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Why Industry Associations Matter | The GrowthPro Edge · The GrowthPro Edge

• 0:00
  Denise Killian: Welcome to The GrowthPro Edge.
• 0:02
  We're here to help scale your business, build stronger teams,
• 0:06
  and sharpen your leadership skills
• 0:11
  Jim Tartal: I'm your host, Denise Killian, with the GrowthPro
• 0:13
  Group and Trainertainment.
• 0:15
  This week, we'll be speaking with Jim Tarl, owner of Scottsdale Music
• 0:20
  Services and secretary of AAMA.
• 0:24
  And we're talking about why you should belong to organizations
• 0:29
  within your industry, and how that membership can help sharpen your edge
• 0:37
  Tim, welcome to The GrowthPro Edge.
• 0:39
  We're thrilled to have you today.
• 0:41
  Denise Killian: Hi, Denise.
• 0:42
  I'm so happy to be here with you.
• 0:45
  Jim Tartal: Uh, listen, before we get started talking about the importance
• 0:49
  of organizations, uh, I wanna start with tell me a little bit about what
• 0:54
  you do at Scott Dale Music Service, as well as what you do with AAMA.
• 1:00
  Denise Killian: Scotty Music Service, we're a small, I'm a small- Well, I
• 1:03
  call myself small, but it's a- I'm an operator in Southwestern Pennsylvania,
• 1:06
  south of Pittsburgh, and, um, I've kinda had my first job from 16 years old.
• 1:11
  My, my father bought a restaurant, and, uh, I watched these jukeboxes
• 1:16
  come rolling in the door in 1971 and I thought, "Wow, this is really cool."
• 1:21
  And, uh, so I started talking to the owner of the, the jukeboxes and we kinda
• 1:25
  became friends, and he used to say, "When you turn 16, I'm gonna give you
• 1:28
  a job." And lo and behold, I turned 16.
• 1:31
  I say, "Hey, I got a, I got a driver's license," and you know, I was this, I
• 1:34
  was this skinny little kid, you know, at 16 and, and, uh, you know, I said,
• 1:39
  "I'm out of school here in a few weeks.
• 1:40
  In a couple of weeks I could use a job," and, and I've been there ever since.
• 1:44
  So I've been an owner for 30 some years and, uh, it's been
• 1:47
  a, it's been a great ride.
• 1:48
  It's been a great ride.
• 1:50
  Jim Tartal: And- So essentially you, you own the jukeboxes, the dart boards, the
• 1:56
  pool tables, and things like that in bars and restaurants all over Pennsylvania.
• 2:03
  Denise Killian: Yes, that's correct.
• 2:04
  That's, that's what, that's kinda the definition of an operator is, is I
• 2:08
  buy the jukeboxes, the pinballs, the pool tables, and then, and I contract
• 2:13
  with locations, which are bars, restaurants, uh, family entertainment
• 2:17
  centers, game rooms, things like that, and contract with them to install
• 2:21
  the games, and we do a revenue share.
• 2:23
  And, uh, it's, it's been really nice working with other small businesses, uh,
• 2:28
  to help them su- you know, supplement their, you know, the income for their,
• 2:32
  their location and their business.
• 2:34
  It's really fun.
• 2:35
  It's been a lot of fun.
• 2:36
  Jim Tartal: Well, I mean, I think they say if you love what you
• 2:38
  do, it's not really a job, right?
• 2:40
  Denise Killian: Yes.
• 2:40
  Yes, that's true.
• 2:41
  I, you know, I get up every morning, I've been at this for a lot of
• 2:44
  years, and I still like to go out on the route and I service the,
• 2:47
  I service some locations myself.
• 2:49
  You know, when I'm out there, I'm talking to the patrons in the bars and I'm talking
• 2:53
  to the bartenders that I've gotten to known and the owners for years, and I've
• 2:56
  watched their kids grow up and things.
• 2:58
  It's, it's, it's, it's really cool.
• 3:00
  Jim Tartal: Oh, that's fantastic.
• 3:02
  That's fantastic.
• 3:03
  And as part of your business, you're also part of an organization called the AMOA.
• 3:07
  Yes, I am.
• 3:09
  Denise Killian: Yes, I am.
