19
opportunity. Especially when they have a
22:20
training program and certification program.
22:23
They use staffing to screen to find qualified individuals.
22:27
They go in on a temporary basis and at the end of the temporary
22:31
assignment, if they are a fit for the culture, then they have
22:34
the opportunity to convert to a full time employee of that
22:38
company. I love that that's, that's the I
22:41
would take those 10 to hires all day every day because it
22:44
provides opportunity and stability for people.
22:48
And in our last hour offering is direct hire where for instance,
22:52
you know, we had a company that was looking for a System
22:55
Administrator too, very specialized role.
22:59
They wanted them to have a certain level of experience in
23:02
some of our legacy technologies and so they called us.
23:06
And so we found them a few candidates and they hired.
23:10
And that direct hire is more of a once we find screen and
23:13
present, if they like that person, then that person becomes
23:17
an employee right away of that company.
23:19
So those are our three offerings.
23:22
And I think we just got a small glimpse into that conversation
23:25
you were telling us about before yesterday where the gentleman
23:29
said, I don't have any questions, but I trust you
23:32
because you said something there that really caught my ear was
23:35
like, oh, I love those temp to hires because that gives the
23:39
workers stability. There wasn't a mention of that's
23:43
the most profitable one for me in some respects.
23:46
Like you've lost kind of that recurring.
23:48
Obviously you're charging a fee for that service too, to, to
23:51
make you know your time worthwhile, but you know you're
23:54
losing that position as like an ongoing like billing event, but
24:01
your, your, your priorities are different.
24:03
I I love giving that employee the opportunity to have steady
24:07
work going forward. Absolutely.
24:10
Anthony, I, you know, we this office we received a lot of
24:14
calls. I mean last week I was out of
24:16
the office for a few days, but I still have the application on my
24:19
laptop so I can see what the activity is.
24:23
And by 11 in the morning, we had 75 calls to the office.
24:28
And, and you know, some of the stories can be heartbreaking.
24:34
It puts you on a bit of an emotional roller coaster because
24:38
we want to be able to help everyone, right?
24:41
And, and we know that the majority of folks want to be
24:45
contributing members of society. But you can't do that if you're
24:48
not working, right? So what role can we play in that
24:52
and make sure that folks have an opportunity?
24:55
We take that very seriously here and it's something that I wish
24:59
that I could help everyone. I can't.
25:01
But when we do, it's a great feeling and it's really a great
25:05
feeling. Well, that's interesting to sort
25:07
of dive into the the human side of the applicants here.
25:10
You've, you've got more folks coming to you than you're able
25:14
to place at times. And sometimes you just you don't
25:18
have open positions or maybe they don't have the experience
25:22
that lines up or what other kinds of things do you run into
25:26
there? Yeah, mostly we do run into we
25:30
don't have as many positions as we would like.
25:33
And I look in the mirror when that happens and go, hey, that's
25:36
our job, right? That's my job as the owner here.
25:39
And then the person responsible for business development is to
25:42
go out and find more opportunities.
25:45
But sometimes it is, it does get back to a college skills or
25:49
experience and what we do in some of those cases, even when
25:54
we don't have something for an individual right away, we still
25:58
get them on boarded. And when I have an opportunity
26:01
that requires general labor knowledge or just general
26:04
knowledge, I'll call those individuals up and I'll say I
26:08
have a two day assignment. This is something you say that
26:12
you may want to get into maybe a little bit of change from what
26:15
you've been doing in the past, but I think it's a great
26:17
opportunity for you. And so we'll get them out there
26:20
and and sometimes we have to even talk them into it, Anthony.
26:23
But you know, my analogy is this is that whenever you have a
26:30
significant other, it seems like more people are interested in
26:33
it. And that's my analogy for a job.
26:36
When you have a job, most people are very interested in it,
26:40
right? Because, you know, it doesn't
26:42
come off as you know, me and it's needy, right?
26:44
So I say, listen, this may not be your dream job, but it may be
26:49
the opportunity that provides you another door that you can
26:53
holding all right, that usually ends up helping them out.
