Episode Transcript
[00:00:09] Speaker A: Welcome to the Clear Impact podcast brought to you by PGTI University. Thanks for joining us today. My name is Sherri Connor and I am your host.
[00:00:24] Speaker B: Good afternoon. We are here on the Clear Impact podcast and we're having so much fun this week. We have had a training camp with tons of learners who have traveled far and wide to be here to learn from our team. And amongst those who traveled far is Sean Martin. So we thought we would drag him in here to the podcast studio. So in studio we have Shawn Martin and Jim Schenk. So I'm going to let you guys introduce yourselves.
[00:00:54] Speaker C: Hey, everybody. Super excited to be here. Been a great outing coming here to PGT. So I am the CX manager for training and events on the mitre side of the business. I'm a legacy Milgard team member, but joined the Mitre team about a year and a half ago. And I have been in sales pretty much most of my career. I took on training in 2011, so that's kind of where I'm at. The fun part for me is just having folks that are like minded and getting to know the team here at PGT. So super excited for that.
[00:01:32] Speaker B: Yeah, well, and you've been a team of one and now you're a team of five.
[00:01:38] Speaker C: Yeah, super excited for that. I think, you know, we're still trying to map out that process and there's some work to do there. But like I said, it's been really great the last month of getting to know the team here and integrating in with them, and it felt right at home, welcomed with open arms.
[00:01:55] Speaker D: Yeah, it's been a lot of fun having you.
[00:01:56] Speaker C: Yeah, it's been really good.
[00:01:57] Speaker D: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:01:58] Speaker B: All right. So, Jim, it's been a minute since you've been in here.
[00:02:01] Speaker D: Yeah, it's been a while. The curtains have not changed at all.
[00:02:04] Speaker B: I mean, I could get bored and change the color, but that just seems silly.
[00:02:08] Speaker D: Yeah, it does. Yeah, it has been. It's been a while, but, you know, I listen to every podcast that goes out, so it's all good. But my name's Jim Schenk. I manage the university at PGTIU and have a lot of fun doing it and really excited to have Shawn as part of the team, the greater team on a national scope from an education standpoint. And I'm just excited for the opportunity to, you know, kind of break the borders down a little bit where we've been so focused on the southeastern United States, and now over time, as things come together, you know, looking at both coasts, the big coasts, Atlantic and Pacific. So that's going to be fun. Yeah.
[00:02:46] Speaker C: Go across the whole enterprise service, all three brands, 100%.
[00:02:50] Speaker B: It's so exciting.
[00:02:52] Speaker D: It is.
[00:02:52] Speaker B: I mean, just more products, more people, more opportunities to learn and grow. And it's been fun just having you in the classes the last couple of days with Patrick because he's talking about design pressure, and then he sees your. Like, he can see the wheels turning from the back of the room. He's like, sean, how is this different? And you're like, we don't do negative design pressure.
[00:03:14] Speaker D: What's that?
[00:03:15] Speaker C: Yeah, we test it. We just don't spend time talking about it. We just talk about a static design.
[00:03:21] Speaker B: Pressure, and there's a lot of differences, and we've learned some of that through conversations with our western and Anlin brands, but it is a very different thing. So we're doing a series right now of just, like, meet the folks from Mitre. So tell us a little bit about yourself other than the work history that you've already shared.
[00:03:38] Speaker C: Sure.
Happily married to my wife, Amber. We've been together since 2018. We got married January 1, 2021. It was a small, intimate wedding. Just, there were five of us there. So we got married behind a grocery store in Forest Hill, California. And it overlooks a bluff that looks over the Sierra Pacific mountains. So you didn't even see the grocery store. You're just looking over the mountains. It was beautiful.
[00:04:04] Speaker B: Okay. I was waiting for the redemption on that.
[00:04:07] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:04:07] Speaker C: It's a fun story to tell, but we have four adult children between the two of us. I have a son. Jonathan is married to Macy. He is 30. Then we have Kayla, Amber's older daughter. She's 28. She lives about an hour from us. Jonathan and Macy live up in Oregon. Then we have my daughter Lauren, who lives in, down in the southern part of Florida. Her and her husband are farriers, so they do horseshoeing.
[00:04:37] Speaker B: Wellington.
[00:04:37] Speaker C: Wellington. That's it. Yeah, because we've talked about that.
