Nate

Unknown Speaker 0:00
The definition of a website is really expanded to be a lot of different things these days. what best suits the end user or the customer is is really what’s going to put them in the best position to scale. We use that house building analogy, lay out the foundation, the structure and make sure the plumbing is in the right place. And it’s the same thing with the digital product.

Unknown Speaker 0:24
Hey, it’s Nate Disarro, and welcome to Titans of Industry, the podcast where I talk to industry leaders and innovators who are at the top of their game and leading the pack in their fields uncovering some of the best stories in today’s business landscape. In today’s episode, I sit down with Zach Hill, the CEO of digital design firm. Zach tells us about the importance of creating a scalable foundation for your digital presence, his prediction for how companies will overcome the growing pains of working virtually, and his tips for leading a remote workforce, which he’s done three years now. And now let’s get to the episode. But before we do, it’s important to know that whether you’re a small business owner or the face of a multibillion dollar industry, your organization has a great story to tell, and Content Titan wants to help you tell it. We’re a digital content creation powerhouse built for the 21st century, providing all in creative strategic production, post production and distribution services for at 360 degree 24 seven world. In our world, Titans are passionate, creative doers. They have the experience to take your project from start to finish, minimizing your involvement so you can focus on what matters most running your business. So if you’re ready to take your content, strategy and production to the next level, our Titans are ready to help.

Unknown Speaker 1:45
Now here’s my conversation with Zach Hill.

Unknown Speaker 1:50
All right, well, Zach, pleasure to do this interview with you. Thanks for taking the time. You’ve been involved in the digital space for quite some time. I would venture to say the majority of your time career. So talk me through just kind of how you got into the digital world.

Unknown Speaker 2:05
Okay, that’s a Yeah, that’s that’s quite a story.

Unknown Speaker 2:09
So I started out very much background in education in advertising and marketing. My step into the digital world was very much kind of out of looking for a job right out of college and took a took a project management job at a group called flex 360, which is an entity of Arkansas business publishing, who had some relationships with due to internships and stepped into a world that I really didn’t know hardly anything about, did some web design in college as freelance and things like that, but had no clue about the true professional level of what all goes into the digital world. But it was probably I look back at that and say, that’s probably the one of the best decisions or things that I’ve ever done by happenstance, because that was 2007 And while there was a lot going on in the world between 2007 2008 financial crisis and things like that, the digital world was really taking off web 2.0 was a thing flash was dying, you know, social media, you know, Twitter, Facebook, all these things were just now starting to take off. It was really the perfect time to get involved and really learn while all that was scaling up, as opposed to having to learn new tricks along the way,

Unknown Speaker 3:30
however, so you get get started at web or flex 360 have the opportunity to kind of learn all these new things as they’re coming into the world, which is a big part of my story, too. I mean, I kind of told you I grew up analog, and then when digital, you know, and so you kind of understand how the analog world works. As you’re moving into digital so you kind of progress with it. Instead of have to pick it up 10 years down the road where all these things have already happened and you pick up the newest iteration, but you don’t have the history to go with it. Talk a little bit about how that served you well, and how that’s kind of put you in the role now CEO of, you know, dominant digital design company that’s doing some really cool stuff.

Unknown Speaker 4:13
Well, I mean, it’s very much like what you said, I mean, it was a ability to say, Okay, here’s, here’s where the world is going at just the right time. You know, the startup mentality was just kind of really developing, especially at a local level. I mean, I think it was something that was, you know, well established on your, on your co east and west coast, you know, but, you know, in Arkansas, the idea of a technology startup was really new. And, you know, it was a great opportunity to lay a foundational understanding of what, you know, what all went into a product or just a website that time you know, like what, you know, what’s the best way of creating a database driven, you know, or a dynamic, you know, website as opposed to static HTML and some of the things that, you know, was was the go to at the time. And so really set a tone of what the future was starting to look like. And you started to see these social media companies, you started to see, you know, these companies that were just completely living in an online, you know, world. And again, this is post.com bubble. So, you know, everything that was happening at that time, you know, wasn’t particularly new ish, the technology was finally catching up, to be able to support and scale, you know, companies in this fashion. And so, all of that really culminated in me moving into positions of working at large agencies, you know, building out digital apartments for them. That then layered on you know, the whole social and content directive and how important that is played into, you know, your digital presence these days. Which is then brought me to you You know, where I’m at now of really overseeing, you know, a digital solutions company. So, you know, building websites and mobile apps. And, you know, what we see is that digital transformation that’s happening, and it’s extremely prevalent right now in the world. So, you know, that all of those things have really built, you know, up on, you know, previous experience, to put me in a position to be able to kind of, from a strategy standpoint, bring a lot of value to the table.

Unknown Speaker 6:31
So, a lot of people now I still hear people say all the time, well, I need a website, and a lot of times that that term becomes very synonymous with, you know, a handful of pages on a digital platform that people can go to and get information from. But within that same window, whether it’s on a computer or smartphone or iPad, or you know, however it’s built out or displayed. A website can be a bunch of things now talked about Talk me through that transformation, as you’ve seen it kind of the web 2.0. And then now digital solutions across the board. And we can even parlay that into I’m sure some of the conversations you’ve had over the last 90 days, and how people now are realizing we can almost only exist in an online environment. And how is that affecting you guys and what you’re doing?

Unknown Speaker 7:19
Yeah, I mean, that’s really where so many conversations start is, I think I need a website or, you know, I need I need a website, or I need an application. But a lot of times people haven’t really, you know, really understood what all needs to go into that and and really, where do they get the most, you know, kind of value and not so much just them? It’s where do the users or their customers get the most value? And so yeah, the conversation often will start, well, I need a website. And then we start talking about, okay, what are you trying to accomplish or what are the problems you’re trying to solve here and it quickly You know, you quickly realize that, yeah, you know, this is the problem isn’t solved with simply a website, you know, the problem is solved by having, you know, maybe a front end, you know, marketing website to talk about this product or service that you offer. But then you also need this portal, which is more of a web application, you know, that people can log into and manage certain pieces of their business, you also may potentially need an application that talks to all three of those platforms, and interacts and allows people, you know, to get that value in to solve the problem you’re looking at. And so yeah, the definition of a website is, is is really expanded to be a lot of different things these days. And so we talked about whenever we’re, you know, kind of introducing ourselves as few. It’s very much about web enablement, or web based, you know, platforms so that can encapsulate websites, mobile applications, web applications, and all those things. In between, but you know, really what best suits the end user or the customer is, is really what’s going to put them in the best position to scale long term. Because if they, you know, you can make an investment in a website, and that may solve your short term problem. But if you haven’t thought through, okay, how do we expand on this? How do we really make this a digital centric product or service that we’re bringing to the table, you’re going to quickly have to throw something away and start over, you need to be able to be in a position to where, you know, scaling can also mean adding on top of the initial Foundation, and so you got to be thinking about it in that format from the beginning. Just to just to get the most you know, value and bang for your buck.

