The Supply Chain Buzz is Supply Chain Now’s regular Monday livestream, held at 12n ET each week. The show focuses on some of the leading stories from global supply chain and global business, always with special guests – the most important of which is the live audience!

This week’s edition of The Buzz, hosted by Scott Luton and Greg White, opens with the guys acknowledging that nearly everyone’s March Madness brackets are now broken – just in time to soothe the pain by celebrating International Whiskey Day.

In this livestream, created in collaboration with a live Supply Chain Now audience, Scott and Greg discussed some of the week’s top stories:

• A Wall Street Journal report that while ‘green’ freight options are more available than ever, shippers have yet to embrace and pay for them

• Amazon’s ongoing struggle to meet the FAA’s regulatory requirements for their drone delivery program

• Why Footlocker is taking 2023 as a ‘reset year’ and closing mall locations as they explore different concept models and deepen their partnership with Nike

Intro/Outro (00:00:03):

Welcome to Supply Chain. Now the voice of global supply chain supply chain now focuses on the best in the business for our worldwide audience, the people, the technologies, the best practices, and today’s critical issues, the challenges and opportunities. Stay tuned to hear from those Making Global Business happen right here on supply chain now.

Scott Luton (00:00:31):

Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, Scott Luton, Greg White with you here on Supply Chain. Now welcome to today’s livestream, Gregory. How we doing.

Greg White (00:00:40):

Quite well, Scott, getting a little, uh, of that sort of being in the sun with the hat thing going on. Yes. And you know, it’s that time of year, at least in the southern part of the us it’s that time of year. So we, uh, we’re gonna start looking different folks.

Scott Luton (00:00:56):

<laugh> and Pollen is starting slowly but surely starting to be a thing of the past. At least. It’s not in the big ti waves of it. That is, that it is, you know, in the last few weeks. Yeah, and that’s a good thing as well, Greg, right?

Greg White (00:01:09):

Yeah, no doubt. Uh, you know, here on the coast, it has it dissipated. I don’t know, a few weeks ago, but I know it’s still going in Atlanta, but everything is blooming, right?

Scott Luton (00:01:22):

I mean, that’s right.

Greg White (00:01:23):

The forsythias, which are always first, those big yellow bushes, man. That’s how, you know, spring has sprung.

Scott Luton (00:01:30):

Spring has sprung indeed. Uh, well, folks, uh, we are bringing to you today the supply chain buzz, where every Monday at 12 New Eastern Time, we talk through some of the leading news stories, uh, of the day from across global business, global supply chain, you name it. But not only do we give you, uh, the stories, we give you the take the perspective, some context. So, uh, Anne, Greg, as always, we want to hear from all of our listeners. We’ve got, uh, I see Shelly a.

Greg White (00:01:59):

good idea.

Scott Luton (00:02:00):

Helene and, and others chime in. Let us know where you are tuned in from. Of course, we welcome your comments through the hour. Okay. So Greg, we, we’ve got, um, so we’re gonna work through three stories today and around 12 30, 12 35. I’m adding a timestamp there to put pressure on us. We’re gonna get into a question of the day, right? Greg and I have been in, and the team, we’ve been working, working to bring more educational, um, insight to the supply chain buzz. And today we’re gonna be talking about choosing that right advisor or coach. And it’s so important, so important. So stay tuned, uh, with us as we get there. When, of course, welcome your perspectives. Um, okay, so, Greg,

Greg White (00:02:45):

yes, Scott,

Scott Luton (00:02:46):

before we get there, we’ve got some resources to share with folks. We’ve got those three stories. Uh, and before we get there, let’s say hello to a few folks. So, Shelly, Shelly Phillips from Snowy Colorado. Great to see you here today. Uh, Helene in France. Helene, great to see you. I think she’s joined us before Greg, hadn’t she?

Greg White (00:03:05):

I’d love to figure out how that’s pronounced in French, right? El, El Elaine. But I won’t <laugh>, man. Sorry. Which is terrible.

Scott Luton (00:03:15):

<laugh>, you speak all the languages. Greg, keep surprising me and, and you speak all of the languages. Well, <laugh>, uh, Sylvia, Judy is back with us. Sylvia, hope this finds you will. I know you got a big trip coming up, uh, to reconnect, uh, with your family. Yeah, looking forward to that. And she says her azaleas are in full bloom, man. Uh, Ryan says, greetings from Ames, Iowa. Iowa. You ever been the Ames, Iowa, Greg?

Greg White (00:03:42):

I think so. Uh, is it one of the U cars? This is so embarrassing. Is one of the universities there, I wanna say? Yeah. Uh, well,

Scott Luton (00:03:50):

Ryan, let’s Ryan let us know.

Greg White (00:03:51):

Yeah, Ryan. Yeah. Make us look stupid like we need.

Scott Luton (00:03:55):

<laugh>. There is some kind of landmark, uh, facility or site in Ames. Yeah, I’ve seen it on TV before. So, yeah. Uh, Gino is back with us. Old Jean Pledger from North Alabama. Hope you and your family are safe and sound. We had a bunch of storms come through, man. Terrible storms come through Mississippi and parts of Alabama. Uh, Iowa State Ryan came through Forest.

Greg White (00:04:17):

Okay, here we go. Knew it, knew it. Well. A lot of people don’t know where Kansas State being. Well, Kansas State University is being for Kansas. I empathize with people. Blanking on your, everything in your state, dude. Sorry, <laugh>. I should be better.

Scott Luton (00:04:34):

Uh, let’s see. Kim’s tuned in from Denver. Of course, she’s gonna have to connect with Shelly, a fellow Colorado in there. And finally, T squared holding on the Fort Force on YouTube. Good Monday morning folks. Bring on the nourishment, hopefully reverse logistics and rpa. Well, today you need <laugh> day. It’ll be back. It’ll be back soon. Great to see you.

Greg White (00:04:54):

Reverse logistic good but difficult. RPA <laugh>. Yeah, everywhere. RPA is everywhere.

Scott Luton (00:05:01):

That’s right. Should be a book or a poem. Okay, Greg. Uh, let’s share a couple resources with folks. Uh, you know, hey, this, uh, leadership is tough. Supply chain is tough. Uh, getting through operationally, the day is tough. We got you back and we wanna equip y’all with as many resources as we can. Uh, amongst those, Greg is our weekly newsletter, uh, which this week is Dr. Drops every Saturday morning. This week we focused on six tools for doing it better. Very practical. Uh, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. Next time it’d be 12 tools for doing it better. I couldn’t remember where that song stopped him. <laugh> had to sing it.

Greg White (00:05:40):

Six, six is and Out <laugh>. Wait, what the tape? Sorry. Six is still enough.

Scott Luton (00:05:45):

If I’m singing, the number six is plenty. Uh, right. Uh, but folks, check this out. Uh, let us know what you think. Let us know which of these tools maybe, uh, you see the most value in. We’ve got the link to, uh, with that said in the chat, and again, we publish it just about every Saturday morning and we are approaching 21,000 subscribers. Yeah.

Greg White (00:06:05):

And if you’re not reading that on Saturday morning, what are you doing while you’re drinking your coffee <laugh>, right? What could be better than this?

