Latest / Coffee In The Park with Jennifer and Cam / A Coffee with Maron Green, Chief Operating Officer of JAPA Equipment Rentals and Machinery Group

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A Coffee with Maron Green, Chief Operating Officer of JAPA Equipment Rentals and Machinery Group · Coffee In The Park with Jennifer and Cam

• 0:18
  Well, good morning, everybody, and welcome to another edition of the ABA Coffee In The Park.
• 0:22
  My name is Cam Milliken, and I'm here with my co-host extraordinaire, Jennifer Herrick, the Executive Director of the Acheson Business Association.
• 0:31
  Good morning, Jennifer.
• 0:35
  Man, isn't it awesome out there?
• 0:39
  Oh, man, the wind was blowing.
• 0:42
  My flip-flops ended on the other side of the yard.
• 0:46
  Unbelievable.
• 0:48
  Tons of rain and lightning and thunder.
• 0:50
  The lightning was something else.
• 0:51
  I love that thunder, that loud thunder.
• 0:53
  That's like the best.
• 0:55
  That's just so awesome.
• 0:56
  Anyway, yeah, quite a storm.
• 0:57
  But today is very beautiful.
• 0:58
  And I want to let you all know that we are coming to you from the Wall Coffee Roasters in the heart of beautiful downtown Acheson.
• 1:07
  That's right.
• 1:08
  So, hey, if you're ever in the neighborhood or you should come to the neighborhood just to come to the Wall Coffee Roasters and have a coffee.
• 1:14
  My favorite latte.
• 1:16
  Can I just say this right now?
• 1:17
  You say this all the time.
• 1:18
  Do I say this all the time?
• 1:20
  I just want to say it again.
• 1:21
  My favorite latte right now is the Honey Blueberry Latte.
• 1:25
  You can get it iced or hot.
• 1:27
  That's right.
• 1:28
  It's wonderful.
• 1:29
  Do I say that every time?
• 1:30
  Well, you do love it.
• 1:31
  I do love it.
• 1:31
  Not on air necessarily, but to everybody that comes into the coffee shop.
• 1:34
  I tell everybody I need to get a Honey Blueberry Latte.
• 1:36
  It's hard to say ten times.
• 1:37
  Really fast.
• 1:38
  Not that you'd want to, but nonetheless.
• 1:40
  Yeah.
• 1:40
  So come and get a Honey Blueberry Latte in beautiful downtown Acheson at the Wall Coffee Roasters.
• 1:46
  And Jennifer, tell us about some very important people.
• 1:49
  We would like to thank our gold corporate sponsors, which include the Myshak Group of Companies, Genics, Parkland County, and Bow Valley Credit Union.
• 1:58
  That's right.
• 1:58
  Without them, we would not be able to do what we do.
• 2:00
  So thank you all very much.
• 2:02
  Anything new you want to tell us?
• 2:03
  Oh, there's probably lots new.
• 2:05
  Our golf tournament sold out.
• 2:07
  Oh, yeah.
• 2:08
  And it's coming up fast in two weeks.
• 2:09
  I'm so very excited about our golf tournament.
• 2:11
  There's going to be a big surprise.
• 2:12
  We're not going to share what that is.
• 2:13
  I know.
• 2:13
  I'm so excited.
• 2:15
  All I'm going to say is it's going to...
• 2:17
  No, I was going to say, I'm not going to say that.
• 2:19
  Don't do it.
• 2:19
  You'll give it away.
• 2:20
  Because I will give it away.
• 2:21
  So I'm not going to say, but no one will ever guess.
• 2:23
  But I'm not going to say it.
• 2:24
  So it's going to be a hoot.
• 2:25
  It's going to be a blast.
• 2:26
  Anyway.
• 2:27
  So, hey, anything else?
• 2:30
  Well, I'm just ready to get to our guest.
• 2:32
  Then let's get to her because she's awesome.
• 2:33
  She is amazing.
• 2:35
  So our guest.
• 2:37
  Okay.
• 2:37
  I've got a preference this.
• 2:38
  Yes.
• 2:39
  She was the winner of the Women in Leadership Award last year at our gala.
• 2:46
  Yes.
• 2:47
  She was a panelist last year on, in? at?, here we go, at my Women in Leadership event.
• 2:55
  Yes.
• 2:56
  Yes.
• 2:57
  She, she won last year, which makes her the reigning, the reigning queen of, well, not queen, I don't know what the word is.
• 3:06
  She's like for a whole year.
• 3:07
  Yeah.
• 3:08
  She should like tour and do tours.
• 3:10
  She could.
• 3:11
  We digress.
• 3:12
  Yeah.
• 3:13
  Okay.
• 3:13
  So.
• 3:14
  So our guest today is Maron Green, who is the Chief Operating Officer of JAPA Equipment Rentals and Machinery Group.
• 3:21
  So welcome, Maron.
• 3:22
  Hi, Maron.
• 3:22
  Hi, thank you.
• 3:23
  Good to have you.
• 3:24
  Thanks for having me.
• 3:25
  Thanks for coming out on this beautiful day.
• 3:26
  It is gorgeous out today.
• 3:28
  Yeah, for leaving the office.
• 3:29
  I know you guys are busy.
• 3:30
  Busy season.
• 3:31
  Busy season.
• 3:31
  For JAPA.
• 3:32
  It's nice to get a break away from the office in the busy season.
• 3:34
  Oh, yeah.
• 3:35
  Yeah.
