WEBVTT NOTE This file was generated by Descript 00:00:01.740 --> 00:00:04.540 A key component of the modern world economy, the chemical 00:00:04.540 --> 00:00:07.990 industry delivers products and innovations to enhance everyday life. 00:00:08.605 --> 00:00:12.594 It is also an industry in transformation where chemical executives and 00:00:12.594 --> 00:00:16.215 workers are delivering growth and industry changing advancements while 00:00:16.215 --> 00:00:19.974 responding to pressures from investors, regulators, and public opinion. 00:00:20.515 --> 00:00:23.445 Discover how leading companies are approaching these challenges 00:00:23.455 --> 00:00:25.064 here on the chemical show. 00:00:25.524 --> 00:00:28.875 Join Victoria Meyer, president of Progressio Global and 00:00:28.885 --> 00:00:30.305 host of the chemical show. 00:00:30.575 --> 00:00:34.775 As she speaks with executives across the industry and learns how they are leading 00:00:34.775 --> 00:00:40.374 their companies to grow, transform, and push industry boundaries on all frontiers. 00:00:40.695 --> 00:00:42.944 Here's your host, Victoria Meyer. 00:00:45.620 --> 00:00:47.210 Victoria: Hi, this is Victoria Meyer. 00:00:47.320 --> 00:00:51.150 Welcome back to The Chemical Show, where chemicals means business. 00:00:51.650 --> 00:00:56.509 Today, I am speaking with Kris Maynard, who is the Executive Chairman of 00:00:56.510 --> 00:01:01.720 Essential Ingredients, a company he founded in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, 00:01:02.199 --> 00:01:06.450 with a vision of creating a different kind of chemical distributor. 00:01:06.880 --> 00:01:09.310 Partner focused and people focused. 00:01:09.870 --> 00:01:13.140 Today, Essential Ingredients is employee owned through an ESOP. 00:01:13.190 --> 00:01:17.410 Kris now has his sights set on building, , an evergreen company to 00:01:17.410 --> 00:01:21.579 last a hundred years with the stated purpose of being a blessing to others. 00:01:21.639 --> 00:01:24.539 These are things that are, , frankly, a little different amongst the 00:01:24.539 --> 00:01:29.019 world of chemicals and distribution and heck business in general. 00:01:29.589 --> 00:01:32.130 But I think that's what's going to make this conversation so great. 00:01:32.130 --> 00:01:35.379 So Kris and I are going to talk about that and many things, including 00:01:35.380 --> 00:01:39.990 the importance of being, , and the importance of independent private 00:01:40.039 --> 00:01:43.750 ownership and the people, the impact that it has on people in society. 00:01:43.789 --> 00:01:45.210 So lots of cover here. 00:01:45.789 --> 00:01:47.430 Kris, welcome to The Chemical Show. 00:01:48.009 --> 00:01:49.530 Kris Maynard: Thank you, Victoria, for having me. 00:01:49.579 --> 00:01:50.079 It's a pleasure. 00:01:50.079 --> 00:01:50.500 Thank you. 00:01:50.904 --> 00:01:51.454 Victoria: Thank you. 00:01:51.785 --> 00:01:53.864 So what is your origin story? 00:01:53.864 --> 00:01:57.424 What got you interested in chemicals and led to the founding 00:01:57.484 --> 00:01:58.794 of Essential Ingredients? 00:02:00.344 --> 00:02:02.284 Kris Maynard: Before I get to the origin story, I co founded the 00:02:02.284 --> 00:02:05.854 business actually in 1996 with a, with a good friend and partner of mine. 00:02:05.854 --> 00:02:09.584 That'll be part of our story we talk about, but, , it's taken a lot of 00:02:09.584 --> 00:02:11.084 us to build what we have here today. 00:02:11.084 --> 00:02:12.724 So I don't want to take too much credit for all that. 00:02:12.724 --> 00:02:14.994 But, , I grew up in Southern Ohio. 00:02:16.604 --> 00:02:19.854 , , very modest, , growing up in a farming community. 00:02:19.934 --> 00:02:24.974 , it was a three bedroom, one bath house with three boys and mom and dad. 00:02:24.974 --> 00:02:28.555 And, , I was the first one, yeah, of the boys to go to college. 00:02:28.555 --> 00:02:29.985 I was a middle, , middle child. 00:02:29.985 --> 00:02:37.540 , So, my poor mother had to share a bathroom with, , , for, , for me um, in fact, at 00:02:37.540 --> 00:02:40.550 one point in our, my mom was so frustrated with the cleanliness of the bathroom. 00:02:40.869 --> 00:02:43.800 Dad had to put a shower in the, , what we call the utility room 00:02:43.800 --> 00:02:45.770 outside, which got very, very cold. 00:02:45.770 --> 00:02:47.130 It wasn't insulated in the wintertime. 00:02:47.130 --> 00:02:49.609 So you didn't want to be the 1st 1 to take a shower in the wintertime because 00:02:49.609 --> 00:02:50.930 you had to break the ice off the floor. 00:02:50.930 --> 00:02:54.310 So, , I ended up going to Miami of Ohio. 00:02:54.470 --> 00:02:57.570 My dad wanted me to be a doctor, , , having kind of struggled with 00:02:57.570 --> 00:03:00.440 finances, , pretty much all his life. 00:03:00.480 --> 00:03:04.660 And he thought, well, , , Go pursue a medical career. 00:03:04.660 --> 00:03:05.840 So I was a premed guy. 00:03:05.840 --> 00:03:08.460 Like, I think when I talk to folks in our industry, it's like 00:03:08.470 --> 00:03:11.770 9 out of 10 were premed and ended up in the chemical industry. 00:03:11.770 --> 00:03:12.350 Some reason. 00:03:12.740 --> 00:03:16.830 , so coming out of college, I actually thought it was gonna be a missionary. 00:03:17.750 --> 00:03:22.190 , , I had spent some time in Russia behind the iron curtain and on 1 of those trips. 00:03:22.190 --> 00:03:25.220 Actually, I met this young lady fell in love with her and 00:03:25.220 --> 00:03:26.600 she, I wanted to marry her. 00:03:26.745 --> 00:03:29.405 And when I went to ask her dad for her hand in marriage, she 00:03:29.405 --> 00:03:30.615 said, you need to find a job. 00:03:30.755 --> 00:03:34.615 And, , so I went back to the career planning center at Miami 00:03:34.615 --> 00:03:38.954 and started digging through, , potential career opportunities. 00:03:38.995 --> 00:03:42.705 And I found this company step in chemical company was advertising. 00:03:42.755 --> 00:03:44.025 It was in the file cabinets course. 00:03:44.025 --> 00:03:46.615 We didn't have computers readily at hand back then. 00:03:47.125 --> 00:03:52.270 And, . , I sent them a note and they invited me up for a series of interviews 00:03:52.270 --> 00:03:58.199 and and I got that job after being turned down for so many other jobs that paid 00:03:58.260 --> 00:04:03.540 literally half as much and, , started my, career in chemicals as a trainee 00:04:03.580 --> 00:04:07.360 inside of Stepan, which did a fantastic job of training folks and my hats off 00:04:07.370 --> 00:04:09.640 to them for their investment in me. 00:04:09.640 --> 00:04:14.520 And spent about, , six years, , selling, , chemicals here in the Southeast 00:04:14.520 --> 00:04:20.460 for, , for Stepan before kind of catching this idea with my, my founding 00:04:20.460 --> 00:04:23.060 partner who happened to work for one of our distributors at the time. 00:04:23.670 --> 00:04:26.320 And, , he and I actually, the first time we met, we were out 00:04:26.320 --> 00:04:28.200 peddling chemicals in his car. 00:04:28.200 --> 00:04:29.600 I always call it windshield time. 00:04:29.600 --> 00:04:29.840 Right? 00:04:29.840 --> 00:04:31.810 So, , I'm the supplier. 00:04:31.810 --> 00:04:35.120 He's the distributor and we're starting and we're both about the same age. 00:04:35.120 --> 00:04:36.800 And we started sharing this passion. 00:04:36.800 --> 00:04:38.610 We both had for starting our own business someday. 