“I do a little bit of everything. You get assigned a task, and if you don’t know how to do it, you better learn. I suppose that’s the benefit of working for a small business, you know, living the startup life.”

Clay “The Dawg” Phillips, Marketing Coordinator for Supply Chain Now

Many large companies have talent programs in place that look at leveraging the unique strengths of each generation in the workforce, but can the same benefit be available to small or startup firms? If Clay Phillips’ contributions to Supply Chain Now’s growth and success are any indication, they certainly can.

Clay is more accustomed to being behind the camera as the Marketing Coordinator for Supply Chain Now. He is a fourth-year student at the University of Georgia in Athens, majoring in marketing after starting his education with a focus on journalism. Since joining Supply Chain Now, Clay has become passionate about the world of supply chain and the unique marketing challenges it presents, especially finding ways to boost Supply Chain Now’s social media presence in a loud and crowded field of content creators.

In this conversation, Clay steps in front of the camera to share his behind-the-scenes point of view with Supply Chain Now Co-hosts Chris Barnes, Greg White, and Scott Luton:

· Why the opportunity to form strong, tight relationships under pressure is one of the key benefits of working in a startup environment

· The most important thing companies need to demonstrate to young, prospective hires if they want to secure the best and brightest rising talent for themselves

· The changes over time that have made it possible for supply chain organizations to go from ‘scapegoat’ to ‘savior’

Amanda Luton (00:05):

It’s time for supply chain. Now broadcasting live from the supply chain capital of the country. Atlanta, Georgia heard around the world. Supply chain. Now spotlights the best in all things. Supply chain, the people, the technologies, the best practices and the critical issues of the day. And now here are your hosts.

Scott Luton (00:29):

Hey, good morning. Or good afternoon, wherever you are. Scott Luton, Chris Barnes and Greg white with you here on supply chain. Now welcome to today’s live stream. Chris Gregg, gentlemen, how are y’all doing? I’m dandy, Chris Barnes. Are you wait? I’m a little bored, but once we get it going, I’m a little bit, and he’s a little bored. So, so to our audience, this is only the beginning. So we’ve had a good, a lot of fun internally and hopefully externally, uh, with these new series between Greg’s tequila, sunrise and Chris Barnes, supply chain is boring. It has been quite the internal competition and robbery, but rest assured great content from different angles. So we’re going to have a lot of fun with us here today. Um, but today’s episode, we’re really excited about Chris, Greg, myself, Amanda, we’re all really excited because for the first time our audience front and center is going to see Chris, Phil clay, Phillips, Chris I’m like Chris and clam.

Scott Luton (01:31):

I want to get that straight clay Phillips the dog. Uh, one of our key quarterbacks, the marketing guru. He’s going to be in front of the camera, answering questions, sharing his perspective on today’s live stream. Greg. This has been in the works for quite some time, right? I can’t believe it’s finally happening. I have been waiting my whole life for this to get the dog on camera. I mean, this is like the bear being on ESPN college game day. Right? Right. How long it took to get him in front of the camera. And it’s not, not that different here. He knows what’s going on. So we’re going to hear about it. Well, in addition to clay, we’ve got Chris who is, is kind of behind the scenes sometimes he’s he loves injecting his, his own brand of humor in our comments, which we love. And Chris, his and lays live stream with us. So we’ve really got we’re two for two already. Yeah. My first comment on this show would have been Greg, you’ve been waiting your whole life for this episode.

Scott Luton (02:30):

My whole life being a sportscaster, right? Everything is the biggest, the best the only that ever happened. So, Hey, let’s say hello to a few folks that have already, uh, chimed in. We’ve got Patrick Kelly of course, hosts of the produce produce podcast. Hello, Patrick. Hope this finds you. I had a blast, Greg and I had a blast with you last time a week or two ago. Look forward to that episode. Uh, a boss from Algeria, uh, hope this finds you well, tune in via LinkedIn. Jayman gotta love Jaman. Uh, he, uh, Greg he’s commenting that you’re already dropping a dandy first thing right out of the gate. So love that. Jaman uh, you know, our dear friend, Dennis, Savannah, Chris, Jeff Leroy, uh, president of the apex, Savannah chapter, Jeff hope this finds you well, you’re a Patriots fan, but we still love you. Yeah.

Scott Luton (03:21):

So Peter Heflin, we’re always trying to get people from home Depot on the show. There he is. He’s here. He’s repping, repping big orange. So Peter, Robert, uh, Soham from sit here. Where’s the home from, uh, Sam, tell us where you’re tuned into from, it looks like you’re all via LinkedIn. Love to know where you’re viewing this from Debbie Stephan’s with us. So we’ve gotten the whole crowd here today. Yeah. So before we bring clay Phillips on and turn the table before clay brings himself on the very first yes. To swoosh himself in, we’ll have to define exactly what we’re talking about there at a moment. He’s so he’s so good. He can turn the lights off and be in bed before they’re out.

Scott Luton (04:09):

So, uh, let’s talk, talk about, so, you know, if y’all joy, if our audience enjoyed today’s live stream, you know, check out our podcast, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. From today, we published tequila sunrise on the main channel, uh, and, and you can also find tequila, sunrise on its own in its own channels. Again, wherever you get your podcasts from. But Greg tell us, in a nutshell reader’s digest version, what you tackled on today’s episode of tequila, sunrise, what the HD double hockey sticks is digital transformation and how you can enact it. Everybody knows the buzz word, not everybody understands what it’s about. It’s really a simple concept and there are five easy steps to make it happen. So I tried to simplify it for folks like ahead to simplify it for myself. So listen up, love that. Love it. Uh, really have gotten a lot of, a lot of feedback.