• 3:35
  JAPA is located in the heart of beautiful downtown.
• 3:38
  They're in the vicinity of beautiful downtown Acheson.
• 3:40
  Are they in a subdivision?
• 3:42
  Oh, no, we are like outskirts of right downtown Acheson.
• 3:44
  Oh, I like that.
• 3:45
  The outskirts of right downtown.
• 3:48
  That's the best.
• 3:50
  Listen, people, you need to come visit downtown Acheson and then tour around and see all these businesses because it's pretty cool.
• 3:56
  It is.
• 3:57
  Yeah.
• 3:58
  Okay, let's kick it off.
• 3:59
  Let's get going.
• 3:59
  Maron, tell us a little bit about yourself.
• 4:02
  Where did you grow up and where were you born?
• 4:05
  Well, I was born in West Edmonton and I grew up, I spent my life there up until I was in my 20s, but went to high school at St.
• 4:15
  Francis Xavier.
• 4:15
  St.
• 4:16
  Francis Xavier.
• 4:17
  Yes.
• 4:17
  Okay, so I have to ask this question because I ask it every time.
• 4:21
  What was the St.
• 4:23
  Francis Xavier mascot?
• 4:25
  We were the Rams.
• 4:26
  The Rams.
• 4:28
  The Rams.
• 4:29
  That's a good mascot.
• 4:29
  That is.
• 4:30
  I went to Ross Shep and we were the T-birds.
• 4:33
  Yeah, the Thunderbirds.
• 4:35
  I don't know if we ever met you guys in anything.
• 4:37
  Maybe we did.
• 4:38
  I'm not sure.
• 4:39
  The Rams would definitely wipe out the T-birds, I think.
• 4:42
  Anyway, so you went to St.
• 4:44
  Francis?
• 4:44
  Yeah, I went to St.
• 4:46
  FX.
• 4:48
  When I continued on at university, I first started at the Faculté Saint-Jean and did the beginnings of my business degree there, and then when I transferred over to the main campus at the U of A, I finished my international business degree there.
• 5:02
  So you started out in the French?
• 5:04
  I did.
• 5:05
  Do you speak fluent French?
• 5:06
  Well, I'm a little rusty, but I went to French immersion growing up and even at FX, I was able to take some French classes and then it was great.
• 5:15
  Just being able to go to the Faculté Saint-Jean for a couple of classes in between.
• 5:20
  Some of the classes at the U of A, you have the 300 person class sizes.
• 5:24
  My brain doesn't learn accounting that way or doesn't learn economics that way.
• 5:28
  So I was able to take some economics classes at the Faculté of Saint-Jean instead of being in a 300 person class.
• 5:35
  Highly respectable faculty.
• 5:37
  It is very across the country.
• 5:40
  It's a very highly respected faculty.
• 5:41
  So the 20 person class sizes were really helpful for me.
• 5:44
  Awesome.
• 5:45
  At that point, getting through some of those topics.
• 5:47
  So Maron, tell us a little bit about what your family did growing up.
• 5:51
  Because this will segue, I think, into kind of where you are now.
• 5:56
  Well, growing up, my mom was a nurse.
• 6:00
  And she worked first with multiple dependency handicapped children.
• 6:07
  And she helped work at school for them.
• 6:10
  And then she transferred over and she worked as a with the Canadian Cancer Society.
• 6:15
  And then my dad, he started, well, he came out, he was from, they're both from PEI originally.
• 6:22
  And they met at university in PEI, in line up there.
• 6:25
  And then my dad had to get some summer work.
• 6:30
  So he was flying out to Alberta because he's the youngest of eight.
• 6:33
  So his older brothers were in Alberta.
• 6:35
  And he started working for Pipeline Company out here and was back and forth going to school.
• 6:41
  And then he ended up joining up with my uncle who had started JAPA in 19...
• 6:47
  JAPA started in 1972 and he came aboard in 1974.
• 6:51
  Okay.
• 6:52
  So we best tell everyone, what is JAPA?
• 6:56
  JAPA stands for Jack and Paul.
• 6:58
  Jack and Paul?
• 6:59
  Really?
• 6:59
  And those are the two original founders.
• 7:00
  I didn't know that.
• 7:01
  Honestly did not know that.
• 7:03
  Yeah.
• 7:03
  Jack and Paul.
• 7:04
  Yeah.
• 7:04
  They were two guys who were working on the pipeline industry together and they came together and they decided to start JAPA.
• 7:12
  Jack and Paul was going to be their catchy name.
• 7:15
  That is just awesome.
• 7:17
  I love that.
• 7:17
  Yeah.
• 7:18
  And then actually like Jack and they actually only worked together with JAPA for like six months or whatever.
• 7:24
  It wasn't a very long time.
• 7:25
  And then they decided to go off in different areas and different focuses.
• 7:29
  And then my dad came in and joined Paul.
• 7:31
  And yeah, that was the start of JAPA as we know it.
• 7:36
  It was, it's quite the come up story because they worked out of a Quonset hut forever.
• 7:41
  And then little by little, they wanted to like build a shop.
• 7:45
  Right.
• 7:46
  It was in the West End of Edmonton originally.
• 7:47
  Yeah.
• 7:47
  Yeah.
• 7:48
  And they couldn't get a mortgage.
• 7:51
  So it was every job that they did, any profits that they got, they would go to the cinder block store and they bought cinder blocks and they built their original shop location in the West End.
• 8:03
  That's pretty awesome.
• 8:03
  Like block by block.
• 8:05
  Literally block by block.