00:04:38.610 --> 00:04:43.540 And over a period of about 3 years, we hatched this idea for a chemical 00:04:43.540 --> 00:04:46.510 distribution company that really did things a little differently. 00:04:46.600 --> 00:04:49.310 Based on some of the frustrations I had from the supplier side, some of 00:04:49.310 --> 00:04:52.510 the frustrations he had from the, from the distributor side and thought we 00:04:52.510 --> 00:04:53.570 could do something a little different. 00:04:54.375 --> 00:04:54.695 Victoria: Yeah. 00:04:54.745 --> 00:04:55.505 That's really cool. 00:04:55.505 --> 00:05:00.035 And you really were pretty young and early in your career journey when you 00:05:00.035 --> 00:05:01.755 guys decided to co found Essential. 00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:02.840 Kris Maynard: Yeah. 00:05:02.990 --> 00:05:03.220 Yeah. 00:05:03.220 --> 00:05:06.790 I think I was 27, , he might have been 28. 00:05:06.870 --> 00:05:10.640 I remember, coming home and telling my wife, , that was my last day at work. 00:05:10.650 --> 00:05:14.890 Both of us had brand new baby girls at home, , less than 1 year old each. 00:05:14.890 --> 00:05:15.360 And, 00:05:17.895 --> 00:05:20.865 , , Had a minuscule part of a plan, nothing you would really 00:05:20.865 --> 00:05:22.235 call a sharp business plan. 00:05:22.235 --> 00:05:23.125 Looking back on it. 00:05:23.175 --> 00:05:27.985 I wouldn't advise anybody to do what we did, but, , , , we started off in a 00:05:27.995 --> 00:05:29.815 little incubator in Augusta, Georgia. 00:05:31.405 --> 00:05:34.585 We couldn't afford a real office in the incubator literally. 00:05:34.595 --> 00:05:36.585 So we rented the server closet in the corner. 00:05:36.625 --> 00:05:39.525 It was where all the wires came in for the phone service and, 00:05:39.525 --> 00:05:42.395 . We paid 125 a month for that server closet. 00:05:42.395 --> 00:05:45.045 It was just big enough for a desk and a bookshelf for some samples. 00:05:45.605 --> 00:05:48.055 And really what we wanted was somebody answering the phone in a 00:05:48.055 --> 00:05:50.715 professional way that said, , thank you for calling Essential Ingredients. 00:05:51.255 --> 00:05:55.485 And he and I ran off with two used cars and a couple of Skytel pagers 00:05:55.485 --> 00:05:57.545 and started beating the streets. 00:05:57.875 --> 00:05:58.555 Victoria: That's awesome. 00:05:58.675 --> 00:05:59.445 That's a great way. 00:05:59.485 --> 00:06:00.575 A great story. 00:06:00.785 --> 00:06:03.745 So tell us a little bit about Essential Ingredients. 00:06:04.905 --> 00:06:07.525 Kris Maynard: Yeah, so, obviously we're a chemical distribution company 00:06:07.625 --> 00:06:12.635 and, , Essential Ingredients was the name that we founded in 1996. 00:06:12.635 --> 00:06:15.625 And that's the name that's been carried through and has 00:06:15.625 --> 00:06:20.135 largely turned into our personal care, , chemical distribution arm. 00:06:21.345 --> 00:06:25.065 , , since then, , we became an ESOP in 2000 and 2011, which we'll 00:06:25.065 --> 00:06:25.895 talk a little bit more about. 00:06:25.895 --> 00:06:26.315 I'm sure. 00:06:26.385 --> 00:06:26.725 . , Victoria: Yeah. 00:06:27.875 --> 00:06:29.905 Kris Maynard: and then since then, we formed a holding company over 00:06:29.905 --> 00:06:31.065 top of Essential Ingredients. 00:06:31.095 --> 00:06:35.715 We call cathedral holdings and it's allowing us to diversify the 00:06:35.715 --> 00:06:37.985 verticals within chemical distribution. 00:06:37.985 --> 00:06:40.745 So we can have a little bit more of a focused approach on different 00:06:40.745 --> 00:06:44.465 industries, whether it be personal care or industrial care floor care, 00:06:44.595 --> 00:06:48.425 . In fact, we're looking at, the oil and gas market right now as a new one. 00:06:48.475 --> 00:06:48.785 Victoria: Cool. 00:06:48.915 --> 00:06:50.925 So what makes Essential Ingredients different? 00:06:50.935 --> 00:06:54.755 I know you said you, you, you guys founded this with this idea that there 00:06:54.755 --> 00:06:56.985 was something different available. 00:06:56.985 --> 00:06:58.865 You were frustrated as a supplier. 00:06:59.135 --> 00:07:01.485 He was a little frustrated distributor. 00:07:02.095 --> 00:07:03.825 What makes Essential Ingredients different? 00:07:04.505 --> 00:07:07.565 Kris Maynard: One of the common frustrations that he and I both had was, 00:07:08.095 --> 00:07:16.695 , , the lack of trust between people, , in, in business and, and the typical way 00:07:16.695 --> 00:07:22.885 that, that suppliers and distributors work together, , it, it's really designed, 00:07:25.165 --> 00:07:26.495 , , against building trust. 00:07:26.505 --> 00:07:30.865 For example, it wasn't uncommon for me as a step in sales rep to walk into one of 00:07:30.865 --> 00:07:35.575 my distributors and constantly being kind of beat over the head by the distributor 00:07:35.575 --> 00:07:40.195 about, , the, the most recent price they had gotten on a surfactant from, it could 00:07:40.195 --> 00:07:41.625 have been Rome Polonka at the time, right? 00:07:41.625 --> 00:07:45.895 Names that we don't recognize anymore for some of the newer folks, but, , or could 00:07:45.915 --> 00:07:47.645 have been WITCO or something like that. 00:07:47.645 --> 00:07:51.275 Here I was, in the field with their salespeople trying to 00:07:51.275 --> 00:07:53.885 help them promote our products, particularly our specialty products. 00:07:55.175 --> 00:07:58.155 , , really trying to forge these really deep and meaningful relationships, 00:07:58.155 --> 00:08:02.085 which is I found myself really enjoying that part of it, , getting to know 00:08:02.115 --> 00:08:06.275 customers, , , their sort of their family, their stories, getting to 00:08:06.305 --> 00:08:10.565 know these sales reps really, really well and, , , doing business together, 00:08:10.565 --> 00:08:17.240 like in, in a combined success focus, , versus, , my success over your success. 00:08:17.240 --> 00:08:21.560 So, , we kind of took that and said, 1 of our founding principles 00:08:21.560 --> 00:08:24.010 is going to be, we're not going to have competing product lines. 00:08:24.040 --> 00:08:27.130 , we're going to have a surfactant supplier, for example, and we're not going to 00:08:27.140 --> 00:08:31.100 have 2 or 3, , we're going to have a silicone supplier and then we're going 00:08:31.100 --> 00:08:32.870 to start hitching our wagons to these. 00:08:33.900 --> 00:08:40.360 To these folks and really, , give us a platform to develop trusting, transparent, 00:08:40.690 --> 00:08:44.460 meaningful relationships where we can exchange information very freely. 00:08:45.490 --> 00:08:50.670 , , we can, , , , and with that trust as a backdrop, , it allowed us to 00:08:50.670 --> 00:08:56.870 really just kind of put rocket fuel in the engine, , because, , , if, if a 00:08:56.890 --> 00:09:00.020 supplier, if I came to a supplier with a competitive situation, , they could, 00:09:00.815 --> 00:09:04.435 , They could believe it was because we were truly a partner in that situation 00:09:04.435 --> 00:09:08.935 and not necessarily a quasi partner who was looking to leverage them for 00:09:08.935 --> 00:09:11.155 better pricing to line my own pocket. 00:09:11.965 --> 00:09:14.295 Victoria: You find that your suppliers were really open to that, 00:09:14.305 --> 00:09:18.185 to the idea of being kind of the single one to one relationship? 00:09:19.885 --> 00:09:22.555 Kris Maynard: From what I gathered, it was based on my experience. 