Scott Luton (05:05):

This is episode seven. I believe Greg is right. Eight it’s. Can you believe it? It’s been two months Cain snooze on Greg white. That’s for sure. We’ve gotten a ton of 300 listens in just a few hours, so people are listening. Awesome. All right. So again to our audience, check that out. Wherever you get your podcast from, you can find it on the supply chain. Now main channel. You can find it on its own channel tequila, sunrise, tequila with a T E C H Keala. Okay. Alright. Alright. So, uh, let’s say hello to a few folks that have, have also just come in before we bring on our featured guests here today, you can’t have a live stream without Jeffrey Miller. Jeff hope this finds you well. Great to have you here. Enjoyed, enjoy Jeff’s and Luke’s and several other folks response to that. This, uh, top 10 technologies in the warehouse blog posts that we shared on LinkedIn, uh, this morning, uh, via auto rosin.

Scott Luton (06:04):

It really, uh, uh, generated some healthy discussion. So appreciated your comments there. Uh, Jeff has always, uh, Jacob Newman welcome via LinkedIn. I hope this finds you well, uh, Sean Mooka, uh, I’m not, I’m not sure where he’s turned in from his via LinkedIn. Great to have you here. And one more here. Oh, Soham who we mentioned earlier. He is in New Jersey tuned in via LinkedIn lab, uh, LinkedIn lab. So great to have you all right, Chris and Greg are y’all ready? Ready? I’m ready. Do you think Clay’s ready? Clay is always ready. So absolutely. Without a doubt. Let’s welcome in clay Phillips, the marketing guru here at supply chain now. Hey, good morning, clay. What’s going on guys? How are you doing

Clay Phillips (06:54):

Great. I’m not going to lie. This is weird. And being on camera. I don’t, I don’t know how to feel about it yet. You already have the Guinness book of world records record for the first and only person to ever switch themselves into a supply chain. Now episode, I don’t, I don’t make the call be broken. They’re going to be broken either because no one else knows how to swoosh nobody here.

Scott Luton (07:21):

Well, so clay, before you came on, Greg was asking if you’re ready and the Laney answered for you. He is ready and ready to go. So Elena hope this finds you well. All right. So before we’ve got, we’ve got 17,000 questions for you before Chris leads off with the first one, I want to point out you got your brave shirt on and the Braves, the last three or four days, uh, the Philly, that last Philly game and the last two days in New York have not been kind to our Braves, but give, give us a quick prognostication on the brain is going to turn around and win the division and the shortened seat.

Clay Phillips (07:55):

You know, I think right now their spirits are broken a little bit, which is understandable, but I think they’ll bounce back. I think, uh, I like the bullpen approach, the opener to the games. Um, it obviously didn’t work yesterday, but, uh, I think snits got some stuff up the sleeves we’ll make some moves.

Scott Luton (08:13):

I love it. I love it. Uh, and they’re going to get it turned around. So I’m with you a real quick, uh, manual the bear.

Clay Phillips (08:20):

I mean, it’s pretty impressive. He knows stats. I mean, I’ve said I repeated that in my head a couple of times, you know, it will be all right. I bet there’s a lot of Braves fans that are doing that right now. Amen.

Scott Luton (08:36):

Especially with the rotation. All right. Real quick. Emanuel is tuned in from Peru via LinkedIn. Hope. That’s fine. You well, great to have you here. Keith Duckworth says he’s representing pure Michigan here. I think that’s the state’s tagline and some of the campaigns, Keith. Great to see you. Claudia free. Claudia was asking if that was a supply chain now a, a logoed shirt.

Clay Phillips (08:56):

You got clay we’re working on those. Uh, so we, it looks like we just lost our featured guests. We’ll get him back here in a moment. Um, alright. He can do that. He really has that much control. I can back the magic of live streaming. All right. He’s like the wizard got a one, a one last shout out of course, memory memory’s tuned in, uh, Johannesburg. Great to have you here, memory and looking forward to reconnecting with you again real soon. Okay. Chris laid us off let’s let’s uh, let’s give clay the quiz of his life. Well, yeah, I was going to say clay, I’ve only been working with you for a year and I still don’t know what you do. So what, what, uh, what exactly do you do? What’s your role at it? So my title is marketing coordinator, um, you know, in our environment, which we’ll talk about later with the startup, you know, that that really takes on a man of many hats, meaning.

Clay Phillips (09:51):

Um, so I do a little bit of everything. Um, social media management, content production, I dabble in some sales strategy and video production. Uh, that was a learn as you go type type thing for me. And of course, you know, like anything that Scott needs me to do, that that’s part of my role to, um, really, I mean, man of many hats is really the definition of, of so many of all of our roles here. You know, you get assigned a task. If you don’t know how to do it, you better learn and do it. Right. And I suppose that’s the benefit of working for a small business, you know, maybe the startup life. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, Hey, can I, Chris, let me tell you, cause that was a, that might’ve been a little bit boring for you, but let me tell you this. One of the things that clay did early on that just stunned.

Clay Phillips (10:45):

All of us, I think was he recognized Instagram as a, as a business platform. And we got a ton of inbound interest in sponsorships and things like that from Instagram. So, so we’re letting the cat out of the bag, but we’re what a year and a half ahead of everybody else now. Anyway, so, but that, that was one of those pivotal moments where everybody kind of looked at EV at each other and went, Oh, this cat gets it. Right? Yeah. So, and we’ve had a lot of those moments. Sure. Yeah. I remember he just a couple of days ago, he’s asking me what my Instagram handle was. And I was like, what are you talking about? He got on me. He’s like, he couldn’t believe it. He was like, what’s wrong with you? You gotta have one, man. You gotta have one. You know, it’s, it really illustrates. Uh, clay brings has brought a ton of expertise to the table. Um, and in Instagram and informing us of the power of that channel, it was just one of the things it’s this, this idea of reverse mentoring, right? You know, Clay’s poised to be graduating from UGA here momentarily, but he, you know, we’re always picking his brain

Scott Luton (11:54):

And his fresh eyes on, on how we can better serve and engage our audience because, you know, audience and, and, and hopefully turning out content that they enjoy and consume and, and appreciate that’s our North star and clay. I think it’s really helped. He’s really sharpened the point on our ability to do that. So clay, uh, all kidding aside, we’re really grateful for what you do and the impact you make and, and kind of where you approach that from your heart and, you know, your, your willingness to embrace and serve. I mean, that really has made this journey very rewarding. So, yeah.

