Adam Webster is the President and CEO of Monterey Automation, a service provider company that supports automation in the life science industry. As an executive logistics and service manager, he transitioned from the automotive and racing service and logistics industry to a career in life science, specializing in lab automation, instrumentation, and robotics. Adam also serves on the board of directors at the National Auto Museum.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
[2:55] How Adam Webster and Mark Hiddleson met and built their respective careers in logistics
[9:07] The lessons Adam learned in his early career that shaped his professional journey
[11:10] Adam’s transition from the automotive industry to life sciences and lab automation
[15:23] Balancing personal and professional endeavors and developing sales skills
[23:03] The nature of trust and relationship building in sales
[26:23] How to apply The 5 Love Languages to business relationships
[31:35] Mark and Adam reminisce over shared mentors
[42:37] The evolution of technology in the logistics industry
[47:07] Leveraging technology to pivot from industry setbacks
[54:45] Adam talks about his involvement with the National Auto Museum
In this episode…
No matter your industry, the foundations of success remain the same. A relentless pursuit of learning, relationship building, and client trust allows you to transition from one industry to the next seamlessly. What can you learn from an entrepreneur who forged a path of growth and innovation?
From automotive logistics to lab automation in life sciences, Adam Webster has made it his mission to surround himself with intelligent and success-driven people. This has allowed him to seize opportunities and learn from diverse industry experts. When you focus on building relationships with mentors, partners, and customers, you can apply your skills to numerous industries and gain a reputation for excellence. Adam also emphasizes the continuous role of technology in adapting to industry changes and pivoting from setbacks.
In this episode of The Tao of Pizza Podcast, Mark Hiddleson welcomes his college roommate Adam Webster, the President and CEO of Monterey Automation, to talk about his industry transitions. Adam notes the importance of building relationships, remaining inquisitive, and balancing personal and professional endeavors.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Specialized Storage Solutions, Inc. contact phone: 707-732-3892
Mark Hiddleson's email: markhiddleson@aol.com
“Performance Bookkeeping as a Strategic Business Development Tool With Joey Spanjers” on The Tao of Pizza Podcast
“Mastering the Art of Emotional Connection in Sales With Joe Pallo” on The Tao of Pizza Podcast
“Surviving the Floods of Change in Logistics and Apparel With Mick Mankowski” on The Tao of Pizza Podcast
The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts by Gary Chapman
Quotable Moments:
"Even though we were young, we were pretty serious about building a career."
"The big part about sales is literally just being able to ask for the sale, however awkward it may feel."
"Trust is a big thing in all facets of life, whether it be business or home life."
"Technology is so important. I'm still learning every day, and I'm always surrounded by people smarter than I am."
"Who you are is really a product of who you surround yourself with."
Action Steps:
Seek out and build relationships with successful people: By surrounding yourself with successful individuals, you open yourself up to valuable insights and guidance that can propel your personal growth and business success.
Never be afraid to ask direct and challenging questions: Direct questions demonstrate confidence and clarity, critical for effective communication and getting to the heart of your customers' needs.
Maintain good communication skills: Strong communication is key to understanding and fulfilling customer expectations, building trust, and ensuring long-term business relationships.
Balance your professional and personal life: Keeping a healthy balance allows for improved productivity and wellbeing, ensuring your personal life doesn't suffer while chasing professional dreams.
Stay open to continuous learning, especially in technology: Embracing new technologies and being open to learning can improve business efficiency, offer competitive advantages, and help meet customer demands more effectively.
Sponsor for this episode:
This episode is brought to you by Specialized Storage Solutions Inc.
Listen...
I have been in the logistics and storage industry for several decades. I know I don’t look that old, but it's true.
We provide industry-leading warehouse storage solutions nationwide.
So basically, if you have a warehouse that needs Rack, Shelving, Carts, Conveyors, or Mezzanines, we help with....design engineering, installations, inspections, and repairs to help clients optimize their logistics operations.
Sometimes people don’t even realize that we can actually help with permit acquisition services.
We take a holistic look at your entire business supply chain ecosystem to develop the resources for continually improving your operation.
To learn more, visit specialracks.com or give us a call at (707) 732-3892. One of the best ways to learn more about our products and services is to follow us on Instagram. And there’s a link on our website to do that.
I will even give you my personal email address for podcast listeners, so email me at markhiddleson@aol.com if you’re ready to take your warehouse storage and retrieval systems to the next level.
Episode Transcript:
Intro 0:00
Mark, welcome to The Tao of Pizza where we feature top logistics leaders, entrepreneurs and supply chain innovators and share their inspiring stories with a holistic twist.
Mark Hiddleson 0:14
So Mark Hiddleson here, host of The Tao of Pizza Podcast, where we talk with top industry innovators in the warehousing, logistics and supply chain business with a holistic twist. Today, we're going to have some fun talking with my college roommate about our journey from being somewhat distracted in life to being successful, worldly entrepreneurs. So hang on, because it has been a pretty wild ride before I introduce Adam Webster. This episode is brought to you by Specialized Storage Solutions. And look, I've been in the logistics and storage industry for several decades now, and I'm still having fun solving our clients' interesting problems. What we do is we provide industry leading warehouse storage solutions nationwide. So basically, if you have a warehouse in these rack shelves, cards, conveyors or mezzanines, we help with the design, engineering, installation, inspections and repairs that help our clients optimize their logistics operations. And Adam is funny. Sometimes people don't even realize we can actually help with permit acquisition services. We take a holistic look at your entire business supply chain ecosystem to develop the resources for continuing, improving your operation. Learn more. Visit our website, specialracks.com Give us a call at 707-732-3892 or even give my personal email out to podcast listeners. So email me at markhiddleson@aol.com if you're ready to take your warehouse storage and retrieval systems to the next level. And before introducing today's guests, I do want to give a big shout out to past guests, Joe Pallo and Mick Mankowski. Joe is a sales coach and Game Changing trainer, and Mick is a 50 year apparel entrepreneur and managing partner of Symphony Investment Partners and owner of SB Licensing. Those two interviews we've done recently are packed with game changing strategies for entrepreneurs and top sales professionals. So I have so much history with Adam Webster going back to the mid 90s, we grew up together, or in my case, never grew up. But Adam has transitioned from being a leader in the automotive, racing service and logistics industry to lab automation, instrumentation and robotics guru in the life science industry. He's the president and CEO of field service company Monterey Automation, and he also currently serves on the board of directors for the National Auto Museum in Reno, Nevada. Adam. Welcome to The Tao of Pizza.