00:09:22.555 --> 00:09:23.905 It was really new at the time. 00:09:23.905 --> 00:09:27.565 So it was a bit revolutionary in terms of, the way this 00:09:27.565 --> 00:09:29.115 interaction was going to take place. 00:09:29.115 --> 00:09:34.335 And once it got some steam, it became really magnetic, , and very refreshing, 00:09:34.975 --> 00:09:36.185 , for folks to be able to do that. 00:09:36.185 --> 00:09:39.525 Because, for our suppliers these days, and we did it back then, 00:09:39.525 --> 00:09:43.080 but, . , we publish a quarterly report for each of them that says, 00:09:43.250 --> 00:09:45.620 here's where all your samples when here's how our sales are doing. 00:09:46.360 --> 00:09:47.780 , here's the projects we have in the pipeline. 00:09:47.780 --> 00:09:51.940 So it's a very, , transparent relationship and it gives them, I think, a lot 00:09:51.940 --> 00:09:53.440 more transparency to the marketplace. 00:09:53.440 --> 00:09:54.300 What's going on? 00:09:54.650 --> 00:09:59.180 so that feedback loop is very tight, very transparent and they really, 00:09:59.180 --> 00:10:01.940 really appreciate that because suppliers, I think often find 00:10:02.220 --> 00:10:03.930 find themselves and they may have. 00:10:04.390 --> 00:10:06.715 , good line of sight on some of their direct accounts. 00:10:06.745 --> 00:10:09.535 But when it comes to the smaller mid tiers or co packagers and these 00:10:09.535 --> 00:10:12.645 sorts of things, they're relying on their distributors to really feed 00:10:12.645 --> 00:10:17.085 them, , that information, which the smaller customers tend to move faster. 00:10:17.085 --> 00:10:20.255 They pick up on the trends a little bit quicker and that information is 00:10:20.255 --> 00:10:21.275 really, really meaningful to them. 00:10:21.275 --> 00:10:24.535 So, , we found it to be a tremendous success and I think 00:10:24.535 --> 00:10:25.585 a huge part of our story. 00:10:25.970 --> 00:10:26.280 Victoria: Yeah. 00:10:26.290 --> 00:10:26.950 I think that's great. 00:10:26.960 --> 00:10:31.210 And, and I know I've always worked on the supplier side and I've had 00:10:31.670 --> 00:10:34.890 that, , , kind of confusion or wonderment. 00:10:34.900 --> 00:10:39.740 Sometimes these conversations were like, okay, well, how do you decide if you're 00:10:39.740 --> 00:10:42.200 selling my material or somebody else's? 00:10:42.200 --> 00:10:46.010 Like when, when do you sell, , from supplier a versus 00:10:46.010 --> 00:10:47.780 supplier B and there's this. 00:10:48.495 --> 00:10:51.295 It's a bit of a conflict, I think, in some ways. 00:10:51.805 --> 00:10:55.715 it's certainly the way the business runs and it's run successfully 00:10:55.715 --> 00:10:58.435 for, , decades, obviously. 00:10:58.725 --> 00:11:01.645 However, I could see where there's also a lot of tension 00:11:01.645 --> 00:11:06.394 that comes into the relationship when you're not clear in terms of. 00:11:06.795 --> 00:11:11.445 How the partnership is aligning, what products are getting sold where, and, 00:11:11.735 --> 00:11:15.485 , what really those decision factors are, , in a way that you get more 00:11:15.485 --> 00:11:18.465 transparent, it sounds like, when you've got these one to one relationships. 00:11:19.140 --> 00:11:21.900 Kris Maynard: Yeah, and that, the, the 1 to 1 thing has gotten a lot 00:11:21.900 --> 00:11:25.770 more complex since 1996, as you can imagine, with all the consolidation 00:11:25.770 --> 00:11:26.850 that's happened in our marketplace. 00:11:26.860 --> 00:11:32.170 So we've really still kind of set that as a goal, , , for the kind of the way 00:11:32.170 --> 00:11:37.270 the story we tell, but it's gotten much more challenging, , , with a lot 00:11:37.290 --> 00:11:38.470 of the consolidation that happens. 00:11:38.470 --> 00:11:38.690 So, 00:11:39.265 --> 00:11:39.765 Victoria: I'm sure. 00:11:39.975 --> 00:11:40.445 I'm sure. 00:11:40.715 --> 00:11:41.015 All right. 00:11:41.015 --> 00:11:44.895 So let's, let's jp into this whole aspect of being privately owned. 00:11:44.895 --> 00:11:51.195 So, in fact, Kris was, as you were introduced to me by Cameron Whaley, 00:11:51.465 --> 00:11:57.185 , from SCT, another privately owned company, in family owned company, and 00:11:57.185 --> 00:12:01.565 obviously now, , Essential Ingredients is now ESOP, which is employee 00:12:01.565 --> 00:12:04.685 owned, Why does this matter, right? 00:12:04.685 --> 00:12:08.525 There's, there's not that many private, truly privately owned 00:12:08.525 --> 00:12:10.095 companies in the chemical industry. 00:12:10.515 --> 00:12:12.065 Why do you think this is important? 00:12:13.815 --> 00:12:17.910 Kris Maynard: yeah, there, we talked about consolidation a little bit 00:12:17.910 --> 00:12:22.210 already, but we've obviously seen it on the chemical distribution side too. 00:12:22.210 --> 00:12:23.790 And there's not many of us privately held. 00:12:23.920 --> 00:12:25.460 One's left. 00:12:26.300 --> 00:12:30.820 And I think the, who owns you matters because, 00:12:32.830 --> 00:12:35.770 whether it's a publicly traded company or a private equity owned 00:12:35.780 --> 00:12:44.870 company, , , typically, , I would argue that those owners, have one thing 00:12:44.870 --> 00:12:48.840 in mind, , it's financial outcome. 00:12:49.990 --> 00:12:53.610 And in most cases, they're willing to sacrifice a lot of 00:12:53.620 --> 00:12:56.740 things, for a financial outcome. 00:12:57.700 --> 00:13:00.170 if you're publicly traded, of course, you're measured on a quarterly basis, 00:13:00.550 --> 00:13:06.140 if not more often, on a daily basis, if you look at the markets, but the idea of 00:13:06.140 --> 00:13:10.090 standing in front of, the cameras every quarter and reporting out your earnings., 00:13:11.620 --> 00:13:13.140 that's a, that's a hard thing to do. 00:13:13.190 --> 00:13:16.530 They're sharply dialed in on the financial results or what Milton 00:13:16.530 --> 00:13:22.400 Friedman would say,shareholder valueover a pretty narrow period of time. 00:13:22.400 --> 00:13:26.360 So being privately held gives us the luxury of saying,what,that's 00:13:26.380 --> 00:13:27.580 not unimportant to us. 00:13:27.600 --> 00:13:29.250 I mean, we're very, very driven. 00:13:29.585 --> 00:13:33.815 By metrics and KPIs, and we define what our own success looks like there, 00:13:34.265 --> 00:13:39.995 but, , we can take a much longer view of success, on the financial side and, 00:13:41.835 --> 00:13:45.890 It also gives us a luxury of saying we're going to make some changes to the 00:13:45.890 --> 00:13:49.870 business here that may cost us a little bit in terms of finances or even time. 00:13:50.310 --> 00:13:56.470 but we're willing to take a longer view of 5 or even 10 year period of time. 00:13:56.780 --> 00:13:58.880 If we know that this is the right thing for us and the right 00:13:58.880 --> 00:14:01.030 thing for the business and where we think things are headed. 00:14:01.585 --> 00:14:05.635 It also allows us to, To focus on the things that we think are 00:14:05.635 --> 00:14:06.895 much more important than that. 00:14:06.905 --> 00:14:09.325 You highlighted our purpose as we started to be a blessing to others and 00:14:09.325 --> 00:14:10.745 inspire them to be a blessing as well. 00:14:11.675 --> 00:14:16.660 So, , I don't, I totally disagree with Milton Friedman and the idea that 00:14:16.660 --> 00:14:20.240 businesses are strictly for shareholder value, creating shareholder value. 