Chris Barnes (12:31):

Great question, Christian. I had another question. Uh, are we, are we only allowed one switch per show because you know, I’m looking at it, it’s too much bandwidth, Keith Duckworth. Got it. You know, he’s like when clay came back, there was no swoosh, are we limited? Nobody has to leave during a swoosh. Right. Could we just do the swimming? We could look at, I’m looking for something to keep me awake here. You guys, no offense clay, but this is a great time.

Scott Luton (13:01):

So let’s say, say hello to Michelle also, uh, a important part of the team member. She is also a big UGA fan. So she loves your nickname. Of course, the dog that’s right. All right. Chris, question number two, what you got?

Chris Barnes (13:15):

Well, I mean, it’s, it’s our opportunity abound for learning things, anything, anything that you’ve learned either at the supply chain or just running a business or being involved in business, what’s some of the, what’s something interesting you’ve learned over the summer or through your experience. I mean, it’s all going to revolve around splashing. I mean, it’s what we do here. And I think the most interesting thing that I learned, um, you know, this summer was just in a national panic, how easily an industry can become a scapegoat, um, for the nation’s problems. Now everyone wants to point fingers. And I think that really happened to splashing, but also how, you know, that industry can rise above the fray and be sort of a savior as well. Um, so that’s been really interesting to see how that played out, especially not being a practitioner because you’re not asked, still consider myself in the marketing field, but I’m blessed to, you know, to have my hand in both worlds.

Chris Barnes (14:08):

So, you know, really seeing the industry take the, hit that it did and then just bounce back. Um, I think that would be probably the most interesting thing from the past couple of months. Yeah. If I can just interject there. So you are, you have Mark you’re pursuing marketing degree, right? Yes. Yeah. And that’s interesting because you take supply chain classes at all or anything not related, nothing like that at all. No. Yeah. I got into my introduction to supply chain was, was this job, you know, and I think we’ll talk about it later in the show is what I would tell high school students. You know, I didn’t know that this, you know, that this industry existed in the capacity that it did before I worked here. And even into the, you know, the months that I worked here, I still didn’t grasp it, comprehend it. So, um,

Clay Phillips (14:52):

Yeah, it was interesting, you know, I tell people maybe Greg, maybe you can appreciate this. Um, you know, when I was in university, they didn’t have supply chain or logistics. It wasn’t, it was engineering. And, uh, we learned about supply chain actually. And it was a chapter in a marketing book, believe it or not. So that’s the corollary, everybody, everybody on screen who, who got a supply chain degree raise your hand. Right, right. So yeah, you’re right. The world has changed, hasn’t it? Yeah. I think that that’s really interesting, but I think also that the experience clay, that you’ve gotten to learn it from practitioners and I mean the best in the business. I mean, you’ve been there or you’ve been on the scene when, you know, when we have interviewed some of the best in the business, that is such a huge opportunity. And I think also you get to see the strategic perspective, this, and because of COVID, you’ve gotten to see the strategic impact of an industry.

Clay Phillips (15:57):

Whereas before, I mean, all three of us came up through supply chain when it was that back office thing where all you were trying to do was get trucks and inventory and space as cheap as you could and, and make, and also make sure you don’t run out at the same time. I think now this benefit is really, really recognized and you’re coming into the field at the right right time. It’s got to play, it’s got to see the table and it did not beforehand, you know, even, even just the recognition of the industry that it’s named value, even. I mean, people didn’t, you know, supply chain. It’s funny. We talk about, um, our app review program and we had a guy leave a gag review. It’s like my two favorite things, supplies and chains. And that in this show, it talks about them together, but Oh, Jefferson side did that.

Clay Phillips (16:49):

And you know, some people don’t understand what the two words mean together. And I not surely didn’t before that, before this job either. Well, I don’t feel like the lone ranger because a lot of people did not know what, what supply chain was. And a lot of people who frankly have been in or worked with people in supply chain, um, their whole careers. So it’s, it’s been a, it’s been a slog to get to where we are. And it is interesting scapegoat to savior. That’s probably a book title. You better copy. Write that. Perfect segue real quick way there. So, Greg, I know you’ve got several questions up your sleeve for, for clay, but real quick, Jacob asked this question and clay are gonna put you on spot and Greg, Chris feel free to weigh in as well. What is your most impactful books or tools that influence your learning and why you think about your answer? I’m going to share with Jacob two things real quick supply chain DOB is a wonderful resource new center for

Scott Luton (17:50):

Law things happening across global supply chain. And, and secondly, uh, associations are great sources of, of not only developing yourself, prefer professionally adding credentials, but perhaps most importantly, building a network in the industry. All right, clay, what would you say

Clay Phillips (18:07):

To Jacob’s question being a fresh on the mind would be probably StoryBrand with Donald Miller actually, after we had that sales conversation this past Friday, I downloaded the ebook and dove right into it. And man that’s, you know, great stuff and that’s, StoryBrand by Donald Miller and that, and that’s marketing as far as supply chain goes. I haven’t read too many books, but, um, I can speak to that one.

Scott Luton (18:31):

Awesome. And, and Hey, to the audience, you all fill in the comments with some of your favorite recent reads and resources for learning, uh, quick. So let’s Greg and Chris you’re lightening response to Jacob’s question. And we’ll start with you.

Clay Phillips (18:47):

I’d go, I’d go with a very, uh, old and boring topic, uh, theory of constraints. And the book is called the goal. You like old rat, and that it’s a perennial Allstar. It’s coming a bit dated now in terms of demand chain and, uh, lean concepts. But whenever you can understand what theory of constraints is in a, in a, uh, in that type of a setting, it’s a more, it’s a fiction based setting and it’s, it’s a pretty, it’s a good story. It’s a good read. I’d encourage anybody to check it out. Yup. Greg built to last. So a lot of people know better. The book good to great, which is the follow on to built to last, but built to last is a book about how to build a company with a purpose. And it’s fascinating some of the stories quick, quick anecdote in that regard, Sony, the company Sony, we all know for outstanding electronics for really introducing Japanese electronics to the world, started out as a bean curd company.

