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The fun & fascinating stories of Supply Chain & Logistics.
Bryndis 00:00
Hello. My name is Bryndis Whitson, and you're listening to the Zebras to Apples podcast, the fun and fascinating stories of supply chain logistics. One of the questions that I've asked most of my guests, but not quite all, is the question, What advice would you give to yourself or someone entering the industry or pivoting careers? And I wanted to highlight those questions for today's episode and just kind of go back into the archives of the first 21 episodes and give you highlights of just a few. The three people that I didn't ask this question to are Peter Wallace, Steve Armstrong and Brian Lewis. And I didn't officially give this question to George Reed, but at the tail end, I gave you a little sample of one of the great pieces of advice he has, just in general.
In episode three, we talked to Trish Slivinski about railways, and this is the piece of advice that Trish had to give.
Trish 01:13
If you were talking to someone who was starting out in this industry and stuff like that, what would you tell them to kind of look for, or any advice that you would give people?
Trish Slivinski 01:22
I think that there are just so many opportunities, options, and areas that they can look into. And there are lots of options to pick up different skills from different businesses. So I don't know, like, when I look at students nowadays and people starting out, I don't think that they're necessarily long term employees, like when I was going through and, you know, I was at the railway for 29 years, I don't think that that's the way that everyone else is going right now. So I think there's a big change, and the reason that there's a change is because there are so many options. And kids these days have a lot more… There's just so many options, and they don't know right? So they have a lot more questions about, you know, is this the right fit, or, what if I don't like it, all this stuff, but I say just try it, you know? And like, obviously, it's not hard to go from one job to another, because everyone's doing it, so why not just, you know, stick with that. You know, you grow. And if you could find something that's different every time you're growing and you're learning different things, and by the end of two or three tries, you got a whole pocket full of different things that you know right, and different sets of knowledge, and maybe it, maybe it's different transportation modes, maybe it's different actual products, you know, because there is a lot of different things. And like you said before, logistics isn't everything. Like, you don't really need to even look at a traditional transportation company anymore to find out that you need people who can specialize in logistics.
Bryndis 03:10
Yeah, well, and that's the thing I love about supply chain and logistics, is that everything you touch, everything that you are part of, is there… got there somehow, right? Yeah, what a great piece of advice that Trish gave, because everything really had to get there somewhere. In episode five, we spoke with Arenso Bakker from the Netherlands, and this was his piece of advice.
Arenso Bakker 03:41
Yeah, and that's what I like in supply chain. You know, there are also, there's always some topic which is related to it—price, it changes as well. So it's never boring.
Bryndis 03:51
No, exactly, there's always something new. So yeah, if you were kind of talking to someone that was kind of entering the field. Or thinking about entering the field, what kind of tips advice would you give that person?
Arenso Bakker 04:09
It's always good to start an operation to really understand what's happening but be aware that there's a lot of other topics related. You can you can step over easily. You can go from from operation to finance. You can go from operations to projects. You can go from projects to spatial aspects and locations. So of course, it depends on the person. Some people like to keep things as they are, but then still, you have to do with changes, because your work will change. And there might be a lot of new tools and software and automation here, but it's also nice, if you like to learn other topics as well, you can always make one small step outside your current job to learn new things, and that's what's interesting in logistics. It's always good to… what I personally like is to combine two or three things. So for instance, in my case, know about the supply chain, but also know about areas. Then you combine it, then you can really make a difference if you do that.
Bryndis 05:22
Yeah, and that's what I really love, is that you can take so many different aspects, or switch from different industries, but you take your knowledge with you, and it improves the other industries as well, too.
Arenso Bakker 05:36
It's good for yourself. It's also good for for supply chain in general, because if you step from one field into another field, you have leverage which you bring with you. And of course, that's… if everybody stays in their zone, little area, and nobody understands each other. But if you switch once in a while, people learn from each other. That's an important aspect.
Bryndis 06:00
I like the fact that Arenso's piece of advice and Trish's previous piece of advice were similar yet different too. In Episode Six, we talked to Siobhan Chinnery, and this is what Siobhan had to say.
