Ian Kovach [00:00:00]:
We all have a voice as employee owners. We're able to sit like per se, a roundtable, and all speak freely without being judged. That's just like a huge step in becoming an employee owner is to have everyone have their own voice and opinion and be recognized for that voice or opinion.
Chris Fredericks [00:00:17]:
Welcome to Empowered Owners, the podcast that takes you inside Empowered Ventures. I'm your host, Chris Fredericks. In each episode, I'll 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. This is an opportunity for me to learn more about our amazing employee owners and an opportunity for you to hear regularly from me and others from within Empowered Ventures. Welcome to another episode of Empowered Owners, the community building podcast about and for the employee owners of Empowered Ventures. My name is Chris Fredericks and I'm excited for today's episode. We have on employee owners from 4 EV operating companies to discuss their experience at this year's Employee Ownership Summit. This is the second year we've done a group episode and it was so, so much fun.
Chris Fredericks [00:01:17]:
This year's summit was honestly amazing. 35 people from all different departments gathered and laughed, encouraged and supported each other, worked on their employee ownership stories, and even shed a few tears. In short, we all got to really live employee ownership together and it felt amazing. Without further ado, here's my conversation with Erica Roudebush from TVF, Ian Kovach from Firstar Precision, Tim Barnett from Benoure Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning, and Tom Bawkey from Paramount Plastics. Welcome to another episode of Empowered Owners. I'm excited today to have lots of guests. I think this is officially the biggest podcast we've had or the second time we've had this many people on. So welcome Ian, Tim, Erica and Tom.
Chris Fredericks [00:02:04]:
Maybe a quick intro, like I'm going to just say hey, give everyone just a 10, 15 seconds about yourself, where you're at, what company you're with. Let's start with Ian.
Ian Kovach [00:02:13]:
Hey everybody, I'm Ian Kovach. I'm with Firstar and we're located here, right in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio. I'm a machinist and I've been here three years. I love my job.
Chris Fredericks [00:02:25]:
That's awesome.
Chris Fredericks [00:02:26]:
Tim, how about you?
Tim Barnett [00:02:28]:
With Benoure Plumbing and Heating. My name is Tim Barnett. I'm a service technician out there fixing any plumbing needs or anything heating-related.
Chris Fredericks [00:02:36]:
Erica?
Erica Roudebush [00:02:38]:
I'm Erica Roudebush. I've been at TVF for 20 years. Now, in sales primarily all of that time.
Chris Fredericks [00:02:47]:
Tom?
Tom Bawkey [00:02:46]:
Tom Bawkey. I'm a CNC Operator here at Paramount the Shops in Elkhart. I'm proud to be a Michigander, but it's right across the border, so.
Chris Fredericks [00:02:56]:
That's great. Okay, so we are all together because just recently, a couple weeks ago, the five of us and roughly 30 other people gathered in beautiful Elkhart, Indiana, for the Empowered Ventures Employee Ownership Summit. And it was, I think, our fourth summit, our fourth year in a row of doing this. How about one of you to kind of jump in and tell everybody, like, what is this whole Employee Ownership Summit? What did we do at it in general? Erica, how about you?
Erica Roudebush [00:03:22]:
Well, that's fair, because this is actually my fourth summit that I just attended, so. Very cool. And the best one yet, of course. So Empowered Ventures brings together each company's employee ownership committee. So we focus on our personal committee's plans for the year, but also sharing ideas across companies. This year, there was a big theme around storytelling becoming better storytellers of our own company's personal stories. But as well as the Empowered Ventures story.
Ian Kovach [00:03:56]:
We also all got together and we talked about education, communication, and celebration and just working all of that into our culture.
Chris Fredericks [00:04:04]:
Fantastic. Tim?
Tim Barnett [00:04:06]:
So, I mean, for me, obviously, Benoure Plumbing and Heating, we joined the employee ownership less than a year ago. And for me, I thought it was really great to attend a lot of team building and just a lot more information. You know, as a new company joining this employee ownership, there's a lot of questions in the air and a lot of rumors out there and to kind of hear the stories from all these other companies that have been a part of it for a lot longer. It was really good to see a lot of very helpful information and, you know, really glad that I did decide to join the committee and be a part of it to try and help our company grow as well as the entire ESOP family grow for the benefit of everybody.
Chris Fredericks [00:04:54]:
Tom, this was your first time attending, correct?
Tom Bawkey [00:04:57]:
Yes, sir.
Chris Fredericks [00:04:58]:
What were your impressions of this gathering?
