The Sign Whisperer, with Kurt Stoner
A brush 🖌️ 🎨 with destiny....
An accidental business builder....
"I bet you could do that!" 🗣️ 🦾
These encouraging words of mentors and teachers in his formative years became internalized into:
"I bet I could do that!"
And now has turned into the mantra and leadership philosophy of Kurt Stoner.
30 years later, Kurt leads his team of many artists and craftsman at Stoner Graphix with an "I bet I could do that!" attitude to self-development, team cohesion, and a focus on accomplishments.
Stoner Graphix turns customer visions into 3-D realities.
In the next installment of the #executivehustle podcast Kurt and I explore his journey, the challenges, and creativity needed to lead in the trades!
"If it evokes an emotion or sends a message - it's a sign"
Speaking of signs....
This is a sign 💢 you need to listen to this episode for great leadership insights! 💡💡💡💡💡💡💡
The following is an AI generated summary (there will be errors)
@10:21 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
Welcome to the executive hustle podcast. Our guest today is Kurt Stoner is the president of Stoner Graphics.
He is a local craftsman who with along with his team turns customer visions into 3D realities, highlighting brands and stories all across Pennsylvania and our nation.
Welcome Kurt.
@10:45 - kurt
Thank you, Pearson for having me.
@10:47 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
Oh, so glad to have you here and some of your hobbies that I know you have that are also just as interesting.
So one of the ways I like to start out is just really getting a little bit of your history and finding out if the seven-year-old Kurt thought he would be making signs and visual art and turning all of these visions into realities for companies.
@11:12 - kurt
It worked. I would say the answer to that is probably yes.
@11:17 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
I've never thought about it that way before. Uh-huh.
@11:20 - kurt
I've always been into art. I've always been a drawing person, my dad, my marriage, my drawing, and my artistic abilities when I was young.
So I've done it my whole life. So again, never been asked that question. would have said that originally, did I think about signs and graphics at the age of seven?
thinking back, I definitely was being I was starting my journey, I'm sure, because it's always been part of my life.
@11:52 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
Mm-hmm. How did it grow from drawing and interest in art to signs? What were some of those key terms?
points for you.
@12:01 - kurt
I can definitely remember that specifically.
@12:03 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
always drawing and always doing the art.
@12:06 - kurt
was almost, there was a conversations as I got older. What would I do with this? what, you know, your parents always, Hey, what might you do?
@12:14 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
Yeah, what do you like?
@12:16 - kurt
What do you think? They never pushed a career.
@12:17 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
They never pushed anything.
@12:19 - kurt
But they were very active in trying to support things that I would do. And couple different things. My, I'll never forget my neighbor had a boat and a local sign painter, which was when I started, it was all done by hand.
The local sign painter came to the neighbor's house and painted the name of the boat on the back of the, the back of the stern the boat.
And I remember watching him specifically with his brush, how he did it. And I was just intrigued by it.
Can I see or think about a sign painting job? No. was going to, I'm going say it was probably six or seventh grade when that happened.
And I remember my, my, my friend was standing there. were just, Standing there watching the sign painter painted back to the boat and he said you could probably do that and I was like yeah, but I could So that was my first introduction to the sign industry or the hand lettering and the painting world there were sign painters back in the day And then my parents always again promoted it my 16th birthday.
My father bought me an airbrush Mmm, that was that was preceded by being at Rohebeth Beach on the boardwalk and watching people Airbrush t-shirts Again, I got the I bet you could do that So I was encouraged and when I got the airbrush.
definitely took to it and again that helped promote through my high school years the the process and then My high school art teacher, which is people love here I think and I remember talking to the high school about it, and they loved hearing it Brad Stremen was his name.
He was my high school art teacher and his dad was a sign painter And he did sign painting also on the side
kind of that when he wasn't teaching high school art, and he invited me to his shop and said, how about I teach you, you might like this one to kind of give me more to go off of, because it wasn't something they taught at school.
So I spent a few months after school going to his sign shop and just watching him and learning from him and getting my feet wet, basically, and that's how that's how it started.
@14:23 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
Wow, little pivotal moments that really have culminated into something really successful and magical. Absolutely.
@14:32 - kurt
Wow. So you've been running, or the Helm of Stonographics now, 33 years, I think? Yes. did the math, right?
