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Chris Barry is Vice President of Sales at Independent Tire Dealer Group. Since 1998, Chris has significantly contributed to the company’s growth. He started his career selling incense door-to-door and later managed an athletic shop frequented by celebrities in Southern California. Chris transitioned into the tire industry with AKH Discount Tires, gaining comprehensive knowledge. At ITDG, he’s played a pivotal role in expanding the group from regional to nationwide, overseeing the introduction of new programs and partnerships. Chris’ deep commitment to customer relationships is evident as he drives sales and promotes dealer success.
In this episode…
The automotive industry constantly evolves, with new challenges and opportunities emerging for independent tire dealers. How can these dealers stay competitive and profitable in today’s market?
Chris Barry of Independent Tire Dealer Group states that joining a buying group can provide significant advantages. Independent dealers can access container-level pricing, exclusive manufacturer programs, and increased profit margins by pooling resources and purchasing power. Chris emphasizes the importance of market protection, collaborative relationships among members, and the “band of brothers and sisters” mentality that fosters a family-like atmosphere within the group.
On this episode of Gain Traction, Mike Edge welcomes Chris to discuss his career journey, the growth of Independent Tire Dealer Group, and the benefits of membership. They explore ITDG’s expansion plans, the importance of personal relationships in business, and Chris’ approach to customer service.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- [01:20] How Chris Barry got started in sales by selling incense in his neighborhood
- [03:35] Chris discusses his unique experiences, including his first job parking cars for celebrities
- [04:46] How Chris transitioned from retail management to the tire industry
- [09:57] Independent Tire Dealer Group’s beginnings and growth from $16 million to hundreds of millions
- [11:11] The regional opportunities and market protection ITDG provides its members
- [13:13] Why the strength of ITDG lies in the collaborative power of its members
- [17:44] Chris outlines the one-, three-, and five-year outlooks for ITDG’s expansion
- [19:36] How ITDG focuses on member education to maximize their success
- [22:52] Chris shares a surprising personal connection to Wayne Gretzky and the NHL
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- Chris Barry on LinkedIn
- Independent Tire Dealer Group
- Darren McLea on LinkedIn
- Logan Wilks on LinkedIn
- Mike Burns on LinkedIn
- Jason Rook on LinkedIn
- Hercules Tires
- Wayne Gretzky
- Mike Edge on LinkedIn
- Tread Partners
Quotable Moments:
- “When you’re out there selling hoops and meeting people, just kill them with kindness.”
- “Treat people the way that you expect to be treated.”
- “My father owned an incense company, and we didn’t have a lot of money — he’d give me packs of incense and say, ‘Go sell these if you want money for baseball cards.’”
- “We knew it was Thursday nights, and me and the guys would always bring a football, playing catch, and Jim Plunkett would tell us to run routes.”
- “If you work together, you accomplish a lot.”
Action Steps:
- Embrace the “kill them with kindness” approach: Emphasizing positivity and kindness in interactions can lead to better relationships and unexpected opportunities.
- Collaborate and share resources: Leveraging collective resources enables smaller businesses to compete more effectively via cost-saving and value creation.
- Prioritize market protection for stability: Implementing a strategy that respects territorial boundaries establishes a fair and predictable competition field.
- Develop versatility and deeper industry knowledge: Expanding one’s understanding of products and services enhances one’s ability to effectively serve diverse customer needs.
- Cultivate a family-oriented business culture: A business environment that values camaraderie and mutual support leads to a more engaged and committed team.
Transcript
Announcer:
Welcome to the Gain Traction Podcast, where we feature top automotive entrepreneurs and experts, and share their inspiring stories. Now let’s get started with the show.
Mike:
Hello, folks. Welcome to the Gain Traction Podcast. I am Mike Edge, your host. Today’s guest is Chris Barry, vice president of sales, Independent Tire Dealer Group, also known as ITDG. He has been with ITDG since 1998.
But before we get started, this podcast is brought to you by Tread Partners, the leading digital marketing agency in the tire and auto repair space for multi-location operations that have hundreds of locations down to five locations. If you want a partner that knows tires and auto repair, check out treadpartners.com.