Tom Bawkey [00:05:01]:
I definitely liked the knowledge in the way of more about EV and seeing, you know, you guys up close and personal for a couple days and meeting the guys here on the screen at least, and everybody else, but especially we all got to connect and talk to each other. And then it. For me, it was very valuable to see other people. And like Erica, you know, she said this was her fourth year. I came into this not really knowing what it was. Just I'm a part of this ESOP thing. And I know what we're trying to do here at Paramount with the ESOP thing and our understanding and. But it's nice and refreshing to see old heads and glean a little bit of not just what we could do here, but what the general role is, you know, in EV and then, you know, are each individual companies and as individual people, what can we do? And then seeing basically that U shape all everybody sitting around that table, that was awesome for me to see everybody engaged, involved, and people that you could tell were maybe a little hesitant or shy or, you know, myself sometimes my words, you know, my head don't exactly match up with what I'm saying at the time.
Tom Bawkey [00:06:13]:
But to. To have it in that kind of a environment, really I just, you know, thought, hey, everybody's in this boat and it's not just me. And I don't know, it was a good thing.
Chris Fredericks [00:06:22]:
That's awesome. So I think that was a good just initial overview of what the event was. I'd be really curious, just to start off like, for you personally, what was your. The highlight that most comes to mind from the couple days that we all spent together.
Ian Kovach [00:06:37]:
I really enjoyed putting names to faces, getting to meet everybody. Everybody was just so happy where they're at. And it was just nice hearing everybody's story about how they got Firstar, Paramount or EV in general. And I was just great meeting everybody and getting inspiration through them. I really liked when we all got together and we presented our plans and ideas for 2025. I thought it was great to hear other people's insights and maybe steal some from this company and steal some from that company. I thought that was cool.
Erica Roudebush [00:07:11]:
I really like that as well. And being here all four years of the summit, just seeing like the evolution of everyone's committee, how everybody works together, everybody this year just seemed like as each team really in tune with each other and their companies. So that was really inspiring to me. But also I did really enjoy the team building activity where we built the bikes for the kids from the Boys & Girls Club, because so much of what I love about Empowered Ventures is like the human aspect of everyone and then giving back to our communities too.
Tim Barnett [00:07:46]:
I definitely agree with Erica on that. I mean, the team building the first night and getting to build the bikes for those kids in that community, that was awesome. As far as being new to the employee ownership and being one of the newer companies in the employee ownership, it was cool to see, looking back, you know, at some of the previous podcasts, seeing what the summit went from last year and how many people were in that to this year, you know, to be able to be a part of it and get that team building and then some of the learning with the storytelling and, and really a lot of the, the other experiences from people in other companies as far as the big game changers with them being an employee owned, you know, it was just really insightful and gives me high hopes for all of our companies to thrive in the future.
Chris Fredericks [00:08:40]:
Anything you want to add, Tom?
Tom Bawkey [00:08:41]:
I'll be honest with you, I'm going to steal part of Tim's story because the first night I was riddled with anxiety, you know, not understanding or expecting, you know, anything really, just coming at it blind like, hey, I'm here, whatever, you know, and I said something about, you know, having anxiety, I think it was to Emily. And Tim said, oh yeah, I got it too. And then instantly my anxiety was gone and I wanted to take his anxiety away. You know, that was, it was like an instantaneous papa bear, you know, I got kids and instantly I was like, oh man, I'm not anxious anymore. You got me, dude. Like we got this. And then getting to know, like I said, everybody in that horseshoe a little bit better, you know, with how much we got to know each other, but just to engage and then really like, like Erica said, you know, brings the human out in us and it, you know, kind of realigns the difference maybe with the whole mission, you know, and we're kind of all in this together. And here's like Ian said, here's a face with somebody that is essentially trying to look at things through their, their perspective, but the same way I am.
Tom Bawkey [00:09:47]:
And so, yeah, it was, that was my favorite part though was Tim taking my anxiety away instantly by saying he had it too.
Tim Barnett [00:09:54]:
Yeah, I mean when I get in front of a group of people, I kind of clam up and keep to myself where if it's like a one on one or just a couple people, it's nothing. So definitely very nervous the first day of the summit. But as I started to, you know, having the conversation with Tom started to open up a little bit more and started to get comfortable with the whole thing, so.
Ian Kovach [00:10:17]:
I like to say that we got a great group of people. We really do.
Tim Barnett [00:10:20]:
Agreed.
