Things Happen for a Reason with Al Samouelian

[00:00:51] The book was the “13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do” by Amy Morin. The list includes things like they don’t waste time feeling sorry [00:01:00] for themselves. And they don’t focus on things they can’t control. In short, it sounded a lot like the kind of things that we’ve been talking about on the show. So I reached out to Al and he agreed to join us on the show.

[00:01:10] We talked about the moment with his daughter and his journey from sales leader to organizational leader. But as the conversation progressed, we got into some other areas, including a truly impactful story about his late father, Big Al. Let’s take a listen.

[00:01:25] That’s a wild ride. Cause you guys have gone. Are you five times now on the inc 500 list?

[00:01:31] Al: [00:01:31] I think we’re seven.

[00:01:32] Brad: [00:01:32] Seven. That’s a, that’s pretty, that’s pretty amazing. To be able to keep that up year after year after year.

[00:01:41] Al: [00:01:41] Well, you know, I wish I could say it was easy and you sit back, but we, we grind really, really hard.

[00:01:48] We’re no more the type of guys that roll up our sleeves. And, uh, we work hard. We try to work smart. We try to build really deep, strategic, [00:02:00] sticky relationships with our clients. Um, and you know, yeah. We’ve been successful at this point and we’ve attracted a, you know, a wonderful executive team. So we’ve got some deep bench strength, uh, in all areas.

[00:02:15] So that’s, that’s a positive thing. And I have, we’re going to continue to try to keep that trend. It’s it’s harder when you get this big, it’s harder to grow at those percentages, but we’ll, we’re gonna do our best to keep the momentum.

[00:02:30] Brad: [00:02:30] Now, how much of that? So when you think about your, you know, your. You adopted or sort of evolved into the CEO role, you see yourself as a sales guy, or do you see yourself as a, a more of an operations person?

[00:02:44] Al: [00:02:44] No, that’s an interesting question. I’m I grew up. So if you looked at my, the titles that I’ve held in the past, I was definitely always. More of a service. Think of it as an internal corporate development guy. Right? I was, I was looking to [00:03:00] improve, you know, in the beginning, my first role was all around, um, process engineering and reporting and data analytics and, you know, and that, that role turned into financial controller of C H Robinson’s largest branch office, which is Chicago central.

[00:03:18] Um, you know, my next role. Was, uh, I was doing some Corp dev for Matty Moroun in Detroit. And so I was, and I was looking, he had hundreds of companies that he owned. So I was analyzing those companies and, you know, they had hopes of. Spinning different, um, entities into public organizations. And so I helped them with a plan to merge.

[00:03:46] Uh, they had a contract logistics company, which was Logistics Insight. They had a, uh, automotive expedite company. CTX. They had an international freight forwarding company, Central [00:04:00] Global Express, and then they had a, uh, call it like a truck brokerage, but it was more of a asset light, um, uh, agent-based model, which was Universal Truckload Services.

[00:04:13] So today, um, universal is a public company. And we basically merged all those companies. So I played more of a we’ll call it the corp dev, uh, strategy role there. And that was right about the same time that Jeff Silver had reached out for me to join the Coyoote team. And it kind of sparked my interest. I went back to Chicago to play the role at Coyote.

[00:04:39] Brad: [00:04:39] When you were hiring at Coyote, and it sounds like rocket ship there. And then there was a ton, there was a ton of hiring going on and you guys were focusing on college kids. What was kind of the mindset? What were you looking at when you hired somebody? What characteristics were you guys looking for?

[00:04:59] Al: [00:04:59] Yeah, [00:05:00] the model was, was, uh, you know, we were looking for one number, one was competitive, right.

[00:05:08] So we hired a lot of, um, Kids that played college sports. Um, we looked for, for intelligence, right? So we wanted really, really smart people that could analyze data. They could think quickly. We were looking for people that had personality, they could communicate, they were, they were confident in their communication skills.

[00:05:33] They could listen, but they could rebuttal quickly. Um, and you know, that was, that was one of the secret sauces of coyote. Uh, it was ran by Mary Ann Silver. And she put together a strong re recruiting group. So they were very proactive in building relationships with, uh, the universities, especially the Big Ten.

