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Creating connections is essential to building a community. It’s even more important when the people you’re trying to connect with aren’t in the same location. Businesses and companies have always found geographic distance to be a challenge to building a really great community-oriented culture. At Empowered Ventures, the same challenge holds true, which is why we decided to start Empowered Owners, the podcast that takes you inside Empowered Ventures.
In each episode, CEO Chris Fredericks will have a discussion with one of our employees to discover and highlight their distinct personalities, perspectives, and skills while also keeping you in the loop with exclusive news, updates on company performance, and a glimpse into the future plans of Empowered Ventures. Not only is this an opportunity for Chris to learn more about our amazing employee-owners, but it’s also an opportunity for you to hear regularly from Chris and others from within Empowered Ventures.
00;00;00;00 - 00;00;28;13
Chris Fredericks
Hello everybody, and welcome to another episode of Empowered Owners, the community Building Podcast by and for the employee owners of Empowered Ventures. Join us as we take you inside the world of employee ownership, discovering the stories, insights, and sometimes surprising adventures in a family of businesses where everyone's an owner. Now let's dive in. So I thought a good place to start would be, you know, maybe to learn how you ended up at TVP in the first place.
00;00;28;13 - 00;00;32;17
Chris Fredericks
And I think it involves your mom somehow. So I was curious to hear more about that.
00;00;32;24 - 00;00;58;10
Samantha Marion
Yeah. So my mom was a customer of TVF. She bought fabric from Kansas and ski. She had her own women's biker apparel company. So she made, clothing for women bikers and accessories for motorcycles. So she bought a bunch of fabric from TVF. And when I was graduating from college, she recommended that I apply. Since she had heard from Kenneth.
00;00;58;10 - 00;01;21;02
Samantha Marion
He was looking for a sales assistant, and she had always loved her experience with Ken. She just loved Ken because he's just so nice and so funny, and always helped her with finding the right fabric for what she needed. So I applied and it took a little while. It was tough to get through the interview process with Robert and Ken, but I got in and I haven't looked back since.
00;01;21;04 - 00;01;33;09
Chris Fredericks
That's great. I want to pick that thread up from there. But before we keep going with that, how did your mom end up with a women's biker clothing business? That's just sounds like a really interesting story.
00;01;33;11 - 00;01;56;04
Samantha Marion
So my mom is someone who is very creative, and she constantly has done all kinds of different things in her life, but she's always been in fashion. So when I was younger, she did denim jeans was her big, she was a VP of a denim jean company, help manufacturer, private label denim for stores like Sears and Mervyn's at the time.
00;01;56;04 - 00;02;14;02
Samantha Marion
There's a bunch of other chain stores that she worked for. So as a kid, I got to go with her. We went to Taiwan. We've been to Cambodia. I got to see Mills with her, which was really always very cool. I got to go with her to New York a few times for the fashion shows in Vegas.
00;02;14;02 - 00;02;33;15
Samantha Marion
There is another big fashion show that we got to go to a few times. So I got to as a single mom, I got to tag along with her a lot, which was really great experience for me and kind of played into how my role at TVF has developed, which is kind of it's like Destiny right now kind of works out that way sometimes.
00;02;33;18 - 00;02;54;23
Samantha Marion
But so she went from working in denim jeans and then in 20, I think it was when was it matter? I remember exactly when. But her and a friend of hers started getting into motorcycles like Harley Davidson. And they would go to Sturgis and while they were at Sturgis, realized that there wasn't a huge market for women.
00;02;54;28 - 00;03;16;05
Samantha Marion
It's pretty male dominated market. But the women have a very specific esthetic that they would like, and they want functional clothing too. So my mom kind of developed like shirts that were a little bit longer, so that when you're riding your bike, there's no right up, you're not showing anything you don't want to show. And she needed like a poly spandex and wanted some wild, crazy pants.
00;03;16;05 - 00;03;37;15
Samantha Marion
So she had like flames and cheetah cheetah print. Pretty fun. But that's how it all kind of came together. And then they started with a small booth at Sturgis. And every year it grew and grew. And that's that's her story. But now she lives full time in South Dakota and has fallen in love with that area or doesn't have the company anymore, but has started another one since then.
