Didi Caldwell: Navigating Global Location Strategies | EP 44

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Thank you all for tuning into
the Carolina Business Leaders

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Podcast, where we share the
stories of local business

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leaders and impact makers who
are community focused and deeply

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rooted in the Carolinas.
Today's guest is Dee Dee

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Caldwell, CEO and Co Founder of
Global Location Strategies, a

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leading site selection and
incentive negotiation firm that

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helps companies find optimal
locations for expansion,

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relocation, and new facilities.
Dee Dee, thank you so much for

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joining us.
Thank you for having me, nice

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seeing you.
Very excited to jump into your

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story today.
You are the CEO of Global

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Location Strategies.
Can you give us just an overview

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of what your company does?
So global location strategy is

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as the name implies, location
strategy.

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So when a company decides that
they need new capacity, and

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typically we're talking about
manufacturing companies, but it

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could also be data centers, it
could be power generation,

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office back, logistics,
warehouse and distribution, When

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they decide that they need new
capacity, it's our job to help

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them figure out where in the
world is the best place for them

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to add that capacity.
In the world as in.

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In the world now, typically
speaking, clients will have that

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narrowed down to a region or a
country or maybe a handful of

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states.
But we do have some clients that

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come to us and you know, maybe
it's something like a, an ore

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that they're processing that
comes from one location and it's

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going to be used in for a market
in a different location.

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And so the idea is where in the
world is the best place to

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process and refine that ore?
So literally our clients come

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from all over the world and we
consider locations all over the

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world as well.
That's amazing.

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It's fun as we do the podcast to
hear these businesses and which

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ones are primarily domestic
versus international.

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So what drew you to this
location strategy concept in

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business?
It was pure luck.

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So I took an internship in 1997
with Floor Daniel, which is now

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Floor, and I was getting my
international MBA at the time

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and I was getting an education
about what it's like to work in

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the corporate world, which was
interesting.

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But I also met a gentleman by
the name of Ed McCallum, and he

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worked for Floor Daniel in the
site selection group.

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And I was just so fascinated by
what he did.

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He was there to work on a
feasibility study for a big

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copper smelter project.
And I was helping him with some

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market research.
And I said, so, you know, tell

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me exactly what it is that you
do.

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And I said, so let me get this
straight.

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You fly all over the world
advising C level executives on

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where they're going to build
these new manufacturing plants?

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He says, yes, that's pretty much
it.

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And I said, and they pay you to
do that.

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You know, that sounds pretty
sweet.

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I said I would do that for free
and he said, OK, call me when

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you're coming back to the US And
you know, about six months

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later, 6 to 9 months later, I
ended up here in Greenville,

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which is the home of both of my
parents.

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I had never lived here, but I
had relatives here, so wasn't

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high on my list at the time
because Greenville was not quite

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then what it is now.
But I moved here and I

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immediately fell in love with it
and I also fell in love with the

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profession.
Where are you from originally?

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I'm an Army brat, so I was born
in Savannah.

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My dad was a helicopter pilot,
nice, and we moved around a lot

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when I was a kid, But I
graduated from high school in

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Lexington South.
Oh, OK, I got you.

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Yeah, yeah.
When you said moved here and

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back in the USI guess your
international NBA was that

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abroad?
Or that was abroad.

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Where was that at?
That was at University of South

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Carolina.
Oh, got you, got you the Moore

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school.
Yeah, yeah, but I also, I also

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lived in Argentina for with
floor and then I lived in

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Sydney, Australia.
And so I have AI have Australia

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instead of as well.
Nice.

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So you're very, yeah, very well
traveled.

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As you can say well.
Cool.

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So I guess your professional
journey outside of school was

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directly with Floor.
What's kind of brought you to

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Floor initially?
Wow, that's a really interesting

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story.
So my undergraduate from Clemson

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is architecture OK?
And it's a.

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Very like hard degree it is.
Yes, it is hard one.

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Of my roommates is architecture
all up, all night, all the time.

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I could have had a lot more fun
in college if I studied

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engineering.
Not that engineering is not

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hard, it's just not as time
consuming.

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So I've studied architecture and
at the end of our freshman year,

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we took a field trip to
Greenville and we visited Floor

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Daniel, which they had just
merged and built this big campus

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in Greenville and also CRS
Serene, which doesn't exist

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anymore.
And I met a lady there who had

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graduated from Clemson.
And I just thought she was the

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best thing since sliced bread.
And it turned out to be Annette

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Allen, which is she's retired
now, but a good friend and I had

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forgotten.
I didn't know who she was.

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I didn't, I never forgot about
her.

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And then we reconnected when I
when I went to floor.

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So I always kind of had in my
head that I wanted to work for

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floor.
I thought it was take advantage

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of my skills and architecture
and construction as well as give

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me the opportunity to do things
internationally because it is a

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big global company that does big
projects all over the world.

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Where is floor based.
They are headquartered in

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Dallas.
They used to be in Irvine, CA

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that moved elsewhere in Orange
County, but ultimately they

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relocated to Dallas.
Wow.

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With your desire to travel
abroad, did you ever learn any

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other languages?
I speak Spanish fluently.

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Yes, as is, as is Christina,
Yeah.

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Didi knows my family, so she's
well aware that we're all

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fluent, so it's great to know 2
languages.

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I'm truly helps.
I'm sure it does now, even with

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the work you're doing all over
the world.

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But tell us a little bit about
how Floor helped prepare you for

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the business that you're in now.
I would say that my experience

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at Floor Daniel definitely
prepared me for the work that I

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do.
So it taught me to be a really

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good site selection consultant,
that the training that was at

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Floor and the people that work
there were amazing.

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And I had the opportunity to
work with people not just in the

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site selection group, but also
in all the different parts of

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Floor, and that exposure was
just invaluable.

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Absolutely.
And I still maintain some of

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those relationships today.
I mean, obviously some people

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have aged out of the workforce,
but we continue to do quite a

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bit of work with floor and and
their clients.

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That's great.
So what it did not prepare me to

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do was to be an entrepreneur
because I really didn't know

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much about, you know, the, the
blocking and tackling of having

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a business, making sure that
you've got enough money, you're

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selling enough so that you can
execute, so that you can pay

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your bills, pay your pay your,
your employees.

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And that sounds so simple.
It's really not simple at all.

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It's really not simple at all.
And then you add on that

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managing people, developing a
culture.

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I, I won't floor had a culture.
Every company has a culture, But

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in a company that big, it's
really hard to establish a

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culture that everybody has buy
into.

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And so I, and in my previous
jobs when I'd worked for small

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architecture and construction
companies, they didn't focus too

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much on culture at all.
And then I have worked for a

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company that was really hard for
me to, I wasn't, I don't know

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that I was very well aligned
with the culture partially

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because I was in this like tiny
little group that really didn't

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have anything to do with
everything else that they did.

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So it wasn't until after I had
founded the company and had been

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working for a few years that I
started to recognize the

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importance of building a
culture.

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At what point in your career did
becoming a business owner

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entrepreneur come into your
head?

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Like kind of show up on the
radar.

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It was completely by accident,
yeah.

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But like at what age?
Like what point you're?

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I I really didn't have any plans
whatsoever to be in on.

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So it wasn't even on the radar.
It was not on the radar.

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It was not on the radar.
Wow.