Bryndis 06:19
Well, then there's all of those pieces that are just so fascinating. If you look at kind of back at your career and you were giving advice, which you do regularly, what would be one or two of the kind of key pieces you would suggest to people thinking about the industry?
Siobhan Chinnery 06:40
I think the advice I give to people the most is when you're in supply chain, you're in a service role, and some people don't like to think of it that way, but I always thought of myself as a trusted advisor, and I needed to gain the trust of my partners, and in my opinion, say the inventory, for example, is not my inventory, It's the operations inventory, and yes, I'm part of the operations team, but if it's parts for maintenance, then it's the maintenance departments cost, right? It hits their budget. And so I think it's important that we keep that in mind. It's not my inventory. I'm not going to tell the maintenance guy how many spare parts he can have. You have to find out how many he believes he needs. And you know, maybe he does think he needs more than he needs, or she needs more than she needs. And you have intelligent conversations and persuade them why they don't need too many. And you work with your partner very carefully to make sure you have the right levels of inventory. And I think using a tool like defining critical spares can help your customer overcome the need to have way too much inventory, right. So if you can call out inventory and call it and make those critical spares and manage them differently and strategically, then you give your internal customer a sense of calm and assurance that they have the part they need without stacking their shelves with non turning parts.
So, I mean, that's just an inventory example, but I think it's so important to listen to our partners and gain their trust and communicate effectively with them, andso that's, I think one of the hallmarks of my career, is I've always worked really, really well with operations teams and they trusted me. Where other people come in maybe, and try and enforce rules. You can't do this, you can't do that. You shouldn't just… kind of poo poo on the operations team. Well, that's the best way to have them go underground and avoid you. And they will, they will figure out ways to get inventory, buy things, move things. I've joined organizations where disgruntled operations to partner departments were using their own trucking firms and moving stuff without the right insurance, without the, you know, really huge risks. But they were so fed up with this department that was telling them what they could and couldn't do, so they go underground. So that would be my lesson, is that if you don't work with people and work well with people, they will figure out ways to go around you.
Bryndis 09:26
Exactly. And what a good way to like really ensure trust too.
Siobhan Chinnery 09:33
Yeah, yeah. Because trust is the foundation, right? You have to have trust. And the way to build trust is doing what you say you're going to do, and having credibility. And then it's so, so important.
Bryndis 09:45
Service and trust are so key in supply chain, and it's a really good add… something to think about. In episode seven, we talked to Alison Mercer from the military museums. Here's what Allison had to say.
Anything else you can think of, if you're like, talking to someone who's getting into this career, what would you suggest? Anything you would suggest to them, anything…
Alison Mercer 10:17
Yeah. A lot of people, I think they come out of their cultural resource management degrees or, like, museum studies degrees or certifications, and they think immediately they're going to go be a curator. And usually that's not the case at all. Usually you're going to be lucky if you get hired as a front desk person. Nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong. I started here as an intern in 2007 and learned a lot then just basic, basic practice stuff I use daily still, but the main thing is getting a foot in the door. And so I used to think that museum people are lazy, and we just hire people that we know and trust. And I mean, we still do that, but I think now we do it because it makes everybody's lives easier. Like, I know you, I know what you're capable of, and it's good stuff. I would like you as part of our team here. It saves me going out and interviewing a bunch of people that I'm not sure will be a good fit kind of thing. So, yeah, if you're looking to get into the field, absolutely even start off volunteering. Everybody says, just volunteer for what you want to do. I know, I know, but it's true. It exists for a reason. Volunteer, get your foot in the door, and then when there's openings that come up, you know, it helps if you're just kind of there already, and people know what you can do. So that, is definitely something I've found over my pretty much, like decade and a half, give or take, has been that you deeply need to be like a jack of all trades. So it's not just I can make exhibits. Okay, great. You can make exhibits. Can you also do basic label design in like, Adobe Illustrator or InDesign, can you put together, like, a donation guideline brochure for the front that's going to be really, really cool. It's already obviously a huge draw because it shows up in all of our reviews, just talking with the volunteers out there. And, like, honestly, any growth is so good for museums because it's a good excuse to get into the press and to get people in the door, because they're like, Hey, I saw that in the Herald or I saw that on breakfast TV. So yeah, just constantly changing, constantly refreshing again, especially in a place like this, is great for keeping people coming back. So, yeah, challenges, but not I mean… we made it this far fairly well, so…
Bryndis 12:27
…which is really exciting. And I think there's lots of things to really look forward to, too.
