Episode Transcript
[00:00:05] Speaker A: Welcome to Monument Matters, a podcast produced by the Monument Builders of North America for all things memorialization.
Each episode is an extension of our monthly magazine, MB News. Monument Matters invites everyone to listen and share. You'll find all of the episodes on Apple, Spotify and YouTube.
[00:00:26] Speaker B: I'm your host, Mike Johns, CM AICA from the Johns Ciarabelli Company Cimarano Monuments and Flowers in Cleveland, Ohio. I'm also past president of Monument Builders in North America. Today's episode is titled Mentoring in Motion and today's guests are Debbie and Roger Aholt and Brent Dollinger and his son in law.
Got all those right. Debbie and Roger are certified memorialists who own Washington Monument Company in Washington, Missouri.
Founded in 1932, Monument has been an MBNA member since 1978. Wow. Thank you for your support, Roger. Debbie. So Debbie and Roger are mentors to Brent and Elizabeth Dillinger who co founded Loess Hills. Did I say that right?
Los Hills, Los Hills Memorials in Missouri Valley, Iowa in 2025 and they joined MBNA 2026.
Yes. Okay. I mentioned Eli, son in law. Great. All right, so everybody, welcome to the podcast.
[00:01:29] Speaker C: Thank you.
[00:01:30] Speaker D: Thank you, Mike. All right, great.
[00:01:32] Speaker B: All right, to set the scene. Brent, what prompted you and your family to start les Monument up memorials last year and what drew you to mba?
[00:01:43] Speaker C: Yeah, thank you, Mike. So I was at a career change in the last year after leaving a long career with nonprofit leadership and my wife and I had long wanted to do open a family business, something that would play to both of our strengths and we have five children and some growing family and so anyway something that others could be involved in as well. Knowing that our, our local community, our local community had a monument dealer in town probably 15 years ago and then anyway, it, it left. And so having said that, there was a need in the county. We're both involved with our church and my wife does a lot of singing at funerals and organizes the funeral luncheons and that and so has made some connections with funeral directors and that I think hearing from friends and that it seemed like there was a gap in the community. So we started on this journey and started talking with Eli a little bit around laser engraving and, and some of that technology. And so here we are.
[00:02:48] Speaker B: Okay, so what drew you to join mbna?
[00:02:52] Speaker C: Mbna, I would say I started looking last fall online as to, okay, who are the industry experts in this field that we're entering into? Where's the knowledge going to come from in the nonprofit world? I was pretty involved in our state association in that and so through YouTube videos and some podcasts and that I learned about MBNA and just tried to gather all the knowledge I could, started sharing it with my family. And before we knew it, we were registered to go down to Fort Worth so that we could get some hands on learning. And so, yeah, anyway, that, that was really. I was seeking. Seeking some knowledge and some friendship and professional relationships.
[00:03:35] Speaker B: All right, well, you've come to the right place, right, guys? So all of you attended MB University in Fort Worth. I was there as well. This past February. What do each of you remember about meeting at MBNA in Fort Worth?
[00:03:50] Speaker E: That was like a stroke of destiny, in my opinion. I remember getting on the bus to go to the class and just thinking, man, we need to, like, talk to people and who sits next to me but Roger.
[00:04:02] Speaker D: So the talk was going to happen?
[00:04:06] Speaker E: Yeah, yeah, it was just incredibly fortuitous. I think we talked the entire ride there just about, you know, the business and everything going on, and every question that I could possibly ask, and he was just, Roger, you were so helpful, like that entire time. And I was like, we should talk to this guy some more.
[00:04:24] Speaker B: All right, so it sounds like at least on your side, you realize very quickly there was an opportunity there, right, to learn from Roger.
[00:04:32] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:04:32] Speaker B: And his expertise. Right. Roger, it sounds to me like there was a learning opportunity there for you as well. You want to talk about that for a minute?
[00:04:39] Speaker D: Well, yeah, you know, in. In, you know, to start with, you know, I sit down and bus. I sit next to Eli and didn't know him, but we had a bus ride and a chance to talk. So we started talking and we learned that they were just getting into the business or whatever. And I think my first question was what you asked me. What, what made you decide to, to get down.
