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Rebranding your business can be an exciting process where you reorient it into something greater than before. However, change isn’t always easy. Paul Sponcia of the IT Company knows a thing or two about change and the growing pains it can bring. In this episode, we learn the story of how he transformed CSK Technologies into The IT Company, including the reasons for the rebrand, the rebranding process, and the growth that followed.
Show Highlights
(3:50) Paul’s background in the IT services industry and rebranding
(5:34) The importance of giving your new brand a good name
(9:02) Paul’s experience using rebranding to take a company to the next level of delivery and type of customer the served
(11:45) How Paul came up with the name “The IT Company”
(15:57) How rebranding a company changed the services, products, technical aspects, and even the culture of the business
(23:32) The moment Paul realized the business was moving the way he wanted it to
(33:20) Part of brand building is attracting and retaining talent
About Paul
Paul Sponcia is currently the principal and CEO of the IT Company. He has a robust background in technology and telecommunications, marked by his success in developing prominent IT service brands in East Tennessee. Sponcia’s extensive experience underscores his expertise and leadership in the tech industry.
Paul’s notable achievements include the successful development of Claris Networks, showcasing his talent in building reputable IT brands. He went on to join the IT Company in 2010. Then known as CSK Technologies, he spearheaded a major rebranding initiative that transformed CSK into the IT powerhouse that it is today.
Links Referenced
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Paul: People want somebody who's buttoned up and
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understands their business and can help them navigate these
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uncharted waters and make sense of all this technology.
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I think branding is a big piece of that.
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Chris: Welcome to We Built This Brand.
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I'm your host, Chris Hill.
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And today we're talking to Paul Sponcia,
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the principal and CEO of the IT company.
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Paul has a history of helping build great
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IT service brands here in East Tennessee.
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Be that Claris Networks or his current business, the IT company.
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Paul actually joined the IT company back in 2010, which at that time
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was a company named CSK Technologies and he oversaw a rather dramatic
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brand refresh at CSK, transforming IT from CSK into the IT company.
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And in this episode, we're gonna do a deep dive into that story, why they chose
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the brand, the process of rebranding, and the eventual outcomes of that process.
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I've known Paul for quite a while.
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We've known each other since I was a.
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And he was working with my dad, and then now, you know, we've been
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able to work in the same industries together over the years, and
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I've even literally gotten to work across the street from Paul.
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So, It's been really cool to know of him over the years, to bump into
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him, places, and so to finally get to sit down and actually learn more
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about his story, how the IT company came to be, and everything else
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that you'll hear today, I think was really illuminating and really fun.
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So we go into a lot of detail about all of that, why it matters, we talk about
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a lot of branding stuff, and frankly, even if you're not interested, Paul has a
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lot of good wisdom to share, and I think you'll get a lot out of this episode.
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Without further ado, here's my interview with
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Paul Sponcia, Principal and CEO of the IT company.
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Alrighty, welcome back.
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I'm Chris Hill, as always, and with me today is Paul Sponcia.
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Paul, welcome.
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Paul: Thanks.
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Glad to be here.
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Thanks for having me.
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Chris: Yeah, yeah.
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Paul, when we, um, we've known each other a while, I feel like, just in
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passing or through different, Professional jobs and things like that.
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Me working at AT& T.
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I remember having to work with you all on some projects when you
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all were the, I guess, more the early days of the IT company.
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So
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Paul: probably, probably digital crossing as well.
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Back in those days, I would think maybe,
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Chris: yeah,
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Paul: certainly, certainly years and years and years with your dad as well.
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Yeah,
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Chris: my dad, for sure.
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Paul: Back to swim, back to swim team at Gulfwood.
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Chris: Oh yeah.
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Yeah.
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Those were the days I love, I love the swim team there and lifeguarding there
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too, watching, probably watching some of your kids and stuff growing up.
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So that's awesome.
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But yeah, so we've, we've known each other a while
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and you know, over that time I've, I've gotten to see.
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I'm sure you've gotten to see some of my career growth.
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I've gotten to see some of your career go and, you know, grow
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over time and lead to where it is today at the IT company.
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And one of the cool things that I wanted to do today is really do kind
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of more of a deep dive into the evolution of what it takes to go from
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moving a business from, you know, maybe a more traditional service that
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it's used to offering to newer technologies and a newer transition.
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That transformation is not easy for anybody.
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I think you and I can both safely say we've been in the, in telecom in a
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time of great transition going from traditional landlines to high speed
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internet and then on to cell phones and higher technology stuff, higher even
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than cell phones, you know, cloud managed services and things like that.
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And just the world we, you know, think nothing of today,
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but, you know, several years ago was quite a big transition.
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So we'd love to just dive into that with you today and how you had to rebrand.
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What was CSK Technologies into the IT company?
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So let's dive in a little bit and talk a little bit more about your
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background first, because as much as we know each other, most of the
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audience doesn't know who you are, so I'd love for you to just share a little
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bit about your background and what led to you being with the IT company.
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Paul: Yeah, I've been, uh, space of some type of IT
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services, managed IT, gosh, since 1996, a long time.
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Yeah, it's a really, really long time.
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So it came out of a construction company where I was in IT and wrote some
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software and anyhow, created a managed IT company, uh, known as Claris Networks.
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So I spent 11 years building that company, left there, uh, spent a couple
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of years doing some consulting for a couple of managed IT companies.
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And at Claris too, we went through a rebrand.
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We were actually RM Technologies first,
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and then we rebranded as Claris Networks.
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And so marketing and branding have always been a very,
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very important thing to me, extremely important to me.
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I've always felt like there's something powerful
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about a brand, um, even a brand with just an icon.
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I remember.
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When we were thinking about rebranding to Claris, one of the things I remember
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telling the folks that were working on it was, you know, you always know
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what the AT& T, speaking of AT& T, you always know what the AT& T symbol is.
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Like, when you see that little symbol, everybody
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knows that's AT& T when you see the swoosh.
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Everybody knows that's Nike when you see the three stripes.
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Everybody knows that's Adidas, you know, so I'd harken it to that.
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Like, I want something that when you just see the icon, you know who it is.
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Um, so branding has always been really important to me, but,
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um, I joined CSK, what was CSK in December of 2010, and I
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knew that we needed to do A rebrand, uh, relatively soon.
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I knew that the name was, uh, nothing wrong with the name.
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It was the founders and, and his wife's initials.
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But I knew it didn't carry enough from a branding
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perspective for us to really be able to create a mark
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and a style and all the things I, I felt were important.
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Chris: Right.
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Paul: So anyhow, that was that.
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I joined it in 2010 and it wasn't too long
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before I was like, we need a new face,
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Chris: And, and, and I totally get that.
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Having, having been in telecom of that era.
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Like a lot of the tech companies that were the IT support
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companies that were, you know, local to the areas that I
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operated in were these like CSK technologies or RM technologies.
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They were initials first and never really exactly knew
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what they stood for or why you just knew they were.
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And that was great for, I guess, word of mouth, but you know, for
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a new business looking for, you know, an IT company, you know,
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something like RM technologies doesn't just like Automatically spark.
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Oh, this is the company.
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I need to help me solve my problems, right?
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Paul: Yeah.
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Yeah, absolutely.
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Yeah, that was, you know, both of those names, there was always
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something about it that I knew would have to be different
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because it didn't make it didn't just make enough sense.
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And I always felt too.
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Like, there's a, there's gotta be a plain way to say it.
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Even, you know, it's funny.
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Claris doesn't exist anymore, but.
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You know, Claris was a, was a combination of two Greek names that we put
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together, but it was, I wanted the word networks in it because back then
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we were a big cloud hosting company and infrastructure company, et cetera.
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So I've always been a believer too, and just say who
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you are, you know, don't, don't try to come up with, uh,
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these fancy names that nobody knows quite what they mean.
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Chris: Yeah.
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Throw, throw a bunch of things together and
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be like, we're who good dots or something.
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All right.
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Paul: Kyros, you know, it's like, you know, whatever.
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I mean, there's a lot of cool Greek names, but
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only people that study Greek know what they mean.
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Chris: Exactly.
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And how many, um, Greek scholars are you going after with the company?
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Paul: That's right.
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It's tough.
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Yeah.
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Well, we, we tend to fall in love with the things, you know, I've, I've, I've
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said this before about like, uh, product branding, like for the most part
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in these types of businesses, nobody really cares what the product's called.
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You could come up with a lot of really cool names.
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But they're probably not going to remember
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what the name of the product they bought is.
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They just know I'm calling the IT people, you know, and so other things like,
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you know, tacit things that you hold in your hand and that you touch and that
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you feel those make sense to have a name, but services are a little tougher to.
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To align all these names too, because they, I mean, it's
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fine and important, but I think largely to the customer.
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They're like, I don't even know what it's called.
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Just get it to me.
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Does it do what I need it to do?
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Does it serve the service I need?
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That's right.
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That's all I care about.
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Chris: Yeah, I've, I've definitely been there many a times.
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I remember when I first came into the telecom industry, this
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fresh out of college, I was in training and they gave me this.
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Dictionary of telecom terms.
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And then I think it was bigger than the actual dictionary itself.
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Paul: I'm sure.
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Yeah.
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A lot of acronyms.
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Chris: Yeah.