Alison Mercer 12:32
There is, yeah, definitely, yeah. And I know with like the new position, it's more, not officially an umbrella position for everyone, but it's more just like you become, like the chief herder of cats, in a way. So a lot of what you do then unofficially informs what other people might be thinking about or how they approach their museums. So yeah, I'm really hoping to sort of just affect some sort of high end change on that higher level. So fingers crossed.
Bryndis 12:59
Yeah, yeah, it's really exciting.
Alison Mercer 13:02
Yeah, thanks. I'm pumped,
Bryndis 13:06
While specific to the creative curator industry, still very applicable to other pieces of advice. In episode eight, we talked to Greg Principato, airline industry and airplane expert, also in air sports. This is what Greg had to say.
Bryndis 13:24
If you're talking to someone kind of starting in their career, what advice would you give them?
Greg Principato 13:30
Follow your passion. And oddly enough, whatever you're passionate about today may not be what you're passionate about in the future, and sometimes a passion will find you like it did me. You know, if you're 23 years old, don't worry about what you're going to be doing when you're 68. Worry about what you want to do next. Try to put, you know, learn as much as you can. Try to get yourself in that position, especially for young people, millennials and Gen Z, I would tell them, but I told my own kids—people my age are going to be skeptical about whether you want to work hard, whether you want to listen, whether you can write. If you prove them wrong and you can work hard, listen and write, you can do all kinds of great things. So do those things. And you know, your job that you get when you're 23 is not going to determine where you're going to be at the end of your working career.
Bryndis 14:28
Very much. So there's a lot that can happen in between.
Greg Principato 14:31
Yeah, yeah. So and if you're in aviation, if you want to get an aviation I hate to say it like this, but with all the you know, junk that's being said here in the US in the last two weeks by people in high positions, about DEI and all that. And if you are, you know, if you're not a white male, but if you're a woman, if you're black, if you're gay or whatever, try not to get discouraged, because at the end of the day, you're not going to get hired because of those characteristics. You have to earn it. So just, just keep moving forward. Earn it show everybody… I think, hopefully it will add to their determination, not detract from it.
Bryndis 15:14
Exactly, no, I completely agree. And the more that you can keep on just trying, the better. Following your passion is so good of an idea that everyone should really, truly try to follow as much as possible. Here's someone who truly has followed his passion in economic development. Dave Kalinchuk, episode nine.
Bryndis 15:38
Just as a another kind of question when you were looking at your career, and you were giving advice to someone who was new into the industry, or looking at joining the industry. What advice would you give someone?
Dave Kalinchuk 15:53
Whoa, that's a good question. Well, I did write a book a while back. Yeah, the book is called Rich for the Right Reasons. That was the second title that I came up with. The first was Economic Development of the Individual. So if I were to go back in time and meet the 25-year-old version of me, that's what I would give me and say, here, here's a book about your economic development as an individual, your prosperity as an individual. Yeah. But for a career, economic developers come from a lot of different backgrounds. You've got people that are former bankers, you know, former community development people. You've got a vast, diverse collection of people who are economic developers, elected, you know, retired elected officials who have gotten into economic development. I would… you know, the opportunity to do the important work for communities, I think exists—creating shovel-ready industrial sites, I think is a big part of that, if industrial indeed is part of a community's interest. But also, you know, supporting existing business communities and business retention expansion. But it always has to be growing. There has to be some level of new construction, new development, that then moves that non residential ratio up.
