Charlie sits down across the table from Mo Sutter, the Magic Man.
Mo shares the secrets to his successes during his decade long journey at Broad River Retail.
We hope you enjoy this episode, and subscribe to our podcast for a new story each week.
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Visit storiesfromtheriver.com for more episodes.
We hope you enjoy this episode, and subscribe to our podcast for a new story each week.
Visit storiesfromtheriver.com for more episodes.
Stories from the River Podcast explores the personal journeys of Broad River Retail’s very own Memory Makers. Whether it’s interviews or standalone narratives, Stories from the River will bring you closer to what it’s like to thrive inside the company. This show will share personal experiences from stores, distribution centers, call centers, and corporate campuses, giving listeners a front row seat to what it’s really like to be a Memory Maker furnishing life’s best memories every day.
This show is brought to you by Broad River Retail. Visit www.BroadRiverRetail.com.
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FULL TRANSCRIPTION
Welcome to Stories from the River, a podcast brought to you by Broad River Retail, where we’ll explore the personal journeys of our Memory Makers and share real stories from across the organization. And now for your host, president and CEO at the River, Charlie Malouf.
Charlie:
Welcome. I’m here with the magic man, Mr. Mo Sutter, perennial million dollar Memory Maker, sales manager of finance and home furnishings professional at the Boulevard Believe.
Mo, I’m so excited to chat with you today. We’ve had Manny and Heather on the podcast, and welcome to Stories from the River.
Before we get going, Mo, what can you tell us a little bit about you, your background and your career prior to coming to the River?
Mo:
So I’m born in New York City, Brooklyn, New York. I was raised in Baltimore, Maryland. Moved to South Carolina and I believe 2009/2010, graduated high school at Rocky Oh High. My first sales job I had was HHGreg. And then from HHGregg, I moved on to Broad River furniture, and I’ve been here ever since.
Charlie:
Yes, you were here before we were even Broad River Retail.
Mo:
Yeah, correct.
Charlie:
So how long have you been with us now?
Mo:
This year will make ten years.
Charlie:
Wow. You’re going, so this is your 10th year in sales. You’re on the hall. You’re in the wall of fame, hall of fame, whichever one you want to call it. And we’ll get to that in a second.
But going back to ten years ago, do you remember your first day with our company?
Mo:
I do.
Charlie:
Tell us about it.
Mo:
So, I remember the Outlet used to be of Independence, and it was right next door to the elevation of the Matthews location. That’s why I started it. And this blew up from there. We knew we was moving to South Boulevard, and it was this ample time when we get over there. And I just knew that that store had a lot of potential to grow.
Charlie:
Okay. Yeah. That’s right. We were like a 10,000 square foot clearance center next to the Matthews, the original Matthews Store off Independence. Yeah, right off 45. And, and we, oh, we moved to South Boulevard February 2013. So, you joined us a few months early and then helped us open the brand new Outlet off South Boulevard, back at that time
Okay, so let’s get to purpose, our organizational purpose as a company: Furnishing Life’s Best Memories.
So, I know you’ve had ten years of memories here. What have been, what’s been one of your best memories at the River?
Mo:
Man..Success being the first million dollar writer, from the Outlet. You know, I was told it would never be done, and we, we did it. Just put in the right numbers, executing the right things and doing the right things that got us to where we are today. And we still crush in numbers.
Charlie:
I love how you said we, you know. It was like it wasn’t just you who did it. It was a team. You’re going to talk about that in a second as well.
So, I remember when you became the first person in the company to write a million dollars from an Outlet and you broke that ceiling barrier like they said it couldn’t be done. That’s so awesome.
What can you tell us now? You’ve been a million dollar Memory Maker, how many years now?
Mo:
This would be the fifth year.
Charlie:
This would be the fifth year, and you are counting in 2022. I love it.
What can you tell us about that first year? What changed for you that year? So you’ve been with us for five years or six years and have not written $1,000,000. What changed for you the year you got there and how did you do it?