Scott Luton (00:06:11):

That’s right, Greg. And, and hey, uh, I loved last week’s, um, um, last week’s we focused on your, uh, very popular supply chain commentaries, which you’ve been doing for, it feels like a couple years now. Millions of, of readers and, and commenters for sure. And, um, I think folks, uh, may have missed a couple of those. So we made sure that, uh, our 21,000 strong family of subscribers to, with that said, has that on their radar. Your quick, quick commentary about your supply chain commentary.

Greg White (00:06:43):

Well, the quick commentary is that the, um, aggregator that I was using to collect the news is going belly up. They’re going outta business. Oh, man. So, um, so I’m scrambling right now, and, and they’ve already started to shut down. If, if you’ve looked at some of my commentaries lately, they haven’t had the photograph, you know, like a cool picture with them, right? Because they’re shutting down portions of their system. So I didn’t even put one out today, and I’m scrambling to put that together. But I think what we’re gonna try and do, gang, I don’t know exactly what the timeframe is, but we’re gonna create a blog on our site. And, um, it may not be as a newsletter as much as commentary on one article, but we’ll figure out how, how we can pull that together. Definitely. So, hang with me there, gang. There might be a couple of misses here as we scramble through portal, whatever it’s called, paper going out as, right. I mean,

Scott Luton (00:07:36):

that’s been up the core part of the approach for a couple years, so we hate to hear that. But hey, folks, you can’t miss. It’s must see p o v as we’ve coin it when Greg White chimes in on the issues of the day.

Greg White (00:07:47):

Thank you for doing that. I mean, I think, you know, we get so much valuable input, and frankly, I have kind of test fit a few where I’m just pulling it, um, pulling it, my favorite topic, uh, or creating a topic like I did Friday. Uh, yep. You know what, this conference I’m going to today. So test fit. So anyway, we will keep it out there. It might be a little bit of fits and starts as we, as we scramble the shoot platforms here.

Scott Luton (00:08:13):

Greg, that’s one of your phrases, test fit. Uh, one of your phrases is provisions. Uh, one of your phrases is, um, um,

Greg White (00:08:22):

pressure test,

Scott Luton (00:08:23):

pressure test,

Greg White (00:08:24):

pressure test provenance.

Scott Luton (00:08:26):

Yeah. We we’re putting a Greg White vocabulary. Oh, again, yeah. <laugh>. Yeah. All right. <laugh>.

Greg White (00:08:31):

I wonder if anybody including me knows what it means.

Scott Luton (00:08:34):

<laugh>. We’ll see. All right, folks. Speaking of resources, uh, we’ve got a free and live webinar, but you gotta register for it. Coming up this, uh, this Thursday, it’s major league, uh, major league Baseball opening day. And it’s also live webinar day here at Supply Chain. Now we’re featuring Coupa and KP m g, and we’re gonna be talking about supply chain agility in this continuing continuously ever-changing world. March 30th, 1:00 PM Eastern Time. Greg, should be a great discussion, huh?

Greg White (00:09:02):

Yeah. I mean, two great and enormous in influential companies in, in the industry. Um, and some really interesting discussions around purchasing and procurement and, and all that sort of thing. A very interesting take. I saw it in Market on Market watch today, um, on why e you know, E S G is not more of a, more in the forefront. And essentially the bottom line is the incentivization of, of procurement reps, right? Hmm. They, they have to get that 20% discount from whatever the agreed price was before it came to procurement. And it, and they don’t have a lot of incentive or anything, maybe in some cases yes. To tackle some of these other worthwhile initiatives. So, I mean, what, what do we expect from ’em? Right? Very, very interesting take. And I mean, we may touch on that and a whole bunch of other topics while we talked to the folks at Cooper Apmg.

Scott Luton (00:09:57):

Undoubtedly, undoubtedly. And we’re gonna talk about what you mentioned here in just a minute or two. So y’all stay, stay tuned. Let us know what you think. And, uh, finally, Greg, international Whiskey Day is today Twitter, international Whiskey.

Greg White (00:10:09):

I admit that.

Scott Luton (00:10:10):

<laugh>, and if you didn’t know, I’m, um, please don’t judge my pronunciation, but, uh, it started, uh, in the Gaelic Lang, uh, whiskey evolved from the Gaelic language and a word that meant the water of life. Yeah. Uh, and then that isky, uh, something like that, uh, evolved to whiskey and it’s, it’s been with us ever since. So folks, if you enjoy, uh, raise a Glass to International Whiskey Day, wherever you may be today, uh, long on losses. Yeah. <laugh>. All right. So,

Greg White (00:10:46):

Hey, Scott, one more thing. I know. Yes. One final thing, but yes. Was anybody have an unbroken bracket now? I think they are. All right. They’ve all been demolished. What? I was literally sitting at a brunch at the best kind of brunch ever, at a sports bar where you’re watching, right? Um, golf and, and basketball. And I literally said as I got up from my chair, no way, San Diego State beats Creighton, turned around and walked out.

Scott Luton (00:11:20):

And now we know <laugh>.

Greg White (00:11:23):

Now we know what I know or anyone knows about basketball. What an incredible, so, so it’s Florida Atlantic, unbelievable. Uh, unbelievable game against K State. That’s right. And on, it’s, I didn’t see the last game on Spit early. Uh, was it Miami?

Scott Luton (00:11:42):

Miami and, uh, let’s see, Miami played.

Greg White (00:11:46):

San Diego State. Yeah. Was it, what? Did Miami win? No, Miami. Miami won. We through to the final four. Oh,

Scott Luton (00:11:52):

yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s right. Miami one, they came back, detect against Texas. They came all the way back and took it. And, okay.

Greg White (00:12:00):

So Miami, Florida, Atlantic, San Diego State, and who’s for some, um, all we totally didn’t expect.

Scott Luton (00:12:07):

Yukon.

Greg White (00:12:08):

That’s right. Wow. Did, yeah. That, that game, that was over quick. They demolished Gonzaga.

Scott Luton (00:12:16):

They sure did.

Greg White (00:12:17):

They just ran away from ’em in the second half. Anyway, sorry folks. I mean, I mean, you, you can’t really ignore it, at least here in the States, right? It’s huge. It’s unbelievably unexpected. It is the essence of disruption, right? And this is what we deal with every day in supply chain. But still that this has been sort of like post pandemic, right? One disruption after ano another, just when you thought you couldn’t be wrong. Again, here it comes, right.

Scott Luton (00:12:48):

<laugh>. So if you, if your brackets are, uh, uh, still have, are standing on a leg somewhere, good luck to you as we enter the Final Four, it’s gonna be pretty cool. Yeah. Um, alright. So Greg, let’s dive into our first story here today. We’re gonna get to work. And then of course, we’ve got, uh, got a question of the day, uh, about halfway through the show. So I’m gonna pull up this graphic. Cause Greg, you, you kind of touched on it. You let the genie outta the bottle a minute ago, so I’m gonna get your take on this. So <inaudible> done.

Greg White (00:13:17):

That’s good.

Scott Luton (00:13:18):

It’s a perfect segue. Perfect segue by way of bracketology. Uh, so up first, uh, in this story from the Wall Street Journal here on Supply Chain Buzz, despite more and more green freight options that are becoming available, shippers largely have yet have been yet to embrace and pay for these avenues, right? These green freight avenues. So I’m about, I might get his name wrong, it’s Tim Schwar, I think I came close. Tim Schwar, C e o of D h l, global Freight, uh, global forwarding points, a finger at procurement, kinda what Greg was mentioning. And he says, quote, if you talk to purchasing guys, they’ve got one thing to do, get the best deal, and they get paid for less spend in quote.