00;03;37;15 - 00;03;40;12
Samantha Marion
So she's she's doing great.
00;03;40;15 - 00;03;50;18
Chris Fredericks
Wow, your mom sounds like an amazing person. Super interesting story for sure. So she how she ended up working with Ken at TVF on some of the fabrics for that business.
00;03;50;20 - 00;03;51;29
Samantha Marion
That's right. Yeah.
00;03;52;01 - 00;04;00;21
Chris Fredericks
Yeah yeah. That's cool. And then you ended up selling. So did you ever think you would be in the textile industry growing up? That was that. No, no.
00;04;00;21 - 00;04;23;03
Samantha Marion
I really didn't. I thought for a little bit maybe I would do like fashion designer. I spend my summers at her office and I'd work with the designers. I remember specifically like drawing up overalls with, like, certain pocket designs, thinking that would be really cool. I always had a love for fiber arts, so, you know, I liked knitting and crocheting or we did silk paintings.
00;04;23;03 - 00;04;34;15
Samantha Marion
We did all this stuff in these fiber art classes that I always really enjoyed, but I just I never dreamed that there was like an actual career in textiles. And I feel really fortunate. Lucky that I found one.
00;04;34;18 - 00;04;46;12
Chris Fredericks
That's cool. Yeah. So I'm curious too, about all that travel that you got to do growing up. Like all over the world, kind of. Do you feel like that had any kind of an impact on you?
00;04;46;15 - 00;05;07;01
Samantha Marion
I do. I mean, I think anybody who's traveled would probably say that it's like a huge impact because it gets you outside of your own, gets you outside of your comfort zone, gives you outside of your own mindset. I used to be a really picky eater, so this is just a quick story, but very picky eater went to Cambodia.
00;05;07;04 - 00;05;26;25
Samantha Marion
You can't really be picky. You're they eat different foods and they're very generous and their meals are long. You know, you sit through many courses all together. It's a really big event. And I remember them bringing out a lot of seafood dishes. And at the time it was like very don't want to eat seafood. And then they were concerned that I wasn't eating.
00;05;27;00 - 00;06;00;06
Samantha Marion
So I mom was trying to say, like, I know she likes chicken. So they brought out a dish with chicken, but it still had like the chicken legs on the platter and just totally different experience than I had ever, ever had here. But still, just like finding the joy within people and how much they put into the food and how much they accommodate and want you to feel comfortable and enjoy and participate, it makes you realize that, you know, we're all just humans and that a food is delicious if you just try it right?
00;06;00;08 - 00;06;09;29
Samantha Marion
So that's probably the biggest thing I got from travel is really just people are amazing everywhere and the food is delicious. You just have to try it.
00;06;10;01 - 00;06;16;00
Chris Fredericks
Be open minded a little bit. So how old were you when that first happened? When you were first kind of getting that experience?
00;06;16;03 - 00;06;24;29
Samantha Marion
I think our first trip, I was 13, so I was pretty young, and then I got to go in a few others during my teenage years.
00;06;25;01 - 00;06;50;08
Chris Fredericks
And then do you did. I'm thinking back to that moment when 13 year old, you know, which, you know, 13 year olds can have very specific tastes and preferences. And I mean, I would think, how did you in that moment or did it take time? How did you actually like I feel like it's somewhat of a skill to be open minded to trying new things like that aspect, but like, did it come easy to take like practice?
00;06;50;08 - 00;06;52;14
Chris Fredericks
Like how did you actually work on that?
00;06;52;16 - 00;07;12;23
Samantha Marion
It took a lot of practice and luckily I did. It wasn't easy for me, but my mom is a great example of that, right? So she had traveled there before. She has traveled a lot and she's always open minded. So I kind of just and a really I didn't want to offend anybody. You know, I didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings.
00;07;12;23 - 00;07;30;20
Samantha Marion
And so you start to do it as a people pleaser thing first, like, okay, try this food that I've never tried before, do this experience that I normally wouldn't maybe do. And then the more you do it, the more you realize, like it's not scary. And it actually was really fun and it becomes one of your favorite memories.
00;07;30;22 - 00;07;49;26
Samantha Marion
So one of the days we went on this boat tour and the river in Cambodia, and the driver of the boat stopped and climbed a tree and got us coconuts and then just gave us coconuts to drink. And it was like, how cool is that, right? So you got to just embrace it sometimes, even if it seems a little bit scary.