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My favorite one was going through there and finding PFM.
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And I was like, I think I'm going to use this term a lot.
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And for those that don't know, PFM just stands for pure freaking magic.
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And it just killed me that that was in that giant dictionary.
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That's funny that that was in there.
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Yeah, yeah.
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It was quite snarky.
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That's funny.
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But yeah, so like it's.
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It's definitely a challenge.
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And at the end of the day, yeah, you have
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customers that don't really understand what you do.
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They just want you to make it magically go away and magically get solved.
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I think a lot of times now, granted, you do have more high
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end customers that do understand and need to know that depth,
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but that definitely affect affects the business itself.
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So when you think about CSK and you think about where
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you were at prior to the rebrand, What was that market?
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Were you servicing a lot of high end
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customers, or where was the business position?
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Paul: Well, you know, it was, uh, the guy that founded it, Chris,
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had done a great job, but it was about a million dollar business.
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You know, it wasn't very large, uh, at the time.
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Um, not that a million dollars is, is a, is a teeny tiny
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business either, but, you know, it was doing about a million.
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And, and when you're at that size in this business, you're typically
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serving a very certain kind of customer, typically fairly small.
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Customer, uh, not as mature.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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Just from a business perspective, they're not just not very mature.
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And again, everybody, everybody goes through that evolution too.
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I mean, that's just part of it.
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When you have five or 10 employees, you can't be as mature and nor do you
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need to be as mature an organization as when you're 30 or 40 or 50 employees.
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And so we did have a couple of larger customers, um, but for the most part,
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they were all Smaller, you know, 5, 10, 15 employee companies, um, not super
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mature, sophisticated, not, um, you know, not, uh, not even necessarily
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interested in kind of the higher end level of services that we sort of
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dreamed of providing and the reason I came in and it was brought in as well.
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Was to kind of take the company to the next, the next level of delivery
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and type of customer we could serve and et cetera, which is one
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funny thing is we did buy another acronym, another, uh, three letter
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company later on, which was RTL, which stood for Richard Travis lay.
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So it was another one of the, one of the initial companies.
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So there, there's a lot of them out there.
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Chris: I mean, for, for what it's worth, I remember Mitel, which is
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a big phone system company, which I think has since been acquired.
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Stood for Mike and Terry's lawn mowing.
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Paul: Oh, I didn't know that.
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Didn't really.
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Yeah.
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Chris: I'll have my editors verify that and make sure I'm
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making that up, but that's what I always remember it being.
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And they were like, yeah, it's Mike and Terry's lawn mowing
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is what they originally, and they started selling phones.
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I guess they pivoted.
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Paul: Somebody needed a phone system while they were mowing their lawn.
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Chris: That's exactly
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Paul: right.
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But yeah, the business, the business was, uh, you know, I
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think that at the time the brand fit, the business was fine.
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And to Chris, again, to Chris's credit, he had built
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a good business, but he hadn't, he didn't need to.
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And he didn't really, I don't know that he
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cared a whole lot about the branding part of it.
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You know, he, he was a technical person is very, very good at what he did.
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And he cared about, you know, serving the customer from a technical
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perspective and the brand part of it was a kind of secondary to him.
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Chris: Yeah.
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So you're, you're serving some, you know, smaller
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businesses it sounds like as you're growing.
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You have this ideal of where you want to go with services, and then
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you decide to transform the name of the company to the IT company.
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How did you get to the name, The IT Company?
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That's a really funny,
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Paul: funny story.
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I didn't know until much later how genius the name was that
256
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somebody, a friend of mine who was a competitor told me later.
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He was so pissed when he, when I took that name.
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Dang it.
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Why didn't I think of that?
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But, uh, it's really funny.
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I got some really smart people together in the room and it
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was, uh, I remember it was, um, Alex Lavage, Chris McAdoo.
263
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Gosh, I remember, I can't remember who else it was.
264
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There were two other people.
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And I said, Hey, I want to pay you guys to help me think about a name.
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And, you know, we went through traditional process.
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If you've ever been through that from a marketing perspective
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and asking you a lot of questions, a lot of whiteboard sessions.
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And I was like, I don't know, there's this name I like, I just, it's kind
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of like the IT company, just like, why don't we just call it what it is?
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And they're like, nah, that's really not, you know, it's not that cool.
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And it's just not, I don't know, it doesn't really speak to me.
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It's not that sexy.
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And I was like, yeah.
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So I think I spent like 10 grand going through this process and all these names.
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And I was like, I'm just going to keep the IT company up there.
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Chris: Yeah.
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Paul: And I just.
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Just never fell in love with any of the other names.
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And I was like, you know what, guys, we're just going to call it the IT company.
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And so thanks for all your time.
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And these all, I need to go back and see if I have some of the notes
283
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and stuff that we took from that and some of the names we came up
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with, because some of them were things like Kairos and, you know, like.
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Greek and Hebrew and Latin and putting names
286
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together and, you know, all this stuff.
287
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And so, but yeah, that's, I mean, I was just like, I don't know.
288
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Why don't we just call it what it is?
289
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We're an IT company.
290
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So why don't we just call it the IT company and, uh, see how that works.
291
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And, uh, and that's what we, and that's really legitimately how I got there.
292
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And then the, the, the mark itself.
293
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I don't know.
294
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I've always liked a circle.
295
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Um, and part of that is like, I like the idea of something complete, you know,
296
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the soul, same thing with, you know, a ring, you go through the ceremony, right?
297
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And you get married and they talk about perfect circle and
298
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it, there's nothing in it that's broken and all that stuff.
299
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So I always liked the idea of a circle.
300
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I thought it fit well in the tray of the computer as the icon.
301
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Cause in our business, there's like a little icon for
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people to click on and request support or whatever.
303
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And so I thought it would always be You know,
304
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something that would look cool as a circle in the tray.
305
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And I don't know, I just was like, let's just do this IT thing.
306
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I can't even remember.
307
00:14:10,730 --> 00:14:15,129
I think it was, it was actually McAdoo when he had Best Behavior Creative Club.
308
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He was always so, always so interesting with the names that Chris came up with.
309
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I don't know where that one came from.
310
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Best Behavior Creative Club.
311
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I should ask him.
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But, um, yeah, I kind of gave him the idea of the logo that I was
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thinking, and he, he came up with the first, we actually just went
314
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through another rebrand or, uh, not a name, but a logo refresh, I guess.
315
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And, uh, and, but Chris did the very 1st 1 we ever did.
316
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Chris: That's awesome.
317
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Yeah.
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I remember.
319
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When the IT company came on onto the scene and seeing
320
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and hearing like the IT company, that's just so generic.
321
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But it, it's kind of clever because like when someone
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goes to Google an IT company for Knoxville and they
323
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type in IT company, Knoxville, you're going to come up.
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Paul: Yeah, that was really the, that I, that was the last thing I thought ever.
325
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I mean, it was, I actually didn't even think about that.
326
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It was like, not even on my radar.
327
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And, uh, that was what my buddy, uh, said later.
328
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He goes, I was so pissed.
329
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Cause I was like, dang it.
330
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Like now, every time somebody searches IT company
331
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Knoxville, they're going to find the IT company.
332
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And I was like, yeah, I didn't really think about that.
333
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Funny enough, we just finally, yesterday, were able to buy the itcompany.
334
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com.
335
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The domain.
336
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So for all these years, we've been, uh, theitco.
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net, which is a freaking pain to explain to people and
338
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say, and so we just were able to acquire theitcompany.
339
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com, which is pretty cool.
340
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Chris: Congratulations.
341
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That's I know how domains go.
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That's a big deal.
343
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Paul: Yeah, it was, uh, it wasn't, it wasn't cheap to acquire it, but,
344
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uh, but it was, and it wasn't also, you know, crazy, but yeah, worth it.
345
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So super, super pumped about that.
346
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Chris: That's awesome.
347
00:15:53,155 --> 00:15:55,645
So I know this rebrand wasn't just about the name.
348
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It wasn't just about the content.
349
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There was also some, maybe some technical stuff, services,
350
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products, things like that, that changed with this rebrand as well.
351
00:16:04,985 --> 00:16:07,105
What was that process like?
352
00:16:07,345 --> 00:16:12,455
How challenging was that for a company that was used to just being CSK?
353
00:16:12,575 --> 00:16:15,064
Paul: Well, I think there's a lot more to it.
354
00:16:15,105 --> 00:16:19,864
I mean, from an outward marketing perspective, that's the easy part.
355
00:16:19,925 --> 00:16:21,965
You know, I I've said this many times to
356
00:16:21,965 --> 00:16:24,555
people who've asked me like building Claris.
357
00:16:24,744 --> 00:16:27,474
This sounds very trivial, so I don't mean it or try it that way.
358
00:16:27,484 --> 00:16:30,004
It was a whole lot easier than building this company.
359
00:16:30,464 --> 00:16:34,004
So, because Claris was invented from the ground up, you know, and it
360
00:16:34,004 --> 00:16:38,424
was, it was like, I was able to shape and mold and build the culture, you
361
00:16:38,424 --> 00:16:41,754
know, as from, from the beginning, the brand, the culture, everything.
362
00:16:41,765 --> 00:16:44,254
And I think in a small business, that's a point
363
00:16:44,254 --> 00:16:46,415
that I think is important is in a small business.
