“Now more than ever, we need to lighten up a little, you know, laugh at ourselves. Nobody wants to surround themselves with the sad. And there are plenty of ways to be appropriately funny in the workplace without ticking somebody off or offending somebody.”

– Allison Krache Giddens, President of Win-Tech, Inc.

Everyone knows that there have been frequent significant disruptions to the supply chain since February, but that doesn’t mean that manufacturers don’t have to carefully manage news of those disruptions when their customers will be affected.

Win-Tech, Inc. is an AS9100-certified aerospace machine shop located in Kennesaw, Georgia. Allison Krache Giddens was their Director of Operations since 2006 until May of 2020, when she stepped into the role of Co-President. One of the founders of the Georgia chapter of Women in Manufacturing (WiM), Allison also found ways to keep Win-Tech’s internship going as a virtual program and clearly understands the importance of maintaining a positive employee experience.

In this conversation, Allison tells Supply Chain Now Co-hosts Greg White and Scott Luton:

· The impact that the pandemic has had specifically on the aerospace industry, where many of the suppliers are sole-sourced because they are the only option

· How small to mid-sized suppliers who serve in the Department of Defense’s supply chain are being affected by the need to get a Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC)

· Why companies have to focus meaningfully on their employees: on retention, on skills development, and on engagement

Intro/Outro (00:00:05):

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 (00:00:40):

Hey, Hey, good afternoon, Greg white. And welcome to supply chain. Now today’s program today’s livestream and Greg, this promises to be one of our best, right? Yeah. If we didn’t start off exactly on our game, it’s because we were having so much fun in the green room, so yeah. Let’s yeah. I’m excited about this. Well, we are too, and we’re having, uh, a repeat guest big for in the show, a mover and shaker out in industry. We have got Alison crikey Giddens from president of Wintec inc. Joining us and, you know, beyond all the work she does to industry what I admire, what we’re going to touch on here, as part of this interview is the great give forward work that she does and her team and her family does in industry. So we’re really looking forward to talking about the Dave crates foundations. Well, yeah, yeah.

Scott Luton (00:01:34):

That’s really impressive effort. And look, she’s local. I mean, not just local to Atlanta, but her office is not far from where I live. So we were just sharing a little bit about some of the local initiatives philanthropies, and also maybe a little bit about some local food tacos. Yes. You’re making me hungry for tacos. The number five taco joint in America, taco still Java. So let’s, uh, let’s not talk about fitting more cause I am carving. I might eat this microphone and uh, so let’s, let’s, let’s say loads a few folks. So first off it looks like a Ben Adam is, is tuned in via YouTube. Great to have you been, uh, our friend, uh, prey T great to have you back pre teak, uh, via LinkedIn. Hopefully this finds you well, uh, Sandeep is also tuned in via LinkedIn. Great to have you here with us. Joseph is with us via LinkedIn from Freetown in Sierra Leone, early on outstanding Joseph to have you, of course, they, then you can’t have the live stream without the one and only Dave and great to have you, uh, I don’t know if it was David or somebody else who was offering up, um, what did they call them? Um, like social support Canadians, uh, for anyone stressing about our current situation in the States.

Greg White (00:03:00):

I said, call and get your support Canadian right now. Um,

Scott Luton (00:03:05):

I might dial him up. He or she up before we,

Greg White (00:03:09):

Yeah, I don’t know if there are enough enough people in the country.

Scott Luton (00:03:13):

Tom rafter is with this Tom and have enjoyed your podcast here lately. Look forward to our sustainability focused live stream next week. So great to have you here near FOD. So Fahd not only a good morning and great to have you, but congratulations on your new role, outstanding, uh, the organization that picked you up, they just landed a huge free agent, uh, and star so great, uh, congratulations and all the best to you, uh, near FOD and James

Greg White (00:03:40):

I’ve actually talked to a couple of folks at their, their new company. I’m not going to out them yet until he’s ready to, but, um, great. They got a great idea. So be on the lookout,

Scott Luton (00:03:54):

Uh, Jack is with us, great to have you here. And he loves, he loves tacos as well. So Gary’s with us. So Gary, good afternoon, Gary shared a little tidbit on the social earlier today that he lived in the same neck of the woods as Alison and her family when he, when he was in Atlanta. So we’ll see if we can’t, uh, reconnect to them during today’s live stream. Hmm. All right. So welcome to everybody. I know we couldn’t get everybody, but thanks so much. Uh, we’ve got a great show lined up here with the manufacturing, a thought leader, and we’re going to dive into that momentarily, but first let’s hit a couple of quick events. Greg trivia is back Oh, by the man. So,

Greg White (00:04:35):

You know, counting wasn’t enough.

Scott Luton (00:04:42):

He is back that’s right. So our dear friend, Jenny Froome and the outstanding safe picks team, they’ve got a great event coming up. The 23rd and 24th November. I love their hashtag. If you can see it right here, Greg, if I can put my, my mouse on the right monitor, I’ve got 17 in the, in the studio. Now congratulations

Greg White (00:04:59):

On the new monitors, by the way.

Scott Luton (00:05:00):

Not just another hashtag, not just another webinar. I love that. Uh, so check it out. I am in, y’all gotta check it out. Uh, no shortage of supply chain topics all about you see the tagline achieving a perfect 2020 supply chain vision, great speakers, great camaraderie, great networking. Uh, you name it. And Greg and I, uh, we just signed up to lead a breakout trivia session. And Greg, we’re going to be offering a few of our highlights from speaking with hundreds of supply chain leaders and beyond really here in 2020

Greg White (00:05:38):

Big fan of safe picks what they’re doing. I mean, what they’re doing in, in not just South Africa, but, but across the continent is, um, a fantastic service to the unity of that continent.

Scott Luton (00:05:51):

W w uh, well put, and we’re making it easy. We’ve got the link to this event in the show notes, y’all check out a lot of good stuff there. And then one other quick event for bringing Alison is we’ve got our upcoming webinar, free webinar coming up Thursday, the 19th, which is just around the corner, man. We’re, we’re going to be Thanksgiving before we know it, Greg. Um, we’re featuring Bob, uh, Slevin with OpenText and we’re talking, we’re basically getting an update on all the new things are going on with, with practical, uh, effective application of IOT. And, and Bob is, he’s a guru in the space, right? Greg?

Greg White (00:06:28):

Yeah. I mean, everything that many, many of you out there were able to listen to and be impressed by Mark Morley, who is, uh, is a data and integration specialist. Um, everything that he is to data Bob is to IOT. So I’m really looking forward to this conversation. You know, I think IOT, um, is under utilized in supply chain and there is a ton of applicability there, so.

Scott Luton (00:06:56):

Okay, great. Sorry. I’m looking at some of these comments.

Greg White (00:06:59):

You’re looking at Tom Raftery. He’s not, not just another comment

Scott Luton (00:07:05):

That, uh, you know,

Scott Luton (00:07:08):

You’re going to have on today’s live stream. I bet the one with Tom and Alexis is going to be really neat as well next week. And their five is making some, uh, political announcements and the comments to site for

Scott Luton (00:07:20):

The cause of the, uh,

Scott Luton (00:07:22):

The, um, state of our psyche here in the States. I’m just going to skip right over those. Okay.

Greg White (00:07:27):

Yeah. But I think it’s all hilarious, right? I am equally offended by everyone

Scott Luton (00:07:34):

And, and Daniel. Great to have,

Scott Luton (00:07:36):

If you hear back really, you know, we enjoyed his, he was the first one to take us up on, uh, our, let us hear you sound off tool. And he says, it’s a good day when I can break away from work for an hour for my se and fix man. It’s awesome. All right.

Greg White (00:07:52):

So Greg, it’s legalized in 40 States now, so you’re welcome, Daniel. All right. We good.