Chris Fredericks [00:10:21]:
Yeah, that was amazing. Well, first off, I didn't notice any one being overly anxious or nervous. So I mean, I understand it though, but maybe it is Ian, what Ian said that just there's so many good people there that maybe it helps everyone calm down and settle in a little bit. But you all mentioned Some of my favorite things too, for sure. The presentations at the end were just blew me away. All four of them were awesome and unique in their own ways and just so cool. So maybe we'll touch on that some, a little bit here later. But the Boys & Girls Club bike thing that we did, and people may not really know exactly what that was.
Chris Fredericks [00:10:57]:
So just, just briefly, we all kind of went through some games. We got put into teams and did some games and we didn't know what we were doing. We were ended up that we were building bikes and didn't know till the end. And then the thing that I didn't even know or and was a surprise was we all kind of lined up and we, we were told then that we just put together these bikes for the Boys & Girls Club and they were like, wow, that's cool, you know, neat. And then, then they brought the kids in and it was like, oh my gosh, these are the actual kids that we just built these bikes for. It was pretty touching. How did you guys feel at that point? Like, once we realized the kids were actually going to take those bikes and then, then they, some of them started learning how to ride bikes, right? And some of you helped them learn how to ride bikes.
Erica Roudebush [00:11:40]:
Yeah, it felt great. It was a really cool activity, I guess.
Ian Kovach [00:11:44]:
Well, as soon as we found out that the we're giving these bikes to kids, as soon as I found that out, I'm like getting on that bike and making sure everything's tight. Just double checking all the work because it's like it's a little kid going on there. You don't want to fall apart on the. If it was for like the president of my company, it's fine.
Chris Fredericks [00:12:03]:
Anything else on, on that front that anyone would want to add?
Tim Barnett [00:12:06]:
I just loved it because it's, you know, anytime any of us as an individual or a company can do something for the community, you know, it makes me happy. And especially like, you know, my wife works in like preschools with kids. So, you know, anytime we can do something for kids is just impressive to me. And, and I really appreciate being a part of that.
Ian Kovach [00:12:29]:
Yeah, I can say I've never worked for a company and with a company that has cared so much about the community, we have done more community outreach than all the other places I worked with combined. And it's actually engaging to just be part of it. And personally, you know, I feel like I have a busy life and I try to give to the community a little bit here and there, but with Empowered Ventures, it actually Pushes you to get out there and do a little bit of good work. So I think that's something very cool.
Chris Fredericks [00:13:00]:
That's awesome. How about the rest of your team? So the other folks from your company that you went to the summit with like during and after the summit and without naming names but like what were the general or things that you talked about afterwards that as a group, like any takeaways as a group that come to mind?
Ian Kovach [00:13:18]:
We definitely talked about when we were sharing presentations about our plans for 2025, when Paramount or Benoure or TVF when you guys had good ideas or good points where you were looking at each other like yeah, that that's something we should start doing.
Chris Fredericks [00:13:35]:
Was there a specific one that comes to mind or any. Any that you remember that really you were like, yeah, we really need to incorporate that.
Ian Kovach [00:13:41]:
I have it written down somewhere. Actually have like we all had our own little list of things that we were writing down as the presentations. Good luck for the list.
Chris Fredericks [00:13:50]:
But yeah. Tom, you mentioned the newsletter.
Tom Bawkey [00:13:53]:
I like the idea of having a newsletter. You know, it'd be nice to ever so often have a brief synopsis of what's going on, whether it be Paramount or EV. All. Any and all. It's. I think it would be. I would actually read a newsletter but you know, like I said, I know. I think it's Benoure does the newsletter.
Tim Barnett [00:14:13]:
Yep. So we, we originally started out doing one a quarter but it was a much bigger newsletter and it would be anywhere from 2, 3, 4 pages front to back. And A that's a lot of work but B it's a lot of information to digest at one point in time. So since we've started the committee the past few months, we've been kind of shifting into doing one newsletter a month. But we're trying to keep it more concise to like a one page front and back. Sometimes they get a little bit longer. We try and keep a little bit of ESOP information as well as other things going on with the company. We also do anniversaries of hires and how many years they've been with the company and just, you know, the guys really do like it and every time they get that, they're definitely taking some time to give it a read through for the most part, so.
Chris Fredericks [00:15:08]:
That's awesome. That's along the lines too of a topic that generally I think everyone mentioned at some point or another, which is just how hard it can be to help people feel connected, especially in when companies are spread out. Like with Benoure, there's people out in the field and even in the cases where everybody's coming in every day, like, they may not all know each other or what big things that are going on in the company. So. But, Erica, anything for you like that the TVF folks generally took away or were talking about the most after the summer.