Clay Phillips (19:48):

And their higher purpose was after world war II to bring honor back to Japan. That was their higher purpose. So it’s that kind of purpose book and it is it’s inspiring. And it’s a great study. They did a fantastic study for that. Outstanding. And it’s got if I can throw one more out there, just, yeah, I think what kind of, what kind of puts supply chain on the map? You know, obviously before open was the, uh, anybody read the world is flat. That that’s kind of where it’s, it’s one chapter in a book of 20 chapters, but it, he mentions how the global economy is very evolving and this is what 15, 20 years ago. So that’s kind of where it got to play as well.

Scott Luton (20:30):

Outstanding. Uh, alright, I’m gonna add that to my, my must reads. All right. So to our audience, again, our, our, our main thrust here today is we’re, we’ve turned the tables we’re interviewing. Usually who’s kind of behind the scenes, uh, clay Phillips. He’s one of our marketing gurus here at supply chain now, and we’re getting his

Clay Phillips (20:48):

Take and asking him questions for really the first time. So we’re honored to have clay join us. All right, Greg, what, uh, where did we go next? Let’s uh, so we’ve asked this of everyone. And clay was, he was very busy vacationing when we interviewed everyone else about these, some of these

Chris Barnes (21:06):

Questions, so terribly busy, terribly busy.

Clay Phillips (21:08):

I know, I know. I’m sure you’re fishing it up. Um, so, or was it golf anyway, whatever, now’s our chance to ask you this question. Tell us what is your favorite supply chain now? So,

Chris Barnes (21:23):

I mean, I’m so biased, so it’s so hard to pick one. My favorite one is usually the most recent one, um, from a content perspective, which is, you know, what I work with directly, if it’s, I’ve got a top five, if five, 10.1 Diego’s for mode, X is one that just so much valuable insight. And I mean, it was almost like everything he said was, was a tee shirt. I mean, just he delivered definitely. Um, all the, all the interviews from FedEx were great. Um, Brad roughness with box lock was a, was a fantastic one. It’s, it’s a different dynamic when you’re in person at these events and I miss it so much and you’re talking to these people, it sparks conversations that sadly, sometimes just don’t happen virtually. So, you know, anything that we do in person, it’s definitely up there on my list.

Clay Phillips (22:15):

Yeah, that’s a good one. Um, okay. So I have to, I have to ask you this question, um, being a bit of a startup guy myself, you mentioned some of the dynamics of working for a startup earlier, but, you know, tell me about what it’s like working for a startup or this startup, you know, what, what do you like, what do you hate? What makes you, you know, clench your fists? What makes you leap for joy?

Chris Barnes (22:44):

I don’t, I don’t, I don’t clench my fist that often, often I promise Scott, he just punches the wall on the other side. There’s this is my work station on this other side, there’s this there’s a hole in the wall, but, um, it’s gotta be the personal relationships, um, that you’re going to build those in a startup more so than in any other environment. And, and I can say that without even working in another environment, I just I’m know. It’s true. Um, the personal relationships that you build with your management and with your peers is going to be exponential compared to working in a traditional established organization. I think that would probably be the first, um, you know, foremost benefit of working at a startup. There’s definitely, I’m not giving you the real dirt. Uh, and, and, you know, you’ll, you’re, you’re, you’re with us now, so maybe you’ll dig up your own dirt, but I think the personal relationships would B would be the foremost

Clay Phillips (23:46):

Benefit. And there’s more obviously go ahead. So, uh, John [inaudible] and John hope this finds you well, uh, says shares a great segment here. Everyone should work for and be part of a startup in their career. I agree with you. I think, you know, kind of as an aside, I’ve always thought that folks more folks, way to tables at one point in their career, we’d all be a lot nicer to everybody. I bused tables at a seafood restaurant, and that is that, that is a very humbling experience and, you know, making next to nothing. Um, but yeah, the startup, it really does it get John and clay, and then it really everyone here, it gives you a different different view, uh, own the industry, a different view on the art of the possible for that matter. Um, and you really get creative when it comes to problem solving and, and, um, serving your, your customer.

Clay Phillips (24:37):

Alright. Um, you watched the business evolve and you appreciate the process so much more when, when it’s up to you to make it happen. And so many times it’s, it is up to us, you know, individually Amanda and I, and even, um, you know, Devin and Genoa who we’ve introduced on this, on these shows that, you know, some, something needs to happen go, you know, GSD is as care from southbound coined it, we won’t, we won’t go into video stuff, done, get stuff done. All right. I think that, you know, that’s an important part by the way, there are two other jobs that I think people should have also, Scott, one, one is everyone should work on a farm. They should have to do hard physical labor and everyone should wait tables and, or work a retail job. You know, imagine a scenario where, you know, in retail or, or in a restaurant you’re in the back, you’re shouting at one another trying to get stuff done, advocating for your client.

Clay Phillips (25:41):

Then you have to immediately do 180 degree, literally 180 degree turn and put a smile on and go own it right. Wrong or indifferent. Right. As someone who ran a restaurant that I worked at said, there is no day, right. They didn’t do anything wrong. They is. We, so if there’s any lesson you learned is that, and frankly at a, at a startup, it’s very, very similar because sometimes there is nobody else to do it. And if you have you come up with the idea, you have to come up with the action to put it into play. Right. Great, great cinema there. There’s not a, there’s not a marketing department per se, or a customer service department per se, or a sales engineering production, right. Yeah. But you know, that I wouldn’t, I mean, as limiting as that can be, because, you know, there’s always going to be 24 hours in a day and never 25 or 26, even when we need it, um, that holistic view of the business and how things work and, and how we can make improvements and enhancements.

