Episode 46: The Power of Purpose-Driven Businesses

In this episode of The Sound of Automation podcast, we discuss the power of purpose-driven businesses with Dirk Beveridge of We Supply America and Ashley Martin of NIBCO. Listen in to learn how businesses can be a force for good by focusing on legacy, longevity and love. We’ll share ways that family-owned business NIBCO has had a positive impact on the community and how you can too. 

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Transcript

Ashley Martin

Each associate know what their purpose is, how they are helping make their lives better, make other people's lives better, make their community better, and showing them how they do that in each individual job I think is extremely important. 

Intro/Outro Narrator 

Welcome to The Sound of Automation, brought to you by Wipfli, a top 20 advisory and accounting firm. 

Bryan Powrozek

Hello, and welcome to The Sound of Automation. I'm your host, Bryan Powrozek. And joining me today, I actually have two guests here on the podcast and looking forward to an interesting discussion. We spent a lot of time here talking about ways to run a better business and some of the more technical side of being a business owner. But today, we're going to talk more on the purpose side and how that can help create a better business, inspire your employees, inspire your communities. So really excited for today's conversation. So first start off by introducing my two guests. I have Dirk Beveridge of We Supply America and Ashley Martin of NIBCO. Thank you both for joining me today. 

Ashley Martin

Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it. 

Dirk Beveridge

Bryan thrilled to be here, man. Thank you. 

Bryan Powrozek

Excellent. So Dirk, let's lead off with you because this whole idea kind of grew out of a conversation you're having with one of our colleagues. But I guess, can you just give me a little background on We Supply America and kind of the personal mission that you're on? 

Dirk Beveridge

Yeah, thanks so much for asking. It came out of the pandemic and long story short, somewhere between the call for go home for two weeks to flatten the curve and we're entering the second year, I wrote an open letter to distributors, titled shift to tomorrow, and in that letter I used the words, the noble calling of distribution, didn't know what it meant. It ended up becoming a calling for me and my business. And when you look at it, distribution is an $8 trillion economic engine, the third largest economic engine on the planet, behind the GDP of the United States and China, 6 million people are employed through distribution and everything we have in our society, everything that provides for our standard of living goes through the docks and the doors of these distributors. And so I had this calling, bought a 38 foot RV that I'm sitting in right now, we're in the midst of our fourth season of We Supply America, I leave on Memorial Day, come home on Labor Day, visit about 20, 25 different businesses each year to hear their stories about the work they do, the essentialness of what they do and not just about the business where I have been drawn to is that the real stories, I believe the real stories are around what we're going to be talking about today, purpose. And that always leads to the people of the businesses. And we've got Ashley Martin with us today, who is the president CEO, I'm not going to introduce you to Ashley, sorry, but of a manufacturer. And one of the great things that has happened over the three years of We Supply America is through curiosity, through new perspectives, manufacturers have heard this message and say, hey, Dirk, you're missing a key component part. These distributors are nothing without the partnerships of those who make the products. And it is so true. And when you think about it, you really dig deep, these partnerships are strong and good. And one example of that is NIBCO, who I had a chance to visit earlier this summer. 

Bryan Powrozek

Excellent. And you know, I like kind of your point there, because realistically, some of these things, you know, if I'm talking to a manufacturer or distributor, I'm going to be looking at different KPIs, different measurements, different things that make the business run well. But some of these people -focused things, it doesn't matter what you do, you know, the implementation may adjust a little bit, but some of the core lessons here I think apply across the board. So that's great that you could point that out. So then Ashley, you got a little bit of a mini intro from Dirk. Sorry. There I go, Ashley. Trying to steal the show. Excellent. So yeah, I guess if you can give us a little introduction, a little bit of your background and kind of give us the story of NIBCO. 