00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:24.310 I think businesses can do tremendous amount of good in their communities. 00:14:24.310 --> 00:14:27.200 And for the people that they get to touch, whether the people that work inside 00:14:27.200 --> 00:14:31.860 the business, or the customers, even the suppliers, the value of building 00:14:32.080 --> 00:14:36.020 personal, meaningful relationships again, I that's been the, the. 00:14:37.380 --> 00:14:41.060 It's given me the most joy over the years as these deep, meaningful 00:14:41.240 --> 00:14:46.105 relationships that I've been able to build with people and I think we've 00:14:46.325 --> 00:14:47.665 proven that you can have both. 00:14:47.715 --> 00:14:51.685 You can have a tremendously successful, from a financial 00:14:51.685 --> 00:14:54.345 metrics, measurement company. 00:14:54.555 --> 00:15:00.355 And at the same time have a very strong purpose that is focused on people 00:15:00.905 --> 00:15:03.245 and doing good in our communities. 00:15:03.830 --> 00:15:04.160 Victoria: Yeah. 00:15:04.210 --> 00:15:04.780 I like that. 00:15:04.990 --> 00:15:08.730 And I think the, I do think there's this whole dynamic that takes 00:15:08.730 --> 00:15:13.570 place with publicly held companies or companies are owned by private 00:15:13.590 --> 00:15:19.690 equity around always looking at short term, short term financials, right? 00:15:19.690 --> 00:15:24.510 So it's, it's whether it be a three month financial or daily, as you say, 00:15:24.510 --> 00:15:26.990 when you look at the stock market and the way it moves on a day by day 00:15:26.990 --> 00:15:33.170 basis, or even just an annual financial that can make, can make businesses 00:15:33.180 --> 00:15:35.520 make suboptimal decisions, right? 00:15:35.520 --> 00:15:41.155 You're optimizing the short term, But maybe sacrificing some of the longterm. 00:15:41.175 --> 00:15:46.145 So from a private company perspective, you can give yourself, as you say, 00:15:46.175 --> 00:15:50.065 a five or 10 year horizon, truly for some of your business decisions. 00:15:51.045 --> 00:15:54.245 obviously, obviously always still wanting to make some money so 00:15:54.245 --> 00:15:57.755 you can make payroll and,have profits in the business, et cetera. 00:15:58.125 --> 00:16:02.685 But, but being able to take a longer term, more strategic view than sometimes 00:16:02.685 --> 00:16:04.415 happens, I think in the industry. 00:16:05.425 --> 00:16:07.635 Kris Maynard: and one of our core values is who before what, right? 00:16:07.645 --> 00:16:11.205 So it's, it's the idea of valuing people over things or results. 00:16:11.875 --> 00:16:14.725 And, when you're measuring things by financial results, it's, 00:16:14.735 --> 00:16:16.285 it's, it's what before who, 00:16:16.755 --> 00:16:17.165 Victoria: Yeah. 00:16:17.315 --> 00:16:21.060 Kris Maynard: and, a lot of times that learns to leads to layoffs. 00:16:21.750 --> 00:16:23.530 and these are people's lives and people's families that are 00:16:23.530 --> 00:16:24.830 being impacted by these things. 00:16:24.830 --> 00:16:30.120 And, so we, we just, we, we try to focus on the who before the 00:16:30.120 --> 00:16:34.510 what, and our results indicate that it, it can, it can work. 00:16:34.860 --> 00:16:35.210 Victoria: Awesome. 00:16:35.530 --> 00:16:39.630 So, Essential Ingredients became employee owned. 00:16:39.640 --> 00:16:45.150 So in ESOP, like more than a decade ago, what prompted that? 00:16:46.960 --> 00:16:50.890 Kris Maynard: Yeah, I would say, so at that time in 2011, we brought in 00:16:50.890 --> 00:16:55.890 a 3rd partner a minority shareholder and all of us were about the same age. 00:16:55.890 --> 00:16:57.080 So we're still fairly young. 00:16:57.190 --> 00:17:02.725 I'm in my, mid to early forties at the time,but we started playing the 00:17:02.725 --> 00:17:07.585 tape forward a little bit about,what does this look like for us longterm? 00:17:07.585 --> 00:17:12.085 And we had been courted by some competitors and, private equity folks. 00:17:12.395 --> 00:17:17.590 As this was going on, I had watched sort of the, , the wake, I would say wake 00:17:17.590 --> 00:17:21.150 of destruction in the path of some of those events where these really, really 00:17:21.150 --> 00:17:24.730 good companies that I admired and the, and, and the people that were just 00:17:24.740 --> 00:17:29.230 kind of just kind of got lost, , after things were after the dust settled. 00:17:29.690 --> 00:17:33.090 And so we didn't we knew that wasn't the path that we wanted to take. 00:17:33.090 --> 00:17:34.929 , I had been studying ESOPS. 00:17:34.929 --> 00:17:37.660 1 of our suppliers had been in ESOP for a number of years and I had been 00:17:37.660 --> 00:17:40.390 studying employee ownership for a while. 00:17:40.950 --> 00:17:45.320 So my partners and I were like, it's not possible feasible for us to read a 00:17:45.320 --> 00:17:50.770 kind of a generational family business with 3 selling shareholders involved. 00:17:51.460 --> 00:17:52.590 we all had kids and stuff. 00:17:52.590 --> 00:17:55.640 Nobody showed a tremendous interest in the business, but we just 00:17:55.660 --> 00:17:57.420 felt like that would be messy. 00:17:57.895 --> 00:17:58.195 Victoria: Yeah. 00:17:59.600 --> 00:18:00.880 Kris Maynard: We didn't want to take these other paths. 00:18:00.880 --> 00:18:04.310 And so we started studying ESOPs and thought, man, this could be a 00:18:04.310 --> 00:18:05.510 really, really good thing for us. 00:18:05.510 --> 00:18:08.170 I mean, we can all stay involved if we choose to. 00:18:08.940 --> 00:18:13.640 We can let our people who have helped us build this business start enjoying the 00:18:13.640 --> 00:18:16.200 fruits of it as an owner, quote unquote. 00:18:16.615 --> 00:18:17.005 Victoria: Yeah. 00:18:17.350 --> 00:18:19.610 Kris Maynard: And it really gives us a path for retention. 00:18:20.500 --> 00:18:21.820 Our attrition rate is very low. 00:18:21.820 --> 00:18:22.900 It's less than 4%. 00:18:22.940 --> 00:18:29.600 I mean, we don't, we tend not to lose folks and, It allows us to cultivate 00:18:29.600 --> 00:18:31.890 this culture where everybody has a stake. 00:18:32.290 --> 00:18:33.480 every day they come to work. 00:18:33.490 --> 00:18:38.150 They're influencing the, really the financial results of the 00:18:38.150 --> 00:18:40.880 business, the share price that we get measured once a year as any shop. 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:44.300 So, we have evaluation team come in and give us our share price rather than 00:18:44.300 --> 00:18:45.869 daily, like a public traded company. 00:18:45.870 --> 00:18:46.940 We get ours once a year. 00:18:47.505 --> 00:18:51.335 Victoria: And do you use like a third party, like a, One of the big 00:18:51.335 --> 00:18:52.875 four accounting firms or something. 00:18:52.875 --> 00:18:54.155 Is that how that plays out? 00:18:54.470 --> 00:18:57.570 Kris Maynard: Yeah, I mean, not typically a big 4, but there's companies 00:18:57.570 --> 00:18:59.600 that specialize in ESOP valuation. 00:18:59.600 --> 00:19:01.309 They'll come in and, take a hard look at the books. 00:19:01.340 --> 00:19:03.330 Of course, we have audited financials and all those sorts of things. 00:19:03.330 --> 00:19:06.450 But, and then they're, they're, they're looking at things like what, what are 00:19:06.450 --> 00:19:07.930 on your business plans for next year? 00:19:07.930 --> 00:19:08.900 What does your budget look like? 00:19:09.270 --> 00:19:14.610 any major, major events forecasting up or down and they build, bake all that 00:19:14.610 --> 00:19:17.090 in using a formula to create value. 