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THE FRONTIER LINE
Hosts Wayne Aston and David Murray explore the critical global pillars of infrastructure development and energy production, from traditional methods to future-forward advancements. The Frontier Line covers the latest industry news, energy innovations, and sustainability trends that are shaping the future. Through expert interviews with industry leaders in renewable energy, utility-scale battery storage, and waste-to-energy technologies, the podcast provides insights into the evolving landscape of energy efficiency and sustainable infrastructure. By focusing on the intersection of innovation and the politics of energy, The Frontier Line highlights transformative ideas and technologies poised to deliver cost-efficient, resilient, and sustainable solutions for global industries.
THE FRONTIER LINE
Invictus Sovereign -Chief Operations Officer- Randy Moore
Discover the secrets behind successful energy transitions with Randy, the dynamic Chief Operations Officer and general partner at Invictus Sovereign. Randy walks us through his personal journey, drawing from two decades of experience at industry giants like ExxonMobil and Chevron. We explore his dedication to projects that not only yield financial returns but also champion environmental care and social change. Learn the critical importance of precision and safety in managing large-scale operations and how these principles have become integral to driving strategic growth at Invictus Sovereign.
Imagine a future where traditional and renewable energy sources harmoniously coexist. Randy, Dave and I tackle the urgent need for a diversified energy mix amidst the outdated and vulnerable state of our current energy infrastructure. We highlight the earnest efforts of major oil and gas companies to integrate cleaner technologies, cutting through sensational media narratives. With the increasing demand driven by technological advancements, a balanced approach to energy resources is more crucial than ever for sustainable development. Listen as we share a vision for an energy strategy that embraces both the old and the new, fostering a sustainable future.
Randy’s insights don't stop at energy. We also uncover the intrinsic connections between people, value, and business success. Through engaging anecdotes, he shares the significance of staying true to core values, facing challenges head-on, and embracing change. We delve into the power of a purpose-driven workplace culture, drawing lessons from big names like ExxonMobil, and explore how accountability and innovation can transform business dynamics. Through relatable personal stories, we see how a supportive environment encourages risk-taking and growth, ultimately leading to fulfillment and success for everyone involved. Join us for an inspiring conversation on building a workplace that inspires loyalty and fosters a thriving, innovative community.
Welcome to the studio, randy. Thank you, welcome, welcome. Good to be here. Good to be here, okay, guys. So you know we've alluded to this idea here that we would bring the Invictus Sovereign team in one by one and do some interviews as we kind of lead up into the interview phase of the show. So Randy is our guinea pig today. Thank you for coming and being willing to guinea pig.
Speaker 1:I'm going to give Randy an intro here because you guys need to understand what a rock star Randy is. So he is our chief operations officer for Invictus Sovereign and he's also a general partner. He's primarily responsible for overseeing the operation of our portfolio companies. As Invictus Sovereign makes investments into certain companies like American Spec Industries and Valley Forge Impact Parks, randy's our guy to help program and standardize operations. He's worked extensively in energy infrastructure and construction over the past 20 years in large companies, medium-sized businesses and startups. He's overseen contracts valued in excess of 150 million dollars. That helps steer growth of 10x with large multinational clients. He's passionate about strategic and responsible growth, be it internal or external. Randy's a team builder at all levels, from boots to boardrooms, and has worked in and for Fortune 100 companies in this capacity.
Speaker 1:Welcome, randy, thank you. Thank you, we feel so—. Did we miss anything? No, we just need to get Wayne on the haircut train. I'm in the middle trying to just. There's symmetry, there's some feng shui here. We're just so excited to have Randy on this team. He's been a major contributor since we started, so he's one of our original partners and executives, and we've got a few questions for you today, randy. We want to pick your brain here on some of the past experiences you've had.
Speaker 2:I'm going to let Dave kick it off with the first question Well, it's a big question because I think we all have this. We all have our why we do what we do. And I know a little bit, I know a lot of your story. Sure, Obviously they don't, but why did you get involved in this project and what's going on here?
Speaker 1:What's your why? It's a great question. Top three would be the team One, two and three. People are super important to me and the quality of people that I'm around matters, and obviously we've got a powerhouse group here, I feel, and that was one of the biggest draws. I've been fortunate to work with a lot of wonderful people, learned a lot from opportunities where I didn't have that caliber of people to work with and for me, being around people that boost me and that maybe I can help boost in return is incredibly appealing.
Speaker 1:Uh, it's the theory of the, the rising tide and being able to be a part of that. So the people that I get to work with in this group uh, makes makes a difference. For me, it is a big draw. And then, if you want to talk about the project and the things that we're willing to tackle, it's hard not to get excited about being able to make a difference, both from the personnel level all the way up, and then I'll probably say this a few times as we talk If you care about the environment, we're into that. If you care about changing people's lives and making them better, we're into that. If you're interested in a great return, we're into that and to have a project that can check all of those boxes at a really high level a world-class level, in my opinion is just too exciting to not want to be a part of. That's awesome.
Speaker 2:Sign me up. Couldn't agree more. You got one more thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, hold on Sounds great. One of the things I didn't mention with the intro are the names of some of these big companies you work for and feel free to, to drop. You know, whatever you you feel comfortable with, you don't need to name names. But but how has your experience over the past two decades in the oil and gas industry shaped your views on operational efficiency? Man, uh, I have been fortunate to be inside of some of the largest, most intricate operations around, mechanically and otherwise, in large oil refineries that are the size of the city I live in and the amount of things that need to operate precisely on time. All of the things, uh, you know some of the companies that you you alluded to, the Exxon mobiles of the world, the Chevrons of the world that are, at differing points in time, the largest company in the world and being able to be privy to how they run and how they get that level of work done across every time zone, across the regulatory environments of Europe or Asia or the US or South America. It's remarkable to see how they're able to make that happen, but also the level of internal process and controls required.
Speaker 1:It's, it's daunting, that's a big undertaking. High stakes too, like credibly high like mistakes aren't. Aren't small. You know small financial implications and they're not small from a safety perspective either. Yeah, and and if you want to trickle down to the average joe going to fill up their car, if I mess up at a refinery, I'm constricting national supply of critical goods. Cars and trucks aren't able to move or the average person is now having to spend more per gallon at the pump. Yeah, because we got something wrong.
Speaker 1:Um, you, you look at the shut that having to do a shutdown at a major refinery. They're spending hundreds of millions of dollars on that project. What's crazy is how much they're not getting. Yes, they're having to spend that hundreds of millions, but every day or every hour that that's not on is also tens of millions of dollars in revenue, and so if you can't get what you promise them, they're on time and it's the right thing, etc. The stakes are huge, to your point it's. It's insane.
Speaker 1:I think that's one of the things that makes you such an exciting member of the team, because you may be more than anyone on the team has had. Because of that experience, dave and I have been talking that episode after episode after episode of energy and energy infrastructure and the fact that we're not just talking about a coal plant or a power plant. We're talking about commodity level gas, oil, coal and mining and the deep, far-reaching implications of different sectors that that has to transition through to and they all have to work in sequence in order for you to send an email, for example, right. So you've got really, really great perspective and insight, having seen like at the commodities level, which is really cool. Like at the commodities level, which is really cool. It's been a fascinating journey and one I'm glad that I've been able to take to learn what it takes for my kid to come home from school and whip up some mac and cheese. Yeah, you know.
Speaker 2:So we've talked about it. So, tom, what's your take on the energy? I mean it's, and that's a very broad question, so answer how you feel. Yeah, absolutely, but I mean's it's. I mean this this space is transitioning and it's growing pains and all kinds of things are happening right now.
Speaker 1:What are you well, what you're certainly, I mean mission critical to, to the way we live, to the way we do things um, obviously, a big shift right now towards electrical and also the renewables, wind and solar and all those things. I think it's really smart that we're looking to diversify. Um and I, some of the approach has been a little bit of blunt force trauma, in my opinion. We're we're just going to do it, uh and throw the resources behind it, whether it pencils or not, but I think that's important to explore those things and really dial them in and make them efficient. There are parts of our energy mix and infrastructure that are delicate. We're exposed, it's a little bit risky, from security or redundancy and all those things. We have lived a pretty good life on what was built decades and decades ago and it's time to make some improvements to that, to harden it, to build more redundancy in. And the reality is, as technology advances, demand increases. And the reality is, as technology advances, demand increases and there need to be some really robust answers to that equation.
Speaker 1:What does the average person not know about our energy mix or our energy infrastructure? Based on your experience, that's a really good question. Before I ever got into that industry, my knowledge was uh, I go to the pump and I fill up.
Speaker 2:That is oil and gas right, and that's and that's most people. That was re-established. Why not? What? All right, I blast stove and it comes into my house and yes, that's good.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and pilot, and pilot light and I didn't think about anything about when I power a microwave or do any of those things. That's just the joy of a first world existence and not a lot of challenge faced with that. I think some of the things that aren't as well known don't think that's always been the case, but I think that stigma is still around. Um, and the other is how truly delicate our grid specifically is. It's outdated in a lot of places. It's above ground and vulnerable in a lot of ways. If you look at the news over the last 10, 15 years, you can see numerous times where somebody got the idea that I'm going to go shoot a transformer. Just the anarchists just needed to see something happen and the effects of day-to-day life for one simple incident like that were significant. Now, the silver lining side of that is how quickly these companies are able to respond and what they're doing from a supply chain standpoint to have the right things on the shelf in reserve to be able to respond to incidents like that. Those are very responsible and good things. I just think there's another level of let's stop putting band-aids on and let's start getting out the neosporin and addressing the infection, so to speak.
Speaker 1:I'm really happy to hear you, you know, state that the general attitude of big oil and gas has been let's do this as clean and efficiently as possible. We've talked about politics and the lobby power and the you know, polarization of people's attitudes about fossil fuels and renewables and the need for there to be a more bipartisan approach about having all of these energy resources come to the table together, actually talked about. We, we've just made assumptions that we believe big oil and gas and coal and and these big traditional companies and there are some headlines not a lot, but there are some talking about them, you know trying to make advancements and investment into cleaner coal technologies or cleaner gas technologies or you emission low carbon footprint initiatives. And it's actually interesting to hear and have you confirm that behind closed doors that the intention I think I heard you say that correct the intention feels like, generally speaking, they don't want to be a war with renewable. They kind of want to. They want to kind of help us all transition to a cleaner future and I believe that I think maybe two or three decades ago that was still a very unique thought process to have, but I do think they see the value in in being environmentally responsible. Um to the you. You see a tremendous amount of development in the technology and in the process, a much broader adoption of safety and um efficiencies and better capture rates of what is being harvested and that sort of thing.
Speaker 1:To say it's perfect would be ignorant and naive. But I do think, whether it it was by their own choice or whether political and cultural climates forced it, I do think things are moving in the right direction. From that standpoint. It's good to hear, it is very well for you know it's it's.
Speaker 1:It's important for the listeners to know that because in the public perspective, I think and and and I think we share the same perspective about media in general they're not really interested in reporting facts. No, they kind of want to push a narrative. Typically, Typically, they want to push the sensational narratives. And what you do see in the headlines is you see California, you know, restricting all coal, restricting any diesels from coming in by, you know the next year or two Like these really dramatic mandated legislative initiatives that would make the public think man, oil, gas and coal is really bad. We've got to, we've got to get rid of that.
Speaker 1:If you really, if you buy into CNN, if you listen to the nonsense that they're pushing out there. Then you might develop an attitude that it's really bad, but in reality, I think what we're trying to have everyone understand is there's a need, and there will be a need for the next 100 plus years, for coal, oil and gas to continue to improve efficiency, continue to reduce their emissions and carbon footprints, while we bring on the renewable alternatives. And then, with AI coming into the equation, it's probably going to take all of those resources at the same time, 100 years from now, to be effectively powering the demand. Yeah, yeah, I choose to believe that people want to do the right thing. If you look at an average daily news cycle, 95% is what draws clicks, it's the negative, it's the things that are going wrong, et cetera, et cetera. Yeah, and I. So I don't think the, the well-intended efforts, get nearly the, the attention and obviously intentions are only as good as the action that follows.
Speaker 2:But I do believe, in general, the, the desire is to be good global citizens their you know their CapEx into renewable projects, just as a, you know, to hedge against the future and saying, well, we need to also transition or at least or stand up units or stand up business parts that are going that way. Have you seen that?
Speaker 1:I guess you've seen that, probably over the yeah, I think so In a lot of different ways. Some are looking at how do we produce a fuel source from more bio-friendly resources algae and different things like that and there's a tremendous amount of scientific research at an ExxonMobil Self-serving and also pushing frontiers. And how do we discover the next thing how do we play better? How do we satisfy a desire for sustainability and a greener approach with the very cold fact that we are reliant on oil and gas and other resources for a tremendous amount of how our day-to-day life goes.
Speaker 2:We've talked about that. I mean we, end of the day, doesn't matter what side you're at, we wouldn't have the stability although some could say it's instable but the stability we have, the successes we've had. Without that entire industry supporting it, it just won't happen. You can like it or not, it's how all of this has happened. It's a big component of that, and you can't. I think that's as I've gotten older, that's kind of come to recognize that without that it just wouldn't have happened. Yeah, it just wouldn't happen.
Speaker 2:And there's also geopoliticalical concerns, all kinds of things where it's helped position us as a country in a very strong way as we've started to utilize it. So if we are, if we we have more of a mix of renewables but we have large production, it puts us in a pretty good power position because no pun intended or pun intended, uh, because literally, and figure, yeah, so I, you see these things on a, on a macro scale, and you realize, and then you so like that's it's. It's been interesting to kind of see how all of it's interconnected. I do to your point.
Speaker 2:You know headlines are, you know it's, it's, it's, it's a lot. All about ratings, it's all about or clicks or whatever and sensational, or the stuff that's volatile, that gets us all worked up. That's the stuff that people want to go to and so the more sober approaches, the more nuanced of like you talk to. It's actually in the middle and there's a lot of gray here and there's this and this and this and this to consider, but most people you know in most headlines are zero or one so, but it takes a really concerted effort to dig into the weeds in any topic.
Speaker 1:but and this is a huge one here with tremendous, I mean that tree's got branches, baby. Yeah, you can really broaden out on the topic and that's a lot to take in. It's a lot easier to check out a 30-second reel and move on. I've made up my mind.
Speaker 2:Here we go, here we go. So you touched on this a few minutes ago. You said your personal philosophy, beyond your oil and gas experience, I mean, what kind of experiences have you had that have kind of shaped who you are right now? I mean, and kind of how you approach these things and how you approach business and life and what's worth building and going after and putting effort into.
Speaker 1:Man, that's another big one. We're asking the hard-hitting questions today. Um, my, I have always been a people person, um, and so that love of people and interest in in what gets people excited and moves the needle has always been something fascinating and intriguing, and I've cared about my. My parents have always called me the family PR person. We'd go camping and I'd have a friend over for dinner around the campfire.
Speaker 1:They're like who is this kid? I came to it anyways. That's funny. So I have a lot of. I've met your parents. Yeah, I can see. I can see that I've put them through a little bit. My dad still has hair, though One in reverse. So people's a big thing for me.
Speaker 1:And, as we talk about the operational side of things, it's rewarding to see to provide something fulfilling and that you take a lot of the guesswork and stress work out of a shift, so to speak, by providing good boundaries and a good understanding of what winning looks like today.
Speaker 1:Good boundaries and a good understanding of what winning looks like today. Zooming out, I believe in an abundant approach to life. There's always a negative, and I don't stick my head in the sand about the negative, but I prefer to lean into a challenge. I like a challenge, I like change, and so I enjoy the challenge, so to speak, of solving things and figuring out what from a startup should be in a large company and vice versa, at the startup level, how do we build it right so that we can scale to be that big company? And going back to, I think my first answer to any of the questions was it's the people that you choose to engage with and who you surround yourself with, whether that be your internal team and and your entire employee base, or the suppliers that you choose to work with and the providers, et cetera. So, people.
Speaker 2:Oh, great answer, so for, for for you with that.
Speaker 1:you know that big question as as as kind of a follow-up specific to that question for you personally, what's your number one goal in business? I think the broad way I would define that or describe it would be to provide value, and that is super cliche and broad and generic, but it gives me the freedom to say today, in a meeting with Dave or Wayne, I had the opportunity to provide value to something they were a challenge they were facing or something not even work related. That fills my cup. We had a meeting with investors and they're really focused on return and I was able to show them, through the efficiencies that we've put in place, that they're going to have a healthy return. That's a value proposition. So it is generic and cliche, but I think it gives me the freedom to do good wherever, whatever that setting looks like.
Speaker 1:But you know, in the break room for five minutes with someone, or in a boardroom for five hours, I think I had a pretty good grip on what you might respond to that question with, because I know you so well, because we all think the same and you know we've referenced some of these universal principles, that one of them is dollars follow value. We all, all of the players in this team are united in this idea that, to the extent we can produce enough value for enough people, dollars naturally follow that value. So you're not going to catch us out there chasing dollars. No, you're going to catch us doing our damnedest to create value, change the world, build a legacy, knowing full well that that brings abundance and wealth and prosperity to us and our families and our workforce and the communities that we build. So I appreciate that answer. I love when I can predict the answer. We didn't talk about it, I just knew what the answer might be.
Speaker 2:So thank you, for I just knew I knew what the answer might be so thank you for wasn't entirely a softball I mean I have, I have chased dollars, I've done this.
Speaker 1:So we all have, we all have, and the lessons there have been almost more poignant than the times that I've just stayed true to what I knew. My core values were Absolutely. I've been burned, chasing dollars, absolutely, and that was boy and mama wasn't happy. Oh yeah, absolutely, yeah, we've, we've all. That's another thing that, uh, we talked about when we, you know, we've.
Speaker 1:You know, when we did the episode just focusing on invictus, sovereign, we, we talked about the fact that this team's battle tested, like if you haven't seen some shit, some real shit, then we almost can't be on the same level, on the same frequency, because you don't really understand what it feels like to lose or to get burned or to have some of these serious financial casualties. And you know, I've admitted in in the first decade to 15 years maybe in my career that was backwards for me, chasing the dollars and, you know, getting my teeth kicked in and finding out that that's not the way it works. You know so it's. We appreciate that. You share that with us because that's bond, that's bonding. We appreciate that you share that with us because that's bond, that's bonding. You know, brotherhood kind of mentality that makes us a lot stronger, when we can be aligned, you know, in that mentality.
Speaker 2:Absolutely Well, and on that I mean so I don't know, do you have? I mean I think you have. I have like stuff, challenges that you've had in the past, where it's like, yeah, this, this is why I want to do this differently, like, and you don't have to go into physics, I just I mean, I'm sure you've had them.
Speaker 1:Where do you want to start? We've gotten pretty raw, you know, so it's totally up to you. That's how people learn.
Speaker 1:It's like you hear that you know how it's not just the success stories, it's also how you confront the challenges that grow from it. There was a I'll give you maybe a turning point kind of moment in my career and it happened really early on in oil and gas. I came on with a company, started working with a utility at a top 10 population center in the US. It was floundering. We were doing $650,000 a year at less than 6% margin Wow, our on-time delivery as a supplier to this utility was not even 65%. So back up to what we talked about earlier the importance of your stuff showing up on time, what's at stake we were not performing and I was still at a stage in my career where I felt like if I'm not talking a lot, I'm not adding value. I've got to just say the things. People need to know that I belong here, all those things. And this utility had come up to visit us at our office. It was a little bit of a come to Jesus meeting of you. You guys are on thin ice. They had every right to say we're not working with you anymore. You guys are on thin ice. They had every right to say we're not working with you anymore, and I think that's part of why I was given the account. I was new. It may already be lost. So nothing ventured, nothing gained and not a lot at risk.
Speaker 1:And this gentleman, who he reported to the C-level executives he was a high-powered leader within that organization just leaned over and said if you'll listen and be honest, we're going to be able to turn this thing around. And I didn't realize how profound what he had just said to me was. He lived by three principles and he talked about them all the time Be fair, be reasonable, treat other people with respect, treat other people the way you want to be treated. I thought that's cute. I heard that for a long time. Right, golden rule basically, but he lived it and he talked about those principles regularly. Rule basically, but he lived it and he talked about those principles regularly. And as I listened and shot him straight with problems that we were experiencing in in delivering, he started to say well, we've seen this at another unrelated supplier. Have you ever thought about doing it that way? Well, let me take that back to the team and see within four years we were doing seven and a half million dollars at 22 percent, with a 99.5 percent on-time delivery rate. Wow, that isn't right. That is not randy's doing right. I was part of the team but I listened, I was honest and, again, people were willing to share and collaborate and work towards what winning looks like on both sides of the coin.
Speaker 1:We had price raise increases that we needed to do during that time. That's uncomfortable. That we needed to do during that time. That's uncomfortable. They're a publicly regulated utility. They have rate cases once a year, so price changes really impact those budgets and every time, if we brought in the facts, they were fair, they were reasonable and they treated us the way that we would want to be treated and consequently they got better service and pricing. Fair, they were reasonable and they treated us the way that we would want to be treated and consequently they got better service and pricing than others who who weren't as as good to work with. I think I just went on a really weird tangent. No, no, I'm not broken. You don't remember the question you?
Speaker 2:have no it's. I you mean, did you find, did you find you had to enlist people in that vision, like, what did you do to like here I've got this whole group that I've got to work with internally, you know, but I've got to get them kind of seeing my way? Or was the people that got hired they were all like that and they were just waiting for that opportunity? Or did you have to kind of get people enrolled in MedVision?
Speaker 1:Yeah, really good question because, yes, we needed to get people to change the status quo because it had become acceptable and we were uncomfortably comfortable with being a 60 plus percent on time delivery type supplier. Delivery type supplier. But once they started to see that progress isn't incredibly challenging and that it's really small changes, we we got buy-in. In fact, one of the great things for me was I'd been working in pulling some orders with one of the warehouse guys and I went to my leadership and said he needs to be inside managing an account and so I put him on that account specifically and he was probably, I would say, my guy. Guy Bruce made it all happen. He bought in, he believed he was willing to do the work and willing to listen and adjust, and those changes trickled outside of how we handled that account into general best practices within the company.
Speaker 2:You also recognizing his skill account into general best practices within the company. We were also recognizing you know his skill. I mean that's you do it and then giving him that opportunity to flourish.
Speaker 1:Right it it was. That was incredibly rewarding on so many levels.
Speaker 2:Still talk to Bruce today. That's awesome. I always had a buy at a boss years ago. Tell me the. You know. You know he felt that the brass rings. You know you're given opportunities in your career where the boss or somebody says here's the rings, you can swing from them if you want. It's up to you. You know, and they're hoping that you do. And they realize, hey, I think the best people want to encourage you to jump in and start to swing on those things, but realize that you've got to make that decision and you've got to be in and you've got to make a decision for yourself and so ultimately, along along those lines, creating a culture that tells people it's okay If you swing on this ring and fall on, I'm not taking your right away, right away.
Speaker 1:Right, just grab your swing. Yeah, it's okay. If a mistake is made, own up to it. Sure, have some accountability made Own up to it. Sure, have some accountability. But let's learn from it. And that's the best way. In fact I've adopted that into my parenting style with my own kids. Go make mistakes, please don't make big ones, but go make a mistake and let's learn from it. There's a tremendous amount of value. And then, when you kind of get sick of making mistakes, let's take, you know, smart man learns from his own mistakes, wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Let's zoom out and see what pitfalls others have fallen into and avoid it. Have fallen into and avoid it. Well, that's the whole thing on failure.
Speaker 2:We were afraid of it, but it actually is the best teacher. It's just you got to keep going and work through it. Anybody who's played sports, done anything, done business and all this stuff, it's almost like, well, I failed, but no, you just found a way not to do it and you got to keep going. I mean similar, you know, when I was playing baseball and to that swinging thing. I had a coach, you know, and we were playing in like it was an automotive league, you know, kind of had all the players. And I remember getting up there and like my first up at bat and I didn't swing. I mean I, you know, got to three, I got a full count and then went down in a strikeout, but I never did. But I didn't swing.
Speaker 2:And he's like what are you doing? He's like, if you're going gonna sit down there, at least try to do something. And I'm like, okay, and because I was being overly cautious, I was like I wanted to. It's waiting for that perfect moment. Like no, take the swing. And I got on the next thing. I heard him and it was a good, it was a good moment in my life, a good coaching moment. Like would you rather he's like would you rather go down swinging or would you rather just stand there? He might've used some colorful language around that, the old sentence of Hanson. Perhaps there might've been a few adjectives, um, but nonetheless it was something I remember. I've, you know, retained that for my life which is you know, take your shot. You know, rather, to just take your shot, doing it like taking your shot, as opposed to letting other people determine your the outcome.
Speaker 1:So absolutely what I love so much about all of what you're sharing, randy and dave, is, you know, I imagine, the sandlot. You know picking the team and there's so much that goes into picking the team. And there's trained skills that you know and you can. A lot of these are college, a lot of these are vocational and a lot of companies hire on trained skills on paper. Then there are character traits, and I'm so proud of this company because we are all about character traits.
Speaker 1:I really don't care as much about what the specifics of the oil and gas experience are by comparison to who you are as a man, who you are as a dad, who you are as a partner or a manager or all of the roles that we may put you in. It's how you perform, it's how you think. It's these intangible skills that we're talking about. Integrity, respect, um, extreme ownership, taking ownership and accountability for, yeah, everything, not just the wins. Taking accountability for when, when things go sideways. Those are, those are critical fabric of this company that every single guy on this team as we've picked the sandlot team it embodies, yeah am I wrong?
Speaker 2:no, I love that. No, not at all.
Speaker 2:You know, you're right, thank you and I love that, yeah, yeah, thank you, and and that's been, it's been an honor because it's it's comfortable and and I was thinking about this. You know it might not sound like this, but there's such a lack of ego, yeah, and that is I'm. I mean, you know there's a bunch of us and there really isn't there. I think we all, we all feel very comfortable.
Speaker 2:Um, celebrating wins over, you know, talking about the loss, talking about whatever, and it's not a, it's not a chest puffing kind of a thing. It's how do I best support the, the team and the other today? And that's rare, it is. It's a really rare thing to have so many of us that I think we've all got to points in our lives where it's just as like how do we just get forward? I don't care, it's not, it's not about me, it's not, it's about us collectively. How do we move this all forward? And I, that's that's been central to it. I mean that's, yeah, nice job. You know, found some people, introduce some people. I mean people I didn't know before this and that I've I've come to. You know, meet some of the closest people in my life.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love being the dumbest person in the room well, that's always, that's always the right hike trying to say no, it was me, it's.
Speaker 2:You learn so much, I'm the baldest. No, that's not true.
Speaker 1:Nope, it feels like we've only been sitting here 10 minutes. We're coming up on 40. So we're pushing the envelope. We've probably got time for one or two more questions. Dave, you want to give a final question? You want to talk about Randy?
Speaker 2:Now I'm on the spot. There were some things I wanted to um. I would ask, so you know, in terms of how you see um the future of kind of what we're doing, like very specifically to us, um, because we've talked about, we've talked about us, but you get to talk about us, about this, the specific projects, and you know, you know, what do you think, what do you what? Yeah, what we're accomplishing, what we're tackling. I know you talked about it in start, but, specifically, like I'll ask you, american spec. What is it why, when we talk about american spec industries and what that company that we, you know, we invest in, could, could mean, what does that mean? Oh, I love it.
Speaker 1:I talked earlier about you know. Do you love sustainability? We do too. Check American Spec does that. We're eliminating landfill waste, one of the biggest problems. We got a five mile mass floating around in the ocean. We care about that and we can make a difference. We talk about the fragility of the grid, for example. We can provide resources out of those landfills that perform better, last longer in that setting to help harden and provide redundancy. Business exists to make money and it definitely does that. We know what our projections and models look like. It's very exciting it did.
Speaker 1:Going back to people, the ability to provide meaningful, not just employment but cause-driven production and business profits with a purpose, is really exciting and really fulfilling. Being able to enter into rural or smaller communities and be a part of permanent change that changes the trajectory of that group is very exciting and and fulfilling. I don't. I don't know if that's kind of where. That's awesome, going out of the mood, but I can't. Yeah, that's what I'm moving for me. So my final thought, randy, for you, thank you for that.
Speaker 1:Um, if, if you were to consider one or two or three of the most impactful things, that an ExxonMobil or a big oil company, one of these big international companies may have taught you with regards to team building or operational efficiency? Can you give us an example or two of what you are hoping to bring into the operations of these companies that you might might've brought from one of those big companies? Certainly, um, that's a great question. I could talk for a little bit on this one, um, but I'll give you the the dark side first, and that is I've worked with organizations where it is about ego, it is about positioning. Everything is a political play to step up and oftentimes step up by stepping on the throat of someone else and ultimately, while there may be some KPI advancements in that approach, it's not game-changing stuff. Where I've seen organizations thrive is in that kind of a Kaizen philosophy, if you want to call it a philosophy, and that is continuous improvement.
Speaker 1:We're okay not being perfect. I don't expect you to be perfect and if you trip up at some point, I'm not going to be jumping down your throat. We're going to look at how do we learn and grow from this and empowering the person at on the assembly line or the maintenance guy on the machine to say, hey, we could do this better and have them feel comfortable that. Hey, I'm going to listen to you. Yeah, and B, we're willing to implement that. Do you guys know the story of the flaming hot Cheetos? No, you didn't see that. Do you guys know the story of the Flamin' Hot Cheetos? No, you didn't see that coming. I did not see that coming Developed. The idea came from a janitor, wow, who is now a VP within Frito-Lay. He had the flavor idea, which is one of the most successful things out there. Yeah, confessable, absolutely. Oh, huge Things out there, yeah, and I believe in that kind of an organization where I don't care where the idea comes from. If it's better, if it's good, we should adopt it. We want that.
Speaker 2:I love that. They also promoted it. It wasn't, hey, thank you very much. Like recognize this is somebody who's maybe thinking outside the box and we're going to reward that if it, if it fits for him. Yeah, this promoted him but and and pushed him, but that's great it's a tremendous little nugget that's out there.
Speaker 1:I love that so much because, in order to cultivate a workforce that's a willing to step up and be happy enough with the situation to be able to contribute that to the company and not keep to themselves, means that you've built a culture that is very inclusive. It's very much about self-realization, it's very much about a family and it. What. What you have within a workforce like that is someone who can't be bought. When the next competitor comes and offers them $10 an hour more, the response would be hell, no, you could never buy me out of this because I'm so happy working for this organization, organization. When you have that kind of workforce, grateful and happy and feel, feeling their purpose, you get you, you, you, you have an environment to mine all of these incredible things and the company really is an organic, a more organic organization of its people certainly, and it's not this top-down corporate, you know corporate machine and I love that. I think I, I, I, I, I I think it's that.
Speaker 1:I think it's the best way to operate yeah, that there's a tremendous opportunity in doing something like that right now. I was just reading this morning an indeedcom uh, research, I don't know what you want to call it Project, yeah, and the findings were that only 22% of global workforce is fulfilled, satisfied I can't remember the exact term that they use. It's not good, no, it's. The numbers are not good. No, people are looking for more and better and deserve more and better. Ultimately, we spend a lot of time at work. It shouldn't suck. That doesn't mean there won't be rough days, just like life, sure. But part of why I love this team is I feel like we are working on being better, doing better for everyone involved, not just stuffing pockets up the ladder. Yeah, yeah, amen, I agree with that.
Speaker 1:Any final thought you want to leave with us before we wrap the show up today? Better, not, it could be anything. It could be anything. You know me well enough. A lot of times words fly before the mind goes. So thanks for having me on Fun to talk about this stuff. I could talk for a lot longer. Fantastic, yeah. Well, thank you for joining us. It's been awesome. We appreciate your contribution today.
Speaker 2:Way to kick it off internally. Let's go.
Speaker 1:All right, guys, guys, well, thanks for tuning. Thank you everyone. Thank you. Hope you join us for the next episode.