Adam Webster 2:41
Thanks for having me. Wow, that was a lot going on there. Mark always has everything right. Show's over with this. That's a wrap. That's it. So
Mark Hiddleson 2:55
I love writing all of my own intros, but I used your verbiage on the I love that somewhat distracted is kind of a euphemism for complete knucklehead. But when I read it, I was like, No, it was somewhat because, even though we were young, we were having fun, we're both pretty serious about building a career, right?
Adam Webster 3:16
I mean, yeah, I think you know, especially you have to, I think people forget at kind of that time in our life, in the mid 90s, that was, you know, sort of the internet was a new thing, at least it was for us. And just overall guidance and misguidance was, you know, it's just, it's, it was a learning curve, right? And obviously we learned and made it work, right? So we're here today, yeah, well, the ways. I
Mark Hiddleson 3:49
i don't know if you remember exactly how we met, but I was assistant sales manager at Bear country, Chrysler Jeep, Plymouth or whatever. And you were a rookie. We hired a lot of rookies back then. You were on Danny Peterson's crew. And I remember, I don't know what it was, it was just a half a day, and it wasn't so much even how I saw you interacting with customers. I saw you interact with the other salespeople, like, I want this guy, like, we're going to do a trade. So standing and I'm like, I want this guy. You know, who do you want off of my team? We made the trade, and the rest was kind of history, right? It happened relatively quickly, for sure, yeah, I
Adam Webster 4:32
i think it was day one. You're like, huh, yeah. And then went on from there, rapidly, yeah. So.
Mark Hiddleson 4:42
Before we get into karaoke and everything like that. So by the time I graduated from college, which was about three, three years later, you were already you'd kind of passed me in the industry. I remember when I took y'all, the first thing I said was, you. Like, you can't wear those kinds of pants. Remember that I go, you got the Watson wear? Look. You know, what's
Adam Webster 5:06
funny is, you know, I was, I didn't have, I didn't have two nickels to rub together, and my dad had taken me to, like, Marshall's or Ross or something, and he's like, No, here, I'm gonna, I'm gonna hook you up, and you just need to have, like, four or five outfits. And, you know, obviously being able to afford dry cleaning, all that stuff was kind of out of my wheelhouse, you know, we were not, you know, we just, we didn't have money, yeah, so it was a big deal to be able to have affordable, unwrinkling clothing, action wear, if you will, yeah, and that's just the way it was. So, yeah, kind of funny. Yeah,
Mark Hiddleson 5:54
It was funny. And then you actually got me out of when we used to iron our clothes. I remember we'd be running late to work. We're supposed to pick up Brian, who was our boss, and we'd be ironing. And at some point we started making enough money, and you're like, Dude, it costs $1.50
Adam Webster 6:14
Right, right next to our hairdresser.
Mark Hiddleson 6:18
Oh, God, the hairdressing ladies, Vicky,
Adam Webster 6:21
Vicky Harris nails, and, yeah, you just kind of get it all done, get your drag cleaning, you get your hair cut. And, you know, those are your tools for your for your for your day or for your week, yeah, yeah.
Mark Hiddleson 6:40
And I remember training you and and one of the things was funny, you could tell people what to say, but a lot of people wouldn't say it like they're afraid, like, and we had a program. We were trained. We were lucky. We were surrounded by some really talented salespeople. one of my favorite stories is that when you were doing a write up for a car deal, you're supposed to say normal bank financing requires a third down. In this case, that's going to be $11,433 will you be writing the check for that or more today? And you did this with Leroy Lake. He said, normal bank financing requires a third down. That's $11,333. Will that be cash check or charge? And the guy said he would write a check like, usually people would say, Are you crazy? But most people didn't ask, you real? Did he get that same feeling that people wouldn't ask, like, even though you were supposed to ask?
Adam Webster 7:37
Yeah, well, that's the big part about sales, and I think that is kind of what makes that kind of is what differentiates a salesman versus not a salesman as somebody that can just ask for the sale, or however that may, however awkward it may be, or feel you have to literally just okay, This is what it is. Are you ready to sign up now? And whatever it is, it doesn't matter if you're you know, the way I look at it, you know you're selling yourself. So it doesn't matter what product it is, obviously, if you believe in the product, then it makes it that much easier. You and I have been blessed with the the gift to gab and and been able to, you know, talk our way in and out of a lot of things. So it's just probably that, you know, it's a blessing and a curse. Yeah,
Mark Hiddleson 8:33
I talked about that with so Joe Powell, that's why it's just gets a coincidence. I've had Joe and Mick, and those guys were, and even Mick, he said I wasn't. He goes. I didn't think I was a natural salesman. And still, and I didn't he goes. I was an economist and I was a statistician. He goes. And then once I started talking to people, he goes, I realized he goes, I am good. I'm good at this. So what were some of the things that you learned in that early part of our career that you still lean on today.
Adam Webster 9:07
I think just the drive, just the looking forward to interacting with people, that's one of my favorite things, obviously, you know, I think if you dread what you do, if you get up and you, oh, God, I gotta talk to people or whatever, that's not my deal. I'm like, I'm out of bed really early, get emails done, kind of get my quiet time and then, and then it's go time, and I'm at the office usually by eight or 830 in the morning. It's good for me. It's having a healthy relationship with your employees. Is, you know, one of the things that makes a lot of sense to me, and that's kind of carried on since our time, right, just been able to have have good communication skills with with every. Everybody that you work with, what, no matter what role you're in, you treat everybody the same, and you hope that they treat you back the same.
