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Each season of Just Stories has a different eight-episode theme. The show kicks off with “Recycled Dreams,” featuring eight CEOs who have woven giving back into their business strategies.
These episodes will give you a blueprint for doing the same in the most efficient way possible, which is making their learnings your reality.
Solutions to problems tackled on this episode:
1. How to create content and give it away for free to build up your industry, help others and elevate your brand at the same time!
2. Why failure in business can be the biggest catalyst for pushing you to the next huge achievement in your life!
When we talk about Just Stories as a podcast, I don’t know if there is a better story teller out there than Mark Quinn. Besides being CEO of Spink & Co, and one of the hosts of the Dos Marcos Podcast, this episode dives deep into his rollercoaster professional ride and why you as a business NEED to be incorporating giving back into your business as a strategy. It doesn’t matter how, whether that is through events, campaigns or free content you need to be giving back because in the end it always comes back to help you out and live a more fulfilled life.
Season 1 of the podcast is titled “Recycled Dreams” because each episode focuses on CEO’s who have utilized giving back as a part of their main business strategy. The purpose is to use the art of story telling to motivate our business communities into giving back more because when you do, everybody wins!
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Full Transcription:
Brett Thornton: Okay, welcome back to another episode of just stores with BT. I’m so excited for this week’s guest. Not only is he one of the main reasons that I’m even doing this podcast, but also because this is really focusing around our recycled dreams theme, which is talking to CEOs and successful entrepreneurs and businesses who have been giving back as part of their kind of strategy. I’m really anxious for you guys to hear kind of how Mark built their big podcast they have, how they kind of gave back and how it helped him in getting to success. But we also want to tell some stories, and be able to really get to know the person behind the podcast, right? So you are so used to asking questions to others. I’m going to ask you questions today, so put you on the hot seat. So without further ado, thank you so much, Mark Quinn, for joining me today.
Mark Quinn: I’m so excited. Brett, thanks for having us on. I think it’s an awesome idea for the show. I’m so fired up, you’re gonna really put some stuff out there that’s gonna inspire people. So I love what you’re doing.
Brett Thornton: So, I appreciate that. And I hope so. And I’m so excited to be part of this spam family.
Mark Quinn: [INAUDIBLE(1:00)]
Brett Thornton: And I will say this, you know, I was thinking about it, you know, and I was like, you know, I’m gonna have mark on and you know, he tends to ramble. He likes to talk about himself.
Mark Quinn: [ INAUDIBLE (1:14)]
Brett Thornton: So, you know maybe both, whatever. So, I need the audience out there. A lot of people know you, but a lot don’t. So I’m like, I need to give them the backstory, but I can’t trust you with this introduction. I don’t know how long you would do this. This could be a 10 20-minute monologue. So I’m going to introduce you for you. So I’m good.
Mark Quinn: Okay, are you supposed to attack your guests? Is that how this whole thing works? Am I about to get like roasted? Is that what’s going on?
Brett Thornton: No, I’m gonna just talk about all your highlights.
Mark Quinn: Okay.
Brett Thornton: Okay, are you ready? It’s gonna be rapid fire. There we go.
Mark Quinn: Let’s go.
Brett Thornton: I’m ready. So, Mr. Mark Quinn, born in Iowa did not grow up there, grew up in Houston. Got to watch his dad do a lot of business close deals. That’s where he gets his awesome sales ability from, but he did move a lot every two years. And what that did is it created him to have to adjust fit in meet new people and this is amazing and great personality. He has an older sister works for peer care. a younger brother used to work for my firm now works for elements, so sleep is in the blood. His first job was as a DJ at a roller rink. We’re coming back to this after this. FYI, I have to learn more about this. Big sports guy tennis basketball, skiing both water boats, snow. He was pretty good at it. Went to multiple colleges but ultimately graduated from Stephen F. Austin University. His first major job was traveling around doing Brian Tracy sales seminars. just cruising around, I can see you selling it Hawking cassette tapes, we’d love to get some pictures that one day. Then you jumped into the sleep biz working for Sealy was sorta eventually Montgomery Ward, which is where you met your wife, who now been married to for 20 years pretty amazing congrats on that had two kids’ daughter 2002 son in 2004. 2006 big game changer for you. You started at Leggett and Platt, which was a big deal, because that would lead to a lot of your future success. In 2012, you were working with Mark Inslee, you’re now a partner on those Marcos on an ad campaign that would launch hybrids, which was literally nothing and you guys created a billion-dollar category. So way to go kudos. And then 2014 the biggest year in your career history because you did two amazing things. You started and founded spinco Farm table mattresses from the UK and you guys started the DOS Marcos podcast so huge year 2014 and then it happened 2018 Episode 69 the greatest common from your life you had on me on your podcast, so that was just you know, big time. And then a small thing happened in 2021 right now which was you launched the fam our new industry insider news podcast, all things sleep furniture, so.
Mark Quinn: Well, done, where you really Episode 69
Brett Thornton: Yeah.
Mark Quinn: That’s so funny. Who better than you? Really? Who better that was a hell of a recap? I had it. That’s a walkthrough time. Thank you.
Brett Thornton: Yeah, well, now we all know we know your history. But let’s backtrack just slightly. legitimately. You were a DJ at a roller skate.
Mark Quinn: Okay, man, I mean, I mowed lawns like everyone did, right? And did that kind of stuff. And then I decided that maybe there was something else I could do. So, I was at a skating rink and this is backwards. Skating was cold, and I had Parrish dance. None I’m saying like, we would like do the whole thing and spend the whole night there and get dropped off by your parents. And then it was couple’s skate. And so anyway, I liked the environment, and I knew misstate the owner of the facility and as a matter of fact, still keep touch with them to this day. And so a job came up floor guard and DJ and I’m like I’m in. Give me that microphone. Let’s spend some records, man. Let’s get the vinyl have.
Brett Thornton: Did you have DJ name?
Mark Quinn: No, I didn’t. I showed that DJ mark in his back before DJs were cool. So I you know, I’d like to think I was at the beginning part of making the DJ cool and started in the roller rink. No man, I remember doing stupid stuff too. Like we had a birthday party and they had a Scooby Doo character for the kids. So I actually wrote a song Scooby Doo song to the Scooby Doo theme song so I saying that for them as Scooby Doo like made his entrance into the just stupid stuff. Right? But yeah, great. Love that job.
Brett Thornton: You have to did you have to also control the lights? And the little sparkle things? Like when you’re ready? Alright, here’s a slow song for all those couples out there.