What was the original vision as compared to what it has evolved in today? Great question. I tell people often that I never intended to have a quote unquote business.
I didn't think of it as I'm going to create a business with folks and a certain size. I never had that in mind.
I started by, hey, I really like doing this, you know, the art of making the signs. I got I'm driven by accomplishment.
And I love the result of getting the product or spending time on something and then seeing the result of what I've created.
So, you know, it involved because of my again driven by accomplishment problem.
@15:27 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
I like how you say that.
@15:30 - kurt
Learning how to do something that I would see. My trade magazines are just out and about in my environment.
I would see a project or a type of product that I didn't know how to do. And I would look into it and I would figure out, I want to know how to do that.
I always wanted to describe and do the next best result, the product. can I do to make myself unique and not about myself, but what can I do myself to be unique, not, hey, look at me.
I never had that. What can I do to make myself look better. I'm always trying to satisfy my own needs to get better and we've learned different techniques and three-dimensional signs and sandblasted signs and all the things we get into now that are specialty, we're all driven by that need to learn the next best better thing or my own curiosity that needed developed.
@16:20 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
Yeah, I love how you brought in curiosity. That's definitely what was coming to mind as you were telling that story and I talk a lot about curiosity as being one of the key traits for leaders in terms of how they lead others.
So your story really reflects in terms of how it drove you to learn the next thing, learn the next thing, learn the next thing, be innovative.
How does that curiosity help you lead? that you do have a business with a bunch of employees, big buildings, lots of things going on, many customers.
How does that mentality serve you as a leader of all of these people now?
@19:05 - kurt
Absolutely. I think it's important to invoke the curiosity in the next generation. I have some younger folks and I say younger folks.
I have folks anywhere from 22 years old that say even in the 50s but most of my team is 25 to 35 and they're adults of course but they're still in some of them that have been in our industry.
being able to just talk to them mentor and then give them food for thought basically when we're working on projects or show them something that I've learned through the trials and tribulations or the process that I've tried.
We joke and one of my famous things is I'm not that smart just done lot of stuff wrong and then you play laugh and so forth because sometimes I'm going wow and I had that look on their eye like man you really know a lot of stuff.
to say that. I'm like, no, I'm really not that smart. I've just done a lot stuff wrong. And through those trials and the curiosity of learning, I am not afraid to fail.
That's for sure. But I don't allow myself to fail either. know, a friend of mine had told me that one time that he admired it.
I was always interested in understanding how things worked. Like even another industry, I'd be like, I'd ask a lot of questions about things to understand how it worked.
And I think that, again, is the curiosity of my mind that's helped me develop different products, approach things differently, not just do what's easy and not what is kind of the standard procedure for things.
Let's make our things unique. Let's make our things stand out and be unique and the type of place that people want to come because they need a, they want a unique product.
They don't just want a sign or a truck letter to wrap. They want a unique product and they don't know how else to get it.
@20:53 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
Right. Yeah, I love so much in what you just said. So I want to pick a couple things out first.
You said a lot of the people that you have there are not from your industry.
@21:04 - kurt
Right.
@21:05 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
I have a daughter headed into the trades and I know that this is in the minority out there in the community.
So how are you encountering and overcoming a lack of skilled workforce? Where are you attracting people? How are you getting them?
And then when you have them, if they are new to the industry, what does it look like to get trained at starting graphics?
@21:29 - kurt
Right. question. Yeah. The challenge is the industry is kind of small and narrow. So it is harder to find folks with specific and some of folks that I have with experience have come from very basic starting experience.
They got their feet wet and it might even have been in a shop that wasn't as ambitious or kind of did the more basic type of work, which was okay because they got some training and some training into the belt.
It's all experience through hands-on learning, you know We do have some standard operating procedures, and we have some things that we train the processes of how we do X or Y and Z The and they're meant to work, you know, they're literally working with somebody else that has that experience And that's how I've trained, you know, the people that are now training and so forth It is it is difficult, but it's it's all in the aptitude and You know aptitude is directly related to attitude and or vice versa I'm sorry, and I think that's important that Someone finds it interesting and wants to know how to be better or to learn how do we do that and have the confidence in And still the confidence that they can do it So it sounds like you're hiring not really for experience and expertise but Potential correct.