• 8:06
  Yeah.
• 8:06
  That is incredible.
• 8:08
  Yeah.
• 8:08
  What a story.
• 8:09
  Yeah.
• 8:09
  Like because it's literally block by block.
• 8:11
  Literally, yes.
• 8:12
  Wow.
• 8:13
  And it was the start of everything that they originally built up with JAPA.
• 8:17
  It was Paul's son David, who's very close in age to my dad.
• 8:22
  He came in in the 80s as well and they built this pipeline company.
• 8:25
  They were, it was very, they were on the forefront of a lot of technology, welding technologies for like a lot of automation and things like that.
• 8:34
  They were a lot of designs for working pipe lairs and peat moss and everything like that.
• 8:38
  It was a lot of, a lot of engineering and forethinking that was, should make things that were suitable for the Alberta environment, which is, I think, really cool.
• 8:48
  Well, and the 80s were a boom in Alberta for energy.
• 8:52
  And that's right.
• 8:53
  Well, most of the 80s.
• 8:54
  Boom and bust.
• 8:54
  Yeah, I was going to say most of the, and then the bust happened.
• 8:58
  So they obviously, obviously, they're brilliant because they saw that and jumped on board with that.
• 9:03
  And away they went.
• 9:04
  And away they went.
• 9:05
  And then Paul decided to retire in 2003.
• 9:11
  And at that point, like one of my brothers had been working at JAPA, doing the wash bay and all that.
• 9:15
  He decided he wanted to do an apprenticeship as a mechanic.
• 9:18
  So they re-started, sold off a bunch of the pipeline equipment and everything, but then started JAPA Equipment Rentals as the new service and rental division to kind of complement it.
• 9:30
  It was very small.
• 9:32
  So you guys are heavy, heavy equipment.
• 9:34
  We do, yeah.
• 9:35
  So a lot of heavy equipment, but we do have some like lighter and material handling equipment as well.
• 9:40
  A little bit specialized.
• 9:42
  Like some telehandlers and some boom lifts and things like that.
• 9:45
  That's not our area of expertise.
• 9:46
  So we, our earth moving equipment is like earth moving equipment forever was our bread and butter.
• 9:52
  And that's where we focus on a lot with the soil compaction, wheel loaders, excavators, anything that we can do.
• 10:00
  But our service team will fix anything.
• 10:01
  They service anything.
• 10:02
  Bring it in, you fix it.
• 10:03
  Exactly.
• 10:04
  Cool.
• 10:05
  So when did, when did the shop move out to Acheson from the West End?
• 10:09
  They officially moved out in, I think, like officially moved out here, I think in the 2000s.
• 10:16
  But they had some side projects that had been going on.
• 10:20
  So our first building in Acheson was bought, I think in, well, I say our first building, it was not mine, but JAPA's first building was bought, I think in the 1980s.
• 10:28
  Okay.
• 10:29
  Yeah.
• 10:29
  And so Acheson was just sort of getting new.
• 10:33
  And it's always been in Zone 3 here, like the downtown.
• 10:36
  Yeah, beautiful downtown Acheson.
• 10:37
  That's right.
• 10:38
  And the outskirts of downtown.
• 10:40
  So, yeah, we've had a couple of spots in and around Acheson throughout the years.
• 10:45
  And then we've, in 2017, we built our new building.
• 10:48
  It's beautiful, by the way, their new building.
• 10:50
  How come I've never been there?
• 10:51
  Why don't you take me there?
• 10:53
  Come visit.
• 10:53
  It's just around the corner.
• 10:54
  See, Maron just invited you.
• 10:55
  Oh, I'm coming.
• 10:56
  Yeah.
• 10:57
  Come sit in a excavator and have a coffee.
• 11:00
  All right.
• 11:00
  I'll bring coffee from the Wall Coffee Roasters.
• 11:02
  Yes, please bring the Wall Coffee.
• 11:03
  It's definitely superior.
• 11:04
  All right.
• 11:05
  Yeah.
• 11:06
  So, Maron, you are in the family business now, but that wasn't always the case.
• 11:11
  No, that's right.
• 11:11
  Yeah.
• 11:13
  I finished university at the U of A.
• 11:18
  I was working in some finance departments, but my degree had been in international business and I really love international.
• 11:26
  I love culture.
• 11:28
  I love to travel.
• 11:28
  I love to experience different places, different people, and I had taken some courses that really focused towards international business.
• 11:37
  I really love that, but I had been working through a university.
• 11:40
  I spent a lot of time working just to help cover the bills and do all that.
• 11:47
  I was working in finance departments for most of that.
• 11:50
  I knew that wasn't necessarily my dream or what I wanted to be pigeonholed into.
• 11:57
  I decided to leave and I was thinking I wanted to go back to school.
• 12:02
  I was looking at public relations and jobs like that.
• 12:05
  I was deciding to enroll in a public relations degree online from now TMU, Toronto Metropolitan University.
• 12:20
  I got a request from JAPA to come fill in as somebody was on a medical leave.
• 12:26
  So it was that, can you help?
• 12:27
  So when you say I got a request from JAPA, like from your dad, like did you, was it a formal email or was it a Sunday dinner saying, I need you to come work for me?
• 12:40
  It was somebody, yeah, somebody was dealing with a cancer diagnosis.
• 12:44
  Okay.
• 12:44
  And they, but they did all the bookkeeping, all of that.
• 12:47
  Yeah.
• 12:47
  Right.
• 12:48
  And so yeah, I got the, yeah, Sunday dinner from... Sunday dinner.
• 12:53
  Yeah, that's right.
• 12:54
  I need you to come work for us.
• 12:55
  End of conversation.
• 12:56
  Thanks for coming.
• 12:57
  Yeah. My dad said What would you think as you are currently unemployed.
• 13:01
  Parents are the best.
• 13:03
  They're just the best.
• 13:04
  I was actively on the job hunt because I knew I wanted to, but I also knew I was going to go back to school.
• 13:09
  So I was like, but he was like, I could really use.
• 13:14
  And so I decided, I started up working at JAPA.
• 13:17
  Oh gosh, it was 12 years ago now.
• 13:19
  I never left, as you can tell.
• 13:21
  Yeah, I'm still there, yeah.
• 13:23
  Haven't been fired yet.
• 13:24
  Yeah, thank God.
• 13:26
  Yeah, I started working at JAPA, and then I finished up my degree online, after doing it in the evenings online after I finished at work.
• 13:37
  But it was in, I think, 2014, I was sitting in our office, a bunch of people out for lunch, and these people stopped in and they said, this gentleman from China stopped in and he said, I noticed you have some of our equipment in your yard.
• 13:53
  And I remember when I was at the U of A, I took an Asian economics class, and we went to China for three weeks when I was there.
• 14:03
  So I remembered some of the business customs, where you take the business card with two hands.
• 14:08
  It is very important.
• 14:08
  It's very important.
• 14:09
  Customs, when you're dealing.
• 14:11
  This is amazing.
• 14:12
  So I chatted with them, and then it started the discussions for how we were familiar with this equipment, which we were originally bringing in from a broker.
• 14:23
  So they were from this company?
• 14:24
  They were from the actual company.
• 14:26
  They were from XCMG, which was the company, the manufacturer of the equipment that we had for our compaction fleet.
• 14:33
  And they just happened to be in Acheson?
• 14:34
  They were just driving around.
• 14:35
  They got lost and...
• 14:38
  They were here for a crane meeting.
• 14:39
  Oh, we won't mention any names.
• 14:41
  Yeah, they were here for...
• 14:42
  We can guess.
• 14:43
  We can guess.
• 14:44
  We know where they were.
• 14:45
  Yeah, I think so.
• 14:46
  And you missed out.
• 14:47
  No, just kidding.
• 14:49
  Totally just kidding.
• 14:50
  I don't know the nature of the meeting.
• 14:51
  Yeah, that's right.
• 14:53
  Oh, you're good.
• 14:54
  You're very good.
• 14:55
  You're very good.
• 14:56
  They were here for some crane meetings.
• 14:57
  And yeah, we had some of their compaction equipment.
• 15:00
  And we had been buying that from a broker out of the US.
• 15:02
  Okay.
• 15:03
  Would you be interested in dealing with us?
• 15:06
  So we began the negotiations.
• 15:09
  I got to flex my muscles and use some of the business plan writing that I had done in my original degree, and work on marketing plans, which I was working with my public relations a bit, and started writing out the plan on how this might go and what it might look like.
• 15:24
  And working with our team at JAPA to see if this is the direction we wanted to try and take it.
• 15:30
  And so that was, we signed our official dealer agreement with them in 2016.
• 15:35
  Your dad must just love you.
• 15:37
  I hope so.
• 15:38
  I mean, seriously.
• 15:40
  How proud.
• 15:40
  Well, you bring her to work.
• 15:41
  Right.
• 15:42
  And like, who knows?
• 15:43
  And here all of a sudden, now look at this.
• 15:44
  International business degree is like paying off in spades.
• 15:46
  That's right.
• 15:47
  The whole time he's like, this will never pay off.
• 15:49
  And now he's like, this is the best thing that ever happened to us.
• 15:53
  This is unbelievable.
• 15:54
  This is incredible.
• 15:55
  Maybe.
• 15:56
  Do you think this was in your dad's master plan?
• 15:59
  No.
• 15:59
  Do you think that day at dinner, all along, he was like, I want her here.
• 16:05
  You know what?
• 16:05
  Because I think Jennifer has heard this story, because I think I mentioned it when I was at the panel for the first Women in Leadership event.
• 16:13
  It was actually, because my brother, my first, my middle brother had started working with JAPA in 2003.
• 16:20
  Then my other brother had been in a sales position, and he decided to come over and do rentals and sales, used equipment sales at JAPA.
• 16:27
  So he came over in 2008.
• 16:29
  I was laughing at probably a Sunday dinner and was like, when do I get to join ship?
• 16:35
  My dad was like, you probably will never work here, like you got an international business.
• 16:39
  He's like, there's big beautiful things for you.
• 16:43
  The world is yours.
• 16:45
  You can do whatever you want.
• 16:46
  Then the Chinese people stop by and now she's his favorite.
• 16:52
  Wow.
• 16:52
  That's an incredible story.
• 16:54
  Yeah.
• 16:54
  It was an incredible story.
• 16:56
  It went from, you'll probably never work at JAPA to.
• 16:58
  Yeah.
• 16:58
  I've been here 12 years.
• 16:59
  Yeah.
• 17:00
  Wow.
• 17:00
  Here we are.
• 17:01
  So that's amazing.
• 17:02
  So did you end up going over to China then?
• 17:05
  Yeah.
• 17:05
  So the first trip over, like I said, I was still finishing up my degree, or my public relations degree.