364
00:16:46,710 --> 00:16:49,500
You know, the business largely takes on the brand and the culture
365
00:16:49,500 --> 00:16:52,630
of whoever that person is that's the leader, the owner, the
366
00:16:52,630 --> 00:16:56,430
inventor, or the, or those few people that are a part of it.
367
00:16:56,490 --> 00:17:00,050
And usually there is one particular one who it takes kind
368
00:17:00,050 --> 00:17:02,589
of the, it's like, it's almost like your child, right?
369
00:17:02,589 --> 00:17:04,179
It becomes like, oh, this one child looks
370
00:17:04,179 --> 00:17:05,800
more like their dad than their mom, right?
371
00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:08,990
That, you know, so your company sign, it kind of begins to look like you.
372
00:17:08,990 --> 00:17:11,190
So I'm sure Chris, your company does, right?
373
00:17:11,190 --> 00:17:14,800
Your company's culture is largely a by product of who Chris Hill is.
374
00:17:15,010 --> 00:17:18,500
And so Claris was largely a byproduct of who Paul Sponcia was
375
00:17:19,020 --> 00:17:22,030
because that was the company that I, you know, it was my company.
376
00:17:22,030 --> 00:17:23,069
I largely built it.
377
00:17:23,270 --> 00:17:24,510
This was very different.
378
00:17:24,689 --> 00:17:27,810
You know, this was, uh, a company that had a
379
00:17:27,810 --> 00:17:31,449
culture that wasn't cultivated and wasn't curated.
380
00:17:31,459 --> 00:17:33,490
It was just, it just kind of happened.
381
00:17:33,710 --> 00:17:35,780
And it was largely followed by Chris.
382
00:17:35,790 --> 00:17:37,639
And again, we talked about that, right?
383
00:17:37,639 --> 00:17:42,080
Chris was a great technical, very, I mean, actually one of the absolute
384
00:17:42,290 --> 00:17:46,389
most brilliant, brightest humans I've ever met, like, crazy, wicked
385
00:17:46,389 --> 00:17:51,060
smart, but the company largely followed him and his brand and who he was.
386
00:17:51,295 --> 00:17:56,254
And so having to change that was super hard and I gave him a lot of props.
387
00:17:56,254 --> 00:18:00,655
Like, he was very humble and very much said, yeah, you do what you got to do.
388
00:18:00,705 --> 00:18:01,604
It's not going to be easy.
389
00:18:01,604 --> 00:18:04,284
There's gonna be things I hate about it, you know, but I know
390
00:18:04,285 --> 00:18:06,494
that that's why you're here and that's what you're here to do.
391
00:18:06,694 --> 00:18:07,694
So super tough.
392
00:18:07,744 --> 00:18:10,269
I mean, like there were, as a matter of fact, there's not a single.
393
00:18:10,700 --> 00:18:13,430
I'm the only person that exists from that day
394
00:18:13,450 --> 00:18:17,949
that I started, you know, in December of 2010.
395
00:18:17,950 --> 00:18:20,869
And I don't say that lightly, like, letting people go
396
00:18:20,869 --> 00:18:23,650
and then moving on is a very, very difficult thing.
397
00:18:23,810 --> 00:18:26,770
But that's part of a rebrand too, is like, when you
398
00:18:26,770 --> 00:18:30,655
change the The brand, there's a cultural element in that
399
00:18:30,655 --> 00:18:33,675
as well that you're changing, um, at that scale, right?
400
00:18:33,675 --> 00:18:35,365
Like we weren't, like what we did with the IT
401
00:18:35,485 --> 00:18:38,575
company logo last year is not the same thing.
402
00:18:38,595 --> 00:18:39,084
It's like,
403
00:18:40,514 --> 00:18:40,804
that's
404
00:18:40,804 --> 00:18:40,994
right.
405
00:18:41,004 --> 00:18:42,964
That's just a refresh of our logo.
406
00:18:42,965 --> 00:18:45,905
This was actually a whole rebrand of the, who the
407
00:18:45,905 --> 00:18:48,385
company was and what we did and how we did it.
408
00:18:48,705 --> 00:18:52,985
And what we wanted to be in the kind of the level of professionalism, you
409
00:18:52,985 --> 00:18:57,514
know, that I wanted us to have, you know, was just at an at another level.
410
00:18:57,524 --> 00:18:59,365
And again, that's want to be real careful.
411
00:18:59,365 --> 00:19:00,735
It's not a knock on Chris.
412
00:19:00,745 --> 00:19:03,184
It's just, I looked at it differently and saw it
413
00:19:03,214 --> 00:19:05,905
differently and wanted to see things done differently and.
414
00:19:06,250 --> 00:19:10,169
I've always had this idea at, because we're at the higher end of
415
00:19:10,169 --> 00:19:15,320
the market of what we do from a delivery and a cost and, and how
416
00:19:15,320 --> 00:19:18,690
we deliver and what we deliver the brand needs to speak to that.
417
00:19:18,779 --> 00:19:21,370
And we all know that from all the brands we love.
418
00:19:21,595 --> 00:19:26,655
There's a brand that you spend 1, 000 on and a brand you spend 100 on.
419
00:19:26,655 --> 00:19:29,064
And the way that they present themselves, the
420
00:19:29,064 --> 00:19:31,105
1, 000 brand versus 100, they're very different.
421
00:19:31,235 --> 00:19:32,605
You know, they just, they just are.
422
00:19:32,704 --> 00:19:34,095
Walmart and Target, right?
423
00:19:35,715 --> 00:19:38,054
Nothing wrong with Walmart, nothing wrong with Target.
424
00:19:38,064 --> 00:19:40,294
But like, it feels different when you walk
425
00:19:40,294 --> 00:19:42,395
into Target than when you walk into Walmart.
426
00:19:42,695 --> 00:19:44,375
And it's a bit more expensive, right?
427
00:19:44,375 --> 00:19:47,845
And so kind of that thought process, I think, uh, it's tough.
428
00:19:47,885 --> 00:19:50,405
I mean, it's tough to, to change a culture.
429
00:19:50,620 --> 00:19:54,490
And to move a ship that's moving this way and move it this way,
430
00:19:54,740 --> 00:19:58,500
um, and most people, a lot of people won't make it, you know,
431
00:19:58,500 --> 00:20:01,109
and, and that was a hard thing, but we also had to upskill.
432
00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:04,099
And, I mean, we, we needed a different type of, of
433
00:20:04,099 --> 00:20:06,700
employee to deliver the services that we wanted.
434
00:20:06,979 --> 00:20:08,699
And we had, I mean, there were fine people
435
00:20:08,699 --> 00:20:10,250
that were there when I got there as well.
436
00:20:10,310 --> 00:20:11,610
It just need to look different, act
437
00:20:11,610 --> 00:20:13,950
different, be different, even from the office.
438
00:20:13,960 --> 00:20:16,600
And I mean, we painted the interior of the office and.
439
00:20:16,820 --> 00:20:19,400
Kind of tried to make it fit the brand that we were, and
440
00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:22,440
eventually moved because that office didn't fit the brand.
441
00:20:22,440 --> 00:20:24,130
And I think that's a big part of it.
442
00:20:24,130 --> 00:20:26,410
Like all that stuff to me matters a lot.
443
00:20:26,479 --> 00:20:28,099
Is that what led you to Emory Place that
444
00:20:28,099 --> 00:20:29,910
move or was there another one in between?
445
00:20:29,910 --> 00:20:33,509
Yeah, we actually, when we bought the other three letter company, RTL,
446
00:20:34,020 --> 00:20:39,680
they, uh, they had an office over on, uh, like across from, uh, US Cellular.
447
00:20:39,900 --> 00:20:40,130
Chris: Yeah.
448
00:20:40,425 --> 00:20:40,885
Yeah, it is.
449
00:20:41,094 --> 00:20:43,354
Paul: It was kind of in a, in a, one of those, like,
450
00:20:43,455 --> 00:20:46,574
not a strip mall, but like a strip office park.
451
00:20:46,704 --> 00:20:47,164
Right.
452
00:20:47,274 --> 00:20:47,384
Yeah.
453
00:20:47,394 --> 00:20:49,944
And, uh, but it was very, it was more modern.
454
00:20:49,944 --> 00:20:54,404
And, um, and again, we went in and we painted the place and the guy already
455
00:20:54,404 --> 00:20:58,894
had done a good job of like, he had glass, like a glass conference room.
456
00:20:58,894 --> 00:21:00,234
And so I had some cool stuff.
457
00:21:00,235 --> 00:21:02,344
So we just had to sort of gussied up a little
458
00:21:02,344 --> 00:21:04,344
bit, make it look cooler, put our colors and.
459
00:21:04,610 --> 00:21:07,029
And logos on the walls and stuff like that.
460
00:21:07,029 --> 00:21:08,989
But, um, but that was actually a big deal.
461
00:21:09,049 --> 00:21:10,809
I mean, that felt really good.
462
00:21:10,809 --> 00:21:12,259
Like it felt good for everybody.
463
00:21:12,259 --> 00:21:13,259
It was a new spot.
464
00:21:13,259 --> 00:21:14,089
It was cooler.
465
00:21:14,615 --> 00:21:15,125
One more hip.
