In Episode 157 of “The Trusted Advisor,” RSPA CEO Jim Roddy sits down with Kathy Durfee, the CEO and Founder of systems integrator/managed services provider TechHouse, to discuss her 30-year leadership journey. Conversation topics include embracing “practical bravery,” teaching creative problem solving, and connecting your company mission to day-to-day activities.
“The Trusted Advisor,” powered by the Retail Solutions Providers Association (RSPA), is an award-winning content series designed specifically for retail IT VARs and software providers. Our goal is to educate you on the topics of leadership, management, hiring, sales, and other small business best practices. For more insights, visit the RSPA blog at www.GoRSPA.org.
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Full episode transcript via Apple Podcasts:
00:00:01.220 –> 00:00:02.880
Roddy: Hi, Jim Roddy here from the RSPA.
00:00:02.880 –> 00:00:14.380
Roddy: Wanted to chat with you before we started today’s pod, to make sure that you’ve registered for RetailNOW 2026, the Retail IT Channel’s number one trade show, education conference and networking event.
00:00:14.600 –> 00:00:26.360
Roddy: Join RSPA and Retail IT Channel leaders live and in person, July 26th through the 28th in Las Vegas at the new Caesar’s Foreign Convention Center attached to Harrah’s and the Link hotels.
00:00:26.520 –> 00:00:32.480
Roddy: With nearly 200 exhibiting organizations, RetailNOW will be one stop shopping for VARs and ISVs.
00:00:32.720 –> 00:00:38.360
Roddy: With an expected 1,600 or more attendees, it’s the place for extreme industry connectivity.
00:00:38.640 –> 00:00:45.200
Roddy: Across just 48 hours, you’ll meet new partners and new solution providers who can accelerate the success of your business.
00:00:45.400 –> 00:00:53.860
Roddy: If you’re serious about the Retail IT Channel, you have to attend RetailNOW 2026, again July 26th through the 28th in Las Vegas.
00:00:53.960 –> 00:00:56.480
Roddy: RetailNOW is where the industry meets.
00:00:56.700 –> 00:01:04.040
Roddy: For all the details and to register, visit the RetailNOW website today at gorsp.org/retail now.
00:01:04.040 –> 00:01:07.240
Roddy: That’s gorsp.org/retail now.
00:01:07.360 –> 00:01:11.860
Roddy: I hope to see you there and I hope you enjoy this episode featuring a RetailNOW speaker.
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Roddy: Welcome to another episode of The Trusted Advisor Podcast and Video Series, powered by the Retail Solutions Providers Association.
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Roddy: Our goal on the pod is to accelerate the success of today’s and tomorrow’s leaders in the retail IT industry.
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Roddy: I’m Jim Roddy back with you again.
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Roddy: Thank you so much for joining us.
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Roddy: As always, we talk with leaders in the Retail IT channel about their leadership journeys and what they’ve learned along the way.
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Roddy: In this episode, we’ll talk with Kathy Durfee, the CEO and founder at TechHouse, a systems integrator and managed services provider, headquartered in Bradenton, Florida.
00:01:50.619 –> 00:01:56.219
Roddy: Prior to launching TechHouse, Kathy was a consultant at Accenture and a systems analyst at Pepsico.
00:01:56.339 –> 00:02:07.719
Roddy: Kathy is a member of the RSPA AI Advisory Group and she’ll be one of several channel industry experts presenting at RetailNOW 2026, July 26th through the 28th in Las Vegas.
00:02:07.719 –> 00:02:13.819
Roddy: Her breakout is titled Built to Bend an AI Maturity Model for VAR and ISV Growth.
00:02:13.939 –> 00:02:17.819
Roddy: Kathy, you and I have talked several times over the years, first time on the podcast.
00:02:17.819 –> 00:02:19.259
Roddy: Welcome to The Trusted Advisor.
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Durfee: Thank you, Jim.
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Durfee: I’m glad to be here.
00:02:22.599 –> 00:02:23.599
Roddy: Glad to have you here.
00:02:24.019 –> 00:02:29.419
Roddy: Can you please tell our listeners and viewers a little bit about the early days of TechHouse?
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Roddy: I’m curious, what was the company’s focus when you first founded it, and then where do you focus today?
00:02:34.619 –> 00:02:35.539
Durfee: Yeah, absolutely.
00:02:35.559 –> 00:02:41.019
Durfee: When I heard you do the introduction, it made me smile a bit because it sounds like I’m a tech person that came from tech.
00:02:41.839 –> 00:02:44.399
Durfee: Origin stories are always good for us founders.
00:02:44.639 –> 00:02:46.479
Durfee: So I’ll just say how I got started.
00:02:46.479 –> 00:02:53.039
Durfee: When I was at university in my junior year, they said, hey, I was a big state university.
00:02:53.079 –> 00:02:55.179
Durfee: They called me and I’m like, wow, did I get in trouble?
00:02:55.179 –> 00:02:57.039
Durfee: They’re like, no, you need to declare a major.
00:02:57.039 –> 00:02:58.559
Durfee: I’m like, oh, how do you do that?
00:02:58.879 –> 00:03:05.139
Durfee: So they looked at all my courses and they said mostly, you could get a chemistry major on time because that’s what I really enjoyed.
00:03:05.299 –> 00:03:15.599
Durfee: So I got in the chemistry program at that point, finished up the major, discovered a crystal, loved it, got a full ride to the PhD program and dropped out after argument with my professor because I was 20 or whatever.
00:03:16.199 –> 00:03:18.759
Durfee: Then went and got a master’s in English Lit.
00:03:18.799 –> 00:03:22.779
Durfee: At that point, I needed work and couldn’t find it.
00:03:23.699 –> 00:03:26.099
Durfee: Well, I was working minimum wage at a startup.
00:03:26.559 –> 00:03:29.939
Durfee: Accenture would teach you how to do tech if you have math and science background.
00:03:30.159 –> 00:03:31.519
Durfee: So that’s how I got into tech.
00:03:31.519 –> 00:03:32.819
Durfee: So I pivoted to tech.
00:03:33.439 –> 00:03:37.519
Durfee: Then when my first child was born, she was sick.
00:03:38.319 –> 00:03:44.059
Durfee: After four weeks of maternity leave, my current employer said I had to come back to the office, but she wasn’t stable yet.
00:03:44.599 –> 00:03:47.239
Durfee: So I requested to work from home.
00:03:47.239 –> 00:03:49.599
Durfee: They said they had a no work from home policy.
00:03:49.899 –> 00:03:53.619
Durfee: So I had to go back to work or give up my child, I guess.
00:03:54.119 –> 00:03:56.019
Durfee: So I lost my job.
00:03:57.099 –> 00:04:02.799
Durfee: My sister said to me, look, you know tech, you need to be home, create a business, call it TechHouse and go make some money.
00:04:03.299 –> 00:04:05.979
Durfee: So that was very good advice and that’s how TechHouse got started.
00:04:05.979 –> 00:04:11.339
Durfee: So TechHouse’s mission from the beginning has been to make sure that people can make the most of their talents.
00:04:11.579 –> 00:04:15.439
Durfee: If you have talents and you want to go make things happen, you should be able to do that.
00:04:15.739 –> 00:04:17.039
Durfee: That’s what our mission is.
00:04:17.039 –> 00:04:22.999
Durfee: I started out in the enterprise as customers like FedEx and Pepsi and things like that, because that’s where my contacts were.
00:04:23.859 –> 00:04:34.339
Durfee: When you’re in that space, and I know there are a lot of people very good at it, but when you’re in that space, you’re definitely more than an arm’s length from the person benefiting from what you’re doing, and that wasn’t the right fit for us in our mission.
00:04:34.339 –> 00:04:49.739
Durfee: So we are small mid-business only, so we’re talking with people who are personally affected by the work that we’re doing, and our goal is to make sure that tech and process improvement, that they are not obstacles getting in the way, but that they help them accelerate to get their goals.
00:04:49.739 –> 00:04:51.519
Durfee: So that’s why we exist.
00:04:52.059 –> 00:04:52.599
Roddy: Interesting.
00:04:52.599 –> 00:04:53.219
Roddy: Thank you for that.
00:04:53.219 –> 00:05:00.079
Roddy: So first, I’m sorry you went through having to make that choice, right, about going back to work or taking care of your child.
00:05:00.859 –> 00:05:05.219
Roddy: I’m guessing that was really formative for you, right, as a business leader, if I understand that correctly.
00:05:05.539 –> 00:05:06.339
Durfee: Hundred percent.
00:05:06.339 –> 00:05:16.339
Durfee: And here’s the funny thing, about 15 or 20 years after that, one of my employees got sick and had a back issue and couldn’t sit up for an extended period of time.
00:05:16.619 –> 00:05:23.619
Durfee: By then, I had moved us into office space because that seemed like what real businesses do, you know, you have an office and a nice chair and all that.
00:05:24.559 –> 00:05:28.859
Durfee: And we didn’t have the systems in place for him to work from home, which was just ridiculous.
00:05:29.199 –> 00:05:37.119
Durfee: And so we started to make that shift, but there’s so much about us, we all know, so much about remote work that’s not just the tools, like how do you do your reporting?
00:05:37.119 –> 00:05:38.599
Durfee: How do you define your deliverables?
00:05:38.599 –> 00:05:39.419
Durfee: What is a good performance?
00:05:39.419 –> 00:05:39.999
Durfee: All that.
00:05:40.119 –> 00:05:41.899
Durfee: And we didn’t have it in place, sadly.
00:05:42.259 –> 00:05:53.359
Durfee: So we did the best we could, and then he found another employer who’s better able to provide him opportunity while he was, I guess, having to work from that position.
00:05:53.359 –> 00:06:00.859
Durfee: So ironically, I did not keep that going as much as I would have liked, but now I would say we’re definitely 100% there.
00:06:01.239 –> 00:06:01.859
Roddy: Got it.
00:06:01.879 –> 00:06:03.259
Roddy: And how many employees do you have today?
00:06:03.879 –> 00:06:04.859
Durfee: Right now we’re at 10.
00:06:05.319 –> 00:06:06.539
Durfee: At 10 employees.
00:06:06.539 –> 00:06:08.579
Durfee: Yeah, then we augment with partners.
00:06:09.279 –> 00:06:12.439
Durfee: I say my goal is to build a community, not a kingdom.
00:06:12.439 –> 00:06:15.439
Durfee: And in an ideal world, we’re scaling through B2B partners.