Scott Luton (00:07:59):

We were having too much fun and, and I’m really tickled to have Alison crate

Greg White (00:08:05):

In here and have some fun with her.

Scott Luton (00:08:07):

Let’s do it. So we’ll welcome in Alison who serves as president of Wintec.

Scott Luton (00:08:15):

Hey, Alison. Good afternoon.

Greg White (00:08:17):

Hey, how are ya? Good. Fantastic. Yeah,

Scott Luton (00:08:20):

Better now. And Greg, you had something to say before. I, we, we switched in Alison.

Greg White (00:08:25):

I just wanted as a quick programming note, right? To remind people, if you really liked this to sign up wherever you get your podcasts from,

Scott Luton (00:08:35):

You know, how could you not like this? That I agree.

Scott Luton (00:08:39):

Sorry. I completely missed that. It’s it’s all my show notes here and I completely skipped over it. So Greg quality control,

Greg White (00:08:45):

Well, the world is crashing down what people, when I’m remembering things that Scott is not. So that could be the seventh sign. I’m just saying, well, Alison

Scott Luton (00:08:56):

Good afternoon, great to have you back. And so, you know, Greg, as we both know, and our team knows Allison’s been with us, uh, through some video interviews and podcasts interviews, we collaborate on a variety of events through the years. Uh, she was, uh, one of the presenters at our supply chain awards at MODEC, uh, last March, before the world changed. And it it’s shame on me because we had, that’s probably the last time we actively collaborated other than the internship program, which we’re going to touch on, but it’s her first time on the live stream. And Alison was built for live stream conversations. Our audience is really gonna enjoy this.

Allison Krache Giddens (00:09:32):

Yes. Well, I thought would be tacos. There will be, I’ll be by your office shortly. We’ll go to talk and still job.

Scott Luton (00:09:42):

So, and just to connect the dots here for the audience. So Greg and Alison, uh, where Allison’s company is in the same neck of the woods where Greg lives and the Kennesaw area. So it was neat to see them connect the dots earlier. Uh, let’s say hello to a couple of folks. Sophia is with us. Uh, so Sophia, uh, great to have you you’re in for a treat. Sophia does a lot. She’s an ambassador for supply chain, Alison, and she is a very sharp analyst amongst other things. And so some of her summaries from these episodes are really, um, uh, they get a lot of attention. A lot of folks learn from them, so great to have Sophia and Sophia you’re in for a treat here. All right. So Greg, where we start here with the one only Alison crates, you Giddens

Allison Krache Giddens (00:10:27):

Let’s, uh, let’s try to find out, well, we know about Alison, but not everybody here knows. So let’s find out a little bit more about Alison. So like where are you from? And give us just a little bit of who you are. Oh gosh. All right. So, uh, yeah, thanks so much for having me and uh, long time listener, first time, whatever. Uh, so I grew up kind of in the area I’m from new Orleans. So I like to think that I’m part Cajun by association. So I cook Cajun, um, but I grew up thinking I was going to be president of the United States. Unfortunately I only got like three writing votes, this go round. So then I thought it was gonna be a veterinarian. Uh, and then I went to high school and realized that I actually had to come up with a job that didn’t require chemistry.

Allison Krache Giddens (00:11:18):

So, uh, I got my undergraduate in psychology and criminal justice, uh, naturally went to work for corporate America and, uh, then decided that wasn’t for me. Uh, I was pet sitting for, uh, Dennis Winslow at the time as a kid. And I decided, Oh, I’m going to go work for him because I know he has a small business. I called him, came to work for him 14 years later. Uh, he’s my mentor. And, uh, now as of October 1st, my coworker, John Hudson, and I have taken over as presidents, uh, we just bought the company, so, wow. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you. So we’re excited to Wintec is an aerospace machine shop. Uh, so of course the psychology and criminal justice undergraduate degree didn’t do me too much help in that degree. So I’ve gotten them few other degrees in the meantime, uh, conflict management, masters, and a masters in manufacturing leadership. So, um, trying to make it all come together and, uh, yeah, that’s kind of the, that’s the one-on-one

Scott Luton (00:12:21):

Big deal. So I’m sure that’s gonna inspire plenty of folks. 14 years later, after starting after leaving corporate America, you buy the joint and, and, and you’re gonna take it to even bigger Heights. So I love that story. Um, it, it, it, it’s so awesome to hear. And, and as I share with the earlier Alison, we were in, in the pre-show conversation, uh, Greg, it is, uh, very gratifying and satisfying, whatever the right word is to see girly, good people that always give back and do big things and do the right things, see them succeed and go on to even new Heights. So Alison I’m a half hour,

Allison Krache Giddens (00:12:58):

Can’t be more excited.

Scott Luton (00:13:00):

So let’s, let’s, let’s play a little game here. So Greg Gary Smith is a dear longtime friend of ours, uh, regular keynote and thought leader in supply chain space. He wants to know putting out some right on spot. Do you remember Liz?

Allison Krache Giddens (00:13:15):

I do. I was the kid with the Lord. I was the kid riding the bike in front of your house. Um, okay. Ask him, well, I guess he’s hearing he’s listening to his life. Yes, I near the old ones. Right. I think the old ones were other neighbors of yours, I think. Okay. All right. This neighborhood Allison. Well, maybe we shouldn’t out the whole neighborhood, but were you in Kennesaw or were you around the area? It was in Kennesaw. Yes. Okay. Yep. Well, let’s see.

Scott Luton (00:13:50):

See how he responds. Here’s a quick question. After you shared the big news that became official last month, Shelby has got a great question. How do you convince an aerospace manufacturer to give you that

Allison Krache Giddens (00:14:02):

Chance to learn? Great question. That is a really good question. So what I’ve kind of noticed is, and maybe this is maybe this is a bad way of looking at things, but I think it’s reality. It really is what you, who, you know, um, I don’t know that I would’ve gotten involved in aerospace. Had I not sat for the owner of the company? Um, I would say a volunteer with it. It depends on where you are in your career. So I see PMP, so you’re obviously you’re, you’re in your career right now. You’re doing stuff. Um, if, if there’s any way for you to plug in on a peripheral with that particular manufacturer, so maybe find out what organizations that they’re a part of and then get involved with those organizations, um, to work alongside them. Because ultimately when they’re looking for a role to fill, they might already have your name in mind as somebody that they trust, um, somebody that they can rely on. So,

Scott Luton (00:14:58):

Great question, Shelby. And we’re going to talk more about, um, some great groups that you can leverage to further your career here momentarily, but first Gary responded the Oldham’s, it’s such a small world

Allison Krache Giddens (00:15:13):

When you start peeling on yours, it

Scott Luton (00:15:16):

Really is. And Gary great to have you, Gary, right? Gary is, um, in particular. Uh, so he’s a supply chain leader based up in New York city and he is really, um, studying and researching and fascinated about the circular economy, which we’re going to be talking a lot more about in the coming weeks and great to have you here. All right. So Alison, uh, one of the things that we have tracked you here lately in the last, well throughout this year, and certainly going back to supply chain awards is your involvement and leadership within, uh, women in manufacturing, the, the, the, the organization. So slew of events. And we’re gonna get some of your key takeaways from a manufacturing point of view from many of those events, but tell us more about the organization.

Allison Krache Giddens (00:16:00):

Sure. So women in manufacturing is an organization, uh, designed to support, promote and inspire women in the industry. So, and even if, um, I think to our friend’s point earlier, even if you’re willing to get involved in the industry, you’re looking to get involved in the industry. Uh, we have a lot of service providers as well as friends of manufacturers. Um, it’s really just to be there and be surrounded by other people like you. Um, and that’s, that’s a refreshing thing, uh, but they’ve done a wonderful job during the craziness of the pandemic and not having the opportunity to do a lot of in-person events. Um, I feel like the opportunity to be a part of different chapter events, different state chapter events has been really cool. So definitely encourage people to check it out. Men and women they’re swirled and everybody. Yep.

