Latest / The Inspired Stories Podcast / How Bob Reddy's Near-Death Experience Created an Unstoppable Leader

Transcript

How Bob Reddy's Near-Death Experience Created an Unstoppable Leader · 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
0:12
their successes and be inspired by how they've overcome
0:15
adversity. My name is Anthony Kotaspodi and
0:17
today's guest is Bob Reddy, owner and strategic partner at
0:21
Pridestaff Carlsbad. They are a staffing and
0:24
employment agency that specializes in matching top
0:27
talent with the right employers in industries like
0:30
manufacturing, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals.
0:33
Their mission is to consistently provide client experiences
0:37
focused on what they value most, while their employee engagement
0:41
program helps to build strong relationships now.
0:45
Over the past 26 years, Pride Staff Carlsbad has earned
0:50
notable recognitions including the 212° Award for Superior
0:55
Performance and 13 Presidents Circle Awards for outstanding
1:00
growth and profitability. Bob is a former Navy recruiter
1:04
served in a variety of staffing leadership roles, including as a
1:09
Commodore overseeing all Navy talent acquisition efforts for
1:13
the Eastern Hemisphere. He also holds an NBA and
1:16
Manpower Systems Analysis from the Naval Postgraduate School
1:20
and is currently certified as a Senior Professional and Human
1:23
Resources. With a strong background in
1:26
solving organizational challenges, Bob brings a wealth
1:30
of knowledge to our conversation today.
1:33
Now before we get into all that good stuff, today's episode is
1:36
brought to you by my company, Add Back Benefits Agency, where
1:40
we offer very specific and unique employee benefits that
1:43
are both great for your team and fiscally optimized for your
1:46
bottom line. One recent client was able to
1:49
add over $900 per employee per year in extra cash flow by
1:54
implementing one of our innovative programs.
1:56
Results vary for each company, and some organizations may not
1:59
be eligible. To find out if your company
2:01
qualifies, contact us today at AD back benefits.com.
2:05
All right, back to our guest today, owner and strategic
2:08
partner Pride staff Carlsbad. Bob, ready.
2:11
I appreciate you making the time to Share your story today.
2:14
I appreciate you having me on, Anthony.
2:16
It's a pleasure and privilege to be here.
2:19
All right. So Bob, I want to start by going
2:22
way back before you were running your own staffing firm.
2:25
You actually enlisted in the Navy right out of high school,
2:28
is that correct? That's correct.
2:32
So actually, I think before I could even get into that, I
2:36
probably need to start a little bit before that to talk a little
2:40
bit about my first job, which was actually selling newspaper
2:43
subscriptions. It was for the The Baltimore Sun
2:47
and it was not the the best job. It was my first job and it was
2:55
it was definitely a learning experience.
2:58
And, and I also probably should give you some some background.
3:00
I'm first generation son of an immigrant.
3:03
My mom unfortunately passed away when I was 2.
3:06
And so I think the, the things, the, the two main lessons that
3:11
my dad imparted on me very early on is that life's not fair and
3:16
it doesn't owe you anything. You've got to work for what you
3:18
want out of life. And so with that mindset, I had
3:21
approached this job and found out I'm, I'm pretty terrible at
3:27
sales. It was so bad that so we'd go
3:32
out into to neighborhoods in a van, canvassed the neighborhood
3:36
and I'll come back with our sales slips, meet me not with
3:40
very many. And so our team leader would
3:43
pull me aside and, you know, kind of go through everything,
3:47
go through my sales and start asking.
3:51
So what's the interaction like with the customer?
3:55
And he said, do you give up after you get the the first?
3:58
No. And I usually said yes if, if
4:02
they tell me no, I, I don't push it any further.
4:05
It's like, well, you're not doing your job right unless you
4:08
get 3 no's. And so he would push me out
4:12
again and encourage me to get 3 no's from every customer before
4:17
giving up on the sale. This, this factors in trust me
4:21
here. And so I also happened to be
4:26
kind of a little bit of a, a weird kid.
4:29
I think most kids their senior year, if they find out they only
4:33
have a couple of classes to graduate, they would have a cake
4:36
senior year and take it easy. I had an older sister that kind
4:40
of paved the path for me on this.
4:42
But I figured with those two classes, I could just go to
4:47
college year early and take those as 100 classes, get
4:52
college credit as well as high school credit.
4:54
So that's what I did, started college at age 16 and it was in
5:03
about a little year and a half in to to college.
5:09
Right before I graduated from high school, a Navy recruiter
5:12
started reaching out to me and again, my mindset from that
5:17
previous sales experiences, he's not going to leave me alone
5:21
until I give him three no's. So I'm going to go into the
5:23
office, I'm going to give him three no's and he'll he'll leave
5:27
me alone. Well, that didn't quite go the
5:30
way that I thought. As he started asking about what
5:34
I was doing in college. I, I told him I was on the pre
5:37
Med track and he asked how that was going.
5:40
And then he said, have you done the math on this?
5:42
You realize that you still have to complete another two to three
5:47
years of college before you can apply to medical school.
5:51
That's going to be another four years and then additional time.
5:54
It's going to be quite some time before you can actually practice
5:59
medical care, start seeing patients.
6:02
I have an opportunity for you that can have you providing
6:07
medical care in about 6 months. And we also talked about some of
6:14
the financial challenges. Having skipped my senior year of
6:19
high school, I was constantly trying to make sure that I
6:23
remain scholarship eligible. So I spent a lot of time in the
6:26
library with books and a few other friends of mine that were
6:30
in the same situation. But I also had this, this set of
6:34
friends where mom and dad were paying for college and they were
6:38
kind of on the eight-year program, going to parties every
6:41
single weekend. And I figured there's, there's
6:43
got to be some balance where I can have some life experiences
6:49
and not have to, to worry about the finances of college.
6:53
And so this Navy recruiter very astutely picked up on that as a
6:57
need as well. And basically told me by joining
7:01
the Navy, I, I could have college taken care of
7:04
financially as well as get me fast tracked towards medical
7:08
care. And so I enlisted as a hospital
7:11
corpsman and it was actually a little different than what the
7:15
recruiter said in that it wasn't six months, it was closer to
7:19
three to four months. So he he was definitely true to
7:22
his word and it was it was a blast.
7:26
So what does a Hospital Corman do?
7:28
A. Hospital Corman provides basic
7:31
medical care and so I'd say it's closest to probably an LPN and a
7:37
nurse. OK.
7:40
And so you're learning this, you're providing this service.
7:45
And at the same time, are you taking college courses or, or
7:48
does that come later? So I by the time I enlisted, I I
7:53
enlisted with about a year and a half of college credits.