00:06:15.439 –> 00:06:16.959
Durfee: That’s how we want to scale it.
00:06:17.179 –> 00:06:18.499
Durfee: Yeah, that’s my goal.
00:06:18.639 –> 00:06:26.059
Durfee: Because if our goal is for as many small businesses possible to be successful and reach their goals, then why am I trying to build a big business?
00:06:26.059 –> 00:06:27.019
Durfee: That makes no sense.
00:06:27.179 –> 00:06:31.739
Durfee: What I should build is a business with big impact, and that big impact through partners.
00:06:32.159 –> 00:06:33.219
Durfee: That’s what we’re trying to do.
00:06:33.959 –> 00:06:34.339
Roddy: Interesting.
00:06:34.339 –> 00:06:44.059
Roddy: You remind me of a book that we’ve talked about in the podcast here before called Small Giants, and it talks about small companies who don’t have some desire to be scale and enterprise, but they want to have a big impact.
00:06:44.059 –> 00:06:46.439
Roddy: One other question about your origin story, I’m just curious.
00:06:46.439 –> 00:06:54.859
Roddy: When your sister said, hey, go start your own business, did you have a history in your family of other folks who had had their own business, or did you know other business owners?
00:06:54.859 –> 00:06:58.279
Roddy: Were you just diving into the pool without knowing how deep it was?
00:06:58.679 –> 00:07:00.419
Durfee: That’s great how you asked that question.
00:07:00.439 –> 00:07:04.519
Durfee: I can tell you that when my grandfather came to the US, he started with a fruit cart.
00:07:04.919 –> 00:07:13.459
Durfee: I guess in that sense, yes, but I’m also from a culture and tradition where ideally women don’t work, and especially mothers don’t work.
00:07:14.839 –> 00:07:25.359
Durfee: No, I would not say that it was a matter of fact, there was a lot of intense conversations about this not being a good idea from the family perspective.
00:07:25.799 –> 00:07:36.739
Durfee: But I will say I was so lucky because I had access to a lot of, I signed up for at that time, Harvard Business Review was like a way to learn things.
00:07:36.739 –> 00:07:39.739
Durfee: So I signed up for that and read every, and I went to the library.
00:07:39.739 –> 00:07:40.819
Durfee: I know this is a long time ago.
00:07:40.819 –> 00:07:47.499
Durfee: I read every book I could find on anything business related, which I came to realize business is a very broad term.
00:07:47.499 –> 00:07:49.179
Durfee: So a lot of it was not really relevant, but I didn’t know.
00:07:49.179 –> 00:07:55.479
Durfee: So it’s just like reading all these books about accounting and production efficiency and just trying to learn everything I could about it.
00:07:56.479 –> 00:08:03.339
Durfee: Also listen to as many people as possible about what their job was and what they did so that I could figure out as much as I could.
00:08:04.559 –> 00:08:05.179
Roddy: Interesting.
00:08:05.179 –> 00:08:05.879
Roddy: Thank you for that.
00:08:06.499 –> 00:08:07.159
Roddy: It’s interesting.
00:08:07.819 –> 00:08:10.879
Roddy: I started my own business when I was 23, had that for five and a half years.
00:08:10.979 –> 00:08:13.519
Roddy: I didn’t know anything of what I was getting into.
00:08:13.519 –> 00:08:14.679
Roddy: I only had six grand in the bank.
00:08:14.679 –> 00:08:17.019
Roddy: I thought that’s plenty to get a business going.
00:08:17.019 –> 00:08:17.979
Roddy: But I was an English major.
00:08:17.979 –> 00:08:21.539
Roddy: Just like you said, you got your masters in English lit, and that ties into my next question.
00:08:21.699 –> 00:08:25.559
Roddy: I want to talk about your unique and it seems like very intentional messaging.
00:08:25.559 –> 00:08:38.499
Roddy: So a lot of solution providers, they’re really loud on the tech aspect of their business, but you’re overt on your website with phrases like friendly experts, a partner that listens, easy to work with, we meet you where you are.
00:08:38.499 –> 00:08:43.499
Roddy: And so I’m curious, if you can do a deep dive into like, why do you emphasize that messaging?
00:08:43.559 –> 00:08:48.419
Roddy: And then also how do you as a leader ensure that your entire organization lives up to that standard?
00:08:48.419 –> 00:08:50.179
Roddy: It’s not just some words on a website.
00:08:51.259 –> 00:08:52.599
Durfee: Okay, that’s a lot.
00:08:52.739 –> 00:08:54.299
Durfee: So I’m gonna try and tackle the first part.
00:08:54.299 –> 00:08:56.579
Durfee: I might need you to come back with some other questions.
00:08:56.579 –> 00:08:57.159
Roddy: That’s fine.
00:08:57.499 –> 00:09:07.999
Durfee: Okay, so the first part of the question was, why are you leaning in so heavily to friendly experts and that as opposed to co-pilot expert or something like that?
00:09:08.119 –> 00:09:08.519
Roddy: Yeah.
00:09:08.519 –> 00:09:13.379
Durfee: So the way I would answer that is, as I mentioned, we’re mission-based.
00:09:13.519 –> 00:09:14.639
Durfee: And I want to qualify.
00:09:14.639 –> 00:09:15.779
Durfee: We do want to scale.
00:09:15.779 –> 00:09:19.179
Durfee: We want every single small business on the planet to be able to be successful.
00:09:19.179 –> 00:09:21.639
Durfee: So yes, we want to scale, but we want to scale through partners.
00:09:21.639 –> 00:09:22.839
Durfee: We’re not trying to build a kingdom.
00:09:23.459 –> 00:09:26.119
Durfee: But to that point, every business is different.
00:09:26.539 –> 00:09:29.359
Durfee: And I think we see on our teams, every human is different.
00:09:29.359 –> 00:09:30.939
Durfee: So the needs are different.
00:09:30.939 –> 00:09:45.599
Durfee: And if we’re really going to empower organizations and people to reach their goal, not the goal we have for them, then we have to be able to listen and hear what the heck that, sorry, what that goal is, and try to meet it.
00:09:45.919 –> 00:09:52.259
Durfee: We do not have and I’ve never had, and I don’t know if I have had it, I apologize, somewhere in the past, I don’t remember.
00:09:52.479 –> 00:10:03.439
Durfee: But I don’t like the idea of silver, bronze, platinum plans, pickup plan, and to me, that sounds very Henry Ford, like the industrial age, and you can have any car you want as long as it’s black.
00:10:03.679 –> 00:10:05.719
Durfee: Well, we’re not in the industrial age.
00:10:05.719 –> 00:10:09.819
Durfee: I don’t want to widgetize to efficiency, and that’s not what I’m trying to get to here.
00:10:09.899 –> 00:10:13.179
Durfee: I’m trying to make sure that every human being can make the most of their talents.
00:10:13.179 –> 00:10:23.019
Durfee: Well, and whatever small part we can play in that, that’s true, then you have to be able to handle differentiation and to the point of individual differentiation.
00:10:23.579 –> 00:10:31.299
Durfee: To do that, we have to listen, to listen, we have to really sincerely care about the individual and the individuals in that organization.
00:10:31.299 –> 00:10:39.119
Durfee: It doesn’t mean we’ll always get it right by any means, but at least that’s our intent and that’s our go-to, is that individual approach.
00:10:39.459 –> 00:10:39.919
Roddy: Interesting.
00:10:40.079 –> 00:10:44.179
Roddy: I’m curious, how do you individualize and still manage a business at the same time?
00:10:44.179 –> 00:10:46.399
Roddy: Because that seems like it could be really, really-
00:10:46.399 –> 00:10:47.719
Roddy: you’re not making pizza.
00:10:47.719 –> 00:10:50.079
Roddy: It’s not like just put a little bit more pepperoni on it.
00:10:50.579 –> 00:10:51.599
Roddy: Talk about that.
00:10:51.979 –> 00:10:52.159
Durfee: Yeah.
00:10:52.159 –> 00:10:53.899
Durfee: Instead of pizza, think Legos.
00:10:54.439 –> 00:10:54.939
Roddy: Okay.
00:10:55.359 –> 00:10:55.799
Durfee: Yeah.
00:10:56.679 –> 00:11:02.019
Durfee: If you know what all your Legos are, you can build all kinds of amazing things with Legos.
00:11:03.079 –> 00:11:06.319
Durfee: I’m not an affiliate partner of Legos.
00:11:06.319 –> 00:11:09.539
Roddy: Not officially endorsed by Lego, but okay, I get that.
00:11:09.539 –> 00:11:13.859
Roddy: You’re using Lego pieces and it just, you can build and design what they want.
00:11:13.959 –> 00:11:16.659
Durfee: We only work in a certain segment of the market.
00:11:16.659 –> 00:11:21.139
Durfee: We specialize in certain platforms where we are really good at what we do.
00:11:21.479 –> 00:11:27.679
Durfee: We’ve done many of them many times over many years, and we’ve packaged that unit.
00:11:27.679 –> 00:11:30.959
Durfee: Oh, that unit takes this and that unit takes that.
00:11:30.959 –> 00:11:32.019
Durfee: So we know that.
00:11:32.079 –> 00:11:34.159
Durfee: But who are you and what are you trying to achieve?
00:11:34.159 –> 00:11:39.039
Durfee: I think I’ll take this unit and I’ll take this unit and maybe a little bit of special sauce and here you go.
00:11:39.039 –> 00:11:44.859
Durfee: This is addressing your specific risk tolerance or growth goals or what you’re trying to achieve.
00:11:45.419 –> 00:11:46.759
Roddy: Interesting, thank you for that.
00:11:46.759 –> 00:11:52.659
Roddy: And then to the second part of my question, so as a leader, right, you’ve got an organization of 10 employees.
00:11:52.799 –> 00:11:58.739
Roddy: How do you make sure that everybody lives up to that standard about listening and being friendly and meeting where they are?
00:11:58.739 –> 00:11:59.559
Roddy: How do you do that?
00:12:00.859 –> 00:12:04.059
Durfee: I think it happens to the entire employee journey.
00:12:04.479 –> 00:12:07.179
Durfee: So it begins in the hiring process.
00:12:07.419 –> 00:12:13.999
Durfee: With the hiring process, we have everybody we hire goes through the same questions.
00:12:13.999 –> 00:12:22.699
Durfee: Everybody doesn’t matter whatever your job is, it’s the same questions on the first set of interviews and then we have some specific leader for job whatever.
00:12:22.779 –> 00:12:28.859
Durfee: But those questions, seven of them, not all of them, but seven of them are entirely based on our mission.
