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 are introducing some of our new leadership team from Mitre Brands. And today in studio, we have Tony Mater. Welcome.
[00:00:35] Speaker C: Thank you so much.
[00:00:36] Speaker B: So it's lovely for you to be able to jump in. I know we were kind of like, I don't know, I'm gonna be in town on Tuesday. Let's see what happens. And then bumped into you at lunch in the cafeteria and.
[00:00:47] Speaker C: Super weird way to meet you.
[00:00:48] Speaker B: I know, I was like, oh, here's all the marketing people. Oh, I bet you're Tony.
[00:00:52] Speaker C: I am.
[00:00:53] Speaker B: Nice. Well, welcome to the studio. Welcome back to Venice. So we're just doing a little series to just meet some of the people who are now, you know, at the helm. If you want to say it that.
[00:01:02] Speaker C: Way, that seems way too official for me.
[00:01:04] Speaker B: Yeah.
But anyway, so tell us a little bit about you, Tony, as much as you want to share, like, professional, personal, like, tell us who you are.
[00:01:13] Speaker C: Sounds good. Born and raised in central Pennsylvania as the crow flies. Live less than a mile from where I grew up. Haven't really ventured too far away in terms of living arrangements.
Went to Penn State University two years. Had so much fun that I had to take a little bit of a break when my girlfriend at the time, now wife, got pregnant. So our first son came. I was 21, she was 19.
[00:01:38] Speaker B: Oh.
[00:01:38] Speaker C: So we've been at it for a while with kids, and since then, we've had three more.
[00:01:42] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:01:43] Speaker C: Spaced very far apart. So my son's 22, and we'll be getting married in September. So we are now, like, full wedding prep phase. Just had a bridal shower over the weekend. I was not part of that, but my wife was.
[00:01:56] Speaker B: I was gonna say, you got to skip that.
[00:01:58] Speaker C: I mowed the grass.
[00:02:00] Speaker B: Nice.
[00:02:00] Speaker C: And then my oldest daughter is 18, going to college, so we're taking her to school next week. And then I have two other daughters, twelve. So entering junior high. That's interesting. And then our youngest daughter is five, going to kindergarten. So I've got wedding, college, junior high, kindergarten.
[00:02:18] Speaker B: Ooh. You check all the boxes.
[00:02:20] Speaker C: We've been in and out of diapers four different times.
[00:02:23] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh.
[00:02:24] Speaker C: And now we're out officially for the last time.
[00:02:27] Speaker B: Oh, wow. So, yeah, that's a big spread.
[00:02:31] Speaker C: Yeah. I just joked with my wife over the weekend that she was just put on earth to watch children. That is what she does. She does a really great job. She's the best.
[00:02:39] Speaker B: And she loves it. Right?
[00:02:40] Speaker C: She absolutely loves it. So she makes things work in our house, that's for sure. She just tells me where to be and when to be there.
[00:02:47] Speaker B: Right.
[00:02:48] Speaker C: But she's great in terms of work.
After I took that break, I actually ended up working at what was an Mi, windows and doors manufacturing plant for four and a half years. So needed to support the family and have a kid. And we bought a house and got married. And then while I was working in the manufacturing facility, I was making screen doors. I went back to school and finished my degree. So I was working in the plant five in the morning till two in the afternoon. Would drive 45 minutes to school. Started at three. Was doing school like three to nine, three or four days a week.
[00:03:25] Speaker B: Oh, gosh.
[00:03:26] Speaker C: And was paying, like, at that point, my parents had said, yeah, we're not paying for your school anymore.
[00:03:33] Speaker B: Oh, no.
[00:03:34] Speaker C: So was paying like credit by credit. But in two and a half years, I finally finished. So only took a half a year longer than it needed to, but learned a lot and knew I didn't want to work in the factory. I appreciate all that the team does in the factory. It just, it wore me out.