• 3:10
  I, I, I've gotten involved, I've, I've been a member of the AMOA for a number
• 3:14
  of years, but, but you know, it- with business craziness and trying to grow your
• 3:20
  business and things, I didn't have, didn't really have the time to get involved
• 3:23
  with AMOA, but prior to that I got, I was involved in my state association,
• 3:28
  PANA, and I had moved up in the ranks with there, and I was vice president
• 3:32
  for a number of years, and I thought…
• 3:34
  You know, I started looking at AMOA and I thought, "You know, this would be a
• 3:37
  great move and I could, I could maybe really help out this organization and
• 3:42
  maybe help out other operators across the country rather than just, just
• 3:45
  across the state." So, um, you know, I've been involved with AMOA and I'm moving
• 3:50
  up and, you know, as, as an executive now, and, uh, and it's been really,
• 3:54
  really fun and very, very rewarding.
• 3:56
  So rewarding
• 3:57
  Jim Tartal: Yeah.
• 3:58
  And, and that's how we met, right?
• 3:59
  We, I work with the AAMA, which is a similar organization.
• 4:04
  Uh, and we were together just last week in Washington, DC to do some
• 4:09
  lobbying on behalf of our industry, and I think that's something that is
• 4:15
  a really important part of those state and national organizations of having
• 4:20
  a voice to the people that matter.
• 4:23
  Denise Killian: Yes.
• 4:24
  Yes, it definitely does.
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  And last week, our trip to DC, putting all those steps in when it's
• 4:29
  95 degrees outside and everything, it, it was… It's so rewarding.
• 4:33
  And really with, with AAMA and their sister, uh, organization, AAMA, which,
• 4:39
  you know, for anybody listening, AAMA is, like, an operator-based,
• 4:42
  uh, association, and AAMA is the manufacturers and suppliers.
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  And with both of those groups together, uh, in, in DC and walking
• 4:52
  the halls, you know, we're, we're, we're a bigger voice together.
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  And, you know, and it really proves that, and it's so reward- It was so
• 4:59
  rewarding last week, and last year I did the same thing with both groups.
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  And, uh, you know, uh, extremely rewarding to talk to all those staffers
• 5:08
  and stuff for, for all these lawmakers.
• 5:09
  It, it was a great time, and I think it was very effective.
• 5:12
  Jim Tartal: Yeah.
• 5:13
  And, you know, one of the issues that we talked about, uh, is debanking.
• 5:17
  That is a problem particularly for, uh, operators like yourself
• 5:22
  that are in a cash business.
• 5:25
  The, the problem- Yes … with debanking.
• 5:27
  Can you tell the folks about that issue?
• 5:30
  Denise Killian: Yes.
• 5:31
  What it is, is, is a, a number of years ago, um, uh, as an operator, uh, we
• 5:37
  came upon ATMs as being another source of income and another service that
• 5:41
  we could provide for our locations.
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  And, uh, so a lot of us got into it, and, you know, of
• 5:47
  course, they're cash intensive.
• 5:49
  We had to take company funds, put them into the ATM, and then the consumers
• 5:54
  draw it out, and then it gets put back into our bank account, and then we
• 5:56
  go back into the bank, pull it out, put it back into the ATM, you know.
• 6:00
  And so it, it's a very cash intensive business, and for some reason, um, after
• 6:06
  Operation Choke Point a number of years ago, the banks just suddenly decided
• 6:12
  to not do business with some of us.
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  They would just close our accounts and then send us a form letter in the mail
• 6:18
  saying, "Hey, sorry, we're done with you."
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  And we're thinking, "Why?" You know?
• 6:22
  And we, we couldn't get an answer as to why.
• 6:25
  Now, they wouldn't, they wouldn't tell you anything.
• 6:27
  You know, so we would have to scramble then, put our payroll checks on hold,
• 6:32
  put our vendor checks on hold, uh, put our lives on hold to go and find another
• 6:37
  bank to do business with and get signed up to them, get the account started.
• 6:43
  And then in the meantime, our money from our ATMs are getting deposited
• 6:46
  into that account, and it's frozen.
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  Oh, it just creates a, a, a nightmare and makes it extremely hard to do business.
• 6:53
  And, you know, and our, our question is, you know, we wanna know why.
• 6:57
  Why are we being de-banked?
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  Um, of AAMA's 850 members approximately, right around 30% of our members
• 7:07
  have been de-banked at least once.
• 7:09
  Some of them, you know, some of my colleagues four times, three times.
• 7:13
  You know, it's, it's just a, a rampant thing that, um, that's been going on.
• 7:19
  And, um, you know, and we are a legal business.
• 7:23
  We are a cash business.
• 7:24
  We, you know, our games are take dollar bills and take quarters,
• 7:29
  and we have to take those dollar bills and quarters into the bank.