00:12:29.459 –> 00:12:41.079
Durfee: What we ask you to do and we tell you up front so you can think about it before the meeting, we ask you to give us a specific example from your life that demonstrates how you see or how you feel about that concept.
00:12:41.399 –> 00:12:42.639
Durfee: Then we hear what you think.
00:12:43.039 –> 00:12:48.399
Durfee: So our goal is that people who join are as motivated as we are to do what we want to do.
00:12:49.439 –> 00:12:56.659
Durfee: Motivation, I think, is really important if you’re going to need to change, and we all have to grow and change so that motivation is there.
00:12:56.659 –> 00:13:05.119
Durfee: Now you have a bunch of motivated people who may not be equipped to do everything you want yet or that they want to be doing, but they’re there and they’re motivated.
00:13:05.279 –> 00:13:12.379
Durfee: I’m saying this coming off of our semi-annual, twice a year we meet and retreat, where we all come in person and we do these types of things.
00:13:14.179 –> 00:13:19.379
Durfee: If we’re there, then there are some baseline tools we give everybody, one of which is creative problem-solving.
00:13:19.379 –> 00:13:22.799
Durfee: Every person, regardless of your job, takes training in creative problem-solving.
00:13:22.939 –> 00:13:37.279
Durfee: They understand the difference between a problem and something that’s just something you have to deal with, it’s not solvable, what types of questions you ask, all of that inquisitive thought process that you would consider as discovery, everybody on our team goes through that training.
00:13:37.379 –> 00:13:38.559
Durfee: That sets a culture.
00:13:39.059 –> 00:13:41.319
Durfee: We have another phrase called no jerks allowed.
00:13:42.379 –> 00:13:44.839
Durfee: Everyone has to be treated with respect in the company.
00:13:46.359 –> 00:13:49.899
Durfee: One of my kids has a t-shirt that says be nice, everybody’s going through something.
00:13:49.899 –> 00:13:51.499
Durfee: And I would say that’s part of our culture.
00:13:51.499 –> 00:13:59.919
Durfee: Like, you know, you don’t have to be best friends with everybody, but a culture of respect internally and externally.
00:13:59.919 –> 00:14:05.219
Durfee: And we ask the same of our customers, clearly, if you’re servers down, you’re not going to be your best.
00:14:05.439 –> 00:14:06.479
Durfee: We get it.
00:14:06.479 –> 00:14:07.839
Durfee: We don’t even do servers anymore.
00:14:07.839 –> 00:14:08.359
Durfee: It’s all cloud.
00:14:08.359 –> 00:14:10.059
Durfee: But still, we get that.
00:14:10.059 –> 00:14:11.919
Durfee: But in general, we’re looking for that.
00:14:11.919 –> 00:14:14.839
Durfee: So I think those are some of the components.
00:14:15.299 –> 00:14:15.619
Roddy: Got it.
00:14:15.619 –> 00:14:19.499
Roddy: So you just make sure like directionally, philosophically, you’re aligned with these folks.
00:14:19.499 –> 00:14:22.459
Roddy: You don’t have to say, you don’t have to convince somebody to be a good listener.
00:14:22.499 –> 00:14:26.599
Roddy: They’ve shown that they have a history of being a good listener, if I’m understanding correctly.
00:14:27.259 –> 00:14:29.339
Durfee: And they need the tools to listen well.
00:14:29.339 –> 00:14:31.079
Durfee: Critical thinking gives you tools.
00:14:31.139 –> 00:14:33.899
Durfee: We have another curriculum on just asking questions.
00:14:34.039 –> 00:14:42.719
Durfee: Like how do you, like what, because it’s training and I will say that those types of skills are really important, I think, in the age of intelligence or artificial intelligence as well.
00:14:42.979 –> 00:14:43.539
Roddy: Yeah.
00:14:43.959 –> 00:14:45.999
Roddy: And I do have to ask to dig deeper because it’s interesting.
00:14:45.999 –> 00:14:53.459
Roddy: What you’re talking about is fairly sophisticated inside of a business and somebody might think like, how do you do that with only 10 employees?
00:14:53.459 –> 00:14:56.459
Roddy: So are you able to share like how did you, how did you build that?
00:14:56.459 –> 00:15:02.939
Roddy: Like I don’t talk to many 10 employee and under tech companies who have a curriculum for ongoing training.
00:15:02.939 –> 00:15:04.099
Roddy: How did you put that together?
00:15:06.139 –> 00:15:06.639
Durfee: I don’t know.
00:15:08.019 –> 00:15:09.699
Roddy: Like is it just over time by pieces?
00:15:09.699 –> 00:15:11.999
Roddy: Is it something you bought off a shelf?
00:15:12.679 –> 00:15:14.279
Durfee: No, we built it ourselves for sure.
00:15:14.279 –> 00:15:14.779
Roddy: Okay.
00:15:14.779 –> 00:15:15.539
Durfee: We built it ourselves.
00:15:16.319 –> 00:15:27.419
Durfee: So the way we handle gaps in our company, when we don’t do things well, which we’re always learning, but the way we handle gaps is when a gap is identified, we figure out what we need to do to fix the gap and we build that.
00:15:27.959 –> 00:15:35.479
Durfee: So the creative problem-solving came up years ago when somebody was discussing a problem with a customer and didn’t do a good job on the problem-solving requirements and discovery.
00:15:35.599 –> 00:15:38.879
Durfee: So we built the creative problem-solving curriculum, so everybody could do that.
00:15:40.759 –> 00:15:44.579
Durfee: Yeah, I think that’s how it just organic.
00:15:44.619 –> 00:15:49.039
Durfee: It doesn’t feel sophisticated to me, it feels baseline.
00:15:50.599 –> 00:15:55.499
Durfee: I think most organizations have SOPs, that they build themselves for key processes.
00:15:55.499 –> 00:15:58.459
Durfee: I would think of it like an SOP, but it’s a thought SOP.
00:15:59.519 –> 00:16:00.119
Roddy: Got it.
00:16:00.119 –> 00:16:01.679
Roddy: I used to work for a couple of brothers.
00:16:02.459 –> 00:16:09.399
Roddy: I was in the tech publishing industry, and people would marvel at how good they, how the systems and everything that they had.
00:16:09.439 –> 00:16:11.079
Roddy: People would say, how did you do this?
00:16:11.079 –> 00:16:15.499
Roddy: They used to joke, they built their business talking people down off telephone poles.
00:16:15.499 –> 00:16:16.819
Roddy: Oh my gosh, we’re out of money.
00:16:16.819 –> 00:16:18.199
Roddy: They’re cutting off our electricity.
00:16:18.199 –> 00:16:19.119
Roddy: Go out there and talk them down.
00:16:19.119 –> 00:16:19.899
Roddy: Come on, come on, come on.
00:16:19.919 –> 00:16:23.139
Roddy: But what they did was they would make mistakes and say, what did we learn from that?
00:16:23.139 –> 00:16:25.799
Roddy: They would write it down to see how they could do better.
00:16:25.879 –> 00:16:30.539
Roddy: They said, you just do that enough, you end up building something and that’s almost what it sounds like what yours was.
00:16:30.539 –> 00:16:31.639
Roddy: It was organic.
00:16:31.699 –> 00:16:38.259
Roddy: It wasn’t like some specially designed thing, but over time, it’s the lessons you’ve learned and you share that with your team if I’m understanding correctly.
00:16:38.519 –> 00:16:40.739
Durfee: I love everything you said except the very end.
00:16:40.839 –> 00:16:45.059
Durfee: It’s the lessons we’ve learned that our team has created solutions for.
00:16:45.439 –> 00:16:48.339
Durfee: We meet in person for two to three days twice a year.
00:16:48.359 –> 00:16:54.059
Durfee: We meet in person every other quarter for a day, and then we meet once a month.
00:16:54.199 –> 00:16:58.179
Durfee: In each of those, we’re talking about, we’re not talking actually, it’s more involved.
00:16:58.179 –> 00:16:59.819
Durfee: We can talk about it later in the podcast if you want.
00:16:59.899 –> 00:17:04.739
Durfee: But the outcome of each of those is improvement by the team for the team.
00:17:06.459 –> 00:17:07.099
Roddy: I love it.
00:17:07.259 –> 00:17:07.759
Roddy: Very good.
00:17:07.759 –> 00:17:08.579
Roddy: Thank you for that.
00:17:09.559 –> 00:17:17.739
Roddy: So another way that you’re different from the typical RSPA member is, you’re not just solely focused on one or two verticals like retail, hospitality, grocery.
00:17:17.859 –> 00:17:20.379
Roddy: Can you talk about your approach that way?
00:17:20.379 –> 00:17:25.119
Roddy: You’re more horizontal, you’re specializing in terms of what you’re providing.
00:17:25.119 –> 00:17:27.339
Roddy: Can you talk about that business model, that approach?
00:17:27.959 –> 00:17:28.519
Durfee: Yes.
00:17:29.839 –> 00:17:35.159
Durfee: I’m going to do a slight nod to the talk I’m going to be doing by using some of the terms from the talk.
00:17:36.099 –> 00:17:39.539
Durfee: When I do the talk, I’m going to talk about rules, tools, and you.
00:17:40.419 –> 00:17:43.419
Durfee: Rules are things that are like actual rules, like mathematics.
00:17:43.419 –> 00:17:48.279
Durfee: You go look at your P&L and you have to subtract expense from revenue.
00:17:48.279 –> 00:17:51.059
Durfee: That’s the way it works and income comes out at the bottom.
00:17:51.299 –> 00:17:52.399
Durfee: That’s not a suggestion.
00:17:52.399 –> 00:17:53.679
Durfee: That’s like something you have to do.
00:17:54.399 –> 00:17:55.139
Durfee: That’s a rule.
00:17:55.359 –> 00:17:56.839
Durfee: Then a tool helps you get it done.
00:17:56.839 –> 00:18:02.699
Durfee: It could be a standard operating procedure, somebody’s guideline, a book you read, all these things help you get it done.
00:18:03.139 –> 00:18:06.879
Durfee: Then you is like who you are and what’s important to you.
00:18:06.879 –> 00:18:08.319
Durfee: I’m so sorry, Jim, I started talking.
00:18:08.319 –> 00:18:09.779
Durfee: Could you just repeat your question again?
00:18:09.779 –> 00:18:11.819
Durfee: Because I just say your question one more time.
00:18:11.819 –> 00:18:15.199
Roddy: No, it’s because you’re not focused on one market in that.