Unknown Speaker 9:48
Yeah, it’s almost like if you were going to build your own house and you knew you wanted to start with a two bed, two bath, but eventually you want to end up with a five bed, three bath or whatever you You kind of want to start with that end goal in mind knowing you’re only going to build the infrastructure for the smaller one now is that kind of the

Unknown Speaker 10:07
take, it’s funny because we use that house building analogy, almost exactly as you just laid out, when we’re talking to clients, you know, or potential clients about, not just about like, how to think ahead, but also the process that we take very much focused on. Okay, we’re in a blueprint phase right now we’re trying to lay out the foundation, the structure and make sure the plumbing is in the right place. We’re not really worried about you know, the interior decorator coming in with their you know, paint and color swatches and things like that, because, you know, what that’s gonna do is distract you from, you know, the core foundation of what you’re trying to build here. And so we want to make sure we get that right. Then we can come in and add the you know, the pretty colors and things like that. Now, we do take design very seriously and everything that we do, that’s the experience and all That’s all that really matters. But if you don’t get the core foundation, right, it’s not going to set you know, you’re not, you know, you’re going to move into that house, like you just said, and it may seem right, you know, out the gate, but as you live in it, you’re going to realize, well, this isn’t really functional for my family, you know. And so it’s the same thing you don’t see contractors pull you up to in front of a house and say, I built this for you, I hope you really like it, you know, it’s a process to get there. And it’s the same thing with a digital product, you got to have to, you know, lay the foundation in the right way so that you can build upon and expand upon if you’re going to want to in the future, but also forces you to think through what that future actually looks like. Because if you if you aren’t going to do that, then yeah, the contractor can pull up there and just show you your house and, and whatever you get you kind of have to live with at that point.

Unknown Speaker 11:52
Yeah. All right. So there’s there’s no escaping the fact that we’re post COVID economic you know, obliteration to the world as we knew it, some businesses have struggled immensely to get just to this point. So here we are roughly three months into this pandemic. But the conversation around almost every business regardless of size, operational capacity, whatever they do, how do we become more digital? How do we either display to our clients who we are, what we do, how we’re changing and operating, or how do we move our actual business to a more digital business? How does that change the nature of conversations you have with clients with, you know, colleagues, people in the industry, what what is the conversation looked like over these last few months?

Unknown Speaker 12:43
Yeah, the the conversations it’s been quite interesting, but I mean, it’s, it’s really been overall consistent with the type of conversation that we were having before. It’s just now at a different scale, and and from more of a necessity factor than it is from Hey, I think that is the direction I need to take my business. Now people have realized that, you know, through forced adoption, that that they have to go down this path whether they like it or not, I mean, if you’re a brick and mortar structure business right now, and you depend on customers coming into your store, especially high volumes of customers, year, it’s going to be a long time even if all if all restrictions are, you know, removed tomorrow, it’s going to be a significant period of time, before you ever return to that high volume scenario that you were, you know, at previous to this. And so, the best options is to look, how do you offset that revenue? How do you create opportunities to you know, to gain traction gain customers, and particularly not have to rely on them being in your office or in your store or something like that and you know, The problem I think most people are having right now is identifying, you know, what is that approach? What is because I think what we’ve seen is a lot of innovation around people just trying to adopt two different formats, whether it be zoom meetings, doing their, you know, workout classes and, or teaching or, you know, whatever that is, you know, they’re using all the tools that they they can find, at the best of their ability. And that’s fantastic. But what’s happening is at the, you know, as we start to move into a rebuilding recovery phase, everybody’s tools are not going to be set up to scale, they’re going to start to break down. They’re going to be inefficient, and you know, ultimately also it kind of levels the playing field a little bit because now everybody is doing, you know, used to one trainer may have done, you know, a virtual You know, fitness class or something like that, now everybody’s doing that. But they’re all doing it in different fashions, and some are better than others and things like that. And so, you know, now you’re not unique because you offer this virtual training solution. And and now your virtual training solution may pale in comparison to somebody else’s. And so it’s ultimately going to be about the experience that someone’s able to provide. And how do you kind of invest in that platform and be the one that kind of owns that and really could potentially create that next iteration of the great platform for virtual training courses or classes or whatever that may be? I think people have to kind of look at that and look at what is that unique factor that they bring to the table, whether that’s a community element, okay. Well, you know, you have a brick and mortar business that you know, maybe a restaurant bar, but you have a fantastic community. You know, because of what you have at your, you know, availability, why don’t we take care of, you know, take advantage of that, you know, do more, you know of a platform approach to the live streaming or the services that you’re bringing to the table. To again, it’s, it’s, it may not, you know, ever be equal to what, you know, your full volume capacity of the brick and mortar establishment might have been, but it can absolutely help offset the limitations that are being set on your brick and mortar establishment right now. The upside is going back to the scalability factor is that if you can find that right recipe, have that platform and that community element or whatever that might be that people can latch on to share and do whatever they need to do on the scalability of that as well beyond what that capacity of your brick and mortar, you know, building was and so that’s, I think, that’s what the conversations have gone to is. It’s less about people looking at this, you know, baling wire and twine version of the solution that they have right now. And even not focusing so much on what is the digital solution that they need to have? It’s really identifying what is that unique piece that can be packaged up and scaled, that people just can’t get, you know, in other in other fashions.

Unknown Speaker 17:22
And I would assume to that once, you know, let’s use the restaurant example. They’ve got this community that they’re moving into an online platform that they can essentially find ways to service and generate revenue. Once we kind of go back to where we want and are comfortable and the safety is there for the person experiences again, you’ve now just built an add on revenues solution exact so you’re in person is going to go back up and then but but there’s a pretty high likelihood this online solution is going to maintain its level of revenue if not continue to increase because like you said, the scale ability you can now expand that community outside of your local physical location.

Unknown Speaker 18:05
Absolutely. I mean, and the idea here is also taking advantage of what, you know, what, what does Facebook do or your Instagram algorithm do to you? It personalizes against your preferences and your experience that you’re looking for out of that platform. Well, that’s exactly what you know, the future looks like for people who have this, this digital interaction, you know, piece that can live alongside of their brick and mortar experience. But also, you know, in that format, they can have a more personalized experience. And it can, you know, it can even affect the personalization of their experience when they do walk into the brick and mortar establishment. And I think that’s, that’s where, you know, people sometimes in their minds, put limitations on Oh, well, this platform can only do so much and it’s really, you know, it really should be something that lives alongside of of, you know what this you know, there are other revenue stream is. But like you said, really build upon create a new revenue stream and really they feed off of each other. So that you know, so that being unique ways your brick and mortar experience becomes enhanced from the digital product and say that someone’s been invested in your that experience for a long time but then they’ve had to move to a location where they didn’t you know, you don’t have really a location, they’re, they’re still an opportunity for them to feel connected to your brand and that experience and really, you know, really build it out beyond just what you know, what’s in your backyard kind of thing.

Unknown Speaker 19:48
So talking about sort of forward thinking innovation, what are some of the things that you’re seeing are the trends that you think things are going to start moving towards, obviously artificial intelligence augmented reality? These things, you know, incorporating those into digital experiences are becoming more and more. I don’t wanna say commonplace but but usable, right? We can now interact with anything on our phone wherever we’re at. But what are what are you guys doing in that regard? As far as like what you see the next big thing? Maybe?