[00:03:49] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:03:49] Speaker C: I had different plans, so gave my boss at the time, my foreman, when I finally graduated, finally found a job, I handed him my two weeks notice, and he said it was the first time that anyone didn't just quit by leaving and not showing up to work. So he. Oh, yeah, apparently that's what happens in the manufacturing plants 25 years ago, so anyway. But ended up with a commercial roofing manufacturer for eight and a half years. But mi verydeh Central to the community where I live and employ. We've got about 1500 team members in that general community, and I know lots of folks that work there. My brother works in the business, my cousins work in the business. My dad works in the business. Always just kind of kept in touch. I've known Matt Desoto for quite some time, so we would run into each other at events and we'd be talking. Anyway, 2014, an opportunity popped up to lead the marketing team or function at MI Windows indoors. And when I say the team, it was one other person at the time. So it was a pretty small team. We're a team of two, but it was just the right time for my family and me. I wouldn't say I was like, capped, but where I was, if I wanted to move up, I was going to have to relocate. And we were at that point now had three children. Two of them were already in school. And my wife is very close with her family. I'm close with my family. Relocating just wasn't an option. Good timing. And I've been with Mi now, Mitre Brands, since April 2014.
[00:05:19] Speaker B: Okay, so you just had your ten year mark.
[00:05:21] Speaker C: I did just have my ten year mark. I even have some Amazon gift cards for. I guess I didn't even know this. We started handing out like every five year service anniversaries. You get some Amazon points.
[00:05:32] Speaker B: Oh, nice.
[00:05:33] Speaker C: I have an email in my inbox that's dated back to April that I gotta go spend some Amazon points and buy myself something nice.
[00:05:40] Speaker B: I was gonna say, you've got four kids and you still have an Amazon gift card in your possession?
[00:05:45] Speaker C: Yeah, it's pretty crazy.
[00:05:45] Speaker B: That's crazy. Especially with one going off to college and one getting married.
[00:05:49] Speaker C: There's a lot of Amazon packages showing up at the house.
[00:05:53] Speaker B: I'll bet.
Nice. So what is your current role and responsibilities at this point?
[00:05:59] Speaker C: So I get the pleasure of leading our marketing team, which has expanded a lot since back in 2014 when there were two of us. We do a lot of great things as a team, lots of talented people, but everything that kind of falls under that is like very front end market sizing, understanding market position opportunities. So we've got some great folks that really dive into the analytics and the details that then guides our product strategy. So product management is a part of the team and we've got a new leader there and Jason Wilton, who's just starting to get his hands or his head wrapped around that function. And he's got a ton of great, talented product managers and pricing analysts on the team. So they're really tasked with making sure we have the right products for the right customers and the right channels and that they're priced right and we're making the right amount of margin. And then from there we've got the brand marketing team. So Mi Milgard, PGT, CGI, and all the other great brands that we have in the business.
And that team kind of leads the promotion and the marketing, communications, digital marketing. So all websites, social media, analytics, marketing operations, marketing technology, make sure we have the right tools and we know how to use them. We've got creative services and that's all graphic design, video copywriting. So they make all of our materials look and feel great and make sure they're saying the right things and getting to the right people. And then training and events is also part of legacy Mitre brand's marketing team. And we've got a leader there that handles kind of big company events. So our CX meeting legends and leaders ETP trip, and then all the product training and sales training falls in there, which is a complement to what you and your team do. So I do think we've got to figure out how to bring those two functions together because we've got lots of smart, talented trainers that probably appreciate working with one another. But.
[00:07:51] 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.
[00:08:09] Speaker B: Yeah, well, you know, we had an opportunity to spend some time with Shawn at a learning and development professionals conference this summer, and he was just like, I'm not a team of one anymore.
[00:08:20] Speaker C: Like, he was so happy, he came back beaming. The first thing he said when he joined our marketing team, and that's about two years ago, was that he's always been a team of one. So it felt good to be on a team. But even then, he was, like the only trainer. So he was kind of in a bit of an island. When he came back from North Carolina from that training event with you guys, he was, like, gushing about the excitement, and he's like, holy cow, they know what they're doing. This is great.
[00:08:45] Speaker B: We liked having him as part of our team, and it's just been, you know, because whenever there's an acquisition, you know, you just never quite know how it's going to land. So we've been so grateful and fortunate. And, you know, Brock shared in his conversation with me that he'd been admiring our team from afar for a while. And so that felt really nice.
[00:09:05] Speaker C: That is true.
[00:09:05] Speaker B: And so, you know, we just were all doing our best to make sure people know what they're doing when they're selling our product, installing our product, servicing our product. And it takes a lot of people and a lot of effort to do that, and it takes some resource, too. And the PGT legacy has always been able to say, yeah, you guys need that? Sure. Here you go. Here you go. Oh, we want to do this. Yep. Have at it. So we've had a lot of support from our leadership over the years, and that's, I think, one of the reasons that we have been able to build up, you know, the library that we have, the portfolios that we have, and our dealers love it. Like, they get a new hire, they're just like, here, go take some classes.
