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EP 8 Blake Shumate's Journey with Anchor
121 Plays1 month ago
Kyle And Nate Sit down with Blake to hear about all things Anchor Industries
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Guest Introduction
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome back to another episode of Under the Vinyl. It's been a long week, it feels like, but we made it kle how are you doing today? I'm feeling a little rough. Flew back from California yesterday, so I'm trying to get readjusted here, but we'll survive.
00:00:15
Speaker
How was that? It was good. It was a nice boot camp. It was awesome to see Quora. The West is weird to me, man. It doesn't seem like there's camaraderie. Companies don't like each other, and I hate that. It's so strange.
00:00:26
Speaker
Yeah, and we'll have to get into that
Blake's Career Beginnings and 9/11 Experience
00:00:28
Speaker
then. Before we get too far into it, we've got a great guest on today. We've got Blake Shoemate from ah Anchor Industries, and he is a general manager of the Special Events and Clear Spans.
00:00:37
Speaker
So, Blake, how are you doing today? I'm doing great, guys. Thank you so much for having me on your podcast. I've really enjoyed listening to your previous ones. You've had some really phenomenal guests on there, some real visionary kind of guys.
00:00:51
Speaker
Tico Steve mentioned having to follow up after Ramsey. yeah And then he proceeded to just knock it out of the park. So that was just phenomenal what he did. he did I don't have a personal mantra like Tico Steve does.
00:01:05
Speaker
I do like going to the mantra show. So that's ah hopefully at least I can show you guys little bit of perspective from the manufacturing sales side of the industry. So. I love that. Yeah. Tico Steve is definitely a ah very unique guy as well as Ramsey and Tico Steve spit some knowledge on me and had me in my fields and my tears a little bit there on some yeah family stuff.
00:01:25
Speaker
It was great. It was great. So, well, Blake, tell us a little bit about yourself and just how you got into the industry. I'm from Evansville, Indiana, which is where Anchor Industries based out of.
00:01:37
Speaker
But I went to Purdue University. I was a management grad there, majored in management and at minored in marketing. From there, whenever I graduated, had a good friend that was at Indiana University, and he actually had a ah really good job lined up in California.
00:01:56
Speaker
with a ah like a big four accounting firm. So he convinced me to move out to San Jose, California from Evansville, Indiana. Kind of crazy story. We actually left on September 11th, 2001, right before the
Enterprise Rental Car Experience and Skills Learned
00:02:09
Speaker
planes hit. We're in our U-Hauls at the gas station and we we hear the reports of that. So we literally are traveling across the country on that day, which was pretty crazy.
00:02:18
Speaker
somewhere in Kansas, gas got up to like $7 a gallon. So we we didn't know if it was going to Armageddon or what was going to happen. So I moved out there actually without a job. So once I got out there, I started looking and I ended up at Enterprise Rental Car.
00:02:32
Speaker
really the first taste of the rental industry, I guess. Enterprise actually hires more college students than any other company in the country.
Return to Indiana and Joining Anchor Industries
00:02:42
Speaker
And what they really do is they teach you how to run a business.
00:02:45
Speaker
Literally, they give you full autonomy at Enterprise to you're running how many cars you're going to have, how many rentals you think you can increasing your fleet, running the books of the company and everything.
00:02:57
Speaker
And you also learn how to wash 20 cars in a shirt and tie in the middle of the summer as well. So it's a full on, like I would say, like a full throttle, like retail rental business. So that really just taught me a lot of work ethic.
00:03:12
Speaker
You know went through a lot of pairs of dress shoes at that thing, wore holes in them. Eventually, I knew I wanted to move back to Evansville, get back closer to my home, to my family. Got a lot of roots here in Evansville. So I moved back to Indianapolis for a couple years with Enterprise.
00:03:26
Speaker
And then I started looking for positions in
Initial Impressions and Learning the Tent Industry
00:03:28
Speaker
Evansville, Indiana. And um Anchor Industries was one that came up. And I actually... had no idea what Anchor Industries did.
00:03:36
Speaker
Drove by this warehouse, this facility many times throughout my life, and I just never knew what what they did at Anchor. or So John Fuchs and Mark Mayer were the guys that interviewed me first there and really hit it off with those guys.
00:03:50
Speaker
Really felt like there was going to be a path for me here. And so I chose to to come on to Anchor. That was in 2005, so it's been about 20 years ago. going from small town evansville indiana were you like a a small fish in a big pond going out to california Yeah, for sure.
00:04:07
Speaker
What was really cool, kind of what you just said about California, like my experience out there, lot of people really took me under their wing. Like they knew I was this Midwestern kid and they actually, again, it was with enterprise. So it's a management training thing. So you have a lot of corporate training, which is great. Like I said, teaching you how to run a business, but a lot of people really took me under their wing. And what's cool about enterprise was there was a group of probably 25 to 30 people.
00:04:33
Speaker
18 year olds to 30 year olds that we were just this group that, you know, nobody was married. We all just went out and hung out every night. And, you know, it was a really tight knit group of us. So, and you bounce from branch to branch and again, a lot of experience, but yeah, it was a big, you know, a big place for me, I guess, but, uh, I really enjoyed it out there.
00:04:52
Speaker
So 05, you interview, come back to Evansville. What's your first official job title at Anchor? I was just a inside special events salesperson. So just selling the the tent side of the business, small tents and canopies and things like that.
00:05:09
Speaker
And you had no clue really what you were getting yourself into. Yeah, right. i remember i remember walking through our facility the first week and just being like, are you kidding me? The mounds of...
00:05:20
Speaker
white vinyl. I couldn't conceive the fact that there were so many people out there buying these massive tents and structures. And it really just immediately, you're you know you're thrown into understanding that this is a big industry.
00:05:35
Speaker
yeah This is a big, big deal. There's a lot of opportunity. And I'll say this, you know when you start, and I think this is something we'll probably talk about throughout this podcast, but There's a big learning curve when you're a new person starting in this industry.
00:05:48
Speaker
When we hire on new people now, it's always, you know can they make it through the first year? Can they make it through the first couple of years? And it's very apparent there is a product knowledge that needs to happen over those first couple of years.