Unknown Speaker 20:18
Yeah, I mean, next big thing. I mean, I think is going to be the, you know, the use of artificial intelligence to start to create that personalization, create opportunities, unique interactions and things like that. I think, you know, if you had asked me the question three months ago, it might have been a little bit different because of the enhancement of an experience a live event or something like that, or putting or taking a live event and really scaling that out in a unique way. probably would have been more prevalent, but you know, before the, this pandemic, but still, I think It’s kind of the same thing it’s it’s really about someone filling a connection through the technology and removing a lot of those gaps that I think we a lot of times feel like that the the only option but you know of really interacting with something is is through, you know, a live stream or a video or something like that and it’s like, more and more you’re going to see like true in depth interaction, virtual reality, you know, playing a role into that or just even augmented reality and you know, just little ways of visual cues and things like that, that you probably would have never thought would be helpful as you’re just standing at a you know, on a street corner, but being able to layer in the data, the technology, the information that’s sitting in your pocket with Your location, you know, or with the man or with other people that are around you, I think you’re gonna see a lot more of that happening. And I don’t think that is going to be, you know, mitigated at all based off of the pandemic that we’re kind of going through right now. I think one of the big conversations around some of these ideas is because of the pandemic, it’s sort of an accelerant to make these things move to market quicker, as opposed to these new innovative ideas just coming up because a lot of these things have happened and been in the market. It just takes a minute for everybody to kind of adopt it and then technology to catch up. But because of this and social distancing, and the reason that we don’t all go have these shared experiences in person right now, I think it’s going to accelerate. You know, those experiences you’re talking about where we can interact digitally, but but physically being somewhere, we long for experiences. Yeah, as humans, we want those emotions. And we want to share those with other people. And I think the more that we can interact digitally, but feel as real as possible, I think it’s going to quickly become much more prevalent in most people’s worlds. Oh, absolutely not in I mean, you gotta also think that that part of the acceleration, it goes back to that forced adoption, and it’s one of those it’s one of those things that’s happening on both sides of the table, you know, whether it’s the business itself, you know, trying to, you know, being forced into doing, you know, ecommerce or online ordering, or whatever that is. There’s a whole group of people out there that are the general consumer population, and I think maybe myself and maybe you, I mean, you know, we’re used to probably doing, you know, a curbside pickup or something like that, but there’s a large population out there that if they were going to eat at their house, they were going to Cook their meal. But now you know, it’s kind of like if they were going to eat out they would go to the restaurant well now this is kind of forced a lot of people it’s like well if I want to support said restaurant or I want to purchase from said, you know, organization, I’m going to have to go online, I’m going to have to, you know, move in this fashion. And I think what a lot of people are realizing what you know, they might have saw it as a barrier of entry previously, but now they’re seeing it as Oh, there’s kind of a nice convenience factor of this. And so that’s why I think even if all the restrictions are removed, you’re still going to see an uptake a lot of those people that were they were forced into adopting this new way of operating aren’t going to leave that extreme you know very easily that they now already have all the apps on their phones they already have you know, the the you know, an account with, you know, this boutique or whatever they order from and they realize like an order and get it the same day dropped on there. Report. Okay, well, you know, there’s, there’s that’s going to stay relatively strong. well beyond this. And I also think, you know, you think of the the remote work structure and and kind of everybody having to be forced to work from home to a degree.

Unknown Speaker 25:20
It’s it’s only going to up the people wanting more that, you know, that’s going to be seen as a benefit. And when people are going to be asked to start coming back to the office, there’s going to be people that have kind of settled into this new, you know, working structure and realizing I’ve really haven’t missed a beat, you know, being you know, working from home. Why should I, you know, now an office is a great thing to have an option for but why should I have to be there to really operate and do my job, and it’s going to create a situation where if people are really recognizing that that the Those employees are going to look for that and other places. And so, you know, I think there’s a lot of things like that that are going to come into play over the next six months to two years. Yeah,

Unknown Speaker 26:12
absolutely. I think the commercial real estate world is probably about to have a big shake up, we’ll see what happens. I mean, you know, I hope it’s not something that’s that’s detrimental to the industry, but I think a lot of corporate leases are going to not necessarily be renewed, especially if the same, you know, scale. But let’s jump into the remote working for a minute, because I know that’s how you guys operate. And you’ve done it since. Basically, it was before it was cool. And, and it’s worked well for you guys. So I know a lot of people right now are trying to figure that out. You know, they’ve kind of been forced into it. And now they’re at the point do we go back to the office full time? Do we keep this as an option? So talk about your sort of strategy with remote workforce and how that’s worked. Well for you what challenges have been there along the way?

Unknown Speaker 27:02
Yeah, I mean, the remote working in theory is a very easy thing to do, but it does have its challenges. We’ve been through that I mean, few has been operating as a remote based company for you know, probably past four years now or so. And it creates its is just as many opportunities as it does challenges. You got to learn how to communicate a little bit differently. But it also creates this format in which there’s kind of built in accountability. What you see a lot of times and especially big offices is kind of the the wallflower you know, like I am because my butt is in the seat. That means I’m at my work, I’m at my job and I must be I must be doing my job. People just say, you know, There’s there’s Nate. He’s here, the jobs getting done, you know, kind of thing that’s that was the, you know, the the accountability,

Unknown Speaker 28:07
you know, element, regardless of how many hours are spent at the watercooler

Unknown Speaker 28:11
Exactly, exactly. Because or how many, you know, what are you doing at your at your desk? Who knows, but the fact that you’re there, the assumption is that you’re you’re working, whereas, you know, in a remote structure, it kind of forces more open communication, which creates a lot more awareness of, you know, at what times are people working? Are they really getting anything done? You know, who who’s dropping the ball, you know, what’s the holdup, you know, you that becomes a lot more apparent a lot of times as opposed to when you can just shove everybody into a conference room of 20 people. That same person can kind of just sit back and let the conversation happen. And you know, and kind of slip by to a degree, not saying that that person isn’t doing any work, but they’re doing just enough whereas What? Well, I’ve seen, especially as other clients of ours have been forced into this structure that we are used to, and we’ve been able to kind of roll with right into no problem here. Other organizations I’m seeing, they’re getting the benefit of a lot more open and communication, and things like that the problems that you run into and challenges that you run into is that if someone isn’t a great communicator doesn’t mean that they’re not particularly not doing their job, but they can quickly be judged as you know, someone that’s not really you know, getting their job done, because they’re not communicating in the right way. So I think, you know, what we’ve learned is and in which a lot of technology companies do things like this, you know, daily stand ups and, you know, you know, things like that to kind of set the tone for the day check in. Understand, you know, you know what support is needed, where You know, and then leaning on tools, communication tools like Slack, and things like that, to create a bit more of a, an ongoing communication situation, as opposed to just relying heavily on email or phone calls and stuff like that. Obviously, the video conferencing, you know, capabilities are there. What’s been really interesting about this whole pandemic is, you know, is like, people have really adapted very quickly to wanting to have the videos on when they’re talking and seeing each other. But it’s also it’s kind of humanized everything a little bit because now I’m seeing everybody’s houses, their kids are breaking into their, you know, meetings, or at least mine or I mean, everybody’s got to meet my kids multiple times throughout this. So it’s, it’s kind of created this, okay, um, it’s not just a client, you know, client vendor relationship. It’s, it’s, there’s, there’s more to two people you’re getting a glimpse into, you know, People’s, you know, lifestyles and their livelihoods and things like that. But also, there’s infrastructure things that come along with that, whether that be internet speeds, if you’re in a rural environment, it’s a lot harder to operate in that, you know, format. And so yeah, there’s a number of challenges, but I think it’s, it’s absolutely here to stay, it’s going to be, you know, one of those things that I think is a benefit that people are looking for in their, you know, in their work structure. I

Unknown Speaker 31:31
completely agree. I think it’s been really fascinating. The speed at which people have adopted, you know, remote working and figured out tools and all that. But it’s also been kind of fascinating to see the learning curve that some people have had to figure out on their own, you know, even though a lot of people have tested out or done versions of remote work before. Some of these companies is funny, all the memes you see and all the things you see online people forgetting their own On an actual video call,

Unknown Speaker 32:03
you know, wherever they might be in the house,

Unknown Speaker 32:07
what they’re wearing or not wearing and stand up in the middle of an interview. But, you know, I think those kinds of things are going to become a trial by error. But But I think the productivity is an interesting aspect of it, because I do think, you know, I let my people work from home, basically whenever they can. And it’s, it’s interesting, the productivity difference, because you don’t have as many distractions. It also lets them feel the freedom if they need to run an errand in the middle of the day, nobody’s going to be like, Where’s so and so you know, they just kind of have the freedom to do it. And essentially, if you set the benchmarks and want the work done by a certain time, then give them the freedom to do that, you know, it allows for a lot less micromanaging. For most people, that’s a good thing. For some people, it’s a bad thing. And so you just kind of have to figure out I think, how do you manage these people on on their personality style and their, you know, work habits and so as a leader, how does that challenge you to make sure that you’re managing from a, you know, personality basis versus Can you manage the same for everybody remotely?