That's what I found that I tried to do the most because it's so hard to find experience But there's
experience and other things that can cross over or parallel.
@23:03 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
We talk about a mechanical mind.
@23:05 - kurt
If someone has a mind, they can see cause and effect and things. They mechanically think through processes. They are usually a good fit for us.
@23:16 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And in a creative way, which provides me coming from you, a creative way to solve the challenge of a workforce issue.
Yeah, well, you know, the business is not what you thought it might be. It is a business. It's big.
It's growing. You've got amazing customers all across the country and it doesn't happen in isolation. It doesn't happen overnight.
What are some of the relationships, partnerships, connections, support, things that you can kind of point to along the decades that have helped you get to where you are?
@23:54 - kurt
Sure. I think that's an important point that we all have hindsight, which we had. I will one of the things that I failed to recognize Well enough was the I want to call it networking.
I'm not sure that's the right the right word But connecting with other vendors using all the resources and having relationships now We've always had great relationships.
have good relationships with all other sign companies and the company similar scope of ours Because we if you need something and something goes wrong at your shop We help them out because it's good people but I Always thought work hard to create these unique things and people will recognize it and they did But I recognize later in life how much more important it is to get out and meet folks and try and put your face in front of And your your hand shake out to different leaders as well That will give you the opportunity because I also found I think it I don't think it matters what industry people are hungry
for good resources. So if you can become a good resource, you just need to get in front of the right people and don't undermine, underestimate the value of some networking, whether it's going on just to a benefit, whether it's going to a dinner for anything, know, and meeting people because the people making the decisions are looking for good resources all the time.
That's how we've grown through, hey, we need a good reliable resource that creates unique things that we can advance our company with.
And there's no shortage of that need that you have to be able to get in front of those people, shake hands with them and again to other folks that are looking for those needs that are leaders like to share with their other leader friends.
Hey, here's a great resource that does what they say and delivers a great product and is a good experience.
And there's no shortage of work for any industry, I think, if you function like that and you can get yourself out there and expose yourself to the right
@26:00 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
Yeah. So positive word of mouth.
@26:02 - kurt
Absolutely. It's a key metric.
@26:04 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
Yeah.
@26:04 - kurt
And doing that proactively.
@26:07 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
Yes.
@26:07 - kurt
Proactively. I said, we, you know, we do physical things that you drive down the road and see where you go to, you know, Hershey Park or Chocolate World and you see those great displays that we did.
Not everybody's asking who did that display. Our name's not a lot, but it is an advertise for us. So, but when people see it and they ask, you know, the general manager of that company, Hey, we saw that nice new product you have out there, that sign or the truck lettering, whatever, we did that for you.
They, I want them to be good about sharing who did that for them.
@26:41 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
Yeah. Yeah. want your story to be shared along with the pride they have in their product.
@26:48 - kurt
customer experience is a pivotal thing in one of our core values to make sure that we are delivering and exceeding expectations is actually the core value that we talk about.
we want people to be, wow, that was really great experience. Not just be provided service sure absolutely.
@27:03 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
That's customer loyalty not just from our retention. Yeah What's the coolest? Project or thing that you guys have created because I know it's not just signs, right?
@27:17 - kurt
Great question. There's a lot over the years. I think the most recent one that is a unique project because you know actually one of my mentors Dan Sawatsky is a gentleman that works in British Columbia, Canada doing some of the really unique stuff and he was an inspiration I saw him on our trade magazines and so forth.
He said if it conveys a message, it's a sign or if it invokes a field, it's a sign so We created the world's largest bobblehead for Ollie's bar and outlets So they had a bobblehead of Ollie their mascot that they created sold in the store and they for their 40th anniversary Wanted to do a unique something to really you know blow it out of the water
So they found out how big the largest bobblehead ever made was. And they said, so we made a 16 and a half foot tall, real functioning bobblehead of the Ollie character that's in the mascot of the store, full 3D.
Again, it looks like you put it in the machine and made it bigger.
@28:16 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
Yeah.
@28:17 - kurt
Mark, it was quite the engineering task. There's a lot of things that you have to factor in to create something like that.
But that's one of the 3D things that we do. And again, it's a sign. As it promotes the product, the business, or a brand.
And that's exactly what it did for always. It promoted their brand. you know, people come to corporate headquarters to see it.