[00:09:41] Speaker C: That's so great. I'm with Brock. Like, we've all admired not just PGTI University, which is absolutely amazing. Just PGTI, the business and the team and the people. To your point, you never know what you're gonna get with an acquisition, but the like mindedness of the people and the just, like, roll your sleeves up and get it done.
[00:10:00] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:10:00] Speaker C: Attitude is, like, refreshing, and it's a perfect fit. We're all excited.
[00:10:05] Speaker B: Well, if you're not gonna work hard, there's a whole bunch of other things you can do.
[00:10:08] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:10:09] Speaker B: Like, if you're gonna be here all day, you might as well do something, right? Like, if I'm just gonna lounge, there's a beach nearby.
[00:10:14] Speaker C: I was gonna say, I'll just go sit by the pool.
[00:10:17] Speaker B: Exactly. So, one last question before we wrap up. What is a great piece of advice that you've received over the years that was interesting?
[00:10:24] Speaker C: When I saw these questions come over, I was like, oh, man, I should have a really good answer for this. And I was struggling a little bit of. I do keep some notes in my phone under the heading inspiration. And I thought, oh, there's got to be something in there, right? And there were two that jumped out at me. The first is, the greatest barrier to communication is the illusion that it happened. And I think this one sticks with me because we're in the communication space. And, like, the way I interpret it, like, we say something to someone maybe once, and we think we delivered that message, or we have the narrative in our head, but we never actually communicate it with others. And we do need to, like, one get out of your head and just start talking to people and making sure that what you're saying and what you expect is delivered clearly. So, just communication is so important. And especially, again, coming into this integration and post acquisition, we just don't know each other yet. So we've got to be communicating clearly, consistently, transparently, and often. Like, we just got to continue to talk and don't let people kind of take the narrative in their own head. Don't you build it in your head. Just, let's talk. Let's figure it out and move forward.
[00:11:33] Speaker B: Okay, so the greatest barrier to communication is thinking it already happened is the.
[00:11:39] Speaker C: Illusion that it happened.
[00:11:40] Speaker B: The illusion that it happened. Okay. I like that.
[00:11:43] Speaker C: Awesome. Good. And then the next one was. And these are all from one of the priests at our church. So keep a promise after saying a prayer. So we're all, we need something. We're usually, like, promising God that, hey, I just need this, please. I promise I'll never ask again. And then we get it. And then we move on and kind of forget. So be grateful for the things you get, right? If you make a promise, it doesn't need to be a religious thing, but if you make a promise to someone, you got to keep your word. Because if you don't do that, nothing else matters.
[00:12:14] Speaker B: Sure. That's beautiful. I love that. Those are great. I'm going to do a compilation at some point of all the bits of. Because I asked this question to everyone, to just about everyone. Whenever I'm doing an introduction, I ask for a great piece of advice that they've received. And so I think I'm going to do a compilation at some point of all the great pieces of advice that we've shared out on the Clear impact podcast over the years. Yeah, I'll get to that soon.
[00:12:39] Speaker C: In your free time.
[00:12:40] Speaker B: In my free time. All right, well, is there anything else you'd like to share?
[00:12:44] Speaker C: I don't think so, other than just thanks for the opportunity. Appreciate it. I think the work you do here is great. Let's keep doing it.
[00:12:51] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, I'm looking forward to more. Today is our final day in this studio. I've got one more episode I'm recording in just a couple minutes and then that's it. We're going to pack it up and relocate and have a new room.
[00:13:01] Speaker C: Off to the new space?
[00:13:02] Speaker B: Yeah, off to the new space that's being built next week. So.
[00:13:04] Speaker C: Love it.
[00:13:05] Speaker B: Yeah, it's going to be fun.
[00:13:06] Speaker C: Good, good.
[00:13:07] Speaker B: All right. Thank you, Tony.
[00:13:08] Speaker C: Thanks so much.
[00:13:08] Speaker B: Have a great day.
[00:13:09] Speaker C: You too.
[00:13:09] Speaker B: All right, bye.
[00:13:12] 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 Mitre brands is to unite and deliver the finest customer experience possible across the nation. Our window indoor 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.