• 7:32
  We, you know, it's just our part of doing business.
• 7:35
  And, you know, I don't know why they would lump us in like that or de-bank
• 7:39
  us, and they won't give us an answer.
• 7:42
  So we're just trying to get some traction in law where we have got
• 7:48
  a little bit of teeth or a little bit of recourse, or just a question
• 7:53
  or an answer to our question why.
• 7:56
  So it's difficult.
• 7:57
  It's been very difficult
• 7:58
  Jim Tartal: Yeah.
• 7:58
  Yeah, and that's the, the frustrations that I've been having
• 8:00
  with that, and that's been about 10 years that that's been going on.
• 8:05
  And that to have as an individual business owner, to have that happen
• 8:10
  to you is incredibly frustrating, and you can't get quite the right
• 8:15
  answers, and in the meantime, your employees aren't getting paid.
• 8:18
  You can't pay your bills because everything is frozen and you don't know
• 8:21
  why, and all of those frustrations.
• 8:24
  But then what do you do about it?
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  And as one individual, it's really hard to do anything about it, right?
• 8:33
  And, and that's kind of the power of belonging to an
• 8:37
  organization within your industry
• 8:41
  Denise Killian: Yes.
• 8:41
  Yes, it is.
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  Whenever this first started happening, you know, naturally the first guys
• 8:46
  that it happened to, you know, they called our, you know, called the AAMA
• 8:49
  office and said, "You can't believe what just, what happened to me." And,
• 8:53
  you know, and we explained, you know, they explained it to them, and then
• 8:56
  went, "Wow, this is, this is an issue."
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  Whenever we're getting calls and calls and calls that this is happening across the
• 9:02
  country, that really spiked it up to say, "Wow, you know, we've gotta collectively
• 9:08
  do something about this." And that's where the AAMA took up this issue and,
• 9:13
  uh, went to different, uh, different parts of government and, and try- You know,
• 9:18
  we're, we're continually trying to get answers, to get teeth to make this, to
• 9:22
  make this happen or make this go away.
• 9:24
  Or at least give us answers.
• 9:26
  Give us some best practices.
• 9:28
  Give us something so that we can tell our members, "Hey, this is
• 9:31
  what you gotta do." You know, and then we would be glad to do it.
• 9:34
  Glad to do it.
• 9:36
  Jim Tartal: Yeah.
• 9:36
  And, you know, and there's a couple of pieces of legislation
• 9:38
  that are out there right now.
• 9:40
  We're able to talk to that, and even help craft some of those legislative
• 9:46
  measures because we've got these relationships with lawmakers.
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  And, you know, that's just something that a larger organization is able to do.
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  And let's be honest, Congress members are busy.
• 9:59
  They always wanna hear from their constituents, but if you
• 10:01
  have one constituent, you're gonna pay some attention to it.
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  But if you've got a multitude of constituents all coming together,
• 10:09
  that's a more powerful voice that they listen to a little bit more.
• 10:14
  Denise Killian: Yes.
• 10:14
  Yes, it is.
• 10:15
  Yeah, and, and, and, and a voice that knows what they're talking about, knows
• 10:19
  the issues and things, you know, as a, as a collective part, it's, um, you
• 10:23
  know, definitely a plus to do that.
• 10:26
  Um, President Trump's executive order last year, uh, saying that
• 10:32
  the banks could not use reputational risk to, to close accounts.
• 10:35
  It kind of slowed things down a good bit, but we s- we still don't have enough
• 10:40
  teeth in that, in that executive order to, uh, to, to really make it stick.
• 10:45
  We just had one of our members in Southern Florida, you know, about a month ago,
• 10:50
  uh, May 28th, his accounts were fine.
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  May 29th His, his accounts were closed, and he gets a letter two days later
• 10:59
  saying that they were closing his account.
• 11:00
  Well, guess what?
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  They were already closed, so it was kind of, kind of a slap to
• 11:04
  even get that letter then later.
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  But it proves that it's still happening.
• 11:08
  But, um, you know, it has definitely slowed, but we just need some
• 11:11
  more teeth and some more s- s- just some more grunt behind it.
• 11:15
  Jim Tartal: Yeah.
• 11:16
  So, you know, every industry has organizations, a state organization or
• 11:22
  and more than likely a national organization as well.
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  And it, it kinda doesn't matter if you're a banker, if you're a
• 11:29
  baker, if you're, uh, a bar owner or a restaurant owner, right?