00;07;49;28 - 00;07;56;09
Chris Fredericks
Love that. Yeah. Wow. Fresh coconuts in Cambodia. On our boat, on a river. That's really awesome.
00;07;56;10 - 00;07;57;24
Samantha Marion
Pretty cool, pretty cool.
00;07;57;25 - 00;08;24;16
Chris Fredericks
Yeah. Rico. Okay, so, yeah, fast forward and you end up getting an interview with TVF for a sales assistant role. Because your mom's buying fabric from the company, and it's with Kent. You kind of meet Kansas and ski through that. And then eventually Robert Hench and other. So what do you remember the kind of the early years that you're even starting from interviewing or, you know, into the first few years, like what stands out for you memories at TBS?
00;08;24;19 - 00;08;45;14
Samantha Marion
Yeah. You know, I spent a lot of time thinking about this because, you know, as a person, I'm a pretty positive person, and I like to have kind of a positive approach and really just feel how lucky I am and things that I have experience. And I often think about how lucky I am that I got the job at TVF at the time that I did.
00;08;45;17 - 00;09;07;13
Samantha Marion
I was lucky that I got to work next to Ken for so long, and he was in a position in his life, in his career that he wanted someone to work alongside with him and kind of share what he knew. So I just feel tremendously lucky and blessed. That was my experience and that he was so willing to kind of share information.
00;09;07;15 - 00;09;25;22
Samantha Marion
And he really taught me a lot about just how work can be so much fun. Also, like on top of working really hard, you can have a really fun time, which can, as anybody knows, can you know that to be very true? He can't go a day or maybe even 15 minutes without a good joke. So that's great.
00;09;25;23 - 00;09;48;06
Samantha Marion
And then the same thing with Robert. Really? It's, you know, at first I remember being sort of intimidated by Robert. He was the VP of the office, and he was always busy and always working hard and the more you get to know him, the more you love him, right? Like, he's just somebody who really wants everyone to do well and he tries really hard to impart any wisdom.
00;09;48;06 - 00;10;03;03
Samantha Marion
So again, it's like, wow, how lucky am I? Sam got to work along with these two guys who have so much to share and are willing to share it. So tremendously lucky that I kind of fell into my role at TPF when I did.
00;10;03;06 - 00;10;30;01
Chris Fredericks
That's so cool. So something about you, though, that somehow you did you feel when you took on that role that sales assistant role happening? At what point did you know or did you have this sense of like what the opportunity could be? And I don't mean opportunity meaning like promotions, but more like to learn from these, like long time veterans to and like soak up this experience and knowledge.
00;10;30;03 - 00;10;35;02
Chris Fredericks
Was that something apparent early to you or did that click in at some point later?
00;10;35;04 - 00;10;56;10
Samantha Marion
That's a good question. There is some level of it that was pretty early because I was green, you know, had never worked in textiles before. This was my first big office gig. So there's a lot to learn just in general. But then you layer in sales opportunities and you layer in textile learning of industries I've never worked in before.
00;10;56;13 - 00;11;16;01
Samantha Marion
I remember once, Robert, just saying like, hey, if you have downtime, Google our customers, figure out what they do. And I think and I remember thinking like, oh, that's a great idea. I should definitely do that. And then finding out, like, we have customers that do amazing things with our fabric that if I'm looking at it, I wouldn't really see it.
00;11;16;03 - 00;11;33;22
Samantha Marion
And some other cool and a cool bag or and a cool suit or anything like that. So I guess a lot of it just came down to kind of slowly realizing that there was so much to learn, and then just trying to really take advantage of any opportunity I had to learn it.
00;11;33;25 - 00;11;46;29
Chris Fredericks
Was there a point at which you were like, oh, this is actually I could like, make a lifelong career out of this? Or would that like, do you remember about when that happened, if it happened?
00;11;47;01 - 00;12;10;27
Samantha Marion
It's that's a great question. There's little moments, but I remember one time there's a customer who was unhappy about a certain experience, and I kind of helped out. I did what I could to kind of help out. And I remember Robert coming over and being like, you did a great job with that. And I remember thinking, like, I just I did like I did, I did thank you.