Mark Hiddleson 10:08
Yeah, we were talking about before, before we got on, about how sales goes into everything, and that it's a relationship like in our business, it's relationship like we've been in this industry for 30 years. A lot of the people, there's probably, uh, 200 people that I've known for 30 years, and it's just that's kind of what, that's really, what's kept our business going, is, is the relationships and and there's a sales aspect in that really, is, is getting to ask, like we were saying, ask for what you want, but also be willing to listen to what they want, which is even more important, and either say, No, we can't do that. Or yes we can. Or we'll try it. We'll figure it out. We'll work something out. Sure, that's a good point. So what gave you? How did you transition from because you were a leader. I mean, even, like I said, once I graduated, I was kind of following you. You had a job in finance, General Manager, and you were really taken off in the in the car industry. What was the transition like into
Adam Webster 11:06
life science, in lab automation? Well, that's a that we don't have enough time to dive into all that. How that happened is really by, you know, I had a buddy of mine that that sold a company, and I had, kind of, we were, we were, I was very involved in what he was doing. And he wound up selling his company. I thought, oh, maybe this is something I could get involved in. And, you know, having an idea of the importance of, obviously, in the automotive side with parts recertification, you know, just in the car, car world, especially with with collecting cars, parts are such a critical role and and just having the knowledge on, on how to work on these things is it's just a big deal in to put it into perspective. You know, when you look at a car that's 100 years old or or even 50 years old, being able to keep that thing running, you know, it could be a it can be a difficult task. So, long story short, I wound up, I developed this company with a with a partner of mine, and we, kind of, he had some, some contacts in this, in this field, and I it was a crash course for me, life sciences is I would, I would say that it's, it's a lot different, but it's very similar to a lot of things that we deal with and kind of our our thoughts are on repairing instruments, if you will. So we have, we have technicians throughout the country that, you know, they'll go into lab cores, they'll go into Cleveland Clinic, you know, just all sorts of different facilities. And they'll work on analyzers. They'll do preventative maintenance as well as emergency service. So the one thing with with Life Sciences, which is even more critical, is that you have their instruments have to be up and running, and if they're not, it's, it's, you know, it's a big deal, yeah, life
Mark Hiddleson 13:16
or death, like our in our business people that I'm like, Hey, look at this isn't life or death. I mean, I realize it's important we finish on time and everything, but you're, it could be right, and you're in, yeah.
Adam Webster 13:25
I mean, my particular scope of work is, is not going to be life or death, but it is, you know, on the financial, on the financial side, these things, you know, they're pumping out samples that that's their business, that's their core business. So we, you know, they rely on us to make sure that we have somebody that's, you know, obviously experienced and trained on whatever instrument that might be. And there's so much going on in our space I can't even is just, I said it's, it's that'd be, we'd have to do a lot of different programs to get over that. But I just, you know, getting back to, how did I get into this? I just, I felt that that automation is, is, you know, is so important. And moving forward, I think it's, it's, there's a lot to it, yeah, and I'm still learning every day, I'm lucky. I surround myself with a lot of people that are a lot smarter than I am. Yeah, and so that helps, yeah, yeah, having a good team, right? Yeah? For sure, for sure. Yeah, there's, yeah, I'm and I, and I'm still able to do the things that I like, you know, I've got family. I've got, you know, those are, that's a whole nother topic, right? How to, how to balance family and and work, friends, all that stuff comes into play.
Mark Hiddleson 14:52
So how are you doing on that? That's one of the things that my career, and we even did it, even we were young. I mean, we were just having fun. We had a balance. Whenever I think of of when we worked together, Rose will hold a jet ski to work. It's like, because we're off at three and we're 20 minutes from the lake, and it's funny, he'd be in kind of little confrontation with something, with a customer, or something, they're in a hurry, and you're like, look, no one's in more hurry than I am. That's my jet ski right there. Three o'clock. We're going to Lake.
Adam Webster 15:22
It was very we definitely had priorities, right and, and I think we were, we were good enough in, in in that field, that we're look, we were making money that, you know at that when you're in your mid 20s and you're making that kind of money, it's like, you're like, Whoa, yeah. You look back on it, you think, man, I really should have probably made some better choices,
Mark Hiddleson 15:50
you know, or not. I mean, or not. I mean,
Adam Webster 15:54
I definitely, I'm glad where I'm at, you know, brought me to where I'm at today. So, but you look at, like retirement all that, I mean, we, like the last thing on earth thinking about, yeah, that was
Mark Hiddleson 16:09
one thing. Well, I was in college, and this is something I thought of this morning that a lot of people, you know, because we were making good money, I got promoted. I really didn't want a lot of responsibility, because I was in college and I was trying to go to school. One of the things for me, the car doesn't give me the flexibility, because I could work from, you know, three in the afternoon till nine o'clock at night, most nights, and then figure work school in and I remember one time people would always say, why are you going to school? You know what? You know you're making a lot of money. And we used to say, 10 grand a month. Look, was our goal. Like, back in the day, you're like, I took more than that 50% pay cut when I got out of business. But I'll never forget, so many people would ask me, Why are you going to school? Why are you going to school? And we always used to love give each other a hard time. I was a little shocked one time, and you were like, hey, look, Mark is on a goal to do something else, and he's going to school, and you guys are here in the car business in 510, years, and that made me feel really good. I don't ever said thank you, but I looked over and I was like, because we were always giving each other shit, right? Like you're a loser, you'll never amount to anything. But when somebody else challenged me, you were like, Hey, this guy. So I appreciate that. And I think he says a lot about our friendship, and even though we were immature, something, you saw that, that vision that I had, and it was I was glad, because I was thinking, it's like, Man, I'm broke. I could be making a lot of money. I'm taking every other quarter off of school. So I just appreciate that you saw that, and you said something, and it was, well,
Adam Webster 17:42
I mean, and I meant it obviously you, you were, you know, when you, when you look back on things, and you look at the at the skills that individuals have that, whether it's trained or whether it just comes natural, right? Yeah, it for you, it was just natural. So it was a no brainer. And to be able to get an education while you're making good money, and I mean that industry talk about education like and I got to see though, I got to see it all. I was very fortunate that I was able to get into the, you know, the upper management, if you will. So, you know, looking at understanding financials and and really just getting through all that was very rewarding and lucky that I was able to do it.