26:57
I love that. That's a funny way to describe
26:59
it. What what do you see as sort of
27:02
the the future growth trajectory for you at Pride Staff San
27:06
Diego? Where do you see this going in
27:07
the next couple of years? Well, that definitely depends on
27:13
the economy. All right.
27:16
I, I do think that it, you know, we'll have positive growth.
27:19
Last year, first full year in operation we saw growth this
27:25
year started off well. We'll still grow maybe not as
27:28
fast as we anticipated, but you know going into year three, I
27:32
anticipate that we'll see at least a 30% growth our gross
27:38
margin here in San Diego. That's significant.
27:41
What are the big levers that you're able to pull to affect
27:43
that growth? One of the things I'm focusing
27:48
more on this year has been our story and marketing, really
27:54
helping the greater San Diego understand how price staff is
27:59
here. So increasing that brand
28:01
awareness and then getting out there and having more
28:04
conversations with businesses and more networking events
28:08
because those are the interactions I absolutely
28:10
believe has helped us in our growth so far.
28:14
And then of course, there's the delivery, right?
28:16
It's not just King, you know, are you out there establishing
28:19
relationships? But what are you doing once you
28:21
have your relationship when they when someone calls you, it's
28:24
priced to have San Diego delivering on our promise.
28:28
And that's what we try to do in every instance is deliver.
28:31
And I think that that delivery allows us to be word of mouth
28:35
where people go, you know, but we need staffing.
28:40
I want to be your number one choice for staffing and there
28:44
are a lot of, you know, big companies in the room, but I
28:47
want to be amongst that conversation and that's what
28:49
we're working on I'd. Like to go in just a little bit
28:52
of a different direction for a moment, Stennett, and talk about
28:55
a serious challenge that you've overcome in your life.
28:59
Could be something personal, could be professional, Maybe the
29:03
two intertwined. How'd you get through that and
29:06
what did you learn? Yeah, You know, the one I'm
29:12
going to talk about really, you know, answer one of your
29:14
questions about, you know, why I, I left the military.
29:20
You know, my, my son, you know, I have four children, you know,
29:23
2 adult children and two teenagers.
29:26
And you know, my, my son Tyson, he was having some pediatric
29:32
migraines that were stationed in Okinawa, Japan.
29:36
They didn't have the doctors there on island, so he had to
29:39
come back to the States and I came back here to California.
29:44
He had a pediatric urologist, but he kept getting his
29:47
headaches that developed into, you know, some facial tics and
29:50
things like that. His mom is the wonderful
29:54
advocate, kept pushing for pushing for more studies, you
30:01
know, possibly another scan to make sure that there wasn't
30:04
anything going on. We finally got him in for an MRI
30:10
and this was December of 2022 and we going for the scan.
30:21
It's right before Christmas. My wife's at work.
30:25
I drive down to the hospital, the MRII get back to the
30:30
housewife calls me, she's crying.
30:32
She says you got to go back to the hospital and go through the
30:37
emergency. And I'm like, what is going on?
30:41
And so they found a tumor. They found a brain tumor.
30:46
So I take my son back down there and the docs, they go in, they
30:50
do another scan again, they come back out and let us know like,
30:54
hey, he has he has a tumor, we need to take it out.
31:00
We're going to keep him there in the hospital because they have
31:02
some some things that they have to do depressed.
31:07
So, you know, here I am. In one instance, I was prepping
31:12
for Christmas because you know, I have some Marines over, you
31:15
know, cooking that family over. And all of that changed in about
31:19
24 hours. And we were in the hospital.
31:22
We spent Christmas in the hospital.
31:25
A couple days later, my son went through had brain surgery.
31:29
It was successful and to the IT had just attached to these brain
31:34
stem. So we got it in time.
31:38
Phenomenal team here at Grady's Children's.
31:42
And you know, after that it was it was more about recovery.
31:45
And it's interesting because if I had to backtrack the story a
31:52
little bit, I had the opportunity to compete to stay
31:56
in those positions I discussed. But all those positions comes,
32:04
you know, my family wasn't going to do the game.
32:07
And so I had to make the decision on whether I was going
32:09
to become a Geo bachelor or just go there and be stationed either
32:13
at Virginia or North Carolina or stay with the family.