Greg White (00:13:57):

That’s right.

Scott Luton (00:13:58):

The story cited a Boston Consulting group survey that showed 82% of companies are willing, say they’re willing to spend more on sustainable shipping, but evidently not this much more, uh, that, uh, based on the delta that’s currently out there.

Greg White (00:14:12):

And what is the belt? Was this, uh, I I didn’t see that. It said if, if there was like a standard difference, right?

Scott Luton (00:14:19):

That you and I missed the same thing. Uh, okay. It, it, it shared a couple of examples, but it was less about addressing, um, you know, two, I saw two, two x three x is, is what the article used, um, at, at the, um, higher cost of green freight. Um, right. So a couple of notes. So in the bigger picture, of course, the 60,000 vessel strong global ocean shipping industry is trying to find a way to move away from bunker fuel to other options like methanol. In the next few years. The European Union is looking at carbon emission taxes as early as 2024 for ships calling on ports across Europe. And here in the us the state of California plans on get this, Greg eliminating diesel power trucks from its ports by 2035. So Greg, your thoughts on, uh, the challenge of using these, some of these green freight options.

Greg White (00:15:13):

Like anything, we have to align feasibility with sustainability. We have to find new, different economical ways of, of two things. Incentivizing people to do the right thing if we want, really want them to do the right thing. They’re incentives at their workplace have to reflect that. And two, you have to make it practical. Two to three x in, you know, in cost is just not feasible. So we need to align, feasible, and sustainable, right? They need to be parallel paths. Uh, and once we do that, and it’ll take a while, it’s like any, any new initiative or, you know, disruptive change to any, any business process. It takes a while to figure out how to do it. And, you know, we’ve talked about some of the, um, you know, some of the ethical dichotomies that exist, even especially in the E of E S G, which is environmental, right? Um, where, you know, we’re scraping the earth of, of its natural resources, right? And destroying millions of acres of land, um, to create batteries or, you know, create more batteries and electronics so that we can use electricity to power vehicles. So there are a lot of challenges there. I 100% believe that both, that they’re, they can be overcome. You know, I have been in supply chain long enough to know when it was only, there were only two concerns in supply chain, right? Pay as little as you possibly can and get it here. Hmm. End of discussion, get it here usually means 100% right on time, right?

Greg White (00:16:54):

So hundred percent fill rate on time, but pay as little as you can pay very, very little, right? And we have figured out a way to balance those two things so that both, so we can both reduce the cost and increase service level, fill rate, whatever you wanna call it. Fulfillment, um, levels. So I think the supply chain industry, which by the way is responsible for 92% of all companies emissions Companies, 92% of, of a company’s emissions come from their supply chain. And, um, and we have played this game of trade off for so long that I think we, I believe that we are the right people to figure out how to do it.

Scott Luton (00:17:33):

Agreed. Agreed. A lot of good stuff there. Uh, at the, uh, the first church of Greg White of supply chain leadership.

Greg White (00:17:39):

Hey, what I tell, what I’m asking about is <laugh> unfinished business.

Scott Luton (00:17:45):

<laugh>, that’s it. Ethical dichotomies. That’s quite a phrase. Um, yeah, folks, less than what you think though. Uh, and again, we’ve dropped the link to this, uh, this read in the Wall Street Journal there in the comments. And yeah, Kim, great to have you here back with us here today. Uh, yes, we’ve dropped a link to this six tools to do it better, which is part of our, with that said, weekly newsletter. We’ve dropped that as well in the chat. Okay, Greg, moving right along.

Greg White (00:18:10):

Yes, sir.

Scott Luton (00:18:11):

Uh, let’s talk about this topic. So, of course, we’ve been talking drones and the advancement of drones forever. Check out that drone bringing some of your aforementioned, uh, TP <laugh> to, to your house. Um, our second story is an update on a continued conversation that we’ve had here at the bus as Amazon.

Greg White (00:18:28):

Yes. The Big A.

Scott Luton (00:18:30):

continues to struggle to find major progress with its drone delivery program. So according to cn, bbc, Amazon is still in the durability and reliability testing, also known as dn r It’s a big part of this for its Prime Air drones, which is a cri critical regulatory hurdle. The fed’s f AA want to make sure drones can safely fly over cities, towns, and people. Hey, Greg is kind of important. currently, uh, Amazon’s drone delivery is restricted to two test markets. College Station, Texas. So Giam Aggies for our friend Te Greg. Kevin Taylor or TT out there, and Lockeford, California. But Greg get this cause they can’t fly over homes and people yet. Prime error is limited to reportedly very few homes. In fact, it’s been reported in that Lockford California market, only two homes can they deliver to is what the, what they allege. Uh, 10,000 drone deliveries is the target for 2023 for prime drone delivery. So, Greg, I can’t wait to hear your thoughts here.

Greg White (00:19:35):

What is Amazon doing wrong that Walmart is doing? Right? Hmm. I mean, Walmart already has something like 4,000. Scott. We, I mean, we just did an interview with, um, their, their eedp of door to door or end-to-end delivery. I is, is what was her title? But anyway, um, they have all kinds of markets that they’re in. So I don’t know, I mean, Amazon steal a Walmart drone, and figure out how to do, I, I I don’t understand what the challenge is except there’s one common denominator here. Yes. California, why, why would you ever take test anything? I mean, I know they’re based there, but why would you ever test anything in the most highly regulated, litigious right? And un une unequivocally inefficient governments in the entire union of the country, right? So I, I think that’s probably a huge part of it. <laugh> two homes approved for delivery.

Scott Luton (00:20:37):

Isn’t that crazy?

Greg White (00:20:39):

Um, that’s exactly word I was thinking of Scott <laugh>.

Scott Luton (00:20:43):

And, uh, and Catherine says maybe they didn’t chat with Catherine. She flew a drone this weekend to check on our rain runoff at our house. Oh, that’s, that’s cool. Uh, I love the new applications.

Greg White (00:20:54):

Head fly a drone out to the beach to see if it’s safe to go out there, you know? Yeah. When it’s tourist season, so,

Scott Luton (00:21:01):

yep. Greg, Greg, great. <laugh>, great to see you here. To, Greg says, I find this hard to implement with the f a a same thing with flying cars,

Greg White (00:21:10):

but somehow Walmart is miles ahead. That’s, I mean, not, I don’t disagree with any of that, Greg. Yeah. It’s just, you know, what I can’t figure out is what, like I said, what is it Walmart is doing right? That, that it Amazon is doing wrong. I just don’t get it. Yeah.

Scott Luton (00:21:24):

I don’t have this number in front of me, so I’m hesitant to say it, but I’m, I’m, I’m, I’m almost, I’m 99% sure that Walmart hit something like 23,000 drone deliveries last year. Wow. And so clearly they’re well ahead and have been for quite some time of its, uh, the drone.

Greg White (00:21:41):

Gosh, I thought it was only like four, but I’m, I’m probably quoting a different, uh, I don’t know. But Warren, let’s post the link to that. Yeah. To that that’s right. Episode why people ought to hear what can be done with these things. So.

Scott Luton (00:21:54):

That’s right.