Scott Luton (00:16:48):

I love that. And it looks like we were putting the URL in the comments and Greg did, you know, I think, I think I’m gonna surprise you with this, Alison, uh, and check my facts here. Alison founded the GA or one of the founders of the Georgia chapter of whim,

Allison Krache Giddens (00:17:03):

Right? Yes. You got it. You got it. Must’ve been, I don’t know, eight years ago, something like that.

Scott Luton (00:17:12):

So, um, all right. So anyone can join. Anyone can attend love that. Uh, I love how it helps all professionals develop their, their network. And going back to your earlier point about, you know, it’s important, who, you know, and it’s important to, to keep building those connections. Um, but let’s talk about some of your key takeaways, no shortage of events at whim, as, as hosted and, and continues to provide the rest of the industry. What are some of those recent events, some of your key takeaways from that?

Allison Krache Giddens (00:17:42):

So, um, there’ve been a few different, big events that Wim national has hosted. So there has been the national summit. Uh, there’s been women and manufacturing self, which is typically it’s a regional conference takes place in Greenville, South Carolina. But this year, obviously it was a virtual version of it. Um, but something, some things I’ve been watching as a lot of these, um, these kind of knowledge experts come on and, and speak with whether it’s keynotes or kind of exposing people to new concepts. There are few, I think, themes that I’m seeing, um, one is that it’s all about the employee. Um, I keep seeing that it is all about, um, not only the treatment of employees and the retention and the, the attraction to the job and all of that, but I’m seeing the, how do you empower your employee to do their jobs? So it’s one thing to set goals and it’s, you know, it’s one thing to say to somebody, Hey, I expect you to do this well, how do you, what are you giving that person? And in order to do that, I, I, about 10 minutes before the show, I had somebody come in my office and point out that he needs some sort of real time ability to have ticklers that remind him of when certain things have to happen. And so we’re sitting there back and forth trying to come up with a way, and he’s got all these great ideas, but if, if I can’t enable him to take one of those and run with it, how can I expect him to do his job? Right, right.

Scott Luton (00:19:08):

Great point. The employee experience too. We’ve heard a lot about that here in, in recent months. Um, and, and Greg, we’ve talked about a lot, how one of the silver linings is, uh, uh, re-invent, uh, reinvigorated focus, especially on safety of, of these workforces. But, uh, we, it seems like to be a common thread in a lot of our conversations,

Allison Krache Giddens (00:19:29):

Unlike Alison, a lot of companies really need a kick in the somewhere to get themselves, um, to get themselves on track to these kinds of things. Look, we don’t have to pretend that companies are being altruistic about this. A lot of them had to shift their focus to their employees because of this seismic societal disruption, right. And the change in work from home and also the necessity to apply new levels of safety, uh, awareness and enablement to their employees. So, yeah, I mean, it has been a huge topic and I am a firm believer. I believe this about philanthropy as well. I don’t care why you give, just put a crowbar crowbar in your wallet and give, and I don’t care why you do the right thing by your employees just do it. And you know, it’s called enlightened self interest. It’s an ancient capitalistic philosophy. So, you know, eventually companies and, and leaders recognize and acknowledge that all of these things are to the value of their brand. And I think, um, in smaller companies, Alison like yours, it is part of who you are, but I think companies lose track of that as they get bigger. So it is good that this has been an initiative to get their

Scott Luton (00:20:48):

Agreed and real quick comment from Mike aver, which we had a great chance to connect with. Uh, earlier this week, Mike [inaudible] culture eats strategy for breakfast. You got to focus on employees as they are always your greatest asset, great stuff. They’re

Allison Krache Giddens (00:21:02):

My employees are your first customer.

Scott Luton (00:21:05):

Yes. I love that. I’m still that Greg, I’m a blatantly steal that. All right.

Allison Krache Giddens (00:21:08):

I’m not sure that I invented it. So all you are.

Scott Luton (00:21:14):

Thank you. Uh, Alison let’s keep driving and let’s, let’s, uh, probably don’t have enough time to offer up a lot of your observations here. So what else, what else?

Allison Krache Giddens (00:21:23):

So something that I immediately wrote down, knowing that we were going to chat and then, um, something I immediately wrote down when I heard it, uh, one of the, one of the speakers were Thomas ThomasNet, um, at whim summit said something that has really stuck with me. And that is, um, to become consciously competent and basically said, if something’s working, figure out why it’s working and then rinse and repeat, do that somewhere else. Um, that was really, that was something to me. Cause we spent, I spent so much time, you know, on root cause analysis and trying to figure out five why’s and all that kind of craziness. And we spend so much time. I mean, not talking politics, look at, look at, look at the election. We spend so much time of, well, what went wrong or what went this? What went this for anybody?

Allison Krache Giddens (00:22:12):

Okay, well talk about what went right? What worked and then how can you implement that into something else? That’s as critical as analyzing what went wrong is analyzing what went, right? Because you analyze what went wrong to avoid it from happening again, you analyze what went right to enable it to happen. Again, I was challenged frequently by an old associate, a guy named Paul Rose. Who’s probably his title is chief supply chain officer at Henry Schein now. But anyway, he was in charge of their supply chain, which they transformed their company from the supply chain out and applied things to sales and finance, whatever. Anyway, the question he would often ask was, why did that go, well, why did that succeed? And I think that’s an important thing to do. It enables the repeatability of, of those kinds of successful events. That’s a great insight about positive reinforcement too.

Allison Krache Giddens (00:23:08):

I mean, yeah. There’s only so much, especially right now when everything seems to be so negative from pandemic to everything else to hear something positive, like, you know, such and such happened, this was successful. Good work. Y Y now we can hang up on the why, why did it work? So we’ve seen some blank stares when you ask that question, why were, why w what made that successful? Yeah, I did an in one estimating, isn’t it? Yeah. It’s like, Oh, is this a trick question? Well, it becomes cultural though. It can become cultural because I remember the old, um, and Henry Schein. And th that question would catch people like a deer in the headlights. And, but eventually it got them analyzing as things were going, right. Why things were going right. And the answers got not only, um, less stunned, but so much more rapid and deep and, and across the entirety of the success. So you, you will continue to see that evolve. Yep. Great points. Great strategy.

Scott Luton (00:24:15):

I spend eight to 10 hours a day working with Igor, right? I mean, constant negative. We’ve got, I think as leaders, we’re charged with finding the good news, even in those toughest days when there’s not, maybe it’s not quite as prevalent. Um, there’s a lot of folks that are raising their hand and saying, amen, in the comments here, Alison, what you’re sharing. I want to share a couple of there. Shelby loves the phrase consciously competent, competent. So, uh, uh, Tina says, do the right thing. Amen. Sophia says, focus on why things are working rather than figuring out why they’re not working as Greg was touching on. Tina also said, catch them doing something good. Give praise freely and often. And finally rich Brown says, analyze what went right. Echoing what you both are speaking into. All right. So we’ve got the first, first church of positive reinforcement here, brewing here

Allison Krache Giddens (00:25:11):

And analysis. Right. I mean, that’s critical as well, right? Yeah. Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:25:15):

Good point. All right. So what else really sticks out here lately? Alison,

Allison Krache Giddens (00:25:20):

Now that I had a great time doing the, um, there was a women in manufacturing, uh, self presentation that I made on humor, uh, talking about humor and resiliency. And I think that kind of goes back to the positive side too. Yeah. Just kind of talking about how, uh, now more than ever, we need to kind of lighten up a little, you know, laugh at ourselves. Um, you know, again, like you said, nobody wants to be around any or nobody wants to surround themselves with the sad. Um, and there are plenty of ways to be appropriately funny in the workplace without, you know, without ticking somebody off or offending somebody. So

Scott Luton (00:25:59):

I love that you pointed this out because Greg and I always talk Nerf fight in particular, he really brings a sense of humor to the conversation

Allison Krache Giddens (00:26:08):

In the comments.