Unknown Speaker 33:09
Well, I think as, as a leader, it’s really tough to manage everybody in the same format in a remote structure. A lot, it’s there. I mean, the fact of the matter is that some people just aren’t really, you know, cut out for it, you know, if you give them too, too much leeway, too much, you know, opportunity to run that errand and do things like that and stuff. Not saying that that’s a bad thing. But you know, there’s there’s just like with anything in this world, people, the they’re, it’s in their nature to start to take advantage of things and stuff like that. What we focused on is more of the type of person that we look for whenever we are hiring and stuff like that. And it’s, it’s people who, you know, that we feel very confident in That there doesn’t have to be somebody really managing them, you know, not saying that they don’t have someone managing overseeing the work that they’re doing or something like that. But it’s really just this mentality of, of, you know, being a self starter, haven’t taken a lot of pride in your work and your capability of getting something done, really reduces the need for you to still be a little, you know, overbearing or, you know, in looking over someone’s shoulder virtually over, you know, of what they’re going to do, you know, and, and it goes back to like, saying, it’s like, there’s kind of built in accountability. If somebody, you know, I think the communication has to happen around expectations on the front end. When something can be done, and, and, and at what time period something is expected to be done. And if habitually, it’s not getting done, then you know, then there’s probably conversations to be had. If those expectations are And you’ll never have a problem with, you know, those expectations being met. I personally don’t care how many errands that person ran in, in the day, because they met my expectations, they got the job done. And in our scenario, most likely, it’s a fantastic job. So it’s like, you know, there’s some times where we’d get deliverables from, you know, one of our designers or something like that, and I’m just blown away by the clients blown away by it. And then you find out that they took their dog to the vet that day or something, and you’re like, That’s amazing. Like, that’s fantastic. You know, they’re like, the the balance is there, the work life balance is there and they’re killing it at their job. So, you know, there’s there’s no reason, you know, to suspect that down the road, that that person if the expectations that are set and they’re understand they understand those, that they’re going to put themselves in a position to where they’re not able to meet them.

Unknown Speaker 35:58
Yeah, and especially in a You know, I mean, I think there’s a line of creativity and technical ability that comes with most of your people. And it’s the way it is with with my team as well. And one of the things I noticed is, you know, some people don’t get really going until about 11am. And so if you require them to be in the opposite nine, you’re really burning two hours of what you’re paying them to be there for. And they’re just not ready to go yet. But they’ll work till 10pm Yeah, and they’ll have their best ideas late in the day. But if the office is already closed, everybody’s gone home, they feel like they should leave too. So you’re really missing out on sort of that the best experience you can get from that employee. And I think this is really going to be an eye opening thing for a lot of businesses to see like, we can actually get more for less hours or different times a day, depending on the business of course, because Yeah,

Unknown Speaker 36:49
and I mean, I think it’s not something that’s probably always going to be you know, it’s not gonna be an option for every business out there. But I do think that if anything goes last few months is really showed you what the options are, you know, and if it hasn’t shown the employer, it’s definitely shown the employee, and they’re going to know what they can and can’t do, and a remote structure and still get their job done and excel at their career. That goes back to, you know, if you’re not going to understand that as an employer, they’re going to find one that does, it’s going to be a benefit to them. But, you know, I will say that there’s going to be situations in which, you know, it’s, it’s going to help just not just the best work hours that somebody you know, brings to the table. You know, I live, you know, almost 30 minutes outside of Little Rock proper, it’s like, just by just by, you know, working from home or working in a remote structure. You know, that’s an hour a day. You know, that may not Go into work. It could though, it could be a situation where something’s happening, I’m waking up to, you know, you know, something’s on fire per se. And I’m able to address that immediately, and not have to worry about the whole getting ready and getting into the office and those situations, or it’s just an opportunity to have a little bit more built in time for your family for that errand, or whatever that is. So it doesn’t really particularly mean that you’re sacrificing work hours, it just means that now the hours that were probably sacrificing work beforehand for somebody to be able to do their online shopping or pay their bills or do whatever that errand might be, that was costing you, you know, within the constructs that you know, that you were wanting to work in. Now, there’s more flexibility for those things to fall outside of those work hours. And, and I mean, we’ve seen that before. For four years, and I think it’s something that people are getting a much clearer picture on what the what the options are, at least.

Unknown Speaker 39:10
I know every business has kind of had to deal with different things for these last few months and and some have dealt with an influx of business, if they’re in that sort of industry and others have dealt with the loss of revenue and had to throw or lay people off. And there’s just been a wide gamut of what everyone’s had to go through. So what’s one of the challenges that you’ve had to kind of overcome during these last few months?

Unknown Speaker 39:36
Yeah, just one channel. Okay. I would say, you know, just with everything, you know, the, the probably the biggest thing is, we are a as an agency, you’re a service base and very similar to you know, your operations vary service base. You’re kind of at you’re kind of The last one on the list, you know, kind of thing whenever whenever things are happening with these businesses you depict your livelihood is dependent on the success and the growth and the expansion of someone else’s business. And, and so I think the, you know, you kind of have to take the approach of, okay, where where are these? Where do these opportunities lie, to continue to just kind of maintain or survive and things like that. And, and you also are having to be reactionary to other people’s businesses. So it’d be a lot, you know, it’d be a little bit different if you were, you know, 100%, you know, self sustained and you didn’t have to worry about clients per se. So I would say probably one of our biggest challenges has been kind of feeling out what you know, each individual client’s situation, and understanding that this client may feel very confident and this moment but A week from now, you know, they can lose that one contract, which then, you know, a week later, they’re feeling like, well, we can we can continue to do what we’re planning on doing, you know, and hopefully, you know, close that gap. But then it’s, you know, the next week is when the wheels are coming off, let’s start canceling everything, let’s start. And so, you know, luckily, we haven’t had a lot of those situations happen, but it really has been us keeping our fingers on the pulse of a ton of other businesses, not just our own to say, okay, where, you know, where does everybody stand, you know, what is going on and trying to be as just, you know, helpful, transparent as possible on our side of things to create, you know, that reciprocity of, you know, Hey, tell us the real picture of what’s going on. Do we need to be planning on doing something different, cutting budgets, doing things like that, so that we just can plan, you know, as best as we can. And so I think that’s probably been, you know, probably, then it’s a challenge for anybody in the service space business. And so as those things happen, you kind of have to react to it. It’s a lot harder to be in front of, you know, in front of and ahead of the curve on on some of these things when you’re in that, that type of industry.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Unknown Speaker 0:00
Truck driving is a hard job in 2019. Right? I mean, it’s something that the people that do it largely choose to do it because they feel proud of it. They know that what they’re doing is essential. They know that whether you acknowledge it or not that without them there wouldn’t have been, you know, groceries in the grocery store. And so I hope that this service that they provide and the pride that they take in their job somehow resonates and that people are able to hold on to that beyond Coronavirus.

