Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:09] Speaker B: Welcome to the Clear Impact Podcast brought to you by Mitre Brands University. Thanks for joining us today. My name is Sheri Conner and I am your host.
[00:00:24] Speaker A: Good afternoon. We are here on the Clear Impact podcast and we are recording in Tacoma, Washington and we are at a Milgard facility today and just capturing different folks that have made their way in. And so I am sitting with Karen Watson. Welcome to the podcast.
[00:00:41] Speaker C: Thank you. Happy to be here.
[00:00:43] Speaker A: Yeah. Thanks for making time. I know you popped over for the training event and thrilled that you're able to record with me. So tell us a little bit about your history with the company and then your current role and responsibilities here.
[00:00:55] Speaker C: Yeah, so I started in 1995.
[00:00:58] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:00:58] Speaker C: Okay. This November will be 30 years, which is amazing. Hard to believe.
[00:01:03] Speaker A: Wow, that's amazing. Congratulations.
[00:01:05] Speaker C: Thank you. I feel it an honor for sure.
So when I started, I was in inside sales for 5 years and I worked in an interesting market that was export to Japan. We had containers and crate loads that went to Japan and it was a huge business, so that was really fun. And they'd bring in buses and I kind of learned tours and a little bit of Japanese and take them on the tours of the plant.
[00:01:30] Speaker A: Oh, wow.
[00:01:31] Speaker C: Super fun.
[00:01:32] Speaker A: Oh, that is fun.
[00:01:33] Speaker C: Yeah. So that and then the whole outer region market. So Alaska, Hawaii, and anything outside a little bit of Canada. So I started inside sales and then I migrated into helping with the marketing department.
[00:01:46] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:01:47] Speaker C: And I have been a marketing rep ever since, so. Seen a lot of changes.
[00:01:52] Speaker A: Yeah, I would imagine so. I mean, there was no Internet in 1995. I mean, there was, but not very many people were using it. And there weren't cell phones and there wasn't GPS and all those things that probably make your job much easier today.
[00:02:04] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. I mean, it started off with approving yellow page ads that were like $50,000 for this ad and you got a little logo. As long as your logo was in there somewhere, they'd be like, okay, can I get co op? And that's what it was.
[00:02:20] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh, that's amazing.
[00:02:22] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:02:23] Speaker A: And so your current role is still as a marketing rep.
[00:02:27] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:02:28] Speaker A: Okay. And what areas do you cover?
[00:02:30] Speaker C: So I am the rmr, as they say, the regional marketing rep for Washington State. And then still Hawaii, Alaska and Western Canada.
[00:02:40] Speaker A: Oh, nice.
[00:02:41] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:02:41] Speaker A: So you do have some traveling that you get to do.
[00:02:44] Speaker C: Yes, And I did travel more in recent years and that's starting to pick up again. So of course, the ever loving, coveted trip to Hawaii.
[00:02:53] Speaker A: Yeah, I was gonna say don't you guys need some training out there. Like, we can certainly make arrangements.
[00:02:58] Speaker C: I think you could.
[00:02:59] Speaker A: Yeah, I think you could work it. PGT is a thing in Hawaii, so.
[00:03:02] Speaker C: Absolutely.
[00:03:03] Speaker A: And so when you think about the MITRE acronym, the M, I, T, E, R, which of those letters do you feel like your role most connects with?
[00:03:13] Speaker C: Yeah, it's fun to kind of think through that.
I would say the ter.
[00:03:18] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:03:18] Speaker C: Trust experiences and relationships. Yeah, the trust, I think, permeates all of it because it's just doing the right thing and following up and doing what you say you're going to do.
[00:03:29] Speaker A: Right, Integrity.
[00:03:30] Speaker C: Yeah, integrity.
So with the experiences, I love being able to be a part of creating experiences for customers. And it's not just our external customers, but internal customers as well.
[00:03:43] Speaker A: Sure.
[00:03:44] Speaker C: And that comes along with different customer meetings, so dealer events and roundtables, different shows and product launches.
So there's the larger experiences, and then there's the experience of. Which kind of dovetails. Right. Into relationships. There's the experience of every time you're on the phone with a customer, you're meeting with them in person at a showroom or you're at a Milgard or Mitre Brands event.
So we are always wanting to create the most dynamic and trusted relationships that we can, because people are everything. People are our business.
[00:04:21] Speaker A: Right.
[00:04:22] Speaker C: And so that's probably my favorite part, because in my role, I get to meet with the dealers, help them come up with a marketing plan. And each one of them is unique. So whether they're in a metro area or rural, new construction focused or remodel, we get to collaborate and figure out who's your target audience and see what plan works for them. It's not just cookie cutters. So that's fun, right? Yeah.
[00:04:45] Speaker A: It sounds like a pretty diverse group, too, because the folks in Hawaii have different concerns than the folks in Alaska that also have different concerns than people in Canada and Washington state. So I'm sure there's a lot of variety there too, right?
[00:05:01] Speaker C: Yes, absolutely.