32:16
I made the decision to stay with the family and it absolutely
32:21
worked out because I would have received that call from my wife
32:24
on the phone while I was on the East Coast that something was
32:28
going on with my son and I would have to fly back and I wouldn't
32:31
have been able to be the support the and, and, and the family.
32:36
And I think that in all of it, me being here and present helped
32:43
my son stand up, walk, do all the things he had to do to get
32:47
discharged before New Year's. And when you talk about an
32:52
experience, it really helped me refocus on what's important in
32:56
life. What's important in life is your
32:59
family and people, you know, we could chase, we could chase
33:04
accolades, we could chase positions, we could do all those
33:06
things. And for some people, that's,
33:09
that's the way that they'll let their light.
33:11
But what it showed me is that we take for granted sometimes the
33:16
people on the family we have around us.
33:19
And it refocused my energies on like I'm where I'm supposed to
33:24
be because I made the right decision for my family, not just
33:29
for me. And and I've taken that lesson
33:32
and I've I've used it every day since when I talk to you like
33:36
that's on do analysis of your life.
33:39
Where are your priorities? They are they aligning with your
33:42
actions? And I do that every day.
33:44
So it's been, it was an eye opener, but it it definitely be
33:50
centered in and be centered by family.
33:53
Wow, what a powerful story. Stunnit.
33:56
First of all, how? How was your son today?
33:59
He's great. I mean, he's a, he goes in for
34:03
his Mris every nine months now because you know, once, once
34:07
that happens, you're on this kind of treatment plan and
34:10
observation for about 5 years. But he's doing well.
34:13
He's a wrestler. He's actually out at, in
34:16
Oklahoma now at, at at OSU, finishing up his fourth day of
34:20
camp and flying back tonight. So it's, I thank God for that,
34:24
also for what we had. So he's made a great recovery.
34:27
I mean, when you're telling me, you know, kind of helping him,
34:30
you know, learn to walk again. And now he's competing in a, a
34:35
wrestling tournament half the country away, That's that.
34:40
That's a great trajectory there. I am.
34:46
I'm so proud of him. You know, a lot of times you
34:48
hear folks say, you know, my who's your hero?
34:51
You know, my son is absolutely because because of the the
34:58
person he's becoming. But also, you know, I think a
35:02
lot of times we look at our children and think that they're
35:05
not very resilient. And that couldn't be further
35:09
from the truth. That kid taught me that you
35:12
could do you do anything to say your mind to and is poised
35:18
throughout the entire thing said, Hey, so that we we have to
35:25
acknowledge, you know, the greatness, whether you're you're
35:28
5 or you're 85, right, acknowledging the greatness of
35:33
people that exist right now. It's seeming that positive, that
35:37
positive side of things. I love that.
35:40
How, how do you think this experience with your son kind of
35:46
shows up in your day-to-day at Pride staff?
35:50
You know, so talking about refocusing priorities and like,
35:55
how does this show up for you in a day-to-day basis?
35:59
It's a great question. I think part of it is always
36:05
remembering that we are in a people business and sometimes,
36:10
you know, there are the phrases meet people where they are and
36:13
all these things. But what I tell the team here is
36:18
everyone who walks through our door who calls us.
36:22
Let's, let's, let's be engaged with them.
36:25
Let's learn about them. Let's see where we can help.
36:28
Can we help everyone? No, we can't.
36:31
But acknowledge that this person is bringing something good to
36:34
the table or else they would never call us, right?
36:37
There's no need to be called stabbing aids work and they're
36:41
calling us because they think that the system.
36:45
And so seeing that side, my son absolutely reminds me.
36:51
And this is the thing in in the military as well.
36:53
You know, after spending 29 years in military, you really do
36:57
learn to engage with people and or to develop them and observe
37:02
them in all these cities. But also because you were trying
37:06
to build a team, you're always looking for qualities that make
37:09
your team stronger. And, and this is no different.