Unknown Speaker 0:28
Hey, it’s Nate Disarro and welcome to titans of industry the podcast where I talk to industry leaders and innovators who are at the top of their game and leading the pack in their fields uncovering some of the best stories in today’s business landscape. In this episode, I sit down with Shannon Newton the president of the Arkansas Trucking Association, which represents over 300 members ranging from independent owner operators to international companies like FedEx and JB Hunt. I talked to Shannon about the importance of the trucking industry amid the COVID-19 crisis. How great Leaders continue leading through hard times and how her woman led team is breaking down barriers left and right. And now let’s get to the episode. But before we do, it’s important to know that whether you’re a small business owner or the face of a multibillion dollar industry, your organization has a great story to tell, and Content Titan wants to help you tell it. We are a digital content creation powerhouse built for the 21st century, providing all in creative strategic production post production and distribution services for at 360 degree 24 seven world. In our world Titans are passionate, creative doers. They have the experience to take your project from start to finish, minimizing your involvement so you can focus on what matters most running your business. So if you’re ready to take your content, strategy and production to the next level, our Titans are ready to help.

Unknown Speaker 1:53
Now here’s my conversation with Shannon Newton.

Unknown Speaker 1:57
Well Shannon, thanks so much for joining us on podcast. Let’s jump right in and just tell me how did you end up in the trucking world.

Unknown Speaker 2:04
Thanks for having me, Nate. And my journey to be in trucking was purely an accident. I went to college at University of Central Arkansas. And I went knowing that I wanted a degree in accounting went all the way through graduate the accounting degree. And the opportunity that presented itself just happened to be with a trucking company in North Little Rock. So my first job was at Maverick transportation or Iraq. And at that time, it was really just, I saw a lot of value and opportunity within the company. And I didn’t really know that much about trucking. And so I kind of came in with a fresh perspective and no preconceived notions and haven’t looked back since then.

Unknown Speaker 2:40
So you essentially been in it your whole career. I won’t say you don’t know anything else, because you know a lot about a lot of things but talk us a little bit through where it was when you kind of got into it and then where it is now. I’m sure there’s been magnificent changes.

Unknown Speaker 2:55
Yeah, well, like I said, When as a you know, 23 year old going, you know, My first job, I don’t know that I had a lot of appreciation for where trucking was, quote, unquote, you know, I just I saw it and knew that it was an industry that was prevalent within the state, I thought that there would be a lot of opportunities for growth there with within the industry. And so, now looking back, knowing what I know, now looking back in the early 2000s, and where the industry was, you know, trucking as we know, it was really kind of Born in 1980 with deregulation, and, and mass, you know, entrance into the industry and just super growth in in the early 80s. And so, in when I came in this room, it was only like 20 years old. And so thinking obviously didn’t know that at the time. But if you roll that forward to now being you know, 18 years later, the industry is very different. I mean, at that time, you still had a lot of people kind of doing it their own way. And it was it was not a lot of sophistication in the enterprise of the trucking industry. You had, you know, people just find equipment in hauling loads and trying to make money. The the data revolution has happened in the last 18 years with just how much sophistication has come into ROI and pricing and the the details of the equipment and the mpg and aerodynamics, and just so much sophistication today, compared to where we were, you know, 20 years ago.

Unknown Speaker 4:21
So you’ve moved into a role that’s that you don’t directly affect one single company, talk a little bit about kind of what you do where you’re at now and what that role looks like day to day.

Unknown Speaker 4:30
Yeah, so I worked in the industry, quote, unquote, you know, in trucking for a year. So I was at Maverick for a little over a year, and then I came to the association, and kind of my, you know, concept of the association at that time, you know, Maverick was involved in the association. So I knew that, that there was this organization that was involved and advocating for, you know, the interest of the industry, but I really didn’t know what that meant. And, and so now, having been at the association And it’ll be 17 years, next month. And like just yesterday, it is one of those things that seems odd. But I will say that you know, Tom does file and you’re having fun and I don’t regret a minute of him I love being here and but the association represents the industry as a whole. So we have over 300 members and they span from, you know, individual operators who are in you know, South Arkansas and run seven trucks all the way up to, you know, international enterprises like JB Hunt and FedEx. And so we have a wide, fragmented industry and members all over the spectrum in the trucking space, but then also the service providers to the industry. So our membership also includes those who provide you know, insurance or trucks or service or all sorts of technology and safety equipment. So the membership is vast and in Arkansas, That, you know, because of the carriers that are located here because of the impact that the industry has on the economy here, representing them and working in the industry is certainly something that I take pride in and it makes it, it makes it more fun than perhaps representing trucking in some other parts of the country, or representing some other industry in Arkansas think the alignment of the industry. And the industry here certainly gives our organization a louder voice and a big platform to make an impact.

Unknown Speaker 6:33
I think a lot of people when they think of the trucking industry, they think the annoying Big Rigs on the highway that won’t let them pass or whatever they you know, we’re almost running off the road, talking about the importance of the industry as a whole especially and we can, you know, jump into this next but right now. And

Unknown Speaker 6:50
yeah, so, really, I mean, if you boil it down to the purpose of the association is to promote, protect and serve the trucking industry and so like the very core of reason that we exist is to help people understand the relationship between the standard of living that they enjoy and the service that the industry provides. And that it’s not just the truck that’s in front of you between here in Memphis, or the truck that didn’t negotiate the intersection in the way that you thought that it should. It’s actually your medicine or your milk or your couch, or the package that you would like delivered to your porch tomorrow. That is, you know, quote, unquote, in the way. So we’re constantly and always, even pre COVID, constantly trying to reinforce that connection to people and help them understand the sensuality of the industry and the hard work that the men and women in the industry do to make their lives more enjoyable. And then you as you alluded to, like certainly, over the last three months, what we have been harping on for years, has been under a big spotlight for the rest of the country to see.

Unknown Speaker 7:59
So there’s obviously no beating around the bush about it COVID-19 has caused such a dynamic shift in so many industries. But trucking has to continue. And and that’s been one of the number one conversations is, you know, how do we get groceries to the grocery store? How do we make sure people can still have the essential needs? So where does trucking fall in the essential category? And how is that? What challenges have you seen throughout this time?

Unknown Speaker 8:22
Yeah. So, like I said, we’ve always kind of marketed ourselves as being essential. And then that term kind of became in vogue and now everyone’s talking about what’s essential and essential and non essential became this differentiating factor before everyone. So, you know, we would say, you know, when the world stopped, trucking had to continue. So as, as you and I, you know, perhaps, withdrew and decided to stay home or particular employers or industries began to shut down and minimize interaction. You still needed water, he still needed gas. He’s still expected there to be, you know, medicine at the pharmacy. And then even to roll that into some, like more high impact, you know, the masks and the ventilators and the the hospital supplies, those are all delivered by truck as well. So definitely, as a community, as a state as a nation, we relied on trucking and expected them to continue to deliver and that was not without challenge.

Unknown Speaker 9:28
So talk talk through what’s been the biggest thing you’ve seen from your role and how have you kind of had to lead through that and communicate some of those.

