This week, we pickup our interview with the CEO of clothing brand Stormy Kromer, Bob Jacquart, in our talk about what makes a good mentee. His life experiences being mentored even in his transition out of his business as he plans to retire is a story of a man that just never stops learning. Hearing his advice and work ethic recommendations will inspire you to network and learn from so many more mentors in life. Take a listen!
Bekkah: Welcome to Business Talk Sister Gawk! I’m Bekkah —
Ruthie: And I’m Ruthie!
Bekkah: — and today’s episode title is “How to be a Good Mentee, part two.” If you missed the first part of this interview with Bob Jacquart, the CEO of Stormy Kromer, you really need to go back and listen to the first one, because this has been such a great conversation, and we’re excited to pick it back up; so, Bob, thank you so much for being with us today.
Bob: Oh, it’s just great. You guys are awesome. It’s so nice to see two sisters working together so well. I’ve got two sisters that work for me that are my daughters, and it’s pretty precious, so…
Ruthie: I love that.
Bekkah: When we first talked with you, one of the things that I just thought was great is you’re just like, “Yeah, you know, both my girls work here now, but I can’t call them girls anymore. They’re very accomplished women.”
Bob: Yeah!
Bekkah: And I just thought that was so great, that you’re like, trying to make sure you respect their place in your company.
Bob: And that’s that’s the toughest word for me to find, is, what do you call a group of ladies working at the factory? One time I called them ladies and, you know, one of the girls came up to me and says, “I don’t work on the street. I’m not a lady.” And, you know, it’s like, “Oh, brother,” you know? Gals, girls — you call them girls, and they’re too young, and then women? And so it’s — yeah. And if you say guys, guys works well for guys, but I just don’t have a good, great word for a group of women. And you want to just be casual and say hello to them and respect them at the same time, of course.
Ruthie: Yeah, yeah. Well, we’re gonna pick it up here. You told all these different stories about how you found mentors, how to be a really good mentee. And, so, what were some of the key things that you’ve learned from your mentors that you’ve had throughout your life?
What Are Key Things That You’ve Learned From Mentors?
Bob: I’ve really learned a lot about finance, you know; the financial side of the business is something that’s like, you know, not most important, but very, very important. So that’s been accountants and bankers and things like that, and I’ve really learned a lot from them, from that side. That’s been really a big part of my education.
Also, you pick up things here and there on how to be a great employer. I mean, when you think about it, I’m in a little town; I’m in Ironwood; it’s 5000 people, and you’re going to bump into people at the grocery store every time you go there. You’re going to bump into a cousin or a relative or a wife or a brother or an employee. And it’s the family part of that that is very important to us, as far as, you know, making them proud to work here, and making it great to be able to see them out there. Instead of, you know, “There’s Bob the Whip-thrasher.” And, so, learning how to really develop a great culture has been really awesome for us to learn.
And from that, actually, you know, mentor or consultant: I guess there’s a kind of a fine line between which one is which. We’ve learned a lot; we’ve brought in consultants, too, which are very similar. You basically open yourself up to be criticized. I mean, that’s kind of what this is about, you know. “What am I doing wrong?” I mean, don’t sit over there and tell me all the good things about me. I want to hear what it is. I remember the first guy that came in here, he’s — and you’re kind of ouching, like, “Oh, you don’t like that, and you don’t like that,” and he saw that, you know, grimace on my face, and he says “You know, Bob, it’s really tough to come in as a mentor or as a consultant and tell you you got an ugly baby. Nobody wants to hear they got an ugly baby.”