[00:04:40] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:04:40] Speaker C: So Wellington, Florida. And then. And we have Savannah, who actually lives with us. She's 26, going to be 27. And she has given us our first grandson, Asher, who's two, and he's amazing. Just the best part of my day, every day.
[00:04:55] Speaker D: Oh, that's fantastic.
[00:04:56] Speaker C: Yeah. And then the thing that brought Amber and I together was mini Coopers. So there's a pretty good write up in one of the Mitre newsletters about my passion of mini Coopers. And to sum it up, they're fun little cars. People say they're cute. We say they're cute, but they're, you know, pretty cool, too. And we say there are two types of owners. You're either a mini owner or you're a miniac. And Amber and I are definitely miniacs.
[00:05:21] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:05:22] Speaker C: We're crazy about the brand and the car and the culture.
[00:05:25] Speaker B: And I know this is just an audio podcast, and I don't want to violate any kind of hr policies. But you're not a small person.
[00:05:32] Speaker D: No.
[00:05:32] Speaker B: And so how is that that.
[00:05:35] Speaker C: Well, let's give them a true visual. So I'm about six, three and a half and 300 pounds. So I'm not a small guy. And I drive a two door hatchback mini Cooper. We have three of them. And people always say, you fit in there. And I said, it's bigger on the inside than the outside. And the newest addition to our cars is a 1962 Austin Mini, which is the old, original, tiny, tiny, classic mini Coopers. It's my wife's. They all have names. It's purple with a white roof. Its name is Ursula, and I can drive her, but it's not too much fun. But we went and got some ice cream the other night, and we pulled up, and there was a family, and they were all just kind of giggling. And I said, wait a minute. You haven't seen the funny part. Let me get out.
So it was pretty good.
[00:06:28] Speaker B: Nice.
[00:06:28] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:06:32] Speaker A: We are sharing our expertise around all topics relating to the window indoor industry. Whether you are a customer selling our products or a homeowner doing research, the Clear impact podcast provides helpful content that makes an impact. Subscribe today wherever you listen to podcasts.
[00:06:50] Speaker B: Well, it's been a pleasure getting to hang out with you and getting to know you. And we spent some time in Raleigh earlier this month at a learning conference and just understanding the different styles and the different approaches. The legacy Mitre legacy Milgard teams are taking around customer training and what we've been able to do. And so it's just been fun to kind of learn that from you. And so, Jim, you know, you haven't shared a whole lot about you. So what are you up to these days?
[00:07:17] Speaker D: Oh, there's not much going on in my life. I'm kind of boring.
[00:07:22] Speaker C: I don't doubt that.
[00:07:23] Speaker D: I doubt that.
[00:07:24] Speaker B: Not even.
[00:07:25] Speaker D: I don't have the great, glamorous story that shawn does with regard to the family. But, I mean, I've got a great family. Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to get in trouble.
[00:07:32] Speaker C: 40 years is pretty amazing.
[00:07:33] Speaker D: Well, 39 technically, but yeah. But I did finally get permission from my wife to generate and create a man cave in my house.
[00:07:41] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:07:41] Speaker D: So, yeah, I got permission.
[00:07:43] Speaker B: It's not the garage.
[00:07:44] Speaker D: No, it's not the garage. It's in the house.
[00:07:46] Speaker B: It's in the house.
[00:07:46] Speaker D: It's nice and air conditioned. It's nice, but I call it the room.
So three g's. God, guns and guitars. And then the bee, of course, has to be bourbon.
So I've been, you know, taking one of those at a time, working on it, trying to get it all set up the way I want. I'm getting close. I'm almost there. I'm probably 80%.
[00:08:06] Speaker B: Some of those could be dangerous combinations.
[00:08:10] Speaker D: That's what's inside.
You know, this is Florida.
[00:08:14] Speaker B: Yeah, that. It is nice.
[00:08:16] Speaker C: As long as it doesn't have an indoor shooting range in it.
[00:08:19] Speaker D: Right.
[00:08:19] Speaker C: Then you're probably okay.
[00:08:21] Speaker D: There's a long hallway.
[00:08:24] Speaker B: I mean, you do have some acres in the backyard, but a little bit. You also have neighbors. I don't know that they would appreciate that.
[00:08:30] Speaker D: Yeah, let's just not give them my address.