466
00:21:15,205 --> 00:21:17,334
Um, but yeah, I mean, eventually to Emory Place.
467
00:21:17,334 --> 00:21:17,635
Yes.
468
00:21:17,645 --> 00:21:21,185
When we were seeking out a spot, I really felt like my, um,
469
00:21:21,274 --> 00:21:24,685
kind of thought process then was like, I really wanted to, I
470
00:21:24,685 --> 00:21:28,204
love Brooklyn, New York, and I was like looking for something
471
00:21:28,205 --> 00:21:31,405
that reminded me of Brooklyn, you know, like warehouse see kind
472
00:21:31,405 --> 00:21:36,375
of thing and high ceilings and old floors and stuff like that.
473
00:21:36,375 --> 00:21:38,834
And I felt like that kind of, I felt like it felt,
474
00:21:38,865 --> 00:21:41,495
it did fit our brand because it was like kind of.
475
00:21:41,745 --> 00:21:46,314
Cool and hip, but old, but classy, you know, and repurposed.
476
00:21:46,324 --> 00:21:47,904
And there was a lot of things about it.
477
00:21:47,914 --> 00:21:49,914
So I would say, and that was from a branding perspective,
478
00:21:49,924 --> 00:21:51,934
that was always my thought is I wanted to be.
479
00:21:52,239 --> 00:21:56,100
I never wanted to be fun and playful, but I wanted to be like this
480
00:21:56,249 --> 00:22:00,209
kind of edgy, but elegant at the same time, you know, so a little
481
00:22:00,219 --> 00:22:03,859
bit like edgy because it's tech, but very elegant because it's
482
00:22:03,879 --> 00:22:07,139
professional, you know, that was the, the, the brand image that I
483
00:22:07,139 --> 00:22:10,840
always had in my mind whenever we were doing the, the first rebrand.
484
00:22:11,019 --> 00:22:13,449
Chris: Yeah, you don't want people to walk in and see a bunch of dusty old
485
00:22:13,449 --> 00:22:15,093
computers in the front office, you know, and a receptionist sitting there.
486
00:22:15,093 --> 00:22:18,343
You want it to be, you want people to
487
00:22:18,423 --> 00:22:20,093
perceive it as “We’ve got this under control.
488
00:22:20,093 --> 00:22:20,513
You’re taken care of.”
489
00:22:20,513 --> 00:22:21,453
Paul: Exactly.
490
00:22:21,453 --> 00:22:21,873
Exactly.
491
00:22:22,783 --> 00:22:23,933
Chris: That’s really cool.
492
00:22:24,163 --> 00:22:25,133
Paul: Yeah and I, it’s funny.
493
00:22:25,133 --> 00:22:31,070
I’ve heard, like, a lot of people, I was actually at a new customer
494
00:22:31,070 --> 00:22:33,280
who works, used to work for a competitor, and so we were, they were
495
00:22:33,280 --> 00:22:35,480
interviewing us, we were talking, and when I found that out, I was like,
496
00:22:35,480 --> 00:22:38,490
oh, uh, that's funny, like, I don't get to talk to many people that
497
00:22:38,490 --> 00:22:42,349
worked for competitors, like, what was your image of us in the market?
498
00:22:42,360 --> 00:22:45,030
And he basically said all the things that I was
499
00:22:45,030 --> 00:22:48,189
hoping he would say, very professional, high end.
500
00:22:48,520 --> 00:22:49,720
Top of the Market.
501
00:22:50,010 --> 00:22:51,580
And I've always wanted to come to your office, Cause
502
00:22:51,580 --> 00:22:54,020
I always heard it was just this really cool office.
503
00:22:54,050 --> 00:22:55,980
I was like, that's super funny.
504
00:22:57,500 --> 00:22:59,969
And he's like, and it is like he was there and the office, like it really is.
505
00:22:59,969 --> 00:23:00,909
It's everything everybody said.
506
00:23:00,909 --> 00:23:02,179
It was that's funny.
507
00:23:02,379 --> 00:23:03,080
Chris: That's really cool.
508
00:23:03,610 --> 00:23:08,010
I mean, it all plays into the brand and how people perceive you as a business.
509
00:23:08,050 --> 00:23:08,419
Right.
510
00:23:08,449 --> 00:23:10,510
So yeah, yeah, to that point.
511
00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:11,220
So like you've.
512
00:23:11,540 --> 00:23:16,199
Rebranded, you're the IT company as you have in, especially in the early days
513
00:23:16,199 --> 00:23:18,959
when you were making those shifts, maybe you had some transition going on.
514
00:23:19,389 --> 00:23:22,539
All those challenges, like it's got to be nerve wracking, right?
515
00:23:22,539 --> 00:23:25,559
You're saying we're, we're planting our flag in the ground.
516
00:23:25,559 --> 00:23:29,039
This is where we're going to be going and you have to get some
517
00:23:29,049 --> 00:23:32,599
validation that the business is actually moving the way you want it to.
518
00:23:32,609 --> 00:23:34,679
What was that moment for you where you just
519
00:23:34,679 --> 00:23:37,774
realized, yes, My business is moving forward.
520
00:23:37,774 --> 00:23:39,824
This is the way we wanted it to go.
521
00:23:40,004 --> 00:23:42,384
And we're seeing proof positive that, um, that
522
00:23:42,384 --> 00:23:44,134
things are going the way we wanted them to.
523
00:23:44,304 --> 00:23:47,024
Paul: It was quite a while, you know?
524
00:23:47,054 --> 00:23:51,344
Uh, and some of that's just like, you know, I was as much as I
525
00:23:51,344 --> 00:23:56,094
had a lot of experience, uh, 11 years at, at building Claris to.
526
00:23:56,114 --> 00:23:59,954
A $7 million company at that time When I left, I did, I
527
00:23:59,954 --> 00:24:02,714
still didn't really know what I was doing, quite frankly.
528
00:24:02,774 --> 00:24:07,334
You know, I mean, I, I, uh, I made a lot of mistakes and, and I saw
529
00:24:07,334 --> 00:24:12,284
things, you know, I just, I always probably over-focused on the future,
530
00:24:12,524 --> 00:24:16,304
you know, and, and really wasn't as much present in the here and now
531
00:24:16,304 --> 00:24:19,904
as I needed to be to, to really be practical about getting things done.
532
00:24:20,114 --> 00:24:20,834
So it was a while.
533
00:24:20,834 --> 00:24:22,844
I mean, and, and we made a lot of missteps.
534
00:24:22,844 --> 00:24:23,294
I mean.
535
00:24:23,509 --> 00:24:28,769
The acquisition of RTL, I wouldn't say was a mistake, but gosh, that was hard.
536
00:24:28,819 --> 00:24:30,739
You know, and we actually had bought Digital
537
00:24:30,739 --> 00:24:35,959
Crossing in, uh, I think 2012 and RTL in 2013.
538
00:24:36,999 --> 00:24:39,469
So like consecutive back to back years, we were doing
539
00:24:39,469 --> 00:24:42,909
acquisitions and integrating these things in and then it
540
00:24:42,909 --> 00:24:45,539
was super, super hard, you know, to do all those things.
541
00:24:45,794 --> 00:24:48,584
And so I think it was, uh, it was a while.
542
00:24:48,584 --> 00:24:52,464
I mean, we, there's probably 2, 2 or 3 moments I could think of.
543
00:24:52,464 --> 00:24:52,994
I mean, we bought RTL.
544
00:24:53,744 --> 00:24:55,014
We went from a 1.
545
00:24:55,014 --> 00:25:00,314
2 million company to almost a, I think, between the 2 of us, maybe 2.
546
00:25:00,584 --> 00:25:01,084
2.
547
00:25:01,474 --> 00:25:02,514
5 million.
548
00:25:02,514 --> 00:25:03,994
So we kind of instantly doubled.
549
00:25:04,144 --> 00:25:06,214
And so we had some.
550
00:25:06,449 --> 00:25:10,549
Kind of breadth and flow at that point where and we made some transitions
551
00:25:10,549 --> 00:25:14,199
in kind of how because of our size at that point, we felt like we could do
552
00:25:14,229 --> 00:25:16,939
things slightly different than because when you walk in, you're like, hey,
553
00:25:16,939 --> 00:25:20,509
we're, we're 6 people, you know, but when you walk in and say, we're 12 or
554
00:25:20,509 --> 00:25:23,909
15 people, it's just different, you know, it sounds differently to somebody.
555
00:25:23,949 --> 00:25:26,639
So we felt like we could go after a different client at that point.
556
00:25:26,649 --> 00:25:30,269
And we started to do some things and we had a couple of people come over.
557
00:25:30,269 --> 00:25:30,319
Yeah.
558
00:25:30,509 --> 00:25:33,469
And work for us that we weren't able to attract before.
559
00:25:33,469 --> 00:25:36,099
So that's probably moment number 1, where it was like, we're, we're
560
00:25:36,099 --> 00:25:39,789
making progress, you know, where we're getting some big accounts.
561
00:25:39,979 --> 00:25:42,109
We're kind of being able to deliver at a level
562
00:25:42,109 --> 00:25:43,819
that I'd hoped we'd been able to deliver.
563
00:25:44,009 --> 00:25:44,859
So that was 1.
