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Transcript

It's Who We Are · SOLID START

• 0:04
  SPEAKER_01: Good morning, everyone, and welcome to another edition of Solid Start, a podcast designed to start your week off with a solid start, focusing on life from God's perspective.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_01: This morning, uh Greg is out uh in Atlanta, but I'm joined by someone you've heard many, many times on this podcast, uh uh Marcus Misnik.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: Good morning.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: Good morning, Brian.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: How are you doing this morning?
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: I'm doing really well.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: Doing really well.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Good, good.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: So the this morning we had a an interesting uh session and just tried to open it up and have a discussion with the group, probably I don't know, 60, 60 or so folks joining us this morning, about right.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Large crowd, right?
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: And uh and first thing I gotta tell you is that uh I can't uh I appreciate you and Greg so much for for these podcasts and the opportunity just to listen back to them.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: I I kind of try to, like I said last time I was on here, I try to avoid the listening back to the ones that I'm on.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: But uh the the message that you guys deliver and the guests that you have on uh on Monday mornings is it's just a such a such a great listen uh to start the week.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to thank you for that before we before we go much further.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: But um kind of what we talked about this morning was uh we we opened up the floor because of the uh the change and the opportunities that God's company here, you know, Merrill Brothers has you know on the horizon.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, so it balancing that maybe the anxiety of of change and growth with doing everything we can to create a a culture where people want to, you know, want to show up, they want to be here, they want to go on that ride.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: And that's a that's a delicate balance.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: And what I think one of the questions that came up this morning was how how turbulent we expect it to be, this this growth.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: And the example that that I used was the what Ted is referring to right now as the connector building.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: And as you heard, Dustin, you know, maybe marketing can put together a campaign for a name for the connector building.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: I kind of like connector building, I'm just a simple guy, right?
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um practical.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: It is practical, but but the fact that you know we're waiting on some permitting to be able to put that building up.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: And in the past, you know, we we never really had to deal, you know, with this much um, and I'm not uh you know, try to stay political, red tape.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and so that's just indicative of our growth.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we are on the radar, you know, the the city, the state, it'll happen, but there, but it's just the next level that this comes.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: So that's the perfect kind of the analogy of of what that turbulent turbulence might be.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: And we are we have the absolute best pilot at all in the Lord, right?
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: So he's gonna guide us.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: But ultimately, you know, I I think Dustin, you know, the responded with, you know, some of the turbulence could come from some of the technological advances.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: And and I agree with that.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm going to, you know, say that we can lessen the turbulence, number one, by following, you know, by by staying on board with our pilot.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: And number two, relying on the incredible team that we have, the incredible team that knows that things aren't going to get easier.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: We just learn to handle hard better, right?
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: And so I guess before I there's a few things I want to talk about in kind of the relationship between the the growth and the opportunities that we have and and building a state culture at the same time.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: But I want to, I guess I want to ask you, and you are at the forefront of this, brother, with everything that your team is doing from a marketing perspective and such incredible work that you guys have done, by the way.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: But what are you seeing and what are you feeling, you know, from with the growth opportunities and maybe a little bit of that turbulence that's coming along?
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, to put this into perspective, uh, I've been here almost three years.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: We didn't have a marketing department when I got here.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_01: So we kind of launched our market.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: We did like internal newsletters and things before, but we didn't have a marketing department.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: What were you hired as then?
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: The marketing manager, but they're like, hey, uh, we need you to start marketing this stuff.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_01: And like managing yourself, right?
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_01: So uh build us build a small team here, and um we have more work than than we could ever you know finish in a day, which is amazing.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_01: The um the amount of growth that we have done, not just here in Indiana, but in Florida.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: And I and I would I would use Florida as an example, just in the past probably four weeks, maybe a month and a half, with us kind of going uh and partnering with uh a YouTube influencer, like has just exploded our compost um line.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: And so Florida Green is just exploding right now, and trying to keep up with that, trying to uh try to help our sales guys, trying to help um just the stores that are carrying our fertilizer product too, just uh trying to keep up with that has been challenging uh because we have not experienced that before.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_01: Our services side, it just keeps rolling, man.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_01: It is a machine and we keep growing and we can just keep promoting our services, but launching a product and establ establishing a brand is really difficult.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so for us, it has been challenging, but it has been so exciting.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: We're like most people don't get this opportunity like, hey, we've created this thing and we need you to market it, create branding around this thing, and then and we need to sell it.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_01: So let's go.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_01: And that has been so incredible.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_01: And that just happened this year that we really made that push to sell our Florida Green products.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: So it's been awesome, man.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's been awesome.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: And that guy is fun to watch, is Alan the Lawn Care Nut.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: Alan the Lawn Care Nut, yeah.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: I've watched a few of his YouTube videos and how he kind of shows things in phases.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's really cool.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: So uh he's fun to watch.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, it's it's very interesting, Brian, that you said you know, you're creating a brand.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: And and one of the things that we learned at the Global Leadership Summit was you when you're trying to build a a stay culture, is creating a vision that is personal enough that everybody can understand what it is and and want to be part of it.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's you just conveyed that perfectly.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: That's your job, right?