00:19:17.140 --> 00:19:20.875 But it allows our people to really have a hand in what does that they're influencing 00:19:20.875 --> 00:19:24.285 it I think when customers interact with us, when suppliers interact with us, 00:19:25.045 --> 00:19:26.395 we've got a beautiful culture here. 00:19:26.395 --> 00:19:29.884 Some of that culture comes from that ownership that folks are saying, this is 00:19:29.885 --> 00:19:32.324 my business to this is my company too. 00:19:32.564 --> 00:19:34.014 And I'm going to do a good job here. 00:19:34.014 --> 00:19:35.154 I'm going to do a good job for you. 00:19:35.154 --> 00:19:35.404 Mr. 00:19:35.404 --> 00:19:35.774 Customer. 00:19:35.774 --> 00:19:36.054 Mr. 00:19:36.054 --> 00:19:36.624 Supplier. 00:19:37.214 --> 00:19:39.035 because number 1, it's who we are. 00:19:39.035 --> 00:19:42.305 Number 2, it influences that outcome. 00:19:42.785 --> 00:19:43.085 Victoria: Yeah. 00:19:43.125 --> 00:19:45.764 Do you find that it, it becomes more personal then 00:19:45.764 --> 00:19:47.495 versus public stock ownership? 00:19:47.515 --> 00:19:53.195 Cause obviously a lot of companies use stock options, public stock ownership 00:19:53.195 --> 00:19:57.405 as part of their employee value proposition or employee opportunities. 00:19:57.415 --> 00:20:00.225 So do you see that it, it shapes it differently 00:20:02.555 --> 00:20:04.515 Kris Maynard: I think it can. 00:20:04.565 --> 00:20:07.295 All ESOPs aren't created equal, for example I am. 00:20:07.295 --> 00:20:10.315 So there's some, there's some pretty horrific stories about ESOPs out there. 00:20:10.775 --> 00:20:14.505 but I think using the tool in the right way, where you're very intentional about 00:20:14.505 --> 00:20:17.905 educating your people on how the, how the, how we make money, how do we lose money? 00:20:18.485 --> 00:20:22.225 how does what you do every day impact, how do we make money and lose money? 00:20:22.745 --> 00:20:24.605 , we're an open book company. 00:20:24.745 --> 00:20:31.860 so we in 2015, we, we deployed a tool called the great game of 00:20:31.870 --> 00:20:36.390 business that so every Monday, if you came and visited us at 11 00:20:36.390 --> 00:20:37.770 o'clock, we have an all hands huddle. 00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:42.590 everybody gathers around and for the remote folks, they dial in and it gives us 00:20:42.590 --> 00:20:44.069 a time to share the sort of the metrics. 00:20:44.070 --> 00:20:45.160 How's the business doing? 00:20:45.370 --> 00:20:50.420 , we also use it as a time to thank, 1 of our peers for some, something 00:20:50.420 --> 00:20:53.030 that did exemplary that week to celebrate birthdays anniversaries. 00:20:53.560 --> 00:20:54.960 And it's a wonderful gathering time. 00:20:54.960 --> 00:21:00.340 So we were very intentional about connecting our folks as employee owners 00:21:00.680 --> 00:21:04.270 and educating them on what it means to be an employee owner and how what 00:21:04.270 --> 00:21:06.380 they do every day impacts results. 00:21:06.805 --> 00:21:07.535 Victoria: Yeah, cool. 00:21:07.855 --> 00:21:08.165 Awesome. 00:21:08.475 --> 00:21:10.995 So let's talk a little bit about what's going on in the industry. 00:21:12.495 --> 00:21:17.365 it's, I think it's been a whirlwind over the last several years. 00:21:17.415 --> 00:21:22.095 Obviously, we've all faced it COVID and post COVID. 00:21:23.165 --> 00:21:25.155 I don't know, this year we've got a lot going on as well. 00:21:25.164 --> 00:21:29.195 It seems, there's, there's a lots of ups and downs and changes. 00:21:29.625 --> 00:21:33.145 what do you see as the challenges facing the chemical industry today? 00:21:33.210 --> 00:21:35.625 Yeah. 00:21:35.690 --> 00:21:36.169 Kris Maynard: things, right? 00:21:36.170 --> 00:21:38.200 I mean, it was actually good for our business. 00:21:38.680 --> 00:21:41.500 The supply chain crisis was not good for our business. 00:21:42.120 --> 00:21:44.690 last year was really, really difficult 23. 00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:46.260 so I am thankful. 00:21:46.260 --> 00:21:51.130 Well, we're We're beyond that now and actually starting to see, buying 00:21:51.130 --> 00:21:55.240 patterns come back to what I would call sort of normal and normal for 00:21:55.240 --> 00:21:56.959 us is really more pre COVID right? 00:21:56.990 --> 00:22:01.100 Because you had the COVID spike and then they had the supply chain ditch. 00:22:02.810 --> 00:22:03.260 but I think, 00:22:05.590 --> 00:22:09.139 there's some obvious challenges around, how do we deploy AI? 00:22:09.540 --> 00:22:12.970 you've always got environmental issues and regulatory issues we're dealing with. 00:22:14.620 --> 00:22:17.560 but I think it sort of comes back to an earlier point in our conversation. 00:22:18.200 --> 00:22:20.260 I think, 00:22:22.900 --> 00:22:27.620 being privately held versus ownership, whether it's public or private equity, 00:22:28.390 --> 00:22:33.379 I, I see the impact of those things really drilling down into sort of 00:22:33.379 --> 00:22:35.860 the people's connectedness at work. 00:22:35.980 --> 00:22:38.700 When Gallup tells us that 70 percent of the U. 00:22:38.700 --> 00:22:38.860 S. 00:22:38.860 --> 00:22:39.940 workforce, depending on the year. 00:22:39.940 --> 00:22:41.640 It's about 70 percent about every year. 00:22:41.680 --> 00:22:41.970 The U. 00:22:41.970 --> 00:22:42.100 S. 00:22:42.100 --> 00:22:44.370 workforce comes to work every day and they hate their jobs. 00:22:45.090 --> 00:22:47.360 they don't have a best friend at work. 00:22:47.620 --> 00:22:47.990 Right? 00:22:47.990 --> 00:22:49.550 They don't respect their. 00:22:49.865 --> 00:22:52.125 Manager, these sorts of things. 00:22:52.465 --> 00:22:58.175 those things, I think particularly given some of the newer generation, whether it's 00:22:58.185 --> 00:23:03.144 millennials or the zoomers, those folks really want meaning in their work and 00:23:03.145 --> 00:23:07.815 they want a place that has a purpose that stands for something more than just a job. 00:23:08.855 --> 00:23:14.400 we spend most of our working hours, working life hours, now with with 00:23:14.400 --> 00:23:18.990 people we're working with and doing a task and, we try really, really hard 00:23:19.040 --> 00:23:23.190 to understand people's giftedness and try to connect them with a job 00:23:23.190 --> 00:23:28.140 that they can have joy in and, really do that with a team that does that. 00:23:28.330 --> 00:23:30.345 In a healthy environment. 00:23:31.070 --> 00:23:31.330 Victoria: Yeah. 00:23:31.330 --> 00:23:31.915 Yeah. 00:23:31.915 --> 00:23:36.520 So, so you talked about giftedness, , and I know that's part of your, 00:23:36.560 --> 00:23:39.199 your mission and your vision and your objectives of the company. 00:23:39.249 --> 00:23:42.689 What does that mean to you and what is it that you guys look for when you're 00:23:42.689 --> 00:23:44.379 trying to help people connect with this? 00:23:45.599 --> 00:23:45.789 Kris Maynard: Yeah. 00:23:45.789 --> 00:23:48.954 So, it really starts early. 00:23:48.954 --> 00:23:52.664 And we're interviewing a candidate coming in we may have a job 00:23:52.664 --> 00:23:57.034 opening and we're trying to trying to match somebody to that. 00:23:57.034 --> 00:24:01.614 So we've got a we're super intentional about the front door. 00:24:02.434 --> 00:24:05.934 I learned a long, long time ago, we hire character, we train skills. 