Greg White (00:21:54):

Let, let’s post the link to that episode because, um, that’s a good one. And it’s super encouraging, right?

Scott Luton (00:22:01):

Yes. Agreed.

Greg White (00:22:02):

Now, I didn’t wanna do this while we were on the show with the Kmar World War executive, but remember the old days when everyone was afraid of and hated Walmart? And now that same, that same furor is, is aimed at Amazon, and people are almost like pulling for Walmart like the little guy these days, <laugh>.

Scott Luton (00:22:20):

It’s crazy.

Greg White (00:22:21):

It, it, it is strange how times have changed. But I gotta tell you, I was re I have been really impressed with their, uh, being such a good actor as a corporate citizen, right? Yes. Yeah. I wasn’t always the case.

Scott Luton (00:22:35):

Good point. Uh, and you’re, you’re referring to an episode, I think we’re releasing this week or next week with Jennifer McKen. Oh, uh, with Walmart. So folks, check this conversation out. Um, yeah, I think I’m, we’re publishing it this week or next week. And Amanda, if you wanna share that That’s right.

Greg White (00:22:50):

That’s part of the Leaders series, isn’t it?

Scott Luton (00:22:52):

That’s right. Yeah. Um, let’s see here. Oh, Kim Winter is with us here today. Drones flying all the around. Uh, Kim says, drones now approved the fly people around Dubai. How about that? Kim, you gotta share some of y’all’s secret sauce, man, as Shelly says, that is wild. Uh, my and my, my best, Johnny Carson. That is some wild stuff. Wild stuff. W wild stuff. <laugh>. Uh, let’s see. Catherine says, uh, Greg is checking to see if there are too many socks with Sandals tourists before he ventures out.

Greg White (00:23:27):

It’s true.

Scott Luton (00:23:28):

Oh boy.

Greg White (00:23:28):

It is true.

Scott Luton (00:23:29):

Okay, so let’s hit, we’re gonna hit one more story and then we’re gonna dive into, um, a question of the day. And by the way, uh, Greg, and big thanks to Catherine and Amanda for helping to make production happen each day, all day. Um, Wednesday, we’re dropping that episode Wednesday.

Greg White (00:23:45):

Okay, great. Sorry to announce that, but you guys keep your eyes open for that because it is so impressive what they’re doing.

Scott Luton (00:23:52):

That’s right. All right.

Greg White (00:23:53):

Back to work. Sorry, Scott. Let’s do this quick.

Scott Luton (00:23:55):

<laugh>, quick public service announcement, folks. The next planning session for our leveraging Logistics for Ukraine, uh, humanitarian initiative is coming up next Tuesday, April 4th, 11:00 AM Eastern Time. Please join in. You don’t have to give, you don’t even have to talk. You can join and absorb and talk about outcomes. Over 600,000, uh, pounds of vetted targeted humanitarian aid has made it to Ukraine, Poland, and families in need in that region. Greg, your quick comment on this program, and then we’re gonna keep driving.

Greg White (00:24:27):

Yeah, this thing ought to be over, and it is a, an abject failure of the United States government that it is not mm-hmm. <affirmative>, we could have taken out Russia in a matter of weeks, and we’ve been weak need about it instead, and spent hundreds of billions where we probably could have taken out Russia with about 42 billion worth of expenditure. And I have no doubt by the way that I will be talking about this topic, because really intelligent people know that Russia is a truth threat, not just to Ukraine, but to Eastern. Mm-hmm. Um, I’ll, I’ll be talking about that maybe tonight, but definitely tomorrow.

Scott Luton (00:25:03):

Yep, that’s right. And Greg is speaking on a panel at a international, uh, event tomorrow. Greg, if you wanna drop that, I’m, our team may have it. Uh, we’ll drop that in the link in case folks wanna check that out. Um, alright. And then also folks join our efforts. Big thanks to Leaders, true Leaders Action, Oregon leaders like Vector Global Logistics for driving this and making it happen, and investing in getting what’s needed to folks in need. I mean, they’ve just, uh, incredible work. So check out the link. Uh, again, you don’t have to write a check, you don’t have to say anything.

Scott Luton (00:25:36):

Just come and check it out. Um, all right. So <laugh>.

Greg White (00:25:39):

have the wherewithal as individuals that you can’t expect from, uh, from politicians, right?

Scott Luton (00:25:45):

Oh, yeah. So true. So true. Um, all right, so I’m gonna leave Sylvia’s comment there. I’m <laugh> so she’s trying to identify who the, so with Sandals, tourists are, um, let’s keep driving.

Greg White (00:25:57):

You said Charleston. She, I mean, she probably sees it more than I do,

Scott Luton (00:26:01):

doesn’t she? Uh, I’m sure she does. Uh, the Holy city of Charleston, South Carolina. Yeah.

Greg White (00:26:05):

No city in the world where you need reservations for breakfast, right?

Scott Luton (00:26:10):

<laugh>. Um, alright, so let’s talk malls and talking about the continued demise of the shopping mall in our third story here today. So, Greg Footlocker is the latest to leave malls in mass as retail Dive is reporting that the retailer will be closing 400 mall based stores by 2026. Now, Footlocker is referring to 2023 as its reset year. And one of the things they’re working on is a quote store of the future concept that the company plans to open in New York City in 2024. Footlocker also plans to leverage its deep re current relationship with Nike, and is looking at ways to form a better strategy, one that’s more effective and complimentary to Nike’s big direct to consumer shift that made a year or two ago. So, Greg, uh, before you weigh in here, I wanna share this, this with you. I, I went to my, Lee Luton is not with us here today, I, I don’t think, but I went to my mom’s mom and dad’s, uh, a few weeks back. They had some stuff that had been sitting in their attic forever. And, you know, one of, of the things I found, Greg, was something I purchased from Wood Footlocker, I bet 35 years ago.

Scott Luton (00:27:20):

Remember these case widths? And these are the, um, the Gtad men’s low white leather, and they cost a whopping $60 and 97 cents. I don’t know if folks can see that from Footlocker.

Greg White (00:27:31):

Were they in there?

Scott Luton (00:27:32):

No, I got baseball football cards in there.

Greg White (00:27:34):

Oh, okay.

Scott Luton (00:27:35):

Um, <laugh> a full,

Greg White (00:27:37):

you probably selling big bucks.

Scott Luton (00:27:39):

<laugh>. That’s right. I, I’ll I’m might share a few, but did you ever buy Case Swiss from foot Footlocker or hats or starter jackets or any of that cool stuff?

Greg White (00:27:47):

I, I mean, if you’re a Gen Xer, right? You either worked at Footlocker or knew someone who did, but you definitely bought your shoes there. Unquestionably. I mean, the referee Jersey wardrobe.

Scott Luton (00:28:00):

That’s right.

Greg White (00:28:01):

I mean, was, remember all the, all the, all the team in the, in the store were referees jerseys.

Scott Luton (00:28:07):

So right here we see these two gentlemen, to your point right here. Oh, yeah. Nearly make that out.