564
00:25:45,209 --> 00:25:49,209
I think the 2nd 1 was probably, honestly, it's probably
565
00:25:49,349 --> 00:25:54,259
between 2019 and 21, like that whole 19, then 20 COVID
566
00:25:54,279 --> 00:25:57,339
and then 21 post COVID kind of coming out of that.
567
00:25:57,769 --> 00:26:00,039
I think those years proved a lot.
568
00:26:00,259 --> 00:26:04,629
that we were really good at what we did and that because people were needing
569
00:26:04,629 --> 00:26:09,369
technology a lot more and we had actually done a lot of things ahead of that not
570
00:26:09,369 --> 00:26:12,389
knowing that there was going to be a pandemic where most of our customers were
571
00:26:12,389 --> 00:26:16,409
already prepared to work from home and stuff and so I think a lot of that stuff
572
00:26:16,599 --> 00:26:20,839
helped us validate that we were on the right track and doing the right thing.
573
00:26:20,959 --> 00:26:24,989
Then I would say probably in the past 22 and 23.
574
00:26:25,139 --> 00:26:28,619
You know, these are more internal things, but when I really, I saw
575
00:26:28,619 --> 00:26:31,709
like a team really coming together from a leadership perspective
576
00:26:31,714 --> 00:26:35,249
and buying into all the things we were doing and realizing that this
577
00:26:35,249 --> 00:26:38,399
company could operate, uh, from an operational perspective without me,
578
00:26:38,579 --> 00:26:42,299
you know, those were big, big moments for me where, um, I knew like
579
00:26:42,419 --> 00:26:46,259
we've, we've built a business that can last and do what it needs to do.
580
00:26:46,259 --> 00:26:48,539
And, and I don't have to be here every day.
581
00:26:48,539 --> 00:26:50,039
And not that I don't want to be here every
582
00:26:50,044 --> 00:26:51,779
day, but I don't have to be here every day.
583
00:26:52,264 --> 00:26:54,544
The company can continue on without me.
584
00:26:54,544 --> 00:26:56,434
So those are probably big, big moments.
585
00:26:56,534 --> 00:26:56,764
Chris: Yeah.
586
00:26:56,844 --> 00:26:59,414
That last one always feels like it's the biggest achievement.
587
00:26:59,434 --> 00:27:02,024
Once you've, once you've been able to be like, all right, I'm gone for
588
00:27:02,034 --> 00:27:04,874
vacation for a week and you come back and nothing's on fire when you get back.
589
00:27:04,874 --> 00:27:05,234
Yeah.
590
00:27:05,414 --> 00:27:05,864
Paul: Oh yeah.
591
00:27:06,284 --> 00:27:07,464
Chris: Those are, I mean, those are all really
592
00:27:07,464 --> 00:27:09,384
good signs of validation for any business.
593
00:27:09,594 --> 00:27:09,974
Paul: Yeah.
594
00:27:10,074 --> 00:27:12,224
Chris: That's really good to hear that you've had had that.
595
00:27:12,224 --> 00:27:15,894
I was, I was curious how things have changed post pandemic, because
596
00:27:15,894 --> 00:27:18,894
I'm sure a lot of the organizations that you used to support.
597
00:27:19,139 --> 00:27:20,919
I don't know, maybe it's not changed as much for you all as I
598
00:27:20,919 --> 00:27:23,249
would think, because most of the organizations I assume you all
599
00:27:23,249 --> 00:27:27,919
support have physical offices or have, you know, bigger number of
600
00:27:27,919 --> 00:27:31,059
desktops that you service or however you put that in your company.
601
00:27:31,059 --> 00:27:31,909
But yeah, I
602
00:27:32,539 --> 00:27:34,399
Paul: think the demand is definitely higher.
603
00:27:34,439 --> 00:27:37,749
I mean, I think people, although I think in this current year,
604
00:27:37,749 --> 00:27:40,569
it seems like things are a little softer as people think people
605
00:27:40,569 --> 00:27:43,179
are trying to figure out what the election is going to do.
606
00:27:44,314 --> 00:27:47,684
Kind of, uh, inflationary pricing has got people a little spooked more
607
00:27:47,684 --> 00:27:51,704
than, more than in the past, but I think COVID just proved to people that
608
00:27:51,734 --> 00:27:55,104
technology is at the center of your life and the center of your business.
609
00:27:55,294 --> 00:27:57,434
Um, and there's a demand for it again.
610
00:27:57,434 --> 00:27:58,154
We were fortunate.
611
00:27:58,164 --> 00:27:58,904
We had already.
612
00:27:59,019 --> 00:28:02,289
You know, largely put people in, you know, voice over IP phone
613
00:28:02,289 --> 00:28:06,279
systems, and we were already using Teams heavily as a company
614
00:28:06,279 --> 00:28:09,069
at the time, and it started to help customers move to Teams.
615
00:28:09,079 --> 00:28:13,089
So we had already, I think, pre prepared a lot of people, and it wasn't
616
00:28:13,089 --> 00:28:16,259
as big of a shift, although there were a few that was a big shift,
617
00:28:16,409 --> 00:28:19,589
especially those that deal with, like, large files, like people that
618
00:28:19,589 --> 00:28:23,299
are in media or people that are in architecture engineering, right?
619
00:28:23,299 --> 00:28:26,639
Those folks who Had to really learn that, you know, how do I
620
00:28:26,639 --> 00:28:29,349
deal with large files when I'm not in the office, et cetera.
621
00:28:29,409 --> 00:28:33,069
So that was a bit more, but I think I wouldn't say things are different.
622
00:28:33,069 --> 00:28:34,929
I mean, we've basically, the business is
623
00:28:34,929 --> 00:28:37,889
basically almost doubled, you know, since COVID.
624
00:28:38,069 --> 00:28:41,159
And so as a company, we were already on that kind of track.
625
00:28:41,279 --> 00:28:44,589
So I think from the perspective of just, you know, people just
626
00:28:44,629 --> 00:28:48,209
recognize that technology is critical at the center of their business
627
00:28:48,209 --> 00:28:50,889
and they need somebody that can manage it really, really well.
628
00:28:50,889 --> 00:28:53,869
And as a professional and, you know, We'll be there when they need them
629
00:28:53,869 --> 00:28:57,249
and we'll solve problems fast and give them good advice, et cetera.
630
00:28:57,379 --> 00:28:59,379
I do think, you know, there is a big shift.
631
00:28:59,609 --> 00:29:03,099
Obviously, you know, AI buzzword out there, generative AI,
632
00:29:03,099 --> 00:29:05,549
large language models, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, you know,
633
00:29:05,549 --> 00:29:08,419
I think that and I do think it's going to be a big shift.
634
00:29:08,614 --> 00:29:09,434
You know, shift.
635
00:29:09,434 --> 00:29:14,304
I think we are definitely in a, in another, uh, revolution and I think that
636
00:29:14,304 --> 00:29:19,374
that's as we learn how to harness those technologies and make them work with us.
637
00:29:19,474 --> 00:29:21,524
I think a lot of people think they're going to replace us.
638
00:29:21,524 --> 00:29:23,684
I think that the key to that is how do they,
639
00:29:23,714 --> 00:29:26,604
how do they aid us, assist us, make us better.
640
00:29:26,784 --> 00:29:30,414
I think that we're going to see another big shift and companies like us will be
641
00:29:30,414 --> 00:29:34,394
even more in demand that can pivot and help people be efficient and productive.
642
00:29:34,649 --> 00:29:37,389
Um, and again, I think that goes, our brand goes back to speak to
643
00:29:37,389 --> 00:29:40,929
that, like professional, you know, that people want somebody who's
644
00:29:40,929 --> 00:29:45,519
buttoned up and understands their business and can help them navigate
645
00:29:45,589 --> 00:29:49,049
these uncharted waters and make sense of all this technology.
646
00:29:49,199 --> 00:29:51,769
Um, and so again, I think branding is a big piece of that.
647
00:29:52,409 --> 00:29:53,469
Chris: Yeah, definitely.
648
00:29:53,479 --> 00:29:55,769
You definitely could see how your business has grown
649
00:29:55,769 --> 00:29:57,219
to the more I'm sitting here thinking about it.
650
00:29:57,239 --> 00:30:01,609
I remember when lockdown happened, having had spent so many years in telecom.
651
00:30:01,609 --> 00:30:04,574
Um, Pitching companies on, Oh, you need Office 365,
652
00:30:04,574 --> 00:30:06,344
or Oh, you need these things to work from home.
653
00:30:06,344 --> 00:30:09,874
And it just felt like when it happened, when it finally happened,
654
00:30:09,874 --> 00:30:12,284
it's like, this is what we were taught to do all these years.
655
00:30:12,684 --> 00:30:14,954
And now we have a situation where everybody's just magically
656
00:30:14,954 --> 00:30:18,044
forced into this situation where you have to rely on remote work.
657
00:30:18,334 --> 00:30:21,544
And it was a, Sad how unprepared people were.
658
00:30:21,554 --> 00:30:23,744
So I'm sure you've probably benefited from
659
00:30:24,034 --> 00:30:25,734
people, business owners, realizing that.
660
00:30:26,424 --> 00:30:26,904
Paul: Yeah.