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  There's … No matter what it is, there is gonna be an organization that is
• 11:39
  meant to provide information, provide, uh, help for situations like this and
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  guidance for situations like this.
• 11:50
  Uh, and I think a lot of people either know that that might exist, but, "Eh,
• 11:54
  I'm not gonna get anything out of it," or, "I don't have time to mess with
• 11:59
  that," or, "What good is that gonna do me?" What do you say to those people?
• 12:05
  Denise Killian: Yeah, you're, you're exactly right.
• 12:07
  You know, and, and once they get involved, you know, once they make
• 12:11
  that, make that decision to stick their toe in there and, and, and get
• 12:16
  involved, then they're gonna see, "Wow, why didn't I do this a long time ago?"
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  You know, it was fantastic in, you know, in the state whenever I got involved in,
• 12:24
  in my state association PAMA, of how much I learned just from, from what guys are
• 12:29
  doing on the other side of the state.
• 12:31
  And, uh, you know, and, and I look at and I see that, wow, these guys
• 12:34
  are facing the same problems I am.
• 12:36
  You know, it, it's very interesting.
• 12:38
  But like you said, Denise, the… Any, any kind of business has
• 12:43
  organizations, and get involved.
• 12:47
  Get involved because w- you don't know what you're missing.
• 12:51
  Yeah, you don't know what you're missing.
• 12:52
  It… You know, you're, you're gonna meet great people that are doing the
• 12:55
  same thing and are working as hard as you are at, at your business.
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  So get involved and, and, and help out.
• 13:05
  Help out a little bit.
• 13:06
  It helps the whole industry.
• 13:08
  It helps everybody thrive.
• 13:09
  It gives us a little bit, as we talk to different members about our problems,
• 13:13
  it gives us a little bit of confidence to know that we're doing some of the
• 13:16
  right things, and it also gives us a little bit of, ah, yeah, breathing room.
• 13:22
  Like, yeah, okay, I'm, I'm not the only one.
• 13:24
  I'm not the only one, so let's push through.
• 13:26
  Or if I see, talk to somebody saying that they addressed this problem this
• 13:30
  way over on their side of the state, then I bring that back here and say, "Wow,
• 13:34
  that's great. That works great." You know, so, um, there is, there is so much
• 13:39
  value in your, in your organizations.
• 13:42
  You know, I saw it in, in the state and then as I got into more involved in
• 13:47
  my national association, AAMA, it was like, wow, man, just talking to people
• 13:53
  in different states across the country that have different laws and things and
• 13:57
  how they handle, how they handle their, their business, how they handle things.
• 14:01
  You know, it was… it's fantastic.
• 14:02
  It's, it's just fantastic, you know.
• 14:04
  And you, you just learn so much and, and, and it provides that, that
• 14:09
  extra lifeline that- If you have a question on something, you're thinking,
• 14:14
  "Wow, man, I don't know what to do about this." Well, you know what?
• 14:17
  I r- I know this guy out in Iowa, he's, he runs a lot of these games.
• 14:22
  I'm gonna give him a call and see what's going on.
• 14:24
  And then bam, he goes, "Oh, yeah, Jim, this is, you know, this is how you handle
• 14:27
  it. This is how I've handled it and I've had great success with it." And then
• 14:30
  bingo, your problem's taken care of.
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  You know?
• 14:32
  So there's just so much value in it.
• 14:34
  But, uh, I just get really…
• 14:36
  In talking to some other operators in, around my area, uh, that I might be
• 14:40
  friendly with and, and friends with, you know, and they're like, "Oh, no,
• 14:44
  I just don't have time." And boy, I just, you know, I just wanna say,
• 14:46
  "Come on, man, you gotta get with it.
• 14:48
  You gotta get with it, and, you know, and, and get in there." You know?
• 14:51
  Uh, you won't regret it.
• 14:52
  Nobody'll regret it.
• 14:53
  Nobody'll regret being involved in their, in their association for their business.
• 14:58
  Jim Tartal: Yeah.
• 14:59
  And, and, you know, and, and that example that you just used is, I see
• 15:02
  it so many times when I, you know, do work with AAMA, but other organizations
• 15:06
  I'm involved in, chances are, if you're having an issue or a problem
• 15:11
  or a frustration in your business, there is someone else that's going
• 15:16
  through that or has gone through that.
• 15:18
  So why wouldn't you be involved and have the ability to reach out and say, "Hey,
• 15:25
  this is happening. Has anybody else dealt with this? What did you do with
• 15:29
  that?" At, at minimum, you can have… know that misery loves company, right?