[00:04:58] Speaker B: Right.
[00:04:59] Speaker D: But. But in talking with them and, and we got. The more we talked, he started asking questions and things and more than happy to hope I could answer his questions or whatever. And he was asking very good questions. And, you know, we did our best to answer him a couple of questions he had. I even had. Justin was sitting behind me. I had him kind of joining to say, Justin, how do you answer this question? Kind of a thing. And so, you know, Justin joined in with us, but yeah, we got. I just thoroughly enjoyed it. And we actually. And that's one of the things I was going to mention. It's. It was still a two way street because Brent had. We was talking about some different accounting things and he actually had some pointers for us to help us a little Better on that end because if there's, if there's an end I'm weak at, it's going to be the bookkeeping end of it or whatever. And Debbie does, does that for us because that's where I'm weak. But it really was a two way street where we learned stuff and yeah, it was, it was just the whole thing was enjoyable. The trip, the trip to Fort Worth was enjoyable. While we were there, they weren't the only ones that we met that were new. There was like five brand new monument people that we met and it's been a long time since I've met that many. Mike, you can attest to the fact that there'd be, there might be years before we met that many.
[00:06:12] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:06:13] Speaker D: And they were all at this one here. So that was fantastic.
[00:06:15] Speaker B: Yeah, I did, I did notice that as well. It's nice to see so many new faces now. I don't remember Roger. So remind me and let the rest of our listeners know. How did you guys get into the business? Did you buy in or were you born in?
[00:06:31] Speaker D: Okay, this, you know how you have like Eli mentioned, I think it was a divine intervention almost. I got into this because I made the S honor roll like one time which is equivalent to a B honor roll when I was in high school. And during the honor roll if you had a study hall, they had a honor lounge that you could go to at a high school. And you're going to see how this all, you know, just, it had to be God's hand in it. So I went there one time and I sat, was sitting in this lounge and my neighbor who happened to be guidance counselor came in looking for a completely different student. He was looking for somebody else and they weren't, they weren't in there. But he looked at me and said, hey Roger, I didn't even come. He's looking for somebody else to help him part time.
Would you be interested in it? And I was, I was sweeping factories after school. That's what I did. As soon as I could work, I went and started working after school sweeping factories and stuff. So what the heck, I could try, try that.
[00:07:22] Speaker B: Yeah, well, pour at the floor, right?
[00:07:23] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah. And that's literally how I got started here. Just, just by pure happenstance. And that's the way it began.
[00:07:32] Speaker B: All right, awesome.
I didn't know that. See, it just, you know, for me it often and I think most folks who like me have grown up in the business, you know, are multi generational family businesses. Sometimes we take pause when we See someone that comes in from left field, so to speak, that, you know, those that weren't actually born into the industry.
But it's definitely nice to see that. For sure. For sure.
[00:08:03] Speaker D: And obviously.
[00:08:05] Speaker B: I'm sorry.
[00:08:05] Speaker D: Go ahead. Debbie got in because she. She married into it, so.
[00:08:08] Speaker C: Right.
[00:08:09] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:08:10] Speaker B: That's part I put together.
All right. So, Brent, what were the biggest questions or knowledge gaps you hoped the visit would help address or close?
[00:08:23] Speaker C: Well, probably everything, to be honest. I mean, I was kind of thinking around this. And so going down to Washington Monument company, Eli joined me and my wife Elizabeth. And all three of us really have different strengths that we. To the business. And so with that, we kind of had our top three or so, if you will, that we talked about on the long car ride down. For myself, honestly, definitely I wanted to see some hands on, which we had many opportunities with Roger and Debbie's team to see the carvings and the work in the cemetery. But I was also interested in just really how, like, Roger and Debbie managed inventory. So some of the order process, if you will. You know, I had.
[00:09:08] Speaker B: We.
[00:09:08] Speaker C: We had already started taking some orders at that point.
Some of our conversations were validating. You know, we needed that. And some of them definitely helped us to come back and realize that, yeah, we probably should get payment before we go and install in the cemetery or that, you know, I mean, some of those things that hadn't really thought all
[00:09:29] Speaker D: the way through and.
[00:09:30] Speaker C: And lessons learned from Roger and Debbie. They were so open to help share some of those learnings.