Ashley Martin

Sure. I'm Ashley Martin. I'm president and COO of NIBCO. I'm the fifth generation of family leadership. We are celebrating our 120th anniversary this year, which we're very excited about. So we started. My great -great -grandfather came from Germany to the United States. He actually went to Chicago, and his trade was he was a foundry man. And so he went there, and obviously if he wants to set up shop, he needs a customer. And they told him, well, if you need a customer, you need to go to Elkhart, Indiana, because that's where a lot of the musical instruments were made at that time. And so NIBCO started by making cornet keys for the musical instrument industry. And so NIBCO means Northern Indiana Brass Company. That's where the name came from. And that's how we started. Obviously, we do a lot more than that now, but that's where the name came from. And then my great -grandfather actually married his high school sweetheart, who happened to be the owner's daughter, and came into the business. And he wanted us to have our own product, not just be an OEM, but have our own product and saw indoor plumbing coming to the United States at that point in time and really pushed for us to make, at that point, very heavy brass fittings coming in the street. But he was the one who got us into employee ownership. So we have had employee ownership for 100 years now, and it's because of his forethought and seeing that being a priority, that we have that today. And then my grandfather came into the business, and he helped set up our second manufacturing site, and it was for valves for the war effort. And so that's how we got into that business. And then later in his career, he saw a lot of people using plastics for indoor plumbing. And so we got into the plastic side of the business. And then my dad has been in the business for over 45 years now. And he really helped us focus on staying a US manufacturer and bringing lean into our operations and focused on staying here, because we are committed to our associates here in the United States. And so I just became president about six months ago. So that's a little bit about the NIBCO history. 

Bryan Powrozek

That's fantastic and I liked kind of in that, you see a couple of different things. I mean, not only kind of the legacy and that family history coming through this, but also looking at different ways that NIBCO has been able in that 120 years, has been able to contribute to the employees. Like you said, I mean, an employee -owned business for over a hundred years or a hundred, I mean, that's a long time. I've got clients now that are just considering that. And so that investment in the employees, you mentioned getting into valves for the war efforts, contributing to the larger society, but then also that pivot and keeping an eye on the market and so that you can do the plastics, but then also doing the lean to try and keep manufacturing here because then that's benefiting the greater, not only the employees, but the greater economy here in the U .S. So those are all excellent examples of kind of what I feel Dirk's mission is here, so. 

Ashley Martin

Thank you 

Dirk Beveridge

It's a really great story. Isn't it, Bryan? 

Bryan Powrozek

Oh, it's an amazing story. And I think the one thing, because when we started talking to you, Dirk, about doing this, NIBCO jumped out in your mind, not that there aren't other fabulous examples, but I think one of the things that really stood out as an example is the culture that's been developed at NIBCO. And I was actually at an event last week and they were talking about this. How do we measure culture? How do we develop culture? So just curious, Ashley, how has your family been able to develop and build this culture within the organization? 

Ashley Martin

So definitely one big thing is obviously the ownership piece. So I'll tell you a funny story. So when my great -grandfather first started, he wanted people to be owners. He saw that as important for their purpose in life, but also they have a bigger tie to the overall. So they're going to be better workers, more efficient, have better ideas. But he would just take money out of their paycheck and give them NIBCO stock. I don't think he really asked. 

Dirk Beveridge

Cash flow is important too. 

Ashley Martin

Nowadays that you can't do it that way but that's the way he did it in the beginning and it all turned out well for everyone but I think that ownership piece uh was really a drive you know for people um to be say to say I am an owner of something gives you real purpose and meaning and so I think that's where we kind of started with it is by that ownership piece and you know now we look at um how long our people have been with us that's one of the ways we try to measure obviously it's not not perfect um but we have something called the 25 year club and it's people who have been with us 25 years or longer and there's different milestones within that and across all of our locations we have about 15 percent of our associates who fall into that 25 year club who have been with us that long and we have one um person who's been with us for 61 years 

Dirk Beveridge

Ashley, can I jump in real quick? So you guys, I just pulled up when we were visiting storage draft, making filming for the film, the We Supply America film that's gonna feature NIBCO in September. We had a gentleman with us, Mark Gillam with Enable, and he just sent me a text yesterday, everybody. And here's the text, okay? And the text has a picture of me standing there with Norman, who's been with NIBCO for 61 years. And what Mark said there was legend, right? So it's super cool, right? So I got to meet this 61 year individual who's been with you 61 years. And interview him, he's gonna be part of the film. 

Bryan Powrozek

Oh, that's exciting. And I guess anything any sneak preview can give us, Dirk, what did what did he have to say about being at the company for that long? 