• 15:34
  That you're not alone.
• 15:35
  But quite probably, someone's going to have gone through that and found
• 15:40
  a solution that can work for you or that you can tweak a little bit, and I
• 15:44
  can use part of this and part of that, and, and, and come to that solution.
• 15:48
  So just the, the camaraderie and the opportunity to get access to
• 15:53
  information with people that are going through it too, I think is invaluable.
• 15:59
  Denise Killian: Oh, my, yes.
• 15:59
  Yeah, you're, you're definitely right.
• 16:01
  Uh, just those, those little things, those little things like that all add up.
• 16:05
  And, uh, you know, it, it's just fantastic to be able to have that, to have that
• 16:09
  information, you know, available.
• 16:11
  Get on, get on your association's member list and, and think, "Wow, there's
• 16:16
  this guy out in wherever," you know?
• 16:18
  On the other side of the state, in Scranton, PA, over here in my, you
• 16:21
  know, my area in the other corner of the state, where I could call him up
• 16:24
  and say, "Hey, man, are you running this dart machine? I'm having this issue."
• 16:27
  "Oh, yeah, you gotta change this software," or something.
• 16:30
  You know, it's just… Oh, there's just… The, the sky's the limit on the,
• 16:33
  on what you can find out, between their technical service, technical guys, uh,
• 16:37
  that might, you know, and they might have a, a really good technician that
• 16:40
  knows a trick to, to fix something.
• 16:43
  It's, it's really cool.
• 16:44
  It's just really cool.
• 16:45
  Jim Tartal: Yeah.
• 16:45
  Denise Killian: Good stuff.
• 16:46
  Jim Tartal: Absolutely.
• 16:47
  Absolutely.
• 16:47
  How long have you been a part of the AMOA?
• 16:51
  Denise Killian: Oh man, AAMA, it's gotta be 30 some years that, that
• 16:54
  I've been a member, probably since I bought into the business in '94, '92.
• 16:59
  And, uh, but I've been involved for probably about the past 10 years,
• 17:04
  on the board for the last eight.
• 17:06
  So it's been, uh, you know, and, and it's been fantastic.
• 17:09
  It's been fantastic.
• 17:10
  Now as treasurer now this year, and then, uh, if I'm, if I'm allowed or if I'm, you
• 17:16
  know, if I pass the test to go to, to, uh, first vice president and then, uh, then
• 17:20
  I'll be pre- hopefully president in 2028.
• 17:23
  So it's really, really exciting and, uh, I'm so honored to, you know,
• 17:28
  I've been in the business for over 45 years, so it's really an honor to be
• 17:33
  involved in, in something that, that, you know, that is a national thing
• 17:40
  now that I've done my whole life.
• 17:42
  It's, it's, it's really an honor.
• 17:44
  Jim Tartal: No, absolutely, and the impact you're able to make
• 17:48
  is important as well, so right?
• 17:49
  Denise Killian: Yes, I hope, I hope I… Yes, yes, I hope I can.
• 17:52
  And, you know, nothing thrills me more is when I get that call from
• 17:56
  somebody across the country that, that wants to ask me something.
• 17:59
  I'm thinking, "Wow, man, that, you know, that's pretty cool.
• 18:02
  I gu- I guess I'm doing something right." You know?
• 18:04
  You, you, you get involved in your business and you dig every day, and
• 18:07
  you dig, and you dig, and you dig.
• 18:09
  You know, and you, you don't really see that outside
• 18:12
  influence that you might have.
• 18:14
  But when you get those calls from those guys from another state, it's great to,
• 18:19
  uh, it's great to know that you're, that you, that you mean something to them too.
• 18:22
  It's very cool.
• 18:24
  Jim Tartal: Absolutely.
• 18:25
  Now Jim, I wanna take you back to that 16-year-old hanging out in your dad's
• 18:29
  restaurant looking at the jukeboxes.
• 18:33
  Denise Killian: Yeah.
• 18:34
  Jim Tartal: How do you grow from, "Okay, I got this summer job and
• 18:40
  I'm putting new records in," I mean, back then it was records, right?
• 18:43
  You're putting new records in the jukeboxes.
• 18:46
  How do you grow from that at 16 to be like, "This is what I wanna be a part of"?
• 18:52
  For the foreseeable future
• 18:54
  Denise Killian: Yeah, it was, it was really cool.