[00:09:36] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:09:37] Speaker E: I mean, what I have found in this industry is there it's very niche as far as, like, some of the products that, you know, are sold. And it's also very overwhelming because there's
[00:09:47] Speaker D: so many different options.
[00:09:48] Speaker E: And as weird as this is going to sound, something that you can get
[00:09:51] Speaker C: hung up on when you don't know what you're doing.
[00:09:53] Speaker E: So just having somebody that was confident in what they were doing and being able to see exactly what they're doing, it's like this gives us an idea
[00:10:00] Speaker D: of what to build towards. So, yeah, it was just.
[00:10:03] Speaker E: It was great all around.
[00:10:04] Speaker B: Yeah. I could see, you know, getting a baseline. Right.
Look at this, do this, don't do that. Here's how you dip a toe. Get your foot. Feet wet. Right. And then you could go back and look at some options. Look at things that maybe Debbie and Roger aren't necessarily doing, but they work for you. But at least you had a path forward.
[00:10:27] Speaker D: Right.
[00:10:27] Speaker B: And the help that Debbie and Roger gave you in that regard for sure.
So opening your operation to another company requires trust, right? Roger and Debbie, is this the first time you've had a fellow member visit your shop? Yeah, let's. Let's say that.
No, in fact, we actually went to other companies also. You know, Jim Bell was great about opening his doors.
[00:10:51] Speaker D: You know, Jim Bells and of course get the opportunity to get to know this man. And we became actually very close friends with him. But that's where. That's the first time we met somebody just like you meeting me. That was when we. That was probably one of the first people we met. And Mike John's would know Jim Bell along as a number of people. This was a man who shared everything intently. And if you had a question, he was a guy that you could go to. If you had a question, you could get it answered. We had. We've had people periodically stop in and they'd have a question or two. But like Debbie said, we also went to two other monument companies and learn stuff there. We hosted an MBA Mamba workshop one year when I was going to be president of that group. And we did a workshop on cleaning and stuff. But we held that here and out in the cemetery here. So it's not our first time. We put on education. Of course, you're involved with Mamba and you get to be friends with Ruth, Ruth Bell, then you're going to be doing things for them.
[00:11:46] Speaker B: Hey, you're going to get involuntal a lot.
[00:11:49] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah. So we, we would be involved in education with that too. On, on some level. Several showing and stuff like this was with this particular time. And when, when these guys joined us, it just so happened in our shop we had a monument that needed to be frosted and it needed to have bluing done on it too. And we had another one that needed to have shape carving done on it so we could demonstrate all these different finishes which they were interested in seeing. So we had all this set up, plus we had one that we were getting ready to do a shell rock on where we. Okay, so we got to demonstrate that as well for him and show them just, you know, just some different techniques. But we had all this in line as well as a picture we needed to have mounted. So it was just fortunate the way where I showed up was perfect because we had all these different things we were planning on doing anyway. So we just had the opportunity to get to show them the different things like that. And they, they soaked it up big time. I mean, they had questions, we did our best to answer it.
[00:12:47] Speaker B: Yeah, it's definitely nice when the planets align that way, because I know, you know, there's a lot of things that we do, skill sets that we need to have that we might not use all that often.
But when those opportunities come up, you gotta know.
So very good, Very good.
[00:13:07] Speaker D: The other. And the other thing that occurred was the exact same that Thursday was the day that Jeds podcast our webinar on texturing.
So we told him, well, we're going to watch this here. We had showed them these different. And we even showed him some flaming. Justin did a flame, the monument, whatever. So he was able to show that as well to them. And here Jed's on there, and he's going over these things too. And it was all stuff that we had covered with him. So it's just very. It just worked out perfectly. So we spent the webinar, his webinar just going over and. And if they had questions about textures he was showing him, I could at least tell him a little bit how this is how that. That gets done or whatever. But we had numerous ones to show. And what was kind of funny, as we're watching this webinar and then a monument that I had done at Rock Camp, she showed on different textures. I knew he was inviting to the house, and I said, when we get to the house tonight, I can show you that one. Yeah, yeah. But, yeah, it was just funny. But. Yeah, but it worked out perfectly. You know, we're talking about how to do different texture and stuff. And then Jet's webinar is there. And I told. He told these guys, you got to watch this guy. I mean, we're going to watch him. And, you know, because Jed is Jedi, you know, he's. He's so good. Anyway, but he was covering textures and stuff, and we were able to. It just reinforced what we were talking about and stuff, too. So it just worked out very, very well. Just
[00:14:20] Speaker B: so you know, proprietary secrets, keeping your cards close to the vest. That's one way of looking at this business. But clearly that's not your M.O. so what made you comfortable sharing your equipment, processes and techniques so openly with. With another monument dealer?
