103: A Billion Dollar Company Built on a Culture of Good with Scott Moorehead and Ryan McCarty

Show Notes

TCC was started by Scott’s parents.  He started working in one of the stores while in college.  After college, he went to work at the head office and after a few years, he bought the business from his parents for a hefty price tag.

Scott never took any money out of the business and invested it back in to grow the business exponentially.  The big challenge was creating a culture that could transcend across the country as the company grew.  Everything was harder – communication, motivation, running the business, etc.  He realized that he was really in the people business.  Scott had to find a way create and keep the culture as the business scaled.

One day, he went to a church with a pastor that had tattoos and earrings, and a mow hawk.  It was an incredible experience.  The pastor was Ryan delivering a sermon about you “what equaling your why.”  So, Scott took Ryan to lunch to talk more about the concept – and by the end of lunch Ryan was trying to talk Scott in hiring him.

• One lesson I took from the story is how important it is to be open for opportunity because it can come at any time.

Ryan, has been a pastor/minister and doing global missions for almost 20 years.  But, as Ryan said, he never really fit into the normal stereotype of a pastor except for he had a goal of making the world a better place.  He had no idea that Scott was in his audience that day.  Once he went to lunch with Scott and they started talking – he just blurted out that they should work together.  It just seemed right.

Scott didn’t hire Ryan right away.  It took several months of conversations and even a bad accident where Scott was injured before Scott decide to move ahead.

At the 14 min mark, Ryan shares a great message about how he knew he had to work with Scott.  He talks about comfort zones and faith and following your gut.

What is the philosophy of the Culture of Good?

Ryan:  We teach for profit companies how to operate their businesses with the soul of a non-profit.  It aligns being purposeful with profitable and creating a culture and experience that makes work fulfilling – making it a cause that drives results in a business.

Scott:  From a Misfit standpoint, we’ve been told “for profit business” can’t care and “non-profit business” can’t be run well.  That’s not true.  The Culture of Good is where those two sectors come together and marry – essentially taking the best of each other and creating a better overall entity.  You can run a for profit business that cares…

Taking that from idea to reality are two different things.  How do you actually implement this system?  You have the 5 Promises for that – tell us about them…

At the 20-min mark, Scott and Ryan go into this in great detail.  It is best to listen to what they say, but below are some selected notes.

Caring – What is your cause that your business needs to carry?  This cannot be separated from the business intent.  They must be aligned and must benevolent.

All of them have to be carried out equally.  The more good you do, the more business you get and the cycle goes ‘round and ‘round.

Examples of implementing each one

Caring – Everyone is involved in the cause

Inspiring – Making the cause part of the mission and the everyday values of the company

Connecting – Connecting the cause not just with employees, but with customers and making everyone part of doing good.

Being Authentic – You are not doing this as a PR stunt.  It must be real and be part of who you are as a business and be echoed throughout.

Drive the Business – You must not lose sight of driving the business and its growth – you simply want a culture of genuine good to be a part of that story.

What have you learned about the human spirit going through this journey together?

Ryan:  That it is good.  Business is a human endeavor and doing work that inspires others to do good.  People just need help connecting their “what with their why.”

Scott:  The stereotypes of millennials are wrong – they want to work hard and contribute.  They want their company to be purposeful.  The other thing is that millennials care more than every other generation.

What other advice can you give for growing a great business?

Going from a small business, a family owned business, where you are a massive individual contributor to scale to a large business, you as the owner will need to contribute less and let others do their jobs.  You have to become very good at sharing your mission, vision and strategy.

Don’t be afraid to share what is on your mind – don’t keep things a secret, but also take the time to understand and make sure you are communicating it correctly and in the right ways to each audience.

It is very important for entrepreneurs, early on, to start having the culture discussion and be stating the vision and mission and making it part of your life.

Make sure people know where their impact is and where they work matters to the business – no matter what stage you are in.

Your goal should be to lead leaders and not just manage systems and processes.

Ryan – Android/Samsung

Scott – You are good on either side – but whichever one you choose, go all in on the product suite.  It all works together when you buy the stuff that works together.