Episode Description
Employee ownership holds the power to revolutionize workplace culture, but it’s not a task for just one person.
It requires a collective effort to establish and sustain a positive team culture.
And in this replay episode of Empowered Owners, Blake Theademan, Customer Service Specialist at TVF, shares about the power of empathy, the value of understanding strengths, and his journey at an employee-owned organization.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- How embracing a positive mindset can be a powerful tool in shaping our experiences at work. Making a conscious choice to approach each day with an optimistic outlook creates an environment where productivity and collaboration thrive.
- How transitioning into new roles offers opportunities to expand your skills and leverage your existing knowledge. By embracing these transitions, you’ll learn new experiences and tap into the insights gained from previous roles to enhance your current responsibilities.
- How developing strong communication skills, including active listening and empathetic understanding, can strengthen relationships and build a supportive work culture. You can foster a more cohesive, caring, and empowering environment by honing your abilities to listen well and understand your colleagues’ perspectives.
Jump into the conversation:
[01:44] How Blake stays positive[03:39] Blake’s journey at TVF
[07:17] The impact of the Employee Ownership Committee
[13:42] Communication and effective listening skills
[21:35] Exciting times ahead for Blake
How to Listen or Watch
Listen below or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Watch below or @Empowered_Ventures on YouTube.
Read the full transcript below the media links.
Episode Transcript
Blake Theademan: Knowing the why adds so much more value to the numbers that you get. It’s great we get that little endorphin hit when we see all the progress and stuff like that, but you really get to feel proud when you get to see, from a vantage point, everything everyone has done to reach that point. You’re not isolated in your success.
Chris Fredericks: Welcome to Empowered Owners, the podcast that takes you inside Empowered Ventures. I’m your host, Chris Fredericks. In each episode, I’ll have a discussion with one of our employees to discover and highlight their distinct personalities, perspectives, and skills while also keeping you in the loop with exclusive news, updates on company performance, and a glimpse into the future plans of Empowered Ventures. This is an opportunity for me to learn more about our amazing employee owners and an opportunity for you to hear regularly from me and others from within Empowered Ventures. On this episode of Empowered Owners, I’m talking with Blake Theademan, Customer Service Specialist at TVF and a member of TVF’s ownership engagement board, otherwise known as a communication committee, and many other ESOP companies. Blake hails from Jamestown, Indiana, a town of only about 800. Blake is a true people person, a great communicator and a great listener. A graduate of Vincennes University in broadcasting, Blake found his way into retail sales and joined TVF’s fulfillment team in 2017. Blake is one of the most positive and engaging people I’ve come across, and his energy and passion is infectious. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Blake. Thanks again for doing this.
Blake Theademan: Absolutely no problem. I think I’m ready.
Chris Fredericks: So I have an off the wall question to get things started. Anytime I see you or interact with you, you always seem like you’re in a good mood. Are you always in a good mood? Are you ever in a bad mood?
Blake Theademan: Oh, I can definitely be in a bad mood. So I’m under the philosophy of if I’m in a bad mood, I don’t like to spread that bad mood. So very rarely are you going to see me in a tizzy or with too much grump on my face, right? I’m a very open and honest guy, so if there’s something that’s really bothering me, you’re going to know about it, and we’re going to talk about it long before it becomes a sticking point with me to where I’m just like building up anger and building up anger and building up anger. I’m generally very happy. I try to be, but it’s a mindset thing, you know what I mean? Sometimes it’s just waking up in the morning and being like, we’re going to be happy today.
Chris Fredericks: Okay, interesting. When did that become a mindset for you? Like a choice that you want to take that mindset on? And then second part of that question, how do you practice that?
Blake Theademan: I honestly couldn’t tell you when it started. You know what I mean? I’ve always somewhat been this way, but as far as practice goes, it’s all a mindset, right. Because you do the thing where you’re like, I want to be a good person. I want to be a good person. I want to be a good person. In your mind, step one to doing that is just putting in the work and doing the steps. Do something nice, be nice, and eventually you will be that person, even if you don’t think you are or don’t start out that way. Right. It’s all about just putting in the work and then just doing it sometimes. So I’ve always sort of been this way. No one loves dealing with grumpy people, you know what I mean? And I find the fastest way to disarm a grumpy person is to just knock them off kilter with either a joke or just treat them how I want them to treat me back.
