If you’ve ever opened a can of mixed nuts only to find it 2/3 empty AND the 1/3 that’s left is ALL almonds then congratulations; you’re a parent!
Guy and I always load up the fridge and pantry before Buck Wheat comes home for breaks. I like to think of it as just being good parents. It's sweet to have all a kids favorites on hand when they come home; to make them feel loved!
That’s not why we do it, but it sounded sweet!
No, we don’t load up on Buck Wheat’s favorite foods out of love or caring for the kid. We do it so she won’t eat all of OUR stuff!
It didn’t work!
Three straight days of “who ate the last of the shrimp salad?”
I got used to the disappointment and started learning how to satisfy my hunger eating that whatever she left behind! I assumed all that was over when I dropped her off at the airport.
I should have checked the mixed nuts!
Enough of that though, because that was hardly the first time in my life when I opened up something and got something else! If that hasn’t happened to YOU before, it’s about to!
For the last few months here, I’ve been telling you about the new work that I’m doing at Benjamin Moore. That work goes on and I continue to be excited about it and am looking forward to sharing more of it with you in the coming months.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the alter!
At the same time that I was speaking with Benjamin Moore about a podcast schedule for them I was also having conversations with other paint manufacturers (HEY, I had no idea where my conversations with any of these companies was going to go, I needed to keep my options opened). One of those companies was a dealer-owned paint manufacturing company called C2.
In baseball, a tie goes to the runner! In consulting there are no rules for these sorts of things so when at the same time they both expressed interest in doing some podcasts, I had to figure this out for myself. Wanting to always be opened in all my dealings, I shared with BOTH parties what was going on AND expressed my view that I could do BOTH projects, and do them both well.
We all agreed that there was no conflict and moved on. Not really thinking about the odd-seeming outcome of being a consultant for Benjamin Moore while releasing a podcast for C2.
Being a blogger, podcaster or even columnist (in the OLD days) has me wearing a few different caps. I write to advocate for dealers but I also write and podcast to try and create opportunities for dealers to share their own perspectives and experiences.
That's all I'm trying to do here.
If you’re an independent paint retailer, you may find that the history of C2 is an interesting one.
Founded in 1998 by the father of the current C2 President, C2 was founded using a different business model than anything that came before them-or since!
At least to the paint industry.
A brand designed specifically attract the most independent of the independents could only have one owner….and that’s the independents themselves.
And so that’s what a group of independent retailers in 1998 did: they began a paint brand with retailers as owners.
Interesting concept. The cooperatives such as AllPro and Ace are built on a similar model. Though C2 is NOT a cooperative, the concept is the same: Common ownership! All for one, and one for all! With all decisions made by owners.
During the taping of these podcasts (we did two) we spent a lot of time speaking about independence: my guests were all independent retailers. I appreciated their perspective; maintaining my independence was always crucial for me when I was a retailer and so I enjoyed the conversation.
These retailers, all owners of a small portion of the C2 brand, believe that they have answers to some of their own (and your) problems.
So click the link here to give a listen (https://www.markliptonpaint.com/podcasts) or better yet, look me up on SoundCloud or in the Apple Podcast store and like and subscribe!