661
00:30:26,914 --> 00:30:29,584
It's so crazy to, to think about that time as you're speaking, I was
662
00:30:29,584 --> 00:30:32,764
thinking, gosh, all the, you know, all the time just working from home.
663
00:30:32,764 --> 00:30:35,754
And I mean, we were doing leadership meetings in my basement.
664
00:30:35,919 --> 00:30:39,109
You know, and, uh, you know, for, you know, for a while, they were,
665
00:30:39,179 --> 00:30:41,469
you know, we were doing them with in teams, but after a while, I
666
00:30:41,469 --> 00:30:43,759
was like, if you guys are comfortable, I'm comfortable, all of us,
667
00:30:43,809 --> 00:30:46,599
you know, being together and not spitting, spitting on each other.
668
00:30:48,459 --> 00:30:50,769
So, uh, you know, but it's just crazy to think
669
00:30:50,769 --> 00:30:53,279
about, like, the leverage that got gained.
670
00:30:53,449 --> 00:30:55,914
I think people learned to be very efficient.
671
00:30:56,084 --> 00:30:58,724
But also learn to, to take a step back and,
672
00:30:58,824 --> 00:31:00,524
and, uh, you know, enjoy their families.
673
00:31:00,534 --> 00:31:05,054
Although I don't know, I mean, this is a, I guess a slight pontification,
674
00:31:05,064 --> 00:31:09,524
but I don't know to what, to what extent it's really changed.
675
00:31:09,664 --> 00:31:11,764
You know, I mean, I would say largely most of my
676
00:31:11,764 --> 00:31:14,104
customers are just back at what they were doing before.
677
00:31:14,214 --> 00:31:16,184
You know, I don't, I don't really see, I
678
00:31:16,184 --> 00:31:18,794
think everybody has got some type of hybrid.
679
00:31:18,989 --> 00:31:22,359
Policy in place, you know, where they're, where they're allowing people
680
00:31:22,359 --> 00:31:25,659
a little bit more flexibility and freedom, but I don't have any customers
681
00:31:25,659 --> 00:31:29,469
that have just said, burn the ships, no more office, everybody go home.
682
00:31:29,619 --> 00:31:31,909
You know, you know, I think there's a, and
683
00:31:31,909 --> 00:31:33,429
I've actually done a lot of research too.
684
00:31:33,429 --> 00:31:37,009
I mean, the younger generations, my daughters are part of that.
685
00:31:37,009 --> 00:31:40,289
My son, I mean, they, they love the freedom of remote
686
00:31:40,289 --> 00:31:44,229
work, but they also long for the connectivity of teams and.
687
00:31:44,230 --> 00:31:44,444
Yeah.
688
00:31:44,584 --> 00:31:47,314
And relationships and being in proximity to each other.
689
00:31:47,314 --> 00:31:50,154
So it's going to be a really fascinating thing to see, um, which
690
00:31:50,154 --> 00:31:53,714
again, I, I think all this stuff goes back to, to good branding
691
00:31:53,714 --> 00:31:57,574
and good marketing and communication is how do we communicate this?
692
00:31:57,784 --> 00:32:00,524
Because part of brand building, too, is attracting talent, right?
693
00:32:00,524 --> 00:32:03,664
I mean, we haven't talked about that, but I mean, you know, part of brand
694
00:32:03,664 --> 00:32:07,074
building is, is, uh, creating a place where people want to come to work.
695
00:32:07,574 --> 00:32:09,714
People love to come to work and people want to stay
696
00:32:09,714 --> 00:32:12,954
working there in a world where there's so much flexibility.
697
00:32:13,144 --> 00:32:14,964
You know, we have a really high retention, right?
698
00:32:14,964 --> 00:32:19,024
I have, I think, 6 or 7 people that have been here for over 10 years.
699
00:32:19,734 --> 00:32:22,404
So, a 3rd of our companies, almost a 3rd, maybe a
700
00:32:22,404 --> 00:32:24,484
quarter of our company has been here for over 10 years.
701
00:32:24,829 --> 00:32:25,629
Maybe more than that.
702
00:32:25,829 --> 00:32:27,239
One individual's been here 13.
703
00:32:27,249 --> 00:32:29,139
He's six months after I came here.
704
00:32:29,159 --> 00:32:31,969
And so there's a lot of brand building and attracting,
705
00:32:31,979 --> 00:32:34,349
but not just attracting, but retaining talent, you know,
706
00:32:34,369 --> 00:32:36,439
because people want to be proud of the place they work.
707
00:32:36,449 --> 00:32:37,839
They want to be proud of the work it does.
708
00:32:37,839 --> 00:32:40,099
They want to be, I mean, let's talk about the
709
00:32:40,099 --> 00:32:42,119
best branded company in Knoxville right now.
710
00:32:42,139 --> 00:32:43,449
Who do you think that is?
711
00:32:43,629 --> 00:32:44,319
Chris: Oh man.
712
00:32:44,329 --> 00:32:46,059
Best branding company in Knoxville.
713
00:32:46,059 --> 00:32:46,259
Best
714
00:32:46,289 --> 00:32:47,549
Paul: branded company in
715
00:32:47,699 --> 00:32:48,009
Chris: Knoxville.
716
00:32:48,010 --> 00:32:48,989
Best branded company.
717
00:32:49,259 --> 00:32:54,719
Oh man, um, I mean my, my gut on that, um, probably not going to
718
00:32:54,719 --> 00:32:57,349
be the one you're going to talk about, but I, I really think that,
719
00:32:57,349 --> 00:33:00,679
um, Zach Roskopp over at Knox Brew Tours, the way he's done Knox
720
00:33:00,679 --> 00:33:04,529
Brew Tours, the brew hub, he's kind of combined all that together.
721
00:33:04,529 --> 00:33:07,589
There's a lot of like, he, he, he's really intentionally thought
722
00:33:07,589 --> 00:33:09,689
through the thematic this, and I'm not just saying that cause he's
723
00:33:09,689 --> 00:33:12,999
been a guest on our podcast, but I think he does a really good job
724
00:33:12,999 --> 00:33:16,319
keeping branding and thinking about that when he builds a new operation.
725
00:33:16,559 --> 00:33:17,479
I think it's Axel.
726
00:33:17,799 --> 00:33:20,349
Paul: You know, I could be biased because they're around the corner
727
00:33:20,349 --> 00:33:23,909
from me, but dear Lord, like there, there are billboards everywhere.
728
00:33:23,929 --> 00:33:25,579
Build your, you know, build your empire.
729
00:33:25,589 --> 00:33:27,929
Like everybody that works there wears their shirts.
730
00:33:27,949 --> 00:33:30,459
Like, if you go to, go to Balter or go to any of these
731
00:33:30,479 --> 00:33:33,089
places for lunch or whatever, there's actual people there.
732
00:33:33,089 --> 00:33:34,119
They've all got their shirt.
733
00:33:34,239 --> 00:33:35,879
There's a company store.
734
00:33:36,039 --> 00:33:37,339
They got a gym.
735
00:33:37,589 --> 00:33:40,619
Our marketing coordinator, Macy, who you know, she's like, I was, I was
736
00:33:40,669 --> 00:33:43,379
before she, she has a house now, but she goes, I was in my apartment and
737
00:33:43,379 --> 00:33:45,979
there was like apartment complex and this dude came out, he's wearing like a
738
00:33:45,979 --> 00:33:49,649
razor back, you know, workout shirt that said axle logistics on it and stuff.
739
00:33:49,649 --> 00:33:52,769
And so I think those guys are, which I don't know if you've had shown as a
740
00:33:52,769 --> 00:33:55,679
guest, but if you want to show them, I'd be, I'd be happy to arrange that with.
741
00:33:56,664 --> 00:33:57,144
Chris: That'd be great.
742
00:33:57,414 --> 00:33:58,724
Paul: But they've done a great job.
743
00:33:58,794 --> 00:34:02,594
I mean, they've done a fantastic job of branding themselves.
744
00:34:02,644 --> 00:34:05,864
And, uh, and the people that work there wear
745
00:34:05,864 --> 00:34:08,234
their swag, you know, and it's impressive.
746
00:34:08,284 --> 00:34:11,284
I think the job that they've done, and I think it's been, I
747
00:34:11,284 --> 00:34:13,364
would say Sean's probably gonna say a lot of the same stuff.
748
00:34:13,364 --> 00:34:16,884
Like it's about attracting and retaining talent and stuff like that.
749
00:34:16,894 --> 00:34:19,704
So, uh, so yeah, I mean, I think that it matters.
750
00:34:19,754 --> 00:34:22,204
Like your brand matters to the people that work there.
751
00:34:22,204 --> 00:34:23,794
They want to, they want to attach.
752
00:34:24,034 --> 00:34:24,664
Just something.
753
00:34:24,664 --> 00:34:26,314
And they want to, they wanna belong.
754
00:34:26,314 --> 00:34:28,114
They wanna believe they're part of something.
755
00:34:28,264 --> 00:34:30,394
And uh, and that brand is important.
756
00:34:30,574 --> 00:34:32,794
Chris: I think you bring up a very good point, which is
757
00:34:33,034 --> 00:34:35,494
I think if people really love a brand and they work for
758
00:34:35,499 --> 00:34:37,324
that brand, they're willing to wear the brand in public.
759
00:34:37,534 --> 00:34:37,924
Paul: Yeah.