Mo:
Oh, so what changed for me is, you know, I had to have a set of top of myself. If you want to break a record, or you sit behind and watch everybody else break the record, I want to make sure I could do that with my team.
We had the right team, we had the right people in place, and just watching the numbers, and seeing what can I do better. And I always challenge myself to do better. So I know if this week I have to write $4,000 or $4,000 more going to get there. And each month, as we getting close December to December to December, I’ll make sure that I was like, man, counting the days.
And I believe from that mistake, it was the last day I did it.
Charlie:
That’s right. I think you worked like 37 days in a row?
Mo:
37 days, straight.
Charlie:
Oh, man, that was great. So last year, 2021 was your best year ever with Broad River Retail. We were talking earlier, you wrote over $1.4 million. You’ve gotten better each year. How have you been able to improve your skill sets and your performance each year?
Mo:
So each year, you know, I look over my year over year. I have the trophies that we get for the million dollars. And I look at that, and I always try to beat the year before. And this year, we’re well over that.
But with the right expectations, that is in place, you know, themselves call, themselves me inside, huddling with the team, getting all the right information and all the tools that we have with the CFO at the CXM, the right process that we have gained that attention for me, write more.
Charlie:
So I love it. So, you had the self-talk, then you have the awareness. You’re looking at those trophies and then you’re adding the new processes as we’re introducing those into your repertoire. That’s beautiful. Okay.
So since you’ve been a Memory Maker here at the River, what is something that you’ve learned about yourself or about what you’ve been able to accomplish that has surprised even you? And then did you always expect this to achieve this level of success?
Mo:
I didn’t expect it at first. I didn’t know what would come of it. Patience, that helped me out a lot to be patience, listening helped me out a lot. So, listen and figure out what the customer wants, the customer needs, and just being down, then, you know, you hear a lot of stories, what people go through, and my job is just to make the customer feel at ease, to help them out and get them the stuff that they need inside the house. So we hear all kinds of stories. And if I can help somebody out, that’s what I’m willing to do and help the team out as well.
Charlie:
That’s great. We have to talk about the Outlet. I mean, you’ve been since day one, one of the biggest believers of the Outlet concept. And in all those reports say, I mean, you’ve been at the forefront of our outlet concept. But I believe that the success that Brad River has had with our Outlet concept, beginning with the Boulevard Believe Outlet – yours, has really catalyzed a momentum and a movement for the most important growth strategy, for Ashley furniture globally right now.
One could argue that you Mo, have been the primary catalyst to ignite a global movement right here from our Outlet on South Boulevard. Now that you hear me say that, what do you think about that?
Mo:
It’s rewarding, just to hear my name come up, but I have to give it back to the team. Everything that we have become, the belief stands strong as this wherever it is that we go over, we’re not overseeing each and every time. And our main prize is, I said at the beginning of this year, we want Yoda back. And we got it back.
Charlie:
Got it back. You got it back in January. What is Yoda? Tell our listeners what Yoda is?
Mo:
So,Yoda is our, we call it our cash prize, is our trophy, it’s our baby. And just doing the right things, executing, being a competition, that’s why I call it our stores. We could have look at that, having that Yoda trophy for the next 30 days until somebody else wipes us out.
Charlie:
Yeah. Yoda is the store of the month, and prior to last year, no Outlet had ever won Yoda, didn’t think it could happen. And so not only did you break the barrier becoming a $1,000,000 Maker from an Outlet, then Outlet, you guys won Yoda. How many times last year?
Mo:
I think four times last year.
Charlie:
I believe like three times in a row. Yeah. So why do you believe, obviously the customer is, is like responding to the Outlet concept and we’ve reinvented it a couple of times since you know, since you’ve been with us and had a couple of rebirths.
But why do you believe that the customer has responded so favorably to our Outlet concept? And what makes our Outlet concept so unique,and creates differentiation for us in the marketplace?
Mo:
It gives the customer two stores in one. Customers may have been down a street out of our location and comes to our location and realize: hey, the prices are significantly different and cheaper at our concept, and also I guess the customer we’re in is that, hey, we have Outlet product stuff that’s ready to go right at the door, you don’t have to wait.