37:14
Anyone calls us stepping back for a second, understanding what
37:19
is it that they want and then finding out a bit more about
37:23
them really helps us to add value right to them and set them
37:29
up for success. So I think that, you know, what
37:32
happened, I said really helped me focus on making sure that you
37:36
pay attention to people, right? Listen to them and then try to
37:41
help them as best as possible. And then if you can't, this is
37:44
the toughest part, Anthony, be honest with them.
37:47
Be honest with them when you can't help them because that
37:50
goes well as well. That has to be the hardest part.
37:54
These people have come to you. They're looking for that
37:56
purpose, that meaning that you don't want to be a contributing
37:59
member of society. A lot of cases they may look at
38:03
you as sort of the, you know, their last chance and you've got
38:06
to be the one to kind of deliver the tough news.
38:10
That's right. And it does happen on a regular
38:13
basis. I mean, we've, we've had some
38:14
stories here recently. I won't, I won't put them out
38:17
there. But you know, very sad, very sad
38:21
stories. Sometimes you just have to turn
38:24
around and go listen, I don't, I can't help you.
38:27
But the great thing about being in business is because I network
38:32
with so many other businesses, sometimes we provide, you know,
38:35
referrals outside. They say, hey, we can't help
38:38
you, but if you're interested, I will send your resume over to X
38:42
company who may be looking for someone with your skill.
38:46
So that that's the other side of it right now.
38:49
Are we just telling people no or are we providing them with other
38:54
opportunities? And that's really the way we run
38:56
it here. This office is.
38:58
If I can't help you, I'm going to pull you in the direction of
39:01
someone or source that can help. You know, thinking more about
39:06
what your son went through and what you went through alongside
39:09
of him, I wonder if you notice that you respond differently in
39:15
stressful situations now. Well, I, I do.
39:23
I think that you go through your stages of life, right.
39:25
I've always been a pretty calm person.
39:28
You know, you want to be the calm and the center of the storm
39:32
When things are personal, though, it, it, it really is a
39:35
little bit different. You know, that was, that was the
39:37
first time I've had that significant of a medical issue
39:41
with any of my children. And it, it definitely rocked me.
39:47
It, it, it, it, it forced me to, to think about things
39:52
differently. And the one thing I'll say is,
39:57
is that, you know, through all of it, you just have to go back
40:01
and figure out what kind of person are you going to be?
40:04
All right? Are you going to be the person
40:06
that that is presented with a challenge and you're going to
40:10
let that child stop you or you're going to you're going to
40:13
use it as fuel to to get through it, be a better person and do
40:19
all those things? So you're right, I mean it when,
40:23
when you have something significant like that impact
40:26
you, it, it does have a way of, of messing with your mind from
40:30
time to time. But the lessons that I learned
40:35
from it, every single day I apply it here and I do have a
40:40
different perspective because of it.
40:42
And I think that it's helped me grow as a person.
40:46
But, you know, if you can become a better person, then everything
40:49
else you becomes better. Like better businessman, better
40:52
husband. You ain't.
40:54
I think that it's good. What's your superpower style?
41:01
Well, you know, I think my superpower is more on the, the
41:04
strategic side, you know, understanding, having a
41:08
strategic mindset, but staying grounded in the present, if that
41:12
makes sense. You know, being able to, to see
41:15
kind of where the organization is going or where it needs to
41:18
go. And then in the moment,
41:20
developing a plan of action and then taking those steps and
41:25
keeping those steps consistent. So that when we, we, we meet
41:30
that challenge in two or three years, we're already prepared
41:33
because our processes replace people are aware, they have
41:37
knowledge and all that. So I think that that's been the
41:40
greatest gift that I've been able to at least acknowledge of
41:44
myself that and I'm able to look forward and then take action in
41:49
order for us to stay successful. What's the best decision you've
41:53
ever made for your business? Wow, well, the best decision I
42:04
made was is probably my my second and my first and 3rd
42:08
hires. The first one was her name is
42:13
Anna, recent college grad. I absolutely took a chance on
42:18
her based on what we heard, what she told me during the phone
42:21
screen and bringing her on. And I would tell you this,
42:24
Anthony, again to the generational discussion.
42:29
I think every generation is special and it brings a lot of
42:34
value to everyday life. Are we different?