The Role of Mentorship in Blake's Career
00:06:01
Speaker
So that's the big thing. You're learning all these pieces and parts.
00:06:05
Speaker
Hey, Brian, how's it going, man? You're lean learning all these pieces and parts of tents and structures and You know, that's really the goal that I try to set for our new people in the first couple of years is learn everything you can about the product itself, the sales side we can get to later.
00:06:22
Speaker
So is that kind of what you did then? and Did you tag along with somebody a little bit and kind of get mentored on um the product of everything that you were doing? Or how did how did you just jump right in? Yeah, for sure. So my office, I sat back to back with Bucky Houston. i don't know if you guys know Bucky. Oh, yeah.
00:06:38
Speaker
Great guy. And then a couple of guys. Yeah, exactly. couple of guys, as I moved around a little bit in the office that have actually passed on, were huge mentors as well. Neil Cobb and ah Jed Johnson.
00:06:51
Speaker
Both guys were these Northeastern guys that were so well-known in the industry and really good mentors of mine, along with John Fuchs and Mark Mayer and Biff Gensch, Mike Cruz, and all these guys that were with us that I just had a vast experience.
00:07:06
Speaker
amount of knowledge that I could go to. But what I always tell people as well, and what I did was, don't worry about being annoying to these guys. Bounce around, don't go to the same person every time, but I would always just pepper these guys with questions.
00:07:23
Speaker
That's how you learn. eventually then you're on the phone. You're making these calls. You're you're the one taking the calls. You're the one having these discussions. I remember, you know, I got through 15 minute conversation with a customer one day and I was like, I answered every one of his questions and I didn't have to go to anybody. So I guess I'm starting to learn this stuff. So that's awesome.
00:07:43
Speaker
Do you remember your first tent you had to put up? Yeah, right. What's crazy is probably the first tent that I set up was here at Anchor. And not me, myself, but the first install that I was a part of was here at Anchor. We have this building out. out It's a 20 by 30 event series clearspan structure. We call it Anchor University. They had just poured a beautiful concrete pad for this thing.
00:08:06
Speaker
And so that was like on the first couple weeks I was out there watching this thing go up. Yeah, just thrown right into it. But then, you know, they train you on the small stuff, APCs, all purpose canopies and things like that.
00:08:18
Speaker
But that's another thing that i remember is one day we put up like a 60 by 100 century out in the field. For the amount of time and effort, which I considered to be not that much time and not that much effort, seeing that that finished product, just being like, I can't believe that just us four guys were able to do this thing in that amount of time and create this massive space. So that was a really, really cool experience and something that I i definitely remember.
00:08:47
Speaker
Who was your first customer that you sold to? There's a lot, you know, so you're given a territory. So I had a lot of the Northeast. I was kind of partnered with Dan Dalton, who was up in the Massachusetts,
Career Growth and Opportunities at Anchor
00:08:59
Speaker
New Hampshire area. And then I was also partnered with Brad Leeson, who kind of had the Southeast.
00:09:05
Speaker
you You know, Mahaffey was a big client right away for us. A lot of the Northeastern companies that we dealt with as well were big time companies. Peterson Party Rental, which is but peak now. But those were some companies that I learned ah lot from because they didn't just buy our standard stuff. They do a lot of custom work with us.
00:09:25
Speaker
So I was able to learn the custom side of the industry as well. Awesome. So you kind of learned a little bit from somebody, kind of bounced around with somebody a little bit, it sounds like. and then when did you really take off on your own? and What I would say is what I always preach to star our young people here is,
00:09:41
Speaker
learn to install the product. So once I started doing multiple installations with lead guys, there obviously always comes a time where it's, okay, we need you to go out with this customer and set up a product. And I remember going out and setting up a 60 wide century with the client and When you become a person that can go out and do the installation, not just sell the product, not just talk the product, but you can go out and do the installation with these guys.
00:10:09
Speaker
I think that's where you become just extremely valuable to the company and to the industry. So, i mean, that's kind of where you really begin to progress. And then eventually, about six or seven years into my time at Anchor, I was asked to kind of transition over to the ClearSpan side of the business.
00:10:27
Speaker
That's to me it was a brand new product um and something that new that I had to learn. And it really opened me up to more of the entire company and more of our complete product offering at that point.
00:10:40
Speaker
So you were on the forefront of kind of the structure game for Anchor? Yeah. When I started, it was Sean Smith was kind of leading the the division and Mike Cruz was was involved as well.
00:10:52
Speaker
I got to see it from the beginning. Obviously, we're partnered with Rotor. When we started, we were just purchasing their products, bringing them to Anchor, to inventory, and then selling them. And then one by one, we started manufacturing those products here at Anchor.
00:11:05
Speaker
So we started with our 220 profile series, which is like 15, 20, and 25 meter structure. Then we started manufacturing a smaller structure, which is our venue series, the 160 millimeter, basically a 9 meter to 18 meter. then we started manufacturing.
00:11:21
Speaker
and then wed started manufacturing our Expo series, which is basically a 20 to 30 meter. So yeah, I got to see it all from kind of the start and how we progressed from just being a dealer of rotors to a company that's manufacturing here in the United States and got to see the efficiencies of that and how how that improves just our whole process and our whole, what we can offer to our customers.
00:11:44
Speaker
So you're about seven years in now and you go from the car industry, renting renting cars and things out on the West Coast, come back to this small town, this tent manufacturer. Now, how are you feeling? Are you thinking, man, is this what I'm going to do the rest of my life? Do I love it here? Or man, I'd really like to go back to California.
00:12:00
Speaker
You know, I think what I was thinking was, is this going to be something that can be a long-term career for me? You know, I'm an inside salesperson. I've got all these guys that are above me, you know, and I would think that if John Fuchs retires or one of these guys goes to do something else, then they're probably going to be the next in line. So is this something that I'll be able to to do long-term or do I need to look for something that I can, you know, progress? But What's really been great about Anchor Industries is that they have continued to offer the path of advancement.
00:12:34
Speaker
What's funny is that if you you know if you stick around long enough, all those people that you thought would be the next in line, they have issues, they they leave, something happens, and then the more you progress in your career, you you become the you become the next person to take the position.