Mark Hiddleson 18:36
Yeah, I think a lot of those skills, I heard a new word on my podcast of Joey spangers, this guy, he's a accountant. You think like, accountant is boring or anything, but they do, like, he calls it performance accounting, and he said he's industry agnostic, which means you can plug and play in any industry. And I kind of think a lot of the skills we learned, like, you see one in the life science, like, a lot of that stuff carries over, right? Yeah, I
Adam Webster 19:01
would, I would agree with that, yeah,
Mark Hiddleson 19:03
or, and so. And you did. You went, I mean, I think you know you were GM, so you're looking at flooring costs and the whole picture of, like, how a business operate. I never really got past me an assistant sales manager is, like, how do we sell cars
Adam Webster 19:16
out of getting Yeah, and, and, you know, it's that industry has changed so much, and just in the you know, since we were involved in it, I'm sure you, you, you still have a lot of knowledge on how to go and buy a car, but it's just changed a lot. Yeah, it's changed a lot. Honestly,
Mark Hiddleson 19:38
anymore, I I've become laid down my old age. I usually just go in there and I love because I did it when I was young. I have a heart for people that are doing that, and I, and I, when I run in, then I run into a lot of knuckleheads, but if I run into a salesman, it's hard for me to say, no. I mean. I bought a 2014 Corvette Stingray. It was like one out of 500 and I was just, like, browsing on the lot. And this guy, from the time he shook my hand, I could feel it. I like this guy's shaking my hand as if I'm going to buy something today. I'm like, but I'm not. I remember thinking that. And he just, he did all the right things. He got me to feel the would makes a deal, right? And you can't drive one of those cars, uh, and it was one of 500 and I'm like, I don't want one to 500 I just want a blue one or whatever, and it was blue. So I ended up paying like, 5000 over the sticker price, and they wanted like 20,000 over, right? I'm like, I'm not doing that. I'm not doing that. But finally, the owner came down from the top. And then once the owner, he's like, I promise to drive my daughter to school in this car tomorrow, but I'll sell it to you for five over I was like, let's shake hands on and my wife's gonna kill me. I had to call her and say, Hey, I I need somebody to come and get my truck. Bought this car. Well, you
Adam Webster 21:01
Remember, I don't know if you remember this or not. I'd kind of got to a point in my life where I could, I could probably afford a more expensive car. And you and I went and looked at BMWs, right? Remember that? Yeah. And I was kind of teed up to do it. I was pretty committed to do it. And then we were so disappointed, because the salesman, like, I don't remember what he he, like, lied to us, like, he's like, Oh yeah, you know this is like, I don't remember what he said, but it was such a turn off and and we, we got in the car, and you looked over at me, you go, Man, that guy just blew a deal. Like you were ready to go. I'm like, I know, yeah, I wound up getting that jeep. But that
Mark Hiddleson 21:43
jeep was awesome, the one on the brochure said you could drive it in the water up to the headlights, yeah, the first thing you did was drive out to Folsom Lake to try it out.
Adam Webster 21:54
I did.
Mark Hiddleson 21:57
Yeah, that was funny. You kept driving in the water deeper and deeper, and you'd come out and you go where the headlights under? We'd be like, No, you gotta go deeper. Go deeper. Yeah, that story reminds me from a sales perspective, yeah. I mean, lying to someone is a turn on. I mean, that guy had no idea we were in the business, you know, and so, like it automatically looked at each other. This guy's full of it and maybe we were young, he didn't think we could afford it. But the one that reminds me of someone came up to you, it was rough, and he goes, Man, he's like, the last 10 people I talked to don't want to buy anything, and you go, well, that's funny. Everybody I talked to just came in and said, Hey, we're ready to buy here's our wallet. I side of stuff, which is the furthest thing from the truth, right? I mean, he's not buying until they are. So how do you work with that? I mean, how do you know what it is that makes you know? Like, even though people are telling you, no, no, no, you just you kind of, I mean, I guess you get to know right after a while,
Adam Webster 23:02
yeah, I mean, well, I think especially in the industry I'm in now, I would say it's not, you know, these are not things that happen overnight. They're, they're definitely relationship building, you know, we kind of go back and forth. I have a kid that works for me now, he's a grad, he's kind of plucked him right out of college, but he's a good kid. He's, he's smart. His name's Oliver, and he's just, he's learning, you know, it's, he's learning how to do it. So what I'm trying to do is just share with him, kind of my, you know, the ropes on how I learned to do things. I'm trying to just share, you know, books or whatever I've read. Obviously, I'm a big fan of Dale Carnegie. That's always worked for me. And, yeah, the relationship building is such a key, like, I have a lot of guys. I mean, you know how it is, just like you and I, right? We could go for years and not speak, and the phone will ring and we're talking just as if it was, you know, 25 years ago. Yeah, right. And those are just relationships and building relationships. I have colleagues that I've known for years, and I won't talk to them for a long time, and they'll call me in or they'll show up in town, and it's just like, you know, we just pick up where we left off. So it's important,
Mark Hiddleson 24:37
yeah, your dad gave us a book, or he gave you the book. I still have it. It's, it's right there, the seven spiritual laws of success. I remember we're like, 2425 and we're like, what spiritual laws were Deepak Chopra. And I've told people about that book, and they're like. Well, I had one client in particular. He's like, Well, what do you believe? Well, you brought up Dale Carnegie. I mean, that's kind of everyone. And he was asking me for some of the books that I really liked, and I just brought that up, because rancid, you're definitely giving it to us. And, and he goes, Oh, he goes, he goes, you from now on, I'm going to call you the bleeding liberal from the north. And I was like, Oh, the guy that gave me this book seemed like a pretty conservative dude, but he was asking me, like, well, give me an example of the spiritual laws of success. And I was kind of flat footed because I couldn't remember, you know, I can remember. And I go, I don't know. I think positive, but there are some good things you know, like the law of pure potentiality and the law of intention and desire and the law of least effort. I mean, that's a fascinating book. Your dad gives him, my oldest son, Cody, we do training and everything. I always say readers are leaders and leaders are readers. And he said, I think someone who reads a lot said that because he was challenging me.
Adam Webster 26:06
Like, well, probably true, probably true. Yeah. So I'm all over the place. Mark, I'm Lee. Like my read right now is the five languages of love, right?
Mark Hiddleson 26:18
Dude, that is one of my all time favorites. What do you think about that?
