Promo 35 Interview (facebook)
I was recently interviewed by Promo35 – an industry group established on Facebook for distributors under the age of 35 (I just made it)! A lot of the questions were quite creative so I needed some time to respond with something thoughtful.
The contents of the interview are below:
1. What do you wish you knew back in your 20’s that you know now?
To not take business so seriously. Business can be very emotionally draining, especially when it’s your own company. As much as possible, emotion should be removed from business as it can lead to poor business decisions.
2. What one thing do you wish you would have done in your earlier days? What one thing do you wish you would have NOT done in your earlier days?
I wish I had spent more time delegating in my early days. While it was worthwhile for me to “learn” the business by doing everything at the beginning, I could have brought people on board earlier to help me grow the business. In terms of something I wish I had NOT done, I wish I had stopped micromanaging earlier (this is such a hard thing for an entrepreneur to do, but ultimately a “hands off” approach is less stressful for everyone involved). Once I learned to give people their space, productivity increased dramatically,
3. What piece of advice would you give the younger generation hoping to be in your shoes later in life?
Get out of your comfort zone. Don’t be afraid to innovate and zig when other people zag. It’s very easy to get caught up in the herd mentality, but it’s hard to build a truly great, long-term and sustainable company by simply playing by the rules (think Apple, Netflix, Zappos, Amazon). Keep reading and attending industry (and non-industry) conferences – this will keep you on the cutting edge when it comes to new trends.
4. What helps you get up and go to work in the morning?
I love what I do and I get a kick out of what we have built at RIGHTSLEEVE, especially the impact our web presence has had on our business over the years. Our clients are fun to work with and my team is very committed to creating a great company and sustaining our unique positioning in the marketplace. I
am very fortunate to be a part of such a positive work culture,
5. Name a vice you have?
Technology (I am a tech, social media, and web geek).
6. What would you stand up for no matter how much backlash came with it?
The value of a liberal arts education vs the constant focus on business and engineering degrees. (I graduated in 1996 after taking a 4 year undergrad in Arts. It helped lay the foundation for my entrepreneurial career as it taught me how to communicate, present and be very inquisitive).
7. Is the customer really always right? Please no politically correct responses; we want your honest opinion.
No. However, it makes good business sense to side with the customer as a quick resolution to a problem can work wonders for your reputation. If the customer is taking advantage of us, we will politely side with them the first time, but will choose to move on from the relationship after that point. There are too many good customers out there and it does not make sense to be working with a customer who is not aligned with our values.
8. What famous person has this world put up on a Pedestal that you believe does not deserve to be there?
A tie between Paris Hilton and Perez Hilton.
9. If all of a sudden you had control over the entire Promotional product industry what ONE thing would you change?
The lack of professionalism in the industry. I love the business of promotional products, but I think that this industry attracts too many people who lack professionalism and are looking for a quick buck. It will be hard to be seen as equals with the advertising industry (the industry we often try to compare ourselves to) until this changes. Having said this, the industry has made great strides in recent years to improve our image (via the PPAI, ASI, regional associations).
35. Your turn to ask a question, you can ask any question you want, something you want the readers to think about and answer for themselves
What role will the distributor play in 10 years?
December 30th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
Hey Mark, I interviewed for a job with your company fresh out of University, didn’t get it. However, as a result of the interview process I became familiar (and fan) of Seth Godin and a few other cool minds out there. Not only that, I started reading blogs too. Recently I was trying to think of seemingly random experiences that contributed to my life, and intervewing for RightSleeve was one them.
Happy New Year – keep up the awesome work!