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I had thought about it, but I
was kind of like, I don't even

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know what I would do.
And I was thinking, yeah, sure,

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I could be a site selection
consultant, but where do I get

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my, where do I get my clients?
You know, how do I hire people,

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etcetera.
So just very brief thoughts but

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not anything.
Serious.

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No, nothing serious.
And then so I had the

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opportunity to go and run a
small company called ENRI

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Financial.
And it was a capital advisory

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company that worked with school
districts in the state of South

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Carolina to help them finance
their capital needs through what

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was called installment purchase
revenue bonds.

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And, and that was great.
We funded about $2 billion worth

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of improvements across the state
here in Greenville.

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It was before I got there, but
they they funded, I think it was

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700 million or up to a billion
dollars worth of new schools.

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They rebuilt or, or built new
something like 70 schools

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without a tax increase.
But the legislature passed Act

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388 in 2006, 6 went into effect
in 2007.

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And it did.
It did a lot of things that were

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not necessarily beneficial for
the state.

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But one of the things that it
did that basically eliminated us

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from got rid of our business
model was they said that school

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districts could no longer use
installment purchase financing

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for their business.
Strategy was just wiped.

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It was wiped out.
So we spent about a year we

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spent 2007 trying to figure out
can we take this model

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elsewhere, But it's kind of
like, you know, lightning in a

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bottle.
The timing I mean just Oh well

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session absolutely, but it so I
had or we had in the company we

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had revenue that was continuing
on for the next 24 ish months.

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And so I went to the owners of
the company and I said I have an

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idea.
Let me buy the company out of

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future revenue and I will pay
you, you know, on a monthly

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basis and I will pursue things
that meet my return on my

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hurdles for return on
investment, which you don't

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necessarily have to be involved
in.

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I'll continue to serve the
customers.

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It will cost you less, but we
just don't really have any

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opportunities.
And if something comes up, we

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can always get back together and
do this.

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Was it difficult, sorry, was it
difficult to convince them to

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trust you on future revenues?
No.

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No.
Because I think they, they had

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seen the writing on the wall
that that the business model

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that we had was not coming back.
And so there was no sense in

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trying to, you know, flounder
around for another year or two

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to try to create something
similar.

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So actually it was the opposite.
They, I basically met with each

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one of them individually and
they came back to me pretty

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quickly and said, yeah, we think
that's a great idea.

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And I was like, oh crap.
So this was 2007 coming towards

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the end of 2008.
I was recently divorced.

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I had two small children and I
was like, I think I just started

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my own business and.
Truly by accident.

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Before we get too much farther
into this episode, we do want to

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shout out some of our friends
here on Facebook.

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All these are local Greenville
businesses.

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Cake Pops by Kira Westminster
accents the hat Flow Company and

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he provides which is an all
natural health and beauty

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products.
Thank you all so much for

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listening and let's get back to
our guest.

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Truly, truly by accident.
And and then I thought I felt

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pretty secure because I had
that, that runway of revenue

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which started to tail off out
after 2008 and said the timing

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was pretty tough because to be
in a business where you're

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helping companies that capital
with capital expansions when

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nobody is making capital
expansions, it's really

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challenging.
But I had a few projects that,

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you know, just happened to come
around.

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I didn't even know that I wanted
to be a site selection

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consultant at first.
I was thinking maybe I'll

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00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:19,800
continue to do something in
education and capital advisory

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00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:24,240
work and just a couple of
opportunities presented them to

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me and to the presented
themselves to me in 2008.

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And I said, well, I know how to
do this.

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People are willing to pay me to
do it.

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I have mouths to feed.
And so I guess that's what I'm

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going to do.
And so that just continued on

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00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:43,600
and I I've had two partners.
My first partner was excellent.

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00:12:43,600 --> 00:12:49,880
We, we got together in 2009 and
we weathered the, the Great

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00:12:49,880 --> 00:12:52,640
Recession together, very small
company.

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00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:57,120
We brought on one other employee
in 2009, 2010 and we were pretty

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00:12:57,120 --> 00:13:01,600
small for a while, but we
started to gain some traction

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00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:05,880
and you know, just proceeded.
We, we've survived, which was

242
00:13:05,880 --> 00:13:07,360
great.
And I think if you survived

243
00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:10,600
during that period, then you had
the opportunity to take

244
00:13:10,600 --> 00:13:13,200
advantage when things did start
coming back.

245
00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:16,360
But it was kind of slow.
It was kind of slow coming back

246
00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:20,240
just in general and also us just
being so new.

247
00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:22,400
It was we had to re establish
ourselves and our.

248
00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:24,920
Network, sure.
Like a fresh start almost, yes.

249
00:13:25,400 --> 00:13:29,680
OK, So what does it look like
for you to lead a team that

250
00:13:29,680 --> 00:13:32,840
operates globally over 50
countries?

251
00:13:32,840 --> 00:13:34,880
What does that possibly look
like?

252
00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:39,040
We both work on teams that are
local, we've got clients and we

253
00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:41,560
travel some, but certainly not
to Australia.

254
00:13:41,560 --> 00:13:42,920
So tell us a little bit.
About.

255
00:13:45,360 --> 00:13:49,280
Yeah.
So we have about 20-5 people now

256
00:13:49,840 --> 00:13:53,680
and we have an office.
We established a business ABV in

257
00:13:53,680 --> 00:13:57,840
the Netherlands two years ago.
And so this is our second full

258
00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:01,120
year of operating that business.
So we have two people there.

259
00:14:01,120 --> 00:14:05,920
And then we also have offshore
talent in Panama and Colombia.

260
00:14:06,440 --> 00:14:11,280
So and then we have people
spread out all over the US about

261
00:14:11,520 --> 00:14:14,680
50% of our workforce I would say
is here local.

262
00:14:15,560 --> 00:14:22,000
So, and what I figured out is
that I'm a, I'm a visionary and

263
00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:27,000
my leadership style is more like
navigator, like come sail to the

264
00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:31,520
South Pole with me.
And then my secondary leadership

265
00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:34,600
style is autocratic.
So telling people what to do.

266
00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:37,920
So I'm great in a crisis
situation because I don't, you

267
00:14:37,920 --> 00:14:39,400
know, I don't look for
consensus.

268
00:14:39,400 --> 00:14:42,320
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I.
I'm I'm very.

269
00:14:42,320 --> 00:14:44,120
Decisive.
I'm like, this is what we divide

270
00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:46,720
and conquer.
But that's not necessarily the

271
00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:50,160
best leadership style to you
know, cultivate culture.

272
00:14:50,160 --> 00:14:56,360
And so about 3 years ago, we
implemented EOS entrepreneurial

273
00:14:56,360 --> 00:14:57,720
operating system I've.
Heard of?

274
00:14:58,000 --> 00:14:58,400
That.
Yeah.

275
00:14:58,400 --> 00:15:02,880
And that has, it was so hard
because you really have to

276
00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:07,520
change your way of thinking and
you, you know, you have to make

277
00:15:07,520 --> 00:15:10,280
a lot of changes on the
organizational chart.

278
00:15:12,120 --> 00:15:13,600
Well, the first thing is you
have to come up with an

279
00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:17,200
organizational chart, and it's
not really an organizational

280
00:15:17,200 --> 00:15:18,600
chart.
It's an accountability chart.