Clay Phillips (26:42):

I that’s, frankly, that’s certainly some of the big value that Clay’s brought to the table in our business as he learned it. And it really become a leader within the business. So, uh, that, that’s the aspect of the startup early stage world that at, you know, what trade, except for maybe a billion dollars. Uh, but anyway, it’s, it’s, it’s part of the rewarding aspect of the journey, so. Alright, great. Got one more question for clay. You, you mentioned it earlier, if you were to talk to people who are in school, kids who are in school today, right. So I have a, I I’d like to twist the question just a little bit. So if, if you were to talk to somebody in high school, or even in college about a career in supply chain or careers in general, just from what you’ve learned in, in the last year in a PR really a professional role, um, what would you say to them, or what advice would you give to them?

Chris Barnes (27:39):

Get involved, um, get an internship, unpaid or not, um, you know, learn how to work in a professional environment, learn how to, um, interact with your peers. You know, it’s, it’s the basic best practices and, you know, you run them into the ground and they repeated constantly. And your college tells you to do, then your parents tell you to do them, your uncle, that, you know, everyone tells you to do them, but, but do them actually, I mean, it’s not, they’re not best practices for no reason, summer outdated, some don’t, you know, but build your professional network, take pride in the relationships that you make and nurture them because you never know which one is going to come back and offer you a job in the future. You never know. It’s, it’s, you know, it’s not about who, you know, it’s about who knows you, right?

Clay Phillips (28:29):

It’s like that very thing, you know, that, that old saying, it’s not what, you know, it’s who, you know, I turned that 180 degrees on its head and say, look, it’s not about who, you know, it’s about who knows you. And we know you now. And when you, when you do an internship, that company gets to know you and you become a known quantity and you can see it happen over and over again, again, every company I’ve ever run, we have hired interns and it’s because we get to see what they can do. We get to see if they’re going to work out and we get the opportunity. We get the first shot at them, you know, when, um, when they’re ready to go into the career world. So it’s great for both parties, which we’ve talked about on some shows fairly recently, but that’s great advice.

Clay Phillips (29:16):

So I want, so let me ask you a little bit about supply chain. So you not a supply chain degree, weren’t coming out of school intending to get intending, to get into supply chain. You like many of us have fallen sort of backwards in love with supply chain. So what, what would you say either to students who aren’t studying supply chain, um, about it as an opportunity for people, for, uh, students who are studying supply chain about it, or about other potential jobs? I can speak to it that, so, you know, first of all, I would make sure that they knew what it was, right. Um, it’s, it’s not just logistics and transportation. It’s not just trucks on the interstate. Um, when you give it this all encompassing, all encompassing view that it deserves it’s, um, it’s not just an industry, it’s a path forward for sustaining, uh, sustainability and reducing your carbon footprint. Um, it’s an industry that you can answer and truly make a difference. And it’s might be the only one that I’ve encountered that I can actually say that.

Scott Luton (30:29):

Hmm. Hmm. Well put, yeah, lots of good stuff there. Hey, let’s take a quick aside. We’ve got a couple of comments I want to share from the audience. First off, going back to hard work gone. Hey, Greg, I worked in roofing with my father at 12. Does that count as a hard start? [inaudible]

Clay Phillips (30:50):

Um, unless you, unless you were a chimney sweep that doesn’t, I’ve done it. I’m thinking about Mary Poppins. Oh God. Just you’re that when my parents and grandparents and extended family had us do physical labor like that, it was at that time to convince us to go to college. Roofing is one of those things that when you over the top, you’re on top of a roof off of the ground on the hottest days of the year, doing work, lifting things that way almost as much as you do that will convince you to find a trade or go to college. For sure. That’s right.

Scott Luton (31:30):

Jameson. Back on the small business angle, he says, Hey, the cavalry is not coming it’s you it’s on you or the team. Absolutely. Jaman uh, here, here’s an interesting question. I want to pose, uh, it’s not exactly right in line, but since we’ve got Chris here in particular, um, I want to pose it to, and of course, clay and Greg feel free to weigh in. Keith says, Hey, what type of certifications would you recommend a newbie in supply chain management to start off with and hear Keith mentions the APEC CSEP CPIM and a few others include niacin inserts. Chris, you know, I know you do a lot of training and coaching. How would you answer Keith’s response? Uh,

Clay Phillips (32:12):

Um, my first question will be, what are all those acronyms mean? I don’t know what he’s talking about. That is really boring. So Kesa, maybe you could type in your comments. What, what would you suggest? Hmm let’s let’s try that. See what I have an opinion, but then I was also looking down at Don Edward long’s comment. I don’t even know what hot mop roofing is, but it looks so, but not. Yeah. I mean, I think the CSEP certification apex, that’s kind of an all encompassing one. I don’t know if, uh, again, Keith, maybe you can chime in there and give us your opinion of that. That’s a good across the board understanding because as clays had mentioned, you know, the challenge is, you know, understand what it is, but, you know, sometimes we don’t even know what it is, you know, we just, you know, Scott and Greg, you guys just interviewed the customer experience. Right. That, that, that, yeah, that show. So that’s kind of an extreme, it’s still part of supply chain it’s out on the periphery, but it’s still part of supply chain, whether it, yeah, go ahead.

Scott Luton (33:10):

I would just add to, to Chris’s, uh, answer and feedback here. As someone that’s gone through a variety of different certification training and turned them, um, I would start with Keith, what you’re trying to get accomplished, you know, where do you want to be? What’s that next step? Um, you know, I think so many folks start with the certification and, and then, uh, you know, either they don’t sit for the test because they realize it’s not for them halfway through. And so they waste money and time and valuable time. Um, so really zeroing in on what that net, you know, what you’re trying to get accomplished by adding credentials is the most important question you start with. And then there are so many out there, uh, then you evaluate, you know, the path, the network, the instruction, the instruction, the return on investment in terms of costs and time and stuff like that. So, great question,

Clay Phillips (34:01):