7:57
When I enlisted at 17 at my very first command there, I don't
8:04
want to spend this entire interview sharing sea stories or
8:09
sharing too many stories about my background.
8:11
But there's there's a much longer story that got me to
8:15
Bethesda Naval Medical Center, but known as the President's
8:19
hospital. And while I was there in the
8:24
Navy, the most senior enlisted folks that manage you are called
8:29
Navy Chiefs. And my chief knew that I had
8:35
pretty close to an associate's degree and so kept bugging me to
8:40
go back to college to finish that.
8:42
As I shared with you before, I was excited to be out of the
8:46
library, be be out from behind books and actually being able to
8:51
get my hands dirty with work. So that was kind of the the
8:56
lowest priority or the the least thing I had on my mind.
9:00
That's actually what led me to the Naval Academy.
9:04
I got approved for tuition assistance and was thinking I'm
9:11
going to be smart about this and I'm using quotes here.
9:15
I'll hear quotes. I thought I would slow roll this
9:19
by taking one college course on the weekend and it just so
9:22
happened I kept getting assigned for watch those same times that
9:25
I was approved for college. That one college class, my
9:31
department head of the time, full full bird Navy captain
9:36
ended up making a four strike phone call to the watch go
9:39
coordinator to deconflict it and resulted in me getting all the
9:43
worst watches, holiday watches after that.
9:46
But he pulled me into his office later and he says OK I helped
9:50
you out in the short term, what's your long term plan?
9:52
And I told him just keep taking college classes and finish off
9:57
my associates. And he was like wrong answer.
10:00
He slid across 2 brochures, 1 was for Navy ROTC and one was
10:05
for the Naval Academy. And he said, pick one, pick
10:08
both, I don't care, but I want to see an application by the end
10:11
of the week and really started, started an application because
10:16
it is a a much longer arduous process than that.
10:19
Having grown up in Maryland, I figured I'll show him, I'll
10:23
apply to the Naval Academy. I won't get in and he'll leave
10:26
me alone and that'll be the end of it.
10:29
Well, as it turns out, I I got in.
10:34
So you got in, you end up, you know, earning your Commission
10:37
through the Academy. And from there, you know, kind
10:40
of looking at your background here, it looks like a pretty
10:43
remarkable career climb within the Navy recruiting manpower
10:47
strategy. You served in Iraq leading some
10:50
of the Navy's most critical HR operations.
10:53
But I, if I understand correctly, you know, there was
10:57
the, the early recruiting role in Minneapolis that I think, you
11:02
know, you kind of developed a passion for solving manpower
11:06
challenges. What, what was that experience?
11:08
Why did that click for you? Why was it so meaningful?
11:11
So that actually was supposed to be a, a footnote that was not
11:18
supposed to be part of a continuing career.
11:24
So what's not in my bio, what's not in my LinkedIn profile is
11:30
well, I, I chose, I specifically chose FD and F Japan, the USS
11:36
Cushing, which is a Spruance class destroyer no longer in
11:40
service. I chose that to get as far away
11:45
from the East Coast as as I could.
11:49
As you probably saw, I went to boot camp in Orlando, went to
11:52
hospital Corpsman, School, Hospital Corpsman, a school in
11:57
Great Lakes, IL, and back to Annapolis.
12:01
The Naval Academy really wasn't much of A join the Navy see the
12:04
world experience at that point. And so wanted to get as far away
12:08
as I could to, to start experiencing that, that life.
12:12
I, I kind of craved. But also I knew it was going to
12:15
be heavy operational and I, I knew it was going to be a
12:20
challenge, but I also thought it what better way to immerse
12:23
myself as a surface warfare officer in, in training.
12:27
And so that was the plan what I wasn't really prepared for.
12:32
So I left the Naval Academy about £150 on this frame.
12:36
I'm about 511 and I went on board the ship just like any
12:44
nuance and got seasick. Didn't really think much about
12:48
it. I kept this up for a while and I
12:54
was told don't worry, it'll be fine, it'll just go away.
12:59
Throughout my career, I kind of had it impressed on me that I'm
13:03
not a corpsman anymore. And so I need to focus on being
13:08
a surface warfare officer. And so I kind of turned that
13:12
side of my brain off and just kind of trusted when when along
13:16
with whatever was presented to me.
13:19
And so I just figured I would, you know, get sick over the side
13:23
and then go back to doing what I'm supposed to do.
13:25
And then at the end of the night, go see Doc.
13:27
He would pop a lactated Ringer's IV and I'd get rehydrated and do
13:32
it all over again. Well, this is not sustainable.
13:36
And so it got to the point where I lost about 25 lbs in 20 days
13:42
and I was told to go get checked out by a medical doctor onshore.
13:51
The recommendation at the time was you need to stay behind and
13:56
gain some weight back. You're about down to 3% body
14:00
fat. If you lose any more, you're
14:02
going to be risking brain damage.
14:04
And the exo on the ship again. Thought he was trying to help me
14:10
out. Found a doctor that would clear
14:13
me, allowed me to get under way. The new Doctor wasn't talking to
14:17
the corpsman on the ship. They prescribed contraindicating
14:20
medications and in July of 1999 I briefly died on board Cushing.
14:27
I was told that they spent about 30 minutes trying to revive me
14:33
and I was medevacked off. The cool thing was I got to ride
14:36
the bullet train. Didn't really get to see my many
14:39
of the sites in Japan because I was deployed 85% of the time.
14:44
But from there I was stashed at CNFJ and they were trying to
14:51
figure out what to do with me. And rightfully so, because SWO
14:55
Ensign's young Surface Warfare officers belong at sea, so there
15:00
aren't too many shore opportunities for you.
15:03
The two options that were presented to me was Navy
15:07
recruiting Minneapolis and MAPS Indianapolis.
15:11
So the military entrance processing station that
15:14
everybody goes through when they join, that was in Indianapolis.
15:19
One of those was in Indianapolis, and that was one
15:21
of the options. The Navy recruiting district,
15:24
Minneapolis opportunity wasn't really an opportunity per SE,
15:27
because it was an O3 billet, A Lieutenant billet.
15:31
I was only an Ensign, I was an O 1.
15:33
And so to detail me into a position 2 grades higher than
15:38
what I'm supposed to be in would require permission from the
15:42
chain of command. And so I was told you need to
15:46
call and do a, an interview from Japan with the executive
15:50
officer. And if they like you and want to
15:53
take risk on you and put you into that job, they you just
15:57
need to impress them in the interview.
15:59
And apparently I did. They decided to take a chance on
16:02
me and that's how I got to Minneapolis.
16:06
Wow, that's quite a path. So briefly died.