00:24:06.524 --> 00:24:14.244 most folks Really look at, at skills, and say characters optional perhaps. 00:24:15.604 --> 00:24:20.174 so that's one of the things that makes our culture, I think continually, I'd say 00:24:20.174 --> 00:24:23.584 beautiful in a lot of ways, just by being super intentional about the front door. 00:24:23.584 --> 00:24:27.554 So, and then beyond that, once they get here we're pretty intentional 00:24:27.554 --> 00:24:31.504 about, they may come to us thinking they're really good at this. 00:24:31.514 --> 00:24:34.914 So this is really what their passion is but we're really, really open 00:24:34.914 --> 00:24:41.134 to helping them explore other potential avenues for them. 00:24:41.254 --> 00:24:44.334 And we've got a number of examples. 00:24:44.334 --> 00:24:47.694 So we've got a, a gal that worked in our customer service department for years. 00:24:48.084 --> 00:24:54.184 And then, right before Covid happened, she had sort of expressed along the 00:24:54.184 --> 00:25:01.064 way a desire to kind of maybe tinker in the lab a little bit, , and, , so. 00:25:01.659 --> 00:25:04.789 We started giving her that opportunity and then COVID happened 00:25:04.789 --> 00:25:07.079 and we were all panicking, trying to figure out different ways to 00:25:07.079 --> 00:25:08.679 thicken alcohol for hand sanitizers. 00:25:09.159 --> 00:25:12.779 And we couldn't get some of the more traditional chemistries as readily 00:25:12.779 --> 00:25:13.989 as we thought we could before. 00:25:14.429 --> 00:25:18.149 And she and the team came up with a lot of those solutions and she's 00:25:18.149 --> 00:25:21.339 now a full time lab tech for us, not a customer service person. 00:25:21.389 --> 00:25:23.229 And we've got so many stories like that. 00:25:23.229 --> 00:25:23.779 I could write a lot. 00:25:23.809 --> 00:25:27.939 Probably another another dozen of folks that came to us thinking 00:25:27.939 --> 00:25:29.289 they were going to do this. 00:25:29.289 --> 00:25:31.149 And now they're doing something completely different. 00:25:32.099 --> 00:25:33.859 great cultural fit, great character. 00:25:34.229 --> 00:25:38.219 but wanted to take some time and explore, man, is it possible? 00:25:38.219 --> 00:25:39.519 I could do that because I never. 00:25:39.749 --> 00:25:40.909 I never thought that was possible. 00:25:40.939 --> 00:25:44.439 So, we give them a lot of freedom to, to do some exploring and we've 00:25:44.439 --> 00:25:47.869 got some assessments we do to help them with that and try to put them 00:25:47.869 --> 00:25:49.159 in a seat that really excites them. 00:25:49.624 --> 00:25:50.134 Victoria: Yeah. 00:25:50.204 --> 00:25:54.354 So, so when I think about that it sounds like you're giving your employees a lot 00:25:54.584 --> 00:25:59.904 of leeway in, in many ways to figure out where their fit is and how they 00:25:59.904 --> 00:26:04.884 want business to run and certainly as owners they have a stake in that. 00:26:05.644 --> 00:26:07.434 but how do you ensure that alignment then? 00:26:07.444 --> 00:26:11.814 Is it tough to manage within that environment or what do you see as 00:26:12.084 --> 00:26:14.354 the opportunity to keep people? 00:26:14.934 --> 00:26:20.124 On mission, even as they are maybe shifting from where their focus is 00:26:20.144 --> 00:26:23.904 because they have an idea about where else they would be, would have a good fit. 00:26:25.169 --> 00:26:25.459 Kris Maynard: Yeah. 00:26:25.459 --> 00:26:28.359 So, this is where often I'll talk about different roles, although we 00:26:28.359 --> 00:26:30.689 are all employee owners, we have different roles in the business. 00:26:30.689 --> 00:26:30.969 Right. 00:26:30.969 --> 00:26:35.869 So, my role is different than, maybe the director of customer service, or even one 00:26:35.869 --> 00:26:39.519 of our customer service reps doesn't mean they don't have a voice in these things. 00:26:39.519 --> 00:26:42.709 We're very proactive in making sure our people do have a 00:26:42.709 --> 00:26:43.739 voice in a lot of these things. 00:26:43.739 --> 00:26:49.969 But at the same time, it is a business and we make decisions and, occasionally 00:26:49.969 --> 00:26:53.239 we've got to put somebody that there's a job here that needs to be done today. 00:26:53.689 --> 00:26:55.879 And we need to do that job today. 00:26:55.879 --> 00:26:56.239 And what's. 00:26:56.649 --> 00:27:00.339 let's back burner that and call it a development opportunity 00:27:00.679 --> 00:27:02.549 and we'll help you with that. 00:27:02.549 --> 00:27:08.989 so just because somebody is as an employee owner doesn't necessarily mean they come 00:27:08.989 --> 00:27:11.209 in and start sort of calling the shots. 00:27:11.209 --> 00:27:15.039 That sounds harsh, but it's really an easy conversation to have in the right 00:27:15.089 --> 00:27:19.209 cultural environment where people feel like, I always picture it as , you 00:27:19.209 --> 00:27:23.149 see these rowing competitions in the Olympics and they're fantastic, as 00:27:23.149 --> 00:27:27.799 everybody's doing their part in sync and on step and you've got somebody 00:27:27.799 --> 00:27:31.679 in the front of the boat who's making sure everybody's on the right cadence. 00:27:32.299 --> 00:27:34.339 but if everybody's got their oar in the water and they're rowing the right 00:27:34.339 --> 00:27:35.509 direction, it's a beautiful thing. 00:27:36.219 --> 00:27:38.369 So Chris, we've talked a lot about. 00:27:39.169 --> 00:27:42.609 The supplier relationship and how the business that you formed with 00:27:42.609 --> 00:27:46.439 essential ingredients is very supplier centric in a lot of ways, right? 00:27:46.449 --> 00:27:48.619 Changing some of that, uh, relationship. 00:27:49.089 --> 00:27:52.819 And then as well as being, uh, employee owned, very people centered, 00:27:52.819 --> 00:27:55.899 and that has a significant impact on your employee experience. 00:27:56.374 --> 00:27:57.404 What about the customers? 00:27:57.424 --> 00:28:01.324 How do you think about your customers and the experience that they have 00:28:01.324 --> 00:28:02.794 when they're working with you guys? 00:28:04.034 --> 00:28:04.274 Yeah. 00:28:04.274 --> 00:28:07.384 So even early in our business, I remember walking around and telling 00:28:07.384 --> 00:28:10.414 everybody, you know, Hey guys, the customer pays our salary, right? 00:28:10.414 --> 00:28:15.194 So not losing sight of the fact that, uh, you know, without customers, we're 00:28:15.194 --> 00:28:17.904 nothing in our case as a distributor without suppliers, we're nothing. 00:28:17.904 --> 00:28:22.054 So, um, we've always walked that, uh, that tight rope of, making sure that 00:28:22.054 --> 00:28:25.844 we are partnering well with suppliers, but also partnering well with customers. 00:28:26.284 --> 00:28:29.424 We've tried to be super intentional about elevating the, what do we 00:28:29.424 --> 00:28:30.784 call the customer experience here? 00:28:30.784 --> 00:28:32.814 In fact, we've got a director of customer experience. 00:28:33.234 --> 00:28:34.184 Um, yep. 00:28:34.184 --> 00:28:37.924 So, uh, her sole job, Julie Vibert, you may want to have her on the show 00:28:37.924 --> 00:28:41.464 someday, but, her sole job is, is elevating the customer experience. 00:28:41.474 --> 00:28:44.604 We do some fun things like, you know, have a customer advisory panel where 00:28:44.604 --> 00:28:47.654 we get feedback from some of our better customers that tell us, you know, what's 00:28:47.654 --> 00:28:49.304 working, what's not, what can we tweak? 