Recognizing the Rental Industry as a Career Path
00:12:51
Speaker
So that was kind of switching over to the ClearSpan part of the business was a big help for me because I think in everybody's eyes here at Anchor, as I progressed with that product and then also still had the expertise from the ten the normal tint products, I think it showed everybody that you know i was somebody that could be a leader at the company.
00:13:11
Speaker
So you saw the pathway in this industry for you then? Yeah, for sure. For sure. You know, and I think that's, you know, something that we could also talk about is, you know i know ARA does a big thing about, I was born for this.
00:13:24
Speaker
Kyle, you and I are going to be on the ah SIG meeting that this weekend that we're going to leaving to go on for ARA, but that's a big push. And I think something that's That needs to be.
00:13:34
Speaker
I think they're doing a great job pushing that. The fact, just telling people that this is something that you can do for not just as a ah college kid, setting up tents and stuff like that. But there's a path for even those, you know, everybody that's in this industry to become ah career for yourself, to be a ah good career for yourself and something that you look back on and is a big part of life. So.
00:13:56
Speaker
Yeah, I just sat on a panel out in LA and this kind of got brought up in a discussion. Kid actually said, hey, I listen to your podcast and you keep talking about career, career, career in this.
00:14:07
Speaker
I want to have a career in it. What do you think I should do? I was like, well, have you told your boss or your employer that you want to do this? And he's like, well, no. was like, if you walk into his office and say, hey, look,
00:14:18
Speaker
can you help me figure out where I can go from here? You know, I'm an installer now, but five, 10 years from now, help me lay out a path. I was like, I think the guy would worship you because we don't get that every day.
00:14:30
Speaker
I would love it if my employees came and did that to me, said, Hey Kyle, I want to, you know, I want your job one day. And I think that's a big thing now is we need to get people to realize like, you You realized early on you could make a career of this, but it's just a matter of getting everyone on the same page that there is a good life to be had in this
Personal Challenges and Resilience
00:14:48
Speaker
industry.
00:14:48
Speaker
Well, so Connie, to your point, Connie from ARA reached out to me yesterday to give a quote for rental management about the safe tending that I took, the foundations of safe tending.
00:14:59
Speaker
My one line to her in that paragraph that sent her was, We are truly a specialized industry and it's time to start creating that mind shift and change and educate accordingly because we are a trade.
00:15:11
Speaker
I mean, this this industry as a whole has become a trade industry. We've preached that over and over again. And there is a career path. But I don't know if we don't know how to show people, but there's never been literature education such as a trade.
00:15:24
Speaker
you know if you're going to be an electrician, you go to school and be an apprentice for a while and you're making... frankly, shit money for a while until you work your way up and you figure it out and you go through the education process and everything like that to then become, you know, to go out on your own and,
00:15:41
Speaker
There's no process within this industry that has that. And now I think we're finally starting that with, hey, we're going to give you this education. It's going to be part of the hiring process and the onboarding process.
00:15:52
Speaker
And that will help pave the way to show you that there is a career path rather than saying, hey, you're just going to go be an installer. And eventually you can work your way up. And I do want you to take my job, but I'm not goingnna show you a path to get there. Just work your ass off.
00:16:03
Speaker
Yeah, right. It goes back to what I was talking about earlier with just how valuable somebody is that has the product knowledge and the installation knowledge. It's just you're you're so valuable when you get to that level. And to me, that's where the path starts.
00:16:18
Speaker
Yeah. And I think, you know, for us, it's a little bit different than how you did it within the manufacturer. But for us in this industry, if you're not born into it as family, you got to work a little bit harder to move your way up through the industry and get to where you want to be.
00:16:32
Speaker
Like now you transfer over to the structures and you're going out and you're selling these structures. Is this a time when structures is really becoming a thing as the whole industry, as all the manufacturers are really pushing that structure?
00:16:45
Speaker
What did that look like when you came into it? What did the industry look like? There was obviously Loisberger had a jump on us. They were out you know about 10 years before we were. There was a clear span in the industry.
00:16:57
Speaker
When I kind of started selling it, there were some older companies like Walter and Hawker and some of these companies you know that were out there. But yeah, it was a, I would say, not the infancy of ClearSpan in the U.S.
Growth in ClearSpan Market and Product Development
00:17:11
Speaker
Obviously, you know, some of our mentors have been pushing this product for a while, but it's definitely, I came on at the time where the product really started to take off, I would say, in the industry.
00:17:22
Speaker
And it continues to do so, I would say. So, There was a lot opportunity then, and I think there remains to be a lot of opportunity in the clear span side. And it obviously is something that's becoming, you know, what we're finding is that people are wanting larger widths, longer installs, and kind of some of the things that Anchor is doing is we're trying to prep ourselves to be part of that movement as well. Some bigger profiles and some longer term kind of structures, things like that.
00:17:52
Speaker
Yeah. But even then, I think now that you guys have came out with the Vixen, I think that has helped a ton to kind of hit that mid-range too. I mean, you got everybody wants to go after the big money and hit all the hit all these big companies and everything. But you still got to remember that the forefront of this business is the mid-level businesses.
00:18:09
Speaker
So for you guys come out with that new product that kind of shows that, that says, Hey, we can provide you something and it doesn't have to be super pricey and it doesn't have to be super heavy. And this is something that you can put up in the backyard, I think is also great.
00:18:22
Speaker
It also gets you in the door early. And i think we've talked about another podcast. Once you're kind of tied into a manufacturer, you're locked in. It's going to cost you a boatload of money to switch. So offering a great product like the Vixen, which gets people into the structure. And then as they grow, just start growing with them. So it's got to be a good product line for you guys.
00:18:43
Speaker
Yeah, and we wanted to set it up, that product. So that's like a 130 millimeter, like like you said, lighter weight product, basically three meter to 15 meter. But we wanted to set it up to where it could definitely be that entry level for a brand new person, but then something that some of our guys that have a lot of structure, it would match up to
Work-Life Balance and Management Role
00:19:03
Speaker
what they already have. So we did it with five meter base spacing. We did it with four meter uprights. We made sure that we constructed in a way that it could do those two things.