• 17:14
  So I wrote down a bunch of places that I knew from when I'd been there in school, and a few things that my brother, Sean, because he traveled in Asia extensively before as well.
• 17:26
  And then my dad went over, and another gentleman, because we were interested in maybe looking at some cranes at that time.
• 17:32
  Yeah.
• 17:32
  And that's not our area of expertise, but there was a person who was interested.
• 17:36
  So they went over for the first trip.
• 17:38
  And then I went back in 2016 for my first trip over after we signed our dealer agreement.
• 17:44
  Right.
• 17:44
  And then it's just been back.
• 17:45
  I was there twice last year. Back and forth So, there really is an art.
• 17:49
  There really is an art in dealing with other cultures.
• 17:53
  Yes.
• 17:53
  And especially Asia.
• 17:54
  I've been all through Asia and there really is an art, isn't there?
• 17:58
  Very much, yeah.
• 17:59
  It can be make or break.
• 18:00
  The simplest things can be make or break.
• 18:02
  Yeah.
• 18:03
  I remember, I think it was, when I was, I did part of my business, or international business degree in Denmark.
• 18:09
  Yeah.
• 18:09
  And we were focusing there in a lot of the classes.
• 18:12
  It was, it's just technical.
• 18:13
  Sorry. I don't want to bore you.
• 18:14
  No, no, no.
• 18:15
  I love this, but it's like...
• 18:17
  She's beaming, folks.
• 18:19
  Right now, she's beaming as.
• 18:20
  She's talking about this.
• 18:21
  This principle, it's like Hofstad as seven principles of culture and dynamics and how they apply in business.
• 18:27
  So like go through and you go through like working with Asia, like Asia versus Canada, like how you like, your power dynamics, every different thing and how, so your approach when you're dealing with like people in the Chinese culture or for us, you have to be very delicate.
• 18:43
  You have to come at it with a very approach and like for us, when we started off, like when we were building up JAPA, like titles didn't really matter to us.
• 18:52
  It was just we all had our areas that we were working in and it was just kind of, even still.
• 18:56
  But when we didn't have titles on our business cards because we were just had our business cards.
• 19:00
  Yeah.
• 19:01
  It was like we're going to China, you need to have titles on your business cards.
• 19:05
  Title is huge.
• 19:06
  You have to have everything laid out.
• 19:08
  Title, education, huge and work ethic.
• 19:11
  Work ethic is I remember in Asia and I remember I was offered a job in Singapore actually.
• 19:17
  I remember that part of the job description was I worked basically six and a half days a week.
• 19:25
  Got half a day off for a little bit.
• 19:27
  I just thought, I don't think so.
• 19:29
  I'm not doing that, but that's how they are.
• 19:32
  That's the accepted norm.
• 19:33
  That's still how it is.
• 19:35
  A lot of people that we talk to at different factories are working six days a week.
• 19:39
  It's funny actually, one of the, he's very high up at XCMG.
• 19:43
  He's the general manager of the International Equipment.
• 19:47
  He's very high up there, VP of International.
• 19:50
  I'm going to get the title wrong and that's such an important part of it.
• 19:54
  That will make or break the deal right there.
• 19:56
  He actually did his PhD at the U of A.
• 20:01
  We were there at the same time, so he's a little bit older than I am, but we were sitting at this deal and he had heard that we were from Edmonton.
• 20:11
  He said, I went to the U of A and he doesn't speak great English per se, but he was over the moon excited that we were at the U of A at the same time.
• 20:21
  That common connection. Every time I see him since, he's like- It means a lot.
• 20:24
  Yeah, he wants to stand next to me in the pictures because we both went to the U of A.
• 20:28
  You're alum.
• 20:29
  Yeah, that's right.
• 20:30
  You're alum and you're a star.
• 20:32
  Yeah.
• 20:33
  So yeah, that's cool.
• 20:34
  So cool.
• 20:35
  So, okay, so you got the China deal.
• 20:39
  Got the China deal.
• 20:40
  And you must have bumped up in the company a little bit.
• 20:43
  And we were still- We got promotion.
• 20:45
  Like we were growing at that point when we were, I think, when we worked on that business plan, and we were building that out, we were still a team of about eight.
• 20:55
  Okay.
• 20:56
  And now we are a team of about 40 and then we have two locations.
• 21:00
  Out of that eight, how many were family?
• 21:04
  My two brothers and then Rog, my dad, he was there every once in a while.
• 21:09
  He was, I mean, he's on the old, he spends his summers and PEI goes back home and does all that.
• 21:14
  So yeah.
• 21:15
  So it was a lot of my brothers and that was about it.
• 21:19
  So Maron, tell us what it's like working with family.
• 21:23
  Yeah.
• 21:24
  We have a lot of guests on that work with siblings and parents.
• 21:29
  How do disagreements go?
• 21:30
  If you and your brother are disagreeing.
• 21:32
  Yeah.
• 21:33
  Who wins that battle?
• 21:34
  What happens?
• 21:35
  Good communication skills, does it affect Sunday dinner, Maron.
• 21:38
  I think that's a big thing.
• 21:39
  It's the communication skills are very important.
• 21:46
  I always say my mom is like the great bringer together of people.
• 21:48
  Yeah.
• 21:49
  She, if you are having a disagreement, she doesn't really care.
• 21:52
  You're going to come to dinner.
• 21:54
  Yeah.
• 21:55
  But it was also- Settle it over roast beef.
• 21:57
  Yeah.
• 21:57
  But it's also that matters like dirt off our shoulder.