So I think for young economic development professionals to understand that out of the gate, and they work with their elected officials to make that happen, I think would be the advice that I would give. And then continuing education, I'm fortunate to have done my formal education and economic development through University of Waterloo. Also Simon Fraser University in British Columbia has a Community Economic Development Program which is a little more grassroots, a little more community focused. And the University of Oklahoma has an amazing program for economic development professionals. So for anyone in the sector to do that training, to do that program, I think is is important, because not only does it connect you with economic development professionals from across North America, but it gives you a really strong foundation, a strong academic capacity to do what we do, has been sort of what I've done, and I've been, you know, it's combination, it's luck and good fortune that I've ended up in Calgary region and spent, you know, 20 amazing years, working on projects with some of the best developers and industrial brokers anywhere. So young economic developers networking to work with those people within their communities, I think would be a huge, huge advantage as well. Oh, it would be. Good question, though.
Bryndis 18:44
Yeah. Advice to your 25 year old self is always something to think about. In episode 11, we talked with Rajbir Bhatti from Mount Royal University. Here's what Raj contributed as an idea.
Bryndis 18:59
You know, if you were to look at your career and all of the various kind of areas that you've been involved in, if you were giving advice to someone who was entering the industry, which you probably do every day, considering you're a professor, what advice would you give?
Rajbir Bhatti 19:26
You're right. I give advice every day. I don't know how many of them listen or hear. Hearing and listening are two different things, but definitely, you know, I would say, don't hesitate to make mistakes. Each mistake that we make, it doesn't define us, for sure, but it takes us one step closer to success. Each failure takes you closer to success. If you see success, that is because the person who is successful today that you are emulating, or you know, has gone through a series of failures… has gone through multiple setbacks. And this is one part that I think the younger generation needs to know—it's okay to be not okay. It's okay to fail. It's okay to not make it the first time, second time or the third time. Keep going.
Bryndis 20:20
Good is better than perfect. Sometimes
Rajbir Bhatti 22:22
Absolutely, you know, I think it was Aristotle or somebody… I forget who the person was who said that perfect is the enemy of good. So try to be perfect. Keep doing things, one step at a time. Keep moving. Don't judge yourselves. And failure is okay, because this generation, I realize sometimes they think failure is the end of it all, and I'm no good, right? There's nobody on the planet who has not failed and failed multiple times. So this is one, and this ties into my philosophy, business of resilience. You have to believe in yourself and keep going. So I think you know… And the other part there is a YouTube video I encourage all your listeners to go look for it, called Connecting the Dots by Steve Jobs, you know, whatever little skill you find you can gain in life. Keep gaining those skills, they will add up one day, just like little dots in Steve Jobs’ life that he mentions in that video. I don't want to take away the the fun part from your listeners by explaining what he says…
Bryndis 21:41
But it's so true, all of those dots lead to moments like even what we're having right now.
Rajbir Bhatti 21:48
Absolutely, you know, there is no linear journey to success. There is no right or wrong definition of success. The journey itself is a success. So grab those opportunities as they come. Whenever they come, raise your hand. Show up, stand and reach out to say, Can I do this? Why not me? You know and learn and help people be passionate about what you're trying to do. And don't do it because you have to do something for a living, kind of a thing. And all those things will eventually transform into something very, very powerful and meaningful, not only for you, but for everybody around you. So I think that's one thing I would leave with youngsters today to say— don't hesitate to fail. Failure takes you one step closer and be kind to yourselves. Truly.
Bryndis 22:51
Don't let perfection be the enemy of the good. In episode 12, we talked with Mike Borthwick about being a roadie and working in the warehouse industry. Here was my piece of advice.
Bryndis 23:06
So if you were giving someone advice, if they were thinking of entering kind of… whether becoming roadie, working in a warehouse, anything in those kind of areas, what would you give as a piece of advice?