Also, what’s been helping us a lot is having mattresses that we take right home, right out the door. They don’t have to wait for none of that stuff. They get a truck loaded up, and get it to the home.
Charlie:
Love it. Love it. So we believe purpose begins with identity. So we do this little thing with store nicknames and logos and we’re very intentional about it.
Your store is known as the Boulevard Believe. Tell us about that. Why is the identity known as the Believe? You changed it last, a year ago. Why? Why do you believe so?
Mo:
We were from the Bulldogs to the Believe. So believe in yourself, believe in others, and believe in the customers that come around you. You can’t set the expectations so low.
Every, every day is a new challenge and coming to new challenges is a new guest that comes in that door, and setting the right expectations, setting the right boundaries, setting the right everything that’s in place. We believe that the outlet concept will go farther. And farther has gotten us to where we at today, and we’re going to continue to break barriers that we come.
Charlie:
Love that. Believing in the art of the possible and not setting limits, that is a another’s draw inspiration from your belief in then manifesting that.
Okay, we’re going to pivot, to advice. What’s the best advice you’ve received?
Mo:
So, the best advice that I received was, I do a lot with the community. I do a lot outside of work, home, and just the voice, my voice carries a long way of being a leader, being a right leader. Leading me at work, being the right leader, just doing the right things and helping people. I love helping people.
And if I can help somebody out and put a smile on my face, a smile on my face and smile on their face, and shed a couple of tears to ears well, so being helpful and knowledgeable and being a good listener.
Charlie:
Love that. Love that. Because when we talk about furnishing life’s best memories, it’s not for ourselves. It’s for other people.
Mo:
Correct.
Charlie:
Okay. So, I’m a new hire starting today. What advice would you give me?
Mo:
Come on, come on, join the company. A new advice that I would give you is, you know, I’m glad we have you on. This is a great company to work for, and I always give my story for where I started at to where I’m at now.
And I will say this to any new hire. This is home. What you come here, you ain’t going anywhere else. This is family here, and I’ll treat everybody like family when they come on board. This is .. if you want, if you have a goal set and you want to do it, this is the time to do it right here.
Charlie:
Love that. So, you’ve been with us nearly ten years now. And let’s say you could go back to day one – younger Mo. What would you tell younger Mo about what life is going to be like at Broad River Retail?
Mo:
Oh, man. Young Mo was young. I didn’t see myself being here, ten years. I don’t know where I would be in ten years, I had five years ago. And being here helped me a lot, with growing, getting to know myself, getting to know others. And like I said earlier, patience and being a good listener, it got me a long way. And now that I look as far as from where I came, and if you go back the numbers, it has been a challenge for me, but a good success.
Charlie:
It’s great. That’s great. Okay, so let’s get to know you just a little bit better. It’s a little exercise I like to do. It’s called Three Words. I know you haven’t seen the questions beforehand or anything like that, so let’s get to know Mo Sutter at his core.
When you think about your legacy, and how you’d like to be remembered, what three words come to mind that you’d like to describe you?
Mo:
Mo’s a go-getter.
Charlie:
Mo’s a go-getter. Okay, we’ll get to that. I love that. All right.
Unsung heroes, you talk about the team a lot, and you’re using the we and other people and putting it back to the team. And I know that it always takes a village to achieve phenomenal, phenomenal success. Nobody does it on their own.
Who are some of the unsung heroes or colleagues of your world, and tell us what they do, to help you?
Mo:
Now or past?
Charlie:
All right. Let’s go – now.
Mo:
Um, I love Renee Bradley. I love you guys. Everybody’s a hero in my book. When you bring a new skill set into the world and new opportunities, and just a helpful tool that you guys have given us, it speaks a lot of value into the company, the company really cares. Just to have the right tools to help us get better.