• 22:00
  The most important part is that we are family.
• 22:03
  We, I think we were ingrained that you show up for your people and you show up for your family.
• 22:08
  Yeah.
• 22:09
  100 percent.
• 22:09
  So for me, it's always like you are going to show up no matter what for them.
• 22:13
  That's really good.
• 22:14
  And so I could be mad at a brother.
• 22:16
  A brother could be mad at me and I'm still going to go to my niece and nephew's soccer game and be there and cheer them on and get it over.
• 22:21
  Family's family, right?
• 22:22
  Family's family.
• 22:23
  And so the blessing, I think, is that our areas of expertise at work, the areas that we focus on, are very, we each have our own lane.
• 22:34
  They're divergent and then we come together and like the management and the board.
• 22:37
  So you're the CEO.
• 22:39
  COO.
• 22:39
  So OO.
• 22:41
  Who's the CEO?
• 22:42
  Your dad's still?
• 22:42
  Roger's the president still.
• 22:43
  Okay.
• 22:44
  And your brothers are?
• 22:46
  Sean is our general manager.
• 22:47
  Okay.
• 22:47
  And he oversees our service and department.
• 22:49
  And then Steve is our VP of Operations and he oversees all of our importing and exporting.
• 22:53
  So is CEO higher than all those other, except for the COO, higher than everybody except for the COO?
• 23:02
  Again, for us, it doesn't matter that much.
• 23:06
  Honestly, it doesn't matter that much for us.
• 23:08
  It's a lot of, I think the part like, is being appointed at the COO came a lot down to what I was working on, where I was focused, and my ability to get certain things done.
• 23:23
  Right.
• 23:23
  And like, Sean and I joke that I can't rebuild an engine.
• 23:27
  He sure can.
• 23:29
  But I can do a whole bunch of other things.
• 23:31
  Other skills and other focuses and other areas that he can't do.
• 23:34
  To your point, I think that was a great point, is everybody knows their skills.
• 23:37
  Their niche.
• 23:38
  Yeah, their niche and it just works together.
• 23:40
  And you can come together and collaborate.
• 23:42
  And that's perfect.
• 23:44
  We have to collaborate a lot.
• 23:46
  It's a lot of weight on your shoulders, building out a business, growing a business, working with family, trying to create a great environment for people.
• 23:54
  And so you have to collaborate.
• 23:57
  You have to share the load a little bit and work.
• 24:00
  So Maron, I know this about you.
• 24:03
  Tell us a little bit about... you married a farmer.
• 24:06
  I did marry a farmer.
• 24:08
  Like a farmer farmer?
• 24:09
  A grain farmer.
• 24:10
  Like a who farmer?
• 24:11
  A grain farmer.
• 24:12
  Yeah, a fifth generation grain farmer.
• 24:14
  Really?
• 24:14
  Yeah.
• 24:15
  Like full blown farm, not hobby farm.
• 24:17
  No, full blown.
• 24:18
  So do you live on the farm?
• 24:20
  Yeah.
• 24:20
  We used to.
• 24:21
  Okay.
• 24:22
  We used to live a mile away from their farm house in the house that was built by my, God bless him, my husband as a 23 year old boy.
• 24:30
  Yeah.
• 24:30
  Built a dream, 23 year old's dream house.
• 24:33
  So it's not practical at all.
• 24:37
  I love it.
• 24:39
  A 23 year old boy's dream house.
• 24:42
  Yeah.
• 24:42
  We lived above a garage.
• 24:43
  Yeah.
• 24:43
  It was a really nice garage, it was heated.
• 24:45
  I love it.
• 24:47
  Okay.
• 24:47
  So you couldn't live there anymore.
• 24:50
  I lived there for like seven or eight years.
• 24:52
  Yeah.
• 24:53
  We're coming up on two years.
• 24:54
  We just moved into St.
• 24:55
  Albert.
• 24:56
  Okay.
• 24:57
  But he still farms.
• 24:58
  He still farms.
• 24:59
  He's a commuter farmer.
• 25:00
  He's a commuter farmer.
• 25:01
  He commutes home to the burbs out to the farm.
• 25:05
  So it's where we are in St.
• 25:06
  Albert.
• 25:07
  It's about 20 minutes for both of us.
• 25:08
  Really?
• 25:08
  Because it used to be a mile for him and I drive 40, 45 minutes.
• 25:12
  And I mean, you're driving a lot of highway, a lot of winter roads and all of that.
• 25:16
  And I minded it a little bit more than he minded it.
• 25:20
  So now we split the difference.
• 25:22
  Do you have any animals on your farm?
• 25:24
  No, no animals on the farm.
• 25:25
  They used to have cattle.
• 25:26
  Yeah.
• 25:27
  But now they have a shop cat.
• 25:30
  It's important to have a shop cat as we know And we've had a shop cat on the guest, as a guest.
• 25:34
  We did, we did, yeah.
• 25:36
  And we have a shop dog at JAPA, so that's it.
• 25:38
  But no cows or chickens or...
• 25:41
  Do you need any chickens?
• 25:42
  No, don't go down this road.
• 25:43
  Don't digress, no.
• 25:44
  Sorry, no, I get the whole other story.
• 25:46
  No, they had cattle, but they don't do cattle anymore.
• 25:49
  One of my best friends, she married a farmer from Lacombe, though, and so they've got cattle out that way and grain.
• 25:55
  It's a busy, busy thing.
• 25:56
  I was going to say, you probably- For you, you're keeping it separate, right?