Unknown Speaker 9:34
So I think the biggest challenge that that we as an industry saw or are dealing with in you know, the COVID-19 crisis is uncertainty. And and I don’t mean that to be like a cop out answer. But in anything, if you don’t know what the result is going to be, if you don’t know what the rules are, then that creates a degree of nx and so initially The uncertainty of just how, how are we going to be able to operate? The operational challenges of, you know, keeping rest areas open, keeping truckstops open? What were the rules for, you know, how can a truck driver use the bathroom? How did they renew their driver’s license when dmvs are shutting down? How do they maintain their, you know, medical cards if we’re discouraging going into, you know, medical settings. And so, all of those operational challenges initially, that was the biggest hurdle to overcome because, and initially, trucking continued to run. You know, during mid March whenever the initial stay at home orders or and, you know, States began to make decisions to encourage people to stay at home. Our industry was not affected by that in the first stages, and we continue to see delivery of essential consumer goods groceries, and if not, not only did we continue to deliver it, there was a surge in debt. And so we had more trucks on the road and increased demand for products. And then how do you do that in this environment where, you know, I’m driving from state to state to state, and I don’t know what the rules are from state to state. So that was a big initial challenge. And then you roll that forward about two or three weeks. And then it became the economic challenge. So we, you know, met that surge demand, we applied all the resources that we had to try to make sure that the supply chain was protected, and that people had the goods that they expected and the toilet paper was in the grocery store and kind of all those things. But then when you started to see the auto manufacturers close, and major retail outlets close and then institutions like colleges and cap, you know, you don’t think about all the food service that goes into those types of entities. And so when those major segments of our industry, you know, they’re hot, large carriers that dedicate themselves almost exclusively to those types of services. And when those disappear, you had this excess excess capacity in the market. So, while groceries continued to be delivered now you had everyone that used to be hauling car parts or used to be hauling, you know, clothing or used to be hauling, you know, dry goods to cafeterias and colleges. Now they all have that capacity, you know, went into whatever is still moving, which drove the rights down substantially for everyone. So really, no one was protected, even if you were in those protected sectors and the competition that came at you and really created an economic impact, if not crisis for our industry. Now, certainly. I’ve had this talk with some of our members. You know, they feel like it’s an economic crisis for them, you know, when things are down 1415 20% year over year, that feels really uncomfortable. But if you overlay that with Let’s look at the hospitality sector. Or if you happen to own a hotel or restaurant, you know, those those industries. So I have to kind of like reset, right? I have to kind of like remind them, like, I know that our industry is not performing at the capacity that you want it to, and that your numbers look, you know, unfavorable year over year. But compared to some other industries, it could be a lot worse. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 13:26
Well, and I think that’s, that’s an important parallel because I remember seeing a video that the CEO of Marriott put out to all of its people, and essentially talked about how devastating this was to the organization as a whole. I think they were down within two weeks 80% of revenue and think about that, how many companies can survive that? And so I know your members, like you said span from everybody from the independent owner operator to FedEx and JB Hunt and these massive international carriers and even in that light, there’s been a huge huge shift in because you know, we’ve all heard Amazon Walmart and all these big box and massive eecom sites search and there was a huge demand it still is. And everybody wants their goods, they don’t want to have to go out and get them. But that still affects the trucking industry in a different way. Right?

Unknown Speaker 14:17
Right, the supply chain looks different. Thank you know, you were all we already as an industry we were already trending towards more, you know, individual delivery more at how more ecommerce smaller packages with fewer miles, you know, distribution centers all over the contrary, that that was had already been a pretty significant trend in the industry over the last, you know, three or four years. But I think the COVID-19 crisis, certainly accelerated that. And I think perhaps we will, we will see some lasting impacts from consumer expectations on what that final mile delivery looks like. And so as an industry, we’ll have to continue to adapt To that, and, you know, how do you make money and what type of equipment and what type of drivers are necessary when the routes become smaller, and the delivery circle or just you know, everything’s more compact.

Unknown Speaker 15:15
You mentioned the industry really got started in the 80s, when deregulation happened, and then here we are a regulation or an industry that still has a significant amount of regulation to it, and it’s being shaken up just like everything else, but the importance of it is not going away. It’s increasing. Do you see additional regulations, different regulations? Do you see anything like that happening? Is that a state thing? Is that a federal thing?

Unknown Speaker 15:37
Yeah. So it’s funny, we say we’re the most regulated deregulated industry in the country. So there’s been a lot of activity and scrutiny forced upon the industry during this crisis, like I mentioned, if you start shutting down, DMV shut down, you know, access to local you know, health clinics or d o t physicals. So things like hours of service then Like, you know, CDL renewals, medical car renewals, hazmat certifications, all that stuff has kind of been shelved for the last 90 days. It’s been remarkable the number of federal regulations that have been either modified or extended or given some sort of grace to allow the industry to continue to operate. You know, certainly you’d be in a world of hurt if you were, you know, in early March. If your driver’s license was set to expire in late April, you would have had no foresight to think, well, I need to renew my driver’s license or my medical card 45 days early. But then when the time came, those services weren’t available. So a lot of that stuff has been relaxed. I anticipate them most of that stuff will come back online. And of course, we’re going to go back to renewing our driver’s license and medical cars on certain time frames. Cut unplanned there was actually a change in the hours of service rulemaking already started prior to Coronavirus pandemic. And so just last week, there was actually new hours of service. The final rule came out from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. It’s a rule that as an industry we advocated for it’s largely viewed as allowing more flexibility to the driver, it’s maintaining the same number of hours that they can work, but allowing them to be more flexible and how they use at rest when they’re tired or take a break when there’s traffic congestion or other some sort of adverse driving conditions. So that is something new that will kind of coincide with as we roll out of this, those new rules being in place. And there’s been some other maybe a little bit more nuanced things. Historically, states had been very territorial about their licensing procedures. And that’s been done on a state by state basis, as different states adapted to this or handle this crisis differently. Those regulations with regard to where you test and where you get So try to get a simple example. And let’s say you live in Arkansas, and you are choosing to to work for a carrier in Indiana. So they bring you to Indiana and they put you through their school, they’re on their campus for three weeks. Currently, you’d have to go back to Arkansas to test and get your CDL. Because that sort of state where you live, those rules were relaxed during this time, so that if you were already in Indiana, they let you go ahead and test there and then send you back home and reciprocate your CDL that’s something that the industry is kind of advocated as making sense for quite some time. And I think you’ll see some support for maybe that staying, you know, post COVID-19. And there’s some other little nuance things that you know, you’ve we do things because that’s why we’ve always done them, and then when we’re put into these extenuating circumstances, you think, oh, that really makes sense. Let’s just go ahead and, you know, make this allowance, and then allow that to roll forward.

Unknown Speaker 18:51
I heard an interesting perspective from a professor at Ohio State University in New York, recently talked about the shift in higher education. And how it’s gonna change because of course, the cost of higher ed has just skyrocketed. and the value is still about the same as it always has been, you haven’t necessarily gotten more value out of it, but the cost has gone up. And so what he was advocating was that online education is now going to become its COVID-19 has created an accelerant, as opposed to just an opportunity to pivot or innovation, like we’ve already been trending towards these things. This just accelerates it. Is that how you feel about a lot of these things in the industry?