[00:05:56] Um, and they were, you know, they were, they were big into [00:06:00] marketing, social media, right. Really getting the, they had a big internship program. So they were trying to create this real hype around coyote. Um, and then yeah, the recruiting staff was just, they were, they were in cahoots with all these universities and attended all the recruiting shows and, and they did a wonderful job at, at attracting those right types of people.

[00:06:25] It was very defined on what they were looking for. They did a, they did a great job hiring the right types of people.

[00:06:32] Brad: [00:06:32] All right. Well, good. Uh, so, so what, what sparked, you know, when we reached out to you, I said, Hey, you made this post, which let’s talk about that first. So you had put a post out by Amy Morin, and I believe her last name on The 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do. Can you tell me a little bit about that story? Cause it sounded like your daughter put that on your desk.

[00:06:56] Al: [00:06:56] Yeah. Uh, you know, I’m a true believer in the law of [00:07:00] attraction and, uh, she, she took that off my bookshelf. I honestly have never read the book. Um, I don’t even remember how I came into possession with the book, whether it was a gift.

[00:07:14] Or my wife picked it up. I’m not sure. Um, but when, you know, it was, it was the beginning of COVID, right. We were already transitioned working from home. So I was in my home office and my daughter had pulled that randomly off the bookshelf, set it on my desk and I was, I was working away and I glanced over at it.

[00:07:39] And, uh, you know, it was a red book. It caught my eye. And I stared at it for a second. There’s probably a million different things running through my head. Right? What is going on with the economy? How am I going to stay in business? Right. Are my people affective working from home? There were so many unknowns [00:08:00] at that moment and, um, it just hit me and I, I read it.

[00:08:06] And I’m like, this is interesting. And I opened up the table of contents and it was a very clear 13 bullet points of what mentally strong people don’t do. And I adhere to all of them and, and trust me, I’m not an expert at mental toughness, but I think from talking with me, you’ll see kind of some grounded patterns and how I communicate and what I believe in.

[00:08:33] And I thought it was such a powerful, you know, it was, it was something from above that. Put this in my lap. And it was something that needed to be shared to the world. At that point, it was, everything was going through the exact same challenges that myself and that RPM were going through. And I, I just, you know, I felt the urge to put it out there.

[00:08:56] I  in these things strongly. [00:09:00] And I thought it was good advice and I, you know, it did, it got a lot of views, a lot of comments, a lot of interaction more than I actually expected. Um, So, yeah, it was a timing is everything. It was the right time for that book to appear in my lap.

[00:09:16] Brad: [00:09:16] So when you posted the, when you posted this, what was the w was there one or two of these that really stuck out that you felt like sort of resonated with you?

[00:09:29] Al: [00:09:29] There’s one, I think there’s one really good, um, concept and it was. The fourth one, they don’t focus on things they can’t control. I think that’s a, that was like, to me, that was like the general underpinning of all of the other 13 points, honestly.

[00:09:54] Take a step back. You are living in the world. There are [00:10:00] things happening around you that are totally out of your control. Don’t wait, you have to be aware of them. But focus on what is in your control? Right? So that’s where you’re looking for. The, there’s always a balance. There’s a positive and there’s a negative.

[00:10:16] Focus on what is in your control, right? Which are your thoughts, your actions, and looking at all the circumstances around you and finding a path to go get what you want. And so that, that’s the one that really stuck out to me. And I choose to look at the positive side.

[00:10:36] Brad: [00:10:36] Yeah, no, I think that’s good. I think there was one on here about. Maybe complaining or maybe you’re controlling your emotions. But I think the one thing that in, in note with that one thing that complaining does is that it really takes your focus off what you can control and puts it on what you can’t.

[00:10:55] Yeah. I

[00:10:56] Al: [00:10:56] had don’t waste your time feeling sorry for yourself. Right.

[00:11:00] [00:11:00] Brad: [00:11:00] You know, you mentioned you’re not a, not an expert on mental toughness. Uh, you obviously adhere to some of this stuff. It resonated with you. Do you think, you know, how you see the world? Does that come from your upbringing or was there a specific event in your life that sort of transitioned your thinking around how you see the world?

[00:11:21] Al: [00:11:21] Yeah, I mean, I think at a core yet, it was definitely the way I was raised.

[00:11:26] Um, Uh, you know, it started as a young kid and, you know, that was instilled by my parents, especially my father, my parents were divorced, uh, and my father lived in Mexico. So it was as a kid, it was really tough on me. I had a challenge dealing with that. Um, you know, but my dad would call and my dad would visit.