[00:14:41] Speaker D: Well, as we said, when I. When I was showing them, I went somewhere and learned it from somebody as well. Somebody else who opened their shop. I mean, with Mamba and with MBNA both, Sharing is a big part of this industry, and people are very open and willing to share. Mike. I know, I know for the fact, while we was at that workshop, Fort Worth, Justin Balk came up to you and asked you something about round raised letters and you pulled them aside and went over and took him and showed some stuff like that. So it, you know, you're as, as into it as, as we are. I mean, it's just a very art industry.
There's a, there's, there's probably a few that don't, but the vast majority do. And the vast majority are more than willing to answer questions, I believe, and I hope that's what the, everybody experiences. But anytime we had questions, you know, when we were going to get some new equipment in the back, we went, visited places that had the equipment and you know, got to see their operation. They could tell us the good or the bad with it too. And we installed that equipment and actually had the same thing happen with that where we had others come and ask us what we thought about it and they came in and that's another case where we had somebody coming in and looking at what we had going on. But it's, it's what, that's all I've ever known is just being open and you know, if there's something I can teach somebody or Debbie can teach somebody, we're going to do it because that's how we, what we experience people who are open and willing to show you how to do something.
[00:15:58] Speaker B: So it's always been my experience as well, you know, openness of this industry. Now do I have experience in other industries? Do I know what those. I don't, you know, I don't know how forthcoming other people are in those industries. But I do know that I can say as far as my membership in MBNA or regional associations or the travel that I've done for mba, I've never, I can't ever remember asking a question of anybody that they weren't willing to answer.
And, and, and not just answer, but show and make me comfortable in understanding that now, hey, either I'm now equipped to take a crack at this or I know better and I won't take a crack at it. I will defer to someone with more expertise because sometimes that's more important than figuring out how to do it for yourself. Knowing when to take a step back. Right. So really important stuff.
So as you reflect on the visit which followed the entire process from order entry or sale and order entry all the way through installation in the cemetery, which parts of that workflow generated the most discussion or the most useful lessons?
[00:17:25] Speaker C: I would say honestly for me, we had a lot of back and forth conversation around, I think, merchandising and the inventory. I was kind of intrigued by some of the bronze emblems that you were fixing. And I. And you mentioned, you know, the number of them that you just sold the last month. And I was like, how do you do that? And you're like, well, you have to, you know, I mean, some of these things that probably sound so simple, but it's like, well, you. You know, customers can't buy what they can't see, you know, and then you showed me that you, you know, they. They see that on the way in. And I think just things like that. Probably another really huge takeaway that we talk about quite often is the cemetery install.
[00:18:06] Speaker E: Yeah.
[00:18:07] Speaker C: Because, you know, I mean, you can go online and you can. Anyway, there's videos from different dealers, and everybody has a different process. I mean, we're digging a hole and we're placing stone on top of some concrete. But how deep do you go?
[00:18:20] Speaker B: What.
[00:18:20] Speaker D: You know, that sort of thing.
[00:18:21] Speaker E: Yeah, yeah, that was. It was just a lot of confusion on, like, which way is the best, which way is going to actually work? And then, you know, you guys have been. Roger and Deb, you guys have been in business for so long. I've been doing this for so long. And when you tell me, hey, this is. This way works for us, it's like, okay, that's all the reinforcement I needed. Like, if you guys trust it, I trust it. I trust you.