00:19:12
Speaker
So that way, if you're wanting to do a marquee going into your 30-meter structure, you can go right up to the same eve height you know with a little three-meter structure. And yeah, that that was a big part of it. But definitely, we've had a lot of success with entry-level people.
00:19:27
Speaker
you know It's crazy. There's there's some people... that start off with clear span now that are brand new rental guys. And that's where they, they start, you know, not a traditional, Hey, we're going to start with some small tents and then work our way up or with, you know, to traditional frame and pole tents.
00:19:42
Speaker
They'll go right into a, you know, a six and nine meter Vixen or or a smaller clear span like that. So while the clear span side continues to evolve, it is the traditional frame and tension tents though are still a very strong part of the industry.
00:19:57
Speaker
o Kyle's digging into it. Exactly. And Kyle, you know, with the the larger tension tents, you know, for the money and for the time that it takes, what you can rent those things for and just the amount of space that you can generate, they still continue to be a very profitable product for our customers.
00:20:17
Speaker
And you guys wouldn't believe how much like Fiesta frame tent we still sell. It's it's insane. It's a never dying product. Well, through this 2010, I think it was 2010 shift now, you're going into, you're in the clear span, you're diving in.
00:20:29
Speaker
Now we got to hit on this. Through my deep dives here, you, it looks to me like you, it's about the time you had your first kid. Yeah. I got married in 2009. Okay, she didn't bring you back from California. Was that the reason you came back?
00:20:43
Speaker
No, it's crazy. thing So katie Katie actually lived in New York City. She's from Evansville as well. And she was a theater major. And she actually did the whole thing, went to New York City, did a lot of stage management kind of stuff, but then started her own little production company.
00:21:02
Speaker
She did a few shows in Central Park. She was there five or six years. It's kind of, you know, kind of fade. was kind of meant to be because she, similar to me, decided she knew she wanted to move back to Evansville. She has a tremendous amount of family here.
00:21:17
Speaker
She's very close to her family. So 2007, we both kind of moved back and then We got married in 2009. And then actually, Nate, so we struggled with fertility.
00:21:28
Speaker
I know I've talked a lot of lot of my friends in industry about this, but it was a number of years that we struggled. It was really, really hard time in our life. I'll say it was probably the hardest time in our life for five or six years. We struggled with that.
00:21:41
Speaker
until we got to a point where we decided, you know what, we want children no matter what. So we started to looking into the foster program, you know, where're should we adopt a child? Should we get a child from overseas or something like
Career Reflection and Industry Positioning
00:21:54
Speaker
that? And the more we looked into it, the foster program really seemed like,
00:21:59
Speaker
what was calling us, I would say. you know There's 5,000 foster children just in the state of Indiana. I don't know what it is countrywide, but we felt like rather than spend all kinds of money and get a newborn baby from overseas or something like that, that we would foster. So we looked into that. And so we ended up fostering our daughter.
00:22:20
Speaker
She was three when we got her. So that was our first step into parenthood, you know i'm just straight into a three-year-old. but um and And when we got her, like our intention was to foster to adopt. Like we wanted to make sure that we could, you know, we didn't want to foster a kid for six months and then have to give them up.
00:22:39
Speaker
At that point, i and I think our hearts wouldn't have been able to take that. So that's why we got a three-year-old and not a newborn. Typically, if you're going to foster a newborn, they're going to try to get them back with the parents as many times as they can.
00:22:52
Speaker
But when you say you want to foster to adopt, they're like, all right, this child's already been through that process. Many times. So we got Anna when she was three. And so like everybody knows that that I've talked to about this about a month after we ended up adopting her, we ended up getting pregnant with our first son.
00:23:10
Speaker
Obviously, you know we're we're pretty religious people. And to us, it's obvious that God meant for us to have Anna. And then it went on to we had actually back to back to back three boys back ah to back. So we have four children now.
00:23:24
Speaker
remember when Katie told me about our ah she was pregnant with our four. I was like, wow, maybe we need to really start thinking about this. Yeah.
00:23:34
Speaker
We spent so long, we spent so long not being able to have children. we were in And so finally we're like, we we need to think about what we want to, what our plan is here. so So we have four children now.
00:23:46
Speaker
You're brave. guys are very brave. We have three. And I always tell my wife, one you know, one is one, two is two, three is 986. It's like, you can't play man-to-man coverage no more. It's more of a zone defense and you're constantly running.
Education and Safety in the Industry
00:23:59
Speaker
But I really appreciate you sharing that story. That's awesome.
00:24:02
Speaker
Just to hit on that, the fertility thing, you know, we kind of had the same issue with our pregnancy and the two kids at my oldest are from my wife's previous marriage. And we decided we were going to have one on our own. And to your point, God has a plan and,
00:24:16
Speaker
We said we'd give it a year, we miscarried. And and then um about two weeks before my wife was gonna go back on her IUD, She made an appointment and everything. And we found out that she was pregnant with our now third child. So God does have a plan. And that's awesome that you guys were willing to do that and save somebody's life. Truly.
00:24:35
Speaker
It was definitely a big you know experience for us and something that, you know, we we hope is something like you said that has saved Anna's life and has led her down a different path than the path that she was previously on. So.
00:24:50
Speaker
that had to be tough. If you guys are going through all that at home, now you're, you're starting in this clear span stuff. And are you traveling? Are you, where are you kind of, are you inside or outside? I've been inside inside anchor coming into the office every day, but we do travel. We do travel some. So in about, you know you know, as we get through the my second, third kid, that's kind of when I started to take on a management role.
00:25:14
Speaker
And then you kind of travel a little bit more. you know So I'm probably traveling you know eight to 10 weeks a year. So there is this work-life balance that but you kind of have to juggle.
00:25:25
Speaker
you know Even this Sunday, Kyle, I'm going to going to be missing ah wrestling meet this Sunday, and it's and it kills me when my kid's wrestling meets. So you just try to minimize those to the best of your ability, I would say.
00:25:39
Speaker
How do you find the work-life balance? How do find yours? I mean, I listened to what you know Steve said, and and he is right. When he said 90% of
Industry Changes and Need for Innovation
00:25:49
Speaker
the time you're going to spend with your children is by the age of 18, that really hit home with me just sitting here listening to that.