00:18:16.479 –> 00:18:22.459
Durfee: I would say that when I first entered this industry, I thought everything was a rule that I had to learn.
00:18:22.459 –> 00:18:24.439
Durfee: I told you I read everything I could read.
00:18:24.519 –> 00:18:25.399
Durfee: There’s all these rules.
00:18:25.399 –> 00:18:26.939
Durfee: I’m a math, science person.
00:18:26.939 –> 00:18:27.979
Durfee: Well, kind of English too.
00:18:27.979 –> 00:18:31.679
Durfee: But English has grammar, like we have rules, we follow the rules.
00:18:32.579 –> 00:18:37.759
Durfee: I thought everything was a rule, but what I realized is there are things that are rules, but then there are guidelines.
00:18:37.759 –> 00:18:40.579
Durfee: You have to think about what’s the guideline trying to get at.
00:18:40.799 –> 00:18:49.819
Durfee: I think what the industry specific guideline is trying to get at is get really good at something and know it really well, so you can provide value to people.
00:18:49.959 –> 00:18:52.239
Durfee: I think that’s what the guideline is trying to get at.
00:18:52.539 –> 00:19:02.919
Durfee: For us, what we know really well is how to figure out problems, the technical platforms we’ve chosen to specialize in, which I could describe at some point, but we chose a certain platform.
00:19:02.959 –> 00:19:07.279
Durfee: We’re really good at that, we know it well, we’re embedded in it, and so we can apply that.
00:19:07.279 –> 00:19:12.299
Durfee: Then through our partners, we bring in the expertise that needs to complement that.
00:19:13.359 –> 00:19:18.479
Durfee: So I think industry vertical is a great choice for somebody with industry vertical focus.
00:19:19.939 –> 00:19:21.259
Durfee: It’s not the right choice for us.
00:19:21.259 –> 00:19:25.179
Durfee: I think focus is a rule, industry focus is a guideline.
00:19:25.879 –> 00:19:26.379
Roddy: Interesting.
00:19:26.379 –> 00:19:26.619
Roddy: Yes.
00:19:26.619 –> 00:19:29.779
Roddy: You’ve got to focus on something, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be the vertical.
00:19:32.219 –> 00:19:34.919
Roddy: I also do like what you’re saying about rules versus guidelines.
00:19:34.919 –> 00:19:43.939
Roddy: When I was first named CEO here at the RSPA, the first meeting that I had with the leadership team was about critical thinking that you referred to.
00:19:43.939 –> 00:19:49.319
Roddy: It was along the lines of there are some hard and fast rules that you don’t have to look up and really discuss.
00:19:49.319 –> 00:19:53.559
Roddy: Like you wear shoes at a trade show, you can’t walk around barefoot at a trade show.
00:19:53.599 –> 00:19:56.119
Roddy: But then there’s a lot of things you’re like, well, how do we tackle this?
00:19:56.199 –> 00:20:02.919
Roddy: So it’s if you follow the steps of critical thinking, that’s what’s important and that’s how you can really get a team that approaches things.
00:20:02.919 –> 00:20:07.599
Roddy: If you have the same philosophy and then they’re gathering the data, they can go move forward from that.
00:20:07.599 –> 00:20:14.759
Roddy: But to your point, a lot of times people just think, I follow the rules and then they try to cram it in as the world changes around them and the rules just don’t keep pace.
00:20:14.799 –> 00:20:22.079
Roddy: I guess is that kind of how you see it as well and why it’s so important to have guidelines and critical thinking to innovate in this changing industry?
00:20:22.739 –> 00:20:25.399
Durfee: Yeah, I would say to innovate and to survive.
00:20:25.659 –> 00:20:26.139
Roddy: Okay.
00:20:26.259 –> 00:20:28.239
Durfee: I’ll give two examples really quick.
00:20:28.599 –> 00:20:38.599
Durfee: One is when the Great Recession hit, I had a line of credit that I had never used before because there was what I thought a rule was everyone should have a line of credit.
00:20:40.939 –> 00:20:47.739
Durfee: I’ll talk through it more at the top, but I burned through that thing when the recession first hit because I thought, oh, well, we’ll come out of this.
00:20:47.739 –> 00:20:52.559
Durfee: But we didn’t, and it took me forever, a long time to pay back that line of credit.
00:20:52.779 –> 00:21:03.119
Durfee: So I realized that getting a line of credit is a guideline, and if you’re me and you have that in front of you, you’ll probably burn that thing down when you shouldn’t.
00:21:03.379 –> 00:21:04.719
Durfee: So that is not a rule.
00:21:06.239 –> 00:21:11.799
Durfee: Another example was I was fortunate, maybe we’re 10 years in or so, and somebody offered to buy the company.
00:21:13.019 –> 00:21:17.899
Durfee: A lot of the companies like ours in the area were being bought by this one that was combining companies.
00:21:18.259 –> 00:21:33.179
Durfee: So I went to visit them at their office, and they had all kinds of money, and they were building out this beautiful top floor office, downtown Orlando, just amazing, and had parquet floors, and this beautiful table, and I was there to sign the paperwork.
00:21:33.779 –> 00:21:36.679
Durfee: When I got there back then, you would actually go in person to sign papers.
00:21:36.759 –> 00:21:44.399
Durfee: So I got there to sign the paperwork, and I looked around, and there were no outlets for network cabling anywhere in the room.
00:21:44.419 –> 00:21:45.559
Durfee: This was a long time ago.
00:21:46.319 –> 00:21:49.679
Durfee: I said, do you have wireless?
00:21:49.679 –> 00:21:50.699
Durfee: How would I connect?
00:21:50.699 –> 00:21:51.639
Durfee: They’re like, what?
00:21:52.219 –> 00:21:55.259
Durfee: Well, how would I connect my computer if I’m in a meeting in this room?
00:21:55.259 –> 00:21:56.939
Durfee: They’re like, oh crap.
00:21:57.079 –> 00:22:04.619
Durfee: Well, they were at the point where they were finishing the room, and they didn’t have that person in the discussion to be prepared.
00:22:05.019 –> 00:22:21.739
Durfee: So I walked out, did a long drive back home, told my husband, I changed my mind because I thought if these guys aren’t aware enough of our industry to have network connectivity in their main conference room, they may not really get our industry.
00:22:21.779 –> 00:22:22.159
Roddy: Yeah.
00:22:22.539 –> 00:22:28.139
Durfee: So that was a case where I didn’t follow the rule, which was, hey, somebody with a lot of money offers you a lot of money.
00:22:28.139 –> 00:22:29.419
Durfee: That’s probably a good thing.
00:22:29.819 –> 00:22:32.099
Durfee: But it was more of a guideline that wasn’t.
00:22:32.099 –> 00:22:32.499
Durfee: Yeah.
00:22:33.259 –> 00:22:33.479
Roddy: Right.
00:22:33.479 –> 00:22:38.999
Roddy: Like it’s the American dream now, the new American dream is to, the old American dream was build up a business, hand it off to your kids.
00:22:38.999 –> 00:22:42.399
Roddy: The new American dream is build up a business, sell it off and then go do nothing.
00:22:42.719 –> 00:22:52.299
Durfee: Oh, so I want to say no, I prefer the former, I applaud everyone who does not sell off their business, unless you’re like selling it to your employees or something like that.
00:22:52.459 –> 00:22:53.199
Roddy: Yeah, yeah.
00:22:53.199 –> 00:22:53.839
Roddy: Well, that’s what I’m saying.
00:22:53.839 –> 00:22:57.299
Roddy: Now, there’s like the, what the media portrays is what the American dream is.
00:22:57.299 –> 00:23:02.759
Roddy: We hold up all these entrepreneurs who sell off in there, building their own island or something of that nature.
00:23:02.879 –> 00:23:03.499
Durfee: Like why?
00:23:03.819 –> 00:23:04.919
Durfee: I don’t get that.
00:23:05.379 –> 00:23:05.839
Durfee: I don’t know.
00:23:05.839 –> 00:23:07.999
Durfee: I guess everyone has their thing, but that’s not my thing.
00:23:08.939 –> 00:23:09.939
Roddy: Yes, yes.
00:23:10.179 –> 00:23:10.779
Roddy: Very good.
00:23:10.839 –> 00:23:13.319
Roddy: Well, so you’ve shared a couple of experiences from early in your career.
00:23:13.319 –> 00:23:18.159
Roddy: I’m curious if you can share maybe one that really stood out to you that shaped you as a leader, right?
00:23:18.159 –> 00:23:25.639
Roddy: Something that might have happened a long time ago, but really stuck with you and it influences how you lead your team and how you interact with other folks.
00:23:25.639 –> 00:23:26.739
Roddy: Can you share that, Kathy?
00:23:27.599 –> 00:23:31.479
Durfee: Well, how I interact with my team and others.
00:23:31.539 –> 00:23:33.679
Durfee: This is very present for me right now.
00:23:33.799 –> 00:23:43.319
Durfee: One thing that I’ve been working on, as evidenced by this podcast, thank you for being here and listening people, is to be out and talking to people.
00:23:43.359 –> 00:23:49.859
Durfee: Probably some people in the audience, I would love to sit on a sofa and read a book, but also I’m trying to be out in front of people.
00:23:50.179 –> 00:23:54.499
Durfee: There’s a friend of mine years ago who I felt was so brave.
00:23:54.679 –> 00:23:55.859
Durfee: She’s such a brave person.
00:23:55.859 –> 00:23:58.879
Durfee: She had her, I think maybe three or four businesses.
00:23:59.319 –> 00:24:05.719
Durfee: She exited three of them with a ton of money, not in this order, and she went bankrupt on one of them.
00:24:05.819 –> 00:24:11.219
Durfee: She still kept making businesses because for her, the success was going out there and giving it a go.
00:24:11.699 –> 00:24:18.439
Durfee: Success was the try, not the, to your point earlier, not the fact that she sold it, which is of course successful.
00:24:19.239 –> 00:24:22.679
Durfee: But she kept going, and even the bankruptcy didn’t stop her.
00:24:22.679 –> 00:24:25.239
Durfee: She came out and she ended up doing really well on another venture.
00:24:25.239 –> 00:24:33.519
Durfee: So I always admired that practical bravery where she wasn’t set back.
00:24:33.519 –> 00:24:39.979
Durfee: She just kept her goal in mind, and she went after her goal and she would pivot when she needed to pivot.
00:24:40.579 –> 00:24:44.899
Durfee: I try to keep our mission in mind and pivot when we need to pivot.