00;12;10;27 - 00;12;35;24
Samantha Marion
Like I did do a good job with that. So there's all these little moments where suddenly you feel like validated and sort of a skill set that you do have. And I was encouraged a lot because it's not my nature, I think, to, well, you know, sometimes you need a little shove, right? And Chris, you've you've helped give me a little push every now and then, too, which has always been great.
00;12;35;26 - 00;12;51;28
Samantha Marion
I know when we first started, like the Esop committee, there was one point where was like, hey, do you want to lead it? And I was like, oh, I don't I don't know that I could be me. And you're like, I think you should consider it. And I did, and it was a great experience. Right? So I owe a lot of that to you too.
00;12;52;05 - 00;13;10;17
Samantha Marion
I think one of my first speaking events, you were like, I think you could do this. And I was like, I think maybe you're right. Maybe I could do it. So I there's been a lot of moments where I thought like, this was pretty great and this could be a great career for me. And I think there's lots of opportunities.
00;13;10;17 - 00;13;32;04
Samantha Marion
There's a lot to learn. I'm never going to know it all, which is something I also love in a weird way. I'll never I'll never be an expert in every tech style, but it's always moving and it's always changing, and there's always something new to learn about. There's always new people to meet, new customers to meet, new businesses that are opening that need fabrics for some unique reason.
00;13;32;07 - 00;13;37;18
Samantha Marion
And I love that about this industry. So very happy to be here. Yeah.
00;13;37;20 - 00;13;42;04
Chris Fredericks
Oh that's awesome. So yeah, you're 12 years you've been at TBF. Yeah, roughly.
00;13;42;05 - 00;13;43;20
Samantha Marion
Yeah.
00;13;43;22 - 00;13;47;06
Chris Fredericks
Has it gone fast or so fast?
00;13;47;08 - 00;13;49;23
Samantha Marion
So fast. Crazy.
00;13;49;24 - 00;14;14;16
Chris Fredericks
So in terms of it became something you I know you I know you're passionate about tbf and ownership and fabrics and all these things now, but in terms of this becoming a place that you thought you could really make a career at. Like, how would you what's the mix between your love of the fabrics versus your love of the people you get to work with, versus the actual employee ownership part?
00;14;14;18 - 00;14;22;22
Chris Fredericks
Like, these are all different kind of elements of maybe what it is to be part of TBF. And I'm curious for you, like what's the makeup there?
00;14;22;25 - 00;14;43;20
Samantha Marion
It's a good question because there is that unique feeling when you get your Esop statement and you're like, wow, that was pretty great. Which is pretty cool when you work with people that you really like, and you're in an industry that you enjoy and you get a lot of fulfillment from and then you get this added statement and you're like, wow, that's pretty cool.
00;14;43;20 - 00;15;06;00
Samantha Marion
I couldn't do that on my own, I don't think. So it's really unique. But it's it's that's how that plays a huge role in it. I think just wanting the company to do well, also wanting to do well for myself. And then on top of it, being employee owned, knowing that the people that I work with are also wanting to do all of those things because we all have a stake in it, is huge.
00;15;06;02 - 00;15;14;14
Samantha Marion
It's really kind of like an underlying current, I think, for a lot of people at TVF, which is which is really great when you work with people who care.
00;15;14;16 - 00;15;31;22
Chris Fredericks
Yeah. Yeah. That's awesome. What else stands out in terms of so we shift maybe from early years to middle of your career, you know, 6 or 7 years ago. What were you thinking at that point in terms of how you would like to see your career go or play out, you know, as you thought about the future?
00;15;31;27 - 00;16;00;17
Samantha Marion
Yeah. Well, I had always had high expectations for what I would do with my life. But about 6 or 7 years ago is when I had my first son, which shifts you. Motherhood is a unique experience, but total blessing, right? You have this baby who now takes up so much of your time. But what I realize is having a career and being fulfilled myself is also helping him.
00;16;00;17 - 00;16;24;09
Samantha Marion
Like it helps give him experiences, helps him, give him like a mom who is happy with what she's doing and providing for her family. So it did shift my mindset just a little bit, because now I it's not just Sam who's just working for, you know, all the like in a selfish way, but now I'm kind of spreading out what I want for my life, who I want in my life, who I'm doing this for.