The process is easy. Get a free consultant and see if Tread can help. They will tell you if they can or cannot. Tread Partners makes digital marketing effective, predictable, and profitable. Start winning today and learn more about Tread Partners at treadpartners.com.
As you know, I like to mention a past guest. I did a podcast here recently, if you haven’t listened to it yet, with David Brandenstein and Mark Kinkelaar, who work with PRISM Worldwide. It is a great interview about the lifecycle of tires and the opportunities to turn tires into products. They are doing some very amazing, cool stuff, so check that podcast out, please.
Let’s get started, and talk with my friend Chris Barry. Chris, welcome to the Gain Traction Podcast.
Chris:
Good morning, Mike. I’ve been looking forward to this call for weeks. I hope you’re having a great day.
Mike:
I am. I’m glad to have you. We have talked about this for several months. I’m glad that you’ve agreed to do a podcast with us. Tell us, tell me a little bit about yourself, where you grew up. Then ultimately, I always like to ask people, what was your first job? What did you do growing up?
Chris:
It’s nice that you asked. First off, again, thank you so much for having me on this podcast. I’m basically a Southern California guy. I grew up in Southern California. Manhattan Beach, California to be exact. I still reside here today.
Mike:
Oh, that’s nice.
Chris:
I am 59-years-old. It’s a nice beach community. But it’s also close to the 405 Freeway, and it’s also close to the LAX Airport. For business purposes, I can jump on the freeway to go call on ITDG members, and I can get on a plane.
Mike:
Awesome.
Chris:
And get to the airport. I have a lot of first jobs, but I’m going to explain my first job.
My father owned an incense company. We didn’t have a lot of money growing up, incense didn’t make a lot of money. A big fan of baseball, I loved baseball, I loved to collect baseball cards. Dad, can I get some money to get baseball cards? Can I have money for some baseball cards? “Yeah, son, here. Here’s a pack of 36 packs of incense. Go up and down the streets and sell incense.” I’m this little 11, 12-year-old kid, and probably the hair never brushed, but I’d go up and down the streets, door-to-door, selling incense at a buck a pack, two bucks a pack. Pretty much, the neighborhood knew I was coming around. They’d either lock their doors, or they’d have $1 bill ready. “All right, kid, get out of here. Here’s a buck.” That was my first job.
Mike:
That is great, great experience, man.
Chris:
Other jobs I had along the way, real jobs, I was a valet car parker in high school at a nice restaurant here in Manhattan Beach. I used to park cars. We had the then, the Los Angeles Raiders, come into the restaurant every Thursday night, have comradery night. I’d get to park Marcus Allen, Lyle Alzado, Jim Plunkett, their Mazerattis and [inaudible 00:03:46].
Mike:
No kidding! Are you serious?
Chris:
Yeah.
Mike:
That’s the heyday, man.
Chris:
Those were good times. They would come out late at night, after they had a few of their favorite cocktails. We knew it was Thursday night, so me and the guys would always bring a football. As they’d start coming out, we’d start playing football in the parking lot, playing catch. Jim Plunkett would tell us to run routes, and we’d catch passes from Jim Plunkett. That was my first job.
Then I went to Domino’s Pizza to deliver pizzas after that. There’s others and others, but that was my first one, parking cars.
Mike:
That is fantastic, though. You got to do it at a place though, that you got to see some nice cars, obviously. And then you got to see some really cool clientele. Being a sports fan, that made it even sweeter.
Chris:
It was. Back in the day, we could make some nice money for a 17, 18-year-old kid. Boy, we’d get that $5 tip from Marcus Allen.
Mike:
Well, yeah. $5 back then was above minimum wage.
Chris:
Totally. It really was. It really was.
Mike:
Yeah. It was a big deal.
Chris:
Yeah.
Mike:
We laugh about it today because five bucks doesn’t sound like a lot, but I do remember when five bucks could go a long way. Yeah, absolutely. That’s so cool.