00:24:46.839 –> 00:24:49.359
Roddy: I like that phrase you said, practical bravery.
00:24:49.359 –> 00:24:53.919
Roddy: It sounds like there’s, it’s not foolhardiness, you just don’t go in eyes closed.
00:24:53.919 –> 00:24:59.119
Roddy: But I guess talk about how do you apply practical bravery as a leader?
00:25:00.279 –> 00:25:00.779
Durfee: Okay.
00:25:01.139 –> 00:25:04.179
Durfee: I know there’s a lot of talk on what does it mean to be a leader these days.
00:25:04.179 –> 00:25:06.459
Durfee: So I think there’s lots of different ways to lead.
00:25:06.459 –> 00:25:08.439
Durfee: So I’ll just speak to my way to lead.
00:25:09.039 –> 00:25:11.399
Durfee: And I respect there are many different ways to lead.
00:25:11.659 –> 00:25:22.539
Durfee: But my way to lead, I would say, is my goal is to ensure everybody on my team, and everybody who hears me has an opportunity to make them list their talents, whatever that might be.
00:25:22.839 –> 00:25:29.979
Durfee: So practical bravery means me sitting here on a podcast, I would say is practical bravery.
00:25:31.879 –> 00:25:38.679
Durfee: I personally believe that it doesn’t take a lot of strength to hide your vulnerabilities.
00:25:38.679 –> 00:25:39.819
Durfee: That’s not strength.
00:25:40.019 –> 00:25:45.319
Durfee: Strength is being able to be out there when it’s hard to be out there.
00:25:45.499 –> 00:25:51.219
Durfee: Strength is keeping in mind other when you’re full of your own issues.
00:25:51.879 –> 00:25:59.919
Durfee: So you want to just, okay, I get it, I have challenges, but as a leader, like at that retreat, so I had something on my mind at the retreat, but that’s not their problem.
00:26:00.379 –> 00:26:02.419
Durfee: Now, if it informs what they need to do, great.
00:26:02.419 –> 00:26:10.899
Durfee: I need to find a leaderly way to present it, but otherwise, it’s how I show up and being brave to show up the way I need to show up.
00:26:11.339 –> 00:26:17.359
Durfee: Also, I’m sure some of you relate to this, being brave to make those choices, like was what two years ago or so.
00:26:17.359 –> 00:26:19.639
Durfee: I’m like, okay guys, AI is something we’re going after.
00:26:19.719 –> 00:26:25.499
Durfee: I will tell you, not everyone agreed with me at that time for sure, but that’s also I think practical bravery.
00:26:25.499 –> 00:26:27.459
Durfee: But I can’t just say it because of my intuition.
00:26:27.639 –> 00:26:34.619
Durfee: I say my intuition and these stats or these numbers or this strategy or some basis for that.
00:26:35.699 –> 00:26:36.039
Roddy: Got it.
00:26:36.039 –> 00:26:40.939
Roddy: Yes, your gut feel might take you in a direction, but you also want to validate it with folks and data and things of that.
00:26:40.939 –> 00:26:41.699
Durfee: Yes.
00:26:42.659 –> 00:26:43.219
Roddy: I like that.
00:26:43.219 –> 00:26:51.179
Roddy: Well, I’m going to ask you to be brave before we take a quick commercial break and ask you a tough question about maybe a mistake that you made as a leader and what you learned from it.
00:26:51.179 –> 00:26:57.919
Roddy: Again, it can be recent, this could be a long time ago, it could be a colossal disaster, it could just be where you fell short of your standards.
00:26:57.919 –> 00:27:01.939
Roddy: Can you share with our listeners and me a mistake that you made as a leader?
00:27:02.399 –> 00:27:06.099
Durfee: I have made so many mistakes.
00:27:06.099 –> 00:27:08.099
Durfee: I don’t even know where to start.
00:27:08.139 –> 00:27:10.419
Durfee: I’d say one of the big mistakes was the drawdown on that credit.
00:27:10.419 –> 00:27:11.899
Durfee: That was a huge mistake.
00:27:12.179 –> 00:27:13.559
Durfee: I would never do that again.
00:27:15.099 –> 00:27:22.119
Durfee: Another mistake was, there was a point in time when I thought I could help somebody early in my career.
00:27:22.119 –> 00:27:28.239
Durfee: I thought, oh, I can help an employee overcome a challenge, I can help a customer overcome a challenge.
00:27:28.619 –> 00:27:31.539
Durfee: Now, I don’t really use those terms in that way anymore.
00:27:31.539 –> 00:27:36.179
Durfee: I would say, we try to create opportunities so people can help themselves.
00:27:37.079 –> 00:27:39.359
Durfee: Otherwise, the accountability gets blurry.
00:27:39.939 –> 00:27:43.659
Durfee: At the end of the day, first of all, who’s to say I’m the right person to help?
00:27:43.859 –> 00:27:49.559
Durfee: Secondly, they need to be able to be making the choices that are right for them.
00:27:49.599 –> 00:27:50.899
Durfee: I firmly believe in that now.
00:27:51.659 –> 00:27:56.079
Durfee: I don’t think it’s that I didn’t believe in it before, but I didn’t see it as clearly before.
00:27:57.259 –> 00:27:57.599
Roddy: Got it.
00:27:57.599 –> 00:27:59.359
Durfee: So today, or did that make sense?
00:27:59.359 –> 00:28:00.259
Roddy: No, that’s what I was going to ask.
00:28:00.259 –> 00:28:01.819
Roddy: Can you talk about the practical application?
00:28:01.819 –> 00:28:05.759
Roddy: It sounds like we just recently had a community meeting, Dr.
00:28:05.759 –> 00:28:08.999
Roddy: Gail Burgos from Paytech Women led, and it was about mentoring.
00:28:09.239 –> 00:28:11.879
Roddy: And somebody asked her, like, what’s the first step for mentoring?
00:28:11.879 –> 00:28:16.579
Roddy: And hers was like, the will of the mentee to want to be mentored.
00:28:16.579 –> 00:28:16.939
Roddy: Right?
00:28:16.939 –> 00:28:21.639
Roddy: If you don’t have somebody who wants to take that first step, then you’re just like kind of dragging them up the hill.
00:28:21.639 –> 00:28:23.499
Roddy: It sounds like that’s, am I correct?
00:28:23.499 –> 00:28:25.499
Roddy: That’s kind of a degree to what you’re talking about.
00:28:25.499 –> 00:28:26.779
Roddy: Like they’ve got to help themselves.
00:28:26.779 –> 00:28:30.159
Roddy: They can’t just be somebody carrying them up the hill, if I’m understanding.
00:28:31.519 –> 00:28:34.699
Durfee: I do agree that they have to want to help themselves.
00:28:34.699 –> 00:28:38.539
Durfee: Although your job may be to help them see that they want to help themselves.
00:28:38.639 –> 00:28:40.859
Durfee: But most of me think your job is to listen.
00:28:42.079 –> 00:28:47.999
Durfee: And listen and discern what could you say that could help them see something they’re not seeing?
00:28:48.699 –> 00:28:54.299
Durfee: Or what could you say that could help them feel a motivation they have they didn’t know that they had?
00:28:54.459 –> 00:28:58.659
Durfee: Yeah, I think it’s opening doors, maybe then they can walk through it.
00:28:59.699 –> 00:29:02.379
Roddy: And you said you haven’t always felt this way.
00:29:02.679 –> 00:29:05.719
Roddy: So talk about that, like, yeah, talk about that learning.
00:29:06.139 –> 00:29:16.959
Durfee: Yeah, I would say that I think one of the things I underestimated when I started my company was how easy it was for me to acquire new skills.
00:29:17.379 –> 00:29:21.119
Durfee: I didn’t see that or understand that, so I expected it from my team.
00:29:21.839 –> 00:29:25.179
Durfee: And if my team wasn’t able to, I thought, oh, that’s kind of odd here.
00:29:25.179 –> 00:29:26.519
Durfee: Let me show you how, right?
00:29:26.519 –> 00:29:29.139
Durfee: Because it seemed kind of simple and easy to me.
00:29:29.619 –> 00:29:35.039
Durfee: But I think the step that I was missing is I needed them to encounter, it’s kind of like raising kids in a way.
00:29:35.039 –> 00:29:43.159
Durfee: I don’t mean to adults or children, but in raising children, you realize I can’t show them everything.
00:29:43.459 –> 00:29:45.339
Durfee: Sometimes I have to be there for them.
00:29:46.899 –> 00:29:49.199
Durfee: So I think that’s kind of like that.
00:29:49.199 –> 00:29:51.199
Durfee: I can’t show someone how to do everything.
00:29:51.199 –> 00:29:56.719
Durfee: Sometimes I have to let them struggle, sort it out, but they know I’m here, not like throwing them out to the sharks.
00:29:56.979 –> 00:29:57.479
Roddy: Yes.
00:29:57.939 –> 00:29:59.359
Durfee: And I’m giving them the tools they need.
00:29:59.359 –> 00:30:00.699
Durfee: They just have to find their way.
00:30:00.779 –> 00:30:01.179
Durfee: Yeah.
00:30:01.799 –> 00:30:02.299
Roddy: Interesting.
00:30:02.299 –> 00:30:04.459
Roddy: So I used to work in an office park.
00:30:04.459 –> 00:30:06.559
Roddy: I was down in the hallway from a psychotherapist.
00:30:06.559 –> 00:30:10.619
Roddy: And so when she and I would start to talk, I’d be like, I don’t know anything about psychotherapy.
00:30:10.619 –> 00:30:13.279
Roddy: And she’d be like, I don’t know anything about business whatsoever.
00:30:13.359 –> 00:30:16.799
Roddy: But as we would converse from time to time about like, what are you doing?
00:30:17.159 –> 00:30:18.159
Roddy: What did you do last week?
00:30:18.159 –> 00:30:23.879
Roddy: And all that kind of stuff from a work standpoint, we’re like, we actually do a lot of the same things that we should be doing, right?
00:30:23.879 –> 00:30:27.919
Roddy: Because the business world is about helping people get to a certain place.
00:30:28.299 –> 00:30:32.999
Roddy: And then her work as a psychotherapist was helping people get to a certain place.
00:30:32.999 –> 00:30:35.159
Roddy: Like, there’s no, you don’t go do it for them.
00:30:35.799 –> 00:30:37.719
Durfee: It’s a place they’re deciding on.
00:30:37.919 –> 00:30:38.179
Roddy: Yes.