16:12
That's the part I'm going to have to go back to there.
16:15
And so was this because basically you're just, you're
16:19
not able to retain anything. You're just you're getting sick
16:21
all the time, probably throwing off your electrolyte levels
16:25
passed out. Your body just shuts off like
16:28
like the heart stop like you weren't breathing.
16:32
Definitely a downward spiral and my body just couldn't keep up.
16:38
And So what was that process like to revive you?
16:41
Do you know? Obviously people have told you
16:43
stories about clearly you don't you don't know you, you don't,
16:47
you know you weren't aware conscious at the moment.
16:50
But what, what stories did people relate to you?
16:53
Oh. They they pretty much so the the
16:57
exo actually same ethnicity as me, Asian, Indian and also
17:06
Maryland native so and also went to the Naval Academy.
17:12
So again, really kind of saw him as somebody that that I wanted
17:16
to be eventually. He, I think immediately had
17:21
regretted his decision to get me underway.
17:24
And I was told that is about as white as the, the pullover that
17:29
you're wearing. He he, he was pretty relieved
17:35
when when I was revived and they were able to get me off the ship
17:39
as quickly as possible. Do you think sort of that
17:43
feeling bad had something to do with, hey, let's, you know, make
17:47
this opportunity available for you to kind of like climb a
17:49
couple of levels? No, so he, he pretty much he, he
17:55
felt bad about the situation, but he, he just said, you know,
18:00
they, they probably should have screened this sooner or he, he
18:04
thought that it, it should have been caught earlier.
18:07
But now I, I genuinely think he thought if something ended up in
18:13
my medical record about not being able to get underway, that
18:17
that would harm my career. And so I think he thought he was
18:20
doing the right thing. But I get.
18:24
It, it was playing with fire now looking in the rearview mirror.
18:28
So you, you still, you had to, you know, they set up this
18:31
interview for you. They, they, you know, kind of
18:34
opened up the door, but you, you still had to hit this out of the
18:37
park. You know, you, you've got to
18:39
impress these folks. What what do you think you did
18:41
in that interview that really caused them to sit up and take
18:44
notice? It's it's hard to say because
18:47
again, looking back, I was an Ensign.
18:49
I don't know that I had much to offer other than that.
18:53
What I found out after getting there is the village I went
18:56
into. I've been gapped for at least a
18:58
couple of years. Minnesota's one of those places.
19:01
If you're not from there, most people don't want to go there.
19:04
It's, it's a pretty harsh winter and a pretty long lasting winter
19:10
period. And so it's, it's definitely a
19:14
hard place to to recruit, but it's also a hard place to to be
19:19
outside. And, and so the quality of life,
19:22
I think first perceived by some people is isn't a good one.
19:27
But I was pleasantly surprised when I got there about how how
19:32
much it, it's definitely a great family atmosphere and definitely
19:36
a a great place. It was a place where both of my
19:40
my daughters were born and definitely a a great place that
19:45
that I'm happy to have been part of.
19:47
Do you feel like that? I don't.
19:50
Do you call it a near death experience or do you call it a
19:52
death experience? Cause the way you put it, you're
19:54
like, I actually died for a little bit.
19:56
Does it, has it changed? Yeah.
19:59
Like, do you look back at that point in your life and like, was
20:03
there like a flip of a switch? Like you view life differently
20:05
now? Kind of, I'm saying.
20:08
Yes, so I had been told very early on in my naval career by
20:14
by chiefs, don't don't be a lifer.
20:17
Don't plan on making this a career.
20:21
Do it till it's no longer any fun.
20:23
And it seemed like God advice at first, but essentially the the
20:28
advice was don't be so focused on getting good performance
20:34
evaluations or fitness reports to the point that you're not
20:38
focused on doing a a good job. And, and I thought that was
20:43
great advice, but because of the death experience or near death
20:48
experience, it, it definitely taught me nothings to not take
20:56
anything for granted. Nothing is, is promised.
20:59
And much like my, my dad had advised me, you're going to have
21:02
to work for, for everything that you want.
21:07
It was, it was, it was looking back it, it's still, I think a,
21:14
a challenging experience, but it definitely shaped who I am.
21:19
I I think it also gave me a fire to not take any opportunity for,
21:25
for granted. I think the easy thing when you
21:28
consider the odds there, there aren't too many people who go
21:33
from being enlisted to going into the Naval Academy.
21:39
There aren't too many people who can get into the Naval Academy
21:43
and then graduate from the Naval Academy.
21:45
And so I think this point, my career, I'm not going to lie, I
21:51
felt a little high on myself. I, I felt a little invincible.
21:55
I felt like I can do anything. And I think this really was a
22:02
humbling experience, but also was a recentering experience.
22:07
I I hope I don't offend anybody, any of the listeners by talking
22:13
about this, but faith definitely played a a huge role in in the
22:17
way forward. You say more about that, I'm
22:22
going to hear more about your faith and how how it's helped
22:24
you. Well.
22:26
I mean, I, I think when, when you do come close to realizing
22:34
there's, there's no way forward. And, and even after being
22:40
revived, after being medevaced, realizing how lucky I am to, to
22:44
still be alive, feeling how lucky I, I was to, to get to
22:51
Minneapolis, it was pretty sobering to think this is, this
22:59
is a, an opportunity to somewhat get back on my feet.
23:04
But that wasn't the plan. That wasn't the Navy's plan for
23:07
me. And quite frankly, there were,
23:09
there were really wasn't a way forward.
23:11
What I mean was that the Navy's plan was we're going to send you
23:15
to this recruiting billet and you're going to finish out your
23:19
obligation to the Navy and and then then we're done where we
23:22
part ways you separate from the Navy.
23:24
That was the plan. I I did impress the XO who later
23:30
fleeted up to be the Co and encountered all other, a lot of
23:35
other officers that would pull me aside and say, hey, Bob, we
23:39
would really like you to stay Navy.
23:41
Have you ever thought about a lateral transition to another
23:44
community? And even more so I'm going to
23:47
help you out. And each of these officers would
23:51
then come back to me and say, hey, Bob, I looked into this.
23:53
And if if we, if you can't go to see, you're not going to see
23:57
past O3, you're not going to be able to make it past Lieutenant.
24:00
There's really not much of A way forward.
24:03
And so when you go out recruiting, make sure you take
24:06
your resume with you. You really need to think about
24:09
your civilian options. And so, and I probably should
24:16
mention this as well, a few a few months before July and and
24:23
May of 99, I got married. And, and so my new bride, new to
24:30
the Navy, new Navy spouse is enduring this whole experience
24:35
with me. And when we get sent to
24:38
Minneapolis, she's from Michigan.