What’d you do after that? How’d you migrate to tires eventually?
Chris:
How did I migrate to tires? I’m going to fast-forward you to my early 20s. I was managing an athletic shop. There was two stores. One was in Westwood, California, the other was in Brentwood, California. We sold shoes, clothes, Nike, Adidas, FILA. Mainly for running and volley wear. I was in charge of Oakley Sunglasses. I did all the ordering for Oakley. I managed the two stores for about four or five years.
Those were really good times. We had Julia Roberts, Darryl Hannah, Paula Abdul would come in. OJ Simpson, Marcus Allen were customers. We even had the late, great Robin Williams.
Mike:
Oh, man.
Chris:
Robin Williams would come in. He would call us the night before and say, “Hey, guys, I’m coming in. I need some clothes, I need some shoes. Do you mind if I shop before the store opens?” Of course. “We’re an independent store, we’ll let you in the doors.” He’d come in, he’d do a 20-minute comic routine for us, and then he’d go shopping. That was awesome.
But what happened was, if you’re managing a retail store in a retail environment, you’re working six days a week, seven days a week, crazy, crazy hours.
Mike:
Yeah.
Chris:
I was married. We were just getting ready to start our family. My wife is a CPA, and still is a very good CPA. But at that point she’s like, “Chris, our schedules are nuts. You need to find a Monday through Friday job.” It’s like, “This current job doesn’t offer Monday through Friday, Kim.” She’s like, “Well, you might have to consider doing something different.”
I spoke to a couple people. An individual that I knew goes, “Hey, I’m in the tire business. We are looking for an inside sales position. Are you interested? It’s nine-to-five. What do you make today? I think you’ll make a little bit more money if you work in the tire business.” I go, “Shoot, I’ll give it a shot.”
Mike:
Nice.
Chris:
So I went there, and I got the job. It was with a company called AKH Discount Tires in Los Angeles. Showed up to work my first day, ready to go. “Come on, guys, what am I selling? What do I sell here? Let’s go.” You know, “What do you know about tires, Mr. Barry?” Everybody has got four or five of them, so we’re going to have a good day. We’re going to sell lots of them.
“All right, send this guy to the warehouse.” I had to pull tires for the first 30 days in the warehouse.
Mike:
Yeah.
Chris:
Pulling orders, if you will. That’s how I got accumulated with tires. Acclimated with tires.
Mike:
That is very cool. You got comfortable, obviously. Then ultimately, you got to ITDG. How’d you get there?
Chris:
I was again, again, that same company, AKH Discount Tires for six months. I was on the inside sales team.
Mike:
Yeah.
Chris:
Doing will-calls and whatnot. That division got bought out by a company called Hercules Tire and Rubber Company. You may know them as TDW, Tire Dealers Warehouse. I had to interview for that job. They didn’t take everybody when they bought the company. They took a few of us. Fortunately, I got the job. The only unfortunate part was I had to drive to the beautiful city of Compton. Monday through Friday, Compton, California. You hear the stories.
Mike:
Oh, yeah.
Chris:
Get out of Compton before sunset. I was okay there. I worked there for five years. I started on the will-call desk. It was nice because they offered a full plethora of tires. They had forklift tires to OTR tires. Guess what? Now I’m in the game. I’m not just doing passenger and light truck.
Mike:
Yeah.
Chris:
I’m doing everything, TDR. I did that for five years. After that, at that point, it was called Tire Factory Group. We’re going back to about ’97, ’98 now. Tire Factory Group formed. I, at that point, with TDW I was the Los Angeles representative for TDW. I had all the LA accounts in LA. ITDG started, which at that point was Tire Factory. They took all my accounts, all my accounts and started this company. Boom, my sales went south so darn quickly. It’s like, “Oh, boy. I’m not going to have any cheese for the macaroni this month, honey. The kids are going to have to have water with their cereal.”