00:30:38.179 –> 00:30:43.279
Durfee: Of course, in business, it has to be in alignment with where we want to go, which gets back to that hiring choice part.
00:30:43.279 –> 00:30:43.499
Roddy: Yes.
00:30:43.499 –> 00:30:45.899
Durfee: But yeah, they have to want to be there.
00:30:45.899 –> 00:30:46.299
Durfee: Yeah.
00:30:46.339 –> 00:30:47.419
Durfee: Totally agree with that.
00:30:47.499 –> 00:30:47.739
Roddy: Yeah.
00:30:47.739 –> 00:30:56.699
Roddy: Our job had more spreadsheets than the psychotherapist did, but still it was when it came down to it, it was the one-on-one and like you just said, helping people get to where they wanted to go and needed to go.
00:30:56.739 –> 00:30:59.259
Roddy: So it sounds like you’ve learned that as well.
00:30:59.639 –> 00:31:06.599
Roddy: Again, I was the one who said to her like, I don’t know anything about psychotherapy, but then the more we talked, it’s like there’s a lot more crossover.
00:31:06.599 –> 00:31:09.899
Roddy: It sounds like you’ve realized that there’s a lot of crossover with what you do.
00:31:10.399 –> 00:31:10.799
Durfee: Yeah.
00:31:10.799 –> 00:31:11.459
Durfee: 100 percent.
00:31:11.459 –> 00:31:18.859
Durfee: I think as leaders, our goal is to make it possible for people to achieve, whether it’s our customers and also in our communities.
00:31:18.859 –> 00:31:20.079
Durfee: We do that in our communities.
00:31:20.099 –> 00:31:27.079
Durfee: We maybe speak in our communities or we sponsor things because we’re trying to make it possible for people to do what they want to go do.
00:31:27.239 –> 00:31:34.539
Durfee: I bet almost everybody listening has some non-profit in their community that they contribute to financially, so those people can go do what they do.
00:31:34.759 –> 00:31:36.719
Durfee: You’re opening the door for them to do that.
00:31:37.859 –> 00:31:38.519
Roddy: Excellent.
00:31:38.719 –> 00:31:39.239
Roddy: Very good.
00:31:39.239 –> 00:31:43.959
Roddy: We’re going to pause here to let our listeners and viewers know about the Retail Solutions Providers Association.
00:31:44.099 –> 00:31:54.059
Roddy: RSPA is North America’s largest community of retail technology bars, software providers, managed services providers, vendors and distributors in the retail restaurant and grocery verticals.
00:31:54.079 –> 00:31:59.359
Roddy: To accelerate your success in RSPA membership, email membership at gorspa.org.
00:31:59.419 –> 00:32:06.199
Roddy: Also, we want to say thanks to these channel-focused companies who support the RSPA community and make this podcast and video series possible.
00:32:06.299 –> 00:32:12.539
Roddy: Our gold sponsors are Blue Star, CoCard, Epson, Global Payments, and ScanSource.
00:32:12.539 –> 00:32:21.719
Roddy: Then finally, we want to make sure everybody knows to be sure to register for RetailNOW 2026, the retail IT channel’s number one trade show, education conference, and networking event.
00:32:21.879 –> 00:32:27.639
Roddy: This year’s event is July 26th through 28th at the new Caesar’s Forum Conference Center in Las Vegas.
00:32:27.719 –> 00:32:32.239
Roddy: For more information, visit gorsp.org/retail now.
00:32:32.559 –> 00:32:37.599
Roddy: RetailNOW is where the industry meets and we’re talking a little bit more about RetailNOW in a bit.
00:32:37.639 –> 00:32:43.279
Roddy: I’m curious, have you been to the new Caesar’s Forum Conference Center that was built in 2020?
00:32:43.659 –> 00:32:45.359
Roddy: I don’t know if you’ve been to that new facility yet.
00:32:45.419 –> 00:32:54.019
Durfee: I don’t think I have, but I heard you on a prior podcast explaining it’s not this, and it’s not a shopping center, and it’s pretty funny.
00:32:54.019 –> 00:32:55.859
Durfee: I have to go look it up, but I haven’t looked it up yet.
00:32:55.859 –> 00:32:57.319
Roddy: It is not Caesar’s Palace.
00:32:57.319 –> 00:32:59.739
Roddy: It is not the Forum at Caesar’s Palace.
00:32:59.739 –> 00:33:00.679
Roddy: It’s Caesar’s Forum.
00:33:00.679 –> 00:33:02.379
Roddy: Why they call it that, I don’t know why.
00:33:03.539 –> 00:33:09.079
Roddy: The only more confusing thing is if they called it Little Caesar’s Conference Center, then you’d be like, is there pizza there, or anything like that.
00:33:09.079 –> 00:33:11.919
Roddy: So it’s a beautiful brand new conference center.
00:33:11.919 –> 00:33:13.539
Roddy: You and I have been to a lot of events over the years.
00:33:13.539 –> 00:33:18.519
Roddy: That’s where you and I met was one down in Fort Lauderdale, and a lot of them are like your typical looking.
00:33:18.519 –> 00:33:21.939
Roddy: This is a very bright new modern looking facility.
00:33:21.939 –> 00:33:23.619
Roddy: So we’re looking forward to it for sure.
00:33:23.619 –> 00:33:23.979
Roddy: Yeah.
00:33:24.079 –> 00:33:24.739
Roddy: So are we.
00:33:24.739 –> 00:33:29.219
Roddy: So a few more questions before I ask about your presentation at RetailNOW.
00:33:29.719 –> 00:33:38.059
Roddy: You said a lot of things that I think I could take a shot at describing your leadership style, but I’m curious if you could put into your words, how do you describe your leadership style?
00:33:38.219 –> 00:33:43.419
Roddy: What are some actions that you take when engaging with your team to reinforce that approach?
00:33:44.399 –> 00:33:44.979
Durfee: Right.
00:33:44.979 –> 00:33:46.419
Durfee: This is such a great question.
00:33:46.419 –> 00:33:48.579
Durfee: So I was trying to think leadership style, right?
00:33:48.579 –> 00:33:50.719
Durfee: It’s hard to put a name on that.
00:33:51.799 –> 00:34:14.219
Durfee: So I would say that my approach to leadership, as we talked about, is to get the tools and processes available to people, to empower them, not just to execute, but to be able to think about what needs to get done, to empower them to solve problems that come up, and to make sure they have a good guiding North Star on where they’re headed.
00:34:14.299 –> 00:34:29.179
Durfee: If we can have a really great North Star, hey, this is where we’re all going, and everyone has the tools and skills to get where they need to go, and we have relationships with the other people on the teams, we can augment each other, then I’m doing my job as a leader.
00:34:29.479 –> 00:34:32.379
Durfee: That said, I’m all about community events.
00:34:32.379 –> 00:34:41.339
Durfee: I was at a community event recently of some Stage 2 CEOs, and someone said to me, what you don’t realize, Kathy, is part of your role as a leader, is the innovation you’re doing in your company.
00:34:41.659 –> 00:34:43.639
Durfee: When you’re not there, who’s going to take that over?
00:34:43.939 –> 00:35:04.799
Durfee: So I’ve been thinking lately, innovation might be part of that also, that I haven’t really, might be me repeating the mistake I had 20 years ago of underestimating or expecting what I shouldn’t be, was unfair to expect, and so I might have that sort of innovation component also as part of my leadership that I have to figure out, but I don’t have that all sorted yet.
00:35:05.799 –> 00:35:07.619
Roddy: God, I’m actually reading a book right now.
00:35:07.619 –> 00:35:10.659
Roddy: They sent me two copies, so I still have one on my shelf here and one at home.
00:35:10.899 –> 00:35:20.859
Roddy: Sidney Finkelstein, Why Smart Executives Fail, and How You Can Look at Their Mistakes, and I know it sounds like a really inspiring book, but it talks about these businesses that fail and what they learned.
00:35:20.859 –> 00:35:24.479
Roddy: One phrase in there that I was just reading last night, it’s funny, bring up innovation.
00:35:24.639 –> 00:35:28.579
Roddy: It said, innovative companies have innovative CEOs.
00:35:28.999 –> 00:35:32.899
Roddy: You can’t be a non-innovative CEO and have an innovative company.
00:35:32.899 –> 00:35:35.019
Roddy: That’s what it sounds like you’re saying you’re learning.
00:35:35.459 –> 00:35:37.019
Durfee: It makes you think of Apple a little bit.
00:35:37.799 –> 00:35:41.459
Durfee: They tried to shift and it was hard for them.
00:35:41.759 –> 00:35:42.999
Durfee: Clearly, we’re not Apple.
00:35:42.999 –> 00:36:05.779
Durfee: But yeah, I’m curious to see whether or not innovation like that can be an acquired skill or to what degree it can be an acquired skill like some of the other skills and reasoning and decision-making works if you have the right environment and you have good processes and tools and training, and you can acquire the skill and you’re motivated.
00:36:06.079 –> 00:36:08.459
Durfee: So maybe innovation is like that, but I don’t know yet.
00:36:08.899 –> 00:36:09.739
Durfee: I should read her book.
00:36:09.739 –> 00:36:11.379
Durfee: You can send me the second one if you want.
00:36:11.379 –> 00:36:12.459
Roddy: I’m sure I should.
00:36:12.579 –> 00:36:15.619
Roddy: I mean, I ordered it from Amazon and two showed up.
00:36:15.619 –> 00:36:16.979
Roddy: So yeah, I’ll make a note.
00:36:16.979 –> 00:36:20.359
Roddy: I’ll make sure I send my Sidney Finkelstein copy to you.
00:36:20.799 –> 00:36:22.919
Durfee: Or I’ll pick it up for me with a conference.
00:36:22.919 –> 00:36:23.499
Roddy: We’ll do that.
00:36:23.499 –> 00:36:23.779
Roddy: Yes.
00:36:23.959 –> 00:36:27.679
Roddy: We’ll take a picture together, one of me giving you the book at RetailNOW.
00:36:27.679 –> 00:36:39.319
Roddy: So but along those lines, it seems like I would just say, just because I’ve peered into a lot of businesses, the source of innovation isn’t staring at the ceiling tiles and going, Eureka, I’ve got it.
00:36:39.439 –> 00:36:44.899
Roddy: It is asking questions, it’s listening, and then it’s putting that together and applying it to your business.
00:36:44.899 –> 00:36:46.099
Roddy: So that would be my take.