[00:11:50] Um, and you know, I played soccer growing up as a kid and, you know, he was just, he was. He instilled in both my brother and I, uh, the [00:12:00] belief system in ourselves that we could accomplish absolutely anything. And, uh, you know, that I kind of take that with me and everything I’ve accomplished in life. Right. I, no one will outwork me.

[00:12:14] I  always have clear goals. And then I’m gonna, I’m going to figure out a way to accomplish those goals. And, you know, I think that’s important in life. Um, I think it’s vital in sales.

[00:12:29] Brad: [00:12:29] In, in the sales role, how, how hard do you think sales is?

[00:12:34] Al: [00:12:34] Oh, I think, I think sales is, you know, it’s extremely difficult, right?

[00:12:40] It takes, you know, it takes this individual, right. We kind of discussed earlier, like, uh, you know, you gotta be extremely intelligent. You gotta be really passionate. You have to, um, be able to hear the word. No. Constantly you got these [00:13:00] professional procurement people that you’re selling to. And again, it differs between if you’re selling to consumers or businesses, I’ve spent my.

[00:13:08] Whole career or selling to businesses. Right. So you’re going to hear no, and you’re going to hear a million different objections, um, and you just have to have fun with it. You have to love the journey. You have to love every opportunity to talk with someone you have to, you have to embrace that. And, uh, yeah, it’s, it’s, uh, it’s, it’s challenging.

[00:13:31] It’s just getting people that are positive, that are motivated, that are competitive, that are goal oriented. And that, that love to talk to people. Sales is, is communication, uh, in my world when you’re selling a service it’s it’s communication. So you have to enjoy that journey. If you don’t enjoy talking to people, it’s not cut out for you.

[00:13:52] And so if you, if you look at historically in my industry, Uh, you know, people used to beat up the logistics industry, that [00:14:00] it was a chop shop. Well, that’s not necessarily true. It’s actually the reverse. It’s just maybe, uh, we hired a lot of the wrong people. That didn’t have that drive that didn’t love with other people that didn’t get off on someone saying no, or throwing an objection at them, and it was uncomfortable for them.

[00:14:23] And so it just wasn’t the right fit or role for them. It wasn’t a chop shop. The people that were good at communicating the good at building relationships, the good at servicing their client. Good at overcoming objections. They’ve all been lifers in this industry and have made a lot of money, created. A lot of wealth, created a lot of opportunity for themselves and their families.

[00:14:46] So, um, you know, it just, it just does take hiring the right individual to be successful.

[00:14:54] Brad: [00:14:54] Now, was there anything specific that you guys do currently, or you’ve done in the past [00:15:00] to sort of weed that weed, that out? Cause what’s come up in every interview is really, you know, an attachment to know, like you got to get somebody who does, you know, has stick to it and this, and they’re not connected. No doesn’t violate their ethos of who they are.

[00:15:19] Al: [00:15:19] Um, that’s a great question. And you know, some of my past organizations definitely, you know, leveraged, uh, different systems and tools to do that at RPM. Um, you know, we’ve taken a different approach. So for the role of sales, I, you know, I I’ve, I’m not hiring.

[00:15:41] A bunch of kids out of school, right. Where we’re looking for hyper growth. And with that, I know that it takes two to three years to really establish a young individual, to be a strong sales representative. And so I’ve leveraged my time in the industry [00:16:00] and the strong relationships I have. Built. And so we try to look outside the box.

[00:16:05] We look for people that have experienced, um, to bring into our organization, or we found individuals that are not necessarily selling logistics, but they’ve had success selling. Other services or products. Um, but they’re tenured so that they have five to 10 years experience and they love the game of sales.

[00:16:25] And so, you know, we’re simply just recruiting the right types of people that are experienced in sales, and then they share our ethos. Right? So they, they feel that, you know, they dream big. Um, they have, you know, a wonderful personality. They’re interesting. They, they care about things outside of work.

[00:16:43] That’s important to us. They seem to be family oriented. That that’s another big thing we looked for. And, uh, so we’ve taken a little different approach than, uh, what the companies I’ve worked at at the past of them.