Anyways, I applied for the job there. ITDG was looking for a Southern California representative. They only had three employees. I applied, I got the job at ITDG. I covered Southern California for the first six months, branched to California. As time moved on, I covered the Southwest. Then I went up to the Northwest. Then at that point, ITDG, which then was known as the Tire Factory Group, we sold our name Tire Factory Group to a company up in the Northwest and we became ITDG.
At that point, we wanted to take ITDG nationwide. We had a few roadblocks for the first few months. But after those few roadblocks, boom. We were green, good as gold to go nationwide with all ITDG programs. I covered the West at that point.
To fast-forward to where we are today, I got the West going, west of Mississippi. Then we had four individuals, and we grew this thing. Today, ITDG has seven employees. We have 180 members with 1186 locations.
Mike:
That’s awesome.
Chris:
Today I’m vice president of sales for ITDG.
Mike:
When you started though, I think I read somewhere, wasn’t sales somewhere in the neighborhood of maybe $16 million, and now it’s in the hundreds of millions?
Chris:
We started out, going back in the day, Continental Tire was the first company that would do business with us. ITDG was formed by six individuals in Southern California that needed a UHP program. Continental had just left Parnell E. Jones. There was an opening for Conti UHP in Southern Cal. That is how this group started with Continental Tire.
After that, I wasn’t with the company at that point, but they said, “Hey, let’s get a parts supplier. Let’s really make this thing happen.”
Mike:
Yeah.
Chris:
O’Reillys jumped on. O’Reillys goes, “We’d love to offer you a program.” The next thing you know it’s Hand Cook, and then it’s a private brand TBR line called Turnpike.
That’s why you only had a handful of programs, that’s why you only had a handful of millions of dollars. You had $10, $15 million. Yes, that is true. 20 years ago, it was 15, 20 million bucks in sales.
Mike:
Wow. You guys have come a long way. I had the privilege at being at your conference this year, 30th anniversary. I got to witness, it’s a very healthy, live organization now. Not that it wasn’t, but you guys have grown it so much that it’s impressive.
Chris:
I think what’s kind of neat about, one of the things that’s kind of neat about it, is the interaction that we get from the shareholders.
Mike:
Yeah.
Chris:
We have some shareholders that have been with ITDG since day one, some since day two. They’re very active with ITDG. They know ITDG’s been very good for the business, and very successful, and it gives them profit that they wouldn’t have had in the past. Extra profit that they wouldn’t have had in the past. They’re able to participate in some of our decisions. “Hey, guys, we need to look at program X. What do you think about that?” It’s like, “You know what? Let’s see here. Let’s go talk to them. Let’s go talk to them.” It’s not like it has to go up a ladder, a chain.
Mike:
Yeah.
Chris:
We’ve got a president, Mr. Jason Rook. I’m vice president. And we have Francisco Rivero, who is our programs director. We can make things happen rather quickly. Of course, we have a board of directors that oversees everything that we do.
I feel that the membership feels they have a voice in their company. That’s an extra advantage that we offer ITDG members.
Mike:
Yeah. For the member, they don’t have a lot of layers to get anything accomplished, but they got a lot of people they can lean on within the organization. Other members, for instance. Because that goes on a ton, I could tell.
Chris:
It’s so cool because we’ve got regions pretty well covered. I’m just going to use Southern California to start with. We’ve got a group in Ventura, California, two or three independents. They share container loads of passenger and truck tires. I’ve got another group of independents, they’re TBR, the truck, they share containers of truck tires. You know what? It allows these members to have container pricing that they normally couldn’t get.
Mike:
Yeah.
Chris:
The pricing that they get is really advantageous for them. It allows them to still sell the tires at the same price, but now they’re buying at container levels. Which, that’s a whole nother layer of profit that goes in their back pocket.
Mike:
That’s a big deal.
Chris:
It is.
Mike:
Especially if you’re the small independent out there, that’s what you’re there to help. Collectively, you guys help each other, obviously.
Chris:
When we go in to talk to a new prospect we say, “Hey, we’ve got Fred over here, we got Bill over here, we got Josh over here. Those guys work together all the time.” We do offer market protection, number one. But if we’re going into a market, we let these folks know that Bill’s here, Fred’s here, Josh is here. They want to work with you.