Mike Borthwick 23:23
Yeah, that's a good question. Stretch, take care of your back. Lift with your legs. Taking care of your own physicality is incredibly important, because you're going to be working your body really hard for a long time. It sounds easy to drive around on a power jack, but it takes coordination, timing and attention to do it safely. And so everything that you do kind of really needs to be oriented around safety. You know, carrying heavy amps up the back stairs of Wild Bills and Banff for your favorite band. Yeah, there's a cool sort of experience you're having, but in that particular moment, you need to put away what's cool about it and be the professional that you're getting paid to be, to load that gear in. And if you're not into working out, start working out, because it's going to make your days go a lot easier. I had been working out for several years before that, and I was already, you know, I stopped going to the gym once I started working 60 hours, loading in, and loading out and carrying heavy boxes and doing all that stuff, because now I was getting paid to work out. But you still have to approach it like a workout. And so when you lift, you need to be aware of your form. You need to be aware of what your hands and arms and neck and legs and back and knees and hips, all of those things. It needs to be aware of what you're doing. And so when you first get started, go slow, if people are pushing you to go faster, you know you need to make sure you have the focus on what your body is doing and doing it in a correct way. Going to a gym and working out you can get, you can get some special instructions, sometimes from a trainer who can teach you those things if you don't already know them. That was an important thing for me to bring into that job that you can get right now, even before you go into that, so my son right now is learning how to lift, and so we've got him watching YouTube videos so that he can do it properly without hurting himself, and get his body motions in line, because it is such a physically demanding job.
Bryndis 25:38
Very much, though, yeah. What a great piece of advice. Safety first, yeah, safety is definitely one of those things we need to really think about in any industry. In episode 13, we talked to Halldor Thorgeirsson about the logistics of fish. Here was Haldor’s piece of advice.
Bryndis 26:04
If you were to give someone advice that was either entering the industry, thinking of starting their own business, etc, what piece of advice would you give?
Halldor Thorgeirsson 26:16
I would probably say that, you know, it really doesn't matter what you want to sell, if it's a service or if it's a product, make sure that you test it out in some way, before you start. Make sure that people are willing to pay for it, but you need to, you know what you need to be able to survive, right? It's because, in reality, I would say an idea is never better than actually what some other people are willing to pay for it. That is just the truth of it. You know, doesn't matter how much we love fish, and we have tried to sell all kinds of fish, but some fish that, even though it's very good tasting, doesn't sell in Canada, and that really has only to do with that people are not willing to pay for it. That is just how it is so, and that can be for the whole business itself. I would say that would be my single best advice, make sure that people are willing to pay for it, what you need.
Bryndis 27:31
Definitely something to think about. In episode 15, we talked to Ron Waters about what it's like to work in the grocery industry. Here's what Ron had to say.
Bryndis 27:42
If you were learning or talking to someone who's starting out in the industry, what advice would you give them?
Ron Waters 27:51
There's a lot to learn, so pay attention to how you're learning. Watch those who are around, because some of the senior people are just that, just to learn, to just to teach. And there's a lot of flexibility built into the system. If you're finding that maybe you're in one area of your store that is uncomfortable for you, well, nowadays, more so than before, you can transfer to other areas and then find something that's of comfort, something that you would like to do. There are some departments that are very creative, like not me, but if I'm looking at some of the cake decorators, my what do they produce on those cakes? Oh, yeah, an artistic flair you have to have for that, right? And even with some of our people in the meat department, they really have to know their stuff as far as different cuts of meat, what's going to work out well, what's not and don't hesitate to approach staff, because they'll be happy to give advice or give you suggestions, or tell you where it is that that ginger, what does that ginger that's already candied… that's in aisle six, by the way. But you know, you ask staff, they know where things are, and if they don't know where things are, they'll find somebody to help you find that product?
Bryndis 29:43
Yeah, it's amazing, actually, the amount of times when I do ask finally, you know, like, so frustrated, can't find it, then they're like, Oh no, it's right here. Well, and, you know, I was just thinking too of like, as grocery stores have evolved too, and now there's more of a deli section, now there’s more take and goes and stuff like that.
Bryndis 29:24
In Episode 16, we talked with Norman Poon about what HR is looking for in the industry. Here's Norman's comments.
