IPC International Community magazine an association member publication
Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1533344
IPC COMMUNITY 58 SPRING 2025 and that it's such an important part of growing a team. When your team members see that the leadership is taking part in the learning and that they're not above the processes, everyone is all in. What do you see as the difference between a manager and a leader? It's about creating an environ- ment that I would want to work in and where people want to do a good job. As a leader, it's import- ant to communicate what that vision is and what the tools are, then making sure we have the tools that sup- port the people to achieve those plans. It's really about growing and loving people. A manager plays a vital role in organizing and moving prod- uct through the process. Oftentimes, you'll hear the word love in our organization. We love our customers. We love what we do. We don't take ourselves too seriously, but we take what we do very seriously. When you're the media, and you're putting out informa- tion that might cause someone to have to make a decision, that's an important responsibility. It had bet- ter be damn good information. We want to be the trusted source. From an editorial point of view, some of my best moments are when we get feedback from a reader who said, "I read this article, and it changed our entire business strategy," or "We changed our deci- sion on something based on what we read." Then we know that the infor- mation is good and they're making good decisions based on the con- tent. You want to be great for your team and for your customers. People often ask me who I con- sider our greatest competition. I say that if we can't do it better today than we did it yesterday, then we're not really paying attention to what's important. If we're only fol- lowing the competition, that's just giving them perhaps more credit than they deserve. Are they really smarter than you? Is their strategy better than yours? Do we really care about them? Maybe we should listen to the customers and hear what they have to say. All the infor- mation you need to be successful in business you'll find with your employees who are on the front lines with your customers, who will tell you what their needs are. It's pretty simple: Treat people with love and respect, pay attention to your customers, and compete against yourself. Having your own business comes with challenges. What were yours and what have you learned? Whatever you choose to do in life, commit to it. If there are 48 ways you can go out of business, I think we navigated about 47 of them. I remember having a consultant come in, look at our books, and shake his head. He said, "Have you guys considered bankruptcy?" We said, "Bankruptcy? Are you kidding? This is the best we've ever been. We're excited." We went from near bankruptcy to a multimillion-dollar business. Anything is possible. It's just what you commit yourself to doing and making sure that the commitment is worth your time. It's been great fun. We've had incredible journeys along the way, that's for sure. Great mem- ories, incredible journeys. and even though I sold the business, it doesn't mean I'll stop working. I'm going to do other things, other businesses. Noth- ing's really been settled yet, but I've certainly looked at other opportu- nities. I'm sure that your energy and creative talent will lead you to success. What's in the past is great to learn from, but we start looking at what's next. That's when it gets really exciting. Not just spend time riding your bike? I created a business so I could travel the world, even riding my bike to customer meetings or con- ducting meetings on my bike rides. So, when I talk about lifestyle, that's what I mean. I'm not retiring so I can do those things. These are the things I did because of the busi- ness, so I'll continue to do that with some other form of work. Thank you, Barry. Cheers. Pete, thank you for many years of great friendship, love, and ser- vice. You've done an amazing job for I-Connect007 and are such an important contributor to the industry. Michelle Te contributed to this interview. Pete Starkey Barry Matties