A Good Mentee is Willing to Hear Constructive Criticism
And that’s kind of — that’s another part about being a great mentee is you got to be willing to have somebody point out, you know — a good mentor does it really respectfully, but it’s still gonna ouch a little. So, anyway, you asked what are some of the things I learned. And I remember specifically — I don’t even remember who it was — but it was somebody that I had had lunch with, and I think he was at one time the president of our — I think he was the president of our hospital in town here. Anyway, he walked through and, you know, I’m very entrepreneurial, so I have an upholstery shop and a shop that makes tarps and a shop that makes Stormy Kromer hats and a shop that makes playground canopies and a shop that makes awnings. And he said, “You know, my dad was in business, and he said ‘You can never, you can never do justice to more than one product line.”
And I always remembered that; and I think this is maybe 10 years later, I’m — that was profound, because I didn’t forget it, and I wondered — I’ve always questioned whether that guy’s dad was right or I was wrong, and I was doing it– And so right now, I think we’re seeing that you can — I think there’s a chance for us to improve everything about us as a company if we end up only making Stormy Kromer products.
And so that’s our new vision, that we will let these other products go, and we will only have like, one master, or whatever. It’ll be the Stormy Kromer brand, as opposed to these other things. The reason that Stormy Kromer was able to grow like it has — and a lot of people would know how small it was when I bought it — and to grow a company it takes money, so we were lucky enough to have other contracts that made a profit that allowed us to put that profit into Stormy Kromer. So it was a great combination, but now I’m back to where, “Yeah, you’re probably right. I really need to focus on Stormy Kromer,” and when I leave for good, Gina and KJ have only Stormy Kromer to focus on. So that was a really big one for me, was that Mark, the mentor I have right now — I mean, he’s doing all kinds of things, you know. He’s pushing me to get a better annual physical; he’s pushing me to stay as healthy as I possibly can, you know; he’s pushing me to — right now, he thinks I should be on more boards, like, I should start using my expertise to be on a board, so we’re we’re updating my LinkedIn profile so that instead of it saying I’m the CEO of Stormy Kromer, it has some of my accomplishments, so that maybe some company would ask me to be on a board.
So there’s all kinds of things that just keep coming. I mean, everything I’ve — think about it. If you take me: high school, one year of college, drop in business, the business has one employee and my dad’s not even there full time. Imagine all that has to be learned to get to where we are now. Marketing and sales and accounting, and it all comes from the outside, somehow, whether it’s a consultant, a mentor, or somebody trying to sell you their product, like a marketing agency, or something like that.
You know, another trick that I learned was — you know, when you talk about marketing agencies is, that, you know, everybody — the accountants and legal teams and marketing companies — they have time set aside to give you an hour to learn to sell their services. And like, you can’t believe what I learned for five one-hour sessions about Stormy Kromer without paying anything. I didn’t have the money; it wasn’t big enough to do anything. So I went down to Milwaukee and interviewed marketing companies. I got this hat, and I got a picture of Stormy Kromer, and I got a picture of my grandpa wearing a Stormy Kromer [hat]. What do you think I can do with it? And you just start taking notes!
Good Business Mentees Ask For Book Recommendations
There’s so much information out there, and everybody that’s willing to talk to you has been helped. You’ve got to remember that part of it too. I mean, that’s why I’m helping, you know, passing it down, or whatever you want to say. We’ve all been helped by somebody, and if you’re arrogant enough to think that you can leave this earth without passing it down, I think that’s just totally wrong. So I’m trying to give back like crazy because of all the people that have helped me. I mean, think about it. I didn’t pay anybody anything, really, to learn everything I’ve learned. I just learned it and learned it. And then another one that’s been really good is getting recommendations on books to read.
Ruthie: Mm-hmm, yeah!
Bob: I have a bookcase that’s right alongside of me here; and I had a customer that, you know, is a pretty good friend, and he says, “No human being on earth needs as much help self-help as those books — all those books — How can you be that bad, that you have that many self-help books?”
So that’s another way of doing it. It’s books on, you know — and whatever you can do now; I suppose it’s articles and things like that — but in my day it was books.
Do You Need to Bring Value As a Mentee to a Mentorship?