• 26:02
  You are not on the farm.
• 26:04
  I am not the traditional farmwife, I suppose that- Do you like farming?
• 26:09
  I find it very interesting.
• 26:10
  I like the science behind it, how they do their crop rotations, everything like that.
• 26:14
  I feel like I'm a sponge and I absorb it, and I find it very interesting.
• 26:18
  There's a lot of machinery that goes in, which obviously appeals to me.
• 26:22
  But we have different focus.
• 26:25
  I mean, it's also great because they have a farm and a trucking business where they deliver grain and do things like that.
• 26:32
  There's a lot of business conversation that happens just between us.
• 26:35
  They probably just finished seeding.
• 26:37
  They did, yes.
• 26:39
  It was very quick this year.
• 26:40
  Yeah, that's what I hear.
• 26:41
  Thank goodness for the rain.
• 26:43
  The rain is a blessing.
• 26:44
  Yeah, well, that is just...
• 26:46
  I actually, I've never heard of a farmer not living on the farm but living in the burbs, but still being the farm.
• 26:52
  You knew that?
• 26:53
  Yeah.
• 26:54
  How did you know?
• 26:55
  I will talk about that.
• 26:56
  I think it's a little bit different of a situation, but it's also nice for him to have a little bit of space.
• 27:02
  Yeah, for sure.
• 27:03
  And he actually says he sees a lot more of their crops now because he has to drive past it.
• 27:09
  He only drove past the same fields, but now when he comes home, if he goes one way, he can see like 20% of the crops, and if he goes another way, he can see another.
• 27:17
  So he sees a lot more of the crop growth that they have.
• 27:20
  I think this is so cool.
• 27:22
  She's a COO.
• 27:23
  COO.
• 27:24
  He's a farmer.
• 27:25
  Yeah.
• 27:25
  I think this is awesome.
• 27:26
  It's great.
• 27:28
  This could be a trend.
• 27:30
  Starting a trend of urban, what would you even call it?
• 27:34
  What are you saying, a matchmaking website?
• 27:35
  I'm just saying, if you're out there, and well, it could be the urban rural farm website, dating website.
• 27:44
  I had no idea he was a farmer.
• 27:46
  So how, if he was a farmer and you were like, how did you meet?
• 27:48
  We met through friends.
• 27:49
  Okay.
• 27:50
  I was playing like slow pitch with some of his friends.
• 27:53
  But I thought he was just like a guy from St.
• 27:54
  Albert because that's where his friends from slow pitch were from.
• 27:57
  But no, he was a farmer from.
• 27:59
  Yeah.
• 28:00
  When he told me he was a farmer, I didn't believe him.
• 28:02
  I was like, who farms?
• 28:04
  Like, who's a farmer?
• 28:05
  I'm from the West End.
• 28:06
  Yeah, that's right.
• 28:07
  Total city, right?
• 28:09
  Who farms?
• 28:10
  We just think our food comes from like Save-On.
• 28:13
  Yeah.
• 28:13
  That's just like.
• 28:15
  I love it.
• 28:16
  That's just the best.
• 28:18
  Yeah.
• 28:18
  Wow.
• 28:18
  Okay.
• 28:19
  But yeah, no.
• 28:20
  That's pretty cool, I think.
• 28:22
  We could probably do a whole podcast just on that.
• 28:25
  All right.
• 28:25
  Like on urban, rural, farming, executive business thing people.
• 28:32
  Anyway.
• 28:33
  So yeah.
• 28:34
  It is like a real business working, like watching the farms operate and watching whats got contracts.
• 28:39
  It is a business.
• 28:41
  It doesn't stop.
• 28:42
  Yeah.
• 28:42
  Right.
• 28:42
  There's no time off.
• 28:44
  Yeah.
• 28:44
  Yeah.
• 28:44
  So it's really interesting for him, like me being interested in business and all of that, watching the ins and outs.
• 28:50
  Cool.
• 28:51
  But it is hard having to explain that.
• 28:53
  I do not bring the farm dinners or any of that.
• 28:55
  So you've heard it here.
• 28:56
  You've heard it here on the podcast.
• 28:59
  Any people interested in that lifestyle, phone Maron.
• 29:03
  To be fair, I'd have to get you to talk to my husband because I actually don't know that many farmers.
• 29:07
  I'm still from the West End.
• 29:09
  All right.
• 29:09
  Take that back.
• 29:10
  Don't phone, Maron.
• 29:12
  Yeah.
• 29:13
  Well, time has flown by.
• 29:15
  It has.
• 29:15
  We're almost at 30 minutes.
• 29:16
  Unbelievable.
• 29:17
  I know.
• 29:18
  Final question, Maron.
• 29:20
  What is the biggest, Wow, best piece of advice you've been given, either personally or professionally, that you carry with you to this day?
• 29:34
  I've heard so many great answers on your podcast from people asking this question, but I think I have to defer to the mantra that I have to tell myself.
• 29:40
  I have two things that I lean into, and it's the mantra I tell myself all the time because I like to joke I'm a recovering perfectionist.
• 29:48
  Yeah, it's good, a recovering perfectionist, I like that.
• 29:52
  Imperfect action is better than perfect inaction.
• 29:55
  I always am just like repeated my brain sometimes where it's like, imperfect action, imperfect action.
• 30:01
  Then I also am a firm believer in the fact like, well, you can do anything, you can't do everything.
• 30:08
  So hiring the right team around you and trusting the team around you, and being able to do that is really a big reason.