00:28:49.764 --> 00:28:52.764 We try hard to have dedicated customer service reps that are building 00:28:52.764 --> 00:28:56.024 relationships again at a different level than the sales interaction. 00:28:56.404 --> 00:28:59.504 In the customers, uh, customer relationship managers, what we call 00:28:59.504 --> 00:29:05.114 them actually, um, is, is probably talking to that buyer, uh, three to 00:29:05.114 --> 00:29:09.134 four or five times more often than the seller, um, the salesperson. 00:29:09.544 --> 00:29:12.684 So, you know, those relationships, uh, and I've always said we sell 00:29:12.684 --> 00:29:13.944 relationships, not chemicals. 00:29:13.994 --> 00:29:16.874 Uh, it's this idea of building and forging these relationships with 00:29:16.884 --> 00:29:20.154 customers and, and kind of comes back full circle to building trust 00:29:20.494 --> 00:29:21.934 in that trusting environment. 00:29:21.934 --> 00:29:23.129 So, uh, we're still, 00:29:26.159 --> 00:29:27.899 I'd say we're really good at it. 00:29:27.939 --> 00:29:30.149 We're not as good as I want us to be at this. 00:29:30.189 --> 00:29:31.519 And I think we can always get a little better. 00:29:31.939 --> 00:29:32.829 Um, It's a journey. 00:29:33.109 --> 00:29:33.889 It is a journey. 00:29:33.939 --> 00:29:34.789 Um, Yeah. 00:29:34.819 --> 00:29:39.809 But, uh, we, we really, really try hard to not, well, we say not satisfy our 00:29:39.809 --> 00:29:41.989 customers, but delight our customers. 00:29:42.359 --> 00:29:42.579 Yeah. 00:29:42.599 --> 00:29:46.909 We can all think of situations we've been in before when we walk out of a, uh, 00:29:46.919 --> 00:29:49.089 you bought something or you had a meal. 00:29:49.389 --> 00:29:51.729 When you walk out and you're like, I can't believe that just happened. 00:29:51.729 --> 00:29:54.929 It just kind of blow your mind, uh, service. 00:29:54.929 --> 00:29:56.629 Like I would have paid more for that. 00:29:56.679 --> 00:30:00.649 They're not often, uh, you know, but when you, when they happen, it's, 00:30:00.659 --> 00:30:05.219 it's shocking because we, we sort of get lulled into this mediocrity 00:30:05.359 --> 00:30:07.499 when it comes to transactions. 00:30:07.919 --> 00:30:11.679 And we want those experiences for our customers to be delight, 00:30:11.739 --> 00:30:13.159 not just a satisfactory. 00:30:13.159 --> 00:30:13.179 True. 00:30:14.319 --> 00:30:15.439 Yeah, I really like that. 00:30:15.439 --> 00:30:18.819 I like the idea of having the customer advisory panel, I think. 00:30:19.424 --> 00:30:23.794 Um, I think that's probably lacking, not that companies don't go in and 00:30:24.134 --> 00:30:28.194 survey their customers and ask them questions, but being very deliberate 00:30:28.284 --> 00:30:33.534 about the form in which you bring that input in and leverage it and harness 00:30:33.534 --> 00:30:39.579 it, I think it's so critical because It's easy to misunderstand why your 00:30:39.579 --> 00:30:42.979 customers are doing what they do and the experience that they actually have. 00:30:43.019 --> 00:30:46.189 Uh, so, so fostering that relationship is really critical. 00:30:46.469 --> 00:30:51.839 The other thing that strikes me, um, is of course you're based in Atlanta, which I 00:30:51.859 --> 00:30:53.989 think is also where Chick fil A is based. 00:30:53.989 --> 00:30:54.989 There's somewhere in the South. 00:30:55.019 --> 00:31:00.744 I think about Chick fil A and, um, And Dan Cathy and, and the, uh, 00:31:00.874 --> 00:31:02.264 customer culture that they've built. 00:31:02.264 --> 00:31:02.544 Right. 00:31:02.544 --> 00:31:05.754 So even just the whole response of, you know, my pleasure. 00:31:05.854 --> 00:31:06.164 Right. 00:31:06.174 --> 00:31:10.224 So I think, have you guys taken any cues from that as you've, uh, 00:31:10.264 --> 00:31:11.664 as you've developed what you do? 00:31:11.984 --> 00:31:15.414 We have, you know, and I often compare when I'm telling our story, when somebody 00:31:15.414 --> 00:31:17.974 is coming in, like for an interview, for example, and, and, you know, if 00:31:17.974 --> 00:31:21.979 I get involved in those situations, I often compare, you know, In contrast, 00:31:21.999 --> 00:31:24.819 Chick fil A, an experience at Chick fil A versus, you know, one of the 00:31:24.819 --> 00:31:26.309 other fast food chains out there. 00:31:26.359 --> 00:31:28.179 I asked him, I mean, does it feel different? 00:31:28.189 --> 00:31:29.804 Why do you go to Chick fil A and pay a cashier? 00:31:30.174 --> 00:31:32.154 You know, I'd say significantly more for your lunch. 00:31:32.154 --> 00:31:33.164 As a premium, yeah. 00:31:33.214 --> 00:31:36.834 Um, you know, instead of going to Wendy's, McDonald's, Burger King, I 00:31:36.834 --> 00:31:39.894 think it helps them understand a little bit more clearly, more 00:31:39.894 --> 00:31:41.944 quickly, what we're trying to do here. 00:31:42.234 --> 00:31:45.964 And we're fortunate to be in the same geography as Chick fil A, because our 00:31:45.964 --> 00:31:49.964 customer relationship manager earlier, she takes crews down to Chick-fil-A 00:31:50.374 --> 00:31:54.234 and they allowed us to come down and kind of, we dip our folks in that tank 00:31:54.234 --> 00:31:57.534 a little bit and, and, and they're, they share some of their wisdom with 00:31:57.534 --> 00:32:01.914 us about, how they do things, why they do things more importantly, and, uh, 00:32:01.914 --> 00:32:03.354 the outcomes of some of those things. 00:32:03.354 --> 00:32:06.414 So, uh, it's a great, comparison, I think. 00:32:06.444 --> 00:32:07.904 Um, and they're a great model. 00:32:08.539 --> 00:32:09.269 That's very cool. 00:32:10.109 --> 00:32:13.669 Victoria: so let's talk a little bit about a hundred year company. 00:32:14.069 --> 00:32:17.129 , what does that mean to 00:32:19.339 --> 00:32:19.519 you? 00:32:19.519 --> 00:32:24.474 Kris Maynard: 100 years is a in the air kind of a number, but, I was 00:32:24.474 --> 00:32:27.554 really introduced to that through an organization called Tugboat Institute. 00:32:27.604 --> 00:32:33.764 It's a group of owners of businesses that have this desire to build a business 00:32:33.764 --> 00:32:39.754 to last for generations, generationally owned, aren't in the camp of sort of 00:32:39.764 --> 00:32:44.934 build to sell and really because some of the things we've already talked 00:32:44.944 --> 00:32:49.104 about, the value of people, the value of businesses doing good in our communities. 00:32:49.509 --> 00:32:49.909 Victoria: Yeah, 00:32:50.174 --> 00:32:52.114 Kris Maynard: businesses have been around a long, long time. 00:32:53.474 --> 00:32:58.434 They're well known and they there's some, there's legacy associated with that. 00:32:58.464 --> 00:33:01.994 I'm not interested in my personal legacy, but I am interested in our business being 00:33:01.994 --> 00:33:06.534 able to propagate for generations of employee owners and coming back to our 00:33:06.534 --> 00:33:08.164 purpose of being a blessing to others. 00:33:08.724 --> 00:33:13.814 I think about those others as potential employee owners that folks that I will 00:33:13.814 --> 00:33:21.594 never get to meet 30 years from now when I'm gone but still enjoying the 00:33:21.764 --> 00:33:23.364 this place that we call cathedral. 00:33:24.324 --> 00:33:27.884 We call it cathedral intentionally, because cathedrals take typically hundreds 00:33:27.884 --> 00:33:31.604 of years to build the people that start them don't get to see them finished. 