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Sean Sidders, Founder of Mallard Agency, sits down with other Founders & CEOs from across Dallas-Fort Worth to discuss the ups and downs of business leadership. These honest, authentic, and practical discussions will leave you with tangible insights that will leave you feeling inspired, equipped, and encouraged.
What do you see on the future, both in terms of the the business itself and and for you personally?
Speaker 2:What I have found historically when it comes to our core business, which is printing paper. Right?
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Is that when one door shuts, another one seems to open.
Speaker 1:Hey, everyone. My name is Sean Sittters. I'm the CEO and founder of Mallard Agency. And welcome to the first episode of Founders in Flight. I'm so excited for you to meet Don Clampett today.
Speaker 1:Not only is he a staple in the Dallas business community, but honestly, he's just a really great guy. I think you're gonna learn a few things from our conversation today. The first thing is how to delight your customers. Also, how do you actually create a business that carries on a meaningful legacy? And then three, how do you actually face those challenges and actually sustain through them as an entrepreneur?
Speaker 1:Stay tuned and enjoy the episode. Well, Don, thank you so much for, taking the time to be on our podcast. It means a lot to me and, obviously, respect you so so much. Would love for you to just introduce yourself, tell us a little bit about Clamp It paper. And you've been around for, is it, eighty four, eighty five years?
Speaker 2:Almost eighty four years.
Speaker 1:Wow. So impressive. Tell us the story of, I guess, your story and also your family's story because I'm guessing you haven't been in business yourself for eighty four years.
Speaker 2:I moisturize. Yeah.
Speaker 1:That's there you go. I love it.
Speaker 2:Oh, no. So I guess the story kinda begins with my mother and father. My dad worked for a couple of different paper companies around Dallas. And finally, a couple of his customers said, Max, we think you could do this better on your own. And so they said, if you start your own company, you know, we'll find a way to buy paper from you.
Speaker 2:So he borrowed $50,000 from a local investor here because there weren't private equity back in 1941 and 50,000 from Republic National Bank. And, I still actually have the check. You know, as they paid back the loan, my mother would write into this ledger.
Speaker 1:So cool. That's so on brand for you.
Speaker 2:Totally. Yeah. So, you know, as they went along, the silent partner, the PUI got the some of the fit the fit first fifty thousand from, there was a ten year buy sell agreement. So the company had been in ten years. There was a they had opened up in Houston, and they'd opened up, I believe, in Fort Worth.
Speaker 2:And, the, my mother got a call from a friend who had been reading the Wall Street Journal, and she my mom's name was Marinel. And the lady said, Marinel, I'm reading the this paper, and there's an ad in here for a business for sale that sounds like a whole lot like clamping paper. And so she you know, they didn't have cell phones. Right? So they had to the lady drives over, gives mom the newspaper.
Speaker 2:My mom calls my father at the offices. Max, you need to come see this. So he drives home, gets the newspaper, and sure enough, his sound partner had tried this trying to sell
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:His share of the company out from underneath my father.
Speaker 1:Oh my goodness.
Speaker 2:And so not knowing all the details behind it. Now I'm gonna fast forward. I had to give a speech to the Dallas Historical Society about the Clampett paper company history. Well, I realized the last forty something years, forty six, forty seven, I'm pretty good with. The first forty little little shy.
Speaker 2:So I got my dad's secretary, and and then I went to my dad's right hand guy named George Nelian. George is very hard of hearing, but still very together, you know, very aware. And I said, George, you remember when this happened? What was it like for the employees in Clampett who'd been there ten years and worked with my dad?
Speaker 1:And how many employees was it at that time?
Speaker 2:I think they had maybe in Dallas, probably 15
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:To 15.
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:And he says, your dad called us in the lunchroom, and he said, look. I'm in a lawsuit with the partner. And he goes, I'm prepared to take the company into bankruptcy and start over in Fort Worth under another name.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:And I kinda like sharing that story
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Because I think it really it kind of speaks to the resilience Mhmm. That the company has had over the years through different scenarios.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I mean and business is really a seasonal, you know, venture. You go through these seasons of extreme success and growth and then seasons of real challenge and decline even in instances. And, you know, if you've been in business for almost eighty four years, you've been through multiple different seasons.
Speaker 2:You think about that was before the end of World War
Speaker 1:two. Right.
Speaker 2:You know?