281
00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:19,960
Got you.
Excellent.

282
00:15:20,840 --> 00:15:23,680
It's it's supposed to be
structure 1st and then people.

283
00:15:23,680 --> 00:15:26,720
And it's so hard to separate
yourself from this is the way

284
00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:28,560
that we do things now.
And these are the people that we

285
00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:32,200
have that you end up kind of
putting people in seats that

286
00:15:32,400 --> 00:15:34,800
maybe those shouldn't be the
seats and maybe those are the

287
00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:36,240
right people or maybe they're
not.

288
00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:39,960
And it's really just by process
of going through it and seeing

289
00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:43,600
whether or not they are, they
want that, that accountability,

290
00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:48,160
they're capable of doing it and
they want it, they get it and

291
00:15:48,160 --> 00:15:51,200
they're capable of doing it.
So that, that's just hard.

292
00:15:51,200 --> 00:15:55,200
And there's a rhythm of meetings
and, you know, not everybody

293
00:15:55,200 --> 00:15:57,840
loves that.
But for me, it allowed me to

294
00:15:57,840 --> 00:16:01,960
sort of step above.
And I don't as the, as the

295
00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:04,520
visionary, I don't really have
anybody that reports to me.

296
00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:08,600
So we have an integrator that
that technically sits under me,

297
00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:10,400
but I'm kind of, we're kind of
equals.

298
00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:14,600
And then the people on the
leadership team report directly

299
00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:18,360
to the integrator.
So it allows me to do my

300
00:16:18,360 --> 00:16:21,680
visionary things and not get
down into the weeds of, you

301
00:16:21,680 --> 00:16:25,520
know, I also sit in the VP of
revenue seat right now, which

302
00:16:25,520 --> 00:16:29,480
is, you know, I think I'm doing
an OK Joe, did you?

303
00:16:30,320 --> 00:16:33,480
Use someone locally for EOS
implementation or.

304
00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:36,800
Megan Hickman out of Columbia.
OK, good to know.

305
00:16:37,120 --> 00:16:39,280
That's become a common topic
lately.

306
00:16:39,280 --> 00:16:42,280
We were just at an event
recently and they brought a

307
00:16:42,280 --> 00:16:45,440
couple EOS people on the stage.
So I think everyone's trying to

308
00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:47,240
move that direction.
But the biggest thing is what

309
00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:49,800
you said.
It's a lot of work and it's a

310
00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:51,760
big change, but it's worth it.
It is.

311
00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:54,240
It was a painful.
The first year in particular was

312
00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:55,720
painful.
The second year was a little

313
00:16:55,720 --> 00:16:58,040
less painful.
Yeah, I feel like we finally hit

314
00:16:58,040 --> 00:17:00,440
our stride now, so.
And the benefits are there.

315
00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:01,880
The results speak for themselves
with it.

316
00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:03,560
The results speak for
themselves.

317
00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:05,960
And I think if you just want to
have a lifestyle business, you

318
00:17:05,960 --> 00:17:08,119
don't necessarily need to
implement EOS.

319
00:17:08,119 --> 00:17:10,440
But we were growing and there's
a lot of growing pains

320
00:17:10,440 --> 00:17:14,000
associated with that.
And it's real easy to lose what

321
00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:17,640
made you special, which is that
attention to detail, the

322
00:17:17,640 --> 00:17:20,400
culture, taking care of our
clients.

323
00:17:20,440 --> 00:17:24,599
And I was a bottleneck and
everything had to come through

324
00:17:24,599 --> 00:17:27,839
me and I was always chasing a
squirrel.

325
00:17:27,839 --> 00:17:32,000
You know, go on one track and I
get, I get halfway down it and

326
00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:34,400
then I get distracted on no, we
need to go this way.

327
00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:39,800
So now I, the integrator keeps
me straight and keeps everybody

328
00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:41,560
else moving.
And it's been great.

329
00:17:41,560 --> 00:17:44,560
And it's also given a lot of
opportunity to people in the

330
00:17:44,560 --> 00:17:48,120
organization to rise up and take
accountability that they didn't

331
00:17:48,120 --> 00:17:50,560
have before.
So it's been, that's been really

332
00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:53,960
fun watching people grow well.
We both love to travel as well.

333
00:17:53,960 --> 00:17:57,640
We're very, I want to be well
versed in the international

334
00:17:57,640 --> 00:17:59,880
business per SE.
I would imagine one of the most

335
00:17:59,880 --> 00:18:02,000
difficult parts of your job is
keeping up with global

336
00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:04,240
economies.
And we have, it's a difficult

337
00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:06,720
enough time to keep up with Fed
rates here and how that can

338
00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:10,840
consequate or how that can
change expansion.

339
00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:13,600
But with all the different
global economies to keep up

340
00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:18,440
with, how do you do that at AI?
Don't know the level that's

341
00:18:18,440 --> 00:18:20,600
doable I guess is what I'm
trying to ask because there's

342
00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:22,240
just so many things to deal with
there.

343
00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:26,080
Yeah, I think it's a combination
of making sure you have your

344
00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:28,360
finger on the pulse of what's
going on.

345
00:18:28,760 --> 00:18:32,560
But unless you are actively
looking in that at that country

346
00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:35,560
or that region, you don't
necessarily have to know

347
00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:37,920
everything about it at that
moment.

348
00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:43,560
So I mean, an example is when we
help companies decide where is

349
00:18:43,560 --> 00:18:47,000
the best location for them.
It's every company and every

350
00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:50,200
project has different criteria
and so that best location looks

351
00:18:50,200 --> 00:18:53,400
different for everyone.
But it all comes down to three

352
00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:56,320
things.
It's quality, cost and risk.

353
00:18:56,720 --> 00:18:59,600
So we are looking for the
highest quality location, so the

354
00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:03,160
best business environment, the
best workforce, the best real

355
00:19:03,160 --> 00:19:06,680
estate for them to go into
favorable permitting.

356
00:19:07,040 --> 00:19:09,560
But we're also looking for it at
low cost.

357
00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:12,200
So that is both investment costs
and operating costs.

358
00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:15,480
If you think of it, what is the
return of this this investment

359
00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:17,960
over time?
The way that you get the return

360
00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:20,160
up is that you have high
quality, which means you're

361
00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:22,520
going to have more production
and better quality production

362
00:19:22,520 --> 00:19:24,080
and you're going to have low
cost.

363
00:19:24,840 --> 00:19:27,400
But then there's also the risk
piece because there are some

364
00:19:27,400 --> 00:19:30,000
things that you don't know how
it's going to end up.

365
00:19:30,280 --> 00:19:33,960
So we look at location dependent
risk to their budget, their

366
00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:36,720
schedule and their ability to
start up and operate as they

367
00:19:36,720 --> 00:19:39,600
have planned.
And when you put all those on a

368
00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:43,080
on a matrix, then you can see
exactly where the trade-offs

369
00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:47,640
are.
And we start by identifying the

370
00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:51,080
universe of alternatives, right?
Like, and that could say be what

371
00:19:51,080 --> 00:19:53,760
countries we're going to look at
or it could be what sites within

372
00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:55,680
these three or four states we're
going to consider.

373
00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:59,240
But you put those in and you do
that high level cost quality

374
00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:02,440
analysis and you eliminate
anything that doesn't meet your

375
00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:05,560
criteria or is just way down in
that bottom left hand corner of

376
00:20:05,560 --> 00:20:09,400
high, high cost and low quality.
That sounds very familiar.

377
00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:11,760
When I was trying to figure out
where to do my MBA and Add all

378
00:20:11,760 --> 00:20:13,920
these different options and
she's like just cut the ones

379
00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:16,680
that you like, just cut from the
bottom per SE, kind of was the

380
00:20:16,680 --> 00:20:19,600
idea.
Absolutely.

381
00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:25,200
And so as you get into more, you
don't need a lot of detail

382
00:20:25,200 --> 00:20:27,480
around that when you're just
making that first cut.

383
00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:33,280
But each, each time we make a
cut, then we get more and more

384
00:20:33,400 --> 00:20:36,160
detailed.
So whereas we might just be

385
00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:39,520
looking at average electricity
rates, well now when we identify

386
00:20:39,520 --> 00:20:42,280
sites, we want to know
specifically at that location

387
00:20:42,280 --> 00:20:44,560
what is the rate it.
Gets more and more specific.

388
00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:47,480
More and more specific and then
we get even more specific and we

389
00:20:47,480 --> 00:20:50,840
start talking about rate riders
and and what's the fuel

390
00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:53,400
component and what has been
there.

391
00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:57,480
Do they have a rate increase in
front of the Public Service

392
00:20:57,480 --> 00:20:59,800
Commission right now?
So we're looking, it just gets

393
00:20:59,800 --> 00:21:05,720
into we, we say there's 850 data
points that we consider in an

394
00:21:05,720 --> 00:21:08,600
analysis, but the reality is, is
there's probably thousands.

395
00:21:08,600 --> 00:21:11,400
It's just that we don't
necessarily document and score

396
00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:13,760
each one of them.
But there are about 850 data

397
00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:16,920
points that fit into one of
those four models that I talked

398
00:21:16,920 --> 00:21:19,240
about.
The fatal flaw, the quality

399
00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:23,160
scoring, the financial analysis
and the risk model.

400
00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:26,200
There's about 850 data points
there.

401
00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:27,360
I.
Mean that's amazing.

402
00:21:27,360 --> 00:21:31,960
That's a lot of data points.
So with all that, having all

403
00:21:31,960 --> 00:21:35,840
these locations in different
countries, managing a business

404
00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:39,080
share with us, maybe what's one
of the most challenging things

405
00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:42,400
you faced as ACEO and how did
you overcome it?

406
00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:48,880
Besides the OS.
Other than that one, yeah.

407
00:21:50,920 --> 00:21:53,400
You know, I think we live in
this state of Duca.

408
00:21:53,760 --> 00:21:56,200
I don't know if you guys have
heard about Duca, but it's, I

409
00:21:56,200 --> 00:21:58,440
don't know, I can't remember
what it all stands for.

410
00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:04,000
Unpredictable, voluble, chaotic,
you know, all consuming.

411
00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:08,560
I don't know what the, the, the
letters stand for, but there's

412
00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:11,920
just tremendous change going on
right now.

413
00:22:11,920 --> 00:22:15,320
I mean, you mentioned global
economics.

414
00:22:15,360 --> 00:22:20,560
There's the geopolitical
situation there is you know

415
00:22:20,560 --> 00:22:22,160
what's happening with labor
right now.

416
00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:24,640
So labor for us right now is not
as constrained.

417
00:22:24,640 --> 00:22:29,280
I'm talking about to recruit
people into the business still

418
00:22:29,280 --> 00:22:32,840
very constrained when we're
looking for manufacturing either

419
00:22:32,920 --> 00:22:36,000
either construction or
operations level labor, very,

420
00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:37,120
very so you.
Can pick a site.

421
00:22:37,120 --> 00:22:39,400
You still have to find people in
that area to build the site,

422
00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:40,320
yeah.
Exactly.

423
00:22:40,320 --> 00:22:44,080
Build it and operate it, yes.
And you know, there's really not

424
00:22:44,080 --> 00:22:48,360
any place which is got it all
figured out, but it's, you know,

425
00:22:49,480 --> 00:22:52,840
it's it we're basically choosing
the least bad of all the

426
00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:55,760
options.
And so I think constantly

427
00:22:55,760 --> 00:23:00,600
managing through the change,
obviously technological change

428
00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:04,640
now with AI and things like
that, yeah, it's really scary.

429
00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:08,760
It's really scary.
And I mean, I alternate between

430
00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:11,760
waking up in the middle of night
thinking, Oh my God, how are we

431
00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:17,160
going to make it through this to
at some point coming in and

432
00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:21,640
thinking, OK, this is an
opportunity because I recognize

433
00:23:21,640 --> 00:23:24,440
that this is coming.
And so how do we adjust and how

434
00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:28,840
do we take advantage of it?
So I, you know, I, I really do

435
00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:31,080
think that the Great Recession
was probably the worst thing

436
00:23:31,080 --> 00:23:35,680
that I've managed through.
I I feel like.

437
00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:37,360
Was that more difficult than
COVID?

438
00:23:37,880 --> 00:23:39,920
I think COVID, it was more
difficult than COVID.

439
00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:42,600
Wow, our business actually took
off.

440
00:23:42,600 --> 00:23:47,280
So it slowed down originally in
March of 2020 and until about

441
00:23:47,280 --> 00:23:49,320
the fourth quarter, it was
pretty slow.

442
00:23:49,320 --> 00:23:52,160
But coming out of the fourth
quarter, we started to have some

443
00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:55,000
legislation passed.
So the Inflation Reduction Act,

444
00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:57,760
the CHIPS Act, the
Infrastructure Act that really

445
00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:03,400
spurred a lot of investment and
sent from 20, the end of 2020

446
00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:06,280
going into 2021 until about
2024.

447
00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:11,040
It was just, it was unbelievable
really how much, how frothy the

448
00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:12,480
market was.
Yes.

449
00:24:12,520 --> 00:24:16,280
So we were super busy.
We grew from around 7 people in

450
00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:19,040
March of 2020 to around 25
today.

451
00:24:19,960 --> 00:24:23,160
So with a lot of that happening,
you know, in the team in the

452
00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:25,120
first, you know, in the first
year or so.

453
00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:28,240
Wow, and it's interesting
because COVID is a time where

454
00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:31,480
either businesses shut up and
ended up doing really well post

455
00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:34,760
COVID, or you shut the doors and
close down the business.

456
00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:36,800
So probably it was either one or
the other.

457
00:24:36,800 --> 00:24:39,000
There weren't many that stayed
somewhere in between.

458
00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:41,240
So interesting times to say the
least.

459
00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:44,680
Yeah, what would you say are the
hot spots around the globe for

460
00:24:44,680 --> 00:24:47,840
site selection?
I've if I was going to be a

461
00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:50,720
business owner just due to the
idea of Puerto Rico or family

462
00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:52,520
being from there and business
owners there.

463
00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:55,240
With the tax rule, if you live
there for six months out of the

464
00:24:55,240 --> 00:24:57,560
year and you make over
$1,000,000 a year in revenue

465
00:24:57,560 --> 00:24:59,680
like you don't get, you don't
pay taxes in Puerto Rico.

466
00:24:59,760 --> 00:25:01,080
What's the more?
Stipulation.

467
00:25:01,080 --> 00:25:04,920
Yeah, more stipulations, but
like that's just a general as a

468
00:25:04,920 --> 00:25:07,200
disclaimer, do not take my
advice on any of that by the

469
00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:09,080
way.
But like what are the hotspots

470
00:25:09,080 --> 00:25:09,680
for?
Just certain?

471
00:25:09,680 --> 00:25:12,000
Like little hidden gems like
that per SE.

472
00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:15,920
So what you're talking about is
personal income tax and Puerto

473
00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:20,360
Rico actually had very favorable
tax benefits for manufacturers.

474
00:25:20,840 --> 00:25:26,080
And I would say that nine times
out of 10, income tax, federal

475
00:25:26,080 --> 00:25:29,680
income tax of the national tax
doesn't move the needle that

476
00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:33,800
much except for in industries
that are very with a very high

477
00:25:33,800 --> 00:25:35,720
profitability.
So if you think about

478
00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:38,960
pharmaceuticals, that was one
reason why all of the

479
00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:41,600
pharmaceutical companies
invested in Puerto Rico.

480
00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:46,320
When that tax benefit went away,
it was like a giant sucking

481
00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:47,920
sound.
And they're still trying to

482
00:25:47,920 --> 00:25:50,200
recover from that now.
They still have some skills and

483
00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:53,080
it's still a great place to
look, but those advantages have

484
00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:57,200
gone away.
But really it's, you know, taxes

485
00:25:57,200 --> 00:25:59,320
are just one small piece of the
puzzle.

486
00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:03,720
What usually moves a needle for
manufacturing is 3 things, labor

487
00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:07,640
energy, which is electricity and
natural gas and logistics.

488
00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:11,600
And if you can optimize on those
three things, you've got 90% of

489
00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:14,200
the picture.
Then you layer in water,

490
00:26:14,200 --> 00:26:17,320
wastewater.
Those are the big pieces.

491
00:26:17,320 --> 00:26:18,880
Right.
Those are the big three pieces.

492
00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:24,040
Exactly.
I would say for manufacturing, I

493
00:26:24,040 --> 00:26:28,400
mean, definitely the US is hot.
There's a big push to

494
00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:31,080
reindustrialize the country.
Now we're there's some

495
00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:35,160
regulatory and and legislative
legislative policies right now

496
00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:38,040
that are working counter to
that.

497
00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:41,280
And I would say that the tariffs
fall in that you would think

498
00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:43,680
that tariffs, OK, we're going to
put these tariffs on and that's

499
00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:46,200
going to encourage people to
move back to the US.

500
00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:50,000
The problem is that it takes
manufacturers years to adjust

501
00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:52,640
and things like that.
So we just did a $4 billion

502
00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:56,400
aluminum smelter plant in right
outside of Tulsa, OK.

503
00:26:57,680 --> 00:27:00,200
I've been working on that
project since 2017.

504
00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:04,200
Wow.
They announced in 2025 and they

505
00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:07,680
will not have first hot metal
until 2030.

506
00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:11,440
Why does it take so long?
Well, if you're going to, first

507
00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:14,800
of all, if you're going to best
invest $4 billion.

508
00:27:14,800 --> 00:27:18,280
It's not a light decision.
Everything has to come together

509
00:27:18,360 --> 00:27:21,880
right at the right time and
aluminum is one of those things

510
00:27:21,880 --> 00:27:24,080
where they don't.
That is a sector where they do

511
00:27:24,080 --> 00:27:26,440
not control the price of their
product.

512
00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:30,760
It's a commodity traded.
And they also do not control the

513
00:27:30,760 --> 00:27:34,400
price of their, by and large,
they don't control the price of

514
00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:37,760
their biggest input from a cost
perspective, which is

515
00:27:37,760 --> 00:27:41,040
electricity.
And so electricity usually has a

516
00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:44,600
fuel component and which could
be natural gas or coal or

517
00:27:44,600 --> 00:27:47,000
nuclear or, you know, sometimes
it's renewable.

518
00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:49,720
It's why a lot of aluminum
smelters have gone to places

519
00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:53,040
like Canada and Iceland, because
they have hydropower and the

520
00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:55,600
fuel.
There is no variability in in

521
00:27:55,600 --> 00:27:59,520
the prices. the United States
has not seen a new aluminum

522
00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:04,560
smelter be built since 1980.
And so this is a huge, this is a

523
00:28:04,560 --> 00:28:08,360
huge decision.
So obviously they've spent more

524
00:28:08,360 --> 00:28:11,800
time that was necessary.
But I would say you need minimum

525
00:28:11,800 --> 00:28:14,160
a year for site selection and
due diligence.

526
00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:19,720
Then you need a year of a year
of permitting for a project that

527
00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:23,280
need that big, you're going to
need 2 years to construct the

528
00:28:23,280 --> 00:28:25,240
facility.
And then it'll take you 12

529
00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:28,760
minutes to Commission it and,
and, and staff it and get it

530
00:28:28,760 --> 00:28:31,360
running and actually producing
project product.

531
00:28:31,360 --> 00:28:33,040
So you're talking about five
years.

532
00:28:33,280 --> 00:28:37,520
In the meantime, companies like
my client, they are

533
00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:39,640
manufacturing aluminum
elsewhere.

534
00:28:39,640 --> 00:28:41,880
They're shipping it to the US,
which means it's subject to a

535
00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:45,080
50% tariff.
Then they want to build their

536
00:28:45,080 --> 00:28:48,880
facility here in the US, which
requires concrete, steel,

537
00:28:49,160 --> 00:28:52,040
aluminum equipment.
It's expensive.

538
00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:55,160
And all of those things, if
they're imported, are subject to

539
00:28:55,200 --> 00:28:58,720
a tariff, which just reduces
their return on investment.

540
00:28:58,720 --> 00:29:01,160
And remember when I was talking
about that hurdle of for return

541
00:29:01,160 --> 00:29:04,560
on investment, then we've also
got data centers right now which

542
00:29:04,560 --> 00:29:07,760
are just going crazy that's
pushing up the price of

543
00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:10,800
electricity because they are
power hungry and they are not

544
00:29:10,800 --> 00:29:13,560
price sensitive, right?
Yes, the AI training is

545
00:29:13,560 --> 00:29:18,520
definitely feeding into that.
So we just can't turn on a dime.

546
00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:23,360
It takes it will take a couple
of decades for us to

547
00:29:23,360 --> 00:29:26,200
reindustrialize.
And that is assuming that we do

548
00:29:26,200 --> 00:29:29,440
everything right.
You know, when you have raids on

549
00:29:29,440 --> 00:29:33,040
a construction facility for
South Korean battery

550
00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:36,800
manufacturer and, you know, I'm
not going to get into the

551
00:29:36,800 --> 00:29:39,400
politics of whether they, you
know, whether they obeyed the

552
00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:43,240
law or not.
But at the end of the day,

553
00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:46,680
they're trying to deliver that
product, that project on time

554
00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:49,960
and on budget.
And for some reason they're not

555
00:29:49,960 --> 00:29:55,240
able to with naturalized or, you
know, U.S. citizens or US

556
00:29:55,240 --> 00:29:58,880
residents.
So I would love to see our

557
00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:01,760
government work with companies
like those that have that have

558
00:30:01,760 --> 00:30:05,280
committed to investing billions
of dollars, hundreds of billions

559
00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:09,840
of dollars in some cases to
ensure that they have everything

560
00:30:09,840 --> 00:30:11,760
that they need to make that
project successful.

561
00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:15,040
And whether that's temporary
visas or what it whatever that

562
00:30:15,040 --> 00:30:18,800
whatever it is helping find US
workers that can fill those

563
00:30:18,800 --> 00:30:21,400
roles.
Yes, I think that would be that

564
00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:22,640
would be beneficial for
everyone.

565
00:30:23,080 --> 00:30:25,240
Absolutely, yeah.
Because every day that they

566
00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:29,160
cannot start that plan up,
that's, I don't know, thousands

567
00:30:29,160 --> 00:30:32,320
of Georgians and people from
South Carolina, because it's

568
00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:34,640
close to the border that they
cannot employ, right?

569
00:30:35,320 --> 00:30:36,800
So.
And projects that big are a

570
00:30:36,840 --> 00:30:40,000
hard, hard way to learn lessons.
I guess you can say you don't

571
00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:41,920
want to learn at that level.
Yes.

572
00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:45,480
So at your level and your
pedigree of your your business,

573
00:30:45,720 --> 00:30:47,520
you've been voted, your
company's been voted as one of

574
00:30:47,520 --> 00:30:51,680
the best places to work.
How do you balance growth and

575
00:30:51,680 --> 00:30:54,800
then keeping up with policies
and keeping up with site

576
00:30:54,800 --> 00:30:57,240
selections and then also culture
within your company?

577
00:30:57,880 --> 00:31:02,600
I, I, again, I know I sound like
a cheerleader for EOS, but I'm

578
00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:06,800
going to say that the, and you
certainly don't need EOS, but

579
00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:09,640
you do need to be very
intentional about it.

580
00:31:10,480 --> 00:31:14,040
Culture is going to be whatever
you are and whatever you let it

581
00:31:14,040 --> 00:31:17,040
be.
And if you want to guide culture

582
00:31:17,040 --> 00:31:21,120
and maintain whatever is really
important to you, then you have

583
00:31:21,120 --> 00:31:25,400
to be very intentional about it.
And we do all kinds of things.

584
00:31:25,400 --> 00:31:28,480
You know, we have not value
nominations where once a quarter

585
00:31:28,480 --> 00:31:31,120
everybody nominates people that
they've seen living up to one of

586
00:31:31,120 --> 00:31:33,800
our values.
We do a drawing for a gift card.

587
00:31:34,720 --> 00:31:39,080
We do a focus on our cultural
values.

588
00:31:39,360 --> 00:31:43,440
We talk a lot about what our
vision is and why we do what we

589
00:31:43,440 --> 00:31:46,880
do.
So our our purpose is to match

590
00:31:46,880 --> 00:31:50,280
companies and communities for
mutual sustainable prosperity.

591
00:31:50,760 --> 00:31:54,720
So we're kind of like
matchmakers for match.com, but

592
00:31:55,240 --> 00:32:00,320
we're not online for companies
that are looking to invest in

593
00:32:00,320 --> 00:32:02,400
communities that want to attract
investment.

594
00:32:02,880 --> 00:32:07,000
And our the reason that we do
that is because we want to see

595
00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:11,200
economic development happen.
You know, I cited First Quality,

596
00:32:11,200 --> 00:32:15,520
which is a manufacturer of
tissue and towel, tissue paper

597
00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:19,600
and towel towel products and
Anderson at an at a brownfield

598
00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:23,760
site in 2010.
They have since put in five

599
00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:26,240
tissue machines.
They've made an investment of

600
00:32:26,240 --> 00:32:28,960
more than a billion dollars and
there's almost 1000 people that

601
00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:30,280
work there.
Wow.

602
00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:33,440
Right down the.
Road you wouldn't know.

603
00:32:33,520 --> 00:32:37,240
Yes, exactly.
And so I, I had someone that

604
00:32:37,240 --> 00:32:40,600
worked for me previously and he
also worked on that project and

605
00:32:40,600 --> 00:32:43,200
he said he was in Walmart or
something in Anderson one day

606
00:32:43,440 --> 00:32:46,320
and he sees somebody coming down
with the first quality shirt on.

607
00:32:46,680 --> 00:32:49,520
And it just filled him with
filled him with a sense of pride

608
00:32:49,520 --> 00:32:54,520
that, you know, he was
instrumental in some small way

609
00:32:54,520 --> 00:32:59,160
of making that happen.
And so this guy now has a job

610
00:32:59,160 --> 00:33:01,600
and he can take care of his
family.

611
00:33:01,600 --> 00:33:04,080
And get a Walmart.
Those groceries, that's awesome.

612
00:33:04,280 --> 00:33:07,920
Those are the things that give
you joy and are so rewarding

613
00:33:07,920 --> 00:33:10,680
about what you do.
We're going to shift gears just

614
00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:14,680
a little bit and now focus kind
of on you and your day-to-day

615
00:33:14,680 --> 00:33:18,640
and habits and highly say to
kick off this little section.

616
00:33:18,840 --> 00:33:22,960
What habits or routines do you
have in place that you think

617
00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:26,560
help you go in every day to lead
this company and lead everyone

618
00:33:26,560 --> 00:33:29,240
that you're working with?
Yeah, I thought, I think the

619
00:33:29,240 --> 00:33:33,840
first thing there is I'm not a
manager.

620
00:33:34,160 --> 00:33:39,000
I'm I'm, I'm a leader, but I'm
not a manager and I travel a

621
00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:40,840
lot.
So one of the things that I've

622
00:33:40,880 --> 00:33:44,400
been really trying to do is that
when I am am in town, it's just

623
00:33:44,480 --> 00:33:49,360
be present.
I feel like the it's not just

624
00:33:49,360 --> 00:33:52,240
about the quality of the
interactions with with people.

625
00:33:52,360 --> 00:33:55,200
It's kind of like when I raise
kids, I told myself in my head

626
00:33:55,200 --> 00:33:57,240
that it was all about the
quality of time that I spent

627
00:33:57,240 --> 00:34:00,520
with them and not necessarily
the quantity, which was just a

628
00:34:00,520 --> 00:34:03,400
way to a sage my guilt of
traveling so much.

629
00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:07,080
And what I really discovered is
that just being present is

630
00:34:07,120 --> 00:34:11,520
really important.
So for example, we have together

631
00:34:11,520 --> 00:34:14,639
Tuesdays.
So Tuesday is more or less a

632
00:34:14,639 --> 00:34:17,679
mandatory in the office day
unless you're traveling.

633
00:34:18,080 --> 00:34:21,719
And we have lunch together.
We bring in lunch and everybody

634
00:34:21,719 --> 00:34:25,080
sits and we talk about whatever.
Today we were talking about our

635
00:34:25,080 --> 00:34:30,199
dogs, you know, And so I try to
make that a habit to just being

636
00:34:30,280 --> 00:34:35,040
being very present.
And then we have level 10

637
00:34:35,040 --> 00:34:37,320
meetings with our different
departments.

638
00:34:37,800 --> 00:34:41,199
And that really keeps me, I
mean, it keeps the whole company

639
00:34:41,199 --> 00:34:44,840
focused, but it really keeps me
focused on, OK, what are the key

640
00:34:44,840 --> 00:34:47,320
metrics?
What are the things that I said

641
00:34:47,320 --> 00:34:50,000
that I was going to do because I
get really busy and I forget

642
00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:51,360
what I say, what I was going to
do.

643
00:34:51,360 --> 00:34:54,120
And that's not good.
So that is a place where I can

644
00:34:54,120 --> 00:34:56,440
go and I can say what did I
commit to someone else I was

645
00:34:56,440 --> 00:34:59,920
going to have done.
And then we have issues that we

646
00:34:59,920 --> 00:35:03,760
keep a running list of and we
have an hour and a half say for

647
00:35:03,760 --> 00:35:07,400
our executive leadership team
meeting and we spend the bulk of

648
00:35:07,400 --> 00:35:09,320
the time working through that
issues list.

649
00:35:09,600 --> 00:35:13,040
We may get to two issues, we may
get to 5, but they're either

650
00:35:13,040 --> 00:35:17,040
resolved or we make it.
We make a time and we say we

651
00:35:17,040 --> 00:35:19,280
need to talk about this further.
So let's find some time on the

652
00:35:19,280 --> 00:35:21,360
calendar to focus specifically
on this.

653
00:35:21,920 --> 00:35:24,720
And you can send issues to other
teams.

654
00:35:24,720 --> 00:35:31,080
And so it just keeps things
running like a well oiled

655
00:35:31,080 --> 00:35:34,080
machine.
What advice would you give to

656
00:35:34,080 --> 00:35:37,640
any young professionals or
inspiring CEOs or entrepreneurs

657
00:35:37,640 --> 00:35:43,720
that may be listening?
Well, I did not come up with

658
00:35:43,720 --> 00:35:48,800
this quote.
So I was watching an interview

659
00:35:48,800 --> 00:35:51,800
with Ina Garten and she's the
Barefoot Contessa.

660
00:35:52,280 --> 00:35:55,000
She was a bit of an accidental
entrepreneur as well.

661
00:35:55,480 --> 00:36:02,480
And she said, you know, it takes
a lot of hard work to to be

662
00:36:02,480 --> 00:36:04,560
successful.
It doesn't just, you know, that

663
00:36:04,560 --> 00:36:07,160
old saying it takes, you know,
20 years to come in overnight.

664
00:36:07,160 --> 00:36:09,960
It's success, right?
But she said, I love the way she

665
00:36:09,960 --> 00:36:11,560
said it.
She said be ready when the lock

666
00:36:11,560 --> 00:36:15,400
happens.
And and that makes me think of

667
00:36:15,400 --> 00:36:17,920
someone else told me that Lee
Trevino, who was a famous

668
00:36:17,960 --> 00:36:22,480
golfer, He said.
It's amazing how lucky you get

669
00:36:22,480 --> 00:36:25,200
when you practice more or
something to that effect.

670
00:36:25,320 --> 00:36:27,520
Yeah, like that.
And it's very relevant to golf,

671
00:36:27,680 --> 00:36:32,720
yes.
And so at times it may feel like

672
00:36:32,720 --> 00:36:36,120
you're on a hamster wheel and
you're really not making any

673
00:36:36,120 --> 00:36:39,520
progress, but you just have to
stay focused on the vision and

674
00:36:39,520 --> 00:36:41,400
you just have to keep working
towards it.

675
00:36:41,840 --> 00:36:44,400
And if you put yourself out
there enough time, I'm not

676
00:36:44,400 --> 00:36:49,720
saying take crazy risks, but you
know, you have to take risks in

677
00:36:49,720 --> 00:36:52,320
order to have a reward.
And if you put yourself out

678
00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:55,640
there and you just keep working,
then you know eventually the

679
00:36:55,640 --> 00:36:58,560
luck is going to happen.
If you do good work, you treat

680
00:36:58,560 --> 00:37:01,760
people well, you treat your
employees well, keep working

681
00:37:01,760 --> 00:37:04,120
hard, things will happen for
you.

682
00:37:04,400 --> 00:37:08,200
It just may take it's it's
there's no easy path.

683
00:37:08,880 --> 00:37:10,240
I mean, maybe some people
haven't.

684
00:37:11,240 --> 00:37:13,400
That was not my experience.
And I don't think that's the

685
00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:15,880
experience of most founders and
CEO's.

686
00:37:15,880 --> 00:37:18,680
We had someone else on the
podcast that said hard work

687
00:37:18,680 --> 00:37:21,040
never gets old.
I mean, obviously times are

688
00:37:21,040 --> 00:37:25,240
changing and our generation use
hard work a little differently,

689
00:37:25,240 --> 00:37:28,360
I think.
And so that resonates with us.

690
00:37:28,360 --> 00:37:30,760
Hard work never gets old.
It's a good thing to work hard.

691
00:37:30,760 --> 00:37:36,280
So yes, kind of staying on the
same topic about you, what kind

692
00:37:36,280 --> 00:37:40,720
of legacy do you hope to leave
through work at GLS and your

693
00:37:40,720 --> 00:37:44,600
company and two in the Carolinas
and with what you've done?

694
00:37:45,080 --> 00:37:47,600
It's funny, I was just talking
to my business coach and my

695
00:37:48,200 --> 00:37:51,160
executive coach today about
legacy.

696
00:37:51,160 --> 00:37:59,560
And you know, I, I my legacy, we
talked about first quality and

697
00:37:59,560 --> 00:38:03,120
there's, you know, dozens and
dozens of plants that I can

698
00:38:03,160 --> 00:38:06,680
point to around the world where
I created something that was

699
00:38:06,680 --> 00:38:09,520
long lasting.
They don't all survive the test

700
00:38:09,520 --> 00:38:16,920
of time, which is always sad.
But when I am contemplating my

701
00:38:16,920 --> 00:38:20,240
last days, I think what I'm
really going to be thinking

702
00:38:20,240 --> 00:38:23,800
about is the young people,
because they're usually young

703
00:38:23,800 --> 00:38:25,720
when they come.
They're younger than me anyway.

704
00:38:26,800 --> 00:38:31,440
That I was able to have impact
on and that came to work for me.

705
00:38:31,440 --> 00:38:35,480
And whether they stayed for a
long time, for a lifetime, for a

706
00:38:35,480 --> 00:38:39,320
short time, I still enjoy seeing
their success.

707
00:38:39,400 --> 00:38:42,360
And to me, that's really
important.

708
00:38:42,880 --> 00:38:45,880
That's really important to think
that I had some hopefully

709
00:38:45,880 --> 00:38:49,160
positive impact on their
trajectory and seeing their

710
00:38:49,160 --> 00:38:51,520
success is just that is my
legacy.

711
00:38:51,680 --> 00:38:52,840
That's great.
That's awesome.

712
00:38:53,160 --> 00:38:54,760
Now I do want to ask before we
close it out.

713
00:38:54,760 --> 00:38:57,280
Out of all the places you've
traveled to, what is your maybe

714
00:38:57,280 --> 00:39:01,000
your top one or two got to go to
best destinations?

715
00:39:01,360 --> 00:39:03,720
Oh my gosh.
Keith is working on our bucket

716
00:39:03,720 --> 00:39:06,040
list.
We dream about it all the time.

717
00:39:06,040 --> 00:39:07,560
We have our little list in our
phone new.

718
00:39:08,800 --> 00:39:14,080
Well, you know it, it sounds a
little trite, but my my favorite

719
00:39:14,080 --> 00:39:17,880
city to travel to that is
accessible because there's a lot

720
00:39:17,880 --> 00:39:19,960
of cities that are harder to get
to is New York.

721
00:39:21,160 --> 00:39:22,760
I love New York.
I love New York.

722
00:39:22,760 --> 00:39:25,280
My husband and I go there at
least once or twice a year for a

723
00:39:25,280 --> 00:39:29,080
long weekend to just explore a
new area and there's there's

724
00:39:29,080 --> 00:39:30,320
always something different to
see.

725
00:39:30,320 --> 00:39:32,200
And you have to go during
Christmas time.

726
00:39:33,240 --> 00:39:36,320
Exactly.
But my husbands from Buenos

727
00:39:36,320 --> 00:39:38,600
Aires, Argentina, so we love
that as well.

728
00:39:38,600 --> 00:39:41,640
And of course, my my second home
city, which is Sydney,

729
00:39:41,640 --> 00:39:44,200
Australia.
So that's on the City side.

730
00:39:45,280 --> 00:39:47,600
There are so many beautiful
places to go.

731
00:39:47,960 --> 00:39:50,480
We love going to national parks.
I tell you, we just returned

732
00:39:50,480 --> 00:39:55,680
from Costa Rica on Friday and I
went for work, but I also

733
00:39:56,360 --> 00:39:59,680
Eduardo, my husband stayed with
me for the weekend and we went

734
00:39:59,680 --> 00:40:01,160
up to we were in the central
region.

735
00:40:01,160 --> 00:40:04,080
We stayed at a beautiful resort
called El Silencio, and it was

736
00:40:04,080 --> 00:40:07,880
just so amazing and peaceful.
And I've been in that area, the

737
00:40:07,880 --> 00:40:10,640
central region, but also on the
West Coast several times.

738
00:40:10,640 --> 00:40:14,160
And I really love the diversity
of the landscape.

739
00:40:14,160 --> 00:40:18,320
So you've got, you know, high
altitude, you know, you've got

740
00:40:18,320 --> 00:40:22,200
the, the where the.
It's very lush and green.

741
00:40:22,200 --> 00:40:24,040
Then you go a little bit lower,
you've got the coffee

742
00:40:24,040 --> 00:40:26,240
plantations.
Then you go all the way down

743
00:40:26,240 --> 00:40:28,720
into the valleys or, you know,
to the coast.

744
00:40:28,720 --> 00:40:31,120
And in the dry season, it's very
dry.

745
00:40:31,120 --> 00:40:33,960
But the beaches are beautiful.
So I heard you can rent your own

746
00:40:33,960 --> 00:40:34,760
island there.
Oh, really?

747
00:40:34,880 --> 00:40:35,960
I was talking to one of my
friends.

748
00:40:35,960 --> 00:40:37,560
Like, yeah, me and my buddies
went down there who rented an

749
00:40:37,560 --> 00:40:38,680
island.
It was just all of us.

750
00:40:38,680 --> 00:40:39,800
I can out.
Yeah.

751
00:40:40,600 --> 00:40:41,760
That's interesting.
That's really cool.

752
00:40:41,760 --> 00:40:44,360
National parks, Any what's your
number one National Park?

753
00:40:44,720 --> 00:40:47,880
Oh my gosh.
I have.

754
00:40:47,920 --> 00:40:49,720
I have my fingers crossed you're
going to say 1.

755
00:40:50,160 --> 00:40:52,440
It's a big topic.
For heat, not so much meat.

756
00:40:54,120 --> 00:40:57,160
That's a tough question.
I I we just got back from

757
00:40:57,160 --> 00:40:59,520
Glacier.
Yes, I love Glacier, that's my

758
00:40:59,560 --> 00:41:02,920
favorite.
Glacier is amazing and it's very

759
00:41:02,920 --> 00:41:06,880
manageable, I feel like, and
it's just so beautiful.

760
00:41:07,160 --> 00:41:09,600
We did some really great hikes
there.

761
00:41:09,600 --> 00:41:12,720
And I would it, I would go back
in a in a heartbeat.

762
00:41:13,480 --> 00:41:19,000
But we're going to Peru on the
21st of later in September and

763
00:41:19,000 --> 00:41:22,400
we're going to hike.
We're doing a seven day lodge to

764
00:41:22,400 --> 00:41:24,600
lodge track.
We end up at Machu Picchu.

765
00:41:24,600 --> 00:41:27,920
It's not the Inca Trail, it's a
socket A trail, but we're going

766
00:41:27,920 --> 00:41:29,640
to do that.
And that's going to be, that's

767
00:41:29,640 --> 00:41:31,880
going to be really amazing.
I love too that y'all get to use

768
00:41:31,880 --> 00:41:35,960
your Spanish when you travel.
We actually have family flying

769
00:41:35,960 --> 00:41:39,880
in tomorrow from Buenos Aires to
stay with us for the week.

770
00:41:39,880 --> 00:41:43,040
So it's great to know 2
languages and I think it just

771
00:41:43,040 --> 00:41:44,960
makes it an even better
experience when you travel.

772
00:41:44,960 --> 00:41:49,280
Anytime we go somewhere,
surprisingly, he who you guys

773
00:41:49,280 --> 00:41:51,960
see him on the camera, he can
speak Spanish and so.

774
00:41:52,680 --> 00:41:54,640
Yeah, and.
When we travel and he breaks out

775
00:41:54,640 --> 00:41:58,760
his Spanish, I think wherever we
are, they just appreciate it so

776
00:41:58,760 --> 00:42:01,920
much when people take in their
culture and their language.

777
00:42:01,920 --> 00:42:03,400
So I love that y'all are using
that.

778
00:42:03,520 --> 00:42:05,400
Yes, yes.
And that's one of the reasons

779
00:42:05,400 --> 00:42:08,160
why we love to travel in Latin
America and Spain so much is

780
00:42:08,160 --> 00:42:11,240
because when you can communicate
with people in their language,

781
00:42:11,240 --> 00:42:13,680
it just really opens a lot of
doors.

782
00:42:13,680 --> 00:42:17,560
Absolutely lot, you know, great
cultural exchanges and things

783
00:42:17,560 --> 00:42:19,480
like that.
So I would love to speak more

784
00:42:19,480 --> 00:42:20,800
languages as well.
Yeah, I wish I.

785
00:42:20,880 --> 00:42:23,040
Had the time for it.
It's tough.

786
00:42:23,160 --> 00:42:24,960
It's really tough.
I mean, I feel like I've spent

787
00:42:24,960 --> 00:42:28,200
my entire life trying to get,
you know, my Spanish to where I

788
00:42:28,200 --> 00:42:30,960
wanted to be and it's still not.
I mean, you never get there.

789
00:42:31,120 --> 00:42:33,080
Always improve that.
We really can.

790
00:42:33,080 --> 00:42:34,200
But yeah, that's cool.
That's cool.

791
00:42:34,640 --> 00:42:36,560
Well, David, yeah, thank you so
much for going to stay.

792
00:42:36,600 --> 00:42:38,240
Thank you, David, that.
Was great.

793
00:42:38,320 --> 00:42:39,160
It was great.