CXM. I talk about CXM all the time. It’s so much important for me to go back into the notes and dial in Ms. and Mrs. Customer, I remember this guest, remember the childhood name, remember anything that the customer has came in for. All the tools that you guys have given us. It’s been really helpful.
Charlie:
It’s great. Culture. You know, we place a high value on culture, store culture, company culture.
Obviously we’re biased, but we like to think that our culture is pretty special and unique at Broad River Retail here at the River.
What is your favorite thing about our culture? And what is it that makes our culture special?
Mo:
You guys come with open arms.
Charlie:
What does that mean?
Mo:
So, there’s so many things, useful tools that we get taught to you guys, like The Arc, being one at a goal list, the list goes on. You guys bring so many tools for us. The culture is great here.
Charlie:
Hey, but you mentioned The Arc. Not everyone may know what you’re talking about. This isn’t Noah’s Ark. This is, The Arc is anti-racism committed and now you’re on the Arc.
Mo:
I am.
Charie:
Are you? I am asking.
Mo:
No, I say I am. That speaks a lot. In my community I run the Black Lives Matter. And for you guys to know that you guys care about that, the racism that goes on in America really does a lot for us, as minorities. I do a lot with the community, and I was just having this conversation with somebody else. And for you guys to put that in place really shows that you guys really care.
And because we can’t be silent about that.
Charlie:
Absolutely.
Mo:
And you guys see it, and you guys see what’s going on. And I’m glad that you guys have a voice, we have a voice that we could express. And you guys showed a lot of concern.
Charlie:
Yeah. There’s more work to be done there. Okay. So sticking with Outlets in culture, do you have a favorite Outlet story?
Mo:
Yes, I have a favorite Outlet story. Um, I remember this time I met this guest. And if I’m not mistaken, she just moved here from, I think, Mississippi.
Charlie:
Hey, that’s where I’m from. That’s a great state.
Mo:
Mississippi, yes. So her and a family got relocated down there. I think their house caught fire. But at the same time, she was moving, cause her job relocated her down here.
She was on a slim budget, didn’t have a lot of money. Introduced her to our VIP program, she furnished a whole house. But she was telling me the story, about where she came from, how much was the move and everything down here. And she broke down and started crying.
She was like, you know, I’ve been to several places. I’ve been denied. But you took the time out and listened to my story and got me approving, and furnish my whole, whole house. Now my kids got beds to sleep on, couches to sit on and everything.
Charlie:
Yeah, we like to say we’re not in the judgment business, we’re in the empowerment business. We got to give people the power through the VIP program to get what they need, what they deserve, and what they can afford. So. All right, I must shift gears again, perceptions and misperceptions.
So what is one thing about Broad River that you think would surprise other people on the outside looking in?
Mo:
One thing above the Broad River. Um, Broad River is a good company to work for.
I would never say anything terrible about it. It’s definitely a good company. They come on and work for. The tools that Broad River gives us, the skill set that you can move up in this company at any point in time in your career, and you do grow.
Charlie:
So you think maybe a misperception might be that you can’t, there’s not a good company or that you can’t move up and that would surprise people.Okay. But so what is something about you that would surprise your fellow coworkers, your fellow Memory Makers?
Mo:
Something about me..Um, outside of work, I’m very jolly. I like to.. so outside of work..
Charlie:
No, I think people would have think that you are jolly.
Mo:
I am jolly, but there’s more to Mo. So you got to know Mo.Very family oriented. I love spending time with my family. My kids are my world, I do a lot of activities with them. Everything’s done around them.
You know, I’ve never been the type of person to not do things for anybody. And I treat everybody like, like they are minr, even my nieces as well. But I do a lot, a lot outside here. So..
Charlie:
Well, I know a lot of our conversations. You’re always talking to me about your family and what you’re doing in that. I love that. I love that about you. And people don’t know that about Mo. They need to know that the Magic Man, we’ll get into later while we call you The Magic Man.
So, yeah, I’m sure there’s something that you want to change here and there. And if you could change one thing about the company today, just by waving the magic wand or stroke of a pen, what would it be?