Speaker 1:Wow. That is so incredible. I mean, you're such a Clampett is such a staple in the Dallas Fort Worth community. And, I guess, how how did you really pick up on that resilience from your mother and your father and then kind of almost carry that legacy forward? And and if I'm not mistaken, you're, you have multiple family members in the business still, that are, that are your kids.
Speaker 1:And so how are you passing that along to them? It seems like there just has to be kind of this common family thread of resilience in order to have a business that's actually sustained for that long.
Speaker 2:Well so, boy, that's, you know, that's a multi part question you just had.
Speaker 1:Well, we have a while.
Speaker 2:So, I think so when I came into the business, I kinda always knew I was gonna be in the business. So I got to work with my father for twenty two years. So he was kinda my hero. Mhmm. K?
Speaker 2:Yeah. And, obviously, I spent a whole lot more time with my father than I did my mom. My mom had when I was in college had a stroke and I was going to go to work at Denver for another company. But then the family said, we think you ought to come back. So I came back and my brother was in the business as well.
Speaker 2:So, and my sister is also tied to the paper business, been in a separate business. So, you know, came back, got to work with him a lot of years and the way I viewed it when he, you know, being part of that company was a gift to me almost. And so now you have this gift, you wanna pass it forward. And I think having my kids come in the business, I'd like them to have the same opportunity that I was given. And because but it all starts with do you enjoy and love what you do and find satisfaction.
Speaker 2:If you don't, then don't do it for his sakes. But so the good news is, my daughter who's now VP of marketing and my son who's having a lot of success in Denver, you know, or both in the business. My oldest one now is a pastor, so I figured he's gonna save us all. And, but it's it's it's very fortunate. So that's kinda where the, you know, the ownership lies today.
Speaker 1:Man, so cool to, I mean, I noticed immediately as soon as I met you all that you had a really special relationship with your kids. I mean, even just watching you interact with Meredith and really just, like, just stepping foot into your business for five minutes, it's pretty apparent that this is a family business, a substantial family business at that, but one in which, like, the word legacy, like, really comes to mind. I mean, if you walk around your office, I see, you know, pictures that, of, you know, the same space, but fifty years ago or, you know, the city of Dallas as seen through the 1985 lens. And, it's so it's just full of history and legacy, but I know that, you know, that journey hasn't necessarily been perfect all the way through.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1:I mean, you've gone through things like, COVID and I'm sure just numbers of other challenges, even in the last decade. I'm curious, like, what's what's something that has been a real challenge for you? What's, like, maybe one of those low points where, you're you're like, wow. This is gonna take that extra level of resilience for you personally in the business.
Speaker 2:Well, you know, when I go back and look at my so I've been there now forty five years. Right? Mhmm. So when I look at my career there and I remember I was a young sales guy, and we had these two real hotshot, we'll call them sales managers,
Speaker 1:never
Speaker 2:go sales managers, and love them. They were great guys, good role models, good leaders, good paper guys. And one day, I pulled up the office and our sales manager left to go to work for a competitor. Mhmm. I was shocked.
Speaker 2:I'm like, why would he do that? You know what I mean?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I remember going in and talking to my dad. And said, hey, you know, are we going to be okay? Yeah. My father smiled and he goes absolutely. You know, hey, he's really not gonna be terribly qualified to run a division paper division.
Speaker 2:He's a great paper salesman, but we'll be fine. Don't you worry. We'll just keep doing what we do. And that's kind of been the the story is kinda keep on doing what you're doing, working and leaning into stuff. And, you know, if you look at that and play it forward in some different scenarios, we had a, we unfortunately had an incident at our company back in February where a guy actually died on our property.
Speaker 2:And, we used to have these big events, graphic art shows, we called them.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:And, so that was in October, and I'm I'm kinda freaked out about it, frankly. Mhmm. And, again, my father was still alive, and and we had these offices. We share these windows.
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:And Dallas Morning News and one radio station or TV station was in the lobby. Won an interview. And I looked at my father, and I said, hey. What are you, what are you thinking about all this? My dad pushed back from his desk, looked up, and he goes, Don, a good company needs a crisis about every ten years to test its resilience.
Speaker 2:Wow. And I'm like, okay. Gotcha. Wow. So he passed away in January.
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:So if you think about us in this would have been two thousand one. So we he passed away. So now you got the state taxes, right?