Chris Fredericks: That’s amazing. We might come back to that some during this conversation because I feel like that might be a theme here. But tell us what you started when you came to TVF, what your first role was.
Blake Theademan: So I started out in the warehouse. When we started out in the warehouse, we all, at least at the time, would start out on grounds, which is we have fabric rolls. You grab smaller amounts, one or two rolls, go grab them, package them up, and we’re sending them out on, like, UPS grounds, FedEx grounds. So it was a lot of walking around, learning where things are and then just getting things done at a fast then.
Chris Fredericks: Was that your first time in a fulfillment center? A distribution center?
Blake Theademan: Absolutely. So before I ran AT&T stores, I worked for authorized retailers for AT&T. And I would manage stores. So I jumped from store to store. But then it became an issue of family life. I had my first son, and I just. Working Saturdays wasn’t going to do it right. Like, I was missing things. That was an absolute no for, you know, I was looking for something, and then someone at our TVF warehouse was like, hey, I’ve got something. I was like, I’ll take it. I don’t want to miss weekends. The last thing I want to do is work my life away and it not be beneficial to my, you know, a house and a car and stuff’s not everything. I want to be present. So that led me to an eight to five here at TVF, and then I haven’t looked back since.
Chris Fredericks: That’s awesome. So when you’d made that decision back to your personality, I can imagine that the way you engage with people and your positive attitude, that would play out really well in like, a retail store environment. So in a way, did you feel like you were shifting and maybe not being able to take advantage of your skill set as much, or did you feel like your skill set translated really well to the warehouse role?
Blake Theademan: I would think in almost any other situation, it wouldn’t be as advantageous, but to bring in the employee ownership, right? I would say it did. You know what I mean? Because honestly, really, more than anything, culture fit was so big, right? Coming in and trying to have a good attitude, I feel like, only helped with how much, especially at the warehouse, it’s about bouncing ideas off of each other and really getting processes, tearing them apart to their core, working together with somebody else, putting it back together as a more perfect version of the process. And so I found my niche, I feel like early on, with being able to take on projects and work with other people. So honestly, I think it ended up helping a ton at another company where I’d go to work at a warehouse, maybe not in that I would just be a cog. I would just be a worker, be, hey, go do this thing. We don’t want your ideas. We don’t need your ideas. You’re paid to do this. Just do that. Where coming over to TVF and this was a new experience to me, right. I worked at T and I had co workers and I had people that worked under me, but we didn’t have the same goal. We never had the same goal. It was almost more competitive, which I hated. That wasn’t exactly what I wanted to do. So going from somewhat of a competition with my coworkers, which I didn’t really like, to us being like, hey, we all have the same goal, we all benefit from the same thing. Let’s put our heads together and let’s work through this. So I think that simply because of the culture here at TVF, I think I was able to use that in a big way.
Chris Fredericks: Yeah, I would wholeheartedly agree. And that gets to some things we probably want to touch on today, one of which is employee ownership and how you’ve really quickly, I would say, took to it the way you’re describing. And also you joined the employee ownership committee and then eventually went to a conference and presented with your fellow employee ownership committee members, and it just seems like it’s been a really good fit for you to be on that committee, participating as an employee owner. Is that how you feel about it, too?