00:25:55
Speaker
But I don't listen to that with any guilt. I feel like I do a pretty good job with just draw on the line. There are just certain things that i am going to be there with my children. i'm going to be there with my family.
00:26:08
Speaker
And you just have to draw the line. you know Our industry obviously is is deadlines and events and timing, and and you guys know that more than anybody does. But at some point, you just have to draw the line and kind of like what you guys talked about in the previous episode as well.
00:26:24
Speaker
You just have to make sure that if you're not there, you have the support system at Anchor or at your your job to be able to, you got to delegate the the stuff for other people, other very capable people that are here to do, let people do their job. So I think that's my main thing. It's just just kind of drawing the line, but then delegating to so people that are very capable to do the job.
00:26:45
Speaker
So then working your way up into that management role, I'm sure that helped a little bit, but also obviously you still had a little bit of transition there. And is that currently with the role that you're in now or was that a different role?
00:26:57
Speaker
Whenever I started the management position, I was, uh, John Fuchs was still with us. He's still with us in life, but he was still at anchor industries. So I was, I could kind of look to him a partner in this thing.
00:27:10
Speaker
So I learned a ton from John books on how to be a good manager in this industry, how to manage our people and how to, how to do what's best for our customers. Then from his departure is when I kind of took on this more of a leader of both departments.
00:27:27
Speaker
Yeah. So there's been some progression in that, but very similar job to what I was doing before. Now that you're leading the team in the role you're in now, what is words that you tell your team on how to get business on this new generation, on these new businesses?
Consultative Sales Approach at Anchor
00:27:43
Speaker
And what is your what's your goal and what's your push to try and get the new business from rental companies that are coming in? Sure. I would start by saying and Anchor has always, and our philosophy has always been that we are consultants.
00:27:56
Speaker
We're not out there just to sell. We are there to listen to the customer's needs and to find out what the best product will be for them. It's great that we have a full offering of products. We're not just clear span company. We're not just a tent company.
00:28:12
Speaker
We have the full line of offerings. So we really can sit down and listen to people and find out what their actual needs are. We have customers that have been with us for 25 years and all they buy are all-purpose candidates.
00:28:26
Speaker
They have thousands and thousands of them. That's their business. We're not going to try to push that guy into a vixen because that's he knows what he's doing. he That's his bread and butter and that's what he does. That's one thing is to is to be a consultant.
00:28:40
Speaker
to these people, really to listen to what they're what kind of demand they're they're getting, what kind of calls they're getting, requests, what kind of jobs are they thinking they want to do. That's kind of a the beginning stage.
00:28:52
Speaker
And then I would say to our younger people, you guys discussed this before one of your previous podcasts, but just do what you say you're going to do. Do it in a timely and efficient manager.
00:29:02
Speaker
Just doing those two things, by the way, is more than you'll beat half of your half of your competition just doing that. And those two things take no talent at all to do that. Exactly.
00:29:13
Speaker
No skill. Exactly. And then obviously from there, it's stand behind your product too. And Anchor has always been a company that is well known for, we're going to make mistakes.
00:29:24
Speaker
Everybody makes mistakes. But when those mistakes happen, we're well known for standing behind the product. That's kind of where... you know When we talk to our young salespeople, the product knowledge, becoming you know doing things when you say you're going to do it in a timely manner, and becoming just an expert, I think is how you become successful. And that's how you can show these new companies, these new prospects that are coming into the industry, you can show them, yeah they are the company that knows what's going to be best for us and it's going to help us be successful.
00:29:54
Speaker
How do you know what's best for them then? you know How do you lead them in a direction that says, you know you either need a Fiesta or we're going get you a Vixen? and And I go back to Kyle. And if you remember, we were sitting at the panel at ARA outside and there was that couple that was behind us that said they basically wanted get out of the corporate rat race.
00:30:11
Speaker
So they started a tank company, which I don't know if they know what they got into. God bless you for getting into this industry. what you know They're trying to figure out what manufacturer and what what product they want to go with.
00:30:22
Speaker
How do you go to them and say, this is what you need and convince them that this is what they need? I think part of it is kind of like what you guys were talking to Steve about. like Part of it is what is their initial funding, obviously.
00:30:32
Speaker
How much money do they have to work with to start this thing? Like I said a minute ago, definitely what type of... rentals are going on in your area, what kind of demand do you think you're going to have? Like, are are you in an area that has 500, 600 person weddings? Are you in an area that has, you know, smaller weddings, things like that.
00:30:53
Speaker
And then part of it also would be, you know, what's your, what's your plan for How big your how many employees are going to have? You know, where are you now with that? Where do you see yourself in a couple of years?
00:31:04
Speaker
Do you have the ability, do you think, to expand to a larger amount of workers that would be needed to do some of these different types of structures? Are you a married couple that's going to be going out and doing these things for the first few years kind of on your own?
Work Culture and Mentorship
00:31:19
Speaker
I think those kind of things. are what we would we would do to initially try to consult a person and lead them into something that we think can make them profitable. And then obviously ah return customer of ours.
00:31:33
Speaker
Basically the education on the product and kind of looking overall at at what the what the market holds for them is what you think of them. Yeah, absolutely. So one of my favorite things about Anchor is not only the people there, love all the people there and how they stand by their product, but it's always been Anchor you Anchor U has been something that I think that the industry, it was kind of one of the leading education things too that was really fun that I remember going to it and Gosh, it was like 2011, 20.
00:32:02
Speaker
It was in that range there. I thought it was great. I thought that was one of the coolest things that you guys could have done. I know you guys got a little bit of education stuff coming up here with Matra. Is that something that you guys are looking to set yourself apart and do an Anchor U again? Or you guys are looking to just partner up now going forward? And how does that how does that play out?
00:32:21
Speaker
you know Anchor U, it's a big production. And i think what we had going, it's it is a great educational thing for our customers. We felt like we were having it a little too often, I think.
00:32:33
Speaker
There's a group of people kind of in our centralized area that would come to that, but we didn't want to just wear people out. And where some of these organizations like MATRA and ATA and ARA...