Speaker 1:Yeah. You
Speaker 2:got a state issues coupled with a lawsuit, wrongful death lawsuit.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:And so when I started as CEO, that was some of the challenges within the first eighteen months besides trying to
Speaker 1:Man, oh, man.
Speaker 2:Sell paper.
Speaker 1:Well Right. Jeez. I mean, that just puts everything into perspective. I mean, everybody has if you're an entrepreneur, you know that you're gonna I mean, if you don't know, just a a quick warning to anybody, you're gonna experience some challenges and some stuff. It comes with the territory.
Speaker 1:Right? But, you know, in the midst of those, things, what a what a helpful perspective to be able to look back and and kind of have the that seasonality perspective of this is a season of challenge, and, it is just almost a prerequisite for being in business for yourself. And you have to learn and also develop that support system around you to be able to actually navigate that successfully and then be able to come out on the other side of it having, you know, dealt with it and treated people fairly in the process and, be able to make your business better at the end of the day. I'm curious if there's, for you, what why do you like working for yourself? Some people, whenever I'm talking to them, they all they ask me a question like that.
Speaker 1:They're like, that just seems kinda crazy. Like, isn't that stressful? You know? Like, isn't that I'm like, yeah. But I really wouldn't have it any other way.
Speaker 1:I'm curious for you. Why do you choose that that crazy path that other people might see as a little bit extreme?
Speaker 2:Well, my my son, my oldest one, when I was in Albuquerque Two Weeks ago, he I we have just purchased an envelope manufacturing firm up in Broomfield, Colorado.
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:K? And so that essentially gives us 23 different locations where we have bricks and mortar. And my son looked at me and he goes, how are you coping with the stress of all this? And for some reason, you know, I I looked at it was it, I don't find it that stressful. I say, you know, it's really kind of where you set those expectations.
Speaker 2:I know there's gonna be bumps in the road buying a company. Mhmm. Right? And whether I bought the company or didn't, there's always gonna be challenges. Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Personnel, whatever. And you just gotta be willing to kinda, you know, deal with it. And Mhmm. Here's a lesson.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:If you have a problem, deal with it now.
Speaker 1:Don't wait.
Speaker 2:Don't wait. Yeah. Because those problems get bigger and they get infected.
Speaker 1:Isn't that so true?
Speaker 2:Yeah. It's so true. So but I feel that it's interesting. I mean, I I look at what's going on in Colorado is just a real opportunity for us to kind of create some more street cred for us in the Rocky Mountain region and bring a little of the Clampett love to not that Colorado needs any more love, but you know what I mean? And, because I think we do things just a little differently than some of our competitors.
Speaker 1:Oh, you definitely do. That's for that's for certain. Anytime that we, that we're, doing a print project for a client or anything, I always make sure I say, make sure it's Clampett paper.
Speaker 2:And I and I thank you for that.
Speaker 1:I'm sure you do. Yeah. But I honestly can't help but buy into what you've created and what your family's created. I mean that genuinely, by the way, that, the experience of and and the way that we got acquainted, just a story from my side, is one of my employees had been introduced to Clampett in their college journey here in in DFW. And I posed the question to my team early on in my business of, if we were gonna go on a field trip somewhere, locally to learn something that has some adjacent parallels to to our business, that might be interesting for us to spend two or three hours, Where would you wanna go?
Speaker 1:Instantly. Clamp it. And for me, that was so, well, one, I was like, perfect. I don't have to think about it anymore. But we, contacted your team, quickly got a response, and I think we had a tour on the calendar maybe the next week.
Speaker 1:And we got a thorough view. You really one thing I really respect is that no matter who comes into the organization and into the building, they get that red carpet treatment. They get the full access. And, I really felt that. And, actually, I now that I'm saying this, I remember that day whenever we came and visited, I came back to my office after we had done that tour at Clampett, and you had sent me a LinkedIn message.
Speaker 1:I hadn't seen you there. I was just with Meredith the whole time, and my team was just with Meredith the whole time. But you had sent me a LinkedIn message and had thanked me for coming. And I found that to be I mean, one, how do you have the time to do that? Two, so reflective of how you treat your customers.
Speaker 1:And I I guess that's a question for you is, how do you sustain that level of customer interaction and, attention, in a business that's as large as yours. I'm really curious on how do you find the time to do something like that.
Speaker 2:That's the most important thing that I should be doing, in all honesty. I mean, like, we have no business without customers. I think part of it just goes to the fact that that's what I that's my enjoyment of the job. Yeah. And, you know, I enjoy, you know, when people are kind of surprised that I would call, you'd be shocked how many people I picked up the phone who left an a note through the website, and I called them.
Speaker 2:They're like, seriously? Are you who you say you
Speaker 1:are? Imposter. So,
Speaker 2:you know, but the point of the matter is, I think every it's the little things that you do, and I think that make oftentimes the biggest difference.
Speaker 1:So good. Have you ever, heard of the book unreasonable hospitality before?
Speaker 2:No. But I like the sound of it.
Speaker 1:Okay. Great. I'm gonna give you a copy before you leave today. And, it's a really it's it's right in this lane and talks about how those little moments for, for your customers and also your vendors and your community and your employees, kind of the full scope of the impact of your business is really defined by the smaller moments, the in between moments where you, you know, everybody gives a gift whenever, somebody signs a contract or whenever you get a big order or whenever you've been working with somebody for ten years or something like that. But what about those average Tuesday afternoons?
Speaker 1:And what about those, average interactions at the grocery store? And and how do you follow-up those interactions in ways that create these, like, meaningful experiences for people? And the example that he gives, his name is Will Gadera, and he ran the, number one restaurant in the world in New York City called Eleven Madison Park. And he stumbled upon some, some tourists who were in his restaurant, and they were they were eating the the best food in in the world, or at least having the best dining experience. And, as he passed their table, he overheard them talking about how they got to experience all the culinary, wonders of New York City except for a New York City hot dog on a street cart.
Speaker 1:And so he himself went outside to a street cart, got a hot dog, cut it into four pieces, and then delivered it to their table. And that to me is, well, I mean, one, just such a great story, but such a great representation of what you're talking about, which is having these, like, really deep levels of impact in people. So, anyways, I'll give you a copy. But, I'm curious, just from your perspective, you talk about, like, doing the thing that you really love to do and finding kind of your lane in the business, which you make it sound so easy, but but I know from my own personal experience that that's challenging to do, especially early on in your business of being able to almost well, one, have the self awareness to know what you're best at and also to have the self awareness of what you actually find to be the most fulfilling part of the business for you. How did you discover that for yourself?
Speaker 1:And talk to me about that journey.
Speaker 2:Well, you know, I've grown up in a family, right, that you know, a very sales driven family. My father was probably the finest sales guy ever.
Speaker 1:He sounds like it.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I mean, he was he but he was more than that. I mean, he was kind of a community leader because a matter of fact, I would ask him oftentimes let me ask you know, he was chairman of the Republican party here
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:In Texas. Wow. Asked to run for governor. My mom said you run for office, and I'll divorce you. Yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean, he he was involved in so many different community activities, and I'm kind of tangenting, but I got all these news clippings from a cousin whose mother had clipped all these clippings. And he was responsible for the regional post office coming to Dallas here. And there was a committee. He was in the civil defense community leader when remember the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:So you start thinking like, wait a minute. How did he have time to do all that and run a business? And I would ask him those questions and I never really got a straight answer, but he was always felt committed. He was always as equally committed to the community as he was to selling paper. And I think that kind of you look at how that fostered us our growth since that point in time.
Speaker 2:And the other thing he did that's so important, and I know you know this, Sean, is surround yourself with better people.
Speaker 1:So true.
Speaker 2:You know, that's and so may probably one of the things that I'm most fortunate was I mean, the president of the company was like a surrogate father to me. So sometimes when you can't communicate with your parent, you communicate with the right hand and he was incredibly good. And so I had some incredible mentorship coming in.
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:And then so but one thing that's always stayed with me is make sure that the people that are I have around are top drawer and equally as committed and aligned. So
Speaker 1:And, I mean, another thing about that is if you surround yourself with that wisdom, if you will, you really tend to get great insights on yourself that can really help with your self awareness. So in thinking about how you understand yourself as a leader and then translate that into crafting your role on the team in order to add the most value because your time is really valuable to Clampett. And other people would say, well, is that, you know, reaching out to that random agency owner who stopped by your office on LinkedIn, is that really worth that five minutes of your time? Because and and in your mind, you've developed such a understanding that the answer is yes. The answer is so much so yes.