• 18:56
  You know, at, at 16 when I started, you know, at my first job, I, I walked in the
• 19:00
  door, and I'm filling Pepsi machines and cleaning pinballs and, uh, and putting
• 19:05
  records on, 45 RPM records on jukeboxes.
• 19:08
  We were super small, probably one-fifth of the size that,
• 19:12
  that, that, that we are now.
• 19:14
  And, uh, you know, a private owner, and it was just me and one oth- one mechanic,
• 19:18
  you know, and you know, and that was it that, that pretty much ran the business.
• 19:22
  And then the owner unfortunately passed away suddenly, and, uh, and the family,
• 19:28
  the family had the business for a while.
• 19:29
  And you know, and, and we grew during that time because the family was,
• 19:33
  you know, uh, the son was ready to expand the business and, you know,
• 19:37
  and saw some new opportunities.
• 19:38
  So we grew there.
• 19:40
  And then the family made me and a coworker, uh, the opportunity to,
• 19:44
  uh, to buy it out, to, to buy it out.
• 19:47
  And, and I thought, "You know what?
• 19:48
  Okay, this is definitely my life's work now." And, um, you know, I was
• 19:53
  in the Army National Guard, you know, uh, for years before that. And, uh,
• 19:58
  you know, I'm thinking, "Wow, man, this is, this is life-changing now.
• 20:02
  This, this is my career.
• 20:03
  This is my life." And you know, and we grew through the compact disc
• 20:08
  phase, through into digital jukeboxes and ATMs, and wow, it's just been…
• 20:14
  You know, and then getting through COVID, and it, it's, it's been quite a ride.
• 20:18
  It's been quite a ride.
• 20:20
  But you know, it, it's been, it's been really cool to grow it though.
• 20:22
  Really cool.
• 20:23
  Jim Tartal: So something that you just said, it kind of
• 20:25
  Denise Killian: struck me a little bit thinking about it.
• 20:28
  Jim Tartal: You started with jukeboxes, and it was 45s,
• 20:34
  and now it's digital.
• 20:37
  That's a, uh, with like 15 different stops in between.
• 20:41
  That's a lot of technological change.
• 20:43
  That's a lot of different business models, different pay scales, right?
• 20:49
  Like now you can, you can play a song on a jukebox from your phone, you know?
• 20:55
  Um, a lot of changes.
• 20:57
  How do you keep up with those changes and with that growth in the industry?
• 21:04
  Denise Killian: Boy, you know, it's, it, you know, the digital,
• 21:07
  the digital jukebox has really revolutionized bar entertainment.
• 21:10
  And, uh, and then with the-- when the cell phones became involved, we'd be
• 21:14
  able to do mobile play and, you know, on the jukebox really kicked it up a notch.
• 21:18
  We were able to sit at a bar or sit there having dinner and scroll
• 21:22
  through and think, "I haven't heard this song for a while," and bam,
• 21:24
  hit play now, and it's playing.
• 21:27
  You know, so it, it really has.
• 21:28
  But, you know, as you grow, as you, as you get this new technology, you
• 21:32
  know, you almost have to start slow and think, "Okay, how am I gonna do this?
• 21:37
  How many jukeboxes am I gonna have to buy in the next year?
• 21:39
  How many in two years?
• 21:40
  How many in three years?" You know, to be able to cover your route without
• 21:44
  sapping your funds too bad, so you gotta kinda budget yourself and things.
• 21:48
  You know, but that, that's the thing is careful budgeting Uh, a
• 21:52
  good plan, you know, a good plan.
• 21:55
  You know, unfortunately, or fortunately but unfortunately I'm small, I'm smaller,
• 21:59
  so I really didn't have to sit there and say, "Okay, I'm gonna do three jukeboxes
• 22:02
  next year and I'm gonna do five the next year." Now it's just kind of business
• 22:06
  depends on it because you, you might put one jukebox in, in one place in
• 22:10
  a, in a town, and then you've got four other bars in that town, then they're
• 22:15
  clamoring for that jukebox, so guess what?
• 22:17
  You know, you're expanding a little bit quicker than you wanted to.
• 22:19
  But, you know, we f- have partnerships with all of these locations,
• 22:24
  and we want them to survive.
• 22:26
  And if, if they're making money, guess what?
• 22:29
  I'm not worried about me making money.
• 22:30
  You know, I'm, I'm worried about them making money, because if they're making
• 22:33
  money, odds are if I'm smart enough I'm making a couple of bucks too.