Mike:
Yeah.
Chris:
They’re going to buy 1000 tires. Maybe you want 200. You’re going to get container pricing.
Mike:
Yeah.
Chris:
Which normally, they’re buying from other outlets that they may not be able to get that container pricing.
Mike:
That’s awesome. When you’re saying protection, basically, if you’re talking to somebody in a specific area of the country, regardless, you’re targeting them because you particularly don’t have somebody in that area. You already know you’re not having that overlap of territory, correct?
Chris:
That’s extremely important to give a member protection. They know that we’re not going to go into their market and offer the same type of manufacture programs.
Now Southern California, we’ve got a lot of members. In certain markets, I don’t want to use just that one market. We do have to manage it very carefully.
Mike:
Yeah.
Chris:
We’ll say, “Hey, you’re using lines Y and Z, but we have lines A and B available to you.” We don’t cross up and use same programs with all members if they’re in existing markets.
Mike:
No, it’s very strategic.
Chris:
Yeah.
Mike:
No, go ahead.
Chris:
It’s a fine line. It’s a fine line.
Mike:
But if you’re upfront and transparent, then it makes everybody more comfortable. They know their lane, in other words.
Chris:
Absolutely. That’s extremely important for us. We try our best to be upfront with all members at all times when we’re going in existing markets.
I can tell you this. We’ve got some markets, we’re basically closed. There’s a couple states that we’re closed right now. You’ll see a shift-
Mike:
That’s something to brag about. Look, you achieved something. It’s not a detriment. It’s one of those things where there’s a waiting list on this market spot. It shows the strength of what you guys have created.
But for those dealers, and we have a lot of dealers that listen to this podcast, when I hear, “Hey, 170 members, roughly 1100 stores. Is there an opening for me?” Where are the openings potentially, in just a broad sense? States that you guys are somewhat interested in, or think that there’s even more, say wide open.
Chris:
Canada and Mexico.
Mike:
Okay.
Chris:
No. Seriously, we’ve got growth opportunities in the Midwest. That’s going to be a big target for ITDG. We’ve got an ITDG regional meeting, actually next week in Chicago.
Mike:
Nice.
Chris:
Lord, thank you, we’ve got about five or six prospects coming to that meeting. This is going to be a strong meeting for the group. We’re looking for members in the Upper Midwest, the Dakotas, the Northeast. In the Oklahomas, Nebraskas.
Mike:
Yeah.
Chris:
I’ve got to tell you, the West, the Southwest, we’re real full. My counterpart, Mr. Mike Burns in the Southeast has done just a fabulous job. We’ve got some very strong players in the Southeast right now as well.
Mike:
That’s awesome. But there’s a lot of space in the Midwest. I know a lot of dealers in that area. If you’re listening, take an opportunity to at least get a hold of Chris and talk to him. It may be a program that you like.
Chris, I’m just saying this now because I usually do this at the end of a podcast. How would somebody reach out to you if they want to connect?
Chris:
Well, you would go to our website.
Mike:
Okay.
Chris:
Which hopefully you can furnish later, but itdgusa.com. You can read up a lot of information about ITDG on that website. You can ask, on the website, you can fill out what’s called a Dealer Profile. Give us a little information about yourself, and give us a contact number or email, and we will turn that around within 24 hours and we will contact you. Then we’ll get on the phone, have a conversation. We do only have two sales folks run across the country, and we both have families and kids. We may not get to shake your hand in the next 30 days, but probably within the next 60, 75 days, we’ll be sure to shake your hand. But guarantee you one thing, you will hear from us and we can start the process right away.
Mike:
Man, that’s fantastic.
Chris:
We’ll go through all the areas that are available.
Mike:
That’s fantastic. Give me an idea of what’s your one year, three year, five year outlook for ITDG?
Chris:
I would say right now, we’re always trying to expand the membership. We just touched this a couple minutes ago, where’s the white areas within ITDG? Where’s the open spaces?
Mike:
Yeah.