Speaker 1:But I think a lot of times, just in the midst of the busyness of running a small company, large company, mid medium sized company, regardless, it can really be difficult for an entrepreneur to actually understand that value and give themselves the permission to actually just live in that simplicity and understand that that's the value that they carry for their organization. It's taken me a while to be truthful. You know, that's that's one insight that I'm learning from our conversation. I'm curious if you were to speak to, you can talk to me if you want because I'm pretty early on in my entrepreneurial journey. But, for somebody who is starting a business and they've achieved some level of viability, and they're getting to that com that that next level of complexity is probably a good word, what's something you would recommend to them?
Speaker 1:What's something some other lessons? You've already given me so many, but what are some other lessons that you've learned along the way, that you think might be helpful?
Speaker 2:So one thing or not one thing. It's a series of things. But and you do this, ironically, I believe. There's a word that I like to use, and I don't know if I've used it in anything we've done before, but it's called delight. And if you think about the word delight, it's not used just all the time.
Speaker 2:That's part of the reason I liked it. And because when is the last time you were actually delighted about anything?
Speaker 1:Interesting.
Speaker 2:You know, you go to a restaurant, you have great service. What delighted you. Right?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:But do you remember the bad? Mhmm. Sure.
Speaker 1:No doubt.
Speaker 2:So my point is I created an acronym around the word delight. And the delight acronym, the d, which I think every entrepreneur or any business owner needs to be top on the list. I mean, just wake up in the morning, you're determined to delight someone. Someone, anyone. Just try to who are you gonna delight today?
Speaker 2:Right? E is, are you doing it with authenticity and enthusiasm? Right? L, what have you learned from yesterday that you didn't you wanna put into practice today? I is are you inspirational at all?
Speaker 2:Mhmm. And how do we do that in intentional? G would be giving. Mhmm. You read the book, The Go Giver.
Speaker 2:Mhmm. I have. Incredibly, but good book.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Right? H is honoring taking that moment to honor the people that have come before you to blaze the trail. Mhmm. Were there.
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Okay. T is tomorrow. Because when today goes to shit, I've got tomorrow.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's so good.
Speaker 2:So that's my delight acronym. But if you look at that as kind of a a mantra a little bit, you'd be surprised at what can happen.
Speaker 1:That's so good. I feel like the word delight, it you're right. It's not used very often, but it feels, well, it feels, first of all, so clamped for you to use that word, which, you know, I think speaks to what your parents and what you and what your kids are creating and and your whole staff, which it really does carry through all the way through. And, it encourages people like me and I'm sure many others to to kind of, keep things in perspective. That's the the number one thing that's kinda coming to mind.
Speaker 2:That is, you know, you know, one of the biggest challenges I have. I mean, obviously, there are gonna be things that happen in any given day that are really gonna set you south. Right? Yeah. So part of my my challenge, this is a Don Clampettism, is I've gotta work on, you know, just taking a time to breathe and think about your response, a measured response.
Speaker 2:Right? Sometimes I wanna there is a certain time in every anybody that kinda goes full tilt in this thing, you find yourself going up and down and up and down and up and down. Yeah. And I think just take time to think about stuff before you just automatically do something.
Speaker 1:That's good. I, I have a, a professional coach that I, that I, reached out to early on in the business. It was one of the things where I was like, is this stupid? I'm not sure if this is stupid stupid or not, but I'm gonna do it anyways because it was one of the ways that I supported myself, which really helped me fuel the growth of our organization is, I I realized that I had to be I had to have some some place to be growing in my in my own way. And one of the things that her and I established heading into this year, was, the word steadiness.
Speaker 1:And for me, I I think a lot of entrepreneurs are fast, and and they have a lot of ideas, and they are inspired and usually pretty passionate people.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:They're not, the type that would passively sit at a desk for a long time and and be and just love doing the same thing over and over again.
Speaker 2:Not at all.
Speaker 1:I've never met anybody like that, but maybe I'm sure there's, anomalies out there. But the point is is that the vulnerability of that type of personality is, that you come up with a great idea and then get it started right away and ask others to buy into that vision. And you don't even really leave any room for consideration. That applies to, giving feedback to a team member. That, applies to releasing a new product, looking into acquisitions.
Speaker 1:I have ideas like that every hour. So for me, it's like this I I actually made a rule for myself. I said, in order for me to achieve steadiness, I have to be able to surround myself with people who have discernment. And discernment is something that I really honestly don't have very much of. I don't know if it's a good idea or a bad idea.