760
00:34:38,044 --> 00:34:38,794
Chris: A hundred percent.
761
00:34:38,794 --> 00:34:40,354
That's just a lot about the business.
762
00:34:40,354 --> 00:34:41,284
So I would.
763
00:34:41,599 --> 00:34:42,739
Okay, I'll concur.
764
00:34:42,739 --> 00:34:46,549
I mean, I think, I think, I think that makes a lot of sense.
765
00:34:46,549 --> 00:34:49,309
I, you know, I'm going to stick with Zach, but I do think
766
00:34:49,309 --> 00:34:52,999
what you're saying, I do think what you're saying is like,
767
00:34:53,019 --> 00:34:55,439
it really makes a lot of sense for the people that are there.
768
00:34:55,439 --> 00:34:56,869
They're very passionate about it.
769
00:34:56,899 --> 00:34:57,319
Yeah.
770
00:34:57,509 --> 00:34:59,509
I think that that, That makes a lot of sense.
771
00:34:59,509 --> 00:35:02,249
I mean, if we're going early meta, I think UT would probably be the better.
772
00:35:02,319 --> 00:35:05,545
They're the higher level ones, but small businesses in town.
773
00:35:05,545 --> 00:35:08,269
I think, I think, yeah, that makes sense.
774
00:35:08,349 --> 00:35:08,799
I got you.
775
00:35:08,819 --> 00:35:11,089
Paul: Well, there's, I mean, obviously we have big ones like, you
776
00:35:11,089 --> 00:35:14,469
know, pilot, pilots everywhere, you know, these, some of these guys
777
00:35:14,499 --> 00:35:17,929
that, you know, are like that, but they have a longstanding brand.
778
00:35:17,929 --> 00:35:21,650
I mean, Axel's, Axel's relatively new on the scene, if you think about it.
779
00:35:21,650 --> 00:35:24,519
And, um, and there's others, others that are out there too, but
780
00:35:24,649 --> 00:35:25,349
Chris: I like it though.
781
00:35:25,580 --> 00:35:27,830
Paul: The thing I think about them again, is their people love to wear their
782
00:35:27,830 --> 00:35:31,069
gear and if you love to wear their gear, you, you must love the brand Yeah.
783
00:35:31,069 --> 00:35:32,059
And the place that you work.
784
00:35:32,059 --> 00:35:32,330
So,
785
00:35:33,660 --> 00:35:37,365
Chris: um, I need to start giving out more hats, . That's right, that's
786
00:35:37,370 --> 00:35:37,529
Paul: right.
787
00:35:37,535 --> 00:35:38,549
I mean, I, where's mine?
788
00:35:38,549 --> 00:35:42,389
I got my, my podcast, you know, we did this, we did this hat like, oh yeah.
789
00:35:42,389 --> 00:35:44,490
We need, we need to do a better job of that actually.
790
00:35:44,580 --> 00:35:46,109
You know, and, but it's important.
791
00:35:46,170 --> 00:35:46,229
Yeah.
792
00:35:46,229 --> 00:35:47,309
People, people care.
793
00:35:47,429 --> 00:35:47,639
Chris: Yeah.
794
00:35:48,325 --> 00:35:49,955
And when you've got a cool brand, why not wear it?
795
00:35:49,974 --> 00:35:52,154
One of our, one of our clients that does a podcast, they
796
00:35:52,154 --> 00:35:55,125
have quite a unique brand and people die for their swag.
797
00:35:55,165 --> 00:35:56,574
They go to events and that's all they do.
798
00:35:56,574 --> 00:35:57,314
They don't have a booth.
799
00:35:57,364 --> 00:35:59,045
They just carry swag with them and hand it out.
800
00:35:59,074 --> 00:35:59,754
That's smart.
801
00:36:00,384 --> 00:36:00,835
I love it.
802
00:36:00,864 --> 00:36:01,495
That's cool.
803
00:36:01,504 --> 00:36:02,184
Really sharp.
804
00:36:02,394 --> 00:36:03,174
That's a good idea.
805
00:36:03,404 --> 00:36:04,654
But yeah, that's a lot of fun.
806
00:36:04,654 --> 00:36:04,724
A
807
00:36:04,984 --> 00:36:06,694
Paul: backpack full of swag, throwing it around.
808
00:36:07,844 --> 00:36:08,224
Chris: Yeah.
809
00:36:08,224 --> 00:36:11,484
And they go to Amazon's reinvent conference every year.
810
00:36:11,484 --> 00:36:13,104
And so they'll go and they'll take.
811
00:36:13,359 --> 00:36:16,080
Poker chips and live discount codes on the back for
812
00:36:16,080 --> 00:36:18,269
their swag so you can buy stuff from their store.
813
00:36:18,330 --> 00:36:18,460
That's
814
00:36:18,460 --> 00:36:19,050
Paul: smart.
815
00:36:19,210 --> 00:36:19,960
Yeah, it's pretty cool.
816
00:36:19,979 --> 00:36:20,580
I like that.
817
00:36:20,580 --> 00:36:21,569
Yeah, it is.
818
00:36:21,760 --> 00:36:22,619
Chris: But um, that's cool.
819
00:36:22,819 --> 00:36:23,429
That's awesome.
820
00:36:23,899 --> 00:36:25,399
Paul, this is, this has been really great.
821
00:36:25,399 --> 00:36:28,049
We always wrap up with the same question and that is,
822
00:36:28,059 --> 00:36:30,329
you know, what brand do you admire the most right now?
823
00:36:30,329 --> 00:36:31,460
You've already mentioned Axel.
824
00:36:31,489 --> 00:36:36,330
Is there a, is there maybe a more national brand or is Axel the answer?
825
00:36:37,099 --> 00:36:39,950
Paul: Nah, I mean, I do admire what they've done a lot.
826
00:36:40,080 --> 00:36:44,599
I, I'll go with A brand that I wear a lot, which is Peter Millar.
827
00:36:44,769 --> 00:36:45,099
Okay.
828
00:36:45,219 --> 00:36:46,219
Golf brand.
829
00:36:46,290 --> 00:36:49,019
For those that don't know, it was actually two guys.
830
00:36:49,029 --> 00:36:51,490
I think it's two guys out of the Tri Cities.
831
00:36:51,799 --> 00:36:52,009
Chris: Oh.
832
00:36:52,069 --> 00:36:53,649
Paul: It came up with the Peter Millar brand.
833
00:36:53,649 --> 00:36:55,819
It's a very, very well known brand in golf.
834
00:36:56,009 --> 00:36:58,399
Most people who play golf or part of a country
835
00:36:58,420 --> 00:37:00,649
club or something know the Peter Millar brand.
836
00:37:00,830 --> 00:37:01,740
It's kind of that.
837
00:37:01,819 --> 00:37:05,189
A little bit of what I said, like it's like elegant, edgy, you know,
838
00:37:05,189 --> 00:37:09,309
so they do a good job of kind of providing a little bit of a fresher,
839
00:37:09,470 --> 00:37:13,999
uh, not a super stodgy look, but also not a, not overly crazy.
840
00:37:14,029 --> 00:37:15,509
I mean, there's some really crazy stuff out there
841
00:37:15,510 --> 00:37:18,090
in golf with flowers and all that stuff is fine too.
842
00:37:18,260 --> 00:37:21,870
So they're a bit more of an elegant brand, um, with a bit of an edge to it.
843
00:37:21,920 --> 00:37:26,100
And, uh, and I love, I mean, people that know me know I'm a sucker for it.
844
00:37:26,109 --> 00:37:29,059
Like, if I'm actually not wearing, I do have Peter Miller shoes on.
845
00:37:30,584 --> 00:37:34,944
A Peter Millar shirt and a Peter Millar pullover and Peter
846
00:37:34,944 --> 00:37:38,434
Millar shoes on, um, because I love, I love that brand.
847
00:37:38,434 --> 00:37:41,334
So that'd be the, that was the one that, that just came to mind.
848
00:37:41,334 --> 00:37:42,865
There's a lot of other ones out there.
849
00:37:42,865 --> 00:37:46,615
I mean, I think there's some really cool, like I, I'm a duck hunter, so there's
850
00:37:46,615 --> 00:37:50,104
a really cool brand out there called Duck Camp that I think has done a really
851
00:37:50,104 --> 00:37:53,934
good job of branding their stuff and Sheen, a company called Sheen that's
852
00:37:53,944 --> 00:37:58,184
done a good job and a company called Kui, that's done a good job of branding.
853
00:37:58,184 --> 00:38:01,955
So, I mean, I love brand stuff anyhow, so I could go on and on.
854
00:38:01,964 --> 00:38:04,004
I love motorcycles, so I love KTM.
855
00:38:04,005 --> 00:38:04,955
And she does.
856
00:38:05,024 --> 00:38:08,434
So I think, I think a lot of these guys are in, you know, are doing
857
00:38:08,434 --> 00:38:11,594
a really good job of everybody I think is up their branding game.
858
00:38:11,805 --> 00:38:15,484
I mean, I think it's such a, it's such a thing now that everybody's up to.
859
00:38:15,484 --> 00:38:17,144
And it's, it's pretty interesting too.
860
00:38:17,154 --> 00:38:19,514
Like if you're on Instagram or whatever, like.