Dirk Beveridge

Yeah, so I'm going to answer that if you don't mind, first started at  30,000 feet, the original question about what is required to create these cultures to add, you know, to what Ashley said. And I'll tell you what, Bryan, and Ashley, I'd love your thoughts on this as well. I don't think culture can be faked. I don't think culture can be whiteboarded out. I think culture, what I've seen over these last four years visiting these businesses, meeting the Normans and the Ashleys of the world, it truly resonates from the heart and soul. And then the mind, I think of leadership. And I think if if if individuals are going down a path to really think about what is the culture that's going to be required to sustain a business for 120 years like a NIBCO, or the next decade in this age of the great redefinition that we're in, where everything is changing, where the needs of employees and human beings needs are changing. What I would recommend is, is for the leaders to just get away and find silence and ask themselves who they truly are, who they are, what they believe in, what their stance is, you know, what do they stand for? And I think if culture comes out of anything else but that heart and soul of leadership, people are going to see through it. And it won't attract the people that you're going to need to a fit who you are, and then be to drive you forward. So when I met Norman, and others at store draft and others throughout NIBCO, you truly see this, this, this commitment to each other. Ashley, you told me a story when we were on camera, it's going to make the film I know it. Can I share this story about your great grandfather, what he said 100 years ago? Yeah, go ahead. Yeah. So here's a company. Here's a company, Bryan, that you go to store draft, and if they're an integrated foundry and all this plant, and then what I saw is on, when you walk in there, there's an open door to the outside. And then there's a pallet, it's not a pallet, it's something big, whatever, of this raw material. And then that's right in front of this fork. Right? Is it no foundry? Yeah, this foundry. And you see this mold metal coming off, right? And then two days later, that mold metals turned in, and it shipped out as a perfect, world class, buffed, shining product that allows the sanitation in our country to be what it is. And it truly is a world class operation. None of that happened unless you have individuals on that floor who care about each other, right, who truly are aligned towards the goals and the visions of that plant, which you'll see foreshadowing of what Norman talked about is for how 61 years, he was in a place where he belonged. He was in a place where he felt that the work he was doing was truly important for society and the local community and his people. And he truly cared for and dare I say loved the people that he worked for. 

Bryan Powrozek

Having worked with so many entrepreneurs and small business owners, you can see that how people can easily get caught up in their day -to -day job of, I've got to get this report out or I got to get this product out the door. But to really instill that, and maybe, Derek, this is where you're going and I'd be curious, Ashley, in our prep call for this, one of the things that stood out to me is, again, whether it was your grandfather or your great -grandfather, I can't remember exactly, but they said that their focus was on making good people, and that just really stood out to me that you see so many mission vision statements where we're going to be the number one supplier of X in the country or whatever, and hear your family members saying, no, but I'm really focused on making good people. So I guess if you can maybe expand on that a little. 

Ashley Martin

it was my great grandfather, the one who forced people to become owners. He said the best product of NIBCO is a good person. And, you know, I think it goes back to that purpose and meaning to have that in your life. You feel more fulfilled, you're gonna be more energized, you're gonna come to work more energized and have, you know, more ideas and want to do better work overall. And so I think Dirk was trying to hit on this too. I think it's really having each associate know what their purpose is, how they are helping make their lives better, make other people's lives better, make their community better. And showing them how they do that in each individual job I think is extremely important. 

Bryan Powrozek

Yeah, and then it also ties back to Dirk, kind of the comment that you made about this all has to come from somewhere. You can't come out and say, I'm in a business, I'm making good people, and then not back it up, right? And if he had said that, but then wasn't focused on turning them into owners and helping do some of these things. And that's where you see a lot of these things fall flat when businesses have these grandiose visions up on their wall, but then all the employees kind of roll their eyes when they walk past it because it's like, okay, yeah, that's not how it really operates. So it's awesome to hear stories like this where the company is walking the talk, so to speak. 

Dirk Beveridge

And Bryan if I if you don't mind and that you know what you where my mind is going right now Listen to the two of you. There is can you imagine? Can you just imagine or even if we read about what working conditions were like a hundred years ago? Imagine what the employer employee value proposition was a hundred years ago. I suspect I Suspect 99 percent or 90 percent whatever the number is they were not focused on On being a force for good for their employees They I mean that's not what the conditions were and thank God we've gone through an evolution, right? But it was the NIBCO's of the world Right. It was the NIBCO's of the world who had to see the world differently who had to be curious who had to have a perspective from what everybody else was doing To say that there's a better way and that there's a better way to treat people And by the way when you treat people better when you see the humanity in the individuals guess what? We can make world -class products right here on US soil and we can compete against anybody. Yeah, that's what I see. That's what I think 

Bryan Powrozek

Yeah, you know, and that kind of leads me to my kind of my next line of question, because that's especially in my world of public accounting, you know, we we see so much focus put on, okay, what's my return on investment in this new, if I buy a new piece of equipment, or, or I'm going to just, you know, what's the payback? What's the ROI? And this is an area that's really hard to quantify, because I can't go through and do a calculation and say, Oh, if I, if I make good people, and then here's what it's going to cost me, and here's what my return is going to be. But I think the empirical data is there around companies like NIBCO that I mean, you've been around for 120 years. So it's it's obviously paying off. So you know, what, what have you seen, both and I open this up to both Ashley and Dirk, you know, what have you seen the results of this focus on people and purpose? What has that been for NIBCO? 