• 22:37
  So increasing the, the location's bottom line and, and, uh, helping them, helping
• 22:43
  them supplement their business is really fun and it's nice to, it's nice to be able
• 22:49
  to go into a location and they look up to you thinking, "Wow, man, this guy's,
• 22:53
  this guy's made me a few bucks. You know, I'm k- helping them pay my electric
• 22:56
  bill by what this guy does for me."
• 22:58
  So it's, uh, it's really cool.
• 23:00
  It's really cool.
• 23:01
  But you gotta keep up with it.
• 23:02
  You gotta keep up with it because if you try to slow down and you don't wanna
• 23:07
  embrace the new technology, guess what?
• 23:09
  In my business you're a speed bump then.
• 23:11
  You know?
• 23:12
  And, and I don't wanna be a speed bump.
• 23:13
  I've never been a speed bump.
• 23:15
  And, uh, so you, you've gotta keep up.
• 23:17
  Just like in any business.
• 23:19
  You know, in any business.
• 23:20
  It isn't just, it isn't just amusement vending.
• 23:22
  You know, it's any business.
• 23:23
  You have to keep up with technology and you have to, you have to keep
• 23:26
  your, your equipment up to date.
• 23:28
  You have to keep your service up to date.
• 23:30
  You know?
• 23:30
  So it's, it's, it's a challenge, yeah, but guess what?
• 23:33
  That's business.
• 23:34
  That's, that's the business challenge that we all face every day.
• 23:36
  I'm sure, Denise, you hear it from all the people that, uh, you know, that,
• 23:39
  that you help and, and you work with.
• 23:42
  You know?
• 23:42
  Business is a challenge.
• 23:44
  Jim Tartal: It, it is across the board and, and, you know, and, and
• 23:47
  keeping up with the new technologies no matter what your industry is.
• 23:51
  You know, how do you use AI and incorporate in my, my business is
• 23:54
  gonna be different to how you would incorporate it in yours, right?
• 23:58
  Um, if there's a new piece of technology, if there's a new, um, a new supplier that
• 24:03
  is offering something different, is that gonna work with all the other things?
• 24:06
  Like, it can become very convoluted.
• 24:09
  Uh, and is this gonna talk to that thing?
• 24:11
  And, you know, is it all gonna work together?
• 24:13
  And, you know, and that's something else that I found, uh, that is invaluable
• 24:17
  with your state organizations and your national organizations is,
• 24:23
  yes, we have these meetings, and this is for any industry, right?
• 24:26
  You have these meetings, and they'll always have some kind of an educational
• 24:29
  part of those meetings, uh, where they bring people in to talk about,
• 24:35
  you know, "Here's how you deal with this," or, "Here's this problem,"
• 24:38
  or, "Here's that problem," right?
• 24:39
  So, um, that helps you k- stay a- stay, stay on top of things too because things
• 24:44
  are changing so incredibly rapidly.
• 24:49
  Denise Killian: Yes.
• 24:49
  Yes, that's, that's very true.
• 24:50
  That, that education at, you know, at the state level and national level,
• 24:54
  that extra education is, is priceless because you might think, "Oh, well,
• 25:00
  my keypads on my ATMs work just fine."
• 25:02
  Well, guess what?
• 25:03
  They're changing the parameters on, on keypads now.
• 25:06
  So now you have somebody from NCR or, or one, or one of the other ATM manufacturers
• 25:11
  coming in to talk to your organization saying, "Here's how you handle it, guys.
• 25:16
  You know, you've got three years to change these or, you know, we're getting, we're
• 25:19
  getting more secure, uh, so this is the way you gotta handle things," you know?
• 25:23
  And, and, uh, so th- that, that's all a plus, but that's
• 25:27
  just on my, on, in my business.
• 25:29
  But in any business, I'm sure that, that these kind of new technologies
• 25:34
  al- always come up, and being part of your national organization is going
• 25:39
  to make it a lot easier for you to deal with those problems, I believe.
• 25:43
  Jim Tartal: Absolutely.
• 25:44
  All right, Jim, what would you tell that 16-year-old today
• 25:46
  if you could talk to him?
• 25:47
  What advice would you give him?
• 25:50
  Denise Killian: Oh, man.
• 25:51
  Um, you know what?
• 25:53
  The, the, in today's youth has a lot more challenges than, than whenever I was 16.
• 26:00
  Um, with peer pressure bigger than ever and, and with digital age and Facebook
• 26:07
  and things, and bullying, and, you know, the whole thing is, is to focus.
• 26:12
  You know, just, just focus yourself, focus your life.
• 26:15
  Try not to let those bad things in.