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: Your job is to create, you know, that that brand, that vision of where we're going.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: And right now, without question, Florida Green is blowing up because you're doing such a great job and creating that vision.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: And and we have to do that.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's a it's it's incumbent on you know upon the leadership to create that vision company wide of of where we're going, right?
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: And and and part of that is you know just allowing you know, allowing our brothers and sisters to ask questions as to, hey, where are we going?
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: If I gave you an empty suitcase, the first thing you're gonna ask me is where we're going.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: And part of the part of the plan then is me telling you where we're going, how long we're gonna be there.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: And and so I think that's part of you know a very important part of state culture is ensuring everybody knows what our vision is.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_01: It's so important.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: So I I would say that anybody out there that's listening, and and some of you had opportunities to ask questions this this morning, and um, and if you are as you're listening, you have some questions that that you'd like to ask of the leadership, please send those in, send those to H the HR department, or send those to Brian and the marketing team, or send them directly to the exec team.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: We we want to help create that vision, you know, so that you have something to look forward to along with the leadership.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: But I guess the second thing that from a state culture that they talked about was you know building a big enough table, right?
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I love that, I love that visual.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I can't help, you know, when I think of when I think of table, I always just go back to the you know, to the last supper.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: I just I just picture that table um where where Jesus shared, you know, with the apostle.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: And we want to build a table where everybody in this organization has a seat to come and either listen or share.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: And we're you know, we're serious about that.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: And and we want people to feel like they're part of this team.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: And one of the great questions, another great question that came out of this morning was uh, are we going public?
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: And that was a you know, nothing like just dropping that bomb right from the right at the start.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: And and did you notice how quick Dustin was to answer that?
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he he jumped up excited to answer that one.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: And the answer is no.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um we are we are guided by values and principles that we don't want to compromise.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: And I think Dustin's answer, now I don't know if the individual that was asking was was was asking, wanting to go public or what, but I think it was very clear that you know, uh with with God at the center of what we're doing and the number one mission being, you know, our our folks' salvation, that there is just no interest in in going public.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: So appreciated the question, but I really appreciated Dustin's response.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: Did you have anything?
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: Did you think it was going to be any different the response?
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_01: Well, like as you mentioned, like the vision, like Dustin has, and the leadership team has cast that vision for ever since I've been here.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_01: Like, no, being a Christ follower is number one for this company.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_01: And I say that all the time.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, one of the first times I ever went out to um we kind of had a a vendor dinner with Ted, and there were a lot of people around this table, and people that um were trying to influence us and all, and and Ted's just said, Hey, we are a praying company, so I'm gonna pray for our food.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_01: And that was one of the first experiences I had with Ted being out amongst a lot of other people.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I've been like, that's that's solid, man.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: Like I'm so proud.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so proud to be at this table because Christ is the center of what we do and doesn't matter who we're with.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_01: He established that very early on in my career here at Mirror Brothers.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_01: It was so powerful.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_01: It was awesome.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_01: And I say that all the time.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: Now that gave me the words to say when I'm out, and if we're doing a marketing meeting or somewhere or something outside of Merrow Brothers, I can say we're a praying company, so we're we're gonna bless this food that we're about to eat or what or whatever.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: It was awesome, man.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: No, I can't I can't even imagine how profound that I mean I just total transparency.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: There are is it there are still times, Brian, where I might be out with a different group and I kind of look around the table to see is anybody started eating yet?
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: Are we supposed to bless the food?
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: Are we just supposed to dig in and and just the fact that our the you know one of the founders uh of the say just kind of set that you know standard from the beginning?
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: That was I bet you that was you know, I can't imagine how profound that was being you know that was at that time.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: So um, you know, the last the last kind of well the not really the last, but one of the other aspects of the state culture was you know giving people the opportunity for you know for understanding and and you know growth potential.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll just I I've said this probably too many times now, but the opportunities that are right at hand for for this company, if you're listening to this, you have there's growth opportunities, and just I I would encourage you to work hard, stay committed, ask questions, seek you know additional uh education or responsibilities, and and talk to your management, talk to your supervisor.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: With growth comes the need for people to step up, maybe even out of their comfort zone a little bit.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: And that's just that's what it's gonna take.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: And and with growth comes then the absolute need to bring more people on.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: And the stronger that we can make our foundation now, so that when new people do come on, they they join who we are and they understand who we are and they want to be part of who we are.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: Kind of the analogy I used this morning was there's there's big military, right?