Blake Theademan: 100%. Absolutely. So you get to a point doing what you’re doing at the warehouse, where I’m like, okay, I’ve done this and I’m continuing to do this, but I’ve hit a point where we’ve helped a lot of processes and we’ve really nailed down a lot of stuff. And I still have ideas about the grand scheme of things. It’s like, well, how do I share those? While TVF is a lot more open than a lot of other companies, there’s still some division as far as just with any other thing, departments and things like that. And it’s like, well, what’s the best way know, have a voice and really not just have a voice, because I also think it’s important to listen. Right. And get context for the things that we talk about. And I’m like, how is that possible? And an opportunity came up to join our employee engagement board, and I jumped on it. Here on our board, we try to diversify the people that are on it. And so me being at the warehouse was a good opportunity to have a voice for those people. And then, yeah, that led to just a lot of conversation, a lot of ideas. And like you said, we went to the conference last year, and I had an opportunity to speak. That was the first time I’ve done that. It was a great way to really share not only our culture, but ideas, right? Like, this is how we do things. I didn’t ever think starting this job, even a year in starting at TVF, I would be in front of people not only describing our culture, how it started, how it’s growing, but to be answering questions. I was like, I’m grabbing fabric rolls. And I never would have thought that years later I would be in front of people in Kansas City at them being like, oh, my gosh, how did you do that? Will you talk to me after this? Can I bounce ideas off of you? And I still get questions sometimes from people that have seen that. And it’s very fulfilling. Like, just to put it very succinctly, it’s very fulfilling, and it really makes you feel like you made a good choice with where you’re at in your employment and that there’s always room to learn and to help other people learn.
Chris Fredericks: That’s amazing. What was the topic of that presentation?
Blake Theademan: So that one we actually did on Clifton strengths and how TVF implemented our strengths and really highlighted what everyone was good at. And we got our top strengths. We got all, I believe, 34 ranked in order. But it’s tailored to you just because communication might be your top strength, communication might be your top strength in a different way than it is somebody else’s. And it’s very tailored to each person. And it also puts into context why things are lower on the list. I’m like, sometimes these things aren’t compatible with this thing. You might not be good at this, but that’s because you’re so good at this. And that’s usually what you focus on. So it’s a major focus on your strength with a minor focus on how we can use those weaknesses to really still boost ourselves up and be the best versions of ourselves. So that is really what it was about. And my perspective was a job transition, because after a few years in the warehouse last year, I’ve since transitioned into being a customer support specialist. And basically, my perspective there was how I used my strengths into transitioning into something that felt like a better fit and that was able to utilize the things that TVF helped me realize I was good at. And now TVF is using that to help utilize their people in the best way possible.
Chris Fredericks: So for benefits for the organization as a whole and all the rest of the folks, do you think that’s the number one thing, is helping people understand each other and their own strengths better and how to deploy those in the workplace? Or do you see, are there other reasons that it’s a really great system to use?
Blake Theademan: I think that is a lot of it, right? Because especially in the warehouse, it started out like, okay, what is this? What are we doing here? I go out, I pull rolls, I put them on a pallet, I send them out, and it’s like, but no, it is both that simple and also not that simple. It is simple because everyone has strengths. That is what’s simple. What is not simple is like that little shape toy toddlers use. Why are we putting a square peg in a circle hole? We can’t. Or if we are, we’re forcing it in there, right? I think with us, even on the ground level, it became like, I can see all this person’s strengths that I work with. They’re probably a good person to talk to about this issue that’s arising because I now specifically see they’re a person that can get things done. I’m an ideas person. That’s a person that can get things done. Let’s work together and it really helped us kind of fine tune the team of being like, okay, this person would be a great person for that task. And we hadn’t utilized that in that way yet. And it really helped conceptualize the perfect version of what we were doing. And after that, I noticed it stopped being like, okay, what are we doing? And it became, wow, you are good at that. And it’s not only just being able to put people in the places that they’re supposed to go. It’s also a recognition of their strengths, which sometimes is all people need. It’s just, like, validation that makes me more confident to go out and pursue opportunities to do those things. So maybe someone who didn’t volunteer to work a specific position or do a specific job wasn’t doing it because they weren’t necessarily confident. They thought that they were good at it, but they weren’t necessarily confident enough to go, yeah, I’m good at it. I think it really concreted what makes people special, and I think that was not only an efficiency booster, I think it was a confidence booster. So I would say overall, I think it was a great exercise and something that I still continue to use constantly.