24:40
And so she's thrilled about the location, but she's still trying
24:45
to wrap her head around, OK, so the organization that nearly
24:49
killed my husband now wants him to go out and sell this
24:54
organization. It it's, it's a daunting
24:58
prospect when you think about it.
25:01
But for me, going back to, to faith, I, I think my mind was
25:08
really focused on being grateful, but also being very
25:11
prayerful about the way I had because I couldn't see I, I, my
25:19
first daughter was on her way. And so to know that I had a
25:25
child on the way, to know that I don't have prospects to continue
25:29
in a career that I've known since I was 17, turned 18 in
25:34
boot camp was, was pretty scary. It was a scary time.
25:40
But obviously, you know, you do decide to stay in the Navy and
25:44
you have, I'm going to use the word meteoric.
25:47
Meteoric rise to the ranks. I think we said in the intro
25:51
that you were in charge of all recruiting for the entire East
25:55
Coast. So clearly, you know, I'm going
25:59
to put words in your mouth. So tell me if I'm right or wrong
26:02
here. You, you found a passion, you
26:04
enjoyed kind of this HR aspect of the the Navy that you had
26:10
discovered, am I right? Eventually, yes, when when I was
26:17
when the opportunity presented itself in 2001, the Navy stood
26:22
up a human resources community. So this path didn't even exist
26:27
prior to me getting stationed in Minneapolis.
26:30
And again, that's where I can't see that as anything but a God
26:34
thing. It's definitely not something I
26:37
could have planned on, but even when that opportunity presented
26:42
itself and I was heavily encouraged to apply, I wanted
26:47
nothing to do with it. I pretty much told my superior
26:52
officers, if I'm going to do human resources, I think I'd
26:57
rather do that on the outside than in the Navy.
27:02
And, you know, go to the Naval Academy to become a human
27:07
resources officer. It was my mindset.
27:10
You're you're supposed to be a war fighter.
27:12
And at least that that was my mindset at the time, but I
27:19
really didn't think through at the time that I, I know now is
27:23
there's so much that hangs on the behind the scenes work.
27:28
Something that that I going back to being a hospital corpsman,
27:33
something that I found was a talent of mine was Vena
27:35
puncture. And that wasn't a talent I think
27:40
I was necessarily born with. It's one that I acquired.
27:43
When you go through hospital Corman a school, you, you
27:46
practice on each other as, as adults for blood draws and
27:51
things like that. But I got assigned to to
27:54
Pediatrics and to draw blood on a three day old baby whose veins
28:00
are are just developing. It was it was pretty challenging
28:05
at first, but once I got the hang of it, it was pretty easy
28:08
to draw blood on adults. And that's the sort of thing I
28:12
think you don't really think about as a life saving skill.
28:16
Most people think about like triage, patient care or
28:20
responding to a code, all the exciting things.
28:23
You're never going to see a, a poster, you know, highlighting
28:26
being a puncture for a medic for medical field.
28:30
That's just something I think we all take for granted.
28:33
Human resources is one of those things as well.
28:35
That's behind the scenes. If you do it right, nobody's
28:39
ever going to take notice. You're never going to see a
28:41
well, maybe you'll never see, I doubt you'll ever see a Navy
28:46
poster highlighting Navy HR officers or actually behind the
28:51
scenes. And it's it's a language that
28:54
most war fighters don't speak. But when they realize,
28:58
especially the more senior they get, how important and power and
29:01
manning are, it's it's an invaluable skill.
29:07
And so at what point did you make the decision that you were
29:10
ready to transition from the Navy into civilian life?
29:16
So that last tour that I did as Commodore, it was pretty
29:22
grueling Time was I think it was around 2022 when the services,
29:28
except for the Marine Corps were in the newspapers or the
29:31
headlines for not being able to make their recruiting goals.
29:36
That was about the time that I got tapped to to be Commodore.
29:40
Unlike most other Commodores, I went straight into the job.
29:43
Most other Commodores, you start out as the deputy and you fleet
29:46
up and I was afforded the opportunity because of my
29:51
extensive recruiting background and experience.
29:54
But it was a it was a tough, tough job at the time and and
29:59
still is a tough job but. Tough job because you guys
30:02
weren't making the numbers that you needed to make or, or
30:04
something else. Yes, tough job because we
30:07
weren't making the numbers we weren't making.
30:09
There's a lot of scrutiny on Navy recruiting and it was it,
30:15
it was, it's, I think in the same way that infection winning
30:18
can be infectious, I think losing also can be infectious.
30:22
And so it was a, a tough spot to, to wrap our, our minds
30:28
around of, of being able to be successful.
30:30
I think a lot of folks were focused on all the reasons we
30:33
couldn't instead of the, the ways that we could.
30:37
But I, I've been there and done that.
30:40
When I went to Minneapolis back then, there were 31 recruiting
30:44
districts and we were 31 of 31. And I'm happy to say that by the
30:50
time I was, by the time I had left, we were consistently in
30:54
the the top ten, if not top five.
30:56
And so. I What were some of the big
30:59
levers that you pulled to affect that kind of rise?
31:02
I, I really think it boils down to, to teamwork.
31:05
I, I strongly believe that if you break down the, the stove
31:12
pipes and you leverage teamwork, I, I, I think there's a lot more
31:19
that you can accomplish. So specifically when I was on
31:24
the officer recruiting side, many of the officer recruiters
31:28
wouldn't share information, share leads with the enlisted
31:31
recruiters. And I, I can say from my, my own
31:36
experience, I think typically when you talk to a lot of
31:40
military recruiters, they're going to talk from their
31:42
experience and very few of them have been enlisted an officer.
31:47
So they can't talk to you about both sides of the fence.
31:51
When I was put in charge of officer recruiting at
31:53
Minneapolis, that was that was another thing.
31:57
I was the most junior guy at the command and was a huge lesson in
32:03
positional leadership to be in charge of more senior officers
32:06
as a junior officer. But I was later put in charge of
32:12
enlisted recruiting simultaneously.
32:14
So I still manage office recruiting and enlisted
32:17
recruiting and I, I really work to try and break down those
32:20
barriers to make sure that we were sharing information across
32:24
lines. And I, I think don't know if
32:29
you've heard of anybody having this experience, but
32:31
unfortunately it can be a common one where a, an enlisted
32:35
recruiter talks to you about joining the military with a
32:40
college degree and doesn't even talk to you about officer
32:43
programs. That unfortunately was fairly
32:47
commonplace until I was put in charge.
32:49
And we really tried to make sure that that didn't happen.