42:38
Absolutely right, but sometimes we have to celebrate those
42:42
differences because opportunity to see the potential of where
42:48
these individuals are going to go.
42:49
And and it has to be the most mature 22 year old I've ever
42:55
met. I would put her in charge of
42:57
anything right now and and actually she's worth helping me
43:00
work a very large project. And then, you know, another one
43:04
was Desiree, she said. My third hire coming back into
43:09
the workforce, they have absolutely been force
43:12
multipliers here in this office. I could not operate this office
43:16
without them, right. So that when it comes to
43:19
decisions, those two, those are two of my best decisions.
43:23
So best decisions now kind of thinking back to maybe some
43:28
things that at the time looked like mistakes that you made, but
43:32
now when you look at the rearview mirror, you've got some
43:35
gratitude for them and realize that actually helped to steer
43:37
you in a different direction or somehow led to something
43:40
positive. Let's.
43:46
See, well, you know, a couple things here.
43:51
You definitely make some, some interesting decisions in the
43:54
first part of the business, right?
43:56
Some of it is due to your lack of knowledge or you kind of
43:59
rushing through some things because I, I've got to get this
44:01
done. But one of them I, I did keep
44:05
one employee from the previous owner.
44:11
She had a lot of knowledge of things that had to be done in
44:15
the office. But then I think I used her as a
44:20
crutch, right? So I wasn't learning as much
44:23
about the business as I should. And then last year July, she got
44:29
an offer to go back to where she, you know, found a lot of
44:33
success in the previous for the previous employer.
44:36
So then I, I was forced to learn more about the business because
44:40
I assumed all those responsibilities.
44:43
And so I think that that decision to keep her on delayed
44:46
my growth as a moment. But then once she was gone, I
44:51
really dug in and learned the aspects of the business so that
44:55
I could be the one who could train and help folks as they
44:59
come into the office. So with, you know, that that
45:02
decision there, while it was a comfort based decision, it's
45:07
like we what we like to call it in the in the military, it was
45:10
comfort based to keep her around.
45:13
It absolutely worked out for me when she left and forced me to
45:17
learn more, which makes me a better consultant to other
45:20
businesses. I was telling you, I was on a
45:23
discovery call yesterday meeting and to be able to speak from
45:28
experience to a company who's been in business for three or
45:31
four months, at the end of it, they're just thankful and and
45:35
that's a great, that's a great feeling because it's an ongoing
45:38
conversation that we're going to have because now I do have some
45:41
experience that I can impart on others.
45:45
So when you went through that, the departure of that key
45:47
employee, you know, who knew kind of different parts of the
45:50
business that you weren't as familiar with yet, and then you
45:54
were forced to become familiar with those things.
45:56
Was there anything sort of big picture strategic wise where you
46:00
were like, oh, now I see how this connects to that and I've
46:04
got an idea for how we can make something in here better?
46:09
Absolutely. You know, one, one part of it
46:12
was, you know, how do we integrate technologies and, and
46:16
use the technology stacks that, you know, price that has.
46:21
And the one thing I was not doing was leveraging technology
46:25
to make sure that the work that the my team has to do every day
46:31
is not as labor intensive. Would that be, you know, whether
46:35
you're inputting data at the end of the day, answering phone
46:38
calls with a number of things? And what I had ended up doing
46:42
was I started speaking more to our customer experience team at
46:46
Rostat Home Office and said, hey, we have this tech stat.
46:50
Let's sit down and talk about how I can incorporate it into
46:54
our everyday activities to make things a bit easier for the
46:57
team. So strategically, you know, now
47:00
I'm starting to think of, hey, time is money, right?
47:03
And every minute that my team is doing a non revenue generating
47:08
activity, we're actually losing. And so how can I leverage the
47:12
new technologies to reduce that time and increase, you know
47:16
what, what we bring in as an office.
47:18
So that strategically was OK, let's take advantage of what's
47:23
out there and let's incorporate it as possible.
47:27
So you're talking about your tech stack and everybody loves
47:29
talking about AI today. Are you guys leveraging that in
47:33
any ways yet? They are not to the extent that
47:38
I think some folks think. You know, as a staffing agency,
47:42
I don't use any type of AI to screen through resumes because
47:48
as a staffing agency, I could be hiring for 10 different roles.