Chris Fredericks: Where does your belief in listening well come from?
Blake Theademan: So I come from a very salesy family. My dad was in sales. My grandmother has been in sales for years and years. And it was always noticing them talk to people. I think they’re successful not because they’re good at talking to people. They’re also good at listening to people. Right. Nobody wants to feel like they’re being talked at, or they also don’t want to feel like they’re just a chalkboard with ideas being slapped on them. Right. It’s like you’re just using me as you want this bounce back in your face. You don’t want my input. You want it. Just me to repeat it and say, yeah, that’s great. Never want to be that person. I never want to be that person. And I’m capable of it. Everyone is capable of it. But it goes back to what I said about good practices on a daily level, right. Look at yourself and find those tendencies that you have and just polish them. Make it a habit. If you find yourself not listening, slow down. It’s okay in the moment to check yourself and go, you’re not doing a good job of listening. Let’s start now. You don’t have to wait till the next conversation. Right. So that is what I try to do, is if I find myself, I’m like, you’re just talking just to talk slow. It down. Listen, respond. Because this person is also trying to give you information. So validate that.
Chris Fredericks: So your dad and your grandmother emulated that. Out of curiosity, what did they each sell?
Blake Theademan: So my father has sold everything from movies to video games to electronic things. He would sell the big box stores like your Costco’s in your Walmart and stuff. And my grandmother has sold carpet. She actually just retired this year. She sold carpet for 25 years, I think.
Chris Fredericks: Wow. So you decided after a period of years in the warehouse to make a transition to customer service. How has that gone?
Blake Theademan: I would say it’s gone really well. It isn’t new for me in the past, it’s awesome because I did such a shift going from sales into the warehouse. But what that did for me is that gave me so much knowledge about what the framework is for this company, and it gave me so much leeway to lean on that. And that’s only helped me in this new position. I’m already used to customer service, but now I know more about fabric. Now I know more about time frames in which we do things. And I’m able to share experiences to other people that I now have in my circle that I didn’t have before. I became almost like an in between in a way, of like, okay, so why is this happening when it’s like, oh, well, that happens because of this process? It’s like, why does this take a certain amount of time? That takes this certain amount of time because of this process. And what that has also done is help facilitate more open communication between what I once did and what I do now. One thing that’s very important to me, just as an individual, is any job that I’m in, I like to know what everyone’s job is that I’m touching. Are you a person that I talk to regularly? I like to know what you do, why you do it. Because to me, that helps me do my job, and it puts everything into context around me.
Chris Fredericks: How do you get to know people and what they do? Like, you have certain go to questions, or how do you get to the bottom of those types of things?
Blake Theademan: So a lot of times it’s a follow up, right. I’ve done a certain process that involves you, and I go, hey, what does your side of this look like? Why is it that we do it in this specific way? No rush, but if you find time and you can explain it, I would appreciate it, and everybody does. I like to know why it is that we do this. Like, what does this look like from your perspective, or what is this process. And why is it that you do this? And that just helps me honestly immensely with what I do, because I know the right person to go to for this specific issue, even though it might not be clear to everybody, because with any job, you have things that come up for a first time for you and things like that. So with that context, it helps me know who to go to know what their day looks like. And also it goes back to, for me, the positivity thing. Right? It’s almost like forced empathy. You can force empathy on yourself, in a way, by just understanding what it is somebody does well, they don’t have time to do that immediately. They’re not on my time frame. They have so many other things to do. I gained that from working at the warehouse. It’s very easy when you don’t work someone to be like, what’s the time frame on this? Well, I know the processes. I have empathy because I know what they do. And that allows me to have more meaningful conversations about timelines, end results and stuff like that. And I think you can really get ahead of the game on things like that just by understanding other people in your network.
Chris Fredericks: It makes me think about something that I think about a lot, which is that in an employee owned company like our companies, and especially when an ownership culture takes hold, people care a lot now, even in a way that maybe they don’t in other companies, and in a way that can almost create friction, because now everybody cares and wants things to happen and wants good things to happen. And it seems like that level of empathy and approach curiosity that you’re bringing, it seems essential to helping that greater level of care and concern to be a positive experience for everybody ultimately, as opposed to a negative, kind of frustrating, finger pointing experience.