Chris:
That’s what we’re going to focus on. We brought on a new employee about 75 to 90 days ago. Basically, at ITDG, we have two folks who work from the inside that work on the day-to-day operations of ITDG. They’re going to call Mike Edge up, “Hey, did you know that company X has this great promotion going on?” We’re going to touch each member on the phones for the next year. Mike and I are going to go around the country, and we’re going to have a traveling roadshow and try to get members to attend our regional meetings. Come to our regional meeting, you’ll learn a lot about ITDG.
Mike:
Basically, a lot of what you do, not only do you recruit, in the sense of new members to grow the group and the strength of the group, but you really are trying to educate the members constantly. Saying, “We got a new program,” or, “We got a deal with this group.” Or, “We’ve got an opportunity with this tire manufacturer, and you can take advantage of it. This is something we worked out.” In a sense, you’re always working for them, but then you have to tell them, “Hey, here’s what’s going on, here’s your opportunities.”
Chris:
Thanks, Mike. Our greatest opportunity for growth lies within the current ITDG membership today. We might have some members purchasing 20% of their products through ITDG. Let’s get them up to 30 or 35 percent of their product through ITDG. We’ve got some guys buying 80% through ITDG. Let’s get them to 85%.
Mike:
Yes.
Chris:
That’s our biggest growth, it’s from within.
Mike:
I see. No, that makes so much sense. You guys are on the road constantly. You and Mike, Jason. When I pay attention to you guys on social media, you guys are everywhere.
Chris:
Yeah. It’s kind of nice. My wife and my daughter went on a two-week trip, so I got to stay home, and take care of the house and the puppy that we have. I’m home for two weeks, out of my home office. What does that mean? I don’t think I have been at my home office for two straight weeks, sitting at a desk and chair, in years. Boy, you can be very productive doing this.
Mike:
Yeah.
Chris:
I just found out. We’re on the road, man. Next week is Chicago, Indiana. Three weeks we’ll be in New Jersey. Then Texas next month as well.
Mike:
It bodes well for those that are listening. It just shows the audience how much you guys care, because I think … We all know that that personal touch, that face-to-face … Because the one thing that I discovered in meeting a lot of your members is that you guys really like each other. You like hanging out together. I’ve heard nothing but great things about Chris Barry among the membership. Everybody likes it when Chris Barry shows up.
I think I give a shout-out to our mutual friend, Darren McClay.
Chris:
Yeah.
Mike:
He said, when his dad and him had those shops before he sold out, he said, “My dad would stop everything when Chris Barry showed up.”
Chris:
Yeah.
Mike:
He said, “He was the only guy that Dad would stop everything and go to lunch.” But that was a great compliment to you.
Chris:
I appreciate that. I take great pride in knowing that. I love Darren McClay. He’s got great things going.
I will say this. I think I have a really unique relationship with our shareholders. I’ll say it out loud. There are some shareholders that say, “Chris, we’re going to meet at Malibu, Third Point. We’re going to surf. Our meeting’s going to be a surf meeting.” We got members that say, “Chris, we’re going to go skiing for half a day.” We’ll ski that half a day. You know what you can get accomplished sitting one-on-one with somebody, a business owner, for two, three, four hours with no distractions, with the exception of the good surf or the powder you may have? You get a lot accomplished. More than that though, you get that family feeling, that bonding.
Mike:
Yeah.
Chris:
That’s what ITDG is. Something started probably 10 years ago within ITDG. It’s called a Band of Brothers. The Band of Brothers and Sisters, excuse me. It’s truly a family at ITDG. There’s a lot of hugs that go on with all ITDG members and the shareholders. Shaking of hands. Folks have meals together. It’s a true family at ITDG and that’s something I take great pride in.
Mike:
Well, we were talking about it the other day. We were talking about college football, and then we got on the topic of you got to visit Logan Wilkes. Y’all went to Tuscaloosa.
Chris:
Man.
Mike:
[inaudible 00:22:29]. But you got the experience, that’s what I’m saying. You got to travel around, you got that experience. You get a lot of unique experiences, but you get to meet people on their turf.