Greg White (00:28:11):

Yeah. In the very bottom. Yeah. So, yeah, I mean, let me tell you something, Scott. If Footlocker is getting out of malls, as if we didn’t know it, that is the death now. I mean, there are literally malls where the only store open still is a Footlocker. And because sneakerheads and, you know, and the culture around shoes in America and maybe the world, and certainly in, in like Asian countries and that sort, they, but because that culture is so ingrained that those people were happy to walk through empty malls to the one store that was open to buy that pair of Jordan’s that they wanted or whatever. Yep. Um, yeah, that’s, that’s it for malls. I mean, Footlocker is the last basting of malls, right? And, and I think today, you know, we’ve seen that you can buy shoes online pretty successfully. I think Foot Footlocker could be a real force from that standpoint. Yeah. You know, nobody, seriously, nobody knows shoes like Footlocker does.

Scott Luton (00:29:12):

Yep. I agree with you. In fact, the Footlocker that I made this purchase at was at Aiken Mall, I’m pretty sure Aiken Mall and where I grew up. And they have since torn that whole mall down and redeveloping the space. Uh, I’ll have to get an update. It looks like moms is here. Uh, hey mom, love ya. Uh, we’ll have to get an update on that project. <laugh> from Aiken, south Kki, um, and Greg, uh, final comment. As I mentioned, football cards, I dunno if this can make that, but this is a, that’s Gas Gaston Green, Shelly Phillips, Gaston Green of the Denver Broncos. This is, uh, from, uh, let’s see, 1993. So we’ll have to auction these off. Uh, I doubt that card is worth too much, but, uh, it, I’ll give you,

Greg White (00:29:53):

I’ll give you a hundred dollars for all of your Broncos cards.

Scott Luton (00:29:56):

<laugh>. Okay. Done. Done. Hey Josh, great to see you here. Uh, Josh says he, he definitely got Case West from Footlocker gonna miss the environment, but such is, uh, the business. It’s it’s business.

Greg White (00:30:09):

It will fun to go into those stores. I mean, it was, uh, I don’t know. They just made it great. And the, I’m telling you, the referees that, you know, work, workforce, whatever you call them, team in stores, they knew shoes.

Scott Luton (00:30:22):

They sure did. Um, alright. Right. So, Greg, that brings us to, looks like we got a couple. So we got Shelly’s a Broncos fan, and then Brian Birch is also a Broncos fan. Let us know where you’re tuned in from.

Greg White (00:30:34):

It felt even want the match along with the card. Do they want card?

Scott Luton (00:30:38):

Probably not. Um, all right. So, uh, we we’re gonna arrive <laugh>, Greg, I’m surprised we kicked off the, um, the news review, I’ll call it, uh, about 1214. That means we worked that through in about 17 minutes, which has gotta be an efficiency record for us. Um, and now we’re arriving Greg, at our question of the day. Now, folks, uh, as I mentioned, we don’t do this every buzz, but we’re trying to do it more and more. We’ve got so much, uh, wealth of expertise and experience here between, uh, me and Greg and then, uh, other folks that join us, uh, from time to time, guest hosts or, or, uh, industry leaders. And I wanna, we wanna take advantage of that as of as we can. Um, now, Greg, today we wanna talk advisors, consultants, coaches. Cause folks, if your LinkedIn mail inbox in mail, I guess it is maybe like ours, it’s full to the brim with advisory offers of this, that, or the other. So, Greg, I wanna start this question. Cause again, we wanna offer up some thoughts that folks gotta consider as they’re, you know, making as they’re engaging potential advisors or business coaches or consultants and things they gotta keep in mind so they make the best decision. Cause it’s critical. So let’s, let’s, let’s attack it here from a startup perspective, Greg. Greg, you’re a start. As I, as we’ve deemed you hashtag startup whisperer. Been there and done that, um, dozens of times, if not more than that.

Greg White (00:32:07):

So, wait, don’t see, it wasn’t, cuz that would make, then I should be a billionaire, and that would make me like a real loser.

Scott Luton (00:32:13):

<laugh>.

Greg White (00:32:13):

So about a half dozen times,

Scott Luton (00:32:15):

half dozen times. Let’s been there, done that half a dozen times, very successfully at that. Oh, I’ll couch you that way. Thanks for adding. You bet. Now. And, and I know that firsthand, not, not just from, uh, what you did prior to me being, um, you know, partnering with you. I’ve seen, I’ve seen it firsthand in all that you’ve have brought to the table here over the last four years. So we know as founders and entrepreneurs, the immense value, immense value that third party experts can bring to the table. But you gotta be selective. So with that said, Greg, what’s a couple of considerations that fellow founders and entrepreneurs gotta keep in mind when considering advisors or coaches?

Greg White (00:32:55):

Just a couple. Uh, well, let, let, let’s start with some key ones. Um, one is they have to have experience. Only Tony Robbins. He’s the only person on the planet who can never have had a successful business until he started telling people how to make a successful business. because he’s almost seven feet tall. He’s got a deep voice and he is very charismatic. But no one else aside from that get, should be telling you how to run your business if they haven’t run a business like yours. I mean, it, it’s as simple as that. Um, experience matters. I don’t know if you know this, Scott, but, um, you know, when we think about, especially tech startups, we think about kids like, you know, I was, when I started my first 1, 23 years old, whenever, right?

Greg White (00:33:40):

Um, but a, a startup is actually 34% more likely to be successful if they have, as I like to call it, a geezer. So someone 50 years old or older as part of the team, even if it’s only just an advisor. So, you know, one is, is to value experience, value, experience over everything else. Value it over charisma, value it over personal branding. I can’t stress that enough. Um, value it over, um, ubiquitous content, right? Value it over everything. Um, because it’s very important. Like, for instance, it’s, um, you know, it’s, it’s very important that they’ve been in the shoes that you’re in to be able to tell you what to do, and as importantly, sometimes preemptively what not to do, right? Um, and you have to have that kind of trust in ’em. And, and an advisor relationship is also not a project. It is an ongoing thing.

Greg White (00:34:49):

All all the companies that I advise, uh, I have been advising for years, um, you know, and, and anybody who says they can advise you how to build and make your company successful or better in a project <laugh> don’t force that. <laugh>. Yeah. Don’t trust that. Um, uh, I didn’t say that, Scott. I’m only, you know what I wanted to say, right?

Scott Luton (00:35:12):

Yes.

Greg White (00:35:12):

They’re lying. Of course. They’re lying. Yes. I mean, they might even be lying to themselves. They might believe what’s true, but they absolutely can. But, you know, I, I think that’s really important is the experience and don’t trust branding. Um, and also you don’t have to pay a lot. There’s a ton of free advisory out there. Yeah. But I, you know, when I was doing tequila sunrise, I was just putting that out there because I didn’t want people, I mean, one, it was a lot about what’s going on in tech, but then it kind of became, I don’t want people to have to struggle the way I did or than other founders have done. And, and, and there is so much of that free content out there. If you’re, I mean, for instance, if you’re as, if you’re a tech entrepreneur, um, I’m astounded by some of the questions that people ask me when they reach out to me to ask me to invest in their company. I’m like, not never like searched YouTube before. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you don’t need me for this. Right? There’s a, uh, a group, they’re actually investors in Boston, and their YouTube channel is called DreamIt, And incredible valuable information. Um, there’s also a company now they have something to sell, um, but, uh, they do a really good job. They, uh, it’s like they have this really easy to use pitch deck compilation tool set. If I can only think of their name, I’ll try to look it up. But anyway, give as much free advisory as you can.

Scott Luton (00:36:42):

Yep.