• 30:13
  I like that.
• 30:13
  That's come out a bit today, and I love that.
• 30:16
  Yeah.
• 30:16
  So how do people find out about JAPA?
• 30:18
  What can they, where are you?
• 30:21
  We are on all of the socials, well, most of the socials, I guess not all of them.
• 30:25
  I can't bring myself to open a TikTok.
• 30:28
  Yeah, no offense to those who are on TikTok.
• 30:32
  I'm just slightly too old, I think.
• 30:33
  That's a good answer.
• 30:36
  I like it.
• 30:38
  What's your website?
• 30:39
  We're at japamachinery.com.
• 30:40
  So you can find out about JAPA Equipment Rentals and JAPA Machinery Group there.
• 30:44
  We are on Instagram at japa-underscore-machinery, and we are active on LinkedIn and everything as well.
• 30:49
  Awesome.
• 30:49
  Your physical address in the outskirts of beautiful downtown Acheson is?
• 30:53
  The Burbs.
• 30:55
  Oh gosh, I have to remember it, but because the address system changed.
• 30:58
  Oh yes, that's right.
• 30:59
  Sorry people, it's the mail.
• 31:00
  It confused everybody.
• 31:01
  We're at 10397 267th Street.
• 31:05
  Awesome.
• 31:06
  Which is, used to be Ellis Drive.
• 31:08
  It used to be Ellis Drive.
• 31:09
  It's in Zone 3.
• 31:10
  Zone 3, yes, in Acheson.
• 31:12
  Proud to be in Zone 3.
• 31:13
  We love it.
• 31:14
  And we're also in Calgary.
• 31:15
  Yes, we are in Calgary as well.
• 31:16
  So if you're in beautiful downtown Acheson, you come into the Wall Coffee Roasters.
• 31:20
  Take a drive by JAPA.
• 31:21
  It's a beautiful building.
• 31:22
  Honestly, stop by.
• 31:23
  Stop in, say, hey, I heard you on the podcast.
• 31:25
  That's great.
• 31:26
  Let's talk farmer and equipment and executive and matchmaking.
• 31:31
  Anyway, we won't go there.
• 31:32
  But this has been awesome.
• 31:33
  We got some comfy chairs.
• 31:34
  We got lots of equipment to sit around and look at.
• 31:36
  I think that'd be cool.
• 31:37
  Come in for a visit.
• 31:38
  Yeah, absolutely.
• 31:39
  Well, thanks so much, Maron.
• 31:40
  Thanks, Maron.
• 31:41
  This has been really great.
• 31:42
  Really appreciate it.
• 31:43
  Thank you, guys.
• 31:45
  I just love Maron.
• 31:46
  She is one of my favorite people.
• 31:48
  What a great story.
• 31:50
  Like an incredible story, really.
• 31:51
  An incredible story.
• 31:53
  And just it's just so unique.
• 31:55
  I love it.
• 31:56
  And the family business thing and just I just love.
• 31:59
  And the international business degree.
• 32:01
  Yeah.
• 32:01
  Right.
• 32:02
  And how that really paid off for the company.
• 32:05
  Yeah.
• 32:06
  And again, businesses that are involved in international trade and export and all of those kinds of things, they understand that.
• 32:13
  But if you're not, you don't really understand.
• 32:14
  It's not just a matter of walking in and selling something.
• 32:17
  Yeah.
• 32:17
  So I think it's really cool the way they recognize that.
• 32:21
  And now they do obviously business in Asia.
• 32:23
  And I think that's really cool.
• 32:25
  Yeah.
• 32:25
  Yeah.
• 32:26
  It's awesome.
• 32:27
  Well, thanks, everybody.
• 32:28
  Hey, listen, thanks for listening.
• 32:31
  Thanks for being a part of our podcast.
• 32:33
  We really appreciate it.
• 32:34
  We're coming up.
• 32:36
  Can you believe it?
• 32:36
  To our one year anniversary.
• 32:38
  On the 24th of June.
• 32:40
  Unbelievable that we've been doing this for a year.
• 32:43
  You and I thought this would last a couple of episodes.
• 32:45
  Exactly.
• 32:46
  I think what the bigger thing is the fact that you and I, every Tuesday morning, sit here and we're still friends, I think, for the most part.
• 32:53
  That's pretty good.
• 32:54
  That is pretty good.
• 32:55
  And I think that's pretty cool.
• 32:56
  We've had, well, we've had well over 50 guests.
• 32:59
  We're almost at 8,500 listeners.
• 33:01
  And we're, yeah, around the world.
• 33:02
  Around the world.
• 33:03
  So it's pretty cool.
• 33:04
  So thank you folks for listening to us.
• 33:06
  And make sure you tell people about our podcast.
• 33:09
  Tell your friends, tell your neighbors, tell your business associates, tell your enemies.
• 33:13
  If you don't have any friends, make a friend, just so you can tell them about the podcast.
• 33:19
  And subscribe, subscribe, subscribe, subscribe, subscribe, subscribe, because then you won't miss a new episode.
• 33:23
  Yeah, it'll pop up on your screen.
• 33:25
  On all platforms where you can find podcasts.
• 33:27
  That's right.
• 33:28
  Wherever you get your podcasts or at www.achesonbusiness.com.
• 33:33
  That's right.
• 33:34
  Well, thanks for listening, everybody.
• 33:35
  Thanks, everybody.
• 33:36
  Have a great week.
• 33:36
  We'll see you next time.
• 33:37
  See you next week.