And they, of course, use it for social media. it got a big buzz and it got, you know, CNN and some of the big news.
It was again, it a book, a world record. So kind of proud of that.
@28:51 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
Wow. I remember seeing it at the farm show. That's right. When it was done. Yeah.
@28:57 - kurt
That's funny. I'm they asked us, hey, we're smart. Aftering the farm show, we'd really like to have it there.
Can you guys move it and take it and it's not going to be an engineering fee. Throw it in back of a truck and try it up and pull it out.
We had to dismantle it. Back at a bill of custom, you know, transport it, take a forklift with us.
There was quite the process to put it up for a week at the farm show, then bring it back and put it back in the store.
@29:20 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
And that probably exceeded their expectations.
@29:22 - kurt
There you go. Exactly.
@29:24 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
by doing that. Wow. That's cool. I love this. You know, if it conveys a message or evokes a feeling, it's a sign.
@29:33 - kurt
Right. Absolutely.
@29:36 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
Is that part of your is that the way you run sort of the business? that did you just say that today for the first time?
is that part of the essence of Stonographics for quite some time?
@29:52 - kurt
Great question. And I think the answer is yes and no, meaning do I use that to promote us I don't directly use it to promote us.
But you've just, you know, given me some more food for thought, but I use it to encourage or to motivate our teams and even our customers to say, when they come to us, and another jokingly nice phrase will say is the customer doesn't know what they want until we show them.
@30:19 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
It's not a mean statement.
@30:21 - kurt
It's we all have, in my opinion, we recollect things in our brain. So, you've seen a car you like and the color you like and so forth, but it's hard for you to see it in a different color, maybe different configuration or so forth.
So if someone will come to us and say, here's what we'd like to get. They have an idea, and we ask, what do they want it to do?
Why do you want it to be that? know, what's the purpose? then we'll compare the thought of this, and of course, they're not in our industry.
So that's our job. No, they haven't. It's a unique way of promoting it, or, hey, instead of putting a sign out, what have we made you a big sculpture of your mask?
But it's more thought provoking, it's more. So that's our approach to jobs. Of course, the right, not everybody's that customer.
It takes different budgets and different abilities. our world is also regulated by permits and things that we have to make our products.
So it's limited, but we like to try and push the envelope on what's creative, what's unique, and what sets you apart, or how can you stand out?
A sign is not just a sign, it's not just, hey, need to mark my location. So when someone's kind of defined what they do, you really want to invoke a feel and give a personality, like convey who this company is through their sign, or through the idea of what it is.
@31:39 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
It's definitely conveying a message. And I love how through this concept of asking the customer what they need versus what it is that they're asking for, that's different.
Knowing your, sort of your entire universe of what's possible, that you want to evoke. feeling convey message and then that could be anything.
You've really identified who you are as a company and what your unique niche is in terms of what you deliver to the market and not everybody's going to be your customer.
@32:17 - kurt
Correct.
@32:18 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
And that growth process, that revelation sometimes can be really challenging for companies because it means you're turning down business.
@32:27 - kurt
Correct.
@32:28 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
Was that when did that sort of awareness happen for you and the company and how difficult was that?
@32:38 - kurt
Yeah, interesting. I think we're still learning it some degree because I think as you grow, one of my opinions, my thought processes as an entrepreneur, I tell people sometimes you never get comfortable because you're not just it's you have to continue to produce.
It's my thought process. I never get like, sit back and go, hey, we got it.
@33:04 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
We got to figure it out.
@33:05 - kurt
It's it's autopilot now. I never feel like I'm on autopilot. I feel like you have to continually work on what you're doing in your craft and your process.
And who you are has become more of my job. But to answer your question, there's been times throughout the career many times where both have happened, you think, man, this person or this company is challenging to work with.
some come and some go, and I've had some companies come back to me and understand the value of what we've done, because it wasn't about where we're not always the highest price by far.
I mean, if that comes into factor, and some companies have gone away looking maybe for a better price point, but no one can debate our quality in our long-term durability of our products.
And I've had several. companies come back and say, you know, we tried some other companies to do the product I was doing for them, and we found that it wasn't worth the cost.