00:36:46.099 –> 00:36:48.199
Roddy: Like you said, I’m not sure if I’m training on it.
00:36:48.199 –> 00:36:49.019
Roddy: Seems like you are.
00:36:49.019 –> 00:36:49.939
Roddy: Those are the root of it.
00:36:49.939 –> 00:36:51.699
Roddy: It’s nothing fancier than that.
00:36:51.699 –> 00:36:53.559
Roddy: That’s, I guess, my two cents, if that matters.
00:36:53.979 –> 00:36:59.059
Durfee: I think that’s accurate and I would throw into the mix that there’s a lot of outside input.
00:36:59.599 –> 00:37:00.919
Durfee: We all have our hobbies.
00:37:02.039 –> 00:37:07.339
Durfee: I have hobbies and I think that external outside of work informs work.
00:37:07.979 –> 00:37:15.339
Durfee: The more diversity of thought and perspective and stuff that happens, I think, then it’s easier to innovate.
00:37:16.299 –> 00:37:19.379
Durfee: Or apply something from outside the industry to the industry.
00:37:19.379 –> 00:37:20.659
Durfee: Maybe it’s a way to think of it.
00:37:20.919 –> 00:37:21.939
Roddy: I agree 100 percent.
00:37:21.939 –> 00:37:26.499
Roddy: But you can see in the background, for those watching on YouTube, I’m a big sports fan and a lot of it I drive.
00:37:26.599 –> 00:37:27.839
Durfee: Do you like sports?
00:37:27.839 –> 00:37:28.639
Roddy: Basketball, yes.
00:37:28.639 –> 00:37:30.399
Roddy: I have a lot of fun.
00:37:30.399 –> 00:37:36.059
Roddy: If I would pivot the camera the other way, you’d see even more jerseys and everything hanging up in my office here.
00:37:37.439 –> 00:37:39.199
Roddy: Let’s talk in the few minutes we have left.
00:37:39.239 –> 00:37:44.919
Roddy: Who are some leaders that you look up to as mentors and have helped you shape your leadership approach?
00:37:45.239 –> 00:37:48.279
Roddy: You might want to name names here, but I’m sure our audience isn’t just looking for the names.
00:37:48.279 –> 00:37:52.339
Roddy: But really, what did they say or do that has had a lasting impact on you?
00:37:53.639 –> 00:37:57.679
Durfee: So this is an area I don’t perform well from a single mentor perspective.
00:37:57.679 –> 00:38:10.119
Durfee: That’s not, I will say, when I first started my company and I was trying so hard to learn things, I did reach out to a lot of, I’ll say, the standard sources of mentors, the programs that bring mentors to small business.
00:38:10.379 –> 00:38:10.619
Roddy: Yeah.
00:38:10.619 –> 00:38:19.659
Durfee: At that time, most of those mentors came out of enterprise and they were applying enterprise principles to a small organically grown business, and they were not good outcomes.
00:38:20.039 –> 00:38:26.139
Durfee: I think from that, I got pretty skittish of the idea of there’s somebody out there that has the answer.
00:38:26.179 –> 00:38:28.759
Durfee: Everyone’s tools is coming in again.
00:38:29.939 –> 00:38:37.699
Durfee: Rather, for me, the way that I learn best is by speaking with other people.
00:38:37.699 –> 00:38:41.179
Durfee: I’m in a number of different CEO groups, industry, non-industry.
00:38:41.179 –> 00:38:43.359
Durfee: I find that to be incredibly helpful.
00:38:44.279 –> 00:38:52.499
Durfee: Being able to be on the advisory board, not meant to be just a plug, but really, the reality is I get to meet with other people who are trying to do what I’m trying to do.
00:38:53.059 –> 00:39:01.079
Durfee: I don’t think any of us have the exact full answer, but boy, you sure accelerate your thought process, you find holes in what you were thinking about.
00:39:01.559 –> 00:39:04.139
Durfee: Usually in those settings, everyone’s a pretty active learner.
00:39:05.859 –> 00:39:09.679
Durfee: They’re open to discussing possibilities.
00:39:09.979 –> 00:39:11.839
Durfee: For me, I think that’s it.
00:39:12.319 –> 00:39:17.799
Durfee: The other side of mentor is role model, I would say, someone I would like to be like.
00:39:18.059 –> 00:39:26.579
Durfee: There are people like that in history that I admire, that have traits that I would like to continue to exhibit.
00:39:26.579 –> 00:39:33.199
Durfee: My sister gave me a little glass, I don’t know, statue, like a little rectangle glass thing that’s on my desk.
00:39:33.699 –> 00:39:38.479
Durfee: It says, none of us can do great things, only small things with great love.
00:39:38.479 –> 00:39:39.719
Durfee: It was by Mother Teresa.
00:39:40.179 –> 00:39:42.879
Durfee: Because sometimes you feel like, gosh, there’s so much that needs to be done in the world.
00:39:42.879 –> 00:39:43.479
Durfee: Oh, go ahead.
00:39:43.939 –> 00:39:44.799
Roddy: Say that quote again.
00:39:45.059 –> 00:39:45.539
Durfee: Yeah.
00:39:45.779 –> 00:39:46.519
Durfee: Well, okay.
00:39:46.519 –> 00:39:47.439
Durfee: I’m paraphrasing.
00:39:47.659 –> 00:39:51.479
Durfee: But it says along the lines of, no one can do great things.
00:39:51.479 –> 00:39:53.519
Durfee: No one person can do great things.
00:39:53.759 –> 00:39:56.559
Durfee: You can only do many small things with great love.
00:39:57.139 –> 00:40:05.079
Durfee: So the idea is, maybe you don’t have to be a $50 million a year company to be successful or 500 million.
00:40:05.119 –> 00:40:06.619
Durfee: Have a funny story about that too.
00:40:09.899 –> 00:40:15.559
Durfee: But if what you’re doing is having impact, if impact is important to you, it is important to me.
00:40:15.619 –> 00:40:18.259
Durfee: So if it’s having impact, then do that a lot.
00:40:18.679 –> 00:40:21.959
Durfee: I think that’s where my communities versus kingdom kind of thing comes into.
00:40:23.659 –> 00:40:29.619
Durfee: I’ve grown to 15, 18 people before and then I was thinking to myself, there’s a company like marketing.
00:40:29.619 –> 00:40:30.639
Durfee: I had a few people marketing.
00:40:30.639 –> 00:40:32.779
Durfee: Well, why am I building out a marketing department?
00:40:32.779 –> 00:40:34.679
Durfee: Should I just hire a marketing company?
00:40:34.999 –> 00:40:35.979
Durfee: Why am I doing that?
00:40:35.979 –> 00:40:38.219
Durfee: I’m not trying to be a marketing expert.
00:40:38.439 –> 00:40:39.359
Durfee: So why is that?
00:40:39.359 –> 00:40:44.159
Durfee: So I decided to go with a marketing company, and that’s that piece.
00:40:45.259 –> 00:40:45.699
Roddy: Interesting.
00:40:45.699 –> 00:40:46.779
Roddy: You said you had a funny story.
00:40:46.779 –> 00:40:50.879
Roddy: I follow up on that, Theresa, but you said you have a funny story about 5 million 50 million.
00:40:50.879 –> 00:41:00.119
Durfee: It’s a mentor thing also, just real quick, is that I was at a conference of people who won awards from a million up to I think 100 million in business.
00:41:00.119 –> 00:41:01.399
Durfee: I found entrepreneurs.
00:41:01.579 –> 00:41:03.399
Durfee: You don’t know who, so you just sit at all these tables.
00:41:03.399 –> 00:41:04.919
Durfee: It’s an amazing conference.
00:41:05.099 –> 00:41:06.239
Durfee: It’s a great conference.
00:41:07.119 –> 00:41:08.079
Durfee: I go back every year.
00:41:08.359 –> 00:41:14.259
Durfee: I’m sitting at this table and about six months prior, I was an accelerator.
00:41:14.639 –> 00:41:17.779
Durfee: In the accelerator, somebody said, well, what’s your revenue goal?
00:41:18.219 –> 00:41:20.799
Durfee: I said for this year, I said three million.
00:41:20.799 –> 00:41:23.179
Durfee: They’re like, okay, well, why not 30 million?
00:41:23.179 –> 00:41:24.979
Durfee: I thought, 30 million?
00:41:25.659 –> 00:41:26.019
Roddy: Me?
00:41:26.979 –> 00:41:29.439
Durfee: Then they’re like, well, why are you saying three?
00:41:29.439 –> 00:41:30.059
Durfee: Why not 30?
00:41:30.219 –> 00:41:30.999
Durfee: What’s the difference?
00:41:30.999 –> 00:41:33.179
Durfee: I thought, okay, all right.
00:41:33.179 –> 00:41:35.739
Durfee: Maybe I should think about 30, but it felt scary.
00:41:36.139 –> 00:41:43.459
Durfee: So I’m sitting at the table maybe six months later or so, and the woman’s next to me, and she says, so what’s your revenue goal?
00:41:43.739 –> 00:41:45.459
Durfee: I don’t know why people see this at conferences.
00:41:45.459 –> 00:41:46.179
Durfee: This is a big thing.
00:41:46.199 –> 00:41:47.839
Durfee: It’s your revenue goal, right?
00:41:47.839 –> 00:41:48.899
Durfee: It’s a growth conference.
00:41:49.299 –> 00:41:54.559
Durfee: So I took a deep breath, and I went, 30 million.
00:41:54.559 –> 00:41:58.779
Durfee: Like I said it out in the universe to people, 30 million is my revenue goal.
00:41:59.019 –> 00:42:02.359
Durfee: And she looks at me and she goes, why not 300 million?
00:42:03.739 –> 00:42:08.439
Durfee: So it turns out she built her own business to half a billion.
00:42:09.699 –> 00:42:13.119
Durfee: So for her, that 30 number was absurd.
00:42:13.219 –> 00:42:17.819
Durfee: So you have to figure out where you’re at and what you’re thinking, I guess.
00:42:18.119 –> 00:42:18.639
Roddy: Yes.
00:42:19.419 –> 00:42:20.059
Roddy: Very good.
00:42:20.099 –> 00:42:22.739
Roddy: It’s funny you say you have a Mother Teresa quote.
00:42:22.739 –> 00:42:26.279
Roddy: I actually have a board over there and it has a Mother Teresa quote on it.
00:42:26.419 –> 00:42:37.779
Roddy: I can’t read it exactly, but it’s something along the lines of, I used to pray for God to change things, but now I pray for God to change me so I can go and change things.