[00:08:32] Speaker C: Right? You'll be good.
[00:08:34] Speaker B: Awesome. So what are the lessons learned so far with the acquisition, just in terms of. I don't know, it can be limited to the learning and development space or it could be something broader. Sean, what are your thoughts on that?
[00:08:47] Speaker C: So I think an interesting part for me is having been a Milgard legacy employee. Right. So our acquisition happened in 19 and went through Covid and it was a slower process because of COVID And I think one of the big things with our group and the learning components specifically is I feel like we're on a rocket ship. We started and we just took off running. We didn't walk, we didn't crawl. We just jumped in and started running. And I think one of the biggest AhA's is the structure of how the different training platforms are set up and the processes. And what I mean by that is from the legacy Mi stuff, being Mi and Milgard under Mitre Brands is very internally focused sales training and working to develop and build that out and make it more extensive. And then getting to meet the PGT team and see PGT University, it just really opened up that it's very customer centric focused and it's really about educating the dealers and the customers out there and the end users to make better decisions and really understand the product and how to use it well, where I think on the legacy side of Mitre brands, it was educate sales teams didn't allow them to go educate the customers. So I think you know, in conversations Jim and I have had, that's been really eye opening for both of us, that as we look at the unit, at what the future is going to be, we need to strike a chord or a balance between the two and have equal representation across all brands for internal and also external.
[00:10:23] Speaker B: Right. Well, and when you're a team of one, you have to rely on the sales team as an extension of the training team, because you can't do it by yourself.
[00:10:31] Speaker C: 100%, yes. And not just limited to training. In my role, I also do events. So larger, internal and I customer events that happen, I play a role in helping to make sure those go off, and in some cases, owning those events. So timing and capabilities are always challenging. So becoming a team of more than one is very exciting.
[00:10:52] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:10:53] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:10:53] Speaker B: Jim, what are your thoughts on all that?
[00:10:55] Speaker D: Well, I have several thoughts, but I think the overarching thing is that the things that Shawn in his training has been doing extremely well are things that we have not been doing in large scale. And the things that we have been doing over the last several years in doing it well are things that Shawn has not been doing. A lot of that is due to scale, not desire. So now, by combining the experiences of both sides of the United States in our experiences, we now are better equipped to do more things, better things, faster things. And the geographic scope that we potentially are going to have available to us is just mind boggling. And, you know, I love being involved in a team that affects change. And we always like to say here that we do hard work well, and we take pride in that. But it's an issue of how is our work affecting our customers, the industry, you know, what kind of change are we making? Are we affecting? And I think the opportunities in the future are just boundless. And I tell the industry, just wait and watch. It's gonna be fun.
[00:11:59] Speaker C: Yeah, I think it's super cool that we're all three brands and the company in general are very focused on strong partnerships and profitable partnerships, and how we continue to grow that with our customers and our teams is going to be a critical piece. And I'm just super excited to see us mash our two ways together and create something even more exciting and new than it's ever been for either of us. So, yeah, I think it's cool.
[00:12:29] Speaker D: Yeah, it's going to be awesome.
[00:12:30] Speaker B: I'm excited, too. There's a little bit of work that's gonna be involved. I have a feeling, well, we've got to integrate. Yeah, it's gonna be a process it is gonna be a process. And I know, just a quick note, I did get an email earlier this week from one of the Mi reps who has been exposed to PGTI university platform. And he was just like, oh my gosh, this is amazing. How do I get my customers in here? What do I do? Da da da da da. He was just on fire about it. And it's kind of funny because you forget, you know, it's like the fish doesn't know it's in water. Like we just kind of forget that this is what we do and this is how we do it. And to have that someone who's now part of our organization start acknowledging that and saying, wow, this is going to be such a fabulous tool for my people. And we're like, oh, well, you're welcome. Yeah, glad you like it.
[00:13:22] Speaker C: I think an interesting part is, you know, as we look at the content we have from a legacy Milgard standpoint and what we're developing for mi, and then we looked at the content and structure of what you have for PGT. It's really opened up a piece of really, how are we going to approach this and what's going to be the best way to deliver to the customer? And Jim and I have been working, I'll say more Jim than I, on a pretty extensive, it's a mutual project, it's a breakdown of what it's going to take. And I think yesterday was a big aha, because he had listed the Milgard product series and configurations, as we would call them, or the operating styles, and then he had the mis, and we sat down and broke it down even further and it got really big. I mean, like really big. And it's like we start looking at that's what we have to develop, you know? And there's, to your point, there's a lot of content to develop, but there's also a lot of content to manage. Right. And that's going to be some of the big lift. So we're excited for what we see as the potential future of training and what that group will look like and should encompass and be responsible for.