32:52
Now it's at least in the Navy, it's policy that that you're
32:55
supposed to be talked to about officer programs if if you have
32:58
a college degree, so. Make sure that people know all
33:02
their options that that are available to them.
33:05
Yeah, you know, it's good to have that transparency.
33:07
And so how did the opportunity to acquire 'cause I want to get
33:11
to kind of more present day stuff, How did that opportunity
33:14
to acquire the Pride staff franchise in Carlsbad, CA come
33:19
about? So it was definitely not a
33:22
straightforward opportunity. I, I swore after the Commodore
33:29
job and after retiring from the Navy, I had told myself and my
33:33
family that I wasn't going to do anything.
33:36
HR wasn't going to do anything staffing related, was going to
33:40
do something completely different.
33:42
And I, I really tried to make good on that.
33:46
I, I did explore a lot of other opportunities and really didn't
33:53
resonate with, with any of them. It was doing some exploration
34:00
with franchises and then more specifically with, with Pride
34:03
staff. When I came home and told my
34:06
wife Sally about it, she said you really need to pursue that.
34:08
And I told her, well, I thought we agreed we're not doing
34:11
anything in staffing. She said, you, you really need
34:14
to look at this because this is the first time I've seen your
34:17
face light up with an opportunity that you brought
34:19
home. So.
34:22
Spouses. No, they can see it.
34:24
Yes, they can see it in your eyes.
34:25
Yeah, Go ahead. Let's hear more about that.
34:29
I I really have to credit Sarah Brown.
34:32
She works with Vetrapreneur, a really great organization and
34:37
ultimately she is who led me to the the Pride staff resale.
34:43
But an unexpected person in in my life, somebody I had served
34:49
with at NRD San Diego, one of my former senior chiefs, John
34:53
Maceda was really a true mentor and friend.
34:56
He actually owns a a rival franchise staffing franchise.
35:00
And yet he was so gracious throughout the process to kind
35:05
of walk me through things. I I definitely think without my
35:11
wife's ally support I wouldn't have taken the the leap of faith
35:15
with it. But there's also lots of prayer
35:18
involved. No.
35:21
And so let's see, we're recording this in June of 25.
35:24
You acquired the franchise in the fall, September of 24.
35:30
So just just under a year kind of under your belt.
35:34
How's that transition been? You know, obviously you gained A
35:38
tremendous amount of HR recruiting experience in the
35:43
Navy, but you know, got to be some big differences between
35:47
that and sort of the private sector.
35:49
Is that right? Yes, huge differences and
35:53
challenging in some ways and less challenging in others.
35:56
I, I, I feel like convincing a, an individual or even their,
36:02
their parents to allow their son or daughter and to go in the
36:05
harm's way is, is much different prospect than what I do with
36:09
that pride staff. In fact, I think quite the
36:11
opposite. I'm, I'm usually trying to look
36:15
out for the, the welfare of my temporary associates or, or
36:19
direct hires and really trying to work with companies that are
36:23
not cutting corners, that are, are very looking at mitigating
36:29
work workers comp issues and that sort of thing that are OSHA
36:33
compliant. And so definitely different,
36:38
different perspectives and, and different approaches to take.
36:44
There's a, there's a lot of similarities in that while
36:51
always within the Navy and Navy recruiting the the same exact
36:55
sail system is the same exact sail system that Pride staff
36:59
uses currently, but they also use CRMS and, and so there's
37:08
different CRMS that Pride staff uses than the Navy.
37:12
The Navy uses Salesforce and like a lot of companies to do
37:17
Pride Staff uses bullhorn and it's just a a matter of just
37:23
learning the the differences. But it's, it's been great to
37:30
have a scoped down responsibility instead of having
37:33
to worry about 6000 folks, it's now just three additional folks.
37:39
And it's also great to have a lot more autonomy.
37:43
There's very few things I have to go to the franchise or for.
37:47
There's there's a lot of autonomy that I have on my own
37:50
and. Yeah, that's a big difference
37:52
from the Navy, right? There's a chain of command.
37:54
There's sort of a way of doing things that's that's a red tape
37:56
to to, you know, kind of do things a little bit off script
37:59
there, right? Yeah.
38:01
I I also appreciate so it's, it's both ends in in the Navy.
38:07
It was really the the Navy's the customer that I was trying to
38:11
staff and and source for on this end.
38:16
It's I'm I'm trying to trying to recruit and retain the best
38:20
talent, but for companies, I'm also looking to seek out good
38:26
clients to align these opportunities with.
38:30
And it's been gratifying because usually with the Navy, it's 18
38:35
months to two years is the longest you're spending in one
38:38
spot. And then it's time to move on.
38:41
I'm excited to to be in in North County San Diego and and being
38:45
able to make connections with the the local business community
38:50
and being able to to help folks out.
38:53
I have to imagine even, you know, with all that recruiting
38:56
and staffing experience that you had that, you know, coming into
38:58
the private sector and you know, it's, it's, it's a business
39:02
model, different business model now and different approach and
39:05
different software tools that, you know, you, you have to rely
39:09
on sort of some of the team that's in place to kind of help
39:13
you kind of, you know, get coached up and to a place where
39:16
you can be an effective leader. Can you say more about the the
39:20
team that you're working with there?
39:22
Sure. So I mean, in the intro you
39:26
highlighted several different accolades.
39:28
The the office is 1 and I, I really have to give all, all the
39:32
credit to the team. Leilani is my, my branch manager
39:36
and she's been with the office for almost 6 years.
39:39
She hails from Oceanside and previous construction management
39:43
background. Ilani has a really unique way of
39:48
connecting with a variety of job seekers and clients.
39:52
There aren't too many folks that can talk to a variety of folks
39:57
from different professions, but she's very well versed and she
40:01
genuinely cares about improving your circumstances, I I also
40:05
think. From experiences I've had with
40:08
her, she's an out-of-the-box thinker and she often comes up
40:10
with creative solutions to motivate the team while
40:14
maintaining accountability. She also always tries to get to
40:19
to yes for both the associates and the clients and so I I
40:23
really appreciated having her as the branch manager.
40:27
Miriam. She recently stepped into my
40:29
staff and consultant role and she's been with the office for
40:33
over 10 years. She hails from Vista and she
40:36
came to us from UEI and happens to also be bilingual.
40:41
When I first took over, Miriam was kind of a fairly reserved
40:45
recruiter assistant, but since then she's really blossomed,
40:49
taking on more and more responsibilities and challenges.
40:53
I think because of her years of experience and her positive
40:55
attitude, she handles all sorts of complex tasks and and make it
41:01
makes it look easy. Payroll is one of those things
41:03
that you have to get right. Oh, yeah, absolutely.
41:10
You don't get people paid on time.