00;16;24;11 - 00;16;45;01
Samantha Marion
So that kind of changes you a little bit. But I do still have high expectations for myself in the work that I do and how involved I am. I never want my son to have a bad mentor in a way. I had such a great line growing up. My mom worked so hard and it just makes me realize, like how?
00;16;45;03 - 00;17;15;27
Samantha Marion
How really cool that is. So I guess to answer your main question, a few years ago, I just thought, like, I'm going to I'm going to keep doing this thing, I'm going to go as far as I can and really kind of had a vision for what it could be for apparel and home. And at the time it was mainly just apparel, fabrics, working with Ken and knowing that he was going to retire and really wondering what that division would look like and who could support it, and wondering if it could be me or someone else, or how I can play a role in it.
00;17;15;29 - 00;17;39;08
Samantha Marion
I wanted to learn as much as like our mills as much as our customers. I just I wanted to soak it all up before I knew Ken was going to go and make sure that I could support TVF in that transition, and I, I keep saying this a lot today, but I felt really lucky that I was given the chance to kind of help aid in that role and kind of given the position that I'm in today.
00;17;39;11 - 00;18;00;05
Chris Fredericks
It's awesome. So I guess kind of fast forward and Ken ends up retiring here not too long ago. And and you ended up taking over. You know, as a director of sales for for apparel. What excites you when you think about the future for TVF, for you and for TBS? Today, looking forward, I think.
00;18;00;07 - 00;18;31;22
Samantha Marion
So most of the fabric in our apparel and home divisions are for printing digital printing, which I just think is such a cool market. And there's this whole push for on demand. So custom on demand products and I really think and feel passionate about, you know, our fabrics being used in that industry. So being able to pick a garment online and having it cut and sewn and the way that you want it to be made is really cool.
00;18;31;24 - 00;18;57;18
Samantha Marion
And I think that's going to be really exciting for us to get into more and more as we head forward. I also think sustainability is kind of an interesting area for us to focus on as well. There's so many ways to look at it, and I, I always want to be cautious of any kind of greenwashing or being careful of how we talk about it, but just making sure that our products are the best that they can be in any way or form.
00;18;57;20 - 00;19;05;15
Samantha Marion
But I really think, like the future is really exciting for the apparel and home divisions, and I'm really looking forward to it.
00;19;05;18 - 00;19;21;16
Chris Fredericks
That's great. Yeah. What about any young people that have joined TVF in the last few years, or people that might join in the future? What do you think they should be excited about for when it comes to being part of an Empower Ventures company and employee owned company, TV app, etc.?
00;19;21;19 - 00;19;46;18
Samantha Marion
Yeah, I think well, to start, we have some amazing people, this company. So working with a company I think is unique in that you work with some really great people where the culture matters, where people care about how well the company is doing. And really, I credit all of that to being a US, being an Esop. I think in similar companies that doesn't exist or it's not kind of the same mentality.
00;19;46;20 - 00;20;07;10
Samantha Marion
So knowing that we all have a role, we all are owners. We all have a responsibility to kind of creates this accountability across the board. That's really important. And if you're new to DVF or you're just joining or you're super young, like take note of that because that's only going to be something that will help you moving forward.
00;20;07;13 - 00;20;13;13
Samantha Marion
And I mean, it's just hold on until you get your first statement, right?
00;20;13;15 - 00;20;37;00
Chris Fredericks
It is funny how the that first statement and even the second and the third even, like really kind of drive at home. But we use that when we talk to people that join, you know, through acquisition or new hires, like consistently. It is tough. Have you, have you thought since your time leading that one of the early employee ownership committees at that, have you thought about how we might be able to do that differently or better?
00;20;37;00 - 00;20;57;12
Chris Fredericks
Like, how should we think about communicating the value and the potential of being an employee owned company, even though that first statement is when that really becomes real and it's just a fact of the matter, that kind of that's when it feels the most real. Well, how do you think about us communicating better terms of the power of employee ownership?
00;20;57;14 - 00;20;59;14
Samantha Marion
That's a good question. Yeah.