[00:18:43] Speaker D: When they came in, they were. The other thing was, too. They were thirsty for knowledge. They wanted to learn, they wanted to know. That made it easy for us, too, because they wanted to learn and to listen and see what we did or whatever. But they came in, they wanted to see and they wanted to know, and that's. That's huge, too. I mean, you got to have the desire to learn, and they were open to anything and everything we could show them. And I was glad we could do it. Good for them. But they were. They wanted to learn, they wanted to see it, and we were able to show and display it. Yeah, we took them out cemetery, did an install for them, and we demonstrated cemetery lettering for them, too, while they were here. We tried to give them just about everything we could show them, Kind of help them at least see what we were doing.
[00:19:23] Speaker B: I think one of the things that you learn along the way is that sometimes there is a best way to do things, and sometimes there isn't.
Sometimes you could do it this way and you could do it that way, or you can do it that way, and everything still comes out good in the end. But that's not always the Case. So understanding when those situations have some flex in the best practice and other times where this is the way it needs to be for some very specific reasons take learning both of those scenarios is pretty important and valuable.
So apparently I. And where'd my note go? Thanks. Sorry. Eli and Brent weren't the only two learning from this cultural exchange, if you will. So, Roger and Debbie, you were surprised to realize apparently that your employees actually benefited from the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge. What about the visits strengthen your team and your procedures?
[00:20:27] Speaker D: Well, obviously, anytime you're able to demonstrate a particular thing or whatever, it both hones and reinforces what. What you know. And so when they got to demonstrate and talk through it or whatever, and they had an opportunity to show what they know. But as, as I'm sure you've experienced too, Mike, by showing others what you. You can do, you kind of hone and focus in on what you're doing too. And maybe you're going to improve yourself as you go as well.
So. But they, my workers really enjoyed working with them and they complimented us on our, on our team and I was very pleased to hear that. But they love to be able to. I think they enjoyed being able to show what they knew to somebody coming in or whatever. But again, by demonstrating it, you're kind of reinforcing what you know if. By demonstrating all these different things. And my workers are kind of going around with us too. And so if it was a part of the. Maybe they hadn't done before, where they got to see it demonstrated as well. And so, you know, every chance you get to. To enforce or expand your knowledge, you know, the better it is. So yeah, for our team, I thought it was just very, very good for them too. But again, you know, let them demonstrate some different things. They love doing it. And again, it gave an opportunity to strengthen what they knew.
[00:21:34] Speaker B: So mentoring has always been a topic of conversation around the MBA board and how to put a. Metering a bona fide mentoring program together and launch it for our industry has not quite come to fruition yet, obviously. But in the short term, I see a lot of situations like this where seasoned veterans like Roger and Debbie are on the one side and they have a bunch of knowledge that they're more than willing to share.
And there's, there's folks like Brent Eli who are just thirsty on the other side.
And so whether, whichever camp you're in, I encourage you to embrace those opportunities because they're out there and you find them. Where do you find them? You find them at your Regional meeting, you find them at the national meetings through mbna, you find them through the Facebook groups, and so on and so forth. But I don't think there's anybody that will say, I certainly haven't met anyone that said, yeah, I was part of a mentoring program and it was horrible. That does not happen.
It doesn't happen. You know, whether you're actually mentoring, using those words or not, when you're participating in programs that MBNA is putting together, whether they're webinars or podcasts or in person meetings, you're learning something. Um, and, you know, for all the years that I've been participating, and I'm sure, Roger, you, you'll attest as well, If I put 40 and I get 50 hours back, if I put 100 hours in, I get 200 hours back. It just. That's the way it works.
So I encourage you all if you're not sure, if you're, you know, what's the value proposition for mbna, really and truly, it's difficult to define on paper, but it's the interpersonal relationships, as far as I'm concerned. The ability to sit down with someone who is about to experience something that you did or has already experienced, something that you're facing, that you can share with, exchange ideas. That, man, it's just priceless.
[00:24:00] Speaker D: Absolutely.
[00:24:02] Speaker B: I think the four of you there and me will, you know, we could say that till we're blue in the face. If you're not sure, please dip a toe, come and find out, because you won't be disappointed, I promise you.
Right.
[00:24:16] Speaker E: Yeah.
[00:24:16] Speaker C: I think to piggyback on that, Mike, I mean, right away, to be able to see a lot of the videos that are out there on the nbn.