[00:16:57] Brad: [00:16:57] Is there anything, um, specifically [00:17:00] that we didn’t ask that you want to talk about or cover?

[00:17:05] Al: [00:17:05] Yeah. You know, you did ask a question or you guys had presented a question earlier, uh, when you have to make a tough decision, what’s the first thing you do. And you know, that that’s one that hits home, hopefully I can control myself here, but, um, I do the same thing that I’ve always done.

[00:17:29] And I, I always looked up to my dad. Who’s no longer with us. He passed away last year. Big Al was his name. And, uh, everything was sounded through Big Al you know, he wasn’t, no, he was a procurement guy for 40 worked at Ford motor company for 30 years. Um, and he was a great guy. He surrounded himself, amazing people.

[00:17:57] Um, you know, I wouldn’t, I [00:18:00] wouldn’t say he was a scientist at sales. He didn’t, he never, he never shared wisdom if you will. But he was, he was my sounding board. When I, when I had something to share, I had a tough decision or I, I accomplished something big. He was always. Uh, the F the first call and, um, you know, in his memory when, uh, you know, we buried him and we were giving the eulogy, um, you know, I left his friends and our family with, uh, three things that I thought he wanted to leave everyone.

[00:18:41] And that was 1) to dream really big. Know exactly what you want. Write it down, have a picture of it. But, but no, no. What you’re shooting for. 2) is believe in, believe in something bigger than [00:19:00] yourself, um, establish your plan, your strategy, you know, and believe it, believe in that service that you’re offering or that product that you’re selling.

[00:19:11] You have to be passionate and you have to a hundred percent believe in what you’re doing. And then. Never give up. You stick to your plan, you outwork your competition. And of course you measure and make adjustments when, when you’re not achieving what you want to do achieve, but dream big, believe, and never give up.

[00:19:32] That’s that’s what my father instilled in me. And, uh, I always have that discussion with him spiritually now, verse, uh, you know, face to face over the phone and, uh, you know, like that book magically dropping in my lap, uh, uh, you know, strange things happen for different reasons, but if you’re clear in [00:20:00] where you’re going and what you want, uh, things that things tend to fall into your lap.

[00:20:05] Brad: [00:20:05] Alright, thanks for sharing that story. I’m glad you did that. Um, okay. Well, we’re going to do three more questions. I do this thing called the power play, and I’m going to ask you three questions and just tell me the first thing that comes to mind. Al, are you ready for the power play?

[00:20:21] Al: [00:20:21] I am indeed.

[00:20:22] Brad: [00:20:22] All right. Toughest decision you’ve ever had to make.

[00:20:26] Al: [00:20:26] Uh, it’s uh, it just happened laying off people that, uh, were new in our organization during COVID Anne’s down the toughest decision. They just, they didn’t have the time or the opportunity to make an impact. And, you know, being forced to make tough decisions right now that that’s, that’s been the toughest.

[00:20:50] Brad: [00:20:50] Biggest regret.

[00:20:52] Al: [00:20:52] Biggest regret. Not not challenging myself at sales earlier on in my [00:21:00] career. I, uh, as I told you earlier, I played more of an impact role, internal counting, finance, uh, reporting. Uh, never believed. That I can make an impact and create value for an industry or a company. And, uh, I’m doing it, you know, toward the later quarter of my career.

[00:21:24] And, uh, I love what I’m doing. I’m extremely passionate about getting in front of customers and helping customers. So that’s probably my biggest regret. Not doing it for a longer period.

[00:21:36] Brad: [00:21:36] Alright. Born mentally tougher made mentally tough.

[00:21:40] Al: [00:21:40] Made mentally tough. For sure. Uh, you know, going back to the, uh, 13 things that mentally tough people don’t do.

[00:21:51] Um, I’ve spent time in my past feeling sorry for myself. Um, I focused on things that were [00:22:00] totally out of my control. Um, I am a pleaser. I tend to try to please everybody. Um, Taking risks, uh, you know, going to being an entrepreneur today and being in business for myself. Uh, I was a corporate guy for a long time.

[00:22:20] Uh, I’ve dwelled dwelled on the past. Um, yeah. Made the same mistakes over and over and over again. And, uh, you know, so, you know, going down the list. Yeah. Just, you gotta be aware, you gotta focus. You know, I think one thing that really helps me, uh, being mentally tough is, you know, taking the time to think.