Keith. Yeah. I think the knowledge is the most important thing and it’s, and as you said, if you’re not clear on what, on what you want to do, there are plenty of free options. Ed X, you can take classes from MIT on supply chain. I would suggest starting there as you, as you both have said, figure out if you have an affinity, if you have a gift, if you have a passion for this before you go and, and do, um, you know, before you joined an association and take certification tests, because at X, as, as my wife loves to say, she’s going to Harvard right now, right? She’s taking free classes from Harvard and she’s, she can take them all the way to you can’t qualify for one online, but she can take them all the way to a degree. So that is a huge opportunity, just strongly that. And, um, and then after you’ve determined that you have a love for it. I don’t know where everyone she’s. I don’t even know how to do that. No, there he is. There he’s there he’s there they’re that guy, Ben talked to that guy right there. That guy right there. Um, yeah, because he, um, while his classes are exceedingly boring, they are really, it takes a lot of work to make them that way, too. It takes all kinds of experience to do that

Scott Luton (35:30):

Bonds real quick. Uh, he’s looking at CSEP, he’s trying to get his foot in the door. He’s got a lot of it asset experience, but needs little. He says he’s a little piece of paper that helps get his foot in the door. So Keith, Hey, we can all relate in some way, shape or form. And I would definitely reach out to Chris maybe after today’s, um, uh, live stream and get special feedback. Yeah.

Chris Barnes (35:53):

We’ll make sure you’re thinking CSEP you need to talk to that’s right. That’s right. That guy, Chris barks, that guy there. Yeah. And you know, if supply chain is boring,

Scott Luton (36:04):

It’s really a good thing, right? It means it’s, it’s uneventful, no surprises, no fires.

Chris Barnes (36:08):

Well, but that’s the beauty of the irony of the title of that show is it is anything but boring and, um, you know, that’s what, what would be more perfect for Chris and his sense of width than, than a title like supply chain is boring. That’s right. Well, WV asked earlier, um, I think it was a couple of days ago now up in the comments, but the, you know, what is the worrying about supply chain? So my answer to her is obviously she’s never listened to any of my podcasts

Scott Luton (36:44):

That is true, and we can fix that. That’s one problem we can fix easier. I think Amanda just dropped in the comments, a link to that channel and all that programming. So check that out. Uh, so if we can, we’ll shift gears back over to clay and to audience. Thanks for the comments and questions. We’ll we’ll circle back before we wrap up.

Chris Barnes (37:03):

Um, alright. So clay, um,

Scott Luton (37:05):

Let’s say you’re graduating in December from the university of Georgia, right? Yup. And your, your degree, your degree will be in

Chris Barnes (37:15):

Marketing, marketing emphasis and professional selves. Okay. Um, and

Scott Luton (37:21):

You know, as, as, as a soon to be new graduate and as you, um, you know, had different conversations and, and, and hear from, from your colleagues that are also graduate and as they interview and whatnot, and you hear different experiences, different cultures, different opportunities. Yeah.

Chris Barnes (37:38):

If, if you could speak to a bit, you know,

Scott Luton (37:41):

What type of culture and values, uh, company initiatives, you know, what, what appeals to you in an employer?

Chris Barnes (37:50):

You know, that, that’s an interesting question right now. Um, it’s, it’s a pretty standard question, you know, for someone my age, uh, you know, my generation, but right now it’s interesting because there are so many companies that are, that are, that are lacking empathy and they’re doing it publicly. And it’s, it’s, it’s an, it’s an embarrassment to those companies, I think. But on the flip side of that, there are companies that are, that are doing the right thing and that’s, that are showing that empathy and that are really rising above the tide, um, and are making a name for themselves with, with my generation coming out of college because, you know, I’m kind of stuck between two generations and we about that, we didn’t, you know, I don’t want to go down that rabbit hole, but, um, you know, I would really say that for a generation without applied, you know, too young to remember nine 11, that sort of thing. I think this could very well be that plight and not, not the virus itself, but the effects, what it’s done, how people are reacting to it. I think that, um, really what I’m looking for when I come out and my peers is really is, is a sense of empathy and an understanding of difference. And, uh, being the change and putting a positive foot forward in, in making a positive impact, you know, with those values in mind. Well, you know, um,

Clay Phillips (39:27):

I was talking to somebody, um, I don’t know, several weeks back and I thought, did you ever think ever in your lifetime think that your kids would have a better, well, when I was a kid story than you do, and this is it right. This whole COVID seismic societal disruption, right? The complete cessation of, of society, normal society and commerce, and the long, the short term and long ranging effects that these generations will deal with, have dealt with and will deal with in as they’re coming of age it’s, it’s substantial, no doubt. Yep. Insight play. Yeah. Early, appreciate that. Um, and appreciate kind of the spirit in which you shared it and being so transparent with us. Um, what do you think, um, how have you seen some ways, you know, empathy is one of those words that you hear tossed around oftentimes without any meaning behind it. Right. But it’s kinda like lean, it’s kinda like, um, resiliency these days and resilience, you know, clay, w w what comes to mind and what do you draw strength from when you see these, the folks that really practice empathy, any, any examples come to mind, anything you’ve seen that really has resonated with you, whether it’s related to supply chain or related to business, or just, you know, uh, stopping your personal journey.

Chris Barnes (40:56):

Um, you know, I hate to, I hate to pitch and to self promote, but our, our logistics with purpose series really highlights some of these businesses that are doing things ethically in the right way and putting that foot forward. And, you know, we pointed being the change that needs to happen. Um, you know, specific companies like our, our friends at, um, our coffee, coffee company, and, you know, everything, you know, that Enrique has really lined up for us. It’s a spotlight, you know, I think that you can go to that program page and it’s full of those initiatives. Yup.