41:12
You make mistakes in their checks.
41:14
The relationship's going to sour pretty fast.
41:16
Say, say more about the the role that the Pride staff franchise
41:21
wore is kind of played in helping you kind of get up to
41:24
speed and, you know, feel comfortable about the business.
41:27
What what value are they providing?
41:29
Yeah. I'm sorry, I I would be remiss
41:32
if I didn't mention Edith. She's the newest member of the
41:35
team. She just joined last month.
41:37
She hails from Vista as well and she's also quickly learning the
41:41
recruiter assistant role. She's also bilingual and has
41:44
been a great addition to the team.
41:47
But getting back to your question on the franchise or I,
41:52
I think one of the, one of the things that I did prior to pride
42:00
staff is I, I did look into HR consulting just on my own.
42:06
And aside from the, the experience of being able to, to
42:14
talk to the folks, being able to help them, there's, there's a
42:18
lot of doing everything on your own and figuring things out on
42:22
your own, coming up with your own business plan.
42:25
And while that's freeing, it's, it's also kind of daunting.
42:28
And so doing my homework on the different competing franchise
42:35
Staffs, staffing agencies, Pride staff was one that really spoke
42:39
to me, really presents as a, a family environment.
42:44
And they were, they were really great about letting me, you
42:50
know, actually go out to Fresno to the headquarters, getting to
42:54
kind of talk with all of the, the upper management.
42:57
And on a daily basis, like I said before, there's not a whole
43:00
lot that I have to constantly ask for permission on on a daily
43:04
basis. But when there are thorny,
43:07
thorny workman's comp issues or other things like that, they're
43:13
in the background to support. And so they've been a ready
43:15
resource. That's terrific.
43:18
So I didn't realize it. You, you kind of shopped around,
43:21
you know, it wasn't like it was just the Pride staff opportunity
43:24
fell in your lap and you're like, oh, OK, this is where we
43:26
go. It's like, no, you, you did your
43:27
research, you did your due diligence to look into the
43:30
different franchise systems, and Pride staff was the one that
43:33
really felt comfortable to you. It it is.
43:37
I think it certainly helps that you know, when, when I in doing
43:41
my due diligence looking at the different franchises, I, I
43:48
wanted to go to one that actually values my background
43:53
and, and my service. And about a month after I
43:56
purchased my Pride Staff location, Pride Staff was ranked
44:01
by Entrepreneur Magazine as a top franchise for veterans for
44:06
its 7th consecutive year. And so that was definitely a
44:09
determining factor when you look at the amount of awards.
44:15
So the my office is, is 1 consistently a number of awards,
44:20
but the Pride staff franchise has been awarded clearly rated
44:24
best of staffing for all three possible areas, client, employee
44:28
and talent set talent satisfaction.
44:32
That spoke a lot to me as well. I wanted to work with the
44:34
company where I I wouldn't definitely be working from the
44:38
the I wanted to work from the ground up, but I didn't want to
44:41
have to build a brand on my own. And Pridestaff is one of those
44:45
brands that is is fairly recognized and awarded for it.
44:50
So tell us, Bob, about the services that you provide.
44:55
I don't know if you're doing, you know, temporary temp to
44:58
hire, direct hire. Like what specific industries
45:02
are you serving? What size companies kind of
45:04
paint a picture for us here? OK.
45:07
So we offer the full spectrum of staffing solutions.
45:10
We do temporary, we do temp to hire, we also do direct hire
45:14
really depends on what the client's needs are.
45:16
And as you mentioned our our mission is to consistently
45:19
provide clients with what they value most.
45:22
And so we really start from the client's perspective.
45:27
Again, this is, this is where given my own experience in
45:30
recruiting, I think I told you that I didn't really have the,
45:35
the best start with sales when I first started out.
45:39
I, I don't think I mentioned this, but when I went through
45:43
Navy recruiting school before going to Minneapolis, they
45:47
actually gave us a personality profile and the Myers Briggs
45:52
test. And I tested out as an introvert
45:56
and I got pulled aside in class and was told, sorry, you're,
45:59
you're really going to struggle with this because you're an
46:02
introvert and you know, the best sales people are extroverts.
46:05
And so sorry about that. Just be be aware of it.
46:09
And you're going to need to make sure that you work extra hard on
46:13
this. So knowing that I was terrible
46:16
at sales and that I'm an introvert, was really excited
46:19
going into Minneapolis. The funny thing is the the tour
46:24
after that, after really recognizing it was a sink or
46:28
swim opportunity where I, I just had to figure out how to make it
46:32
happen. The, the tour after that, I, I
46:36
went to the Naval Postgraduate school where I got my MBA.
46:39
They tested, they gave me the Myers Briggs as well.
46:43
And I tested out as an extrovert.
46:45
And before you start thinking that my personality widely
46:50
swings, I was a borderline introvert and I tested as a
46:53
borderline extrovert. And so I, I think what I learned
46:56
from that whole opportunity is that if you give yourself over
46:59
to the process, there's opportunities for growth,
47:02
there's opportunities for change.
47:03
And, and I think if I can do it, anybody could do it.
47:08
But getting back to pride staff. I think sorry, before we get
47:12
back to pride staff for a moment, Bob, sorry, sorry to cut
47:15
you off because this is this is a really important point.
47:17
And I, I want to celebrate this a bit because I think as human
47:21
beings, sometimes we get stuck in sort of this fixed mindset of
47:25
right, I, oh, I'm terrible at sales.
47:26
I'm always going to be terrible at sales.
47:28
I'm an introvert. Introverts are not going to be
47:30
good at like, and you could insert sort of different
47:33
descriptors here, you know, oh, I'm not good at sports.
47:36
Oh, I'm not good at math. I'm not, you know, I'm not a
47:39
people. What whatever it is, you, you
47:41
can sort of put yourself into a box and say, well, that's just
47:44
how I'm always going to, because that's the way that I am now.
47:47
And I think what your story really highlights is we're
47:50
malleable, right? When when we put the effort
47:54
forward, when we put ourselves into these more uncomfortable
47:59
situations, that's where we really allow for growth to take
48:03
place. And that's, you know, your story
48:06
is emblematic of that. Absolutely.
48:11
I, I, I found that I, I learned the sales process.
48:15
I, I learned the scripts, but none of those really were me.
48:22
And, and so where I found the most success in in recruiting
48:26
and Navy recruiting and, and also with pride staff is
48:31
starting with listening, building a relationship.
48:34
And though I found the more that I listened to the people I'm
48:38
genuinely trying to help, the the better the outcome would be.