861
00:38:19,760 --> 00:38:23,010
And you get fed these ads like, you know, it's some pretty impressive
862
00:38:23,010 --> 00:38:26,500
small companies that have done a really good job of building a brand
863
00:38:27,050 --> 00:38:30,839
and grown into something big just by investing heavily in brand.
864
00:38:30,959 --> 00:38:31,899
You know, it's pretty cool.
865
00:38:32,029 --> 00:38:32,319
Chris: Yeah.
866
00:38:32,499 --> 00:38:33,199
Paul: Who's your favorite?
867
00:38:33,269 --> 00:38:33,830
I'm gonna ask you.
868
00:38:33,840 --> 00:38:34,479
Who's yours?
869
00:38:34,659 --> 00:38:34,869
Yeah.
870
00:38:34,869 --> 00:38:35,740
My favorite,
871
00:38:35,760 --> 00:38:37,399
Chris: um, listeners are going to get tired of
872
00:38:37,399 --> 00:38:41,140
hearing this, but, um, my favorite is Red Bull.
873
00:38:41,330 --> 00:38:42,019
Oh, okay.
874
00:38:42,029 --> 00:38:44,689
Still, I'm a big Red Bull racing fan.
875
00:38:44,944 --> 00:38:46,684
Paul: Yeah, on the F1 side,
876
00:38:46,844 --> 00:38:47,745
Chris: on the F1 side.
877
00:38:47,745 --> 00:38:48,085
Yeah.
878
00:38:48,085 --> 00:38:48,504
Okay.
879
00:38:48,644 --> 00:38:50,214
I mean, their marketing is brilliant.
880
00:38:50,295 --> 00:38:51,554
And I mean, that
881
00:38:51,554 --> 00:38:54,295
Paul: company was built purely by brand.
882
00:38:54,295 --> 00:38:57,984
I mean, that, that's a story of a brand.
883
00:38:58,184 --> 00:38:58,514
Chris: Yeah.
884
00:38:58,544 --> 00:38:58,825
Big time.
885
00:38:58,834 --> 00:39:03,004
And, and, and as they've gotten into more like extreme sports and racing teams
886
00:39:03,004 --> 00:39:06,415
and things like that, they've just, they always create really good content.
887
00:39:06,415 --> 00:39:09,104
So I really like, The visual elements of what they do.
888
00:39:09,115 --> 00:39:12,495
And I mean, just very personally, like on the F1 side, I
889
00:39:12,495 --> 00:39:15,455
followed Max Verstappen from his first year in Formula One,
890
00:39:15,455 --> 00:39:18,054
because I was tired of seeing Lewis Hamilton win all the time.
891
00:39:18,764 --> 00:39:21,955
And I just, I cheered him on until he's gotten to where he is today.
892
00:39:21,964 --> 00:39:26,904
And you know, my son and I have like Red Bull racing jerseys and everything.
893
00:39:27,264 --> 00:39:29,205
Although my son's gotten to the point now where he starts asking
894
00:39:29,205 --> 00:39:33,304
me, dad is, is, can, can, um, what did he ask me the other day?
895
00:39:33,464 --> 00:39:34,564
Can Max lose?
896
00:39:36,394 --> 00:39:36,915
Paul: He's so good.
897
00:39:36,915 --> 00:39:37,675
Can he lose a race, please?
898
00:39:37,995 --> 00:39:39,465
Well, nobody can drive his car either.
899
00:39:39,465 --> 00:39:40,535
That's the crazy thing about it.
900
00:39:40,604 --> 00:39:44,295
Like he's the only one that can drive that razor edge car that he's got.
901
00:39:44,304 --> 00:39:44,585
It's insane.
902
00:39:44,585 --> 00:39:45,264
It's insane.
903
00:39:45,264 --> 00:39:48,354
But yeah, it's an interesting guy too, so that's, that's, that's interesting.
904
00:39:48,835 --> 00:39:49,154
Chris: Yeah.
905
00:39:49,344 --> 00:39:49,584
Yeah.
906
00:39:49,634 --> 00:39:53,214
Now, Rebel's not in the best place, uh, maybe politically right
907
00:39:53,214 --> 00:39:55,644
now with everything going on, if you're following any of that.
908
00:39:55,675 --> 00:39:56,205
Sure.
909
00:39:56,295 --> 00:39:58,474
But other than that, like I really like them and, and really all
910
00:39:58,474 --> 00:40:01,505
of Formula One, like the teams know that it's about the brand.
911
00:40:01,675 --> 00:40:04,274
Like it's, you know, it's about attracting people to.
912
00:40:04,579 --> 00:40:06,950
The characters within their brand and those, those
913
00:40:06,959 --> 00:40:09,379
storylines that are being followed throughout every season.
914
00:40:09,379 --> 00:40:11,609
I think that really draw people in.
915
00:40:11,629 --> 00:40:15,179
Um, Mercedes has done a good job of playing, you know, over
916
00:40:15,179 --> 00:40:18,549
really sad about losing all the time now up and making it
917
00:40:18,740 --> 00:40:22,569
funny and, you know, having a sense of humor of things.
918
00:40:22,579 --> 00:40:25,769
So I really like, you know, like that industry a lot right now.
919
00:40:25,769 --> 00:40:27,159
So I'd say that's probably where I'm at.
920
00:40:28,089 --> 00:40:29,789
Paul: I listened to a podcast the other day
921
00:40:29,789 --> 00:40:30,729
and I thought it was really interesting.
922
00:40:30,729 --> 00:40:34,159
They were contrasting the election that when Obama won.
923
00:40:34,424 --> 00:40:37,394
The first time, and it was a brand conversation about
924
00:40:37,394 --> 00:40:39,414
like, they're basically like, do you remember who he
925
00:40:39,414 --> 00:40:43,224
ran against and what his, what the slogan was versus.
926
00:40:43,580 --> 00:40:46,910
Do you remember Obama's and most of everybody remembers Obama's
927
00:40:47,200 --> 00:40:50,649
and it's largely why he won because he just had a simple brand and
928
00:40:50,649 --> 00:40:53,519
that with everybody attached to it, you know, it's pretty wild.
929
00:40:53,519 --> 00:40:56,169
You could even say the same thing for like him or hate
930
00:40:56,169 --> 00:40:57,939
him with, you know, the first time that Trump won.
931
00:40:57,969 --> 00:41:01,719
I mean, he was just, he stuck to one thing and make America great again.
932
00:41:01,719 --> 00:41:03,519
And that was a simple brand, you know?
933
00:41:03,519 --> 00:41:04,990
And so it goes back to the same thing.
934
00:41:05,490 --> 00:41:08,410
These brand statements, they matter, you know, and the
935
00:41:08,410 --> 00:41:10,870
simplicity of them is what gets people's attention.
936
00:41:10,870 --> 00:41:12,529
So I appreciate you having me on here.
937
00:41:12,639 --> 00:41:13,839
Chris: Yeah, absolutely, Paul.
938
00:41:13,849 --> 00:41:14,439
It's been great.
939
00:41:14,459 --> 00:41:16,919
So where can people connect with you and
940
00:41:16,919 --> 00:41:18,789
where can people connect with the IT company?
941
00:41:18,979 --> 00:41:22,279
Paul: Yeah, I probably main place for me would be, would be not Instagram.
942
00:41:22,289 --> 00:41:23,169
Please don't connect with me.
943
00:41:23,169 --> 00:41:24,319
There'll be LinkedIn.
944
00:41:24,649 --> 00:41:24,999
Yes.
945
00:41:25,589 --> 00:41:27,709
Instagram is purely for me to watch reels.
946
00:41:29,529 --> 00:41:32,519
And laugh, get my humor out, uh, uh, LinkedIn.
947
00:41:32,569 --> 00:41:36,439
I saw I'm on LinkedIn, LinkedIn slash, whatever it is slash Paul Sponcia.
948
00:41:36,439 --> 00:41:38,109
I think it's like N slash Paul Sponcia.
949
00:41:38,410 --> 00:41:41,089
I'm on everything else too, but I don't, I'm not as active
950
00:41:41,089 --> 00:41:44,419
as I am on LinkedIn and then the IT company, LinkedIn.
951
00:41:44,419 --> 00:41:47,689
And then our website, which is currently www.
952
00:41:47,759 --> 00:41:48,330
theitco.
953
00:41:49,429 --> 00:41:52,049
net, but soon to be www.
954
00:41:52,129 --> 00:41:53,189
theitcompany.
955
00:41:53,189 --> 00:41:53,479
com.
956
00:41:53,639 --> 00:41:54,049
Chris: Excellent.
957
00:41:54,219 --> 00:41:54,589
Excellent.
958
00:41:54,700 --> 00:41:54,809
Cool.
959
00:41:55,319 --> 00:41:58,139
We'll make sure to include those links in the show notes for folks so
960
00:41:58,139 --> 00:42:01,849
they can connect with you and follow the IT company and check y'all out.
961
00:42:02,290 --> 00:42:03,010
Appreciate it, man.
962
00:42:03,109 --> 00:42:04,489
Speaker: Paul, thank you for your time.
963
00:42:04,689 --> 00:42:05,670
Yeah, thanks for having me.
964
00:42:05,899 --> 00:42:06,429
Absolutely.