Clay Phillips (41:31):

Well put, and I wanna a little more on

Scott Luton (41:34):

What you, the example you mentioned, but first Don says, Hey, great perspective, clay, every generation has its unique challenge that helps to shape what their impact is, not just on the present, but how they can help shape the narrative for the future. So, uh, Don good comments there. So one of the things that clay mentioned as part of logistics for the series, and it’s not pitching if we’re, you know, if we’re bragging about other companies,

Clay Phillips (41:56):

Right. Yeah. It really is. It’s, it’s, it’s missional. It is, you know, uh,

Scott Luton (42:02):

Beans, coffee, for example, comes to mind. And a big part of, of, of their mission is making sure farmers in Ecuador, uh, coffee farmers aren’t taken advantage of like, like has been the case throughout history, right. And that they can actually make a healthy living and are, are treated, uh, as having a seat at the table. Right. And, and that, you know, clay, when I heard you want to hear, you kind of describe your point of view and some things that are important to you, stories like that, just jump almost out of my headphones, you know, front and center, because as vector and Enrique Alvarez likes to, uh, their mantra is changing the world, you know, no doubt about it. And by fueling companies like that, they are, they absolutely are changing the world and making life so much better. I mean, think of the families behind them

Clay Phillips (42:53):

Farmers. Yeah. So, um,

Scott Luton (42:55):

I appreciate you mentioning that, Greg. I know you’ve been a big part, uh, with me it’s, co-hosting that, that series, what really stands out to you as we talk about empathy,

Clay Phillips (43:04):

Man. So, well, so many of the, some, you know, I’m thinking of companies love beyond walls right on the street as they were before, but during COVID, they were conscious to give help to the homeless who are the most underserved, right. So that they had places to wash up and clean up and, and masks and other PPE to help keep them healthy because they’re the most exposed, um, good or right. Good. Or is a for profit company that is helping to eliminate the 40% of, of food waste that occurs from restaurants and that sort of thing. They are a very channel to allow, you know, Kroger and Publix and TGI Fridays and whoever else to, to get that food to people in need, as Jasmine Crowe says, you know, hunger is not a matter of availability. That’s, I’m paraphrasing, it’s a matter of logistics, right?

Clay Phillips (44:05):

It’s not that the food isn’t there, it’s getting the food to the people in need. And it’s things like that, that where you really really see the passion and the empathy for people, um, in, you know, the, the people that they’re serving and, and with a Z beans. And I forget the other one, the one that community I’ll tell you that’s right. Yeah. Community connect. Yeah. Um, they are actually making sure, and this is, uh, you know, coffee in particular is a deeply unfair supply chain and they are making sure to bring equity to the people who are, who are producing and delivering the goods and, and, um, keeping more money in the pockets by creating these communities. So that’s incredibly valuable. Yeah. Go ahead. When it goes back to my point that, you know, that, that I would tell people coming into to college.

Clay Phillips (45:02):

So I think a major or selecting an emphasis or a minor cause a lot of people can ma major in management minor in supply chain. You know, that’s, that’s around that. A lot of people go is, is that, you know, I said that this is an industry where you can change the world actively and see your part in it and see your hand working in it. Um, and I think that all of these testaments or art or testimonies are a Testament to that, um, that this is one of the only industries that you can go in and just immediately make a difference and, or immediately help a company make a difference. Love it, love it. Scott, one of my favorite, uh, Greg white tee shirt, isms came from that. One of those shows that you, when you think you’ve done good do gooder gooder. That’s great. That’s a great show.

Scott Luton (45:50):

It really is. And really appreciative of Enrique and the vector global logistics team. Y’all checked out that company. I mean, they’re really doing some special things to give forward across the world. I mean, from Africa, a lot of the work there, they’re shipping books to children in Africa and supporting schools in Africa and infrastructure to here in, uh, the Western hemisphere and in central and South America. And, and, um, uh, with, with the coffee growers and coffee families and you name it, uh, so that Kyle, to your question, the company, uh, whether it’s Z beans coffee, which is one of the companies we talked about, uh, community connect is one of the companies are doing special things we’re talking about and then vector global logistics and gooder. Those are the four company names. I think I called them all that we were just speaking to. And if you have a specific question, put it in the comments and Amanda will get back to you. Thank you, Amanda.

Clay Phillips (46:44):

I’ve got a quick comment there. This Chris, um, relating to this week’s, uh, interaction between you and I. I just noticed that, uh, speaking of Kyle van, arts’, he just subscribed to supply chain is boring. I just wanted you to know that now I have two followers, including myself. Actually, I’m a follower to sleep at night. No, thank you. It’s a very good show way. So thank you, Kyle. Not to get too far off, off, but I mean, it is really valuable. Look, the way I describe it is you tell us where we’ve, you talked to the people that got us started have got to where we are now,

Chris Barnes (47:30):

And that will get us into the future. And I think that’s a really important perspective, as you know, as clay is talking about always be learning. Yup. Not always globally, always learning. Alright.

Scott Luton (47:42):

It says we don’t touch that coffee. Alright. So as we are kind of moving to the end here and, uh, Saya, good morning, good afternoon. Hope you’re doing well. Looking forward to connecting Greg, we’re connecting with Siaad tomorrow on his show

Chris Barnes (47:57):

That, um,

Scott Luton (47:58):

Alright, so clay, you know, uh, we like to challenge our audience at the end of each episode, in our own meaningful and very genuine way, by the way that we don’t take that lightly. Cause we, we, we approached that, like we approach our own team, you know, challenging, uh, uh, the do more and do more. So final word stages, yours. What would you like to leave with folks? Or how would you like to challenge folks or what, you know, what’s the one big thing that folks should take away from what you’ve shared thus far today?

Chris Barnes (48:31):

You know, um, I think it goes back to, um, to asking, uh, what I would say to these, these students. Um, I think a powerful initiative would be to, um, participate in, um, and initiate programs where you are educating people on, you know, what this industry is and what it can do and its potential and everything that it encompasses and the positivity that it can bring. I think that those, those types of initiatives are what we need right now on the rebound from being a scapegoat and being blamed for, for, for a lot of problems. And, and now being a sort of savior now like we’re supply chain is the reason why people’s lives are back to normal in a sense, um, you know, go spread that gospel. Hmm.