48:43
So instead of trying to do the typical sales hard sell, taking
48:47
a round peg, trying to jam it into a square hole where you
48:52
know, it's not necessarily what the, the applicant or the client
48:55
wants, but it's what, what the organization needs to make
48:59
happen that that's just building in turnover and transition.
49:06
And so I, I'd rather enter with the, the right starting point of
49:10
trying to figure out what, what is it that you find most
49:14
valuable? What is it that you want the
49:16
most out of this opportunity? And and that's exactly how Pride
49:21
staff's geared. And so I think from that
49:26
perspective, it's just been gratifying to be able to work
49:33
with lots of you had asked about the profile of the customers
49:37
that we serve. We work with a lot of small to
49:40
medium businesses. We do work with some larger
49:43
businesses as well, but I think it's typically the small to
49:47
medium customers that really value their personnel.
49:51
Because they're smaller, they can't afford to spend a lot on
49:56
turnover and friction because they they're smaller there.
50:01
There's also not a whole lot of room to hide mediocrity.
50:05
So they want to make sure that they're getting the full value
50:07
of their employees and they, they just don't want to be in a
50:14
cycle of fire and fire. They one of the greatest
50:17
compliments, but also one of the biggest challenges that I have
50:20
because my office has been around for over 26 years.
50:23
When I visit old dormant clients, they'll usually tell me
50:29
I've I've heard this repeatedly. We love pride staff.
50:32
You guys do such a phenomenal job.
50:34
In fact, the person that you sent us three years ago, they're
50:36
they're still on board our our team.
50:38
And thank you you'll, you'll be the first call when we need
50:42
somebody. But sorry, I think you did too
50:45
good of a job, honestly. So yeah, it it it's.
50:51
Very, if somebody's not going to give you an order for, you know,
50:53
some personnel that's the reason that you want to hear is last
50:57
time we hired you guys, it worked out so well.
51:00
We're not having that turnover. Yeah, that's great.
51:07
So been at this 10 months, obviously you know, you did your
51:12
due diligence sort of getting into before making the decision
51:16
to to proceed. Anything that surprised you in
51:20
particular after you acquired the franchise and sort of got in
51:25
there and looked under the hood? So I, I will say when I first
51:30
took over in October, I was hearing a lot from clients of,
51:34
well, there's a lot of uncertainty depending on what
51:36
happens with the election, we'll be in touch.
51:40
But there are a lot of folks kind of hedging their bets that
51:44
has morphed into there's a lot of uncertainty with tariffs and
51:48
other things. And so they're, they're folks
51:51
that are uncertain and kind of hedging their bets.
51:55
I guess what, what has surprised me is just how resilient my, my
52:01
team has been, but also how determined and, and focused
52:08
they, they can be. And I, I think a lot of the
52:13
clients that have stuck with us as well have, have really gotten
52:18
to, to get full value out of, out of our relationship.
52:21
There have been ones we've really tried to work hard to,
52:28
to, to make sure that it's a a mutually beneficial relationship
52:33
trying to phrase this appropriately.
52:38
But I, I, I guess in taking over for from the previous owner, I
52:45
was just looking over contracts and just looking at where we're,
52:50
where we were at. I guess a regular annual
52:53
contractor view wasn't a thing. And so that, that's something
52:57
that that I had to work with each client to let them know.
53:01
Look, we haven't over the past five years, we haven't adjusted
53:06
anything for inflation. We haven't adjusted for Fuda and
53:10
Psuda. And so there's just cost that do
53:13
go up. And I think there, there's
53:18
definitely a relationship that you want to maintain, but at the
53:20
end of the day, it is a business and you need to be able to, to
53:23
stay in business. And so I, I think just being
53:26
able to kind of add some, some discipline and record to, to
53:30
some of the processes. Were those some hard
53:33
conversations to have with customers, You know, if they've
53:35
sort of gotten comfortable with their rates being where they
53:37
were for the last five years? And now here comes the new guy
53:41
and he's saying, yeah, we we got to revisit this.
53:45
Yes, just there, there were definitely some difficult
53:49
conversations and and yet there were some really great clients
53:53
that I even had some clients that came back and said, wow,
53:57
this is really fair. You could have really hyped
53:59
things on us. But I, I appreciate your
54:02
transparency. I appreciate where you're at
54:05
and, and those clients are still with us.
54:07
There are some that I, I think we're thinking that just because
54:13
of the years that we've had a relationship that somehow I can
54:16
magically offer some kind of discount for, for that.
54:21
And at the end of the day, I just needed to keep a solvent.
54:26
Yeah, I'm sure that, you know, kind of introducing some of
54:30
those new processes and, you know, turning the dials.
54:32
Obviously you don't have to reinvent the wheel because it's
54:35
been a very successful franchise for a number of years.
54:38
I'm kind of curious maybe from a, a growth perspective, if in
54:42
the time that you've been there, you've been you've had ideas
54:45
that you want to implement or you've been able to start
54:48
introducing some new ideas on, hey, how can we do more work
54:52
with our existing customers or go and find new customers and
54:55
kind of get our name out there a little bit more.
54:58
Yes. So I, I, I think something that
55:03
was often overlooked and still until we start talking about it,
55:06
is I, I think there are a lot of businesses that see the, the
55:12
cost or the expense associated with using a staffing agency,
55:15
but don't realize the, the cost benefits to using a staffing
55:19
agency. In times of uncertainty, like
55:23
now is, is one of the best times to use a, a staffing agency when
55:28
it, as a business owner, I think I'm constantly mindful of
55:32
unemployment insurance and the hikes that, that happen when you
55:37
have lots of turnover. If you're a business that's
55:41
either growing or, or shrinking and you use a staffing company,
55:44
then you don't have to take that hit.
55:46
And so that's, that's where companies like mine can come in
55:50
and help you grow or, or scale appropriately.
55:55
I, I, I think that's just making folks more aware.
55:59
So I, I, I shared the, the feedback that I had gotten about
56:05
some of our dormant clients not need not utilizing us because we
56:10
did too good of a job filling their need before.
56:13
That's not widely known, I think.
56:16
And so just trying to get that out there to a lot of folks.
56:19
I, I think just creating more awareness, I think.
56:24
How would you characterize your superpower?
56:30
I would I've, it's funny, when I ask other folks, I'm frequently
56:38
told that I'm unflappable. There are a few folks that have
56:42
seen me kind of get riled up about a lot of things and I, I
56:46
attribute that to to a variety of factors.