47:51
And we, we review every resume because let's say you apply to
47:56
be a machine operator, but you have great experience as an
48:01
accounts payable person. So now you're in the wrong bin,
48:05
but I'm hiring for an accounts payable.
48:07
So I'm gonna pull you out of the machine operated bin.
48:10
I'm gonna call you and I'm gonna say, hey, listen, you're not,
48:13
you don't have the experience for this role, but you
48:16
absolutely have the experience for this role.
48:18
So we don't use our technology, you know, any type of AI for
48:22
screening, but we do for other things like scheduling and
48:25
things like that. So if we have mass scheduling,
48:29
it needs to go on. So a tech stack for app for
48:33
consistent communication. We'd use some chat bots and some
48:38
other things to make sure that we continue to communicate and
48:41
engage our communities and associates.
48:45
So there are areas where we've incorporated it.
48:48
But as I was talking to the team this morning, it's a tool,
48:51
right? It's it's, it's one of our tools
48:53
that doesn't drive everything down.
48:57
Could you see yourself at some point using AI to help screen
49:01
those applications and resumes? Because it occurs to me that the
49:05
AI would also be able to pick up on the fact that they had that,
49:09
you know, accounts payable experience in their background.
49:15
If there are tools that come online that that help to do
49:18
that, I would absolutely take a look at them and at least, you
49:23
know, use them and incorporate them for a short period of time.
49:27
I think the challenge right now, Anthony, is, is that quite a few
49:31
job seekers are using AI to create their resumes that are
49:36
aligned with job descriptions. So the resume looks great.
49:40
It doesn't necessarily mean that they have the skills that are on
49:44
the resume. So that's where you get back to
49:48
unless you have an AI program that can weed some of that out.
49:54
You know, what's really going on is AI screen and AI.
49:58
So that's where the person comes in, right?
50:01
You're asking these questions. And for us, the great thing we
50:04
do is we we do create challenging interview questions.
50:10
And what we find is, is that when we use some of these
50:14
questions, you're really able to determine the skills and the
50:18
abilities of the individual or whether they align with that
50:20
job. So what that does for us is it
50:23
cuts down on a number of bad candidates we submit, right?
50:28
And we only submit candidates who absolutely need the
50:33
knowledge, skills and abilities that that our clients are
50:35
looking for. Give me an example.
50:38
Of what it is. Challenging interview questions
50:41
that you asked that helps to kind of filter through folks.
50:44
You know, sometimes you can have a question that may say, may ask
50:48
you to respond in a yes or no. Like say, for instance, we have
50:54
a machine operator role where you have to have, you have to
50:58
have experience with A5 access CNC machine and you have to
51:03
understand the code, the coding. So instead of just asking if you
51:07
have the experience, I may ask, you know, can you talk to me
51:11
about how you programmed the key code into this 5 access machine
51:15
prior to the shift? And so they have to walk me
51:18
through the process, right? So it's those types of questions
51:23
where I'm really asking you a question where you have to
51:25
either walk me through it or give me an experience, talk to
51:30
me about, you know, in the star, you know, format, you know, what
51:33
was the situation, what was the task, what was the action?
51:37
And then what was your, you know, result right after all of
51:41
it. So we asked those type of
51:43
questions when we get to our screenings and interviews
51:46
because we ought to be able to present a qualified tenant.
51:51
Stennett, do you spend much time on personal development?
51:56
I do. I absolutely do.
51:58
What's that look like? For you.
52:01
Yeah, You know, I try to make sure that I'm either listening
52:04
to a book or reading a book or on a, you know, listening to a
52:09
podcast every day. You have any favourites?
52:14
You know, the, the book I just finished is the one thing, if
52:21
you've heard of that one, you know, Gary Keller and that that
52:25
one is a very good book because I wanted to again, organize my
52:33
own life right, make sure that I'm doing the right things and
52:37
then prioritizing the right activities.