Bekkah: Yeah, so I have a question about — Sometimes, when you are a mentee, it feels like you may have nothing to give. Or if you’re going to become a mentor, right? Are there things that a young person can do to bring value to others as they are still being mentored?
Bob: Well, I don’t think there’s — I think it’s a one-way relationship, especially at the beginning, and I think the mentor recognizes that. I don’t think they should be worried about that. What they should bring to the table is their openness, their humbleness, and their willingness to show the mentor that they’re worth my hour to talk to. I think that’s what they need to bring to the table, is, you know, I want to spend an hour because I want to help you. So dang it! Get helped!
How to Show That You Value Your Mentor
Bekkah: So do you think — that was our follow-up question to that, was, “What were things you did to make sure your mentor knew that you valued their time?” Was it just doing something with the advice they gave you or was there more than that?
Bob: Yes, yes, and then following up, maybe a couple of weeks later, and saying, “You know, I used your advice, and it worked!” or something like that, you know, “This is how I got that; you told me how to –” I remember telling someone — a mentor — that the first thing I needed with Stormy Kromer was a salesman; that I didn’t have a salesman that worked for Stormy Kromer. And he said to me, “You’re kidding.” And I said, “What do you mean?” He said, “Just because you don’t have a notepad with an order book that’s going to order 12 of these and 14 of these and 16 of these doesn’t mean you’re not the best salesman for Stormy Cromer right now.” And, like, I had honestly — I didn’t think that. But, you know, it’s the enthusiasm, the passion, you know, the vision.
And so, like, there’s this wonderful large company that sells fishing goods, and fishing and hunting supplies, and it’s big and monstrous. And I just bought Stormy Kromer and it was a little nothing company, and I wanted to sell to them! And after they told me that I was the best, I went out to whatever state they’re in — Colorado? — whatever state they’re in. And I went out there; I’m in this big place; I’ve never done a sales call like that in my life: I was told by the negative people that it’ll take three visits to get them to even buy from you. And after they do buy from you, if they like it, they’re going to knock you off and make your product without, you know, without needing you.
And I sold it for the first time. I sold the first time. I didn’t take three tries, and they’ve been customers ever since! And so then after that happened, I called him up and said, “You were right! That worked really well. Thank you so much! And it’s really going to help my business.” And then afterward, because that company was so big, what happened with that — you can all figure it out, but I’d keep that name out of there for now — but what happened was that kind of made Stormy Kromer unbelievably legitimate, you know, if I got into that big store. Then all of a sudden the little mom and pop hunting and fishing stores saw them in that catalog and said, “Jeez, they’ve got that it in the catalog. I want it in my store.” I saw that that was another lead.
So then I remember calling them back a year later and said, “You know, not only did I get in, but I also — this is flourishing because of that advice.” So I think that’s the, you know, that’s the pat on the back you want as a mentor, or whatever. That’s the thank you. You know you don’t need money or anything like that, you’re trying to —
Ruthie: Help people?
Bob: Yeah! If you can find something that’s — I mean, there really are people like that. You know, the problem with the world right now is the good people can’t get any better. I mean, you know, a good person in the 1920s is as great as a good person in 1960 as in 2020, ’21. The problem is we just keep seeing — the bad people seem to be getting worse. But the good people — there’s still a lot of amazingly good, wonderful, wonderful people out there.
Ruthie: I had this other question: you would mention, like, how you had this business difficulty of not being able to have a sales guy, and you were like, “Agh!” and told your mentor that, he kind of thumped you in the head.
Bob: Yeah!
What Difficulties Have Mentors Helped You Face?
Ruthie: But were there other difficulties that you faced in your business where a mentor has helped you make those hard decisions that you didn’t really think of yourself?