The resources are very rich. The new Fundamentals course, you know, just about done with that, but, you know, it's really great stuff. And so looking at some of these old podcasts, if you will, and that it. It's a way, I think, for someone new in the industry, or maybe new and just within the association, to really start to feel connected and see some familiar faces. So when you go to a conference and that, you know, you recognize somebody
[00:24:50] Speaker B: and, and it's not just for someone new. I mean, we're spending an awful lot of time with Monument Builders Academy, the fundamentals course, and all the courses that come after. Through that process.
Listen, I've been doing this for over 50 years, and through that process, I'm still learning.
So there's something in those, in those programs for everybody. I don't care how long you've been in this business.
[00:25:19] Speaker D: And to build on that, Debbie and I both took the fundamentals course.
We went through it. And like you, that's, that's the thing that I would say. I've been coming to conventions forever.
And every convention, every workshop, every event like that that I've attended, I have always come back with something new, something different, something I didn't know. Like I said, I've been at it 47 years, almost as long as Mike, and I'm still learning. Yeah, ever. You're never done. You're never done learning. And you can always learn something. It might be in the classes or it might be in a conversation that you had in between class or whatever. We spent, they spent the evening at our, at our house and we continued talking there and there were more ideas shared there than it might have been during the, the day they spent at the shop, whatever, but it was just a constant and continue. And just, and just a building of what I feel is a very good friendship I just really enjoyed. And we, we got along very, very well and just gained new friends as well as being able to mentor. The friendship is what, what will hang on as long as anything. But yeah, I, I've been going to workshops and stuff, and I go to them all the time and I've never come home and say I didn't learn anything there. I, I learned something somewhere. Might be little and might be big, but you're never done learning. So.
[00:26:33] Speaker B: So for all of you, what advice would you give an established company interested in becoming a mentor or a newer company that wants to find and approach someone willing to help on our standpoint, our.
[00:26:44] Speaker D: Our end, anyway, be open to it. Sharing your ideas. You know, if you, you've got knowledge and, and you're not sharing it, you're just going to take it with you when you go. And what good did that do? Share what you've got. And I've always been open to, to helping. Somebody's got a question at these workshops, whatever. If I can answer it, I will. And this was an excellent opportunity. I was so thrilled when they called and said, hey, we're gonna, we'd like to come and take you up on your offer because I've made the offer before and I am so thrilled that they did. And it was a wonderful experience. Again, it was a wonderful experience for our shop as well as hopefully for them, but really thoroughly enjoyed it and created new friends.
You just can't go wrong with that.
[00:27:25] Speaker B: Yeah. Brent and Eli.
[00:27:27] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:27:28] Speaker E: Once you start to know some people, you don't even need to know anybody in the community. You just need to be there, just show up and ask questions. And I feel like if you ask enough questions, someone is going to want to answer them for you and want to do it with enthusiasm and with expertise. That is just not found on any kind of online classes or any kind of. You can read articles and watch videos all you want, but seeing it and doing it in person and talking to somebody that knows how to do it with confidence is just. It's life changing. So really just show up, ask questions, and it just. It helps.
[00:28:03] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:28:04] Speaker C: One thing I'll add too, is I don't want to overlook the great suppliers that are members of MBNA as well.
We have learned a vast amount from just, you know, you call up a supplier and you think you want to order this one product or this one mast or something. And, you know, we're always up front, hey, we've got a few questions. Do you have a couple minutes? And we've learned a lot from our suppliers as well. And so anyway, thanks.
[00:28:29] Speaker B: Yeah, I think it's kind of nice when you go to a supplier and you say, hey, I want to order this. And they say, no, you don't. This is what you need. This is really what you. And it's that kind of open exchange. Right. You know, the neophyte who doesn't know what he doesn't know, and the seasoned veteran that can really understand the question that's being asked and be able to cut through and not just say, okay, yeah, I could fill that order for you. And the whole time thinking, yeah, that's not what that port guy wants or needs, even though he thinks he wants it. So, yeah, I think it's a very giving industry. I remember when I was first coming to meetings, not with my dad, but after that, and I was one of the new kids on the block, and I really didn't hardly know anybody except a couple of folks that my dad had introduced me to. I'd be kind of quiet and not terribly engaging.