Mark Quinn: Yeah, you know, I feel now that we’re talking about this. I feel like there’s a theme through some of my jobs throughout my life. So the DJ thing was cool, because I could get girls up to the DJ booth because it’s like he had to take steps up in and then he had this really cool sound system and lights. And so, I’d invite girls up there and I let them work the lights, right? So hey, look at these cool things like it all these buttons, I get to control. Here’s the microphone. So, there’s a position of like a little bit of power in that right? And then it and I may or may not have made out with a couple of those girls because you get them in the booth, and no one can see you. So that was that was handy. And then later, I was a bartender for a long time in college. And then I was in a band. So, if you think about these jobs that like put you right in the middle of meeting girls whenever you needed to meet them,
Brett Thornton: So, and then years later, you would launch sleepy, which I’m sure the girl just blocked for.
Mark Quinn: Yeah man, we need to have people read in the mattress industry. I mean, back when I was single, I mean, you beat them off with this thing. It’s like the immediate attraction to that. I mean, no, oddly enough, though, right? I mean, I’m sure it’s happened to you like you talk to people about being in the mattress business and the conversation just evolves into. So, tell me about your bed. Tell me about a mattress right. So, there’s, a connection. Right? So, it’s kind of funny that way, but yeah, no, man, it was, I don’t know. I’ve had, I’ve been blessed with some pretty fun stuff to do. And sleek. Yeah, that was a Kinsey was right. We wanted to create a community and so we here we are all these years later doing it again in a different way. But when we are legged, think about it. Right? Like no one had cannot control but no one had a connection to the retail sales associate. And I’m like, that’s so stupid. They’re the frontline. These are the guys making it happen all the time. And so, we just wanted to have a relationship with them. So when we wanted to learn our way into different things, we go straight to the source of the people on the front line. And then we could get a good data set. And actually, it’s because of that community, that we were able to test out the hybrid concept, right? And find out whether or not we had something there or not. And they were like hell yes. They went away for two weeks. And they’re like, you close deals faster, and you get bigger tickets. And so, we knew right away, so then we created a university for them to attend. Right, so they could learn more about the category. There’s a lot of turnovers with retail salespeople in the field. So, we wanted a place for retailers to be able to send people to learn their way into the industry. So yeah, I mean, it was it was a great property. Glad we did that.
Brett Thornton: So cool. So, you know what, before I get into asking you some of your stories, what actually got you into the makerspace? Like you said that you were still your first company that you’ve worked with in the makerspace?
Mark Quinn: Yeah, it was a Craig McAndrew, who is an industry veteran, his attorney, brother of mine at Stephen F. Austin. And so, Steve Stagner. And I who used to be with Simmons and later on with Mattress Firm, we grew up in the same town together. And so, we also went to college together at Stephen F. Austin. So, Steve and I had already graduated. And we were traveling every seven weeks to a different city to represent Brian Tracy. So we’d go into these companies, right, it was a riot. So, let’s say it’s a forklift company right now. I’ll give you the best example. So here I am a 23-year-old kid walking into a bank building on the 35th floor. And I’m talking to stockbrokers about how they can improve their life by increasing their sales and making more money, right? These guys are like, you know, wearing Rolexes and all geeked out and like Gucci stuff. And they’re like, there’s this 23-year-old kid that walked in, and hey, I’m gonna help you like learn how to sell better, right? Yeah, but here’s the funny part of that. The best people in the room and we would do forklift companies, funeral homes, guys that sold cardboard. I mean, it didn’t matter if you sold something we were in your office. But the cool thing that I noticed everywhere, but one of the biggest take aways for me was I don’t care who you are. The best guys always paid attention. It like I was always intimidated by walking into a big room with 100 people and I’m like going to be center station. I’m 23 like I couldn’t sell, I hadn’t earned my stripes selling, but I could speak, right. And I could inspire through that part. But then I learned how to sell eventually. But I mean, when you’re in there, and you’re telling these guys, but the best guys are always hungry, they were always taking notes, they were always paying attention. It’s the guys who never produced that would like not pay attention to you and be on some device or like playing games or whatever. So I just thought that was such a great lesson for me. And it got to a point, probably halfway through that year, I would sit down with a salesman or DJ and I said, Listen, what are your issues, and they would almost always say, you know, there was a people thing going on it explained it, I go, I get it. Don’t tell me who it is, I want to know, I guarantee you, by the time I’m done in 45 minutes, I will know who your best and worse people are, and I will be able to help you better every single time just about I mean, maybe 98%. I got it, right? Because you could just observe your behavior, right? The guys who are hungry to learn and paying attention and asking questions, those are always your best performance.
Brett Thornton: Yeah, that’s awesome. Yeah, I have a philosophy on wine. And well, I guess could be any traveling officers and dinner train. But my flying philosophy is that I always try to give the people sitting around me, right, left, whatever it is three opportunities to engage in conversation. You know, sometimes you just want to like headphones on I’m out.
Mark Quinn: Yeah.
Brett Thornton: I’m not trying to bug you. But if you want to talk, I’d much rather talk on a flight than I would zone out with the music or whatever, you know. And what I found is that there’s a few things I’ve discovered. One, everybody has something that you can learn from, like, everyone has a cool story. Everyone has something unique. You can learn something from anyone you meet no matter where they are. But be more importantly, I learned, like, almost everyone that really engages back and conversation with me seems to be really successful. You know, like, they just wanted to learn from me ask me questions or stuff. And I’m like, and that through the course of conversation over doing this for I’ve done this for literally 20 years. I’ve just met all these great people. And I’m always like, man that I just know, all right, all I need to know about you. I learned in 20 minutes on it, because they were open in question, you know what I mean? You can just get it, you know, and just I think it’s probably the same thing you saw back then even when you were 23? No,
Mark Quinn: I love that. And you know, a lot of times I’ll put on headphones or something because I’m like, boy, if you get in a conversation with someone on a flight, and they have that talking disease, then you’re locked in for a couple hours. And sometimes you got to work. But I tell you, though, to your point, I’ve gotten some really great feedback and information and really good connections, actually just talking to people on a flight. And to your point, I was listening to Phil Jackson’s book, 11 rings. And one of the things I heard this morning, and I’m gonna screw up the quote, but it’s a Buddhist saying I believe, but it’s something like think less of yourself and more of the world. Right. And so self is small world is big. And then something in line with that was Think of yourself as the only student on the planet and everyone else in it is there to teach you something. And so, I love that I think it’s really important. And I think that’s why I love your show and who you are and all that you’ve done for this industry. And you’re just a bright, light bright, and you put a lot of energy out there. And you’re always trying to help people. And I think it’s stuff like that, like that’s why you and I became such fast friends. I mean, like literally, it did not take us time at all to like be great buddies.