Greg White (00:36:42):

Right? Scott, I, I know you’ve had some interesting, um, and there’s more here, but I, I know you’ve had some interesting advisory pitches and conversations and, and, you know, our relationship kind of started out as an advisory relationship. I thought, dude, I thought you,

Scott Luton (00:36:59):

I thought you did great. Uh, and we’ve had, and look folks, uh, in all transparency, <laugh>, we’ve, I’ve made some really bad choices at times, uh, because I’ve fallen for that story. That charismatic story that Greg is, is forewarning us not to do. Right? Um, and co uh, Cora, you’re so nice. Uh, lemme share, uh, Cora’s comment here, um, and Cora Ko with Gardner, Greg White and Scott Luton are key experience, been there, done it critical smarts, flexibility, ownership, knowhow, digitized and adaptable at the same time. Value, obsession and client centricity. Man, Cora, that is eloquent.

Greg White (00:37:38):

Thanks man. We’re gonna quote you on that, like along the website,

Scott Luton (00:37:43):

right? <laugh> and, uh, and you know what, as high praise come from Cora, Jose, he’s so, uh, engaged in the market and doing some really big things from a, a do good, uh, charitable and humanitarian standpoint. So, but I,

Greg White (00:37:58):

I mean, I mean, look, I’m not, not pimping code high, but right. Somebody who knows.

Scott Luton (00:38:03):

That’s right. Right? Yep.

Greg White (00:38:04):

Well, that’s somebody who has done it. And that would be a great example of someone you could use as, as an advisor. You know, you just gotta understand what somebody’s niche and expertise is and what their longevity, right? The longevity of the relationship, uh, that they want to have with you,

Scott Luton (00:38:21):

right? So, so I’m gonna share, I wanna share a couple quick things.

Greg White (00:38:24):

You sir, please,

Scott Luton (00:38:25):

and then Greg, I’m gonna get your take as well. And yes, Shelly, you’re right. If we don’t learn from these, these bad experiences, were right where folks take advantage of you, what have you, man, you, you’ve lost twice. So you’ve got, we, we all have to learn from ’em. That’s what I keep telling myself when, when, um, um, you know, we make a bad decision. But here, here’s a couple things I wanna share with you, Greg. Number one is your why. You know, you gotta be really careful of, uh, uh, seeking out a generalist. And you’ve gotta, you gotta be really clear and think through and bounce off your team or whomever you trust your mom and dad maybe, what have you. Um, of why, what, what are you seeking? What do you want to have happen? What are your objectives? Yeah. And then once you really with, um, uh, all the frankness and clear and clarity, once you’ve got that question answered, then you are gonna wanna slow down, right?

Scott Luton (00:39:20):

Greg, you talk about be right more often. Slow down, be deliberate. Do research, do your analysis, right? Don’t get all wound up in, in what could happen. Don’t, don’t rush decisions. Don’t jump into things, man. Really slow down. And then once you’ve done that, that due diligence, right? You know what you need. You know, that answer to the question why you’ve done the homework, right? Thirdly, find a very small way, if you like Bob or Sue or Jamal or whomever, whatever the person’s name is as your coach or advisor. Find a small way to work together. Create a small low risk pilot of sorts so you can see their expertise in action, right? Get past the sales and marketing pitch you’re getting, you know, give them, you know, throw ’em a little piece of business or throw ’em a little, uh, project or something so you can vet ’em and see in action.

Scott Luton (00:40:17):

So those are three, again, commonly known, perhaps pieces of advice. But man, had I done those three things earlier with earlier businesses and startups I’ve been a part of, would’ve been a different story and different outcome. Uh, Greg, so your your, your response there, Greg.

Greg White (00:40:35):

Yeah. Well, I think that’s, that is a great way to do it. I mean, that is perfect. I, I, I’d say even, uh, augment that process with check references, right? I mean, I think we assume right? We assume that, right? But check references, but don’t check their references. Check references with people you trust. Yeah. And, and people, you know, if you’re looking for an advisor, probably the worst advisor for you is one that is pitching you. Mm-hmm. Probably the best advisor for you is one that someone who recognizes Scott, as Scott said, your why, your particular need of the day and says, Hey, I know this C f O type over here that could help you out.

Greg White (00:41:15):

Or I have this marketing genius, uh, that could help you out. Um, you know, we are using an advisor now, and that was referred to us by somebody we knew, right? Right. So, and, and I, I, I feel like you have to use your network. It’s rare that anybody you don’t know have never met and don’t know anyone else that they know is gonna be, and I mean, really, no. Let’s, let’s face it, we all have 10, 5, 10, 20,000 connections on LinkedIn. We don’t know all those people <laugh>, but.

Scott Luton (00:41:47):

<laugh> late breaking news, late breaking news.

Greg White (00:41:50):

But I mean, someone you really know. I think that’s, it’s, it’s really important to, um, use your network, your real network to say, this is the need that I have. And just ask people if they know somebody that can help you with that. Um, the, you know, Scott, uh, God, the risk of having, oh, hell, what the hell, I’m gonna say it <laugh>. I would almost disqualify anyone who claims to be a business coach or, or, uh, whatever the, whatever the catchphrase of the day is, unless they have demonstrable, um, references and experience on their LinkedIn profile. Yeah. I would further, because Scott, I had a, my eldest daughter was a student athlete, and they have these people they call recruiting coaches. And what they say is, they’ll get you, they’ll help your kid get access or get a scholarship at premier schools. And my daughter was a swimmer. Getting a scholarship in swimming is very difficult for American students, cuz we give most of ’em to foreign students who can’t get academic scholarships because the grading systems are different anyway. Mm-hmm. So it’s a very tough market, but she was a very good swimmer. And, um, and you know, as they described what they did, they said, we can get you an Auburn.

Greg White (00:43:13):

Which is absolutely unbelievable because if Auburn doesn’t know who you are, that’s the greatest swimming, swimming, um, college university in the history of the world.

Scott Luton (00:43:24):

Really.

Greg White (00:43:25):

Stanford second, believe it or not. Yeah. Um, yeah. I mean they, when we actually went and visited them, they don’t have plans for how to get you to win the s e C championship. They have, they have plans for how to get you to win in the Olympics on your, your home nation’s Olympics team. That’s how they, that’s how they get the great sweater. Wow. They’re that good. Anyway, my question to these, these coaches was, which coaches will sign my daughter solely based on your recommendation? Right? So a similar question to someone who claims to be a business coach. Yeah. Which business coach will do what you, or, or sorry, which which business owners have done precisely what you have, have, uh, prescribed and been incredibly successful. And I’d like to talk to them. That will end that conversation with probably 90% of the people that are pitching you business coaching right there, because they’re not that targeted.

Scott Luton (00:44:29):

Right man. Uh, excellent advice, excellent advice. You gotta get past the sales and marketing pitches folks. Uh, even if, uh, even if you don’t think you’re being pitched, ask yourself, pinch yourself and say, wait a second, wait a second. This is a pitch. Cuz a lot of these coaches that are out there, and I’m not pointing fingers, but as Greg and I both have mentioned, there’s, there’s millions of them. Right? Unfortunately, a lot of ’em, and I’ve seen firsthand and, and a lot of other veterans that are getting outta the service. And, you know, there’s more, uh, startup veterans doing startups these days maybe than ever before. Unfortunately, a lot of them are going down this wrong path with these so-called experts.