Norman Poon 29:34
I think one career mistake that… I'm not sure career mistake I had, but I think one thing that I would tell people, especially when you're early on, assuming financially, person is capable of, that is worthwhile to wait a little bit longer or hold a little longer for the right first job, because the right first job really sets them up a lot earlier, a lot quicker than than kind of taking some other job and hope that you make it into that area. I think there are other strategies to set themselves up for that success. And I think that's for most jobs as well. It's not just HR, but if you want to work in supply chain, or this specific job in supply chain, it's better to take what that natural progression is, rather than taking a detour and hoping you can swing back in. Now, some companies demand that you do that, or they make everyone go through a certain training, and that's the company culture thing, but for a lot of companies, they don't force people to kind of learn the basics of how that company work. There’s a disadvantage to that. I'm not against it as an idea, but for a lot of people, I think it is better just to wait that little bit longer and see if they can land that right first step, then hoping that they go up a certain path and work their way back in, because that sometimes is a lot harder of a move than to say, you know, I'm just going to hold it a little bit longer.
Bryndis 31:13
Yeah, very true. Yeah,but what I have also noticed similar to your experience with, you know, working in the bank, and then you're recruiting for downtown or not down, you know, you're recruiting for... You know, I look at this one time when I was just at a university, and it was before my first real job, and, you know, it was this, I spent the summer and part of the fall sitting in intersections, counting cars. And I thought, why did I go through six universe, six years of university to sit in my car and count cars. But in hindsight, it's this interesting process of like, it took a few years to finally see it, but once I started working in supply chain, it all clicked in, because it brought in… I understood the city in different ways. So I could have a different conversation about traffic flows, and I could have a different conversation about impacts of, you know, having a distribution center in the middle of a lighter commercial industrial area, and what those impacts would be. And because I sat at intersections and counted cars for that one… you know, for those five months outside of university too, it's those moments where you're like, Okay, now I see it.
Norman Poon 32:51
And that's very much it. I think that is, I think sometimes that. That's a great example. And I think again, I talk about my first real job, working in small town Alberta, that helped me understand the recruitment process when I was going through disparate… That, to me, allowed me to kind of say, Okay, this is how the game is played. This is what we need to do, versus people who are coming straight from Calgary had no idea how to work it. So I think that, in itself, helped me out a lot.
Bryndis 33:37
I love how I also snuck in a little piece of my own advice there, too. In episode 18, we talked to Leor Rotchild about the sustainability industry.
Bryndis 33:48
So when you look back at your career, is you know, which is still evolving, of course, do you have any advice for someone who you know might want to start out in this industry or career pivot and from where they are now to joining into this industry. Any advice that you'd give someone?
Leor Rotchild 34:07
I have basically been in sustainability of some kind throughout my career, and I've enjoyed, you know, a long career that's still progressing, as you say, and so I think that it's like… I'm really excited to welcome other people to get into this space and encourage them to think about the idea that, like you might be interested in, say, like climate change, and want to help an organization, you know, calculate their greenhouse gas emissions, but then you might wind up doing something crazy, like I did, and starting a sustainable events business, or, you know, working with an organization on energy transition issues, or developing some circular economy models for for an industry or company. It's quite a broad area, and then, of course, there's a huge investment side of it, like there's people who do nothing but evaluate the sustainability performance of companies to make investment decisions. There is this kind of company that's disruptive and having a positive impact and profitable. So there's a really interesting career path that one could carve for themselves in this space. So don't be afraid to jump into something without, you know, and develop a special, a specialty, that says, yeah, here's what I'm able to offer to people, whether it's… I can crunch greenhouse gas emissions data, you know, or I understand the complexity of the climate disclosure, or disclosure in general, because there's so many changing rules as it relates to companies sustainability disclosure.