Ashley Martin

For us, it's people stay at NIBCO, right? That's what we want. We want them to stay their whole careers there. But I think it's that they want to stay and they are valued and feel appreciated. So they want to stay for longer. And just back to your point of how it's hard to sometimes quantify some of these things. I was with our chief people officer and we were talking about our PTO policy and I was like, this is going to cost us money. And she's like, it is not going to cost us money. 

Ashley Martin

These things that we are doing don't cost us money. It helps retain our people so that we're not paying for training every six months for new people. We're not doing this. And so even, you know, I have to step back and think about those things too. And luckily I have those team members who will point that out to me. 

Dirk Beveridge

Yeah, yeah. 

Bryan Powrozek

Yeah. Dirk, I guess, can you share? Because when we were doing the prep here, you talked about the three L's that you noticed when walking around at NIBCO, the legacy longevity and love, I guess, just curious your thoughts there. 

Dirk Beveridge

Yeah, you know, I spent an entire day there meeting so many people, and I left with, you mentioned, three words that started with Al, when I think about the stories I had heard there at NIBCO. Legacy, longevity, and love. And, you know, relative to legacy, when I walked into the office, to the reception area, I looked down, and on the table, there is a coffee table book that's titled NIBCO Forging the American Dream. All right, let's stop there. Okay, how long can we talk about, you know, company committed to forging the American dream? But just, I happened to open it up to chapter five. I mean, it just happened this way. I opened it up to chapter five, and on there is a quote from Ashley's mother. The quote says this. It says, goodness is the only investment that never fails. Goodness is the only investment that never fails. NIBCO is making that investment. And when you think about legacy, when you think about what type of impact do you want to have? Anyway, you know, we can get as philosophical as we want, but I think goodness is at the top of our list. The legacy from over 100 years of investing in goodness, helping this country transition to indoor plumbing. You want to know something? That's good. Helping the war effort, right, in terms of producing these valves that needed to be produced and innovated. That's goodness, right? Working with the Normans of the world, contributing to 61 years of his life, where he feels fulfilled and purposeful, and knows the impact of what he, no, I won't even say who he is as a man. That's good. And so that legacy, I don't know if there's anything better than that, and I saw that there, and then longevity. We have 120 years. You know that's better than me, Bryan, but it's less than 1% of companies, right, that will ever get there. Something special is going on. And I'm tired of the normal business narrative out there saying we've got to watch these other companies that have been around for 20 years,  years, have some great phenomenal technology, digital and all that. But hell, you know, half of them are gone tomorrow, if you will. You know what, I think there's a better narrative out there. If we become a little bit more curious, if we're open to new but not so new perspectives with the NIBCOs of the world. So that longevity, I think there's something to really learn from there. And then love, and I don't think it's a word that we use much in business. I think it's a word that we're going to use more in business, if I have anything to do with it. Because what I saw at NIBCO, what I see at NIBCO is a culture or environment where people care for each other, where there's dignity, not it's just in the job, there's dignity in the person, where there's value, not just creating value in a world class manufacturing process, where we see the value of the individual human being, all of that. You sum that up to be love, and you want to know something? I don't think there's a better way to run the business, a business than what I saw at NIBCO, because of the legacy, the longevity and the love. 

Bryan Powrozek

Ashley, I'm going to let you have kind of the last word here, and I apologize. This wasn't on my, my outline originally, but as we've been talking here, it just kind of came to my head here. How do you as a business leader, you know, approach this? Cause that's, I mean, there's already pressure in, in running a business, right? You've got how many countless employees depending on you for their, their livelihood, for their families, for all this, add to that, you've got 120 years of, you know, of family history in this business. How do you, how do you, you know, kind of block out all that noise and continue to focus on what your family's focused on for, you know, for, for generations of, of people and good, and, and now continue to build on that. I guess, how are you approaching that? 