Erica Roudebush [00:15:37]:
Yeah, I think a lot of people, the storytelling aspect really hit hard. Definitely the storytelling aspect. I think that we all thought that we could do a better job of that personally. And, I mean, we did focus on the healthcare for us that Empowered Ventures is working on, Basically. We talked about ways to really, I guess, storytell additional ways that will increase our share price and profitability. Like, it's not all about sales or the bottom line, but about, I guess, just other ways for us to increase culture and therefore make everybody more successful.
Chris Fredericks [00:16:14]:
We talked about storytelling. It was kind of a theme. What did we learn and why did we talk about storytelling? Like, why was that something we spent time on?
Erica Roudebush [00:16:23]:
I mean, my takeaway from the storytelling is that we want to accurately portray, like, who we are so we can continue to recruit not only good talent within our current companies, but recruit, like, great future acquisitions as well. Because we want to be a place where an owner feels comfortable leaving his life's work, his or hers. So that was my takeaway from it.
Chris Fredericks [00:16:51]:
What about you guys? Anything on the storytelling front? Like, I'm assuming it was a surprise that we were even going to learn about how to tell a story.
Ian Kovach [00:16:58]:
Well, I am glad that we're doing the storytelling because it's actually storytelling that got me into the door with Firstar and EV. It wasn't for my friend hearing the story from someone he used to work with and him getting in and then telling me his story, I would not be happy where I'm at in life right now.
Tom Bawkey [00:17:19]:
That's good to hear. Like I said earlier, I've been a storyteller forever, but I never really had much of a structure to it. And then to kind of come away with a little bit of a better structure than just, you know, whatever my random thoughts might be weaving into that story.
Erica Roudebush [00:17:33]:
I don't know. I'll add in a little bit, too. It's so cool to me to be on the committee and see and meet all of the other committees and companies. So it's like a reminder that we are all under the Empowered Ventures umbrella. So I want to bring that to everybody else at TVF that maybe doesn't have the opportunity to go firsthand to these other cousin companies of ours, which, by the way, that Also is really cool, too. Like the Paramount plant tour. I didn't mention that as one of my favorite parts, but I do think that that's always a highlight for a lot of people.
Chris Fredericks [00:18:07]:
Yeah. What stood out about the tour for you guys?
Ian Kovach [00:18:10]:
Well, for me, the last company I worked at, it was a plastic machining company, and we did all sorts of plastic, but I was really interested to see what kind of plastic you guys work with. And sure enough, it was like, I know this plastic. The smell just brought back memories. Not so good memories, but it was cool being able to really see what you guys do. And, man, this looks like you guys do a good job.
Tom Bawkey [00:18:34]:
Thanks. I think we do. I think we do.
Ian Kovach [00:18:36]:
Yeah. I think that if you weren't doing a good job, you would not be part of EV. So you guys are doing something good over there.
Tom Bawkey [00:18:43]:
Something. Yeah.
Erica Roudebush [00:18:44]:
I mean, you can really see, like, the pride in not only the people giving the tour, but everyone working there, too. Like, I think it was.
Tom Bawkey [00:18:52]:
We got a good crew.
Erica Roudebush [00:18:53]:
Yeah.
Tom Bawkey [00:18:53]:
I will take it back. I will take it back and let everybody know that, you know, you guys had a good time on the tour and, you know, you liked what you saw. That's very important to everybody around here because they care. That's one of the things, you know, which is, I haven't said it, but that's refreshing, you know, here at Paramount and being able to see the people in that horseshoe, I feel like, okay, we're not alone. We're not alone in taking pride in what we do. And, you know, when it comes to actually, the work. And I feel like if your company's are represented by who I saw around that, you. Which obviously Chris knows more than I do about that.
Tom Bawkey [00:19:28]:
But it seems like then we're not alone. Everybody has this strong sense of pride in what we do. We like you know, making a good product.
Erica Roudebush [00:19:35]:
I mean, there were so many times, too, where it was, like, specific, like, maybe improvements that had just been made or upcoming improvements that were being made, too. So that's also, like, great to see.
Tom Bawkey [00:19:48]:
Yeah, it's refreshing to see, you know, just in the year and a half I've been here, a lot of things, you know, have changed. You know, essentially the process is the same, some of the ins and outs, and when it comes to dealing with some of the struggles we deal with in the building, to see them moving on, it not just say, yeah, that needs to be done. That's refreshing to actually stay driven and, you know, if we can cut out the little struggles and little, you know, fine tune Things. And we should be, because that, again, creates a better workplace where people are then willing to save the money however they can and look at the big picture, you know what I mean? And I think that transcends all the companies.
Tim Barnett [00:20:25]:
Help streamline things and keep the bottom line in check.
Ian Kovach [00:20:28]:
Now, you guys, Paramount, you're very new to this and obviously so are we, but you may not look at it like this, but you guys are a good role model.
Tom Bawkey [00:20:37]:
Thank you. Thank you. I didn't have much part in that. I promise you, but.
Ian Kovach [00:20:43]:
You represent the company very well.
Tom Bawkey [00:20:44]:
I will let them know. Well, hopefully we'll see.
Tim Barnett [00:20:46]:
One thing I like too, is in your little break area, like right outside the bathrooms there, you guys, you have the monitor. They are constantly displaying information. And that's actually something that we're trying to get set up in our shop out back, is to have something there. I mean, we do have kind of a magnetic board that we try and keep information refreshing on that. And definitely seen a lot of people stopping and taking a look when they're there to grab materials and stuff in the shop. But, you know, if we can keep improving, that would be good to just keep the information out there. And that was one takeaway we had from the tour that we're going to try and implement.
Chris Fredericks [00:21:29]:
This is great. We've covered a lot of great ground. Before we wrap up, I want to know, you can answer one of two questions. One's the boring question, one's the funny question. What's your number one thing that changed, like in terms of your perspective about employee ownership or what was the funniest thing that happened at the summit for you personally? Feel free to answer either of those questions.
Ian Kovach [00:21:49]:
Funniest thing that happened at the summit.
Chris Fredericks [00:21:51]:
Because there was a lot of laughs. I mean, there was a lot of different thing. Times when people were really connecting and having fun, so.
Ian Kovach [00:21:57]:
I'll share my funny thing. I thought it was funny. After the second night, I got Luke, the president of first, to join me and another co worker at the bar. When everything was said and done and we're sitting there, we had our first drink and somehow dirty martinis got brought up and I'm like, you know, I've never had one. And everyone around me is like, oh, you should try one, just try it. So I get one and I try it and I did not like it, and then.
Chris Fredericks [00:22:32]:
Did you know what you were getting into? Did you know the ingredients?
Ian Kovach [00:22:33]:
I had no clue. When I saw him pouring olive juice in there, I'm starting to go, I don't know. So I took his first sip. Hated it. I was like, I don't know. I'm like, maybe a second sip will do better. Nope, just as bad. So I'm like, I'm not going to drink this.
Ian Kovach [00:22:48]:
Everyone around me is like, laughing. They're like, well, you heard it, you got to drink it. So I plugged my nose and I finished it and it was just not good. I'll never recommend a dirty martini to anybody.
Erica Roudebush [00:23:01]:
I love dirty martinis. It was a reminder to me, though. The other question, just how even like a slight change in mindset, because I did mention how much I hate dealing with insurance, but how even just a small change, like, wait, if I do actually spend time thinking about this again, it is better for the company and in the long run, better for all of us. So that was something that happened for me at the summit.
Chris Fredericks [00:23:29]:
With the healthcare for us kind of talking about that and that you generally haven't really enjoyed engaging the healthcare topic in the past.
Erica Roudebush [00:23:36]:
No, but when I can kind of connect it to, you know, a financial incentive even, then it's like, okay, all right. Get over yourself, Erica.
Chris Fredericks [00:23:47]:
Yeah, no, it's. healthcare is not a fun topic to engage with. I don't think any. Most people wouldn't say, yeah, my favorite thing to talk about is healthcare.
Ian Kovach [00:23:55]:
So one thing I took away from this committee meeting is that we all have a voice as employee owners. We're able to sit at like per se, a roundtable, and all speak freely without being judged. That's just like a huge step in becoming an employee owner is to have everyone have their own voice and opinion and be recognized for that voice or opinion. And everywhere I've worked before, it's like, you just do your job and people won't even look at you. Here everybody wants to try to help and improve things and all ideas are welcome.
Tim Barnett [00:24:28]:
I'm going to second that. I mean, that was my biggest perspective change from being able to attend the summit as well as, you know, going from nine years in commercial industrial plumbing and heating. Just a number never appreciated. It's like made my jump into service. It wasn't with Benoure, but made the jump to Banor. And I've been here for four years. And obviously, obviously the becoming employee owned was a big change with a lot of unknown and a lot of speculation and questions. But that was a part of joining the committee.