Mo:
Probably nothing to change the company. I would say, if anything, COVID.
Charlie:
COVID, yes!
Mo:
COVID has a lot to do with the company and outside of the company across the world, so that if I had a magic wand.
Charlie:
That’s a great answer. That’s a great answer. Hopefully by the time this airs, we’re on the well beyond. We’re downstream there.
Charlie:
So, okay, let’s say that, hey, I’ve had a good run, I’m going to retire and I’m giving you the keys to the company. And you’re the new president and CEO of Broad River Retail. Today’s your first day in this new role.
What would be your first order of business?
Mo:
First order of business? I would try to do what you is doing. Success, goes back to when I first started, this company has grown. So, I would continue to grow more stores, continue to make new Memory Makers and continue furnishing life’s best memories.
Charlie:
That’s awesome. Thrive. We believe in words of the year. 2021 it was forward together.
We actually had two, just like Pantone had two colors, and before that UNITED, before that was a year of PURPOSE. You know we believe in these words of the year. This year’s THRIVE. You certainly thrive in 2021, you had your best year ever, in spite of a global pandemic, in spite of COVID so you thrived right where your feet were planted.
What does it mean for you to thrive and what advice would you offer up to a fellow Memory Maker to help him or her thrive this year?
Mo:
So I’ll help him or her, whatever you going through in life. Whether it’s outside of work, inside a work, dried to be your best. I tell anybody, don’t bring in yesterday news with today’s presence, always go out and execute. Always go out and try your best. Do what you want to do and hope to do it the right way. I always push people to go. Go as fast as you can.
Charlie:
Love that. Has that been one of your secrets to success? Just your drive. You talked about your three words to be Mo is go-getter. Okay. And where does that come from?
Mo:
Mo is go -getter?
Charlie:
No, your drive that in turn that drive into thrive.
Mo:
I always had that when I was young. I don’t like to sit still. I’m a type of person, I like to get things done, I’m on time person. Everything has to be done real fast and everything has to be done right. So I get real anxious when I mess things up or when things are not on time or anything. I just like to be on time and organize.
Charlie:
I think that those three qualities, a sense of urgency, getting things done today and you know, is really, really important being super organized and doing it with excellence. Those are great.
Alright, mentorship. I know, mentorship is really important. And I know you know that. Where or from whom do you get your mentorship and what about your inspiration and motivation?
Mo:
So my mentorship, I get it from God. I am a big believer when it comes down to that, I talk to him a lot, even when things are not going my way. He put things in my path for me to go, do better. I beat myself up, when I’m not doing right or things of that going right, and I have to learn how to stop beating myself up, and know how to go with the flow. I have a big voice, I speak, I do motivational speaks. I do a lot of stuff in the community. I am active, activist, out there in the community, and that’s all,most of my drive comes from. I just love seeing people succeed. I love to help people.
Charlie:
I love that, love that. Okay, goals. We talked about goal setting a little bit earlier. How important is goal setting in your opinion?
Mo:
Goal setting. Everybody, you have to have a goal, a goal setting. In my opinion, if you don’t have a goal, you have nothing. My goal was always to be the best as I can, be the best, help others where I’m at. But you got to have a goal set. You got to have, you got to have a path to success.
In my closet, I hang up on the right side of my closet. I have sticky notes. So, I write down what I want to do in the next year, next month, next week. You have to have a goal. And even my notes, if I accomplish that, it moves to the right side and something written right there. So you have to have a goal. You had to have a path to success, right know.
Charlie:
I love the sticky note formula. So you see those every day and the constant reminders to you in their written down. Okay, so what are your goals for this year? For 2022?
Mo:
Huh. So, I will, I push myself. I want to do 1.8 million.
Charlie:
Whoa. That’s huge.
Mo:
It is huge.
Charlie:.
I love it. You’re I’m sure you’re well on your way. Oka Mo. You seem to be a man who’s constantly learning and getting better and improving. So, what are you currently reading or what podcasts are you listening to? In other words, how do you sharpen your sow? What do you do to improve your skill set?