Adam Webster 26:22
I mean, it all makes sense again. You know, having work and home life and friends and all you really have to sometimes dedicating my time to, you know, certain percentage doesn't go well, you know, I'm like, Okay, I'll work really, really hard for X amount of time, and then I'll kind of be distracted from my family or my friends, and so I need to do better at that. That's one thing I'm always really, I really recognize myself, and we all look inward, right? That's, yeah, be ourselves up, yeah. So, so, yeah, I'm, that's my read right now, yeah.
Mark Hiddleson 27:09
So, what's funny? I just remembered so I haven't even read that book, but I read, I read about the author, and he said his biggest point was, there's, there's five love languages. Most people are dominant in two. For me, it's only one. It's a physical touch. I'm like a nine on physical touch and like two on verbal affirmation. But what people make the mistake of is they think, if that's their love language, they overdo that within their relationships, and that might not be theirs. So the good thing of knowing all five is kind of knowing what your partner or your relationship or your friends and and first of all, I want to make a disclaimer. Business relationships are 1000 times easier than her home and personal relationship. Agreed, it's like you practice in business to to go home and find out what is where the real hard work for me,
Adam Webster 28:03
personally, oh, no, I think that's Well, I think that's anybody that has a successful relationship, you have to appreciate what's going on at home in the business side, where you know, obviously you want to make you want to make sure that your customers are happy and that they know that I trust is a big thing and just in all facets of life, right? Yeah, whether it be business or home life. But home life is challenging because, yeah, that mean, you know, unless you want to sleep in a hotel room, better have your act together,
Mark Hiddleson 28:37
yeah? Well, that's why I have a friend, and she's been married for 30 years. And I was like, Yeah, you know, it's like, it's a sort of struggle and everything. She's like, well, we don't have a lot of those challenges. And I'm like, Man, how is that possible? She goes well, most of the time we don't live together with separate parts. Like, yeah, that is a different dynamic,
Adam Webster 28:58
right? All right. I
Mark Hiddleson 28:59
mean, case and I were involved, she's not involved she's not involved in a lot of aspects of the business, but she's involved in the business. Uh, our kids are in the business and and for me, I'll never forget somebody I've been working from home. Like working from home is a new thing. I've been working from home for 30 years because my boss said, Look no one's gonna buy anything. We're selling here because we're making it. That's all. I want you out on the road. If you can work from home, it's going to save you the time of community back in the office. It's just, just produce. Just keep producing. And people would say, Man, how do you keep from being distracted? I'm like, man, you know what I have to keep from doing is I'll just work till midnight. I'm having so much fun. It's a new challenge, a new thing. I'm good at it, sure. Then once you hang up and go home to the homes like, No, I'm home now I'm not a Superman, I'm a real man. And so I really had to disconnect from work, because it's easy for me to just get caught up in it. This is so important. It's the money, it's the relationship, blah, blah, blah. And I don't know if it's a lot. People are like, I think you and I are both like that, just because we love what we do. We're enjoying it. But that, for me, it's harder to hang it up than to you know, I'm not out. I mean, I do something. I don't care. I'll go out and get a suntan for 20 minutes, go back to my computer,
Adam Webster 30:18
but I'm getting shit done. Yeah, yeah. So, I mean, the balance part has always been a challenge for me as well. So being able to do something, something's going on, maybe not so much at home. I really try to not bring home stuff to work. It's funny, but sometimes my work stuff so it creeps in, yeah, yeah. Like, you should focus on other things sometimes. But again, I know you're the same way you look inward and then you kind of, you know, if you get caved in on something, then it just becomes a bigger deal, right? Rather just sit down and be like, Okay, hit the reset button, yeah. Or just start doing things differently. You
Mark Hiddleson 31:04
get to start to talk about it or anything. But that's a lot of the books I've read. It's like, say this or say that. Well, you can only say so much. Like, you gotta do stuff right? You gotta change the behavior
Adam Webster 31:16
markets the 300% rule. What's that 100% of the product to 100% of the people, 100% of the time? Yeah? Yeah, your boy, Brian, that was his. That was his. That was Brian's like go
Mark Hiddleson 31:34
so did Brian. We got to talk about Red Rock, or speaking of legendary mentors, I asked, and he was a mentor for us. We've always given Brian a hard time, but man, he was a master. I thought we were pretty good in sales and Brian, and it's always one of my after I got out of the business, I worked for a guy named Ross Clark, and he really took me under his wing, and he was training me in sales and Dale Carnegie, and you know, there's this guy wrote a book called influence and influence with honor. He goes, You have to be careful, because you do develop a skill you can manipulate people, kind of like you were saying, sometimes you sell something that you really want to buy it back. Got convinced this person to do something maybe wasn't a good idea for either one of us, yep, but, uh, Brian would always put it together. And that was left the last time we were together. We went to a friend's, uh, funeral James Van Zant, may he rest in peace. And we looked at the pandemic as an opportunity. Uh, we wanted to get together for a restaurant. I didn't really have time. I had a houseboat lined up. I had 20 people going, but I'm like, I want to see these guys. Like, I want to see these guys. I want to see Adam. I want to see Brian, to see Brian. And Brian hasn't changed in 30 years. In 30 years, we've changed a little bit, uh, but I didn't have time to go to the thing. And Brian goes, well, he goes, just, uh, just go to the church, just meet everyone, like, Don rival's going to be there and everything. He goes, just, everything. He goes, Just be there, because it's only, like, a 10 minute thing. It's like, it's not a big two hour deal. He goes, Just go, yeah, just like Ernie, because Ernie was late to lunch, and then Ernie wasn't going to be there. Ernie can also So, okay, Brian, I'll just go to the thing and then get there. You're not going to get there and then leave the service. The service turned out to be like a full hour and a half deal, right?
Adam Webster 33:26
People singing,
Mark Hiddleson 33:28
and it was beautiful. I will say this, and I love Brian. I hope he listens to this podcast. He should actually be one of the most touched and moving. You know, I wasn't super good friends with jam, but we worked with him. But, you know, hearing from a daughter the mom community, I mean, things like, that's when you looked at and I was like, wow. So anyways, Brian put me together. Like he didn't sell me on Stan dole funeral. He just sold me on getting there. It's only going to be 20 minutes, and I'm looking at my watch two hours later, going to this houseboat.