00:42:37.779 –> 00:42:41.959
Roddy: I just like that because it really comes down to you need to be a person of action.
00:42:41.959 –> 00:42:45.079
Roddy: You can’t be like, squeeze my hands harder and hope things turn out.
00:42:45.259 –> 00:42:48.279
Roddy: You as a leader, as a person, have to take action.
00:42:48.479 –> 00:42:53.679
Roddy: Karl Polichuk, I don’t know if you know him, he’s an MSP advisor, but he would always say nothing happens by itself.
00:42:54.059 –> 00:42:56.819
Roddy: You have to go make some action happen.
00:42:58.019 –> 00:43:02.519
Durfee: But aren’t we lucky that we’re not stuck sitting hoping something happens.
00:43:02.519 –> 00:43:05.899
Durfee: We have the opportunity to try and make something happen.
00:43:05.899 –> 00:43:07.139
Durfee: What a gift that is.
00:43:07.239 –> 00:43:08.339
Durfee: We have HGC.
00:43:08.899 –> 00:43:09.539
Roddy: Very much.
00:43:09.539 –> 00:43:11.679
Roddy: Just look at the car and go, I hope it moves.
00:43:11.679 –> 00:43:14.299
Roddy: Open it up, turn it on and start driving the car.
00:43:14.299 –> 00:43:15.999
Roddy: You got to take some actions to do it.
00:43:16.619 –> 00:43:17.119
Roddy: Excellent.
00:43:17.119 –> 00:43:21.659
Roddy: I want to make sure before we wrap up, can you give us a preview of your RetailNOW breakout?
00:43:21.659 –> 00:43:27.259
Roddy: Again, it’s called Built to Bend, an AI maturity model for VAR and ISV growth.
00:43:28.179 –> 00:43:28.679
Durfee: Yes.
00:43:28.919 –> 00:43:34.399
Durfee: I’m pretty excited about presenting it and also getting comments and feedback when we’re in this session about it.
00:43:35.819 –> 00:43:43.899
Durfee: As I mentioned, with the generative AI, we were doing some other before, but with the generative AI, it’s been since as long as everybody else pretty much with generative AI.
00:43:45.299 –> 00:43:51.099
Durfee: We realized that incorporate it into the business like any other tool just wasn’t quite cutting it, we needed something else.
00:43:52.019 –> 00:43:58.879
Durfee: As you’ve heard my questioning and thinking, that’s a big part of how we think about our culture at TechHouse.
00:43:59.479 –> 00:44:06.779
Durfee: What Built to Bend is talking about is, what do we need organizationally to be able to thrive in the era of AI?
00:44:07.539 –> 00:44:11.919
Durfee: Clearly, we need tools and tools are built in, but organizationally, what does that mean?
00:44:11.919 –> 00:44:14.239
Durfee: That doesn’t just mean, do I need to hire someone with this job title?
00:44:14.239 –> 00:44:15.699
Durfee: Do I need a data scientist?
00:44:15.699 –> 00:44:22.719
Durfee: I don’t mean that specifically, but more along the lines of, how does the team deal with the change that AI brings?
00:44:22.959 –> 00:44:25.419
Durfee: What tools are necessary?
00:44:25.639 –> 00:44:32.359
Durfee: If you’re saying, well, of course, I want the organization to be able to bend when AI comes in, yes, of course, but how do you make that happen?
00:44:32.359 –> 00:44:34.819
Durfee: What are the things that could cause barriers?
00:44:35.399 –> 00:44:37.799
Durfee: I will share with you some of the mistakes I’ve made.
00:44:38.539 –> 00:44:46.839
Durfee: Some of the things that we found help us to be able to bend so that we can adjust and adapt to the structure that works better in a world age of intelligence.
00:44:47.359 –> 00:44:53.719
Durfee: No more industrial age, but age of intelligence, and AI is deeply incorporated in what we do and what our customers need.
00:44:54.739 –> 00:44:55.079
Roddy: Got it.
00:44:55.079 –> 00:44:55.439
Roddy: Great.
00:44:55.439 –> 00:45:04.499
Roddy: This is going to be a practical conversation about things that you’ve done, things that you wish you would have done differently, and how folks can go forward if I’m understanding correctly.
00:45:04.879 –> 00:45:05.219
Durfee: Yes.
00:45:05.219 –> 00:45:09.259
Durfee: Hopefully, your journey will have less bumps for having listened to my journey.
00:45:10.679 –> 00:45:11.179
Roddy: Good.
00:45:11.299 –> 00:45:11.839
Roddy: But I like that.
00:45:11.859 –> 00:45:34.659
Roddy: I guess for folks who are listening, we had to remember on one of our community calls, Avars said, I am sick and tired of hearing about AI, but it seems like people are sick and tired of hearing about the fear-mongering or just this really broad conversation, but they want to hear the practical stuff about what works for an SMB tech provider and what doesn’t, or what are the options or ranges or paths to go down.
00:45:34.659 –> 00:45:36.619
Roddy: It sounds like that’s what you’re going to be doing.
00:45:36.999 –> 00:45:43.019
Roddy: Again, we have other AI sessions as well, but it sounds like that’s going to be foundational to what you’re doing, practical application of AI.
00:45:43.719 –> 00:45:48.819
Durfee: We are neither going to talk about what is the best model today nor prompt strategies.
00:45:49.039 –> 00:45:49.539
Roddy: Okay.
00:45:50.519 –> 00:46:00.399
Durfee: But as a leader, trying to figure out how is my team adapting and how does this change how we function as an organization, how we interact with our customers.
00:46:00.839 –> 00:46:02.179
Durfee: That’s what our focus is.
00:46:03.139 –> 00:46:09.299
Roddy: The slide that I used before I talk about AI from my presentations, I just did this earlier this week at a partner advisory conference.
00:46:09.299 –> 00:46:12.579
Roddy: We’re not talking about headless dancing robot dogs.
00:46:12.619 –> 00:46:18.099
Roddy: Sometimes you see when people are talking about AI, and then people look at that and go, what am I supposed to do with that thing?
00:46:18.099 –> 00:46:19.619
Roddy: That’s not going to help my business at all.
00:46:20.539 –> 00:46:22.439
Roddy: Kathy, this has been a great last question for you.
00:46:22.519 –> 00:46:23.819
Roddy: We’ve covered a lot.
00:46:24.059 –> 00:46:27.079
Roddy: I’m curious, what would be your final advice for our audience?
00:46:27.099 –> 00:46:34.459
Roddy: The way that I always try to set this up is, let’s say you’re at retail now, you’ve got a ride share, you’re sharing it with another RSPA member.
00:46:34.759 –> 00:46:43.219
Roddy: They’re new to the industry as a VAR and MSP or an ISV leader, and they’re like, Kathy, what advice would you give me in the three minutes we have before we get to Harry Reid Airport?
00:46:44.839 –> 00:46:46.139
Durfee: Okay, three minutes.
00:46:46.179 –> 00:46:47.899
Durfee: Well, I’m going to make it a six-minute ride.
00:46:47.899 –> 00:46:48.339
Roddy: Okay, go ahead.
00:46:48.339 –> 00:46:50.319
Durfee: Because I want to hear from you what you know too.
00:46:50.319 –> 00:46:53.519
Durfee: So I’ll assume I have three minutes to share with them.
00:46:53.799 –> 00:46:56.639
Durfee: So if they’re new, that’s a big differentiator.
00:46:56.639 –> 00:47:01.019
Durfee: So if they’re new, there’s a lot of foundational business mistakes I made for the first 10 or 20 years.
00:47:01.019 –> 00:47:03.479
Durfee: I mean, I still make some now, but I made a lot in the beginning.
00:47:03.639 –> 00:47:09.539
Durfee: So I would probably just give you a list of some of those, like make sure the contract signed before you start the work.
00:47:10.039 –> 00:47:14.519
Durfee: Just there’s a lot of stuff you just learn starting out, you just, whatever.
00:47:15.919 –> 00:47:29.439
Durfee: But speaking more specifically, if somebody’s in the industry today, and is there something I feel like special sauce-ish, that’s been helpful to me lately, which probably more of the people that are in the room there, I’m guessing they’ve been at it a long time.
00:47:29.719 –> 00:47:45.419
Durfee: I think the special sauce, and I know I’m speaking to what I’m going to talk about, but it really is how this understanding from an organizational perspective and the organizational tools can put in place for AI adoption and success for us and our customers.
00:47:45.419 –> 00:47:59.079
Durfee: I think that that is really the game changer to have an organization where everywhere in the organization, every SOP includes people making decisions, and so AI is augmenting those people making decisions.
00:47:59.079 –> 00:48:05.359
Durfee: If we can shift our focus to that, shift to that perspective on age of intelligence, that’s what I think.
00:48:05.999 –> 00:48:06.699
Roddy: Excellent.
00:48:06.819 –> 00:48:07.639
Roddy: That’s very good.
00:48:07.639 –> 00:48:09.979
Roddy: I also like how you true to yourself as you said earlier.
00:48:10.019 –> 00:48:15.539
Roddy: I’m going to make sure half my conversation is me asking them questions too, because you want to vacuum their brain as well.
00:48:15.879 –> 00:48:16.739
Durfee: Yes, for sure.
00:48:17.319 –> 00:48:17.899
Roddy: I love it.
00:48:17.899 –> 00:48:18.879
Roddy: That’s excellent.
00:48:18.999 –> 00:48:21.359
Roddy: Well, that does it for this episode of The Trusted Advisor.
00:48:21.359 –> 00:48:28.579
Roddy: If you enjoyed our discussion, be sure to subscribe to the RSPA YouTube channel and The Trusted Advisor podcast so you never miss an episode.
00:48:28.579 –> 00:48:32.759
Roddy: Before we go, big thanks again to Kathy Durfee for sharing her wisdom with us today.
00:48:32.919 –> 00:48:36.559
Roddy: Thanks also to RSPA Marketing Director Chris Arnold for his production work.
00:48:36.859 –> 00:48:41.159
Roddy: Joseph McDade for our music and last but not least, thanks so much to you for listening.
00:48:41.219 –> 00:48:48.299
Roddy: Our goal at the RSPA is to accelerate the success of our members in the retail technology ecosystem by providing knowledge and connections.
00:48:48.299 –> 00:48:52.139
Roddy: For more information, visit our website at gorspa.org.
00:48:52.159 –> 00:48:55.539
Roddy: Thanks for listening and goodbye everybody.