Scott Luton (00:26:09):

And it’s so, I mean, you know, it’s so important not, not to take yourself too seriously and certainly to laugh throughout the day. Right. I think that there has been study after study has proven that helps you maintain a healthy mix, especially managed stress. All right. So here’s a question, uh, from Nairobi and, and Alison, whatever you can share here, feel free to, you know, we want to protect all your confidentiality, but she says it, one of the main wind tech logistics, supply chain processes that are directly impacting the aerospace industry, not Alison. I know you can read there, I’m reading it in case folks are listening

Allison Krache Giddens (00:26:45):

Into the record reading into the record.

Scott Luton (00:26:48):

So Alison, how would you respond to that Nairobi?

Allison Krache Giddens (00:26:52):

So I think a great question. There are a couple of things that come to mind, um, the COVID impact the pandemic. Um, I know, I believe you all covered it on your show at one point, um, the Smithfield ham kind of that shut down and the food aspect, um, the aerospace industry I’ve noticed has been a little bit affected on, um, on the side of workforce. So where there are the workforce workforce shortages due to pandemic. Um, we’ve seen a little bit of delay and lead times for, um, things like materials or specific extrusions that are required for, for jobs. Um, something else I believe it was, um, from one of the speakers, from the women and manufacturing event, uh, they talked about how those who have been successful through this pandemic have managed to manage their supply chains well, and to kind of project what’s happening and to have different different sources.

Allison Krache Giddens (00:27:48):

So knock on wood. We’ve been relatively okay on that angle. There, there are certain suppliers within the aerospace industry that are a sole source or that have specific part numbers and cage codes called out. So you don’t have a choice. You have to go to them well, if they tell you, Hey, uh, you know, COVID affected us. 30% of our workforce is out sick for the next two weeks. Then you’re, you’re kind of at the mercy of those two weeks. Um, I think ultimately what has enabled us to take a breath has been being able to communicate that back to our customer. So we’re fortunate to have great lines of communication open with, with our customers, especially those that ultimately are reporting to department of defense. Um, and so the moment we find out if something like that, as, as much as it pains me, um, it comes from some, somebody here in writing, you know, here’s, what’s going on, here’s how we’re gonna mitigate that. Here’s the game plan going forward. So it’s not, it’s not enough anymore for a manufacturer to send its customer an email or to call them and say, Hey, we’re running late, you’ll see it in three weeks. Right. You have to say, we’re running late. Here’s why here’s what we’re doing to fix it. And here’s one I’ll check in with you next

Scott Luton (00:29:01):

Love that, Greg, I want you, I want you to respond here in just a moment, but first to our audience, Hey, if you work in manufacturing or if you serve manufacturing, what are some of the observations that you’re having in the industry, especially in this challenging, historically challenging year of 2020, y’all drop that. We’ll, we’ll recognize that as they hit the comments. All right. So Greg w

Allison Krache Giddens (00:29:22):

What are you hearing Allison say there? Transparency. I mean, really that’s what she’s speaking to is, you know, the fact is, I think a lot of people for a lot of years felt like you had to hide your failures of any size from your customers. And in truth, I can tell you from being on both sides of that equation, knowing is better than not knowing, right? If you, if you are the recipient of goods from some, from someone in your supply chain, it is much better to know than not know. And the companies that are, that are, uh, exposing those sorts of issues and being communicative about it are, are winning. So, uh, and so critical in your world, you’re dealing with the department of defense in many cases, right? Sometimes with the, with the prime, uh, suppliers, but, but often directly with the DOD. Correct. So mostly, mostly with prime. Okay. Okay. But still, I mean, you’re in that tier of supply chain, uh, or of, of providers in the DOD supply chain. So that’s critical for them to know if an F 22 is on the ground and it needs gear or a gear, uh, part that you are providing, they are waiting to put that whatever it is, $400 million aircraft in the air for that nut bolt pin, whatever it is,

Scott Luton (00:30:52):

If, if it’s impacting, uh, being fully mission capable, right. That’s what the air force looks to, to, to maximize and optimize cause that’s how they project for. So, um, really quick, Alison, Greg’s got some questions around, I love this internship program. We’ve got some comments also, and that we’re going to reference, but really quick, we were talking about CMMC in the, pre-show explain that to our audience that may not.

Allison Krache Giddens (00:31:16):

Mm. So yes, definitely. And this also answers that previous question. Um, another challenge that we see in the aerospace industry, um, CMMC for those who have not been here in the buzzword, the cyber security maturity model certification, is that last word to me, it’s kind of like AGM machine. Like it’s kind of, you know what I mean? Like that M is already machine, so why would you say machine? But anyway, so, um, but yeah, so anyways, so it’s, it’s basically missed 801 71 on steroids. Um, it’s, it’s Uber cybersecurity, uh, central it’s requiring everyone along the DOD supply chain, uh, from your, your primes to your small mom and pop shops, anybody dealing with CUI, which is controlled unclassified information, um, anybody dealing with that stuff has to eventually become CMMC. Um, so that is, uh, a challenge because they’re estimating and of course, I’ve, I’ve been absorbing every single webinar there is on this, but, um, people are saying that it’s going to cost small businesses anywhere between 50 to a hundred thousand dollars their first year to implement well, I mean, you know, a mom and pop shop dealing with CUI, do they, do they want to bother?

Allison Krache Giddens (00:32:32):

So I think that will impact the supply chain overall. Like I’m a hundred percent behind it and let’s let we

Scott Luton (00:32:40):

Were talking. We had an interesting

Allison Krache Giddens (00:32:41):

Given that analogy, that analogy. Yeah. Why is that important? So it’s important because you’ve got the bad guys out there and they’re looking to take information. They’re looking to take blueprints and stuff to take back and make their own a fighter jets. We’re not interested in providing them with that. And you have to get the weakest link on board with the cybersecurity. The analogy I made earlier was you can’t have a, um, a peeing section and a swimming pool. Uh, you just can’t do it. I mean, you can, but it’s disgusting. And so ultimately you’ve got some challenges along the supply chain, uh, for sure. And I think that is eventually coming.

Scott Luton (00:33:22):

We’ve got every country has bad actors. Every, every corporation, every organization has got bad actors that are looking for that little, little opening, right? They can, they can exploit, uh, from a cyber standpoint in it. And you know, in this, this great world we live in where everything’s connected the gosh, there’s so much at risk if we don’t protect those weakest link. So I love that. Appreciate you sharing Greg. I want to, um, share a couple of comments and then I’m gonna turn over to you to drive a little bit further here. So, um, bear with me. We’ve got a ton of comments here. Uh, Jaman first off, welcome. You’re late. You get the merits, but welcome to the conversation.

Allison Krache Giddens (00:33:59):

You missed the tacos. Yeah, that’s right. You missed tacos,

Scott Luton (00:34:02):

Right? Damon of course leads our logistics and beyond series. And he’s the most part. Speaking of he’s the most positive person I’ve ever met on this planet. So Jason, welcome to the conversation. Shelby says in cold chain and air freight logistics, the capacity issues are worse than ever, but the infrastructure is terrible for cold chain and is finally being addressed for the vaccine distribution. Okay. All right. Um, Hey, Wilton,

Allison Krache Giddens (00:34:28):

That makes sense. Well, especially the freight industry in general right now is hurting. So add that to it. That doesn’t help

Scott Luton (00:34:35):

Tom shares going back to managing expectations, better to under promise and over deliver than the opposite. Agreed, Tom Daniel shares. I’ve heard recent complaints from small and medium sized business companies that DOD isn’t always a good customer, for example, unwilling to work with customers when challenges pop up, any challenges, see there. Now, Alison, you can say, Hey, happy to take it offline.