Brett Thornton: Well, but that that’s the that’s the beauty of these types of formats is that I could listen to before I came on the podcast, I had listened to them, I don’t know, 15, 20 episodes, I felt like I already knew. Right. So, I was able to kind of skip some of the stuff because I didn’t really, you know, but it’s funny, you brought up Greg McAndrew’s, because he actually gave me a very, very valuable piece of advice that I’ve used over and over and over again, which is, you know, he told me once, you know, be more interested and interesting. Because I can tend to over talk right in a room where tell stories or whatever it is, and like, kind of takeover that setting as opposed to like, learning or asking questions. And he told me that after a trip when I first kind of met him, I was working with him imagine from years ago, I would try to sell him on the idea of District training managers because that’s what we had to train time and not just from didn’t and I spent two days pitching them. And at the end of this trip, I was dropped from the airport he said, Hey, man, you know, great time loved it. learn so much. The trainers are great job. Just FYI. I have a lot of experience. I’ve been around this injury a long time. And you never asked me one question. And I was like, dude, literally, it felt like someone punched me in the face. I was I love there is I was like, shattered and he just said, in life, man, not just business. Like it’s better to be interested and interesting and just gets his bag and leave. And I was like, sunk down in my chair. I was like, Oh, God, you know, but man, I’m so glad that was I don’t know how long 10 years ago. That was some of the best advice I’ve ever gotten. And I’ve thought about I’ve repeated my head like tons of times when I’m in a place like, be more interested in you and ask what you know.
Mark Quinn: He gave me some really shitty. So you want to hear what his advice was to me?
Brett Thornton: Yes.
Mark Quinn: Yeah. So we’re all at the fraternity house in college and we had built a ramp and he’s like, Yeah, when you got this, and we were jumping a moped over the pool. Yeah, that didn’t work out. He was totally wrong. I did not have that. And that moped did not make it over the bull.
Brett Thornton: And now it’s your fault forever.
Mark Quinn: That’s my fault. Yeah,
Brett Thornton: It’s like when I was in fourth grade, we went on a field trip to Marin Headlands up it’s in Northern California. And there’s this thing up there they have banana slugs, so you know .
Mark Quinn: Banana what?
Brett Thornton: Banana slugs are these big yellow slugs they’re called banana slugs. And the in the myth is that if you kiss a banana slug, it’s good luck. So, this guy, he’s like the, you know, the camp counselor guy, who’s here’s all these porkers he finds this big banana slug and he’s like, okay, line up everyone. There’s 30 people online, everyone’s gonna take a turn of the last leg and I’m like, you sure he’s like, Oh, yeah, it’s great. You know, you’re gonna have great luck. And I’m the front of the line. I’m like, Oh, God, but everyone’s like, excited about us. I’m like, okay, you know, so I go down, I hit the banana slug and not I did not have good luck. In fact, it was the exact opposite, which was, I took a step up to like, step over the band slug in my foot slipped, came down, and then I smashed it and completely smashed a banana slug and killed it. And everyone was so mad at me girls were crying. people yelling me, I became the banana slug murderer for like my whole field trip.
Mark Quinn: If you haven’t heard of a banana slug, and by the way, what a great ad. No, never. And they take Google like a picture. But the cool part of that story is that’s a great question. Like, what’s the word? Like? Everyone’s always saying, hey, what’s the best advice you ever got? What’s the worst advice you ever got? That’s a great question. Yeah,
Brett Thornton: We’re this camp counselor really screwed me, man,.
Mark Quinn: We should find him, and we go down, we should troll him on the internet.
Brett Thornton: That’s a perfect segue into my first question. So not even a question. You know, one of the things that just stories, I really like to hear from you, things that stories and things that happened to you as you’ve kind of gone through your career. My favorite part about listening to podcasts, your guys, anybody that I really like to listen to, is really hearing those stories of the guests. Right. And so, you know, I’m really curious to know, you think back in your career, what is like the funniest memory you have from your career?
Mark Quinn: You know, I thought a lot about this because you were kind enough to give me a heads up on the question, but what came to mind and it’s funny now, is that okay, it’s not funny. It wasn’t funny, then really bad. Okay, so I’m 28. Brad right. And I just saw I had been working for Stearns and foster and Sealy out of Dallas, Texas. So I took a job, Bill West, good buddy of mine at the time, what not at the time to be ended up being becoming a great buddy of mine. Anyway, he was asserting as well. And so I took over Sam’s Club, I was 28 years old. Well, Sam’s Club at the time, for sorta was like 30% of the total volume of that company, and maybe more in terms of profit, right? I mean, it was 52 million when I got it and then, and then they gave me Awards on top of it, which my wife was the assistant buyer for words. So words was doing 32 million at the time. So $85 million, I’d never managed a territory over 4 million, right? And so they’re like, you want to come to you know, to corporate and be the VP of national accounts and this is your responsibility. I’m like, hell yeah, I can do that. I’m like, I cannot do that. There is no, I don’t know why to this day, they gave me that job, right. It’s like, what were they thinking ended up going really well. But anyway, so my very first meeting with the buyer, Mark grant, who’s a solid guy, so I’m now living in the area that I used to travel to Northwest Arkansas. So I’m on the phone with him. He’s like, Yeah, man, we got to do a product review. And I’m like, okay, and here’s the new line. I’m sending these beds, and I don’t want to screw this up, you know? And so I he said, Yeah, well, we’ll do it at the holiday. Yeah. I’m like, no problem. You know, I had an assistant at the time. So I sent all this stuff to get word there at one o’clock at the Holiday Inn, everything set up to show him the bed, you know how it is that everything’s laid out. And he doesn’t show and my boss is there. And his name was Jeff antheil. And he’s like, dude, like, where is this guy? I’m like, I don’t know so I’m calling. He calls me in my mobile. And he says, amen. I’m at the Holiday Inn. Where Yeah, I go get the honey. Yeah, I go. You’re not that Holly. I said, I’m at the holiday. And he goes, No, I’m at the Holiday Inn in Fayetteville and I go, where are we? Talking to the lady like, putting water in the room for as you know, she’s like, we’re in Bentonville or something like wherever we were is not where we were supposed to be. So that guy had to hang up the phone. He’s like, oh, man, well, my appointment time like I’m really busy today. I don’t know if I can make it to you. And I’m like, oh my god, you’ve got to be kidding me. So anyway, he was cool about it and ended up showing up and it was a great meeting, but like you are the biggest idiot like in my thinking though, right? Fayetteville, Arkansas, this little hick town. How big could it be? How many Holiday Inns are they going to have right? So, It was a disaster of God, but it ended up going fine. And then, I guess the other part, the other story was like an unplanned innovators award. And so the manufacturing operations guy, this award was really more about like, engineering design, you know, that kind of stuff in so at one point, Tom, a good buddy of mine, Tom was at the time, he’s like, they’re telling us about the JP Leggett innovators award, and we’re in a big meeting. And they said, this is for smart people. My buddy Tom said, this is for smart people. It’s not going to be for sales guys, like you. I won that damn award that year. Because we had done a lot of work in the biometric space before we did a big launch event at the Consumer Electronics Show. And it was a huge success. And we were really early, right. And one of the first scripts to do it, actually, with biometric sensors, and all that stuff in a bed. And then we had a user interface that gave you an app until you know, coached you up. And this is I’m going to tell you 10 years ago, and so we ended up BAM labs worked with us since they sold that technology to like slack come for anyway, I thought that was hilarious, because the dumb sales guy like won the award, right? Yeah.