Scott Luton (00:45:10):

And they’re writing checks from limited funds folks, be aware, be wary. Be in the know, uh, ask the tough questions. I if you think you’re gonna offend somebody, but it’s right for the business. Offend them. Ask the questions. You gotta ask to make sure that those finite resources that you have, especially if you’re a startup or switching gears, Greg, you know, we get asked the question a lot about, um, professional development and there’s all kinds of certifications out there, uh, from associations, from universities, you name it folks. The same things apply here. Doing that homework a pitfall, see all the time, Greg, is folks signing up for a program and having no remote understanding of the credentials of the person that will be instructing them and folks, those certifications can cost a bunch of money. Ask those questions on front end. Those, those sales and marketing pitches that we’re getting more and more in the, in the certification arena, be careful, be learing.

Greg White (00:46:09):

It’s gonna get more, I mean, the economy’s gonna get tougher globally and, um, you know, that chaos breeds opportunity for hucksters. So yes. You know, be very, very careful. But it, it only takes a few really pointed, Scott, to your point, pointed point, <laugh>, rotten pointed questions to root out the, not the, the fakers. Right? And one of them is, you know, send me three. I mean, if, if you don’t know this person as whoever as number one, um, and, and if you can’t verify their experience having done what they’re about to advise you to do, just forget about ’em. But let’s say they’d passed those two tests and and they can’t give you references that can glowingly state, rAnd unequivocally apply 100% credit to that business coach for their next level success pass.

Scott Luton (00:47:09):

That’s right. Hard pass. Um, and, and you know, hopefully Amanda won’t get mad at me. I wanna share them. I’m not gonna name names, I don’t wanna protect all the parties, but, uh, you know, Amanda being a fellow entrepreneur, um, had a, had a wonderful business idea, uh, this is probably about 10 years ago, and, um, found a couple of consultants that were, were offering x y, Z for $10,000, $10,000. That’s still a bunch of money. Um, and we were this close, right? But we had some eureka moments that I’m so thankful that we had. Right.

Greg White (00:47:41):

Was there anything you could share there that maybe would help? I mean, anything that just jumps out at you and says, Hey, this raised a huge red flag flowing for us, or whatever.

Scott Luton (00:47:50):

Well, I think, you know, um, if you haven’t arrived, um, this is my, this is, this is the thought that comes to my mind when I get that question. If you haven’t arrived at, at, um, your first iteration of a business model, you know, and, and you’re, and you’re not at that stage yet and you’re still searching for that north star man, don’t write any big checks. You know, wait, slow down, slow down, think through it. Right? Uh, cause if they could give you a business model, they would’ve already done it. So that’s the first thought from that, uh, situation that comes my mind.

Greg White (00:48:23):

And Amanda, well, and even even Scott, a basic, a basic business model you can find on the web. That’s right. I mean, just Google basic business model and you’ll come up with all kinds of, of different methodologies that just make you think through what you’re doing. And I think that’s a really good point is no one can help you build your business if you are not clear or what your north star is or what you want your business to be or if you really even want to grow. Right. Or even to what level you want to grow.

Scott Luton (00:48:54):

So, but plenty of folks will take your money and take your check. if they can sell you on the front end, they can sell you as they’re doing check-ins of what they are supposedly delivering. So, um, and then there’s a good news, Greg, there’s a good news well on up. I mean, was that,

Greg White (00:49:11):

was there anything else that caused you get the Amanda to step on the brakes and say, not this thing, right? Probably nothing I can share in a public forum cuz I don’t want her to break my legs. But you know what?

Scott Luton (00:49:23):

Well maybe we’ll have, uh, Amanda join us and share more of that story. But, but here’s good news and, and, and kind of from, from that and from some other situations, folks, just because you’re in maybe one of these bad partnerships, relationships, coaching ships, whatever you’ll call advisory ships, it doesn’t mean you’re stuck for life.

Scott Luton (00:49:42):

Right. You know, so, so if you’re, you know, if you look back and hindsight’s 2020 a great teacher and you find you’ve made a bad decision, don’t just keep going with it. Don’t, don’t, don’t make it worse. Find your inner core and your self-confidence and call time out and say Enough is enough, it’s not working. And then move on in a very smarter and more deliberate and more researched manner. So, um, alright. So Greg, I think we have beat this, uh, uh, horse to death, but hey, we’ve been through it.

Greg White (00:50:16):

Well look, the proliferation of business coaches just on LinkedIn, I don’t know where, I mean I’m sure they’re marketing themselves on instant all over the place. It’s utterly ridiculous. Hmm. It is utterly ridiculous to see. I have received solicitations from children basically direct college, I mean, recent college grads telling me they’re gonna help me with my next technology venture. I’m thinking <laugh>, well one, what makes you think I have a next technology venture and B um, um, what could you possibly teach me? Right? I, I think this is, uh, you know, kind of a, a ref. This is one, one of yet another of the reflections of, um, participation trophy culture and that people really think they are are that gifted because they read, uh, what’s his name’s book? What’s the guy who’s always wearing a stocking cap?

Scott Luton (00:51:10):

Gary v.

Greg White (00:51:11):

you know, they’ve read Gary V or have are in one of these branding things and they think just because they have a lot of reach from a marketing standpoint, maybe a lot of Instagram followers that actually makes them an expert, right? Yes. Makes them well followed. And maybe those one minute snippets, if they get you are all they’ve got <laugh> chance of a group.

Greg White (00:51:32):

It’s kinda like when you see a trailer for a movie and then you go watch the movie and you realize that everything good in the movie was in the trailer. You, you really have to be up on for that.

Scott Luton (00:51:46):

That’s a great analogy. And also going back to something you shared on the front end as we got into this here today, because it’s very, uh, genuine from, from, from where we are. And that is we want to help folks avoid mistakes we’ve made.

Greg White (00:52:00):

Yes. Right? Yes.

Scott Luton (00:52:01):

And that’s, that, that’s been a big part of what we, what we’ve been doing here for going on four years now and thousands of episodes and conversations go ahead.

Greg White (00:52:09):

And that’s a critical part of advisory. They have to, so Greg Studer just said, failure is a learning experience. Mm. Very interesting statement. Some made to me once that was also very poignant. But with that as a baseline, that’s absolutely critical. You can’t know what you’re going to face. We can’t know what another business is going to face unless you have faced it yourself. For instance, before I was a C E O I couldn’t give anyone. I could have, and I probably would’ve thought I was right. But you, you can’t give anyone advice as to what a being a c e O is like unless you’ve been one, because it changes your entire perspective On the business. Right. And it’s, it’s a perspective you literally cannot gain until, until you are in the seat. So, um, there’s something called the Dunning Krueger effect. Right. And that is the ignorant are always the most confident because they oversimplify the difficult and complex into all that they understand about it, which is very little. The knowledgeable are always underestimating, you know, whereas the ignorant overestimate, the, the, the knowledgeable always underestimate because they know no matter how much do you know, there’s always so much more to learn.