And it wasn't just the value and the dollar, it was the response of this, the way the company functioned.
it's an ongoing project. Getting off your conversational, I would say in the last five years is actually what's taking me to really step back and say, I need to focus on my ideal client mode more, not take every job.
it wasn't a, we need to take every job because we were hungry, so hungry for it. It was more, I wanted to help everybody I could.
It wasn't a, it wasn't a good business decision all the time. And I still don't always make the best business decision.
I make the best decision for why I think it's the most morally correct way of handling something. We don't want to give a warrant to you for example.
People sometimes ask me what's to warranty, I say, I will guarantee you that this will be done with the satisfaction that is realistic and your expectations will be met and I will stand behind it no matter what.
I've changed, I've fixed stuff that was two years old on because was it really my responsibility, probably not legally, but I looked at it and said, hey, you know what?
shouldn't have happened.
@35:22 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
We're going to take care of that for you. Yeah. Yeah.
@35:26 - kurt
I'm getting off track there a little bit.
@35:28 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
No, but I think just through the narrative, it's so clear that discovering who you are as a company and as a leader is an evolution and it's really never done and that you constantly do have to be looking at that in terms of both who was your ideal customer, right?
So that we're always thinking about that and evaluating those opportunities when they come and you know, there's benefits to the employees when you do that, right?
They don't feel pressured to take every job. don't feel pressured to be everyone. think everybody because there's a lot of diffusion and confusion when that happens inside of an organization.
There's real clarity when you can define, this is who we are, this is what we do, this is why we do it, and this is who we do it for.
when everybody can sing that song and hold hands around that, there's almost probably nothing you can cannot achieve with that.
@36:24 - kurt
Absolutely, yes.
@36:26 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
But it doesn't mean you say no, right? you might mean you say no to the clients, correct. to projects or those kinds of things.
And that, like you said, might mean I'm not serving somebody I thought I was going to or had been in the past.
@36:40 - kurt
Right, absolutely. And really to mirror what you're saying Kirsten, the environment is better when you realize who your ideal client is and you look to your strengths.
Yeah. That was the thing I didn't quite get, you know, from the outside looking in, I would abuse myself to make
make sure I was taking care of what I needed to to make sure I met a deadline or so forth, which is still what we do.
However, if you're picking the right customer, you're working within your parameters and your timelines, you're setting the tone and you're managing the project and the team is working when they need to be and it's not just stressful, you know, and all those things that go along with a better functioning company.
@37:22 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
Right.
@37:22 - kurt
You're picking clients that are respecting you and the boundaries that you have. Right.
@37:27 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
Right.
@37:28 - kurt
Yeah.
@37:30 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
Wow. So what's next? Where what chapter are you in right now and what are you looking for in the next chapter?
@37:38 - kurt
Sure. You know, I'm in the in the chapter where I'm trying, I am stepping away more and that was hard because I'm a hands-on person.
I have a great team of people that I got to continue to tell myself, let them do it. Everybody hates the word micromanager and I hate even.
use myself, but there's micromanaging tendencies I have because of the need to get it right. But I need to focus on the training and the mentoring and let them be able to pick the good decisions and they're not always going to be the decisions I would make, but mentoring my team and keeping the machine moving is better without me being so, you know, even up until five years ago, would say I was pretty integral into the actual function of what we're doing.
Now I am at that 50,000, I'm more like a 35,000 foot view. I like yourself, correct? Yes. Being there to help guide it and direct it with them being the doing more, but I'm keeping the ship sailing in the culture and the core values that we have and promoting them and getting the new folks have the accomplishment.
and get that same feeling and helping be part of this company and feeling good about it.
@39:04 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
Right. I have a team of people who do love what we do and stepping back and being like, wow, we did that.
@39:12 - kurt
That's important and promoting that, so they are the ones doing it. It's not me. But we're doing it in a fashion that is quote unquote, stenographic style.
@39:20 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
Absolutely. As you're telling that, it reminds me of the time I was coaching an executive. you. No, I was supervising an executive leader and she struggled with leading from the front lines.
Maybe micromanaging, maybe not, but really being down with the individual performer and trying to lead at that level. And I just couldn't get across the concept of leading a few steps behind exactly what you're saying, like the altitude, the altitude analogy did not work for her.
So I went online and I found these pictures of artwork, of old battles, right? And generals on the battle and lieutenants in different places.