Speaker 1:I just know it's an idea that I wanna get started right now as of, like, five minutes ago. And, I think surrounding yourself going back to this kind of surrounding yourself with wisdom, I would also add discernment to that list. People who are able to identify, is that a good idea, or is that a maybe not a great idea? And be and and go actively pursue their perspective before you actually implement something.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:I think that that's something that I didn't do.
Speaker 2:Is a great word.
Speaker 1:Mhmm. It is. I think that it's also so freeing and and and challenging in moments Right. Whenever you, employ that strategy because it's honestly frustrating to me. One of the members of my team has discernment as one of what I would consider to be her one of her core competencies, and I, constantly go to her with, this is an idea.
Speaker 1:What do you think? And I think she kills about 80% of my ideas, which is pretty frustrating because I love my ideas. The more she's not here. But, really, for for me, that was, a really big pivot that allowed for me to really live out the word steadiness in my business, and, I think it relates directly to our conversation. One last question for you or or last topic is I wanna know what the what does the future of an eighty four year old business look like from your perspective?
Speaker 1:You know, the paper business could be seen as an antiquated industry who, you know, doesn't necessarily have as much use cases. I don't personally believe that, and I know you don't too, because there's a tangible impact of your product. I've I've felt it. I've experienced it. You just take two minutes to walk and clamp it, and you know that that's real.
Speaker 1:And, also, two minutes to interact with a real human in any marketing capacity, and you know that that's true. But I'm curious. What do you see on the future both in terms of the the business itself and and for you personally?
Speaker 2:Well, it's gonna be tough to pull me out of that business personally scenario. So let's just
Speaker 1:I get that.
Speaker 2:We'll stick within the business. The, you know, we have now with the 23 different locations with upside in so many markets. You know, we're very that Clampett in Dallas, in Houston, Fort Worth, and San Antonio, and Austin, we've been a staple there for a long time. You know? We still have room for growth.
Speaker 2:But what I have found historically when it comes to our core business, which is printing paper. Right?
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Is that when one door shuts, another one seems to open in that area. People will tell, oh, we don't print what we used to. Okay. What are you doing? Well so they they go away from print, some of these people.
Speaker 2:And all of a sudden, they realize somebody in the office says, hey. You know what? We need to print something to take out to a trade show or to do this or to do that. And all of a sudden print has a tendency to research. It's cyclical.
Speaker 2:Okay? Mhmm. And we're here. Part of our job is not just selling paper for Clampett, but it's to advocate for the entire industry, print, paper in our community in March. So that's that is something that I look at as a real few I'm not discounting the future of fine paper.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:K? Number two is we're looking at all kind you know, we're in signage now in wide format, and, you know, I think it's interesting. No matter how many times you tell a customer, oh, I sell equipment, and they go like, you sell equipment? Well, we've been selling equipment for about ten, twelve years. Mhmm.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And but they think of us as paper. Mhmm. So, you know, what do I see in the future? I could see potentially a brand of, like, Clamp It companies in lieu of just Clamp It paper.
Speaker 2:So, well, I've got a meeting after this at 02:00 from a manufacturer that makes a compostable food service product, paper food service, because, you know, we're single use plastic is kind of something
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:For a boat in there.
Speaker 1:Mhmm. Yeah.
Speaker 2:So, you know, we could potentially be in the food service paper industry. We've just in the process of installing a new sheeter if we can get our electrical scenarios right. Mhmm. Had some challenges. But, you know, I could see us converting stuff that may not necessarily be gone into the commercial printing market.
Speaker 2:So I mean, at the in my mind, the the opportunities are abundant, you know, it's just kind of which direction. Now, one thing I will tell you, whatever direction you take, and this is would be my piece of advice. If you decide to go down that road, you need to be the champion of the deal. Mhmm. Because it doesn't come from the top, then that sends mixed messages throughout.
Speaker 1:Mhmm.
Speaker 2:So we had a decision to make and find paper where we are gonna go, when we started diversify. And, you know, every all my fellow peers have gone into packaging. And packaging could be corrugated, bubble wrap, stretch film, any of those things. That just didn't interest me at all. And if I'm sitting at the top of the organization and what we're selling doesn't interest me, that's a bad thing.
Speaker 2:Right?
Speaker 1:So so
Speaker 2:So that's kinda how we ended up in signage because you think about the signage, it's still kind of largely substrate and ink on paper kind of product. Yeah. So it made a natural transition to that area. So whichever way we go, the folks our folks need to be a % aligned that we're gonna be in that vertical.