Brett Thornton: Yeah, I’ve made it into some kind of like, motivational poster or something good to put in your office?
Mark Quinn: No. And I made that guy who gave me so much crap, because as soon as he said it in the meeting, everyone was laughing at me and laughing at him that he said it. I made him present me with the award. Yeah.
Brett Thornton: Yeah awesome, so I have, a holiday Inn story.
Mark Quinn: Oh, tell me.
Brett Thornton: The whole holiday. I’m like, I can’t, I cannot pass up this opportunity to tell the story. So,
Mark Quinn: Is that the chain that makes you smarter when you stay there?
Brett Thornton: I don’t know. It did not make me smarter.
Mark Quinn: Okay, hit me with your holiday.
Brett Thornton: And so this is like maybe like four years ago, and I was that living space. And we were opening it was when we opened our Austin store. So pflugerville and this is right when they started opening these water parks around the country that serve Park, you know, where they have this the fake waves, you know where you can, and obviously, you know, big surfer and so I had never been in one of these wave pools. So I’m out there for a whole week, because we’re doing a big, you know, opening week celebration, and opening night and all this kind of stuff in living spaces. So I went, you know, I went and did it. And it was really fun, you know, I surf this water park. And I was like, you know what, this would be so fun for someone to win. And I wanted to have a prize for revive which was the mattress department that I was overseeing. You know, and so basically, I bought a card that was good for like two people like a day at the surf park with lessons and the whole nine yards. And then I was gonna present it to the entire team was 110 people in that store on opening night. So I didn’t say whoever sells the most out most matters is basically the most money out of revive over the three day grand opening, you’re going to win this car. That was my big idea, right? And it looked just like a credit card, you know, and I have waived park on it or whatever. So I’m stay at the Holiday Inn, you know, I’m getting all ready, you got my suit on for the big night or whatever. And I get the car to make sure I get the card, I put it in my pocket. And so you know, during my time right before the grand opening, I have worked it out. So I could go up and make this big announcement about this huge contest I’m doing for this this all day thing. There’s a big, it’s like a $400 pack or whatever. So I’m in front of everybody. And I’m like, Alright guys, I tell them the whole thing. I’m doing this contest. And I’m like in the winner, the winner is gonna get this and I pull out the card, right? But instead of putting my hand in my left pocket, I put it in my right pocket. And it was my holiday in room key card goes they’re gonna win the key Cartier holiday to your room, your hotel room and do the play starts. I mean, dude, people are crying and laughing so hard. And I turned so random. I’m like scrambling looking for I’m like, No, it’s just, I couldn’t even get out what it was because it was and that it still lives on today. It’s this whole kind of contest for anything and be like, oh, Brooke, get invited to the room. If you win. I was like, oh God, dude, it just never ended. So. And I’ve never stayed at a Holiday Inn since just FYI. JOHN,
Mark Quinn: And are you thinking hey, I guess it depends on who wins.
Brett Thornton: No. This is the worst ever. And I’m gonna be in our CEOs. They’re laughing at them. So anyway, that was so moving on from my embarrassing stories. Keep them coming years, right, which is and I know a lot about you from listening to the podcast, you know, but I’d really love for you to tell a story, you know, thinking back into your career, you know of some time that you fail, right? Or that you know, you didn’t succeed or a really tough time in your life, you know, and then how you kind of overcame?
Mark Quinn: Man, there’s so many of those and I love sharing them Kinsley, my podcast partner and one of my best buddies. He tells me all the time and I was writing a blog forever called Cues us, I don’t write for it anymore, but it’s still there. You can go catch the content in Quinn calm anyway. And so he was always saying to me, you know, share your vulnerability because people connect with you in those moments. It’s not the success or these are the things it’s that they connect with you. In times of your failure or the weak moments, right, and so I learned how to do that better. But one of them that I can remember we actually talked about it in the book that you wrote, come back to bed. It was this whole virgin mattress thing. And I was with leg it. And so these guys, I mean, everyone, they convinced me that I shouldn’t be going to work at like it because culturally, I didn’t fit, right. So they were a components company that always hired from within and promoted from within. But they, they wanted to change the culture. And they wanted to kind of push themselves a little bit harder in the industry. So they ended up hiring me. And so I wanted to really be like, I wanted to help them come out front, because they had been order takers, but China was happening at the time. So you couldn’t just sit back and take orders, I China was now competitive with our pricing, and they were dumping into our market. So we had to get more creative and get more aggressive and tell our story better. Well, so we did a web series. And we were going to call it the virgin mattress so that the catalyst are that it was born out of the idea that I was about to get married. And my wife says to me, we need to get a new mattress, and I’m like, You’re freaking crazy. Man. We’re spending 50 grand on this wedding, or whatever the hell it was at the time. Like, we’re not buying a new bed, I got a $3,000 service sitting in my, you know, in my bedroom, like, why would I do that? She goes, your bed has history. Right? Because, you know, there was I had a life before I knew her. So she wanted a fresh bed. And so we decided that we would draw on that experience. And we just had a virgin mattress, right, like one that’s fresh and clean. Because if you think about that, the idea and at the time, I was the chairman of the better sleep Council, we were trying to say to everyone, hey, replace your bed in eight mattress from a big campaign we had at one point. And let’s increase the purchase cycle. Let’s shorten the time and get people in the market quicker. And so the idea that you’re getting a hand me down from your mom and dad, and your mom and dad had sex on that bed, right? There’s this you factor to that, like we wanted to, like get people there, you know? And, you know, it’s not just that, but it’s like, okay, so any hand me down bed, right? It’s got history, and people sweat and perspire. And there’s dust mites. And we wanted to create that pain point. So it created this whole thing. It was about the virgin mattress, and it was about a sleep shop and their adventures and right. And the very first opening scene, the guys at the bar had this conversation like you know, Hey, man, congratulations, two guys sitting in a bar. Hey, Rusty, congratulations, you get married, you know, and you get to keep all your stuff in your apartment and rest. He’s like, no, oh, man. She’s like taking everything all my velvet Elvis paintings, all that stuff is going. And he said, how about your matches, you can get to keep that thing so comfortable. And she’s in rest. He says no, no. Are you kidding? She’s like, making me get rid of it. No, he said, Yes, I’m getting to keep that part. Everything else goes, but I get to keep my mattress and he goes, your mattress is sick. I guys, I got laid on that mattress. That’s disgusting. I can’t believe. So that was the well when that video hit. And I’m so stupid that I literally push it out to an entire company of 19,000 legged employees across the world. And I said, Hey, man, this is really cool. There’s