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: There's big army, there's the there's corps and division, and there's thousands of troops running around and and absolutely love every single one of those brothers and sisters, but then there's also those specialized units that are closer, they spend more time together, maybe their mission is a little more clear.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: And I kind of feel like that's what we are here.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um money and vacation and all those things, without question, those, you know, I'm I don't mean to belittle those benefits at all because they are important.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: We have mouse to feed and and it's it's important to to get away and but at the same time just the camaraderie and the care of being part of something I think that that can outweigh some of those other things sometimes.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: What do you think?
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I I think a lot of us have worked in uh other companies right that that were very different than what we experience even every Monday morning when we walk in and we have devotionals or we have an executive team that stands up and says, Ask me questions, right?
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_01: You you did that this morning.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_01: Very transparent.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's not common.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_01: It's not common for for us to be to work in an environment like that.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um it is really a blessing uh when people ask, hey man, where do you work?
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: And I say, Merrill Brothers, and they're like, What do they do?
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_01: I I I just get excited, not to tell them about what we do, right?
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_01: There's not a lot of excitement in in some of the jobs that we do, although it makes great pictures and videos.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um but what I love to tell them is like what we're doing in Jamaica, like yeah, and and we get to do this trip, we get to do this together.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_01: They really care about their employees.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_01: We dedicate an entire week just for employee appreciation, right?
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_01: Like we we do so much.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_01: It's coming up.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's coming up.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um the I I I want I'm like, hey man, you need to apply.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_01: I I tell people that all the time, like, see what jobs we have available, go apply, man, because you'll love it.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: You'll love it here, either in Florida or here in Indiana or whatever.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_01: And uh several guys have taken me up on that, and a couple of them are are with us and loving it.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_01: And awesome.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, it's been great, man.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_01: This is a unique place.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_01: It's a unique place, and it all centers around our vision and our Christ-centered environment.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: And it's only gonna get bigger.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: And our opportunity influence is only gonna get bigger.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I and I guess that's kind of a great way to to bring this episode to a close is to understand that everybody out there, you have influence, whether it's whether it's at your workplace like Merrill Brothers, or whether it's in your community, whether it's in your home, your church, ball fields, you have everybody has the ability to influence.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: And and influence comes from being trustworthy.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_00: So I would just encourage everybody to, you know, start every day with you know, with success being determined by making somebody else's day better.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: And and if you make that your goal, then you can win every day.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: Make your, you know, show, be trustworthy in your actions and your words, and and and just be kind and uh take the opportunity to influence people positively every chance that you get.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: And Brian, it's just I I love the opportunity hanging out with you because you you influence me and um and and I'm looking forward to having another incredible week here at Merrill Brothers.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I'd ask you if you could close us out with a prayer so we can get this great week started.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_01: Let's pray.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_01: Father, we are truly blessed by our leadership here that uh that puts you first in all that they do.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_01: And we talk about that all the time, but it's so evident day to day as we head out and we do our jobs.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_01: God, it's evident that you are with us at every step, every step of the way.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you for Ted and Terry for back in 1982, establishing Merrill Brothers and uh setting that vision very early on.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: Just pray for those who are out working today.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: Pray God that we have guys all over the country and uh just pray that you would just watch over them.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_01: Uh thank you for our administration and and our office staff.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_01: God, pray that you would just continue to bless them and thank you for the unseen work that they do day in and day out.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um they are kind of the the worker bees.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um so thankful for them.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I pray for our Florida crew, men and women driving all over the place down there, hauling uh and selling fertilizer and compost, and things are just exploding, and there there could be some turbulence there.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_01: And but God, we know we can just sit and and in that seat because you are in control.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_01: You're flying the plane and you've got us.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: And so we are just hanging on for the ride and enjoying every moment of it.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_01: And so just thank you for that.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_01: God, if there are things in in our personal lives that we're struggling with, I pray that we would just turn them over to you.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_01: Give you, God, the the weight that's on our shoulders, because you want to take that from us.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_01: And so I'm just praying, God, that uh you just help us in the situations that we're struggling in personally.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_01: And uh we uh just love you for listening and answering our prayers in Jesus' name.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Marcus, thank you for joining us today.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_01: Really appreciate it, my friend.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_01: And uh hopefully we'll have you back on here soon.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_01: I look forward to it.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks, brother.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_01: All right, everyone have a great week, and uh, we'll talk to you next week.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks.