[00:00:05] Speaker A: Welcome to the Clear Impact podcast brought to you by PGTI University. Thanks for joining us today. My name is Sheri Connor and I am your host.
[00:00:18] Speaker B: So good afternoon. We are here on the Clear Impact podcast, and we are recording with Mike Roy today, who is at the the Amlon location in California. And welcome to the podcast, Mike.
[00:00:32] Speaker C: Thank you, Cheryl. I appreciate it. Thank you for having me.
[00:00:34] Speaker B: Well, I'm glad that you could make some time to record. I know our team was out there late last year and you were in the middle of going somewhere. Our paths did not align, so you were not able to record at that time, but we didn't want to leave you out of the all star lineup. So we have not had a chance to meet in person. But tell us a little bit about you, about your history at Anlin, and maybe a little of your career path, education, whatever's interesting.
[00:01:02] Speaker C: I moved to Fresno area in 1987, a long time ago, and attended to go to college. I had family here. My grandfather, grandmother lived here. My aunt and uncle lived here. I was originally from Santa Maria on the central coast of California, moved up here to go to Fresno State. I attended Fresno State from 87 to 90. My major was construction management with a minor in civil engineering. I wanted to build big skyscrapers and whatnot after I graduated college, went to school there, graduated, and then realized soon after graduation that with my degree, it required a tremendous amount of travel and movement.
The major construction companies would put you on a job to build a structure for a period of time, and then you'd move to another state or city and go build another building. And I didn't really want to do that. Well, during that time, we had a job center at Fresno State. And I walked by a cork board one day, and there was a little cue card on the cork board that said, insulation estimator wanted. Call 252 9500. And I said, hmm, that's kind of interesting. It's a local position here. So I called, and Tom Vidmar answered the phone, got an interview with Tom. At that time, the company anllen did not exist. At that time, this company was called more insulation. We were a building and residential insulator, the itchy stuff, the fud. And he hired me as a building insulation estimator. I had, obviously, a construction background, so I took the job with Tom, and that was in very late 89. And one day I was sitting in an office doing a takeoff on a set of plans for a custom home up in Madera. And he walked into the office and said, hey, what do you know about windows? I said, well, tom, you can open them. You can close them and you can look through them. He goes, well, that's good. I'm glad you got that part. I'm going to build a window plan out back here, and I want you to go it. And soon after that, we erected a 10,000 square foot metal building out on our original site, which was in Belmont, Maple and Fresno. And I was one of the first employees, first five employees that began working that plan alongside Eric, his youngest son, Tom's youngest son, and Greg, Tom's oldest son. And we hired two outside team members, and we started Anlin in early February 90, I believe it was. Was.
[00:03:25] Speaker B: Wow, that's amazing.
[00:03:27] Speaker C: Yeah, it's been quite, you know, the advantage of starting that early and watching it grow, obviously, the excitement and the pride you take being on the ground floor. Something as great as this company is now, but watching the evolution and all the good team members that we've attracted over the years and I've been able to work alongside is probably the thing I'm most proud of in the 33 years I've been here. Just turned 33 years.
[00:03:51] Speaker B: Wow, that is so cool. That's really impressive. Congratulations.
[00:03:55] Speaker C: Thank you. Thank you very much. I've enjoyed almost every minute of it.
[00:04:00] Speaker B: Well, in manufacturing, there are definitely moments that are not as enjoyable as others.
[00:04:05] Speaker C: Absolutely. But it's really how you gel as a team, how you have a common goal and how you work through those tough times. And there's been some tough times over my career. Obviously, with economic times in 0607 and zero eight, and with the transition to a wonderful corporation like PGT, it brings its own challenges, but we work together through them as a team, always.
[00:04:27] Speaker B: Wow, that's amazing. So what is your role like? What are you doing now?
[00:04:32] Speaker C: My current role is vice president of operations. I have full procurement and purchasing responsibility. I'll receive the purchasing department. I'm in charge of all vendor relations, also in charge of the quality department here at Anon. In addition to master production scheduling, all three of those team members report to me currently.
[00:04:51] Speaker B: So you work with Joanne?
[00:04:53] Speaker C: I do.
[00:04:54] Speaker B: And probably work a little bit with Mark Yandel?
[00:04:57] Speaker C: I do. Mark and I, obviously, I met Mark a couple years, couple three, four years ago. He was, obviously is the president of operations for the weboo division, and we work together quite well. I appreciate his insight. He's got a lot of experience. He's taught me a lot of things about this business.
[00:05:13] Speaker A: Be sure to tune in for upcoming episodes to help you understand the fenestration industry. What you need to know when buying windows and doors and other related topics. You can find out more about
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[00:05:31] Speaker B: Yeah, Mark, he's great. He's done a couple of podcasts with me, and I would imagine you work with Jeff Schellinger a little bit too, right?
[00:05:38] Speaker C: A little bit. I haven't had the opportunity to work with him side by side, but mostly I stay in my own little world over here. You know, it's a new world. Being part of the PGTI corporation, we've been able to rely on a lot of new resources we've never had. But we're a pretty tight knit group here and we work well together. And the end result is we want to take care of one another on a daily basis, and we want to take care of our customer. Always do what we promise to do. That's really the lady that brought Anlen to the dance over the years. That's our differentiator in the market. When we say we're going to do something, it gets done. You know, Tom told me one time, there's only two questions you ask a customer, what do you want and when do you need it? And you worry about who pays for it later. And if you really live by that, when a customer gets that taste of that customer satisfaction or that customer drive, if you will, it's very, very hard for them to look for another supplier. It's been very successful for us, a big advantage for us over the years.
[00:06:36] Speaker B: Yeah, well, that sounds a lot like Rod Hirschberger.
Yeah, it's a lot like our founder mentality as well. So it's no wonder that we're so equally aligned. It was. It was really beautiful to see the culture out there when we were there. That's amazing. So here's a question that I love to ask. People who are successful in their careers and who have leadership responsibilities, I love to know what kind of advice they've received that they've really embraced. So what would you say that would be for you?
[00:07:04] Speaker C: You know, I have a couple. I've had two mentors in my life, obviously. One was Tom Vidmar, the founder. He always called me his third son. And ironically, if you think about it, I worked for Tom longer than I lived at home. So what Tom always told me is, Mike, never ask anyone to do something you would not do. And the second thing is, always treat people with respect and dignity, no matter who you are addressing. I've really taken that over the years, and tried to work on those two items that Tom told me. This window business is a people business. Yeah, we have machinery, and we have buildings, and we have trucks, but really, the core of the business is the people that work inside these four walls. And if you keep that at the forefront of your thoughts and your decision making process, that this is about the people. 99.9 times out of 100, the decision you make based on those principles is the correct one. And that's really what I've tried to guide myself with over the years I've been here with Anlin. You know, another individual that was very mentor to me also was John Maloney. After Tom unfortunately passed in 2014, John was already with the company, but he assumed the role as president. And, you know, John really taught me about the business end of things. The numbers end. But he told me one thing always, he said, mike, he said, profit is always very important. You know, we're not a no profit company. We have to make money. But he goes, never put profit in front of the people's well being. And I've always tried to live by that also. So a couple mentors that I've been very fortunate in my career to have.
[00:08:31] Speaker B: Those are great words. I love that. I think that's the same the never ask someone to do something you're not willing to do yourself. I think that's the same thing that Bryce said when I asked him that question. So that makes sense.
[00:08:43] Speaker C: It's very important because, you know, my happy place, if you will. You know, I started on the production floor. I've done everything in this facility over the years except cut glass and build grids for the glass. So when I go down on the floor and I start interacting with our good folks down on the floor, you know, they know that I know what they're doing, what it takes to get done. And when we have conversations, it's easier for me to communicate the need or the goal or the direction, because they know I've done it, and they know I understand it. And, of course, the most important thing, being a leader of any company, is to earnestly listen to whoever is talking to you and really take that to heart before you formulate a response in your head, really listen to what they're trying to tell you. If you can earnestly listen, you're gonna be very successful, because the response you give is gonna be accurate, and it's gonna be from the heart. And I've always tried to live my life that way with the folks on the floor.
[00:09:38] Speaker B: That's amazing. Well, no wonder you're so well loved and respected there. They were like, oh, we're so bummed you're not getting to meet Mike. And we're like, who's this legend named Mike?
[00:09:48] Speaker C: You know, all that was ever given to me was an opportunity. Tom Vidmar gave me the opportunity, and he guided me, obviously, in my early career. But my goal here at Anland is to give other young men and women the same opportunity I had. The good ones are gonna take it and run. And we've been very fortunate that the choices we've made as a company over the years, we've been attracting very good team members and give them that opportunity, and you just let them grow and prosper. You're gonna be successful. That is really the secret to our success.
[00:10:19] Speaker B: Yeah, well, we did. So we recorded with a number of people. I don't have the list in front of me, but people like Burt Moda, who's been there for years, Sergio, who's been there for a long time, Bryce and Brennan. We got Jimmy on. We talked to Dan, we talked to a few of the sales team, and then there was John Trevino. Yeah, we talked to him. And then, oh, Jeff Avilas was there doing an FGIA installation, master's training, which our instructor was with us. And so they sat in, he sat in someone else's class, and that was a whole role reversal for him. And so they recorded an episode as well. So those are all posting now, and yours will be in that lineup as well. So, Mike, I really appreciate your time.
The next trip out to Annlen, I'm not even going to schedule until I look at your calendar because I want to meet you.
[00:11:08] Speaker C: Well, sure. I look forward to meeting with you and thank you so much for the time we spent here today. It's been nice.
[00:11:13] Speaker B: It has. I appreciate your time and the conversation was great. And keep doing what you're doing.
[00:11:17] Speaker C: I appreciate it. Thank you so much.
[00:11:19] Speaker B: All right, have a great day. Thank you.
[00:11:21] Speaker C: You too.
[00:11:21] Speaker B: All right, bye bye. Bye.
[00:11:23] Speaker D: PGTI University is the customer education team for an entire family of brands. We began with the original easy breeze porch enclosure line, then became PGT, America's leading brand of impact resistant windows and doors. We then added CGI, CGIC, windoor, western window systems, new south windows, echo windows and doors, Andland windows indoors, and our latest acquisition, Martin garage doors. We create products built to withstand major storms, keeping people safe, secure and prepared. Our exceptional brands give you the protection you need without compromising design or functionality. PGTI University is here to educate you, our listeners, so that you can be a more informed consumer of window and door products.