Chris:
Yeah.
Mike:
And enjoy their food, or their cuisine of that area of the country, or whatever. It’s awesome, man.
Chris:
That individual weekend was great. Logan was so generous. We had one of his general managers there. We had a manufacturer rep there. The four of us, we spent two days talking football, talking shop. That’s really all. Just enjoying everything that was around us. We were away from work, but still able to talk about the industry at length.
Mike:
Yeah. Listen, my mama used to tell me all the time, “Learn to play golf, because you’ll get more done on a golf course than anywhere.” It’s not just the golf course, but it’s that setting that you get to enjoy meeting somebody, but you really have open dialogues. You really get to know each other. It’s like that old phrase, “Know, like, and trust.” You can’t know, like, and trust somebody if you don’t spend time with them. Time is that asset that we give of each other that, they’re giving their time, you’re giving your time, and then it just builds upon that. It sounds to me like ITDG does a great job of just beginning that process and then staying with it.
Obviously, you’ve been with them a long time now. What is it, 20 …
Chris:
I’m on 22 years now.
Mike:
Yeah.
Chris:
No, about 23 years actually.
Mike:
Yeah. That’s awesome.
Chris:
Yeah. I hope to be with ITDG for the foreseeable future. For the next two, three, five, 10 years. I’m getting a little older, but I still got a lot of game still left in me, man.
Mike:
Oh, yeah. I can tell you do. You got a lot of kick left in you.
Well, on a more personal side, does anything stand out to you that you’ve learned from a previous mentor that you could pass on? Or something that you live by. Is there anything stand out to you?
Chris:
I’m going to say there’s a couple different stories, quotes that I like to try to live by.
Mike:
Yeah.
Chris:
I try to have my day-to-day businesses live by.
This is from a Southerner, I’m not going to use his name. But, “Chris, when you’re out there, and you’re out there in the real world selling hoops and meeting people, man, just kill them with kindness. Kill them with kindness. If you be nice to folks, they might not buy from you, but they sure going to pick that [inaudible 00:24:53] up again.” You kill them with kindness and good things will come around.
I firmly believe, a good coworker once said, “If you treat people that you would like to be treated.”
Mike:
Yeah.
Chris:
If you treat somebody bad, and you don’t respect what they’re doing within their office or within their businesses, they’re not going to respect you. Treat people well. If you treat people well, you’ll sleep good at night.
Mike:
Yeah. That’s amazing to me. I don’t know if you’ve ever done this, but just to complete strangers, whether you’re on a subway somewhere, wherever you are, it doesn’t matter. But have you never noticed what a smile does to people?
Chris:
Yeah.
Mike:
Crazy how well people respond. But it teaches me personally a lesson every time I do it. It just works. Look, this world is hectic enough.
Chris:
Yeah.
Mike:
It’s got its own punishment for all of us. When you can be nice, it spreads that joy a little bit, and it’s contagious, really.
Chris:
You smile to 10 people, hopefully those 10 people will smile at 10 people.
Mike:
Yeah.
Chris:
It just makes everybody’s day a little bit better, a little bit brighter. We all have our tough days.
Mike:
Oh, yeah.
Chris:
A little portion of every day that gets difficult. We need a little sunshine in our lives.
Mike:
Speaking of that, what’s one of your favorite movies?
Chris:
I love movies. I watch too many movies, my wife says. But I have to go backwards in time on this, because I like to escape sometimes. There’s just nobody, leave me alone for these couple hours, and I just want to laugh. Get some good barrel laughs, belly laughs. I have to say, I’m embarrassed to say it but I’m proud to say it, I love some Will Farrell movies. I’ll watch Old School, I’ll watch Stepbrothers whenever it’s on.
Mike:
“You’re my boy, Blue.”
Chris:
“You’re my boy, Blue.” I mean, come on, man. “We got more room for activities! We got bunk beds. More room for activities!”