seven episodes. It’s a, you know, web series. At the time. They weren’t that big. It’s gonna put like it out in front. We’re gonna create our brand we’re gonna. And then it hit 19,000 people and they were outraged. And here’s how bad it was to. We took it to let to betting to furniture Teddy’s betting conference, right. And it was a cocktail party in Leggett sponsored it and I was over all that. And we aired it on a big screen in front of all these people, the very first step is it in total and, that hit and everyone was like, Huh, you know, that’s not like it, you know. And then the next day when it actually went live, I’m sitting in the back with Carl Glassman, the chief operating officer who’s still a good friend of mine today. And he’s an amazing guy. And my boss, Perry Davis, also an amazing guy, we’re sitting the back row and our phone just starts blowing up and people back at corporate were outraged at the content and they couldn’t believe we said that we publish that we put our name on that. So, it was a total failure. And it was a major failure. And it was very embarrassing for me because here’s this new guy who’s pushing them in with all the best intention trying to get them out of the place that they were. And I just felt like I had let them down. And I felt like you know, they put their trust in me. And I feel like I disappointed them, and people were going to our CEOs house David Hafner. This is the stuff that’s not in the book. They’re literally going to, and this is Carthage, Missouri. So, it’s a five and a half billion-dollar company at the time. But you know, it’s still small town and everyone knows everyone. So, people are going to Dave’s house when he’s mowing the lawn on Sunday demanding that I’m fired. Right. And so, it was a total freaking disaster. But, you know, it’s like, in those moments, right? You just got to kind of go Okay, well, how do we fix it? You know, I was in the boardroom on a Saturday, Carl called everyone in on a Saturday. So, we had to address this issue, right. And it was just embarrassing and the worst part of it was they trusted me. And I feel like I screwed him on that. And, you know, to the owner, to the credit of the Leggett and Platt leadership, it would have been very easy for them to make me a scapegoat and fire me. You know, it could have been that could have been no problem. But they had read the scripts, and they stood up, and they supported me and backed me and said, Nope, we own that everyone owns that. So, it was a cool experience from a leadership perspective, I get to see how they reacted to that. And anyway, so yeah, it was it was a rough time for me. But then you know, the reaction to that it’s not what happens. It’s like, how do we filmed the second one. And so, we ended up publishing that, but then after that, we did the Git hybrid. And you can imagine, right, the sore spot, right, the tender meat, right? It’s a fresh wound. Not long after that we did, we did the Git hybrid rap video. And I again, I gave it a lot of credit because I said, hey, let’s create a hybrid category. Kinsley and I said, Let’s, we said, let’s create a hybrid category, and we want to do a rap video, and work with say, so we put all that together, and they were like, okay, I mean, after the virgin mattress, a couple guys go, hey, let’s do a rap video. It’s like, perfect. I mean, you know, I mean, for the guys to go, okay. You know, that says a lot about them. They weren’t done. They wanted to keep pushing, they knew they had to evolve. So from the bad evolves something really incredibly good. So yeah, it was it was horrible, though, man. I, gosh, it was tough.
Brett Thornton: Yeah, I think. Yeah, I don’t know, you know, just from my career, and like looking back, I think of like, my struggles, or things that I would consider failures. I feel like for the most part, they always wrap around the thought of, or that feeling of letting somebody down. And that seems to be the thing that has always stuck with me more than any other thing. You know, like, Oh, my God, you put your trust in me or you did this or that and like, I let you down. Like that just seems to be always like the one that just really gets it.
Speaker2: Yeah, isn’t it true? Like, I mean, can you think back on your failures, Brett? Like, were you those moments, though? Like, what evolved from them? I mean, it’s so easy, isn’t it? In hindsight, you go, okay, that’s sucked. But look what happened as a result of that? Is it same, the same for you like, even the worst of moments? Like you find the good in that moment? Right.
Speaker : What I think that’s what, you know, it’s so cliche, but, you know, the great leaders I’ve seen, you know, in my life that I’ve been fortunate to be around, have always used failures as the best learning you know, so I learned that early on in my days, you know, working in clothing and then working for Dale and years of sleep training and watching, you know, some of the things that we would go through and then it would Oh, it would never be like, I’m down on you and down you will always be like, Okay, what can we learn? What can we learn? And then we move forward, you know, and it’s like those learnings are typically the springboard for like the next big thing. You know, like you guys said, You rolled out into the good hybrid, which ended up being a multi billion dollar category, you know, and that could have been, who knows, someone else could have invented that or came up with that idea? Had you been gone? You know?
Speaker2: Yeah, no doubt, man. And so you have to really pay attention. And I think the hardest part for me on failure, probably true for many, but it’s ego, right? And so, you have to really get your ego in check and go, man, you’re going to fail. And I think that’s what keeps people from striking out on their own to do things. Because, you know, there’s a lot of risk in new things, there’s a lot of risk in meeting new people, there’s a lot of risk in starting a new sport, there’s a lot of risk in moving, there’s a lot of risk and starting a new career, whatever it is, and you just have to reconcile that and go, I’m going to fail, there is no question about it. I mean, I remember that my daughter was a big softball player and traveled all over the country, essentially. And helping a kid understand that, you know, three out of 10 hits, right, that’s incredible. Like, that’s great result. And so you’re failing seven times. That’s tough. It’s a tough life lesson for a kid. It’s, tough for us, too. And so I just kind of think about that. And I go, you know, just, you know, check your ego and I love to fail. I hate the moment that I do. But I know it makes me tough. And I know that good things will come out of it. If you’re patient, and you listen for that. And you, you’re intentional about that. And so yeah, man. I mean, I’ve had so many failures, and I’m proud of them all.
Brett Thornton: Yeah, no, I mean, at the end of the day, I think you’re right on with ego. I think that’s, that’s it, that is a huge part of it, you know, which is, and I think a lot of it too, is it’s got to be about, you know, the place with which you work or the people that you’re around, it’s really important to surround yourself with people who embrace that failure and embrace the opportunity to learn. You know, I think that’s so much of it. I know, you know, I don’t always do it, I’m sure I’ve made a lot of mistakes as a boss, but, you know, with my team, you know, I try to create an opportunity where, you know, we it’s not that we look forward to failures, but that we expect, hey, if we’re really pushing the envelope, we’re going to have some barriers, like, we’re going to have some things not go well, you know, so if you’re not playing it safe, like things aren’t always going to go perfect. But the key is, then what do we learn as we come out of it? And if that was your mindset, in the whole team’s mindset, it’s like, you just know, you’re just going to keep rolling, you know?
Mark Quinn: But you know, that’s so true. And if you think about it, like in a culture, like you were talking about, if you create a culture of failure, right, and you celebrate it, and you know, everyone knows that if you do something wrong, you’re not going to get your head cut off, right? And it’s like the guys at Lego, they didn’t fire me. You know, we talked through the challenge with what happened, but in a lot of people saw that they didn’t fire me and too many people’s dismay, probably. But, you know, it was a great lesson for me. And, you know, if , you know, if it’s not stupid, and it’s not repeating mistakes, right, I think if you create your attentional about saying, Hey, guys, you failed, and I love you, because you did that, because you tried something we hadn’t done. What if he hadn’t failed, right? So, if you celebrate failure, you encourage people to try things and fail cheap, fail quick, right? There are parameters around that. But if you do that, then oh, my gosh, like, what can happen? I mean, my son plays basketball, and there’s a coach that, you know, that is so funny, because in school ball in basketball, they’re very regimented, right? They have lots of plays, and they want you to do this thing. AAU basketball, summertime, right? Some of the best players, that’s where it’s really, really competitive. Those coaches, they’re like, play, you guys know how to play, here’s some structure, here’s an offense, but go make it happen. Right? It said that if you’re like really locked in, then you’re afraid to fail, you’re afraid to try you’re afraid what’s going to happen? It’s the whack a mole, you stick your head up, and you get smacked down. What are you missing? If that’s your culture, like what incredible things are waiting for you, but you can’t ever get to them? Because you don’t encourage your people to try and fail.
Brett Thornton: Yeah, well, talking about incredible things, you know, like, as you look back, you know, at your career, which, you know, and you’ve done a lot of different things, you know, obviously, the highlight was, you know, being a DJ at a roller rink, but you’ve had success beside that. And, you know, what would when you look back at your career, you know, is there one story you can tell that kind of like encapsulated a moment where you kind of looked and said, like, oh my gosh, like I’m, having some success or like this is really cool. Like, this is something I never thought I would achieve, you know, like, Can you think of a story around that?
Mark Quinn: Yeah, I, you know, it didn’t think of it until you just asked it because I made a note on this and what story to share. But the one thing I can say like it’s not an event, but I think a lot of my success has come from people. So, I so it’s weird, like, I’ve always had someone with me during the best parts of my career. So, when I was at sort of, for instance, Roxanne Franklin is still at sarda and she managed the Sam’s business while I was the head guy, and she was my right hand. And in when I left, she, she took it over. But I was good at stuff like 30,000 foot relationships, you know, merchant, like all the business selling, but she was a freaking incredible like, you know, detailed person in the logistics in orders. And I mean, we won, I don’t know how many suppliers of the Year awards there, in large part because of her It wasn’t me. But I had Roxanne for that phase, and I’m going to come back to her in a second. So, I’d Roxanne for that phase. Then when I was at Leggett, I had a guy named john Walsh, who was, you know, he ran the creative team from we had 40 people in our creative group. And so, writers, videographers, photographers, all of that, so they all report it to me, but john ran it right. And so, he was all the things that I wasn’t right. And then even now like Kinsley, I mean, the relationship with him, he’s such a close friend of mine. And like, there’s just stuff he’s really good at that I just can’t do, and I do other things. And so, I just feel like the partnerships I’ve had with human beings, and there’s so many other people. But I mean, literally, it’s been a yin and yang for me throughout my life. And so, Kinsley has been that for me and I just in the journey to take the journey with someone like that, and to do stuff like writing the book together to do the podcast together. It’s so fun for me, because you share those moments with someone else, and I feed off him. And we learn together, he jokes around or says he tells people that I’m his mentor, and I’m like, That’s such crap. Like, you know, he’s definitely my mentor also. So, we share that together. And I just learned from them constantly. So anyway, I think it’s the people. I think that’s really what has been the catalyst for any success that I’ve had. It’s those partnerships. But when I was at sarda, you know, being 28, you know, we took Sam’s from where it was to being, you know, much, much larger, into one of the top, you know, betting sellers in the country. And it was because of my willingness, versus the last guy to not be afraid. And to lean into that business. We were trying to tell all of our retailers, hey, you know, we sell them, but we don’t serve as or kiss as wholesale club, and it was low margin business, and you know how it goes. And I’m like, bull crap, man, let’s go. I mean, if we’re going to sell them, let’s sell as much shit to him as we can. So, he started promoting and driving it. And we grew like crazy. And so I think it’s because of my willingness to take the heat and be bold in that and risk failure, that we were able to accomplish all that and like I said, Roxanne was such a huge part of that in our factories at the time. So many people there. And then the other thing I’d say, was maybe Leggett, because when I went there, it wasn’t a fit culturally. And I’ll tell you in this kind of feeds into what we were talking about, I went to work every day, Brett and I moved my family. We lived in downtown Chicago, bro. I mean, it was like, awesome, right? We lived downtown, I didn’t have a car and bike and everywhere and volleyball on the beach, it was crazy. And I moved my wife to Carthage or Joplin, Missouri, small town. And that was hard to do. And then every day I went home, I’m like, I think I’ve made a huge mistake. But I couldn’t say that. But I literally felt like every day I was going to be fired. Yeah, because if you join a company, and the culture is one thing, and you think it needs to be something else, change the culture. That’s tough. Yeah. And so it the only way to do it, one of the ways to do it is if you are not rattling the cage, if you’re not pushing hard enough, if you aren’t put pissing people off, then you’re never going to do it. Change won’t come. Like you can take a little tiny step, but you really have to do if you can’t, leave dead bodies everywhere. But you really have to shake people out of where they are. You have to push them. And I mean, there are so many days I drove home and I’m like, I think I really pissed that guy off. I mean, this is this could be it for me, right? And so anyway, I mean, many, days like that, and the version matters at all. But you know, I think it was helping Leggett kind of come out of like where they were and put them in front. And you know, they became a thought leader in biometrics, and we took it to Consumer Electronics Show, and we did this stuff with the hybrid and it kind of created so it was really kind of awesome to see them evolve as a company and like I said, I was part of the leading faction there. Kinsley was too big time. But it really was that the people there that had to agree to kind of come along for the ride. So, I think that’s, that’s probably not so great.
Brett Thornton: I love both of those stories. And, you know, it really does, you know, I think about, you know, Richard Branson from Virgin Airlines and all.
Mark Quinn: Oh, yeah.
Brett Thornton: You know, he’s got a famous quote that says, like, you know, if someone ever offered you a really good position that you don’t really know how to do it yet, like take the position and just figure it out. You know, and he basically said, like, Listen like if you have faith in yourself, You’ll figure it out people who are amazing workers, who are adaptable and moldable. I’ve seen it throughout my career, you know, and I know, I happen to me, you know, once in my career where I took a took the leap and jumped to do things, I didn’t really know how to do it. But I just was like, you know what, I think, I could do this. And I remember calling one of my mentors, Brian Baxter, who I work with now. And I said, hey, man, you know, I’ve never actually done any buying before. And he just said, you know, what, don’t worry about asking people for advice, just, you be you. And you’ll be three people the way, you know, you want to be treated, and you’ll be fine. And it was like, okay.
Mark Quinn: You know, but, you know, one of the reasons I think you and I connect is because you’re a fearless person, as I view you. Right? You’re, you’re so willing to put your content out, its art, right? It’s subjective and can be subjected to lots of criticism. Right? And so, I mean, you’re, you’re bold in that way, too. Like, I mean, so how do you handle that exposure? And then you’re really exposing yourself to the criticism? Like, how have you handled that?