Tim Barnett [00:25:03]:
And, you know, I was really glad to be a part of the summit. I think that I gained a lot from it, not just with Knowledge on how everything works, but also on a personal level, being kind of more of an introvert and not really being too outgoing in big gatherings like that, but also to be able to tell my story there at the end and just kind of helps me open up and grow as a person as well.
Chris Fredericks [00:25:28]:
Tom, funny moment or main thing you kind of changed your mind about?
Tom Bawkey [00:25:33]:
So being here a year and a half, I haven't seen a number. Okay? And I know that's important when you see your first statement and as time goes on and you don't, it's like, you know, you hear it, and you're like, yeah, yeah, yeah, I hear it, I hear it, I hear it. You know, I'm trusting somebody's word. They're like, no, you know, this is awesome. You know? And you're like, okay. So for me and being who I am and Tom's fire and what gets me going is, like, I said that or he said a roundtable that you table. And seeing the passion, you know, in everybody else and the humanity in them, that reinvigorates me and says, well, I don't need to see that number. I don't care about that number.
Tom Bawkey [00:26:10]:
I'm in it. I'm 120 on it because of y'all, because of the people that were in there. It didn't make me feel like I'm the only one, and why should I go hard? It wasn't a big change, but it was a change enough to say, I don't need the proof. I have faith in the people that I met, in the relationships that, you know, that we created. And for me, that's very telling. That's better than seeing a number on a paper, a statement, whatever, for me actually being able to be there, look you guys in the eyes, hear your stories, talk to you on the level, expose myself for who I am, and still have the good feelings and the good sense of that I'm doing the right thing. This is a unique opportunity for me, for my family, for my co workers, for the overall picture. And I don't need to see a number.
Tom Bawkey [00:27:00]:
That's what this summit did for me. When I've spent 20 years working for a guy that, like, you say a number, you know, or he doesn't care about me, he just wants his cut, and that's fine, because whatever, you know, but to then actually have the realization that the people in this room on this little webcam thing and the people in that room that day, they're like me. They want to do their best. So that the success of their personal, you know, their own company and the overall EV mission, I, I don't know. I came away with it not needing that proof. And that was, and that's big for me. I'm not a numbers guy. It's never about money.
Tom Bawkey [00:27:34]:
And I think that in an employee owned setting like this, I'm finding out that 100% that's exactly what is needed. And, and my weird things about myself and my work ethic are good. They're not a, you know, it's not a detriment to anybody. They're good. That's what I came away with is just not needing that proof.
Tim Barnett [00:27:54]:
I agree, Tom. I mean, teamwork makes the dream work and we got a really good team on the committee. And, you know, I haven't seen a number yet either, but I'm with you there. Just hearing the stories really help prove to me that, you know, this is going to be the best for everybody's future. You know.
Tom Bawkey [00:28:12]:
It's exciting seeing your faces again. That brings me joy and I think that's why I personally feel that the ESOP is right for me and I hope that I can ring true to that.
Erica Roudebush [00:28:23]:
I thought of one more funny moment and it was definitely Ian and the Borat impersonation.
Ian Kovach [00:28:33]:
Very nice. Great success.
Chris Fredericks [00:28:38]:
Is that how we. Is that the final theme of the summit, Ian? Great success.
Erica Roudebush [00:28:42]:
Great success.
Ian Kovach [00:28:45]:
Yeah, it was. It was a great success. Look at us.
Tom Bawkey [00:28:47]:
Yeah, I'm with that.
Chris Fredericks [00:28:49]:
Amen. Amen. I am so grateful for each and every one of you for both coming to the summit, but then just really leaning in and giving it your all, being open minded and then come deciding to come and join this crazy podcast thing. I know it's not something everyone thinks of when they're like, what do I want to do today? You know, I think I'll get on a camera and do a zoom call with my coworkers I just met a couple weeks ago, but stressed out about it. But huge thanks to all of you and just thanks for your energy and appreciate you coming on Empowered Owners.
Chris Fredericks [00:29:22]:
I hope you enjoyed that conversation with Erica, Ian, Tim and Tom as much as I did. Empowered Owners is a podcast by and for the employee owners of Empowered Ventures. Special thanks to Share Your Genius for producing. You can find show notes and transcripts on our website at Empowered Ventures. Full video episodes are on YouTube at empoweredventures. If you have a question for us about EV, our companies or employee ownership, contact us at hello@empowered.ventures. You can also text or leave a voicemail at 317-643-2383. Thanks for tuning in.