Mike:
I’m not kidding you. One of the parts of that movie that just cracks me up. He goes, “What is this?” He goes, “Man, that’s a tranquilizer. You need to be careful with that.” Then he shoots himself in the neck.
Chris:
Yeah, he shot himself right in the neck and went for a swim.
Mike:
His voice, though. They slow motion it. He goes, “Is this bad? Is this bad?” He goes, “Man, I like you. You’re cool.”
Chris:
Seann William Scott, “Yeah, it’s bad. You just shot yourself with an elephant tranquilizer.”
Mike:
Oh, that’s great. That’s funny as heck. Vince Vaughn’s in there, too. He’s classic.
Chris:
Vince Vaughn lives in my hometown.
Mike:
Oh, does he?
Chris:
Fortunate enough, on occasions, to run into him. I asked him once, “What’s your favorite movie you did?” He looked at me like I was weird and he goes, “Old School, of course.” Okay, okay.
Mike:
That’s awesome. Well, tell me about a book that you like. Any books stand out to you?
Chris:
Yeah. I got to tell you, back in my previous life before children, or when my one daughter was really young … Actually, I didn’t even say this to you yet, Mike. You don’t know this. I used to work in the NHL. I used to work for the Los Angeles Kings. I was a statistician for the LA Kings.
Mike:
Very cool.
Chris:
This goes back to the early ’90s, so I’m dating myself, but this is reality. I used to do stats for the LA Kings. It was during a time when Wayne Gretzky played for the LA Kings. He was chasing Gordie Howe’s all-time goal record.
Mike:
Yeah.
Chris:
Man, the media was here, the place was buzzing. Really, I got to meet Wayne Gretzky a couple times. He came out with a book, five, eight years ago. It was 370 pages, not a lot of pictures, either.
Mike:
Oh, man. A lot of reading.
Chris:
A lot of reading there. But I loved Wayne Gretzky’s upbringing, from working his tail off as a 12, 13, 14-year-old kid working hard, trying to elevate his game on the ponds up in Canada with his family. He’s a big family person, I’m a huge family person. Family means the world to me.
Mike:
Man.
Chris:
The way that he went about working with teammates, what he does for the communities around him. I go, “I’m going to get his book.” I read his book, and I’m reading it again because I read it eight, 10 years ago. Again, I’m a hockey nut kind of, even though I live in Southern California. I’m reading it. I really enjoy the Wayne Gretzky biography. It’s very entertaining. It’s a big book, a long book. A lot of crazy things actually have gone on in his life. But the ownership groups he had to deal with.
Mike:
Yeah.
Chris:
The one guy who signed him in Los Angeles ended up in jail three years later.
Mike:
Crazy.
Chris:
For fraud.
Mike:
People don’t realize how elite he was in the sport, compared to other elite athletes in their own sports. His level of play and his talent was exceptional, wasn’t it?
Chris:
The guy could skate. He was not very big, but he could skate. He was like a Magic Johnson with ice skates.
Mike:
Yeah.
Chris:
He could see the full ice, knew where his teammates were. Yeah, you’re surrounded by a good team, but you know what? That individual made those individuals that much stronger.
Mike:
Yeah.
Chris:
They worked as a team, which you can accomplish a lot if you work together. They got four cups working together.
Mike:
That’s incredible.
Chris:
Working together.
Mike:
Well, Chris, I got to thank you again, man. It’s been a pleasure having you on the podcast. You’ve been a great guest. Thank you for finally doing this with me.
Chris:
Yeah. I got to tell you, I was a little bit nervous. But once you got me talking, I probably spoke too much so I apologize for that. Grateful to have the opportunity to share some of my thoughts, and ITDG’s vision, if you will, moving forward.
Mike:
Absolutely.
Chris:
Mike, I think the world of you for allowing me to be on this. I will make sure to spread the goodwill on the Gain Traction Podcast with my partners.
Mike:
Ah, I appreciate it. Thank you so much. To all our listeners, thank you for being part of the podcast. We are grateful for you. If you would like to recommend a guest to me, please email me at [email protected]. Until next time, be safe, be grateful, and have a great day.
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