00:32:45
Speaker
have whole committees that are dedicated to the education part of this thing and to putting a full day schedule together. We're just a sales team and you know we're kind of doing that on the side. So it is a big production for us, but it is something that we are we will be doing again for sure.
00:33:02
Speaker
But as you mentioned, we're hosting the Mattress Spring Training here and it's March 31st and April 1st. It's going similar to the one that's going to be in a couple weeks at Pro-Am and on the ah West Coast.
00:33:15
Speaker
So we will be hosting that here and it'll be a full day of education and hope that we can get a lot of signups for that. But we always have people that come to us and say, man, that anchor you, man, when you going have that again?
00:33:26
Speaker
And we did have one a few years ago, but we and it's and we will have one
Automation and Lean Manufacturing
00:33:30
Speaker
again. We will continue to have that and that show. It is definitely a good time and it's definitely something that people like is to come and just see our facility.
00:33:38
Speaker
That's what I was going to I feel like it spotlights you guys, not only with the university section of it, but seeing the plant. I remember coming there. i mean, I was 20 years old, I think, when I came there the first time.
00:33:50
Speaker
I was just mind blown. That was the first time I've ever been in a manufacturer facility. And it was just so cool, just like you back in 2007 or whenever it was when you came back from california and you drove by that place every day and walking in there you're kind of like whoa what is this and i think it's really cool not only that but the smell of the vinyl i just love the smell of vinyl in production yeah exactly but hopefully that's not something that's gonna hurt us later on in life but that's that but pvc so blake you're going on what 20 years now in the industry yeah oh five yeah what's the biggest change you think you've seen over the last 20 years
00:34:25
Speaker
Biggest change, I would say on the product side, kind of what we touched on, just this change from these traditional pole tents and frame tents to the clear span side.
00:34:36
Speaker
That's been a big change. And then recently, I would say too, what's becoming a big thing is these companies that have been long time customers of ours are getting purchased by these you know investment firms.
00:34:49
Speaker
So that's something that's definitely something we've had to navigate through. and figure out how we can continue to be a good partner with those people. When we were partners with you know the original company for 30, 40 years, and then they get purchased by this big investment firm that has now multiple companies with different manufacturers that they've used.
00:35:09
Speaker
So that's that's a big change, I would say. That's something that really is something we've had to to figure out. You know, unfortunately, there's a lot of companies that seem to be kind of winding down and and selling and going out of business.
00:35:22
Speaker
You know, particularly right now, it seems like in the Northeast, there's a lot that that have, you know, sold or just gone out of business. So hopefully that brings opportunity for some new folks to pick up, you know, those rental requests, those inquiries have to still be there.
00:35:35
Speaker
Hopefully we can get some of these younger guys to to fill in the gaps there. What do you guys see on the changes in the industry? The biggest thing I've seen it so far is safety. Labor and safety.
00:35:46
Speaker
Yeah. 20 years ago, i bet Blake was out there in flip-flops putting up that anchor U-tent and shorts and flip-flops. And like, that was just the normal day. Yeah. That is 100% the education part.
00:35:58
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I think we still have a long way to go. We have a long way to go in safety, but. Yes, we got a long way to go in safety. Well, the problem is this industry is so old.
00:36:09
Speaker
ah Industry is old school. It is. Well, that's the way we've always done it. And if I hear that phrase, once again, I'm going to i'm going to keep reiterating how much I hate that phrase. But it's one of those things where you have to be the change. and Somebody's got to be a change. and we can't be the way we always done it.
00:36:22
Speaker
and it's got to evolve. You know, there's, there's always new stuff coming out, such as what Ramsey has, what Tico Steve has, you know, things that are going to revolutionize this industry and push it forward. But nobody's ever going to push it forward if we don't educate and we don't create the safety and everything else. I mean,
00:36:38
Speaker
There's issues out there with safety. You just don't hear about it. People get hurt all the time. And they're not going to say anything because they don't want their business spotlighted or anything like that. But it's as simple as putting your damn vest on when you walk out on a job site or a hard hat.
00:36:52
Speaker
i've seen I've seen guys that I've told to put hard hats on numerous times and a purlin come down hits him in the head. I mean, as much as I want to tell you, you can't fix stupid, put your damn hard hat on, you know, it's just common sense, but safety for sure is one of the forefronts of this and the the change. But I think ultimately seeing the young people step up, just young people step up in general and taking a step in the right direction of wanting to progress in the business in general.
00:37:21
Speaker
It doesn't feel like there's a lot of drive and in the labor industry as far as young people wanting to move up. And now you're getting all these labor companies that are coming in and everything else because they see the opportunity to make all this money by starting a labor company because they know we don't have the employees that want to move up in the places. Now, i'm not saying nobody has employees. We have some great employees that want to move up, but we don't have enough.
00:37:44
Speaker
Kyle, I know you feel the same way. If you could hire 20 guys tomorrow that would give their all every single day, you would. Yeah. And another thing i'm noticing is there's not a lot of volunteerism. I don't even know if that's a word, but there's not a lot of guys out there willing to give up.
00:38:00
Speaker
I mean, me and Blake are about to give up three days of our lives next week to go and sit down with a group of people and figure out how to make the industry better. And that is what the industry needs. We need more people who are willing to say, you know what, I'll take time out of my schedule, hop on these calls, you know, respond to some emails just to help progress the industry.
00:38:19
Speaker
take all three organizations, they're pulling out of the same pool of candidates that's only so big. And it probably is only really 10 or 15% of the industry as a whole, if you actually look at it.
00:38:31
Speaker
i always think that we have all these great guys and girls that are on these boards and they are, they are excellent. But to your point, it tends to be the same people, you know, over and over. Your your father's done all three organizations now. Steve Bellevue has done all three organizations now.
00:38:47
Speaker
The key will be to find not just the same people. We do have some great young people that are doing this, but to continue to get more and more people into it is going to key.
Product Range and Inventory Management
00:38:56
Speaker
Some of that, Blake, is like the ownership.
00:38:58
Speaker
You know, we don't need the owners of the companies to volunteer. I probably prefer it's not the owners. Well, we need to get your employees involved. It's showing them, once again, it's showing them the pathway to get them involved.