56:49
I definitely think faith again comes into it, but I think
56:53
having a a difficult situation growing up without a a mother,
57:02
some other challenges, I think enlisted boot camp, I think
57:06
going through the Naval Academy, I think a little over a year
57:11
long tour in Iraq. I think all of those things
57:13
helped shape what's worth getting excited about or
57:17
changing perspectives on things and definitely the the
57:22
experience on board Cushing. Yeah, I have to imagine losing
57:26
your mother at the age of 2. I mean, that just has rippling
57:30
effects throughout your life. Were there obviously, you know,
57:34
you mentioned your dad a couple of times.
57:36
He was a, a big force in your life.
57:38
Were there other family members, extended family members around
57:42
who were able to kind of step in and and help out with things?
57:46
My unfortunately for my oldest sister, Keitha, she, she pretty
57:52
much had to kind of take on a lot greater responsibilities.
57:58
We had an aunt that looked with us and took care of us for
58:04
several years but but ultimately I think it was a lot of growing
58:11
up quicker than than probably most kids should.
58:15
Yeah. Are there any daily habits or
58:20
practices, maybe even rituals, that Bob either helped to get
58:24
you started in the day help keep you on track as you're going
58:27
along? I, I would say both faith and
58:32
fitness. So I, I definitely like taking
58:38
the, the morning, taking time out of each day to, to get
58:41
centered and to get my mind right.
58:44
But then it's also important to, especially as I get older, to,
58:50
to keep my body in shape as well.
58:54
I feel like when I don't do those things, there have been
58:57
times with the previous job has come or I was travelling quite a
59:01
bit and it was hard to, to be disciplined about making time
59:08
for either one of those things. And I, I, I feel like the day
59:14
just doesn't, I feel like things are a little off when, when I
59:17
don't make time for those things.
59:20
How about recommendations for our listeners in terms of a
59:25
resource that's been helpful to you?
59:27
Maybe it's a book, a pack, a podcast, a network, a course,
59:32
something that very helpful and sort of your personal or
59:36
professional development that other folks might get benefit
59:39
from. So other than this podcast, I, I
59:43
would recommend there's a book by Brett Crozier called surf
59:49
when you can and it's an excellent book on leadership,
59:52
but it's also a master class in professionalism.
59:55
You may recognize the name. He was a former Theodore
59:59
Roosevelt Carrier CEO during COVID and ended up in in the
1:00:04
news with some really tumultuous impacts on on his career and and
1:00:10
he's just just an amazing individual to.
1:00:14
To have served with, but also just to to read about.
1:00:19
Bob, what's one thing you wish more people understood about the
1:00:22
staffing industry? I, I think I had on this before,
1:00:29
but I, I think investing in the right talent, if you don't
1:00:34
invest in the right talent and we'll, I think a lot of people
1:00:37
see it as a huge expense in the short term, but over the long
1:00:41
term, I, I think it, it far outweighs the cost of mediocrity
1:00:48
and turnover. And I, I think people get stuck
1:00:51
in this mindset of, well, I, I want to hire people that don't
1:00:56
have other options. So they'll stay with me for a
1:00:59
long period of time. And maybe they don't have the,
1:01:02
all the best skills, but at least they're not leaving me
1:01:06
instead of going for somebody who might have other options and
1:01:09
could leave for the, the next best thing.
1:01:12
But but stays with you because you've made it a great place to
1:01:16
work. And so I, I think it was Bill
1:01:20
Gates that had said, take our 20 best people away and I'll tell
1:01:25
you that Microsoft will become an unimportant company.
1:01:28
I I found that to to be true in my Navy career and and in this
1:01:33
career, I think you invest in the right people that that
1:01:37
really makes or breaks your team.
1:01:40
Yeah, I'm trying to remember who kind of gave me a similar piece
1:01:43
of advice early on in my career because I had the same sort of
1:01:49
thing. I, you know, would find some
1:01:50
good folks. I would help to develop them,
1:01:52
invest in their education, their learning, and then get nervous
1:01:57
that, you know, they were going to leave.
1:01:59
And, you know, all of that time invested in the great
1:02:01
relationship that we have is is going to go to waste.
1:02:04
And somebody kind of helped me reframe it and was like, you
1:02:07
know, that should be like your proud Dad day.
1:02:10
You know that you have helped that person move along in their
1:02:15
personal development and their career development.
1:02:17
And now this is a, a type of graduation.
1:02:20
And it's, you know, if you, if you treated them well and you've
1:02:23
been good to them, This isn't a time for sad reflection, It's
1:02:27
happy reflection. It's, you know, hey, go spread
1:02:30
your wings, you know, go to the, the next chapter of your life
1:02:34
and stay in touch. Let me know how I can be
1:02:36
helpful. And so it, you know, just sort
1:02:38
of that, that abundance mindset I found was really helpful.
1:02:42
Kind of flipping the script for me.
1:02:47
Bob, I just got one more question for you.
1:02:49
But before I ask it, I want to do 2 things.
1:02:52
First of all, everyone listening today, go ahead and hit the
1:02:54
follow button on your favorite podcast app.
1:02:57
We've had a great interview here today with Bob Reddy who owns
1:03:00
the Pride Staff Carlsbad, CA franchise location.
1:03:05
I got to hear a lot about his meteoric rise through the Navy
1:03:09
and, you know, his near death experience.
1:03:12
I want you to continue to get more great stories like this.
1:03:15
And Bob, I also want to let people know the best way to get
1:03:18
in touch with you directly or to continue following your story.
1:03:22
What would that be? Aside from LinkedIn, I can be
1:03:25
reached at our public phone number, 760-438-0161.
1:03:32
Great. And we'll put that information
1:03:33
in the show notes. So, Bob, we've had a great
1:03:36
conversation today. I hope you and I stay in touch.
1:03:38
You know, a year from now, we're sitting down and you're
1:03:41
celebrating something. What is that something?
1:03:43
What's that one thing that you're excited about?
1:03:48
So I'm happy to say and hopefully Katie don't kill me
1:03:52
for this. My oldest daughter Katie is
1:03:54
expecting in September and so I'm hoping to be celebrating my
1:03:59
first grandchild's birthday. My wife, Sally Reddy just
1:04:05
recently took a leap of faith and helping my business but also
1:04:10
stepping out on her own. She has launched her own solo
1:04:13
law practice and so I'm hoping to be able to celebrate her
1:04:17
first year of successful practice.
1:04:21
And then for for my team, I'm really hoping to be able to
1:04:23
celebrate another Precedent Circle win.
1:04:26
I love it. Bob Reddy from Pride Staff
1:04:30
Carlsbad, I want to be the first to thank you for sharing both
1:04:32
your time and your story with us today.
1:04:34
I really appreciate it. Thank you so much for having me,
1:04:37
Anthony. It's really been a pleasure.
1:04:39
Folks, that's a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories
1:04:43
podcast. Thanks for learning with us
1:04:44
today.