Allison Krache Giddens (00:34:58):

No, I’ll answer it. What the heck? No. So we do a lot of work for the prime and then the prime answers to the DOD. Um, but ultimately I can see where people interpret it this way. Uh, putting myself in the DOD shoes. Um, I think I, gosh, I can’t argue that I wouldn’t be a, not so good customer because I believe that it ends with DOD, so DOD and then, you know, your, your Lockheed Martins and your bowings and then your wind techs and then you’re somebody else. And then you’re somebody else and you’re somebody else. Once you get so far now you’ve got the DOD and they’re the ones making, or I’m sorry, putting the aircraft on, on the, on the freight carrier. Right. So it’s kind of an interesting, um, interesting perception, good customer. Um, I can see them being probably the most demanding and understandably. So I’ve got a bunch of cards for sure. Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:35:54):

Gary Smith, trust transparency, agility are the new paradigms. Michael Eva says transparency is always key. It is oftentimes easier for company to work with its benders limitations rather than to change vendors. That’s a great comment. Great comment. You don’t want to throw the baby out with the bath water, right? We want to know about the challenges in a transparent manner and then work together to fix it.

Allison Krache Giddens (00:36:17):

And sometimes that’ll, that’ll give you information you didn’t already know. So if you are transparent with the customer and say, I, you know, I was going to get you those 30 parts because of this, I can only get you 15. Then they go, actually, I really only need 10 and that’ll get me beyond the crisis. It’s like, Oh, great

Scott Luton (00:36:32):

Point. Sophia says, I’ve seen a lot of technology being implemented in manufacturing, for example, VR, virtual reality and augmented reality for machine maintenance, enabling remote work for technicians. Love that

Allison Krache Giddens (00:36:44):

Two quick comments to the lack of, of skilled technicians, right? I mean, uh, there are entire companies built around facilitating that for things as I won’t say mundane, but things as simple as air conditioning and plumbing, because there aren’t enough qualified, um, skilled trades people out there, by the way, if you’re looking for $130,000 a year, job become a plumber.

Scott Luton (00:37:12):

Love it. Love it. Great point. As always, Greg Daniel says, yes, the C M M C is one of those necessary, but very painful DLD rigs, but there is growing concern that we’ll push out a lot of suppliers, especially smaller ones to Alison’s earlier point. Marie loves that expression about actors. I also want to say Marie shared a great post on LinkedIn, uh, about when we’re talking freight, um, truck drivers last week, I believe, uh, Greg and Marie was really expressing all of us drivers on the road. We get frustrated at times with, with truck drivers. We, what we probably all can admit to it, right? And Maria was basically making the point, Hey, let’s be a little bit more empathetic and may be willing to kind of see where they’re coming from. And, and, and most importantly appreciate what they do to keep things moving forward. So great to have you here as always, Marie finally rich has agreed communicating bad news to customers with actions to correct and recover, builds trust and credibility. Greg, we’ve got a lot of the comments by now. We also want to dive in deeper with some of the great things that is doing to give forward.

Allison Krache Giddens (00:38:18):

Yeah. Uh I’m um, as you can probably expect, Scott, I’m going to go off script here a little bit, cause I’m fascinated by your new role as president, relatively new role as president. And I think you mentioned that, is it a co-presidency that you have? So how long do you think

Greg White (00:38:36):

Until you’re the sole president? No, I’m just kidding. You don’t have to.

Allison Krache Giddens (00:38:42):

No, it won’t be very long. No, no. We have, we have an awesome partnership. So John and I, he knows all the stuff I don’t know. And I know all of the stuff he doesn’t know. So she’s got that technical brain on the shop floor. He can, he can make anything happen. He can pull the strings and quote the work and then I’m on the operations side. And I’m the one saying, you know, Hey, we spent this on this, what can we do to make this better?

Greg White (00:39:07):

Yeah, that’s fantastic. So, um, though in all seriousness, I mean, you are a you’re in the DOD supply chain. You’re not a prime vendor. And for anyone who doesn’t know a prime vendor is the one the DOD writes the checks to the prime, writes the checks to everyone else who may supply the parts through Lockheed or whomever else. Right. So, um, just so everyone knows that, but as you are in the DOD supply chain, there are certain structures of the company that I hope that you are using to your advantage. Um, such as the percentage of ownership that a particular partner might have. So are you,

Allison Krache Giddens (00:39:45):

We are a woman owned and veteran owned,

Greg White (00:39:48):

Outstanding, outstanding. Cause you know, I think it, it, that is an important initiative for our government entities to be able to spread the wealth. Right. And we work as you’re probably aware with Kevin L. Jackson who works with supplier diversity programs all over the country. And, um, and I think it’s great that, that, uh, companies get the opportunity to take advantage of that. So, um, that’s outstanding. And, and first of all, great wishes to you because, um, one, you know, what you’re doing is a matter of national security. And as you said, they have the ultimate responsibility to department of defense. And that’s why sometimes they’re not the best customer because they can’t compromise. Right. Um, all right. But you are doing, you are an altruistic leader and you are doing some altruism things, despite what I said about other larger companies. Right. So, so you have an internship program that you’re nurturing. So tell us a little bit about that.

Allison Krache Giddens (00:40:50):

Sure. So, uh, it was, I’m referring to it as the accidental internship. Uh, it was supposed to be for two students live in person, starting in April, COVID hit. And I kept putting off, uh, talk about, you know, transparency with your customers. I kept putting off calling this teacher to tell them that I was going to cancel his internship. And, um, right before I was about to call and cancel another teacher, friend of mine messaged me and said, Hey, you got room for a couple students because the pandemic canceled their internships. In hindsight, I’m thinking what you’re going to put them in here, but they’re wait a minute. So I called both of them and said, yeah, I’ve got room. We’re going to do a virtual version of this. And, um, within a weekend I went home, told my husband, said I have an idea.

Allison Krache Giddens (00:41:31):

And he responded the way he always does, which is, Oh yeah. And, uh, I spent the weekend coming up with, um, this curriculum. My mom is a professional educational consultant and former executive producer of a series for kids. So I, I grabbed her brain and I said, here’s my idea, what do I do? Um, and so basically it was a think, Scott, I think you were on it too. We had 16, 18 days worth of, um, presentations in tiny chunks. So we took an hour every day for three, four weeks. And we brought on a thought leader from pieces of manufacturing industry. So we had Scott on for supply chain. We had an engineer that I met over in the UK rom who’s awesome. Uh, to come on and talk about sustainability and engineering. Uh, we had somebody come on and talk about the aesthetics of architecture and the outside processes involved pieces that are manufacturing outside buildings. We talked about, uh, we had our shop manager on our quality control manager. It was a blast these 12 students or so sharp. And we were talking earlier in the green room. Is that the questions that they were asking? I mean, they were such good questions that I was having to sit there and pretend like I had heard them before.