Brett Thornton: You know, yeah, it’s a great question. You know, I think that, you know, I’m someone that throughout my life, always struggle with insecurity and not feeling that I was ever doing enough or doing a good enough job, you know, that was that internal voice. And I think as I got older, you know, you would, I started listening to a lot of podcasts, start reading a lot of books, and like, there was a common theme that kept coming up from a really successful people that I admired, which was like, you know, at the end of the day, like, you can’t, it’s very hard to be really successful, if you constantly worried about what other people are thinking. And, and that was a really hard thing for me to overcome, especially with even like things like LinkedIn, I put out a lot of content. But at the beginning, I was terrified, like, what if someone doesn’t like it? But if people don’t like the videos, what? Well, you know, and then over time, you kind of realize, like, Okay, well, if you worry about that, you’ll never do anything, you just won’t do anything. And so I just said, you know, what, whatever, I’m going to just go with it, you know, and for the most part, 99.9% of everything’s been great. And I’ve had some things and I’ve had some conversations where I got, you know, people said things to me that I was, you know, really hurt or really affected me, and then I would kind of have to remind myself, like, okay, like, I can’t give away my power and let this person ruin all the other stuff that’s been going well, you know, and so, you know, even with us, like doing these podcasts and things, you know, it’s not easy to put yourself out there. But at the end of the day, if you’ve got a passion for something, you can let someone take that away from you. And the number one thing that stops people, I think, from doing things like this, is that they just won’t start because they convince themselves before they ever do it, why they can’t succeed, or why is this or who might not like it. And if you live like that, you know, you’re 70 years old and have never done what you wanted to do.
Speaker2: So, do you. So true. So, do you care about the comments that you get are the negative? I mean, are you like, how do you handle that? If you get that, you know?
Brett Thornton: Yeah, you know, I think I do care, you know, but I think, you know, one thing that that I’ve read, you know, it, there’s different quotes around it, but it’s all kind of similar, which is like, you know, if someone says something to you that, you know, is in a position where you’re not aspiring to be, then you just need to let that go, you know, so, in one, I think that what that means is like, Listen, if you told me some really harsh, critical feedback, I really take it to heart. Because I look up to you, you’ve done this a long time. I’d be like, I’m all over it, I’d really work on it. But if some just random person on LinkedIn, I’ve never met who has two connections, like, I don’t want to say something negative, like, well, I got to let that go. You know what I mean? Like, what’s the point?
Speaker2: That’s a great point. I think that’s probably how I tried to roll with it, you know? Yeah, that’s a great point. And, and I think, for anyone listening to this. You know, I think it’s harder these days, right? Even for our kids, because they’re posting stuff and they want likes, and they’re very aware of their own personal brand. I don’t think we ever were aware of our personal brand. When we were growing up. We didn’t have that really. So yeah, man, I hope people keep pushing, because at the end of the day, we don’t get anywhere good. If we’re just kind of in the same groove and the right, it takes us to a destination. But does it take you to the destination?
Brett Thornton: Yeah. And I think, you know, for me, I’ve realized that, you know, just for me, the only currency that I actually value in life anymore is my actual real underlying happiness and contentment. You know, as someone who’s a single father, who has been through a lot of struggles as an adult, like, you know, I’ve realized that you know, that, those honest feelings that you’re in a good place, that’s really what matters. And so, what’s going to help you get there, you know, and I think that people oftentimes don’t take leaps to do things because they’re afraid that you may fail or they’re afraid of entering in new waters, but then you limit your happiness limit the things that you can do, and I’m someone that I need a creative outlet constantly. I just, that’s just how I work. So doing things like this is great for me, you know, because I can push myself, but I think, you know, the hard part for a lot of people is they don’t want to leave their comfort zone or their boundaries of people they know. Right? Because that exposes you. And, you know, it allows you to be vulnerable to people that you don’t know. And that’s a scary thing. You know, for all of us, I think, you know, but at the end of the day, I think what you learn is that, generally speaking, people are good. And people want the best for one another, you know, and people want to connect, you know, we’ve learned that during the pandemic, more than any time in history that since I’ve been alive, right and left for years, like, hey, I want to be around people, you know, I know, I miss traveling, I miss business trip, you know, like, I missed dinners, like, that’s a huge part of life, you know, meeting people and having those experiences. And I think, coming out as pandemic, we’re going to have a shotgun effect of that of everybody like, Oh, my God, I took a lot for granted, you know, and, and that brings me to my last thing I want to talk to you about, which is, you know, this idea of, of having a business model, or an entrepreneurial model, or being a CEO of a company, or having a podcast that gives out free content that gives out ways for people to be better, you know, obviously, you just launched a book, the books not free. So hey, you make a couple bucks, that’s awesome. But previous to a book, previous to ever having a sponsor for the podcast, you’re five years of putting out content and blogs and stuff to the industry, which is at the end of the day, a lot of them your competitors. So like, what was it that drove you to like, be like, you know what, I’m going to offer all this stuff up to people that I don’t know, and help them even though at the end of the day, it could actually be worse for me in the long run.
Mark Quinn: Yeah, great question. I think it has a lot to do with my faith-based approach to life. Right? So, I’m a Christian, but a non judgy. Christian. So, I’m not one of those Christians. Live and let live is my opinion, but no, just and so that’s all about serving people, right. And so, the best leaders are servant leaders, it’s the ones that will push a broom. And when work alongside of you, I’ve always felt like that watching my dad and seeing him kind of do it and interact with people that work for him. But so, I think it starts with that. So, it really is everything that Kinsley and I do starts with, will it serve our audience? Will it serve the people and how can we help them? And so, it’s that spirit of abundance, right. And so, we love that like, and we feed off of, you know, when we get fired up about the book during COVID, even, you know, we wanted to write that and get in my prayer every day was just God put it in the hands of the right people like that, it’ll help that it will help them with their business in some way. So, think it’s about that. I mean, if that’s your purpose, and I’ll tell you, right, it’s also the same is true for a business, right? If you’re in business to conduct a transaction, and that’s kind of what you’re doing. And that’s it, then you will get a result from that. But if your true intention is to serve the people that walk in your door, or if you’re a sales rep, and you’re for a mattress company, and you’re selling to retailers, if your real intention isn’t to grab floor space, and you are a buyer. I mean, I can’t imagine how often you saw this, but you knew the guys that were coming in to call on you that wanted to help you, and help you grow your business and serve you versus get your floor space so they could sell more product. There’s two different approaches to that. And so, I think it’s all about like, how you look at that. And so, we love it, we take phone calls Kinsey and I do with people all the time, people, Hey, you got to meet these guys. And we love connecting, and you’re one of them, right? You do the same stuff. That’s why we’re, good buddies. And that’s why you’re part of the fam, it’s because you have that same spirit about you. And we want to help the people. And I kind of feel like if you’re giving advice on stuff, you could almost give your game plan out, right? Like write it up for your business plan and hand it to people. And the reality of them being able to do that as good as you are so small, the case of you oh my gosh, we don’t want to launch that yet. Or say that yet. Because someone else will grab it. It doesn’t it rarely happens. You know what I’m saying? Like, they just don’t get it. People don’t get it in general and a lot of ways. So I was like, I was worried about that at one point, but kind of stopped being worried about that. But now, man, I think that’s it. And I think that when you do that, when you serve people what you end up getting back, and that’s not why we do it. But the good vibe, the light you shine my mom passed away in May. She used to tell me all the time, people would be jealous or envious of me when I was a kid because I was involved in things and she’d say, Don’t you ever not shine your light. Right? So, every day, I tell my kids as they go to school, shine the light shine the light, right. And so if that’s who you are. And that’s how you approach business and human beings, then what ends up coming back to you, so much more significant than what you gave. And so that’s the cool part of that. I think, you know, it’s in it’s not what you’re doing it for, but that’s the ultimate game that’s in that ends up being what happens. So I think that’s said, Man, I think it’s just, I don’t know, it’s just a cool way to live your life and help as many people as you can. Because there’s so much joy that comes from that.