Adam Webster 33:59
I've got 20 people showing up. But Brian was amazing. He was like, if you were to think of like the mike tyson of that industry, literally just fascinating. I mean, he'd sit there and in awe looking at that. And he's, I think he's still, he's still basically doing the same thing. He's done it, you know, for, for his entire adult life, and I think some of his juvenile life, his dad was in the business. And
Mark Hiddleson 34:35
What was his dad's name? Warren, Warren sacks. That's right, yeah, Warren sacks. He was a good man, yeah?
Adam Webster 34:44
But, yeah, that guy was like, he was a pit bull. And still to this day he'll reach out every once in a while, he'll call me and and again, it's just like talking to somebody that you know, just like I just saw him yesterday, yeah? So, um. Him definitely put together. Artist, like, oh yeah, let's, you know, the next thing you know, you're involved in some, yeah, like, a four hour something else, yeah, he was a great
Mark Hiddleson 35:13
closer, great and, like you said, Pitbull, he never let go of an idea. Sometimes you just acquiesce, because, like, he's not going to give up on it, so we're just going to give in, rather than have this go on and on and on. But I have a lot of favorite red rockers, so we used to drive him to work. And I don't know if we should say why, but I do love the story because I'm going to throw him under the bus for having a few DUIs 30 years ago. But, you know, back it's gotten worse and worse and worse. But back then, he had had a few, he had more than one. He doesn't drink any. He hasn't drank for a long time. Okay, good. I love it, because he had a really good attorney, and he won. It was like his fourth case, and there was something like a little glitch in the fourth case, and he got his license back. It's like they ignored the other three before. I'm like, how did he ever do that? So, oh yeah, he was a mastermind. He just never gave up. He came back. He remembers, like, you guys don't need to pick me up from work. They were like, what? He's like, I got my license back. How the hell did he do that? Such an amazing guy. He taught us a lot. He believed in us. You know, he talked about relationships. He always took care of us. He took us out. You know, after work, I really like Brian. You could tell he cared about us, right? I mean, he wanted us to produce, he wanted us to be salesmen, but he cared about us. He definitely did. And again, we were pretty pliable. He must be in his 60s. Now, right? I guess if we're in our mid 50s or early 50s, he's got to be 60. Yeah, I'm
Adam Webster 36:52
just trying to do the math there. I'm I'm trying to think, because he was, like, just one, one shelf above us, on the on the age, I mean, he was already, you know, bald, and kind of
Mark Hiddleson 37:08
remember when he showed up to the house in the full racing gear, on the on the road bike. And I didn't ever we bones didn't have cameras back. They don't know where we are going. We go do a pose, do a racing pose. And we were just kind of joking, but taking pictures of telling all myself, I'm a cyclist. Now, for about the last five years, I'm getting older. I really want to run. I still want to stay in shape. It's fun to ride a bicycle. So I put those same kind of pants on because you don't want to, I'm doing a 40 mile ride next weekend. You can't go 40 miles in basketball shorts, right? You wear a hole in your rear end. So I gotta give one to the rocker. I do. I do wear the tight pants and the elf shoes to ride my bicycle now, well, we'd
Adam Webster 37:55
go over to his parents house and, like, there'd be pictures of him in these outfits on their family wall, and then right next to it'd be him with a like a falcon, or, you know, some sort of, they had all these photos of, of, I think they, I think they called him. BJ, think that was what his mom called them. Yeah, I think is Brian Joseph and so we would always get a chuckle out of, you know, because you and I have a bachelor pad, right? I don't, I don't know if we had any, any pictures of anybody, right? I don't even know if we had, I don't know what we had pictures at all.
Mark Hiddleson 38:39
I don't think,
Adam Webster 38:40
I think the only thing that we had that was kind of cool was that we had a black cable box. That was that we were able to watch all the current, you know, I think Pulp Fiction we watched probably 1000 times. But we were able to watch all that stuff by having that black box which,
Mark Hiddleson 39:02
Yeah, we got it. It was a chip. I'll never forget. Remember we met. It was a guy in that union. His name was Frank or something. We met this guy and, uh, we're buying a, it's called a scrambler, right? A scrambled box, yeah, another thing. And we're sitting in the EDD employment development parking lot with this guy. I'm like, this is a sting operation. Oh
Adam Webster 39:22
yeah.
Mark Hiddleson 39:23
I don't know if it's the red Nissan or the blue, but one of these guys is an undercover cop, but yeah, we bought that scrambling. We did. We had Pulp Fiction on. It was pay per view. And back it was expensive. Like, now you can buy a movie like $3. It was like $18 or something back in 1995 but, yeah, we had, we would just put it on. We had Pulp Fiction on for like 48 hours in a row. We just never turned it off. We just left it. That was a great movie. I mean, I'll still watch that. The thing is, it brings me, it triggers me into some old. Thinking like, back in the day.
Adam Webster 40:05
Yeah, those were definitely, that was a that was a while, but you know what? There were also a lot of some of the memories I have. You know, when we had our group of guys, we all, we were all very close. We worked together intimately, I would say, you know, because our friends and family and we are all, we were so hyper focused on our career that we also included girlfriends, wives, everybody was kind of, you know this, you almost think of like a good fellow situation or something, but, but it's true, we would go on trips together. We would do everything together, barbecues, everything. It was, it was a real, fun experience. And I look back, obviously we could have done things a lot differently, but at the end of the day, that's why we're here today, right? Absolutely, absolutely. You know, that's a little bit on your whole holistic catch. It really is, because that's included in where we are. I
Mark Hiddleson 41:08
i mean, the mistakes, a lot of times, I always say, like, the mistakes are kind of the most beautiful things, because I heard this. There's a Japanese idea about mistakes, especially broken relationships. But if you take a vase that's just perfect and brand new compared to something that's been broken and then put back together. You see all the cracks, and then you fill in the cracks with like gold lace and everything. Look at this beautiful vase. It's got cracks, and it's way more beautiful than just the brand new one. And about those relationships, I mean, that was an early lesson in teamwork, because when we started working in Roseville, I'm going to remember we weren't working in bear country very long. Like, dude, we're going to the big leagues. Like we've been in the minors, that we're going to go to the big leagues. I can't remember us ever not being the top crew, right? It was you and I who were both pretty new, but Brian was the was the leader. We had Ernie. We had ed
Adam Webster 42:00
to shields. Yep, passed away. Yeah, but we were never, we were a team. We were a crew. We had kind of a couple flyers, I think Mark talent and other guys, but, yeah, we were, we were pretty solid, and that, remember, that was like we had just kind of made the move on the cell phone dynamic too, right? So we had fresh cell phone action, and it was free evenings and weekends. That was a big deal for us. Yeah, yeah.