[00:05:02] Speaker A: And so one question that I've been asking all of my guests as we have been exploring the MITRE acronym through a lot of different conversations over the last few months, and because we're part of the learning team. Right. Mitre Barron's University. And so we believe in education and helping people learn more. And this can be personal, this can be professional, this can be serious or silly. It can be whatever. What is something that you're learning about these days?
[00:05:27] Speaker C: That is a good question. I would say there's a phrase that I use that my kids laugh about, but it is one of my favorites. So the gift of time is one of my favorite things.
And it kind of applies to both work and personal.
So with work, whether it's with a customer or with a team member, you're focused on your goals and growing share and revenue and that's where you're at and that's why we're here. But life is short and I feel like the gift of time that you get to have with people is getting to know them a little more than you did the last time you saw them and taking time to be able to encourage or inspire them wherever they're at in their life. So I love knowing people's stories and their journeys and what they've learned about and what wisdom they have to share with people.
[00:06:18] Speaker A: Right.
[00:06:18] Speaker C: So it's kind of funny because I'll dovetail off. I love to get to the personal questions with customers and with people because it kind of.
Sometimes it'll throw them off or surprise them.
[00:06:29] Speaker A: Right.
[00:06:29] Speaker C: And really it's at the heart of our business, I think. Yeah, yeah.
[00:06:33] Speaker A: The connection.
[00:06:34] Speaker C: Yeah. And what I love about Mitre Brands is, I was gonna say from the top down, but really it's from the heart out. Like the Desotos and the Mitre foundation, it's putting their words into action.
[00:06:45] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:06:45] Speaker C: And it's such a gift to be able to be able to help someone in your own department, in your own location, and as well as customers. You get to help people at the dealer level, someone within their company who may be struggling with health or finances or a two step process. So it might be a customer or family member of theirs. And when you have the ability to reach out and help someone, it's the littlest things that make the biggest difference. And we don't do it to grow market share. We do it because we care about people.
[00:07:18] Speaker A: Right?
[00:07:18] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:07:18] Speaker A: Because it's the right thing to do.
[00:07:20] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:07:21] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, and that's one of the things I really love. I mean, we've been integrated for the better part of a year, a year plus now. PGT had a very strong philanthropic presence in our community and supported several local nonprofits. And then Milgard also had some very strong philanthropic efforts through Carol Milgard and Washington University. And you know, some of the things that I learned when I read the Milgard story, and so then for MI to also have that, and now it's across all of the brands I love, that theme is consistent throughout all of the different areas and all of the different leaders.
It doesn't Matter which location you're working in or who your leadership was 20 years ago, it's still there. That's caring about people and caring about the communities.
[00:08:09] Speaker C: It really is. And what I love to tell customers when they ask, how's it going with the new ownership? And those questions are subsiding because sure.
[00:08:17] Speaker A: It'S been a few years.
[00:08:18] Speaker C: Yeah, we've been moving now, but I just said it's going great. I go it feels so familiar because Gary and Jim Milgaard had very much the same philosophy as the DeSotos and it kind of feels like coming back home.
And I was fortunate enough to grow up in Milgard, so to speak, with Gary and Jim being across the street.
And Gary knew every name of the employees inside the office and out in the plant and he would just walk through and just talk to people. And I love that. It's the same here with Mitre. It's like no one's higher than anyone because of a title.
[00:08:56] Speaker A: Right?
[00:08:57] Speaker C: People are just people.
[00:08:58] Speaker A: Yeah, I love that too.
[00:09:00] Speaker C: And Jim Milgaard, he would come. He was the same as Gary, but he came over and he was really attentive to the inside sales team and he would always take someone out to lunch and he just wanted to know what was going on in their personal life, what was going on in business and how could he help maybe create new opportunities for the business within inside sales and outside sales.
[00:09:22] Speaker A: Yeah, we're lucky, aren't we?
[00:09:23] Speaker C: So lucky.
[00:09:24] Speaker A: Yeah.
For amazing people. And we're very happy. I mean, I know maybe not everybody is, but I know that the people who have that long term vision for PGT and have set roots there and have the career in mind, it's been going very well for us. So it's a nice place to be.
[00:09:42] Speaker C: It is. It's nice that so many brands coming together and it just feels like family.
[00:09:46] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah, it really does. Awesome. Karen. Well, I really appreciate the chance to chat with you and to get to know you a little bit and appreciate your time to record with me today.
[00:09:54] Speaker C: Thank you. Thank you. Pleasure.
[00:09:56] Speaker A: Have a great day.
[00:09:56] Speaker C: You too.
[00:09:57] Speaker A: All right, Bye. Bye.
[00:09:59] Speaker B: The Clear Impact podcast is brought to you by Mitre Brands 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%. At Mitre Brands, our common purpose is to deliver value by manufacturing the finest products, services and customer experience every day, everywhere. Our window and door brands deliver regionalized expertise, products and services, all backed by a national company.
Miter Brands University is here to educate you, our listener, so that you can be a more informed consumer of window and door products.
[00:10:37] Speaker C: Sam.