Greg White (00:53:26):

So if somebody is so supremely confident Yep. Ask them what mistakes they’ve made in the past. I mean if, you know, aside from all those other things, you know, we talked about, ask them some of the mistakes they’ve made in the past, what they’ve learned from them, what they would do differently. Some of them we’re gonna say, I’ll tell you all that after you write mute, check,

Scott Luton (00:53:46):

<laugh>, hang, run, run. Yes. <laugh>. All right. Uh, let’s see here. This might be Cora. I’m not sure everything good in the movie was in the trailer. Great quote Greg White. Can I use it? So I’m not,

Greg White (00:54:00):

I didn’t come up with that. But how many, I mean, I bet people could name two or three movies where that’s the absolute truth. I just saw a movie, a new comedy. Can you remember it? But I was like, this feels like all the good stuff is in this trailer and probably is not worth watching all.

Scott Luton (00:54:17):

Never. Katherine says, we should all know that influence does not always equal intelligence. Amen to that. Well said. Well said.

Greg White (00:54:26):

Some people are excellent self-promoters. Right? That’s right. That doesn’t make them excellent executors. Right, right. Or, or advisors. Right. Yeah. I mean I, I can think of a number of, of influencers who are, they’re really, really prominent out there who’ve never done it. Yep. Pitching theory, you know, and that sort of thing. But.

Scott Luton (00:54:50):

Kim winter and be careful when hiring staff. Absolutely. All the time.

Greg White (00:54:56):

Yes, Scott. And also in the comments, I thought somebody, I can’t remember who it was, but they said something really poignant that is, you don’t always get who you sign up for. Like, you know, sometimes you sign up for Tony Robbins and you get sung Lacky like second here because you weren’t a big enough company or whatever. Yes, yes.

Scott Luton (00:55:14):

So this, this, this, uh, listener says, the one who pitched you the project is not always the ones showing up at your door. Teams are often put together with the majority of the team to include junior members. So be aware of travel and non-value added overhead cost. Greg,

Greg White (00:55:32):

that sounds like somebody who hired Accenture.

Scott Luton (00:55:35):

Um, <laugh>. <laugh>, right? That was Greg White. That was Greg White said that you meet,

Greg White (00:55:39):

you meet with some like executive VP and you get a bunch of kids fresh off their campus from, from Chicago. We’re still learning how to tie their Oxford shoes. Um,

Scott Luton (00:55:51):

<laugh>. Oh and Erin. Hey Erin’s back. Erin’s been forever but she’s great comment here. It’s like having a baby. You don’t know what it’s like unless you go through it.

Greg White (00:56:02):

Well that is the truth.

Scott Luton (00:56:04):

Excellent point.

Greg White (00:56:05):

It’s also having three kids, you know, once you have three kids you’re playing zone defense’s cuz you’re on That’s right.

Scott Luton (00:56:11):

<laugh>. Uh, and I should give a shout out. Bill St. Kevin, it’s great to see you, bill. Appreciate what you’re doing. I can’t share the, the longer comment he’s shared, but he, uh, is on the front end of training our veterans for logistics. Careers in the great, uh, market of Savannah, Georgia. So I appreciate what you do, bill. We gotta connect again soon. Uh, and I think that was deed it’s set up here. Um, Dee I’m telling you, I see it all the time with these incubators here and, and, and startup advisors there, man, they take advantage.

Scott Luton (00:56:43):

They’ll take veterans money just like they’ll take anyone else’s money. And, um, and you know, I could speak from my personal experience when I exited in 2002 if I don’t know anything now, 20 years ago I knew nothing and I was very, I was much more gullible. And I d man, our veterans have given way too much to lose those finite resources they have to chase after their, their, uh, dream heart, you know, dreams and, and, um, and what they’re here for in life. So, um, alright,

Greg White (00:57:13):

Can I put a bow on this? Please? Uh, because we just got a couple minutes left. But you know, what I, I came to respect many years ago, um, was the people who have so much experience that instead of a solution taking weeks or months or even a project, they can tell you at least what the core problem is and, and principally how to attack it in a phone call in a five minute or half hour discussion.

Greg White (00:57:41):

There’s so many problems that are so simple for people who have done it one time or, and certainly many times before that are utterly impossible for you to comprehend. So find that experience. I’m serious. That is the most important thing. And find someone who will invest just a little bit in you who will give, and I mean, literally give some of their time to help you through some of your problems that you lay out on the table. That’s when you know you found a good advisor. Don’t take advantage of them either, because some will just give till it hurts and then they go away. But, you know, let them let them, they’ll be happy to the really, really good advisors, I think of Luke Smile, right? The, um, digital transformation dude. Yeah. He gives so much. Gosh, we haven’t heard from him in a while.

Greg White (00:58:28):

Where the heck are you? Luke <laugh>. Um, but, um, but you know, they give, they will give of their time and allow you to see some of that expertise. Still check their references and all the other things we suggested. But I think that’s another, that is a key litmus test is will they invest a little bit in you just because they care about your success.

Scott Luton (00:58:51):

Yep. Well said, well said. And folks, don’t talk to one, talk to 10 interview more than one. Don’t, don’t, uh, get sold down the river in the first one. Make sure you do your homework folks and.

Greg White (00:59:03):

get as much free as you can. Go to YouTube. Seriously. Yeah. There’s so much to do. Some.

Scott Luton (00:59:08):

Well, Greg says, great closing statement, Greg, as if, uh, you’re a powerful public, uh, defender or something. <laugh>. So I love, or Matt Lock. I’ll call you Matt Lock. How about that?

Greg White (00:59:19):

Everybody close your eyes.

Scott Luton (00:59:21):

<laugh>. All right folks. Uh, hopefully y’all have gotten something out of the second half of the buzz. Again, we are making more and more educational, um, questions and content into the bus. So we go beyond the news and go beyond the analysis. But take some things that may be not on folks radar here in the moment. Cause it’s not in the headlines, so to speak. So that we again, help y’all make, uh, avoid the mistakes we’ve made or leverage the expertise that we have here across the team. So, Greg, a pleasure. Really enjoyed, uh, today’s episode. Safe travels to your event. I don’t know if we dropped the link in the chat, but folks never fear, uh, Greg, we’re gonna get, we’re gonna dive in deep and interview Greg on all the key takeaways from this rock and roll, uh, event and panel that you’re sitting on.

Scott Luton (01:00:08):

So, Greg, bring back all 17 pages of notes, okay.

Greg White (01:00:11):

And talk about intimidating. I’m on a panel with a, um, major general, a rear admiral and an author of books on how to save the world from Tyranny,

Scott Luton (01:00:23):

man. Okay, well, uh, safe travels to you. Safe travels to, uh, Donna Creche from Martin is headed up there. Capture some good stuff. Um, always a pleasure to knock out the buzz, look forward.

Greg White (01:00:34):

Yeah, I, I appreciate it. I look forward to bringing back some intel, some intel and all this.

Scott Luton (01:00:40):

Looking forward to it. Thanks for all the kind feedback and all the comments that came in. I know we couldn’t hit all of them. Really appreciate y’all being a part of our buzz. Uh, every Monday at 12 noon eastern time, we’ll be back. Uh, but folks, whatever you do a act on this, uh, the nuggets that you’ve gotten from, from Greg and I, here are folks, the comments. You name it. Take action, not words. And you know what, if it’s not you help someone else avoid making the mistakes that you know too well about. With that said, on behalf of Greg and the whole team here at Supply Chain now, Scott Luton signing off to now challenging you to do good, to give forward and to be the change, and we’ll see you next time, right back here at Supply Chain now. Thanks a bye.

Intro/Outro (01:01:23):

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