Scott Luton (00:42:49):

Alison real quick, Greg, you and I always talk about how our audience brings it, right. Every single time, very sharp. Well, these kids, the kids, these young adults that Alison, uh, gathered for this program would fit right in. I was astounded with just how sharp and with perspective and context, our questions were, uh, that, that I got a so rewarding experience. Alison kudos for putting all the,

Allison Krache Giddens (00:43:16):

Yep. So these high school or college students, high school, it was all rising juniors and seniors. Wow. Yeah. And the only, the only stipulation it was from four different schools in the area, the only stipulation is that they had to have some sort of interest in manufacturing or engineering. And that was it. And it was, it was great. They, I mean, some of the questions that they were asking on a pandemic impact of supply chain, um, later on when we, uh, we had presentations and the students gave presentations on something that they found fascinating in the industry. Um, and, um, that was, it was a lot of fun and that the presentation levels were insane. They were, uh, we had several judges that were just, they were friends and colleagues. Um, one particular friend who used to work for Tesla was on and, and she ended up offering to connect one of the students to one of her engineers at space X.

Allison Krache Giddens (00:44:09):

I mean, what you can’t buy that just, just crazy stuff. You know, I think you ought to call it an intentional more than accidental internship. Cause I’ve got to tell you, I have been in and run and, and created internship programs that didn’t have 16 rounds of intentional education in them. So, uh, I think Sophia said you should patent the program. You know, it’s funny that I did think about, I, I, you spent many hours trying to decide if I was going to do that or not. And, um, part of me was like, gosh, that’s a lot of work. And then the other part of me was like, why, but why? I mean, if it’s money that I’m after money, money’s not in that. Um, if the intent there is to expose kids, to manufacturing, to show them all the different angles, that it’s far more valuable for me to have qualified people in the workforce say, Hey, you know, when I did that thing at Wintec, I like that.

Allison Krache Giddens (00:45:06):

I think when I got to work for them, I’d rather have the best and brightest because they’re going to make, I mean, if you’re going to talk money, they’re going to make me a lot more money in the long run as, as an awesome employee. David said, that is so impressive. I mean, that is, that’s more intentional than I have seen some fortune 500, um, internship programs that is really, really impressive. I’m sharing it with others too. So if people want to connect with me, I’ll be happy to kind of give you a, uh, a one-on-one and you can implement, you can do a version of it if it means that more businesses can copy this and expose it to other people then great, then that’s, that’s a win.

Scott Luton (00:45:53):

You have anything in Gregg, Alison doesn’t mail, anything in, it gets done, it gets done. Right. And so I didn’t expect anything less having participated in this program. The only thing I was surprised by, uh, and I shouldn’t have been, it was just how sharp and the, and the questions, you know, folks ask a great question. It shows so much intellect and it shows a lot of times so much experience and that these young adults were, were, uh, they met the standard for sure.

Allison Krache Giddens (00:46:18):

The dumbest questions come from the brightest in the room on data. Right. It feels like that. Um, but you know that, yeah. That’s so impressive. So you shared with us some of your takeaways from that, any bright spots, bright moments, aha. Moments for you from that experience? Um, I, I think that as I plugged people in and speakers in to this program, um, and then as these students came on screen, I really started to recognize that you can’t be what you can’t see. So if you’ve got a student, if you’ve got, um, a female student who is on this kind of talk or this kind of program, and you’ve got another female in an industry that you’re kind of thinking about, um, you start to relate, you start to see them. And so I’ve been a lot more intentional now with some of the other peripheral, um, virtual internships and things like that, that I’ve taken part in just as a guest speaker and such, but I’ve been a lot more intentional trying to make sure that I know my audience ahead of time. And that way I can be sure to make sure that the audience is like them. So yes, we, you know, we do need to diversify things and make sure that they’re, there’s a voice for everybody in the room, but we also need to say, okay, who needs to hear this message from somebody that’s like them?

Greg White (00:47:48):

Alison what’s the toughest question. You got

Allison Krache Giddens (00:47:51):

The toughest question I got. Okay. So this was during presentations and it was a picture. You get 12 high school students, all incredibly bright. Um, you’ve got a handful of parents because we invited them for presentations so they could plug in and watch, but we’ve got teachers probably online anyway. Yeah. Good point. Good point. Uh, yes, they weren’t working. I can tell you that. And then you also have my sister cause she teaches some of those students, um, at one of those schools. So she was on as well, but she had her video off and she was texting me the whole time going now, you see what I deal with? These kids are brighter than anything I know. And the question that blew me out of the water, one of the students asked, was, um, she was tackling the, um, unconscious bias in artificial intelligence. I mean, Holy cow, her question was, was based on how do we fight that? Because knowing that you have there’s garbage in garbage out, right. So if artificial intelligence is created with a certain, uh, assumption and premise, then how do we expect it to detect anything other than what it was fed with? I mean, somebody in 11th grade was thinking about, you know, I I’m, I’m more concerned about whether or not my pants are on backwards.

Greg White (00:49:14):

Yeah, yeah. And that, that is an important question by the

Allison Krache Giddens (00:49:17):

Way. They’re not by the way.

Greg White (00:49:19):

Yeah. Oh, okay. That’s good. Did you have to confirm that or

Allison Krache Giddens (00:49:24):

We’re coming down here?

Greg White (00:49:30):

Um, yeah. Well, I think that, that’s, that’s an impressive question. By the way, the answer is synthetic intelligence and, and intentionally built calculations that, um, are intentionally unbiased, but just to give our audience a little handle on house, how easy it is to be biased, imagine a child because that’s what artificial intelligence is. And if you only show this child artificial intelligence men’s shoes and say those are shoes, then when it sees women’s shoes, it doesn’t recognize them as shoes. So it’s as simple as those kinds of things. If you only show it men as doctors, it doesn’t recognize a woman in a white coat as a doctor. So it is it’s it’s unconscious, regardless of what one of Scott’s friends says that isn’t an unconscious unintentional type of bias creation, but still bias. And it is difficult to fight, but it’s

Allison Krache Giddens (00:50:28):

Something that we have to be very intentional about. Wow. For a high school kid to think about that, that is so impressive.

Scott Luton (00:50:36):

Unlike an accurate forecast, unconscious bias is very real. It’s a very real thing. And we were talking about on stand up and sound off last week, Greg. Um, really, if you, if you, and this is my challenge to the audience and just based on my own personal journey, right? If you don’t believe it, you to search your soul and really search and look in turn intrinsically internally at how you perceive things and really, uh, observe that, I mean, really be real, intentional and deliberate about it. Cause it’s really a real thing. And if you’re honest with yourself, you’ll pick up on it and, and, and find ways of overcoming it is human. So, um, all right. I want to share a couple of quick things, Greg. I would love to dive in deeper in this topic with you, Alison, but, but again, outstanding, very astute, a group of young adults you had come through the program.

Scott Luton (00:51:30):

Uh, Jenny Froome is with us. We won’t say hello to Jenny Roy quick, Jenny. Um, was she, she forgot the hour. I love how honest she is in the comments. Jenny. Great to talk with you this week. We mentioned your event. Y’all got coming up, uh, on, on the front end of today’s session and we’ve got the link in the show notes, uh, great to have you here with, as we, as we chat with Alison, Alison, I want to share moving right along as we start to wrap this up. Uh, unfortunately I want to share one other way that you’re, you’re giving forward. Uh, and, and I’m running out of fingers and toes trying to track all of the things that you’re involved with, where you’re really moving the needle and making a difference. But this is a really special one. So tell us more about the Dave, uh, crunchy foundation and the, and the why there.

Allison Krache Giddens (00:52:14):

Sure. Um, so the day preachy foundation helps, uh, local kids play sports when their families can’t afford the fees. Uh, we’re based out of Metro Atlanta. Um, and we helped as you can see 875 kids through, uh, all different types of, um, leagues organizations, schools, um, the organization was built on, um, the, the notion that a person doesn’t truly die, as long as you say their name. Um, and kind of, I believe in old native American saying, but my dad passed away in 2009, very unexpectedly. And when he passed my mom, my sister and I, we were like, well, you know, what do we want to do in his honor? What do we want to do in his name? He was a sports nut. And he was also somebody who would help people and never take the credit. You’d never know it was him. So we thought, well, this would be fitting. So I had, I’d been volunteering with some local softball leagues and it kind of expanded from there. So we have an application process. If you’re in the Metro Atlanta area, uh, check us out online. We’ve got Facebook page to a very simple application process, but we verify it through certain channels in the community so that we can verify the need and help kids out. We’re anticipating in the spring, once spring sports start back up or dissipating being pretty busy because it’s a challenging time for a lot of parents. Yeah. Sports are expensive.