00:39:09
Speaker
I think a lot of the a lot of it has been the ownership has taken that on because they feel the need to as the owner of the company. But then it's also like, you know go out and say, Hey, if you got a really good guy out here, just say, hey I know and know you got a lot of other stuff going on within this company.
00:39:26
Speaker
But I would love for to see you progress in this, not only this company, but in this industry. And I know you got a lot of knowledge of the industry that you could give to other people. Let me put you on a board. let me put you Let me get you involved.
00:39:37
Speaker
And I think that helps. That's huge. I mean, but going back to the labor piece, I mean, Blake, I'm sure you guys as manufacturers, you see it. You guys, I know, ramped up production on probably a lot during COVID once everything started getting put out.
00:39:49
Speaker
How did you guys keep up with the production and labor? I mean, did you have the labor? And what does that look like today? Yeah, we have a really good program for onboarding. So yes, we went from probably 280, 290 employees to over 400 during that time period.
00:40:06
Speaker
That's not how many we hired. We had to hire way more than that because for every 20 or 30 people that we would hire, we'd keep maybe four or five of them down the road. But ah so yeah, it's definitely a big part of what we had to do there.
00:40:20
Speaker
during those crazy COVID years. I mean, it was just a, it was a wild ride. And we we were able to, though, we were able to ramp up. What what Anchor does is, you know, we have,
00:40:31
Speaker
um Like I said, our on onboarding, but we just have a ah whole story that we tell people. It's a whole week of orientation that we take people through to show them what our values are, what our mission is, and you know just give them the whole feel of why Anchor is a family organization and why it's a good place to work and stay. Yeah.
00:40:50
Speaker
Labor is definitely, you know, we have some competition here in Evansville. There's a lot of big plastic companies. There's a Toyota facility here plant as well. It's definitely a competitive market.
00:41:01
Speaker
And it's something that we continue to get better at to try to keep people on. Being in Nevinsville, and I'm not hating on Indiana or Evansville because I'm from South Bend, Indiana. so And you know that. And so I love Indiana. I love to go back and visit it. It's a great place. It's beautiful.
00:41:16
Speaker
Now, it's not like living in the mountains like i live in now, but it's a different kind of beautiful. And it's a little bit slower because it's the Midwest. And I love it. But how do you get people want to work anchor? Do you reach outside around the country to get people to come to Evansville, Indiana? Because I can't imagine like trying to sell sell somebody from California or somebody unlike you because you came back.
00:41:36
Speaker
But if you're trying to sell somebody from California around the world or around the country, how do you sell them on Evansville, Indiana? Well, the good news is when we're hiring, when I'm hiring, I'm not just hiring inside people that are coming here to anchor. like you know I've got a whole team of outside sales reps as well. So there is always the opportunity there to find reps. And what we're always looking for is we're looking for people that have experience in the product. And you know that's that's the biggest thing. So typically when we're looking for these positions to fill these positions, they already know about our company.
00:42:09
Speaker
you know It's not the first ah first time that they've heard about us. They've probably set our product up before. We kind of sell it that way, that that they know Anchor, they know what a long lasting company we are. And and that's kind of the ah draw that we would have.
00:42:24
Speaker
you know we're We've been around for 133 now. thirty three years now um if you anchor started, but as just a small riverboat supply company on the Ohio River. i mean, we were selling like wagon covers during some of the wars week. We had big contracts for body bags and things like that.
00:42:40
Speaker
We've always been into tents and canopies and awnings and things like that. But it's typically a fabric, you know, fabric oriented kind of a thing with frames and in most situations as well.
00:42:52
Speaker
Currently, though, we're ah were a big pool cover supplier as well. And then we also manufacture what are called fire shelters, which is something that's a big safety thing in the forest fire industry. So we kind of just diversify in that way, have a lot of product offering.
00:43:08
Speaker
And yeah. Are you guys using more and more robotics in the
Advice for New Industry Entrants
00:43:14
Speaker
manufacturing side of things to try to make the need for skilled labor lower?
00:43:20
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. You know, we purchased our first CNC probably 18 years ago, and now we have three. On the vinyl side, the big thing was the cutting machines as well.
00:43:32
Speaker
Very similar to a CNC machine. We started with one of those. We used to have these 300-foot-long tables. where people were just cutting the vinyl, cutting the patterns in the vinyl. But then we moved into these these, you know, basically CNCs for vinyl.
00:43:47
Speaker
And we have three of those now. And that's a big part of it. So yeah, definitely. We've also been looking into for our fire shelter line. We we have different processes that we go through there.
00:43:57
Speaker
And we're looking into machinery to try to cut down labor on those types of things. Absolutely is a big part of, you know, the innovation is a big part of what we do on a day-to-day basis. I just toured Aztec the other day when I was out there and I was walking through with Alex Kuzminov.
00:44:13
Speaker
Shout out Alex. Give all the secrets. Tell him all the secrets. No, it was serious. So they had a an automatic sewing machine. So they just had to put the piece there and then they hit go and it sews. And he looks at me. He's like, yeah, that it's her first day.
00:44:25
Speaker
The woman running, it it was her first day on the floor. And she he was like, yeah, this is the kind of stuff that, you know, it helps. fill the labor gap because if you have these machines where you just have to hit go it makes it much easier for them but yeah just things like that was interesting to because i never thought of that sewing or even rf welding you know you could get yourself hurt if you don't know what you're doing absolutely what's the most revolutionized thing in your manufacturing that has really helped push you guys to help get product out more or what is there something specific that has really helped
00:44:58
Speaker
Well, to go along with the machinery that we just talked about, just the fact that we're a lean manufacturing company. We strive every day to find efficiencies and to get the product out as inexpensive as possible for so that way we can give it to our customers as inexpensive as possible.
00:45:16
Speaker
We just actually got done doing a Kaizen event. It's a lean thing where you go through an area and our frame shop is where we're doing this one. But it's basically you're going through this area and you're picking out small things and just trying to make them more efficient, see where there are issues, and then try to find just the start small and then and get to a bigger level. So I would say that the lean part of this thing earlier in the, you know, when we started this, I said, I walked through Anchor and I saw mounds of white vinyl.