[00:14:33] Speaker B: Right?
[00:14:34] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:14:34] Speaker B: Did it involve big paper and small print?
[00:14:37] Speaker C: Yeah. Patrick and I and Jim were having a conversation about eleven by sixteen s and size six fonts.
[00:14:44] Speaker B: Oh my gosh.
[00:14:45] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:14:45] Speaker D: I love big paper and small print.
[00:14:48] Speaker B: It's his favorite thing.
I'm like, there you go. He's like, man, can I just get it on one piece, though?
[00:14:54] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:14:54] Speaker D: I'm like a kid in an office supply store.
[00:14:57] Speaker C: Well, Jim and I did pretty well on Excel because you could ask Tony Modern when you get him in here. But Tony's introduction to me was he learned that I could make an Excel spreadsheet go to triple letters across the top and in columns. So.
[00:15:13] Speaker B: Really?
[00:15:13] Speaker C: Yeah. You can load some content in there. Mm hmm.
[00:15:16] Speaker B: Oh, gosh.
[00:15:17] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:15:17] Speaker B: I'm in so much trouble.
Gosh. Is there anything else we want to talk about?
[00:15:23] Speaker C: No. You know, like I said, I really think it's just about a very exciting future, not just for us as a team, but for us as the three brands as Mitre brands, and even more so for our customers. We're going to bring as we go forward with this will be a huge impact change to how we support them in business and how we support our teams in being able to go out and drive that business. I go back to what Matt says. We call ourselves a support center at a higher level, and you're either supporting sales to go out and drive the business and get the orders, or you're supporting operations to be able to go and build the orders that come in and build the product. And I think as long as we continue to focus that way, we'll reach our goals to be the best window and door company in North America.
[00:16:13] Speaker B: Most valued window indoor company in America, I think, is the quote.
[00:16:18] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:16:18] Speaker B: Yes, the tagline. Well, it's always fun to be able to take the best of both and create something new, and I think that's exactly what's happening. And it's been such a privilege to get to work as closely with you as we have over the last few weeks, just evaluating systems and trying to decide what kind of software we're going to be using and then meeting some of the mitre execs and, you know, more to come. We're hoping to have a few more faces in here over the next few weeks. So, anyway, it's been such a great time to host you in Florida. Sorry for the humidity.
[00:16:49] Speaker C: It's all good.
Beautiful place.
[00:16:51] Speaker B: It is a beautiful place. And we'll get to go have a nice dinner near the water tonight. So perfect. Anyway, I appreciate your time, Sean. Jim, thank you, as always.
[00:17:00] Speaker D: Thank you.
[00:17:01] Speaker B: It's nice that you can still find your way over here.
[00:17:03] Speaker D: Yeah, I get here occasionally.
[00:17:05] Speaker B: Yeah, well, earlier every couple years. Yeah, earlier you said, hey, do you want to do a podcast with Sean? I'm like, yeah, have at it. And you were like, what? I don't know how to use that stuff. Like, it's not hard. You figure it out.
[00:17:16] Speaker C: Sherry, I would just say, thanks for having me, and, you know, hosting this, and I've listened to a handful of the podcast already, and you're just amazing at it. You do a great job.
[00:17:25] Speaker B: Well, I like to talk, and I like to talk to really smart people, and that's usually who I bring in. So it's been a fun space. So thank you.
[00:17:33] Speaker C: Yeah, thank you.
[00:17:34] Speaker B: All right, we'll talk soon.
[00:17:35] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:17:36] Speaker D: Take care.
[00:17:41] Speaker A: The Clear Impact podcast is brought to you by PGTI University. We are a part of Mitre Brands, a family of leading window and door brands united by our passion for quality and relentless pursuit of 100%. One of the missions of Miter brands is to unite and deliver the finest customer experience possible across the nation. Our window and door brands deliver regionalized expertise and products backed by a national company. PGTI University is here to educate you, our listener, so that you can be a more informed consumer of window indoor products.