Scott Luton (49:26):

All right. That is a great one, a great way to wrap on and clay, I know you’ve got thousand things going on. I really appreciate your willingness to let us turn the tables and ask your, you know, kind of puts you on the spot and ask you questions and get you to share what’s between your ears. Well, it’s been fun. It hasn’t, it hasn’t been long enough. We’ve got 18 other questions that we can’t get to here today, but we’ll have you back as always. And I’m clouded one of the things that you’ve been excited about as, as the rest of us, there are some of these new series, you know, clearly we’ve talked about supply chain is boring, uh, and tequila, sunrise, uh, we’re, we’re driving forward in our, in our give back programming with veteran voices, uh, this week in business history, we’ve got Jay Jammin, who’s in the, in the comments here earlier today. He’ll be on a live stream in a couple of weeks. The, uh, logistics. Yeah, the Jayman experience. I mean, it really is. It’s it is invigorating. Um, and Chris, I want to give you a with supply chain is boring. Uh, we talked to them about the latest tequila sunrise episode. What’s the latest episode that you’ve published or what’s the latest one you’re working on? Give folks a heads up on what?

Clay Phillips (50:38):

Well, one thing I was, I was disappointed in Greg again, uh, it seems to be par for the course, but he interrupted clay. We asked clay what his favorite shows episodes were. And clay was just getting ready to finish and say, supply chain is boring. I interviewed with Norman Bodak, the three part series, but you interrupted him. So he didn’t have a chance to say it. I saw it. So that was awesome. And then the John Hill episodes were awesome too. Yeah. Some of these, some of these people are so boring. They got it. They take two or three shows. I don’t know. Um, no, that was fine. Just those things. And then I got a new one coming up. It’s it’s with, uh, with, uh, dr. James stock, university of South Florida. He’s actually a marketing professor. He’s new. There. He is starting a great program for supply chain under the marketing arm at university of South Florida. And what he has done is he has interviewed a lot of the great historical people from academia and people that have been kind of the people that I try to focus on. He’s interviewed them audio and video, and I’m going to re reproduce those. I talked to him as an intro. I’m going to reproduce those. So that’ll be coming out as well. Love it.

Scott Luton (51:42):

Well, no shortage of good stuff that folks really learned from that’s. What I love about supply chain is boring. And just to clarify, if you can’t tell, we have a lot of fun with that title, it’s kind of tongue planted firmly in cheek, uh, and it’s a perfect fit for, for kind of Chris’s approach. So

Clay Phillips (51:58):

If you can’t have challenge to professionals, frankly, it is, that’s the idea really that’s really, you know, to speak to what clay was talking about. That’s really what we’re fighting against is this identity that, and we even talked about it with the president of, uh, MP today, Rick June. And, um, is this perception that it’s a back office thing, as he said, it’s the wire between the electrical system and the switch, you just expect it to work. Right. So, um, that, that kind of exposure that it’s not that simple and it’s not that boring is really, really important.

Scott Luton (52:36):

Yep. Well put, all right. Um, that is gonna be close to a wrap for today’s live stream. I want to mention that we do have our, uh, the Genesis of our next standup and sound off event coming up. We, we planned it for September. We’ll be, we’ll be publishing that next day or two. Uh, we’re going to continue to conversations around the work we have to do with, uh, uh, the state of race and industry. And, uh, I know we’ve gotten a lot of good feedback on that, Greg, Chris and clay. Yeah.

Clay Phillips (53:06):

We’ve got some folks that

Scott Luton (53:08):

Don’t want to tackle that right now, but you know, if we’re not talking about it and having uncomfortable conversations, we’re not learning, nothing’s going to change. So I’m really excited to be partnering with Elba Gallagher on this next one. You need to check out her nonprofit, um, uh, show me fifty.org. If you want to check out some neat, neat organizations doing some neat things, uh, and that date will be, will be released here momentarily. So, alright, clay, you’ve given your, your last, uh, challenge to audience. I love that we’re going to do the same with Chris and Greg, and then we’re going to sign off. So Chris final thought for the audience for this episode.

Clay Phillips (53:44):

Yeah. I was just going to say kind of carrying on your theme that you talked about, you know, the, the race discussions and things that, um, it’s interesting. I don’t know if the, if the John Fluker episode was built around that, or that was the theme of that kind of, that, that resonated well with him as well. So if you have, if you’re interested in that check out that episode coming up. Yeah. That’s literally coming out shortly. Yeah. Tomorrow.

Scott Luton (54:04):

It’s going to be part of our big Friday series. Uh, John Fluker is present CEO of grins of Bach, uh, incorporated. And that was an, a great conversation. So that’s a good call out, Chris. All right, Greg, I’m no, uh, I always enjoy your final thoughts as well. So

Clay Phillips (54:20):

What you got give a kid a chance. I mean, not a kid, but I think what you can see here from this episode, I think I even had some surprising moments. We work with clay every day for a year. So I think you can, the, one of the most joyous things about working with young people is that they’re learning every day. They are teaching every day, reverse mentoring, as we talk about with Sandra Bellamy all the time. Um, and, and there is so much enthusiasm. Everything is new that it brightens your day. It, it inspires you and the rest of the organization every single day. Um, this is why this is why we want new young blood in supply chain. It will, if it, you know, whether whether that blood is new and young or just new, whether that’s somebody who was an engineer or, uh, or us, uh, a physicist or that’s a person of color, or someone from a different culture or different lifestyle choice, or just a young person getting out of school, all of those introduce a new awakening to what we can do, what we can be, how we can work together.

Clay Phillips (55:37):

Hmm. Yep.

Scott Luton (55:37):

Well said, uh, clay, Chris Greg really have enjoyed this episode, uh, clay. Thank you. Thank you for what you do. Thanks for your, your, um, you know, your, your, your net never being satisfied, always pushing what we need to be doing. What should it be doing the sense of purpose that you shared here today? Uh, uh, in a, in a very well-spoken way. And, um, you know, I look forward, you know, it’s been a year about, I don’t know, uh, 13 and a half months. That sounds just about right clay. Yeah. I look forward to what the next 13 and a half months, and a lot more, uh, uh, what we can tackle there. And, um, again, thanks so much for your time to our audience. Thanks so much for tuning in your comments, your questions, uh, thanks for, for, uh, um, kind of rolling with the punches. This was a unique episode, very intentionally. So, but one that was special to all of us and hopefully you enjoyed as much as we did. So, uh, on that note, Hey, do good. Give forward, be the change that’s needed and we’ll see you here next time on supply chain now. Thanks everybody.