52:40
And after listening to the book, I sat down and go, OK, what's,
52:46
what's the one thing that I need to be doing as a business owner
52:50
for success? And it really helped me focus
52:53
and break those things down into different areas and go, you
52:58
can't be great at everything. But too often we try to be great
53:02
at everything and do a whole bunch of things, you know, 5 to
53:06
6 balls, but eventually you'll drop one or two.
53:10
And so as as as someone who wants to be successful, someone
53:15
who wants to grow, how do your activities every day align with
53:21
that one thing you want to accomplish?
53:24
And it really helped me to do that.
53:26
So it's phenomenal book, you know, you have that one.
53:30
And then the AI daily brief. I love listening to that as well
53:34
because it keeps me in tune with what's going on with these new
53:38
technologies that are impacting business across the board, not
53:42
just business, just whether it's education, business, personal
53:45
life, AI is impacting all of us and and to be able to remain
53:50
aware of where it's going in the future is very important.
53:54
It's critical for all of us. How about some daily practices
53:59
that you use to either get yourself started or keep
54:02
yourself on track during the day stunt.
54:07
You know, I try to get into the office here.
54:09
You know, I have my, you know, daily, you know, I have my daily
54:13
word that I sit down and read before I start the day and I'll
54:17
take a look at my time blocking and what needs to be
54:20
accomplished for the day. I'll do that the first thing as
54:24
soon as I sit down here in the office.
54:26
And then just have a couple minutes to to think through, OK,
54:29
what are the priorities? And you know, as I think think
54:37
through your question, I think the biggest thing we skip every
54:41
day is an understanding of what we want to accomplish by the end
54:45
of it, right? And when you have the end state
54:48
of mind and everything else that you have on your in your time
54:53
block or your list of things to do should align with that.
54:56
And so being very aware of those things every day has become a
54:59
practice of mind because I don't want to have a helter skelter
55:05
mind. I want to be focused and on in
55:08
those areas that are going to help us help us thrill.
55:11
So those that's really what my day and some of the habits that
55:15
I've created here. So most entrepreneurs I've met,
55:20
myself included, we tend to have a bit of a shiny object
55:24
syndrome, right? And especially with all the
55:27
books and the podcasts that you consume, you're getting lots of
55:31
like great ideas either directly presented to you, you know, case
55:34
studies or you hear a story and you're like, oh, I could apply
55:39
that to my business in this way. I guess my first question
55:43
instead, it is, does that happen to you?
55:44
And then the second question is, if it does, how do you sort of
55:48
create a filter? So it's not like, you know, the
55:52
10 ideas from this latest podcast or latest audiobook are
55:55
going to be things that you try to get your team to implement
55:58
this week. Yeah, you're right.
56:01
I mean, we are in the information age.
56:04
There is information coming at us from everywhere.
56:07
I do find myself getting pulled in a couple of different
56:11
directions. I mean, almost every audio book,
56:14
every book and podcast has a good idea, right?
56:19
And I love good ideas and and perspectives.
56:23
But in order to keep me focused, I do have a small group of
56:26
business owners and we speak probably three or four days a
56:30
week. And in those conversations, it
56:34
helps me refocus on what needs to be done.
56:37
Because it's in business, especially this type of business
56:41
sales has got to be your number one goal.
56:43
So when when the the discussion starts to drift away from that,
56:48
it's good to have fellow entrepreneurs who are able to
56:51
help get you back on track and really prioritize those efforts
56:56
that you need and understand that there may be a different
56:59
time to incorporate some of those ideas, right?
57:02
And then maybe put that in a bin that goes, hey, in, in the next
57:05
6 to 12 months, I'm going to focus in that area.
57:08
But right now I need to focus right here, at this moment on
57:12
this one thing. Here's a little system that I've
57:15
set up for myself. I'm curious if something like
57:19
this works for you or if you've got ideas on how to improve it.
57:23
Because I, I have lots of ideas that come to me.
57:25
I'm like, oh, this, I got to do this right away.
57:28
But now I forced myself to sit down and either write it out or
57:30
type it out. Full description of it.
57:33
Slowing down to do that helps my brain think about, OK, where are
57:38
the gaps in this? Where are the holes?