Unknown Speaker 19:28
I do. I think that, you know, whether we’re talking about certainly the driver livability and some of the things that we had restricted and made their lives, perhaps a little bit more difficult than they needed to be. And their role and and highlighting the work that they’ve done throughout this crisis, has given a little bit of softer ear to some of those concerns. And so, I do hope that we’re able to utilize this and not, you know, we’re not asking for anything that would compromise you know, certainly the industry is dedicated to safety and all of all of those things. But some things that just kind of made sense that we were hesitant to change, because that’s the way we’ve always done it. And I think, certainly this, you know, circumstances, like you said, accelerated. And some things that probably would have happened eventually, should we, you know, once we’ve been able to articulate the argument and collect the data, but this was kind of you just collected the data because you had to. And so now the data shows that the world doesn’t, you know, in if we allow this process to continue, and so, yeah, definitely, there’ll be some things that are accelerated through that.

Unknown Speaker 20:35
So I’m curious from your perspective, along that same vein, we’re in a time where there’s been a lot of buzz lately about autonomous trucks, and which changes the nature of the conversation completely, because you’re not dealing as much with humans on the road. Where does that conversation pick up in light of all these events? And are we accelerating that side to or does it I don’t know where we’re at with that.

Unknown Speaker 21:00
Yeah, I think that the autonomous truck conversation is really attractive and sensational to people who are on the fringe of the industry. And I think when you talk to people who are in it all day, every day in irregular route planning, you know, the movement of freight, that autonomous tracking is a really really long ways away. And not necessarily because the technology doesn’t exist, but because the comfortability of the people who would be required to interact with it, the infrastructure that would be needed in order to communicate with it on a, you know, continuous basis. The liability concerns that, you know, the, the kind of the behind the scenes framework, that would need to be in place to allow that to be utilized on a large scale is a Really, really massive? And I don’t think that yes, can we put a truck on the road and automate it from, you know, middle America to middle America? Yes, we can do that. But not on a you know, you can’t just turn them all loose because the the infrastructure, the demand, and just the people in general are not comfortable with that just

Unknown Speaker 22:23
yet. So what do you see as kind of the next push into an innovative industry? Like how do we move the industry forward and what’s kind of on the fringe that’s ready to go, just

Unknown Speaker 22:33
staying saying in that vein, there’s certainly the technology that is in support of autonomous trucking. You know, when you say autonomous trucking, I hear driverless trucking, and those are not necessarily the same things. And so I think that there is all sorts of opportunities within creating the improving the job of the truck driver and utilizing that technology to make that job. less stressful, to maybe alleviate some of the constraints that are placed upon those types of injuries. I mean, there’s all sorts of, you know, health constraints and medicine and things of that nature that prohibit individuals from being truck drivers. But if you knew that technology was there to support them in the event that they did, you know, have some sort of health situation, perhaps we could open up the opportunity to more individuals or loosen the restrictions on the types of medicine, the types of health conditions. And I certainly think there’s a lot of opportunity to utilize that technology to make the trucks safer, more efficient and more autonomous. I just don’t think that he’ll see 80,000 pounds going 70 miles an hour down the interstate, you know, more than once.

Unknown Speaker 23:44
Understood when I think about, you know, airplanes, of course, have autopilot. You can take off land everything without a pilot, but we don’t want to put a plane without a pilot there and I think it kind of falls in the same vein kind of

Unknown Speaker 23:59
associated I think Yeah, the technology is there. But the the people’s desire to support it

Unknown Speaker 24:07
is lacking.

Unknown Speaker 24:08
Okay, so we talked a little bit about the economic impact. Do you think we rebound quickly? Does this? Is this something that we can come out of from a industry perspective without too much of an overall loss? I mean, a lot of people are saying it’ll be 2021 before you get back and you just, hopefully, like you’re saying accept the loss this year. Just stay in business.

Unknown Speaker 24:30
Yeah, I think certainly, you know, the members that I talked to, you now are still feeling very uncertain about what this recovery looks like. And I was just reading yesterday on some some April numbers that have come out that show that the drop in tonnage in April was the worst in truck tonnage. So the amount of freight being hauled by our industry dropped in April, greater than a head in 25 years. Well, so like we’re not talking about like an a recession we’re talking about, like 1994. And so just the huge, young just pulling that amount of activity out of the economy. And so the number of jobs, you know, just their recovery from everything that I’ve read and some of the, you know, industry experts that are advising now, our members, they liken it to, it’s not going to be flipping a switch, it’s going to be a series of switches that are flipped over a long period of time. And you never know, when you might flip a switch and the lights come on, you know, there’s certain segments of the industry like if you look at even food processing right now, like, despite their best efforts to continue to operate and continue to, you know, stay open and processed food in the event that there’s a virus outbreak but can’t Doesn’t matter how much you want to move that freight or you want to be open? You know, there are certain things that are out of our control. And so I think if you look at the economic recovery and the solution to the health crisis are related, and as we look forward, you know, I think we’re optimistic that, that there will be a recovery throughout you know, that that we’ve seen the worst step. I think that I do believe that that’s true. I think that just the the decisions that were made that halted the US economy. I think they were made with the best intentions, but the true cost of that wasn’t really known until that decision was already made. And so I don’t foresee that that decision will be revisited or they will try to that approach again. And so I think that we may, because of that the recovery maybe longer and maybe prolong to avoid some sort of health crisis that makes us feel like we need to shut down again. But we expect 2020 to be a slow recovery. Certainly the consumer demand is there. As you’ve seen, you know, continue, we continue to see that ecommerce, you continue to say people, you know, housing hasn’t really taken a hit automobiles for the ones that are available, you know, in the market hadn’t really taken that big of a hit. So if we can get Americans back to work slowly throughout the rest of the year, I think the economy, the fundamental, you know, the economy was so, so good, you know, six months ago. And I think if you look at you know, Wall Street, Wall Street thinks it’s going to come back and they’ve surged this week. And so I’m optimistic that we will recover in 2020. I just think it’ll be slower and then we desire for it to be

Unknown Speaker 27:54
absolutely I think, when when the conversation first started around the pandemic, The hashtag was flatten the curve, right? Everybody was about flattened curve was talking about the health care curve, you know, slow the spread of the virus so we don’t overwhelm the healthcare system. And I’ve talked about this a lot, but we only talked about one curve, it’s time. And really there’s a second curve, and that was the economy and the unemployment rate, and how dramatic that curve was overnight. Almost. And, and I think since like you’re saying, we’ve seen the worst of it that that curve has started to flatten. And but you’re right, it’s not just, we come right back to normal. It’s a slow drawn out recovery, for the safety and well being of everyone, but also because now we do have to do things differently have to figure that out before we can just put everybody back to work. So how does the ACA How does Arkansas Trucking Association play into that? I know, you know, obviously, from my perspective, a lot of this has to do with the stories we’re telling how do we get the stories out of what we’re going to do, how we’re going to do it, how it’s going to keep people And ultimately put people back to work.