Scott Luton (00:53:38):

So, um, it’s so important. I heard it at a, uh, an online event a few weeks ago, the importance of allowing kids to be kids and, and finding ways of making that happen. So, Hey, anyone in the comments audience today, if you’re looking for, for really impactful, uh, initiatives that don’t spare a single penny in terms of putting it towards the good they’re doing check out the Dave Creechy foundation. And I’m gonna pull that up one more time. Um, if I can work buttons here, Dave crates, you.com Dave, and then create your K R a C h.com 875. Local kids are playing sports. Thanks. So, uh, the leadership and the contributions that this, this powerful organization is doing, so get behind it and let’s, let’s let kids be kids,

Allison Krache Giddens (00:54:26):

Right? You got it. You got it. Right,

Scott Luton (00:54:29):

Greg w we knew we were, uh, in for, um, a fast moving, informative and fun conversation with Alison. And I really, I can’t believe we’re almost at the top of the hour or the bottom of the hour, whichever one it is. Uh, and we’re, we’re, we’re, we’ve got to kind of start to wrap it up.

Allison Krache Giddens (00:54:46):

I guess we have to, uh, before I give kind of a analysis here, Alison, I have to get a little bit more information out of you. So since you are from Louisiana, Louisiana, um, you probably know the local, um, Cajun restaurants around which, which is your favorite and what dish and I have to go with my mom’s house. That’s unfair. Come on. Okay. Okay. All right. Uh, Henry’s in Acworth is excellent. Um, uh, Dells, I believe they’re, I don’t know. I might’ve made that up. Um, there are, uh, you know, really have killer jambalaya. You do got time to wrap it up, Scott. Um, um, Po’Boys have you ever been there in Marin where, uh, it’s in Marietta, um, East of the big chicken on, so my good friend, Steve payment, who is real live Cajun says it’s the best Po-Boy you’ll get outside of Louisiana. So, yeah. Noted right in your mother

Scott Luton (00:56:06):

Earlier, really quick to cut in. I think she is with us in the car.

Allison Krache Giddens (00:56:10):

That’s Alison, I think that’s a good thing. I didn’t say anything bad.

Scott Luton (00:56:14):

So hello. Uh, ms. [inaudible], I love what you’re doing and I love how y’all work together to, to help so many kids. And, and by the way, Greg, yes. Uh, if we’re, if, if there’s any other time in the week that your mother might have available, we’re looking for some production expertise, uh, Greg

Greg White (00:56:33):

Production and good food always. So that can help you out with that. I’m sure. Okay. While we have mrs. Craigie here, let’s, let’s brag on her daughter a little bit. So first of all, um, the thing that hits me so hard is your, um, your desire to educate into, um, and to involve and, and to ignite the younger generations. And I think what you’re doing from, with the Dave Craigie foundation, and, and also with your internship, your amazing internship, which by the way, I want a, uh, I want a copy of the, at least the framework of that thing of what you’re doing there is fantastic. Aside from that, the knowledge that you have around supply chain, your Ascension to the throne of a supply chain company, um, in the DOD supply chain. So impressive. And you are, you know, at the, the opposite of, if you can’t see it, you can’t be, it.

Greg White (00:57:35):

You are the, if you can see it, then you can be a person. So I’m happy that we’re able to hold you up. Um, and by the way, if you want to hear more about Alison, she did a full access episode some time ago is episode one 29. Can you believe that? I know you’re going to love Alison I’m like, okay. I only saw you at, at the supply chain awards. So I went back and listened to it, um, so that I can confirm, I do love Alison. So, um, go back and listen to that. Also inspirational educational, uh, exactly the kind of leader we need today. So that’s my big takeaway gang. Very nice.

Scott Luton (00:58:21):

You said it better than anyone could, and I can’t agree more with what you just shared there. So very special person, uh, Alison I’ve enjoyed our whole, team’s enjoyed the different things. We’ve collaborated on love what you’re doing. Cause it’s about action. It’s about action. It’s not lip service and, and, and these kids and others are benefiting. So thanks so much. You bet. Uh, let’s make sure, uh, Tom was, Tom was asking what’s your mother’s address and what times could we all be expected?

Greg White (00:58:53):

Mommy, can we, can we be there at six? Does that work? Okay,

Scott Luton (00:58:57):

So let’s make sure folks can connect with you because you inspire a bunch of folks and I bet, uh, you’re going to get some, some inquiries. So how can folks get

Greg White (00:59:06):

Definitely so best way to reach me is through email, uh, a creechy@wintec.net. And that is a K R a C H E w I N dash T E C H dot N E T. I’m happy to whether it’s

Allison Krache Giddens (00:59:22):

To increase your foundation or the internship or wind tech or whim or CMMC or tacos or pants being worn backwards, whatever,

Scott Luton (00:59:32):

She didn’t miss a beat, Greg. She does not miss a beat. He doesn’t miss anything, but

Allison Krache Giddens (00:59:37):

Absolutely masterful. I

Scott Luton (00:59:39):

Really have enjoyed this hour. It’s gone by too fast. So we’re going to wrap up a few announcements on the other side, but, uh, Alison, thank you so much. Alison Creechy Gittens president of wind tech incorporated. Uh, and how’d you put it Greg she’s being what others need to see is that

Allison Krache Giddens (00:59:56):

I’ll probably, but you can see it. You can be yes. Right? That’s exactly right. She is a great example for that. Talking about not here. Alison, I appreciate the support. I can hear you. That’s right.

Scott Luton (01:00:10):

Alison, thanks so much. Have a wonderful afternoon and we’ll see you soon. Ah, I told ya, I told ya

Allison Krache Giddens (01:00:20):

And he told me, man, I hated swiping her out, but you know, the good news is, um, I know where she works and she’s near several of my favorite restaurants. So I know we’ll be able to have lunch and learn a whole lot

Scott Luton (01:00:33):

More folks need to hear, uh, her story and her perspective and it behind the, the great things that she’s doing for industry and local community, but also the industry. Um, Jenny says, thank you for all that. You do tough year for everyone, especially not, uh, the not-for-profits all around the world. Thanks for making this online. A venting thing, more exciting, love this community, Jenny, we love you. And, and, and to hear stories like that, I mean, that’s, that’s why you do it. You know, you talk to people that are, that are doing stuff and not talking about stuff. That is the secret sauce. All right. So Greg, we, I’m gonna surprise you with this. Oh gosh, I’m going to surprise you with this here. Uh, so I love this episode. So I was before we went live here today, uh, in my, at about 17 minutes free.

Scott Luton (01:01:24):

And I’ve got about halfway through the conversation that we released today on tequila sunrise with truly the one and only Kevin L. Jackson. Yeah. Imagine the things that we could do in this world by teaming up Kevin and Alison, that we can move mountains. But this is a, what a great story Kevin Kevin’s been on before. We’ve got a big new series we’re launching with Kevin and the weeks to come, but to hear him, uh, in the, in the first part that I listened to today, talk about being in fourth grade and right outside his classroom, K K K parades were taking place and how he had classmates bring a microscope to show Intel and all of his classmates were able to use it. And then when it was his turn, his, his, uh, fellow students said, I don’t want that blank using my microscope. And to hear him share these, these, um, these stories, I think you said it’s appalling, it’s beyond the Paul and I can’t think of the right word, but the interview is absolutely fantastic. And your approach at it is a great episode. Well, Greg, can you tell us, tell us your w I mean, you, you, uh, I’ve, I’ve talked enough here. What was your key takeaways from this and how can folks find it?