00:45:45
Speaker
That's what it used to be. It used to be just mountains of 100 wide and 60 wide tents that you see out there. You don't see that anymore. We have more of a pull through process. We're not just making 100 ends of something and then going to the next thing.
00:46:00
Speaker
We really try to pull jobs through as they come. That's become way more efficient and way way more profitable for our customers as well. You do keep stuff on the shelf to get out in case you need some stuff or is it mostly probably keep it select items based on what is the what goes out a lot, I would say. Right.
00:46:18
Speaker
Yeah, we have a big forecasting thing. We have a whole planning department. Their focus is just maintaining what we think we're going to our inventory level should be and then maintaining the orders that are coming in as well.
00:46:32
Speaker
that's one of our advantages is we have a lot on the shelf we're made in the usa so if it's not on the shelf we can make it quick and we always keep a large amount of raw materials in stock as well and anchor has been pretty dedicated the last few years to kind of the disaster relief side of the business and with that comes you got to have inventory on the shelf so we we are dedicated to always having a good amount of clear span inventory on the shelf a good amount of larger pole tents and things like that on the shelf to be able to service that industry so yeah lean doesn't mean you don't keep stuff in stock it just means you're you're trying to do your best even when you're building the stock to build it in efficient manner and be able to have inventory when we need it
00:47:16
Speaker
don't know if you can tell us, but is there one product in particular that is kind of your best seller? Is and something that goes is a higher ranks higher than the rest that you sell a lot of? Yeah.
00:47:27
Speaker
I mean, lately it has been obviously ClearSpan. It's been our our flagship product, I would say, is our has always been our 60-wide century. And then the Aurora product has also been our Sailclaw product has been a big seller, something that we really you know focus on making sure we have a lot of because those are kind of our flagship products.
00:47:47
Speaker
The ClearSpan side, pretty much all of our profiles have been in very high demand the last few years and continue to be as as you know we go on this year. Overall, I love Anchor. I think everybody there is great, especially, you know, comes full circle. Mike Murphy, who taught me everything I know, basically, in this industry. 21 years ago, i worked with him and now he works for Anchor. So I know you guys got a great group of qualified people there.
00:48:12
Speaker
What keeps you there? What has kept Blake there for all these years and made it feel like home to you other than it's just in Evansville, Indiana? What you just touched on, it's definitely the people. With sales, there is a lot of pressure being a salesperson.
00:48:27
Speaker
What you do and what you what your results are, are what keep the rest of this manufacturing facility and all of these 300 employees and all of their families, it keeps them working.
00:48:40
Speaker
That is really what has kept me going is just the relationships that we have with the people here at the plant, the people here in all of our office departments. And then to your point, all of our reps have been not just mentors to me, but they've been great friends of mine.
00:48:57
Speaker
And I couldn't imagine like moving on and not having part of that, those kinds of relationships to be part of my dayto day to day. That's definitely the best part of it is the people for sure.
00:49:08
Speaker
What's ah one piece of advice that you could give to a younger person in the industry just starting out or trying to find their way? I would say what we touched on earlier is become an expert in your position.
00:49:24
Speaker
So especially with the products, become an expert with that. Be the person that people want to come to to ask questions. That's a big part of it. And then the other advice I would give is once you become that person, don't be afraid to go and ask for the promotion.
00:49:42
Speaker
you know I think a lot of times people think, well, I'm in this position and you know I'm making this amount of money and I feel like that's you know a pretty good amount for for what I am. But Don't be afraid to realize your value, especially when you get through that learning curve. When you become that person, go and ask for the promotion.
00:50:00
Speaker
Go in and tell your boss, this is what I want to do. I want to be part of this company and I want to be part of this industry for a career. Really go and grasp it and show them that that you're dedicated to being a person that they can count on.
00:50:12
Speaker
to maybe someday turn their business over to. you know I mean, there's just a tremendous of opportunity, but you have to go and you have to ask for it. Just like a salesperson, you got to ask for the sale. In your career, you got to ask for the promotion.
00:50:26
Speaker
You have to do it or else they'll just let you kind of sit there and be content where you are. Yeah. I was going to say rot too. Yeah, always.
Closing and Listener Engagement
00:50:34
Speaker
right. So now that we've pumped everybody up on Anchor before we close this thing out, you got tell us who the worst pain in the ass salesman is that you have to deal with every day.
00:50:42
Speaker
I'm not going to make you do that. I'm definitely not going down that road for sure. But no, they're they're great guys. You guys know them all. That's what's one of the easiest parts of our job. at My job is that I've got all these guys who are really mentors to me.
00:50:57
Speaker
You know, when I do reviews, I'm like, but, you know, there's some of these legends in the industry that we still have around. And God help us when these guys start to retire is all I got to say. If Bellevue ever leaves, you're going to really big hole to fill.
00:51:11
Speaker
ah know, for sure. there's some That put a lot of people under that category, for sure. That's great. I love the team over there. love what you guys are doing. And I've always loved Anchor. So I really appreciate you coming on today, Blake, and kind of sharing your story with everything. And if you guys want, go catch Blake the first week or the last week of, guess it's on the 31st, right? Of March.
00:51:35
Speaker
March 31st is the opening. Yeah. And then the the main thing is April first April 1st. So get to Anchor, go get some education with Matra and Anchor. Go tour the facility. I would encourage anybody that's listening that hasn't been in the a production facility to 100%, go check out Anchor. They've got a great state-of-the-art facility. It's really cool.
00:51:54
Speaker
Thanks for coming on today, Blake, and we look forward to seeing you soon. Absolutely. and just real quick, real quick, guys, I just want to say thank you guys for this. These first five podcasts have just been extremely educational, extremely beneficial.
00:52:09
Speaker
I encourage everybody to go out and and continue to listen to yours. This is really a ah really cool thing you guys are doing and it advances the industry as well. So thank you guys for doing this. Really appreciate that.
00:52:21
Speaker
We really appreciate that. And to all the listeners out there, Nate and I have one request for all of you. Like, share, subscribe. Subscribe. Any reviews that we can get would be great.
00:52:33
Speaker
Yep. So with that, we're out of here. Thank you, guys. Appreciate it.