Mark Hiddleson 42:36
We had a little Motorola flip phone. It looked like a star track, and it had the thing. I pulled out like, like, hold on. I got a call. He pulled out the antenna. We're just hold on, yeah, Motorola, flip on the buttons like, yeah, yeah, the beginning, and the Internet wasn't I've got this slide deck that I put on there about innovation and technology, and I've got a picture of, I don't know if you remember my call when I used to type all my papers on an old Macintosh. It was the console and a little I mean, I was 1995 1996 there was internet, but nobody was using it until 99 or whatever, right?
Adam Webster 43:24
Well, my dad bought me that. He bought me a gateway. It must have been 9596 or something. And he called me one day. He's like, Hey, if you put that thing together or use it, I'm like, not so much. He's like, Well, give it back to me, because technology's, you know, rent, you know, moving forward at a high rate of speed, I put the thing together, and I'll never forget, you know, dial up and, you know, it was, it was so cool. But, I mean, now you look back on it, you're like, anyway, it was, it was it that was technology's uh, interesting, interesting thing.
Mark Hiddleson 44:03
Well, that computer, I remember, I was, we were looking at it together and stuff, and you go, you go, you know why this thing is so glitchy? I go, why do you go? I didn't read one of the instructions. When I said pile of books that came , I didn't read one of them. And it was, it was, it was kind of, I don't know, we would just know how to use it, I think is the main thing, yeah, no, that's good. And I was on dial up until I started this company in oh five, and I had a really good client that I'd worked with at other companies. And he goes, Well, he goes, send me those pictures, and then let's talk about it, because we want to do something. And I go, okay, it'll take a minute. And I hit my thing to dial up, and he hears this. What the hell is that? I go, this is all five. And I think by then, most people that dial up were the thing in the past. He goes, Are you dialing up? I go, Yeah. He goes, hang up the phone right now. Get DSL. And then call me back, because I was like, I'm gonna have to send these pictures in like four different emails, and it's probably going to take a couple hours.
Adam Webster 45:07
But we still have a guy that you probably remember that works here at the at this the at the shop behind the Atlanta spark. Think he's worked for us for 24 years or something like that. He still faxes his time card in the right fax machine. Yeah. Well,
Mark Hiddleson 45:32
Does it print out on curly paper?
Adam Webster 45:35
No. He, well, he, what he does. He's our well, actually, he might have had to switch over because the scanner wasn't, something wasn't working on the scanner. But so I think he may, I think this may have all just changed in the last 90 days, or 120 days. But fax machine, he would, he would fax his hours in, like, you know, you can just use your cell phone and, oh, God, not doing any of that. That's funny. I
Mark Hiddleson 46:06
I interviewed a guy who's been in this industry for 50 years, and I was asking him about that, because to me, there's all this technology, and we used to have to fax things. Now you can just email it, download as a PDF, scan it, but it doesn't seem to me like we're not really getting that much more stuff done, like it still, it still takes a week to get an approval drawing. And he goes, Yeah. He goes, I remember having to call clients and say, Is it okay for us to fax these over instead of FedExing it again? People had resistance. Like, whoa, yeah. We like the FedEx guy or whatever. You know what I mean, but yeah, it was a push to get people the facts. And then now, obviously, everything's electronic, and even building permits anymore. A lot of the stuff we're doing it's electronic, which is awesome, because you don't have to go in there. It's faster, better. I mean, what do you know? So we're running, I didn't realize it's that we're running close to time. But what's some of the technology that you're using an app or technology,
Adam Webster 47:07
you know, we're just starting to dive in a little bit of the into the AI and maybe starting to work with some developers on how to improve in our space, how to improve on training, logistics, everything. I mean, we average between 200 to $350,000 a year, just in FedEx, because, because I have to have a part there tomorrow. So it's just a it's a critical part of our infrastructure. But if we can figure out a way to reduce those, I mean, between FedEx and airplanes, that's, you know, that's just a big problem for me. So my My guys are kind of located throughout the country, wherever the instruments are. So if you have, you know, say you have 50 instruments in Raleigh, North Carolina, we'll probably want to have a guy living close to there. So one thing the pandemic really taught us was how to avoid the airplane situation, just keeping people off planes. We had to, also, we had to go, you know, I'll never forget going back to the pandemic, you know, that was kind of the unknown. And in my industry, you know, I had the, I had one of the guys that that's running the Cleveland Clinic on, you know, on a conference call, because he says, well, I need to have somebody here. You need to fix this instrument. I'm, like, my technician. He was, you know, just had a baby, you know, or No, his wife was pregnant like it was. I was nervous about it, and I didn't want to do it. I said, I said, Hey, you know, he goes, Well, you know, we're the Cleveland Clinic. We don't, we don't close because there's a pandemic. And so I remember that I was put in a spot as an owner of, how do you, you know, how do you, how do you address that, right? You just say, well, care of your client and your employee, right? I mean, yeah, so it worked out. It's kind of, it was terrible, like my employee was. He was younger, new family. I called him up. I said, Look, this is on you. I said, if you choose not to do it, I'll have somebody else do it, or I'll go do it myself, you know, I'll figure it out. He goes, No, he goes, I'm good with it. I'll wear a mask and this and that. Long story short, he winds up getting covid. His wife gets it. But everybody was fine, yeah, everybody was fine. Thank goodness. But I just, I'll never forget, you know, that point I was just like, oh man, really, yeah, but
Mark Hiddleson 49:50