Bob: Yeah, the most difficult one was realizing — in fact, it’s interesting that — it’s an old friend: that’s whose advice I got. But he called me just as I was coming on with you, and I texted him and said, “I’m on a podcast! I can’t talk.” But he made me face the fact that a long-time, dear employee who had, you know, been through early times with us was not matching the culture of the company now, and that maybe it would be better for both of us if that person didn’t come to work here anymore. And that was — that realization was really tough for me to handle and accept and that kind of stuff. That was really difficult, and it worked out for the better. I followed the advice and it worked out for the better.
And actually, we’ve done that a few times now, and we’ve really — based on that — we’ve really focused on, like, the most amazing culture that we could give anybody here. And when you say “Good morning,” I expect you to say, “Good morning,” back, not “What’s good about it?” and, “It’s going to be a crappy day.” I try to give all my employees that, and that all came from that push. And it’s been really good for me, for us.
Good Mentees Need to Be Vulnerable in Order to Be Helped
Ruthie: So that sounds like you have to be pretty vulnerable with your mentors. Like, even for them to know that that’s happening in your company. So what do you think the role of vulnerability is in your relationships with your mentors?
Bob: Oh, it’s really important. I mean, you know, it goes back to that — when I was saying before about — last week — about sitting there saying, “I know. I know. I know.”
You really don’t know! Let them know you’re vulnerable; let them know you don’t know; let them know you’re open. And if you’re not vulnerable, if you’re not willing to be vulnerable, it’s really hard to get it in, you know, to be comfortable talking to you. I mean, nobody wants to hurt you. I mean, vulnerability can allow for somebody to get hurt. But if you find the right person that really matches you, then your vulnerability is kind of held up by care and love. And, I mean, it gets to that point if you’re open.
And that’s another thing: I know that I open up to people much quicker than they expect, and I think that’s been really great for my relationships with people. I think they just — especially even if somebody’s younger, I’ll tell them something, you know, something very personal so that they can feel comfortable that I’m willing, that I’m at a comfort level — Or I’ll share last year’s profit number with somebody.
That was done to me when — the insurance guy made the biggest impression on me, but he really was my second mentor. The first one actually showed me — it was back in 1973, maybe. It was — our company fixed tarps for his wood business; so he, you know, he cut wood and then dried it and then it went on a semi; and it had to stay dry on the back when it was going down the road, so we made those tarps that go on the back of trucks.
And I remember him really picking up on it. I remember him knowing that I was gonna, you know, run the business someday, and it was going to be bigger than it is. And I remember him actually showing me last year’s profit of his company. And it’s like, he had trusted me with that, and like, how cool is that? I mean, that was just really awesome. And I think once you realize that that person trusts you at that level, I think that all of a sudden smacks up the relationship. Like, “He just entrusted me with this. Now maybe I should be honest with him on the way back.”
Ruthie: Wow, this has been so fun and so good! I just have loved getting to know you. Even like when we did our 15-minute, like, “get to know you” meeting. Because I heard you speak at a webinar, and then you were like, “Oh, yeah, if you want to get to know someone, you just like, send them an email, or send them a letter, or something, and say, ‘Hey, you know more about this than I do, and I’d love to buy you lunch.'” And I was like, “I’m just gonna — I’m just gonna go to their website and fill out their contact form and see.” And I went there, and I looked all over for your email, and I couldn’t find it. And I was like, “Uh, you know, like, whatever –”
What’d you say, Bekkah?
Bekkah: It’s probably a good thing that’s not on there.
Ruthie: Yeah, yeah that’s true. Write that down. Don’t do that. If you’re a CEO, you probably shouldn’t have that on your website. But then I was like, well — A couple of months later, I just filled out the contact form, and I was like, “Okay, you know, like this — we’ll just see what happens.” And then like, two days later, I get this email from you, and it was just this thread of all these people who had forwarded it to someone else who had forwarded someone else and then finally ended up at you. And I was just like, “Oh my word, Bekkah! Like, the CEO of Stormy Kromer is gonna, like, be in our podcast!” I don’t know; I was so excited; so it’s been really fun to just like, get to talk with you and hear your wisdom. So thank you so much for being with us.