If you're somebody that wants to follow that closely and understand where it's going and what's what the current rules are. There's a real need for that, and having something that is kind of like something that people need, or companies need to be able to provide that as kind of like your entry point, you know, then you can build all kinds of specialties, and then go from being highly specialized to being highly generalized, like I am, you know, definitely, more of a generalist in the sense, yeah, because there's strategy, there's impact work, There's, you know, I would say that a lot of my world these days is working on events and but then, obviously I talked about that example that I worked on with Aviva Insurance that is very much a supplier engagement program. So there's so many different paths. All of it, I think, can serve a really broad purpose of ensuring that we're positioning our economy to be one that nurtures businesses to be a force for good in the world.
Bryndis 37:32
I love how he called himself a sustainability generalist. In Episode 19, we talked to Tim Creedon. Here's what Tim had to say.
Bryndis 37:43
So if you look back to your career and stuff like that, if you're talking to someone who's just kind of starting out in, just out of university, or just beginning their career, or transitioning careers. You know, any pieces of advice that you would give to someone?
Tim Creedon 37:57
My number one piece of advice is, find out what your values are, and don't do things that are against your values. And if you can have that conversation with yourself, which is a very, very tough conversation, you won't make many mistakes, because you won't go and do things where you're uncomfortable. Now, comfort is a different is a bigger subject, because sometimes you need to go and do things that make you feel uncomfortable in order to develop a skill. But if the people around you are not aligned in the terms of the values that you have, then it will be it will work for a short period of time, but after a certain point, you will actually begin to see behaviors that disturb you. And if you don't get out quick, then it'll be a problem. So trial and error at the beginning of your career is the best way to go. But remember, if you set yourself up to do things which you are emotionally comfortable with, you will be okay. So I'm sorry my answer is really woolly on this.
Bryndis 39:14
I love it, and actually it leads me into another conversation, and question is, if you were kind of telling someone to figure out what their values are, do you have any suggestions on how they would choose to do that?
Tim Creedon 39:28
One of the simple ways to do it is the negative way. What aren't you? Okay, so the subject is actually much bigger than just the values, because there's also a whole load of relationship stuff in there as well. So what type of person are you? Are you anxious? Are you serene? Do you worry about things? Do you not care about things? Are you in the middle somewhere? It's understanding things about yourself? None of us are given all the skills that we need, but we are given things... we inherit things through our parents and through our family situations. We inherit certain reactions that are inbuilt into us. And so there are some situations which I can handle which you can't handle, vice versa, right? And so because of that, it's important that you do some work along the line to figure out who you really are.
So I could look at somebody who's a really good chef, and I could say that guy just does it. Because he just does it. There's no… for him, it's just evolutionary. He's watched his mom. He's done this. He's done that. I watched a chef the other day de-bone three chickens without breaking the skin, other than just put an incision down the spine, and then he took all the meat off and laid it out like a piece of paper. And he did that three times, yeah? And he was just like, yeah, yeah, you're chatting away, yeah, taking the stuff off. And you ask him, How do you know you can do that? And he's like, Well, I've just been cooking since I was 14 years old. And he just, he's got that ability. Now, another person will need to go to culinary school to be shown how to do that, and will actually find that really, really difficult to do. And once they've actually acquired the skill and potentially demonstrated it to their instructor, will never do it again. But the other guy was just, this is just a matter of routine completely. So everybody has different learning skills. Everybody has different emotional approaches. Everybody has different relationship approaches. And my only advice to somebody starting out is you need to be secure in knowing who you are, and then you can work on from there. Because if you know who you are, then you are less likely to make mistakes, because you will go and do things that you enjoy. And I do really subscribe to the view that if you work at what you enjoy, you don't really work, you just get on with it. It's just part and parcel of you. But if you do stuff you clearly don't enjoy, just because say it's paying you X $100,000 a year, then who are you being good to because not being good to yourself?
Bryndis 42:41
Yeah, that's a really great piece of advice. I really like that. I love how one little piece of advice led into another piece of advice. Then in Episode 20, we talked with Barry Davidson, here's what Barry had to say.
Bryndis 42:55
…yeah, it would add that extra piece too. So, yeah. So if you were looking at your career and you were giving advice to someone, kind of going into the industry, or into one of the many industries or areas and stuff like that, too, is there any kind of piece of advice that you would give to someone?