Blake Theademan: Yeah, I’ve noticed the exact same thing, and I’ve been guilty of that. I think the best way to change is to be able to see the faults in yourself. And I’ve absolutely been guilty of that, and I have to force myself to cut through that to say, exactly your first point, we care so much. Don’t attribute malice to things that could simply be mistakes. So it’s like with employee ownership, to me, it’s hard to attribute malice, and you almost shouldn’t because you know that they want certain results. That’s not a question. Right. Because you know how it affects them on a personal level, on a financial level, and stuff like that. Nobody’s doing this on purpose. So it’s like, let’s work together to get to the end goal that I know we both want.
Chris Fredericks: I love that so much. Curious, would you suggest other people join the employee ownership committee at some point as part of their career, as part of an employee owned company?
Blake Theademan: I think it is an excellent thing to do, because not only for me as a person who was at the warehouse, not only did it open up more understanding of everyone that I worked with, it gave me connections that I’ll have forever, probably. It’s a very good way to understand the beast of employee ownership, which can be so hard to wrap your head around, especially early on. Once you start learning it and teaching it, it really sinks in, and you really do care. But knowing the why adds so much more value to the numbers that you get. It’s great. We get that little endorphin hit when we see all the progress and stuff like that, but you really get to feel proud when you get to see, from a vantage point, everything everyone has done to reach that point. You’re not isolated in your success. You’re together in your success. And being a part of that board, to me, is just like being able to look at a bigger picture that not everybody gets to see.
Chris Fredericks: Very cool. What makes you excited these days? You’ve transitioned into this customer service role, and things are going well, and you’re still on the employee ownership committee. What else is there? What are you excited about?
Blake Theademan: I get excited about new people. I think it’s so fun when new people join and then you see them slowly go from the confused look on their face, like, okay, it all sounds good, because I think all of us start out that way. We can put on a face that we’re like, totally. Yeah, Jess. Yeah. Employee ownership, because we want the job. So we’re like, yeah, let’s do it. But I think 90% of the people are like, but I’m still on my back foot because I’m like, I don’t quite get it. So I love watching new people come in, and you could see that hesitancy in just watching it wash away. It’s not hesitancy anymore. Let’s see what happens. Okay, it seems good. So now I’m just ready to see what happens to then. Enthusiasm. The jump from hesitancy to enthusiasm, I think, is awesome, because they haven’t worked somewhere like this before, and that’s obvious from the beginning. They haven’t worked at a place that has the culture that a lot of the EV businesses we have because of just the work that has been put in. And it goes from, okay, this can’t be as good as it sounds. Right to, oh, wow, okay, maybe it is. And then to how can I make it even better? And that’s what I love. It goes from hesitancy to excitement, to drive, to contribute. And I think that process is one of the coolest things.
Chris Fredericks: That’s amazing. I love that so much and resonate with that so much. Blake, I think we could talk a lot longer. I’d love your enthusiasm. The things you care about are the things that I wish I even had. Your level of enthusiasm and passion. The way you communicate things is really, you’re an excellent communicator. I’m just so happy and grateful for you and what you do at TVF and just for us as a whole as part of this employee ownership thing.
Chris Fredericks: So just thank you so much for you, for being you.
Blake Theademan: Thank you for the opportunity six years ago. I appreciate everything that the company’s helped me do.
Chris Fredericks: Of course. Thank you, Blake. Thanks for coming on.
Blake Theademan: No problem. Thanks, Chris.
Chris Fredericks: I hope you enjoyed that conversation with Blake. Thank you, Blake, for joining me. Huge thank you as well to Emily Bopp and the team at Share Your Genius for producing this episode. Remember, we want to hear from you. Please give us feedback, suggest guests and topics for future episodes, and tell us how we can keep improving the show. To reach us, email [email protected]. Thanks for tuning in.