Greg White (01:02:40):

There is not one thing you could put in front of Kevin, L Jackson to stop him from going. He was completely undaunted by that. I mean, even, even I tried to draw, what did you take away from that? How did you let that, how did that motivate you or, uh, um, uh, and, and it did motivate him, but it didn’t anger him and it didn’t distract him. And, you know, the statement that he makes probably later in the episode than you’ve listened yet, Scott is essentially don’t let anyone else define you. If there is not a more poignant statement at this time on this planet. I can’t imagine what it is. Don’t let anyone define you. Right. Um, and, and, uh, he was raised, right. I mean, he clearly was, but also an incredibly talented individual. Scott, if you were only 17 minutes in, I might not have been done with all of his accolades and accomplishments, because that, that picture you took was after 22 takes of trying to condense, uh, uh, what is a 63 minute, uh, interview into what we had to break it into two parts, but I had to try and break it down and tell people about it.

Greg White (01:03:54):

And ultimately I had to cut it down to so few things just to be able to make a promo video for it, but inspirational. The second half of it is, is about business and other things, and that’s coming in the next week. So yeah, listen up there because it is important. It’s inspirational. It doesn’t matter who you are. Uh, you will be inspired and driven, like so many of, of the guests we have on tequila, sunrise. So we’ve had, we’ve had, you know, an African-American leader, right? We’ve had an, uh, a family, uh, a founder whose family escaped from Cuba, real tyranny, right? We’ve had women leaders. We have had, um, a kid who got, um, Ben Gordon who got the crap beat out of him in school and was constantly bullied. I mean, we have had people who have gone through incredible difficulty to become some of the most successful people that we all know, and that the, the overarching theme that each one of them has is give yourself some grace and don’t let anyone else define you. And I think if you can do those couple of things, you can only win,

Scott Luton (01:05:11):

Love it. I love this new, um, element that we’ve baked in that you’ve baked into the Keela sunrise, because as much knowledge you bring to the table for, from supply chain tech and the entrepreneurial journey and M and a activity and all that stuff there, I love these interviews because it really, it’s a great mix of, of some of that niche with people that had these fascinating stories to tell that will inspire you and really encourage you to go and do more and be more, um, be more resilient. Um, you know, and, and so, yeah,

Greg White (01:05:45):

I hadn’t intended it to be inspirational to people, but I’ve gotten so much feedback that it is, and it is to me as well. So I’m glad for anyone who is uplifted by that, it’s not all about tech. It’s about the struggles of human life. It’s about the struggles of leadership and entrepreneurship. It is also about how you translate that into your own type of greatness. Yep. And, um, I, I, I really enjoy it. It, it is. It’s um, are your purpose now? Well, it is. And it it’s really uplifting for me, frankly. I mean, I would do it if nobody was listening and sometimes I do it like nobody’s listening. So any apologies for offensive language that you might hear. Um, but yes, you can find that wherever you find your podcasts, subscribe, subscribe, subscribe, or as Scott Luton, coined the phrase, imbibed subscribe and enjoy the vibe.

Scott Luton (01:06:45):

That sounds like something cheesy and hokey I’d come up with. So Shelby, where at sea, we knew that you were asking that question and Greg just answered it. So thanks so much for being a part of this, uh, this conversation today. Appreciate your questions and hopefully check out that episode and, and who knows, maybe we’ll get you lined up on a future one. Um, all right. So let’s do this, um, loved all the comments today. Alison looks like she’s jumped in and, and is, uh, addressing some of the things that were said really appreciate that. Loved all

Greg White (01:07:13):

Question, but getting us a table. It tacos still Chapo. What is she doing?

Scott Luton (01:07:17):

Well if Tom says jumble, I for everyone, Alison Giddens and Allison’s mom, so great, great.

Greg White (01:07:23):

These animal. Jumbalaya Tom. Also, we will make sure that nothing goes to waste.

Scott Luton (01:07:29):

Nothing, nothing, nothing. All right. So, uh, David says dance. I mean, podcasts, like no one is watching that Jameson all. Alright. So everybody, we really enjoyed it. I know we’re over a little bit. Hey, here’s one more challenge for you. We have got this new loop, neat little story here, here, where we want to hear from you, right? W we’re all about amplifying the voice of global supply chain. And one of the numerous ways we do that is we’ve got this little play or this little recorder on our website. That’s, that’s currently being, um, improved, upgraded, go to that. That’s the main site on the, on the right-hand side. You’ll see that little black tab click on that and share what’s on your mind. Tell us about what what’s not getting enough attention. Tell us about how, what you took away from Alison’s, uh, story and journey today. Listen to the Keela sunrise, especially that one with Kevin L. Jackson, because it’s, it’s really a much like Alison story today. It’s very special and inspiring. Tell us why, what it meant to you, whatever it is, speak up and sound off. So we can, we can hear you and share your voice with the rest of our audience. So, um, and then finally, Greg,

Greg White (01:08:42):

Yes, sir. I know you are,

Scott Luton (01:08:45):

Uh, radio is dead here at supply chain. Now it is new website, uh, almost new year supply chain now.com where again, our mission is amplifying and serving the voice of supply chain. If, if we’d love for you to visit, we’d love for you to check out any of our programming. Uh, and most importantly, we’d love to know what’s on your mind. That’s, that’s our charge here at supply chain. Now we’re better because we’re, we’re more informed by this first-class global world-class standard audio.

Greg White (01:09:18):

That’s right. Amen. Listen up to the voice.

Scott Luton (01:09:22):

Okay, Greg, look, we’re gonna have to coin that. We’re gonna have to, uh, tag that, um,

Greg White (01:09:29):

Not t-shirts don’t you think?

Scott Luton (01:09:31):

Absolutely. We’re working on swag.

Greg White (01:09:33):

I’ve been told Josh. I mentioned swag. Oh man, I’m going to get a thousand messages. Now

Scott Luton (01:09:38):

It’s coming. It’s coming. I promise ya. We’re trying to make it easier, really own for our audience and the team and kind of have a, a third party fulfillment source. So it’s coming, it’s coming. All right. So really enjoyed this. And just like we knew we would, Alison creature Giddens is a wonderful conversation. Always. We’re going to have to have her back on full access and take a deeper dive because so much has changed. Right? Since we sat down last time, Greg,

Greg White (01:10:04):

We should do a remote recording and yeah. Maybe with her at her mom’s house.

Scott Luton (01:10:13):

Yes. Let’s do that. That’s right. Well, Hey to our audience, we enjoy

Greg White (01:10:16):

Where’s her mom live. Sorry,

Scott Luton (01:10:19):

Trying to sign off, Greg. I’m trying to sign off. Okay. Uh, Hey, but to our audience, thanks for joining us here on today’s Thursday live stream, you can catch us only set live streams every Monday and every Thursday at 12 noon Eastern time. So Mondays is our supply chain buzz and Thursdays as has Greg has kind of become, uh, a catch. All right. Sometimes we’ll feature stories focused on many factoring today. Other times it’ll be, uh, sustainability or, uh, uh, workforce or logistics. You name it, but, uh, you can check us out every Monday. See those four-letter words on tequila, sunrise every Monday and Thursday at 12 noon Eastern time. Uh, but really the audience love what y’all bring. That’s why we do it and really appreciate it. So, uh, Scott Luton, Greg white here on behalf of the whole supply chain now team. Hey, do good. Give forward. Be the change that’s needed to be like Alison. And with that said, we’ll see you next time here on supply chain now. Thanks.