Barry Davidson 43:22
I guess there'd be a couple. One is to make sure that you commit to yourself to constantly learn. Just be a lifelong learner, listen more than you talk. I know that gets tired, but that's very true. And don't be afraid to try things and when you pick a path, if you decide to be a career security professional, and thankfully nowadays, that can be a security path it didn't used to be, or whether you're going into law enforcement or fire or any kind of first responder, frontline response, recognize that learning, even if you don't do what the other services do, but learning and understanding what the service beside you is doing will go a long ways to you being effective and being valuable.
Bryndis 44:06
In episode 21, we talked with Bridgette Rathwell. Here was Bridgette's simple yet very important piece of advice.
Bryndis 44:16
Yeah. And so if you were starting or giving advice to someone that was starting in either in catering, in owning a business, in running a bakery, any of those kind of things, what advice would you give?
Bridgette Rathwell 44:30
Be confident. Be confident in your skill. Don't let the fear creep in, and just go do it. You can do it. Definitely do it.
Bryndis 44:44
Each one of my guests has had so many important things to contribute, and I have been so grateful to each one of them. I'm going to close out with a little piece of advice from George Read in episode one. Thank you so much for listening, and have a wonderful day.
George Read 45:05
Yeah, it's all well. I mean, when I started learning to negotiate, I used to go down to the Customer Service office. And you know, anybody who's starting in supply chain, I recommend you talk to your customer service people, because they are really your counterparts. They're the people that you know you're going to call, customer service people and ask them to do stuff. So, you know, I went down to the customer service people and and fellow there, he gave me a magic phrase, which is he says, Well, just ask them, What do I need to do today to make this happen? And that’s a really magical phrase, because one, you're not defining what you want them to do, and you're not asking them to do anything, you're asking them to tell you what you need to do, right? And you know, so I mean, I've had lots of luck with this phrase over the years, and I think that anybody who's trying to get something out of a vendor would be wise to say to them, you know, what do I need to do today to make this happen? Or what do I need to do?
And one of the first times I used the phrase, and this is why it sticks with me, as I was dealing with a fellow who was doing cutouts indoors for us, and with specialty cutouts, and that is just a small shop, right? And, we needed a product, and if the product didn't come, we were going to miss, we were going to either pay to merge on a boat, or we're going to fly the product to Japan. And both of those were going to be like, you know, probably 10,000 bucks, maybe more. And so, so I call this guy up, and I'm like, Okay, well, what do I need to do to get these by tomorrow, right? You know, like, we always want it now, now, now or tomorrow, right away. And the guy's like, well, you know, you're not going to want to do it. Nobody ever wants to do it. I'm like, Well, you know, hit me, what do I need to do? And I'm thinking, Oh my God. Like, what's this guy want? Like, my first child, $10,000, like, what's he gonna need? Says, well, you're gonna have to pay a rush fee. It's 25 bucks. And I'm like, You need me to drive that over in cash right now. Obviously, you can tell I wasn’t a very good negotiator in those days. But he's like, Oh, no, no. You could just add a line to the PO and resend it. I'm like, Okay. I'm like, it's two doors. Is that 50 bucks or 25 again… not a very good negotiator. And he's like, no, no, 25 is sufficient. And so I put it on the PO, and I put us to the front of the line, and we got our stuff the next day, right? So, 25 bucks for $10,000, like, that's the kind of business I like to do every day, right?
Bryndis 47:47
Thank you for listening to this Zebras to Apples podcast episode. I hope you enjoyed the showcase of the fun and fascinating stories of supply chain logistics. If you liked this episode, I would love it if you could give it a rating and review. For more information about this topic, you can go to Zebras to Apples.com or follow Zebras to Apples on the social media platform of your choosing, whether that's Instagram, Facebook, Twitter/X Blue Sky or LinkedIn. You can support the show on Patreon. Also check out the show notes below. Please join me again for another episode of Zebras to Apples. Have a wonderful day.