Ashley Martin

Um, so one of the things, you know, I mean, I wanted to do this, you know, since I was a child. Um, my, uh, I actually got in trouble once and my mom was like, Rex, what are you doing tomorrow? And he was like, I'm going to Blythe, Arkansas. And she's like, great. The girls are going with you. Going to Blythe Hill in the middle of the summer is very hot. But I mean, I just remember being around it for so much, um, part of my life. And it's something that I always felt, um, called to do. It was never pressure. It was never forced. And so I do feel this sense of this is what I am supposed to do. This is what I'm here for. And I guess for me is I want other people to feel that way too. I want them to know that, that purpose and that meaning. And you do, like I told the story earlier where I had to have, you know, my chief people officer say, you're not looking at this the right way. I think I have to have those advisors, um, who will tell me, right? When I'm not looking at something the right way, or, um, I need to stop and think about it and take a minute and reflect on this for a little bit. Um, and so I think it again, goes back to the people. It's having the right people around you to be your advisors as a leader. Make sure you're, um, taking that step back, um, from your job and taking a minute to reflect on some of the decisions. Um, because I have to make a lot of decisions every day and no, they're not always going to be right. And I might have to go back and change those, but also I have to know it's okay to admit that too, that I do make mistakes too, and we can, you know, change and correct and move on as well. So I have to give that ability to my people as well. And so I think that's really important. So 

Dirk Beveridge

It's so good. 

Ashley Martin

Um, so I guess those are the things that I try to focus on as leaders, having the right people around me, but also making sure to take that step back and really thinking about the decisions that I've made. 

Bryan Powrozek

No, that's that, you know, and I think a lot of at least a lot of the entrepreneurs I've worked with, you know, and, and, and had the privilege of trying to help them grow their businesses. You know, that's, that's one of those, you know, seminal moments, right? When you realize, and I think a lot of them just have a necessity are used to wearing every hat. And then when they make that realization that, hey, there's somebody out there that knows this better than me, can do it faster, can take, I need to get comfortable being uncomfortable and letting go and letting them take responsibility for it and helping them and be there to guide and assist and do those things. But yeah, once, once you figure that out, it just, I mean, the return is exponential, because then you can focus on the things that, that your, you know, is kind of your highest and best use and, and let the rest of the team kind of grow from there. But in order for them to be successful, you've got to have that underlying culture where they're, where they are comfortable and they know that, hey, if I, well, one of our other podcast guests I had on his business, he focused on this concept of, hey, you're ready to fail fast, learn from it and move on. And don't worry about it. Don't worry if you, if something doesn't work the way you intended to, as long as we keep moving in the right direction, that's the important part. So yeah, I agree. I guess last, last question for you, Dirk, then, because obviously I, I love that you kind of connected me with Ashley and I got a chance to learn about a company in Elkhart that I, I probably never would have bumped into otherwise. When's the, the next edition of the movie coming out? How do people find it? How can I find it so I can watch it and, and learn about some of these other exciting businesses you've, you've spoken to? 

Dirk Beveridge

you. Yeah, super cool. So thanks to the platforms called we supply America, everything can be found at we supply America dot net. One of the only reasons why we're able to do this is because of the partnership with Whitley. This is the second year that Wipfli is partnering with us to bring these stories to light. So Bryan, thank you to you and all of your associates, we couldn't do this without you. So thank you so very much. But yeah, so I'm out right now, as I said, in my RV, I've got two more months out on the road meeting more companies, shooting more films. And then our eight films this year are going to be premiered on LinkedIn. So if everybody could follow me at Dirk Beveridge on LinkedIn, that would be great because then you'll be notified. But every Thursday for eight Thursdays in a row after Labor Day in September and October, a different film will be aired. And NIBCO is going to be I think the second Thursday in September. Don't hold me to that. But I think that's 

Bryan Powrozek

Excellent. Well, no, and thank you for doing what you do, because as we kind of talked in prep, you know, I think there's enough bad publicity about the corporate world and businesses, and some of it's rightly earned, right? But there's probably a lot more companies and families and owners like Ashley and her family that don't, it's not a flashy headline, right? But they're doing more good in the community than the handful that are kind of tarnishing the reputation. So I appreciate you both taking some time and coming on with me here today and sharing your stories. I think they're both really exciting and great things that if anybody listens to this podcast and doesn't get excited about trying to make a difference in their organization, I don't know what to tell you. We've given it our best shot, so. Agreed. 

Ashley Martin

I really appreciate you having me and Dirk and this has just been a lot of fun and obviously always a good time with Dirk, but thank you so much. 

Intro/Outro Narrator

Thank you for tuning in. Don't forget to like us, subscribe, and share on social. To learn more about Wipfli, visit us at Wipfli .com. That's W -I -P -F -L -I .com. Perspective changes everything.