And so I put it to the seasoned members.
Those new members are not hard to pick out.
So if you see someone that's being kind of quiet and reserved, reach out, welcome them to the association, see if there's any way that you can help them out. If you're that newbie who's feeling that. A little bit of anxiety, who to talk to, what to ask, just take the. Take the plunge. Ask the question. There's no wrong answers. I mean, there's no stupid questions. You may feel silly asking them. That's okay. But no one will say, oh, that's the dumbest thing I ever heard. Because chances are, in their time, they have something very, very similar.
What are some other takeaways from the experience that you'd like to share with our audience? You know, being a mentee, I think
[00:30:23] Speaker C: just really seeing their whole team in action, I really felt like, you know, I wish I'm not the greatest with remembering some names, and so I wish I remembered each of their names. I could call it out. But they all acted as if they owned the company. And they had pride, I'm assuming. What's that?
[00:30:42] Speaker B: In a good way?
[00:30:43] Speaker C: No, absolutely. They had pride in their work.
[00:30:46] Speaker B: And that.
[00:30:47] Speaker C: That was.
It shouldn't have surprised me, but I. I just. It made me feel really good because, you know, it's pretty meaningful stuff that we're doing.
[00:30:54] Speaker E: Yeah. And the kindness. Seriously, Roger, Debbie, you guys were just so nice the entire time, and, like, that was just so welcoming, and it was just like a wave of energy for us to be enthusiastic about this. Yeah. Just build that friendship. And it was just amazing.
[00:31:09] Speaker D: Yeah. I mean, guys come in and. And you were open with us as well, and I think the friendship. But really it started probably at the Fort Worth there. You know, I sat next to Eli on the bus or whatever. I felt like a friendship started there, and he started asking questions, and they were good questions or whatever. But then when we met, met the rest of them, Brett and Elizabeth, and I think we just really hit it off. We're very easy to work with or whatever. They were just there to learn, and I was just thrilled to get the opportunity and.
And thoroughly enjoyed the time that we got to spend with them. And hats off to Brent as well. I want to mention the fact that I think he jumped on a committee for MBNA within a few months of getting in the business. He jumped on a marketing committee. So hats off to you for getting involved. I mean, that's huge.
[00:31:59] Speaker B: It sure is.
[00:32:00] Speaker D: Past president like Mike is. I've went through it all. Debbie's currently a trustee. But getting involved and stuff, that's huge, too. People you meet, nothing but positive comes from that. But, yeah, jumping in and getting involved. We have trouble getting people to do that.
[00:32:15] Speaker C: I'm a relationship, guys.
[00:32:16] Speaker B: I needed to meet some people, but Roger's absolutely right. You know, mbna, it's not some group of folks trying to push their will onto another body of people. MBNA is made up of individual members who are looking to make their industry better. And so they volunteer their time. They give of themselves because they believe in the industry that we're all a part of, and they want to see it better.
So if you're a member and you're not a member of a committee, you're not on the board, you're just whether you're new or you've been here for 10 or 20 or 50 or 100 years or whatever it is, getting involved is the best way to get something out of your membership. Just participate. Okay?
So with that, I think once again, we've reached the moment on our podcast where it's time to say goodbye and thank you to all of our guests today. So, Roger and Debbie, thank you for joining us and thank you for taking you, Brent and Eli and your team under your wing. Brent and Eli, thanks for sharing your story.
We wish you all continued success and everybody listening as well. Thanks to all of you there for taking time out of your day to listen to this installment of MB&A's Money It Matters. The August issue of MB News is the Education issue, which features articles from both perspectives, mentor and mentee. I encourage you to read this issue, and if you have a topic you'd like to have covered in a future podcast, please leave a comment below. There's someplace below this podcast where you can do it.
MB&A invites you to stay connected through Facebook and LinkedIn, or visit us at www.monimalbuilders.org for upcoming events and webinars for MBA and monument matters. I'm Michael Johns. Thank you for taking time out of your day to listen again. If you found this today's content worthwhile, please share the link with a friend. Again, comments and feedbacks we'd love to hear from you, so please drop a Note to our infoonumuilders.org that's it for today. Thanks and have a great day.