• 26:19
  Don't let those bad things into you.
• 26:21
  They're always gonna be around.
• 26:22
  Realize that they're there.
• 26:24
  Don't succumb to those, to those problems, you know?
• 26:27
  And, and in my industry, being in bars and clubs since I was 16
• 26:31
  years old, yeah, there's a lot of ways I could have went south.
• 26:34
  And, uh, you know, and, and it- and you've gotta, you've gotta grab
• 26:38
  yourself by the bootstraps and do the right thing and, and push through.
• 26:44
  Uh, I joined the Army National Guard at 17.
• 26:47
  Yeah, 17, so you know, that kind of discipline was pushing me, too.
• 26:52
  So I had to keep my hair cut, keep my, keep my mustache trimmed, keep, you
• 26:56
  know, and all that o- all that other stuff g- for drill weekends and things.
• 27:00
  But, uh, you know, the whole thing is, is these young people
• 27:03
  really need to, to focus.
• 27:05
  I would say, I would tell young Jim, "Keep your act together. Work hard. Attention to
• 27:10
  detail." Attention to detail was something that was pounded into, into me in, in
• 27:14
  basic training, and I still live to that, to that thing today, attention to detail.
• 27:19
  And, you know, and everything I do from my, the way that I, uh, arrange
• 27:24
  a, a route, you know, or I, uh, ar- arrange machines in a location.
• 27:27
  Like, "Hey, guys, I want those machines two inches apart," you know?
• 27:30
  Or something like that, you know that it, it drives people a little crazy,
• 27:34
  but, uh, but it just looks so much better and it, and it looks like you care.
• 27:38
  So that attention to detail shows that you care about yourself and you care
• 27:42
  about what you're doing, care about your family, so it's pretty cool.
• 27:46
  Jim Tartal: That's great.
• 27:47
  That's great, Tim.
• 27:48
  Well, listen, thank you so much for your time.
• 27:50
  I appreciate it, and you know, I know with the AAMA, we're sister organizations
• 27:55
  with the AMOA, uh, and we do a lot of collaborative things together.
• 28:00
  Uh, but uh, the opportunity when we are all together and we can go, and like
• 28:05
  you said, in 95-degree temperatures, walk all over Congress from this
• 28:11
  building to that building and back across and, and all of that, it's a,
• 28:14
  it's a long, exhausting couple of days.
• 28:17
  But it's always worth it, not only because you feel like you're able
• 28:20
  to have those conversations that, that are going to make a difference.
• 28:23
  Uh, but I always learn things when I'm, when I'm around folks at the AMA.
• 28:28
  I hope y'all learn things when you're around, uh, the AAMA folks.
• 28:32
  Uh, but, uh, it's, it's always a pleasure to be able to spend time with you.
• 28:35
  Thank you, Tim.
• 28:37
  Denise Killian: Yeah, it's alwa- it's always been great, and, and I really
• 28:40
  look forward to the next, to the next outing like that in DC next year.
• 28:44
  Uh, you know, or anything else that, that we do.
• 28:47
  Like, we'll see each other at the trade show and things like that, and
• 28:50
  it's just, it's just so great to, to collaborate with, with both organizations.
• 28:55
  And then I bring all these nug- good, tasty nuggets back to my state
• 28:59
  association, and, and we use them at the state association, and I use
• 29:03
  them in my business, and, and it just makes, it makes things so much better.
• 29:06
  It makes things so much better.
• 29:07
  It makes me smile, you know?
• 29:09
  It, it, it's a good thing.
• 29:11
  Jim Tartal: Excellent.
• 29:11
  Well, thank you, Jim.
• 29:12
  I appreciate your time today.
• 29:14
  Denise Killian: Thanks, Denise.
• 29:15
  Take care of yourself.
• 29:17
  Jim Tartal: Well, we hope today's conversation has given you some
• 29:20
  practical tools to help you sharpen your edge and accelerate your growth.
• 29:25
  If you're ready to grow your team, your business, or yourself, contact us at
• 29:31
  thegrowthprogroup.com and set up a free growth call with one of our coaches.
• 29:36
  Once again, a special thanks to our sponsors, Embed, Party Center Software,
• 29:41
  A&A Global, Betson, Semnox, Shaffer, and Roller for all that they do to
• 29:47
  help us bring you The GrowthPro edge.
• 29:51
  And until next time, I'm Denise Killian with The GrowthPro Group.
• 29:55
  Keep learning, keep growing, and keep striving for the extraordinary.