Speaker 1:And that really starts with you.
Speaker 2:I It starts with me.
Speaker 1:I think
Speaker 2:I I I don't mean I'm gonna carry the ball all the way down.
Speaker 1:Sure.
Speaker 2:But I just mean that Yeah. That that I think I have to be the
Speaker 1:I can be a cheerleader
Speaker 2:Right. Champion of the pro honor.
Speaker 1:Totally. I think that, if I can be honest, like, my one of the struggles for me early on was, I felt a little almost guilty for having my vision be the driving force behind my organization. And what I what I kinda discovered was that was a me problem, and I really needed to be able to understand understand that my team was really actually wanting that for me. I I was just forcing myself to feel like my vision for the company couldn't possibly be the only right way to do it. And and and, truthfully, like, my team was craving my passion and my, championing of our, direction as a company.
Speaker 1:And it wasn't until I established, and I actually, like, in private, developed a vision for the company. What are we going to achieve this year? What are we gonna achieve five years from now? And what are we gonna achieve ten years from now? How are we gonna do that?
Speaker 1:Why are we going to do that? And what is your part to play in that? And until I became the moved from this, like, almost like assistant coach to head coach, that switch of I used to be in the fight with my team and listening just as much as I was casting a vision, and I still, you know, pride myself on listening a lot. But I've transitioned into this head my my role on the team is to be the head coach and to cast a vision for what I see for Mallard. And just like you for Clampett, I think that that one has made me feel so much more well, it's just more natural for me.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I've given myself more permission to be me in my organization. And, at the end of the day, I did start this company, and people are buying into my vision for what this place is going to be. And, and the same thing applies to to Clampett. So I've experienced that, but I also know that that can be challenging for some people to actually feel permission to go full bore towards what you actually want and to say no to the things that you don't want even if everyone else is telling you to consider those things.
Speaker 1:You have to be passionate about it in order for it to be a potential success.
Speaker 2:That's exactly right. Yeah. It's, It's so good.
Speaker 1:Dawn, I just, I wanna thank you. You already know that I feel this way, but I want you to know that your, business has had a profound impact on my business. And, you, your daughter, and also your parents in a sense have had a real impact on on my company. I really appreciate that. You're a part of my story.
Speaker 1:I'm, grateful to even be a a very small part of yours in terms of, our team has obviously had the pleasure of being able to tell your story through video in a number of different ways. And, I gotta say those are some of the most fulfilling projects for not just me, but for my entire team. Everybody loves the Clampett family first, and then the business really follows after that. And I think that, you know, for you to take the time to share your wisdom with me and also others, I'm very appreciative of it, and I'm, I think you should be really proud of what your family has built.
Speaker 2:Well, I am extremely proud. And I'll also tell you that, you know, when you guys came in and then Meredith approached me with the idea, hey. These folks would like to do a video for us. And I'm like, you know, why?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know? And I remember we had a meeting subsequent to that, and then you guys came down. And I don't even think I remember that it was the day that it was on. All I know is I was showing up to the office for work, and next thing you know, we're in the middle of this video. And, let me tell you what was amazing about it.
Speaker 2:Okay? So I saw the the final version and before it actually got posted out there. And I'm like, we hardly know these people, and they encapsulated our lives as good as anybody ever has. Interestingly enough, I get a phone call from a guy. He says, look.
Speaker 2:I just got to watch your video, and me and Anna are crying. I said, what? He says, yeah. We watched your video on LinkedIn or wherever wherever it was posted. He goes, who are these people?
Speaker 2:My point is that you guys are really good at what you do.
Speaker 1:Thank you.
Speaker 2:And I think you've got great people. It's evident when they're in my building because everybody's got a smile and and very gracious and and and it's very comforting and somewhat for us, you know, knowing that you may be on camera, you know, it's nerve racking for
Speaker 1:a lot of folks. Totally.
Speaker 2:And I think you guys are real professional into it, and that and the messaging is on point on. So Thank you for that. My point is you're doing a fine job, and all I would do is keep pushing.
Speaker 1:I think that's so, well, one, just really, really appreciate that. And, two, what a, taking it full circle, what a delightful conversation. Thanks so much for your time.
Speaker 2:Hey. Thank you. Yeah. Enjoyed it.