it was tough to do the right thing, because you don't know, everything is brand new. I mean, we had a lot of the same things. It's like we stayed because of all of our clubs. Our clients are in the food industry. Same thing, they can't shut down. Everybody's going to start. So we're in cold storage. So it's even worse, because your guys are spending an hour in a zero degree freezer and coming back out. I mean, you're getting anything susceptible to more stuff, no matter what, just because of the conditions. And you kind of, I got tunnel vision, but, yeah, when something like that happens, and you look at employees, especially, you know, pregnant and the baby, like I look at, well, the biggest thing, you know, if I have credit for, for the my transformation, that's having kids and it such, and it just changed in 10 seconds. So people like, Well, how did you know you're ready? And was like, I wasn't. I didn't know I was but the second it happens, you're ready, and there's no way to explain it, only my friend Chris Johnson was telling me that he cried when his daughter was born. I was teasing him. I'm like, Oh, you just lost her crying. But I remember bawling my eyes out like I did with all three of mine. Yeah, I had to call Chris Johnson to apologize, because when my daughter was born, it was just, I was just over. Well, you know, so, so who ended up going? He ended up going, and he ended up getting covid. Like, oh, my God. Like, what, you know? Who
Adam Webster 51:11
would have known? So, yeah, what are you going to do? I mean, now, like I said, Now, I think, I think from a business strategy, you know, we're, we're a little more prepared for something of that nature to happen again. We certainly weren't expecting it. We're, you know, I thought we'd thought of everything, but just when you and I'm sure in your industry as well, it just blindsided you and and how do you improve, and so you don't let it happen again, right? Yeah, and didn't just
Mark Hiddleson 51:47
training and compliance. And we learned a lot from our clients, because our clients are mostly bigger companies than ours, so we're basically learning from them and trying to get and I had clients, say, one of my best clients, they had, they've got 150 employees, and they had, like, I forget what it was, eight cases or 11. Like, if there was a certain number, you became a hotspot. And so it was rough as an owner for him. I'm glad I didn't go through anything like that. But our last few minutes, I want to only ask you, what's your best advice? Because I think a lot of people listen to this, people that want to that want to people who want to excel in sales, or probably think a lot of people that listen to our podcast, they either own their own company, or they want to start a company, which what's your best piece of advice? And we've talked a lot about it, but what would be
Adam Webster 52:38
Well, obviously, I think it's very important to surround yourself with success. I think who you are is really a product of who you surround yourself with. I think if you, if you want to own a company, start a business, be involved. I think it's very important to read books, talk to people, get a mentor, typically people, I'm sure that you found, I know I have that. People that are successful, they appreciate when you ask them questions, yeah, and, and don't be afraid to ask questions. I don't think there's a, there's no bad question. Such a, it's such a. I'm sure you see it all the time, and I love it. I love it when somebody comes up to me and goes, Hey, what do you know, that's awesome. I love that. So that would be my take. Obviously, the relationship side is very important, making sure that your family understands what you're kind of, what you're shooting for. I think that's important so that you can also have a little bit of, you know, push from the inside, if you will, obviously your wife or your girlfriend or boyfriend, whatever it is, make sure that they're on the same page. Oh, that's
Mark Hiddleson 54:07
a great one. That's a great one.
Adam Webster 54:10
And even if they're not on the same page, at least they know what your vision is, right, and that that's your passion. Some people, you know, they look at cars, or they look at whatever they say. Oh, you know what? You know, luckily, my better app, she loves cars. So that's an easy one, lab automation, robotics. Oh, kind of it's a sleeper.
Mark Hiddleson 54:32
So say a little bit. I forgot to ask you any questions about the National Auto Museum. What's going on with that? We do have a few minutes. What's exciting about that one? What's what's Well,
Adam Webster 54:45
I'll tell you right now. We're in a you know that my dad has been my dad has been involved with the National auto museum for 30 plus years. It's the Bill Harrah collection. I don't know if you ever went through. That when you were a kid at Harrah's, you've heard of Harris. He was a big car collector. He had a, I don't know he had 15, 1600 cars at one point, and didn't do a very good succession plan. I don't think that he 's just not who he was. He didn't, he didn't really think about the future. So my dad's been very involved in the autumn museum we have. It's located at one museum drive in downtown Reno. Next time you come to Reno, I'm going to drag you down there. Yeah, it's just a slice of history. So there's a lot going on there. We've got a great group. We're really focusing now on education and how to get younger people to obviously, our, our, our lives have changed dramatically with cell phones and just technology, internet, everything, younger people are more focused on this than they are, you know, real, yeah, real people, real things. So, yeah, it would be nice to have you come visit. There's always an opening here. We have lots of hotels here, yeah, I know you're not, I know you're not. Probably going to sit at a blackjack table or anything, but I won't either. So we got a lot of nice restaurants and things to do. We'd love to, love to have you. It'd be nice to always catch up. Yeah, yeah.
Mark Hiddleson 56:38
And this has been so awesome, man. Thank you. I've been wanting to invite you on for a long time. You were a super important friend. You were a mentor for me. It was cool. You started out working for me. Within a couple years I was working for you. I loved it both ways. And this is, this has been a lot of fun, man. And congratulations, you're killing it. You know your
Adam Webster 57:01
in your career, you are, I'm literally a guest on your show. Like, how cool. Who would have thought, right if you were to go back 30 years ago and be like, What do you know this is, this is amazing. This is incredible. I love it.
Mark Hiddleson 57:17
Yeah, no, it's a lot of fun. Yeah, I had a mentor coach recommend that I started a podcast a few years ago. I was like, Man, I don't want to start talking. I was embarrassed. He goes, No, because they looked at our business, what we do, providing values, and he's like, a lot of what you provide, it's way different than what somebody thinks of in your industry. When they work with you. They're not just working with you know, the rat guy. So thank you, man, this has been awesome.
Adam Webster 57:41
Hey. Well, thank you, Mark. And yeah, you were instrumental in my success, at a very young age, in my success. So I always, I always have appreciated you and your guidance. That was, we had a really, we were a good team. You know, we did a lot of good stuff. So we did a lot of stuff that we probably weren't so good at, but it made us who we are today. It
Mark Hiddleson 58:07
really did, really did. Man, thank you,
Outro 58:11
Thanks for listening to The Tao of Pizza Podcast. We'll see you again next time, and be sure to click Subscribe to get future episodes.
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