Unknown Speaker 29:03
Yeah, so

Unknown Speaker 29:05
I mean, I think the fact that our industry never stopped, makes it a little bit more challenging thinking, how’s it gonna look different? Because we were kind of like doing it differently as we went. And you know, kind of we talked about earlier, like, the lifestyle of the driver and how do they find services and how do they find food and how do they keep themselves healthy? And how do they have access to mask and sanitizer, and that’s all been a really complicated thing to try to figure out while they continue to move. It’s not like we got to shut down and stock the, you know, trucks with hand sanitizer and you know, stock up on mask and then send them back out. It was trying to literally passing that stuff out at a rest area while they’re continuing to work. So that’s been a really weird thing to try to, you know, make sure that they were healthy and keep the industry moving. Maybe talk about, you know, what that looks like going forward. In the drive, the job of a truck driver is actually pretty safe. I mean, they think about this scenarios in which they have been identified as high risk. I mean, there’s they’re not engaged with a large quantity of people on a frequent basis. They do spend a lot of time on their own. But then you think about the things that they’re touching, or perhaps the scenarios in which they’re going into and those scenarios could potentially be high risk. If you’re delivering to a hospital in New Orleans, then all of a sudden, your low risk job just became, you know, a high risk exposure. And so we’ve been working on trying to make sure that drivers have access to testing. I think that’s been that’s something that we’ve been working on extremely recently just announced that yesterday, and we were able to make the argument that you know, the, again, the the position itself is not necessarily high risk that you don’t necessarily don’t know where they’re delivering to you don’t know where they’re going to continue. And move throughout the country and then return home to their families and their communities. And how can we help them do that and feel safe and feel valued and feel like they’re doing that with the best information available. And we think that is by allowing them if they so choose to have to, you know, be tested for COVID-19. And so, just yesterday, the Department of Health made being a commercial truck driver, kind of like a qualifying condition. So if a truck driver wants to be tested, they can go to their community health clinic and and get tested. So that’s something to help the drivers feel better about themselves and, you know, be conscious of not conscientious about their own health, but then also the communities that they’re returning to you don’t want, you know, the last thing that we want is for some community to have some negative perception of, you know, this truck driver went somewhere and brought, you know, COVID-19 back to our community. So, we’re doing everything that we can to try to make the drivers feel safe, but then also have the information access To protect themselves,

Unknown Speaker 32:01
that’s perfect. Because I think, you know, the reality is the whole travel industry shut down. Because we’re, that’s what we’re trying to do is avoid people having to go from one place to the other. But it’s the very nature of the job of a truck driver to go from one community to another, and like you said, put themselves in some sometimes fairly high risk areas. So it’s great that that you guys were able to help kind of push that along and allow the drivers to feel more at ease. And I think you’re right, the communities as a whole feel more at ease that they can have access to testing in the right gear. When we walked in here today, so boxes of mass and sanitize that you guys are passing out, I think that’s that’s all perfect,

Unknown Speaker 32:42
and all in kind of evolution of what our organization does, and and why and, you know, there’s certainly, you know, promote, protect and serve as a very broad umbrella for what should we you know, say that we do as an organization bet that has certainly taken on some some new meanings and, and new tasks over the last three months.

Unknown Speaker 33:09
Well, I want to shift gears a little bit. Because when the big conversations coming out of this whole thing as well is, you know, how are leaders leading through all of this? And so from a personal level, you know, when all this first happened, everybody sort of figured out are we going to work from home we’re gonna do we have to go to the office, whatever that looks like for each organization has been different based on your needs. But But as someone leading not only your own organization, but really kind of being a voice of an industry, what have you done to sort of, I mean, kind of keep yourself sane. Let’s be honest, everybody has to kind of figure out how to do that. Do I wake up every morning and get dressed like I always did, or do I do my zoom calls in, you know, but I slept in last night. I think I think that’s been a fun, interesting thing we’ve been seeing but but what does that look like for you?

Unknown Speaker 33:56
Yeah, so it is an interesting mix of You know, I don’t our association is not a trucking company. But we represent an industry that didn’t get to take a break. And so that was a very delicate balance. And you know, what, what’s safe and what makes sense for the actual type of work that our organization does? And then how do we reflect, you know, and be sensitive to the strains that our members are experiencing. And so we kind of split the baby on that. We had some members of the team and elect to work from home. I, you know, our offices, plenty spacious, and I have two kids, two dogs and two cats. And so working from home is not really that feasible for me. And so I continue to come into the office just because I felt like that’s how I identified or connected to the business owners that we were trying to serve. And it did feel like it really felt like a crisis. It did really feel like we were we were having not zoom calls, but conference calls on a regular basis to try to share as much information as possible. I felt like really, you know, in an uncertain time or in times where you feel like you don’t know, you know what to do, that the camaraderie of of knowing that everyone else felt the same way that there was value in that. And so we did have calls for our trucking executives, to just kind of have that community of this is what I’m experiencing, or this is what I’m in this part of the country, I’ve had this particular trouble. And so as an organization, we, we were doing everything that we could to advocate for, you know, the most consistent, operational, you know, groundwork, but then also just kind of being a facilitator and a counselor. You know, come together tell us what your challenges are, because that’s the only way that I’m going to know how to help you is if I know what’s you know, bothering you today?

Unknown Speaker 36:10
Sure, I think communication has been the key through all of this. If people aren’t communicating, if there’s not clear lines, then everybody’s guessing. And to your point, nobody feels like anybody else understands what they’re going through. This is just me, I’m dealing with it. Have you noticed that you’ve kind of taken on different personal daily habits or things? Or is it been pretty much business as usual, from your perspective?

Unknown Speaker 36:34
I have, I thrive on routine. And so for me, it has been as normal as possible, you know, continuing to get up every morning and get dressed and come to the office and turn the computer on and, you know, find out what the crisis of the day was for a while. That’s kind of what it felt like. And so, you know, my routine didn’t change that much. It’s different, it feels different. There’s no you know, you park in an empty parking deck and you ride the elevator alone. And you know, there’s no one here to answer the phone. And, and so it feels different. It did feel as though we were experiencing something that was unusual. But having that consistency for me it was it made me feel made me feel like there was something normal about navigating what was certainly not normal.

Unknown Speaker 37:27
Yeah. As I’ve talked to a lot of people as well, I think one of the interesting parallels is, you know, every organization wants to have a strong team, you want to bring in strong team members to get you through. But then when you’re faced with unique situations like this, the importance of that team becomes more and more paramount. So talk me through kind of your direction, how do you create a solid team and then how do they function and push forward on that vision and mission that you guys have created?

Unknown Speaker 37:59
Yeah, so I do think we’ve, you know, we do have a great team. And there are seven of us that work full time, at the association. And, and we each everybody’s different, you know, we have a small office environment, and everyone has their own roles and responsibilities. And it certainly works better. When we’re all here. It feels better when we’re all here. And we all are communicating regularly. And you know, you know, who’s pulling various ways, but in this particular case, like, as you mentioned, you know, communication, regulation, and being able to tell the story of the industry and what was happening were all really, really important. And we my communications directors, fantastic. And so she and I, I mean, we talked, you know, every day, she’s actually one of the ones that she has a health condition that made sense for her to work from home, but it really just kind of forced us to Be more communicative. I mean, I tend to I am an introvert like I, it’s easy for him, I’d rather just do it myself and I’d rather make a list and, and knock it out. But that wasn’t feasible. During this time we had to divide and conquer and we had to communicate and I had to, you know, delegate and rely on other people to be able to have the answers them, but I couldn’t give. And so it’s been I would say that probably most good teams would say this has been a good experience for them. I mean, like, no one would choose to or sign up to navigate through a health crisis and an economic crisis, but it has allowed us to know what we’re good at, and who to kind of rely on in those very in those different situations. And I think that will be better going forward because of this, you know, time of crisis that we live with very together.

Unknown Speaker 39:59
Is there anything About the industry as a whole that you feel like is often overlooked other than the industry. So what what do people need to know? Like, as they enter back into traveling more and things like that? I mean, what what’s something important for people to keep in mind?

Transcribed by https://otter.ai