00:33:32.064 --> 00:33:35.664 but people typically recognize cathedrals as something that's 00:33:35.664 --> 00:33:37.294 there standing the test of time. 00:33:37.674 --> 00:33:40.404 It was intended to be something beautiful from the outset. 00:33:40.784 --> 00:33:44.094 When I walk in an old cathedral I often think about, man, how many 00:33:44.524 --> 00:33:47.654 thousands and thousands of people have walked over this threshold? 00:33:47.674 --> 00:33:53.044 And I can see the concrete or the stone is actually beaten down and it's got 00:33:53.694 --> 00:33:58.464 marks in it from just wear of the amount of shoes and have walked through there. 00:33:58.754 --> 00:34:02.154 And I think about the people that have been blessed in those opportunities. 00:34:02.154 --> 00:34:05.064 And so that's the vision in the meaning behind it. 00:34:06.054 --> 00:34:08.464 really, it's the impact on people over a long period of time. 00:34:09.004 --> 00:34:09.844 Victoria: Yeah, that's awesome. 00:34:09.844 --> 00:34:11.684 And, and I've been in a lot of cathedrals. 00:34:11.684 --> 00:34:14.014 In fact, most recently was in France this summer 00:34:16.174 --> 00:34:21.114 , and we went to Chartres, which is in France and they started building it in 00:34:21.814 --> 00:34:25.564 1189, so almost a thousand years ago. 00:34:25.994 --> 00:34:30.174 And there is the, there may be a better name for it, but 00:34:30.174 --> 00:34:31.404 they call it the choir wall. 00:34:31.414 --> 00:34:34.824 So it would basically be the wall that goes around the choir, around the whole 00:34:34.854 --> 00:34:39.214 altar, , et cetera, immensely detailed. 00:34:39.214 --> 00:34:46.254 this beautiful sculptured wall that I don't know how long it took. 00:34:46.264 --> 00:34:50.234 In fact, I mean, took hundreds of craftsmen probably and in 00:34:50.244 --> 00:34:52.804 skilled craftsmen and sculptors, hundreds of years to do it. 00:34:52.804 --> 00:34:53.844 And it's still there. 00:34:54.704 --> 00:34:56.284 , it's still having the test of time. 00:34:56.284 --> 00:35:01.974 And in fact, my husband, he's like, what happened to all the sculptors? 00:35:01.974 --> 00:35:06.734 Well, , a lot of things number, , one of which was also in the middle ages. 00:35:07.259 --> 00:35:09.319 Building the church was your job, right? 00:35:09.569 --> 00:35:11.789 As opposed to today, we've got all kinds of industry. 00:35:12.179 --> 00:35:19.649 It's amazing really how some things can live for generations, right? 00:35:19.679 --> 00:35:25.119 It goes multiple generations and the impact that that has, it's really cool. 00:35:27.439 --> 00:35:30.639 Kris Maynard: often tell the story, there was a, an architect in London after the 00:35:30.639 --> 00:35:35.989 London fires, and I think it was around 1780, there was a big fire in London, 00:35:36.019 --> 00:35:41.669 and he was charged with rebuilding the cathedrals in London, and you probably 00:35:41.669 --> 00:35:45.219 heard the story, but he goes to one worker, and he says, what are you doing? 00:35:45.219 --> 00:35:47.749 And he gets a gruff answer, and he's dressed in plain clothes this day, and 00:35:47.749 --> 00:35:49.639 this guy was a gentleman architect. 00:35:50.454 --> 00:35:53.194 But the guy says, I'm laying bricks and goes around the 00:35:53.194 --> 00:35:54.174 corner and there's another one. 00:35:54.174 --> 00:35:55.404 And he says, I'm building a wall. 00:35:55.404 --> 00:35:57.654 And the 3rd, when he walks around the corner there, you're 00:35:57.654 --> 00:35:59.034 singing in the background. 00:35:59.524 --> 00:36:01.244 And he's wondering, he walks in. 00:36:01.244 --> 00:36:02.364 He says, what are you gentlemen doing? 00:36:02.364 --> 00:36:07.044 He said, Hey, we're building a cathedral, so really this vision of not doing this 00:36:07.044 --> 00:36:12.654 task, laying bricks, building a wall, but this vision of what we're doing over 00:36:12.654 --> 00:36:16.404 a much longer, broader period of time, even outside their lifespan brought 00:36:16.424 --> 00:36:18.064 meaning to their work that gave them joy. 00:36:18.594 --> 00:36:18.924 Victoria: Yeah. 00:36:19.174 --> 00:36:19.604 Awesome. 00:36:19.694 --> 00:36:20.194 Really cool. 00:36:20.354 --> 00:36:24.004 So, so Kris, let's talk about leadership advice. 00:36:24.014 --> 00:36:26.704 And this is a question I've been asking a lot recently. 00:36:28.334 --> 00:36:32.764 what advice do you have for someone entering the industry that perhaps 00:36:32.764 --> 00:36:37.554 wants to follow in your footsteps and achieve the success in the 00:36:37.574 --> 00:36:39.304 vision that you've achieved? 00:36:39.324 --> 00:36:40.204 What's your advice? 00:36:40.204 --> 00:36:44.034 Kris Maynard: when I think back on my college years, and I'm a Gen X. 00:36:45.114 --> 00:36:49.344 so the Gen Xers were really about pursuing a paycheck. 00:36:49.934 --> 00:36:52.974 it was about being successful quickly and these sorts of things. 00:36:53.614 --> 00:36:58.784 And I think about all these folks that I knew in college and went on 00:36:58.784 --> 00:37:01.064 to these jobs, typically financial jobs and these sorts of things. 00:37:02.974 --> 00:37:05.054 I would ask first, why do you want to do that? 00:37:05.534 --> 00:37:06.859 what is what is driving you? 00:37:06.859 --> 00:37:07.699 Is it a paycheck? 00:37:07.699 --> 00:37:10.669 Is it some sort of income associated with it? 00:37:10.669 --> 00:37:13.069 Or is it something you really feel like you're good at something? 00:37:13.079 --> 00:37:16.099 That's going to bring you joy. 00:37:16.139 --> 00:37:17.549 You're not going to come home and kick the dog. 00:37:18.549 --> 00:37:19.609 We all have bad days at work. 00:37:19.649 --> 00:37:20.359 Believe me, I do. 00:37:21.629 --> 00:37:25.919 but, thinking about what it is that really, really excites you. 00:37:25.919 --> 00:37:27.539 Inside or outside the chemical industry. 00:37:27.929 --> 00:37:33.129 Then for leadership advice, when I ask most leaders of businesses, why 00:37:33.129 --> 00:37:37.499 you exist, it typically comes back to some of those financial metrics that 00:37:37.509 --> 00:37:40.009 we talked about before, shareholder value, these sorts of things. 00:37:40.559 --> 00:37:44.259 I just encourage folks to elevate above that a little bit more and 00:37:45.109 --> 00:37:51.749 think about humanity in a different way and elevating above sort of 00:37:52.249 --> 00:37:53.959 the task or the job or the company. 00:37:54.399 --> 00:37:56.679 And think about the impact on people. 00:37:57.929 --> 00:37:58.269 Victoria: Love it. 00:37:58.709 --> 00:37:59.119 Cool. 00:37:59.569 --> 00:38:00.969 Well, Kris, thank you. 00:38:01.069 --> 00:38:02.059 This has been really cool. 00:38:02.059 --> 00:38:08.719 And I love your perspective on business and how visionary you are and how 00:38:08.979 --> 00:38:11.059 people and human centered you are. 00:38:11.059 --> 00:38:13.489 And it's really great to see. 00:38:14.029 --> 00:38:14.959 So thanks for sharing that 00:38:15.049 --> 00:38:15.759 Kris Maynard: you're welcome. 00:38:15.759 --> 00:38:16.439 I'm glad to be here. 00:38:16.439 --> 00:38:16.699 Thank you. 00:38:16.699 --> 00:38:17.189 Victoria. 00:38:17.249 --> 00:38:17.819 Victoria: Absolutely. 00:38:18.149 --> 00:38:19.609 And thanks everyone for listening. 00:38:19.609 --> 00:38:22.319 Keep listening, keep following, keep sharing, and we will 00:38:22.319 --> 00:38:23.649 talk to you again soon.