Brett Thornton: Yeah. No, thank you so much for sharing that already hear about your mom.
Mark Quinn: Oh, yeah, no, it’s fine. Thank you.
Brett Thornton: You know, there’s no better in my mind, you know, think about it was very similar to something that my manager told me, you know, and I think about, I don’t know if there’s a better way to honor them than that right, then living that way. And I think that what I’m starting to see is I see a shift in our society where I think people are tired of bad news. I think people are tired of, you know, fighting, I think people are tired of opposite views. And I think people are ready for good news. And I think people are ready to embrace uplifting one another. And the idea that you don’t have to step on someone to get to the next step. In fact, if you lift the person next to you up to the next lover, more than likely, they’re going to pull you and throw you over the top. And now you’re in this other place, you know, and I think it’s the old age-old thing of like, you know, you don’t give the get, you know, but the reality is the people, at least that I’ve seen in my life, that seems to be giving, giving, giving, giving, it seems like, they typically live in abundance. And so, you know, I think that concept is something that, you know, I know that that’s what this shows about, you know, we’re about talking about how you can give back, but I want to give more people out there in business and retail and furniture in any space, it doesn’t matter, no matter what you’re in to understand that there’s a different way of doing things. And that the idea that, that your business is run on this static structure, and I do a sale and its Presidents Day, and I get the balloons and blah, blah, blah, and like, whatever it is, like, A, that’s, you got to move on from that anyways. But B, there’s better ways, you know, like doing giving events, partnering with charities, all these are connecting to people’s emotions, on a different level. It’s not an urgency I have to buy now on the Miss on the deal, which creates no connection. Whereas it’s like, no, now it’s like, hey, I want to buy from Mark because he’s giving me all this cool stuff all these years. You know, and, same thing, you know, we talk to all these different businesses and who run by one, give one events and you think of TOMS Shoes, or Bobo’s all these companies now. And it’s like people, especially young people, I think they want to support companies who are giving back. They want to support people who have people in the organizations that honestly, with everything in them is like, listen, I want to do well for this business, but I want to get I want I want this company be known more for its sustainability or for this or that or whatever. And if you’re young, and you’re growing up, you know, and you’re starting to head into these big roles, which now are millennials used to be this? Oh, Millennials are young now. They’re not other 30, 35. Now they’re running these companies, right. And so at the end of the day, I think it’s a really great thing. You know, when you look on social media, and you follow people on Instagram, it’s like, what accounts are blowing up now? Like tanks, good news, you know, flips on that account has a million followers The next day, why? Because people are starving for good. And the bright side of life, you know, and so I’ve just loved as a fan, all the years that you guys have endorsed Marcos and put out so much great content, and so many tips like even in your book, and now with the new pocket here, as always, like, how can I help you guys’ drive traffic to your store? Right, like, what is it that I can do to help you and I think that’s the concept that I hope we can double down on. That’s the concept that I hope we can keep talking about with the fam, I like people doing those things, because at the end of the day, there’s no reason this industry can’t become a shining example of how you run business in the future.
Mark Quinn: You perfect way to come out of those comments, because I was thinking also, I gave a speech in Telford, England to the national betting Federation. And one of the things I talked to them about was there’s a consumer list. Right? So the question is for the mattress industry, where are we on the list? Right? And so, I said, Look around the room, there’s 400 people in the room I go, who’s competing with you, right? And in that room is all betting producers. And a lot of people were competing with each other, and I got no one here is competing with you, right? And they’re like, What are you talking about? We are an industry that we are on the list of the consumers shopping list, right? We’re either at the top of the list or the bottom of the list. So how do you get to the top of the list? It’s by everyone together like one group telling consumers that a mattress or sleep essentials or something can change that the quality of your life, one voice saying that is one thing, but you have an entire industry moving in the same direction saying the same things and talking about the benefit of sleep to joy and happiness, then, oh my gosh, I mean, do you think we make it to the top of the list? Hell yes, we do. And we’d be vacations we’ll be painting the house will be you know, whatever those things are buying a new, you know, $4,000 bike sleeps a big deal. So place a priority on that. But if we are all in the same way, like we’re in this boat, rowing the paddles at the same time, right? It’s as if we all join together on that kind of thing, we’re not competitors. Let’s join in as an industry. That’s become what we should be, not what we are. Let’s be aspirational. And let’s realize our full potential because at the end of the day, there’s a ton of potential and we haven’t even I don’t even think we’ve come close to seeing that yet. You know.
Brett Thornton: Not at all. So man, Thank you so much. This was phenomenal. I loved having you on. I love being a part of this. This this new family. And at the end of the day, you know, I promised you half an hour been an hour, so I only doubled what I said that’s not that far.
Speaker2: Run. Did you go with Kinsley?
Brett Thornton: I can’t.
Speaker2: Oh, no, you have to talk because I’m going to have a phone call with him right after this. I’m going to go You weren’t as interesting because he cut your show short clearly.
Brett Thornton: Yeah, I think like your 10 minutes more entertainment.
Mark Quinn: No, he’ll just say your you just talk too long. So that’s what he’ll say. But anyway, man, thank you for what you’re doing. I’m so glad you’re part of the fam because it so that is people like you that we want as part of this project because the family is going to be an awesome hub. And it’s going to take guys just like you that aren’t afraid to put out great content and share and shine your light and bring people to the table and help this incredible industry full of awesome people really get to where we should be and take a path that’s going to accelerate everything for everyone. So, I’m just so excited. I mean, I love who you are. Thanks for having me on. And best of luck. Your show is going to crush it. There’s no doubt.
Brett Thornton: Awesome. Thanks, buddy. Appreciate it.
Mark Quinn: Alright, peace.