Mo:
So I do listen to a lot of podcasts. ET Eric Thompson. I listen to him. I read Pastor John Gray – the book is called the God Within, and it just motivates my mind to do better. Anything that’s motivational to me, I want to listen to. Anything that can help me, help me in a future, to help my kids. I want to share that message, anything I can help somebody else. I want to make sure I share that message because I got it
Charlie:
I love how intentional you are with the inputs that you’re putting into your thoughts, into your brains, into your ideas. I mean, you’re not, you’re not messing around. It’s very intentional and it’s stuff that it’s going to serve you to achieve what you’re trying to achieve in life. I think a lot of people can draw a lot of inspiration from that.
Okay. We talked about television shows a little bit. So what are you currently watching? What’s your favorite show?
Mo:
My favorite show, Shark Tank.
Charlie:
Love Shark Tank.
Mo:
Love it.
Charlie:
I’d like to see you in the tank. I’d like to see you negotiate with Mr. Wonderful.
Mo:
He’s a good guy and I love him. But yes, I love Shark Tank. I love to see what kind of ideas people create, look their business up before they ever get on air and make the deal to see what their business going was within the network. But Shark Tank is definitely my favorite. I look forward to seeing that.
Charlie:
Very cool. Okay. So I know you don’t work all the time.
You talked about some of the stuff you do outside of work in your community, but when you stop working for the day and you have some time for yourself or for your family, what do you like to do for fun? Or just to relax?
Mo:
Um, me. So, my relaxation is I love just being creative, again, spending time with my kids, just closed on a house, like a second house.
Charlie:
Oh, congratulations.
Mo:
I have a wonderful fiancee. She actually works for the company, that motivates my mind to keep giving go. And so every day when the kids come over on Fridays, we have movie night upstairs. I get to know what they’re going through in school. Anything I’d help them with outside of work helping out.
We have a full bank right down there in Richburg, where we feed the homeless, we give food back. We have, like, a food pantry. So every day, our man gives that out to the people at any community events, I’m always there. Doesn’t matter if I have a if it’s 30 minutes to 2 hours on drive in, I want to be a part of that.
Charlie:
I love that. So Lindsay and Kim oversee our community outreach. Hey, as being a guest on Stories from the River. Let us know what we can do to help support your food bank you got Richburg. We’d love to make a donation to help support you in that call.
So I think I’ve got one last question for you. And this has been fun. So there might be some folks who are thinking about joining the River. Right, they’re being recruited, they’re on the fence. They might listen to this podcast and wonder if they should make the move or not.
So to someone who’s not a Memory Maker and is thinking about coming to the River, what advice would you offer to that person?
Mo:
Joining this company is not a terrible idea. It’s, this company has, I gained a lot, being with this company I learned a lot and, I endured a lot. Is a lot of skills that sit on the ground with this company. And I wouldn’t change this for the world. Ten years, ten years. I’ll be here another ten years.
Charlie:
And during COVID in the pandemic, you have helped us at different stores and
Mo:
Correct.
Charlie:
I know you want that Rock Hill store, we’re still working on that one day.
Mo:
Come on, bring it.
Charlie:
And hey, because you started this movement with the Outlet you know, we’ve got our brand new East Columbia Outlet. We just celebrated its grand opening. And so it’s just a lot of exciting things. Can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done for the company these last several years. Almost ten.
And with this Outlet movement, I think it goes across all of America for what you’re doing for Ashley Furniture globally. To catalyze a movement for further growth in this new model for the Outlet and just for you showing what can be done. We’re super grateful for you.
Thanks for being on Stories from the River. Any parting words now?
Mo:
Charlie, thank you for having me. You guys are doing amazing jobs. Keep up the good work.
Charlie:
Thank you Mo, Magic Man.
Outro
Thanks for listening to Stories from the River. To check out more episodes and read the transcript, visit storiesfromtheriver.com. Join us again next week to hear from other inspiring Memory Makers and be sure to rate, like, and subscribe to our podcast.