And so I gave her these two pictures. One was, you know, the general dress or whatever. And he was down with the soldiers and I think he was injured, right?
And then the other one was he was on a horse and he was further behind, you know, the line and leading from back there and that army was winning.
think I, you know, particularly picked pictures that wanted to tell the story. I needed to tell, you know, and that, that communicated a little bit better, this difference of, you know, when you lead down here, your view is very different.
You don't see everything you need to see then when you lead from a different altitude and a different position, you can communicate with the people in the front lines and get their perspective in view.
But you also need the view that you have when you're in the, you know, in the back or in the rear or higher, like you were saying, I needed to take both into account, right?
it's the hard-fought lessons, right?
@41:02 - kurt
Absolutely. Yeah. And like, and you did a great job of visual, you know, I'm a person like that.
@41:07 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
If you can visualize it, you created a, you painted a picture that was very easily to step back and be able to go, I see it now.
And when you're in the trenches, you don't see it as well.
@41:19 - kurt
that helps me communicate what I was basically, yes, I had a step back and I'm in that stage of stepping back.
And I'm much better of a business owner by stepping back too. I didn't realize how much being in the depths was as not as effective as I thought it would be.
I thought it was effective and now I'm actually better because I step back and I am looking at it from a distance, able to make a better clearer decisions.
And I'm a better, I think a better owner and leader because of it. See it better.
@41:57 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
Yeah. Yeah. Well, you know, the dust isn't in your eyes.
@42:00 - kurt
Yeah.
@42:01 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
Standing, outstanding. Well, Kurt, this has really been an enjoyable conversation. We've gone all over the place as usual as these conversations go.
heard a couple of things that I'm going to take away and I hope our listeners do as well. Your story from the very beginning to even now, as you talked about coaching and leading and mentoring folks, include this statement.
I've written it down three times, I bet you could do that. It was said to you multiple times, you know, around your neighbor's boat, the airbrushing, our teacher, and then you internalized that too.
I bet I could do that.
@42:45 - kurt
Absolutely.
@42:47 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
think that's so beautiful. And, you know, as you now move into the phase of training and mentoring, the next tier, know, how does that narrative push out to them?
Like, I bet you could do that. I bet you you could do that, right? As you are doing this delegating and pulling away in a way that elevates them, you know, and empowers them.
So I just love that thread that is through your story driven by accomplishment. You know, you phrase that as a blessing and a curse.
And I think there's so many perfectionist leaders out there, myself included, that can truly relate to that. And then your unique approach to, you know, solving the workforce issue, which is hiring for attitude because it relates so well to aptitude.
I think that is so creative. It's obviously successful because your business is successful. And I just really, I want to highlight that as a potential takeaway because I think that's very actionable for so many leaders and the struggle and ongoing process that you continue to do, that we can all learn from, which
is that ideal client work, right? And how that evolves and how important that is and how that has tentacles down into so many places in the business.
@44:08 - kurt
Absolutely.
@44:09 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
You didn't have so much good stuff, right? If people want to find out more about Stonographics or you, where would they do that?
@44:18 - kurt
Sure, I am obviously, I am on LinkedIn. So obviously Coach Snyder, if you're you can find us at Stonographics.com and we do spell our name little unique.
It's G-R-A-T-H-I-X. But I think if you search in any way, you should find us.
@44:34 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
And of course, we have social media where we share a lot of what we're doing and even talk about our team and different things like that.
So yep, you find me in all this. Yeah, I love your Bodhi insights, right? So we can see your precious pooch out there.
remember the desk right now thinking about he was very quiet during our talk, which was, I appreciate that. But he gives us leadership insights, which I love those posts.
I do want to call out. and highlight that all of your social media is around your employees and their accomplishments.
that accomplishment based mindset is serving you well. And I'm sure your employees really value the time and energy you put into highlighting their work.
I mean, that's really awesome.
@45:18 - kurt
I agree with you.
@45:19 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
Yeah, that's great. Well, this has been awesome. of those sites and a ways to follow up will be in the show notes for listeners.
Thank you so much, Kurt. was really great.
@45:30 - kurt
There's a player. Thank you.
@45:31 - Kirsten Yurich (kirstenklyurich@gmail.com)
You are so welcome.
@45:32 - kurt
talk soon. All right.