00;20;59;15 - 00;21;01;26
Chris Fredericks
Putting on the spot. Haha.
00;21;01;28 - 00;21;21;29
Samantha Marion
Yeah. The first statement is sort of a mystery. You hear about it and depending on when you get hired, sometimes it takes a little time for it to kick in. Yeah. But that's like the real proof. But until you get that, I really that's that's a great question. But I think if you live by, like at TVF, we have some core values.
00;21;22;02 - 00;21;42;18
Samantha Marion
Right? And I think all of those are really important, like put relationships first, be accountable, care deeply, always improve. I think that's all of them. I my name is one. But if you really believe in those and you really take notice of those, I think then you start to realize what it means to be in an ownership culture.
00;21;42;20 - 00;22;07;18
Samantha Marion
So having you're accountable, you say you're going to do something and you do it. You're putting relationships with your coworkers. A lot of that means a lot. It's not as tangible as, you know, a total on a on a statement. But if you're living and breathing those core values and you're living and you're learning what it's like to be in an ownership culture, I think that means that probably means more really in the long run, even though having help with retirement is always great.
00;22;07;20 - 00;22;28;27
Samantha Marion
But that's really what the proof's in the pudding. It's at the saying, but the core values, I think, mean a lot. And I don't know how you explain that, but I think encouraging people to kind of really think about what it means to be an owner and thinking like that is huge. And I know that you guys do that.
00;22;28;27 - 00;22;31;17
Samantha Marion
But anyway.
00;22;31;19 - 00;22;59;16
Chris Fredericks
That's great. Thank you. Helpful advice. No, really, I think I the core values at TBF, I think back to when those were put in place, the five core values, but also I think the 15 kind of defining behaviors that the team, the entire team at TBF helped come up with that kind of define the five values. I think two of you have definitely been one of those companies where it actually has worked to define core values, refer to them.
00;22;59;18 - 00;23;20;00
Chris Fredericks
How can you share some examples? Not all companies are that successful at like using their core values. They can sometimes just end up on the wall and people don't really even think about them anymore. I don't think that's the case that TBF so what comes to mind in terms of why TVs been able to actually make those be meaningful and be part of the culture?
00;23;20;03 - 00;23;38;04
Samantha Marion
We talk about them a lot. I think that and sometimes it's almost as a joke. So when something somebody does something you say, like hashtag always improve, you know, you kind of give each other props when you notice it. But we do talk about it a lot, and we do try to call it out when someone is living up to those core values.
00;23;38;04 - 00;24;08;05
Samantha Marion
I think that's super important. There's something about like positive reinforcement that just makes it sticky. And we also have like a competition every year for the core value champions at TVF. Or you can nominate your coworkers to somebody who has really lived up to one of those core values, which I think is great too, because it's so great way to recognize those around you who have been, you know, living up those core values in a in a really spectacular way.
00;24;08;08 - 00;24;29;05
Samantha Marion
So I think the key really is just to talk about it a lot, and then really to encourage it and call it out when you see it. I know that's how I love it. I love when people say like, hey, Sam, way to, you know, be accountable. And and I really love to pointed out to other people, too, even if it's a small thing, like, hey, you put paper in the printer.
00;24;29;07 - 00;24;37;15
Samantha Marion
Nice. You know, you're you're caring about it. You're not leaving it for someone else to do. It's like little things mean a lot also, and it adds up.
00;24;37;20 - 00;25;01;18
Chris Fredericks
So it's actually really about that. That's such a great point. It doesn't have to be waiting for something huge to happen. And then calling out some, some big, huge when even the tiniest thing can be noticed and and appreciation shared. So, Sam, I have to say, you've always inspired me in terms of how much you care about people.
00;25;01;24 - 00;25;24;00
Chris Fredericks
So, you know, I think hopefully that showed through a little bit today. But definitely when I think about my journey at TVF, thinking about how you started as sales assistant, and here you are today and your passion for people and, with the product in the company, like I'm just why I say thank you. So grateful for what you've done for TV up so far.
00;25;24;00 - 00;25;28;14
Chris Fredericks
And definitely I believe it's just getting started. So thanks for coming on the podcast, Sam.
00;25;28;16 - 00;25;47;11
Samantha Marion
Thank you Chris. It was my pleasure.