57:40
What wasn't I originally thinking when this brilliant
57:42
idea first popped into my head? And if it still looks good after
57:46
I've taken the time to do that, then I've got to hit pause for
57:50
at least one week, do nothing with it.
57:53
I can continue thinking about it, but I'm not telling anybody
57:55
about it. I'm not going to my team.
57:57
I'm not, you know, putting action in place.
58:00
And if I come back to it a week from now and it's still a good
58:02
idea, OK, now I can think about next steps.
58:05
I can think about a plan to sort of get my team involved in
58:09
helping me roll this out. Because sometimes it's just the
58:12
excitement of sort of the new idea that feels really cool and
58:15
you want to run with it. And if it still seems good after
58:18
a week, there might be something to it.
58:22
Yeah, that's a great way of looking at it, Anthony.
58:24
I mean, you are open to new things, right?
58:30
But also very aware that sometimes trying to incorporate
58:33
too many things at the same time for each more chaos and
58:37
confusion for your team. So I do like your patience.
58:41
And OK, I'm going to, I'm going to step back for a second.
58:43
I'm just, I'm going to think about it and then I'm going to
58:46
wait some time before I even present it.
58:49
I, I, I think that that's great. I'm, I'm going to have to
58:51
incorporate that as well. But I'm, I'm similar to you.
58:55
I'm a very deliberate decision maker and especially when it
59:00
comes to changing things that involve more than one person
59:05
because that that could be quite challenging.
59:09
All right, Stead, and I just got one more question for you here.
59:11
But before I ask it, I want to do 2 things.
59:14
First of all, everyone listening today, I want to invite you to
59:17
hit the follow button on your favorite podcast app.
59:20
We've had a great conversation here today with Stennett Ray
59:23
from Pridestaff San Diego, and I want you to continue to get more
59:26
great conversations and content like this in your feed.
59:29
Stennett, I also want to let people know the best way to get
59:32
in touch with you or to follow your story.
59:34
What would that be? I definitely LinkedIn is a great
59:38
way to find me. If you Stennett Ray STENNETT,
59:44
last name Rey, shoot me a connection there on LinkedIn.
59:49
Be more than happy to engage with anyone and and bring the
59:52
connections. The other way is, you know, S
59:56
Ray at pridestaff.com is a great way to get in touch with me as
1:00:00
well. And I, you know, again, you
1:00:03
know, I'm, I'm open to speaking to anyone about any topic of
1:00:08
just having conversations with folks.
1:00:11
And I'll include those links in the show notes for everybody.
1:00:14
OK, last question for you, Senate.
1:00:16
You and I reconnect a year from now and you're excited you're
1:00:20
celebrating something. What's that thing that you're
1:00:23
celebrating? Yeah, next year, you know, if we
1:00:28
link back up and the one thing I would be celebrating is, you
1:00:33
know, growth in our business, right and and our brand here in
1:00:37
San Diego. If you need to come back on and
1:00:41
you say, you know, what's, you know, what's it look like for
1:00:43
you there in, in San Diego as far as staffing goes.
1:00:47
And you know, I to be able to say to you, number one, we've
1:00:51
reached that 30% growth mark that, you know, we were shooting
1:00:55
for and that we anticipated, but #2 we have grown our business
1:01:01
organically through relationships and that our
1:01:04
reputation aligns with the values that the ordinary offers.
1:01:09
If I'm able to say that and I'd be, I'd be over the moon, right?
1:01:15
I love it. Well, I made myself a note to
1:01:17
follow up in a year and see how you're coming with that.
1:01:20
Well, Senate Ray from Pridestaff San Diego, I want to be the
1:01:23
first to thank you for sharing both your time and your story
1:01:26
with us today. I really appreciate it.
1:01:28
Thank you, Anthony. It's been great.
1:01:30
And I'll definitely be listening to you adding your podcast to
1:01:33
the rotation here because you definitely have some great
1:01:36
stories that I think anyone can learn from.
1:01:38
So I appreciate the invite spending some time.
1:01:42
Much appreciated, folks. That's a wrap on another episode
1:01:45
of the Inspired Stories podcast. Thanks for running with us
1:01:48
today.