[00:22:46] Um, you know, understand your behaviors and how you’re feeling, understand your emotion and thinking. Yeah. No. Think about your thoughts. Think about what’s what’s going on and writing that stuff down. Like sometimes [00:23:00] there’s not a clear path you have to, you, you have to communicate with others or you got to communicate with yourself and write things down and you will find the answers. The path will become clear.

[00:23:10] Brad: [00:23:10] All right. I do have one other question for you on, um, you said that your biggest regret was not challenging yourself enough in sales. What was the transition for you? Cause it sounds like you had more of an operational execution background. What was the process for you to getting into sales?

[00:23:28] Al: [00:23:28] It was joining this startup at RPM. Right. So, uh, you know, in a, in a startup mentality, you know, that’s, that’s all you have. Yeah. It is. You have your, you know, we don’t have outside funding. I’m not, I’m not hiring the best sales people in the world. And, and, you know, Staffing up. Um, we had to build strategy.

[00:23:53] I had to use all my experience and really download that and build the strategy. And then, [00:24:00] um, you know, when your back’s up against the wall, you got to pick up the phone and you gotta, you know, make some social posts and you gotta invest in a little bit of marketing and you have to, when that. Customer is willing to talk.

[00:24:16] You got to pick up the phone and talk. And so that, that was it. It was just, it was, it was agreeing to come on this journey, uh, of, of, uh, RPM in a startup mode. And, and you haven’t, when you’re the guy, you have no choice, you have to, you have to make it happen. And so. It was, uh, it was not easy and now I love it.

[00:24:40] No, I, I challenge all our sales teams and resources to get me involved and yeah. And, you know, I wanna, I want to help them. Right. And empower them to be really confident. And I think one of the best ways to teach sales is to have [00:25:00] people listen and watch and participate and collaborate. Right. Cause they have great ideas too, and I’m constantly, you know, changing the script or my pitch or how I approach different situations.

[00:25:12] I’m learning every day. And so, uh, yeah, that was, that was how. How I challenged myself was really just, uh, enter the startup. And, and you lived in died by the, by the sale.

[00:25:24] Brad: [00:25:24] By the sale, I’m still shocked. Just that your numbers that you guys went from, you know, he read an article, you get in front of Barry.

[00:25:34] You guys decided to do a deal or you’re $5 million. Now you’re $200 million Inc. 500. Let’s say that’s really exciting.

[00:25:41] Al: [00:25:41] We love it. I’m having more, more fun today than I’ve had in my whole career. So I guess that’s what keeps me going. Uh, it’s fun. Right? It’s really fun. We. We have, uh, assembled, uh, uh, just a wonderful team.

[00:25:57] Uh, we, we share that entrepreneurial [00:26:00] spirit and that environment we’ve empowered people. And, uh, we’re, we’re, we’re having a ton of fun doing what we do. And I think that comes through to our customers. Right. I think, I think they see, they hear and see the passion. And, uh, you know, we’re, we’re connecting trucking companies, um, to available freight in the marketplace.

[00:26:21] So it’s nothing new. It’s, we’ve just created a unique culture and a very transparent, uh, system and process. And, uh, you know, when we’re very aggressive and so there’s, there’s no secret to what we’re doing. It, it’s just a lot of hard work.

[00:26:41] Brad: [00:26:41] After our conversation, I kept thinking about Al’s story about his dad, Big Al. He talked about three values that his dad wanted him to lead by: dream big, believe in yourself, or believe in something bigger than yourself, and never give up. Wasn’t that a super powerful moment. I’ve [00:27:00] got Kiel Hauck here. Kiel, what do you think?

[00:27:03] Kiel: [00:27:03] Yeah, I mean, powerful is the right word, you know, doing a, a podcast like this. Um, you know, we’re pretty strategic about the guests that we have on, and you know, you obviously have an idea of where you want the conversation to go, but ultimately you never really know, uh, What might pop up, you know, during those conversations.

[00:27:21] And yeah, that was just really an incredibly emotional and powerful moment for, for out a share that, and it was just so obvious that, um, the impact and the legacy that his dad had left behind and how that’s still impacting Al and really his entire family to this day.

[00:27:37] Brad: [00:27:37] Yeah, it was, I was not expecting the conversation to go the direction that it went. But I think those were some really strong principles that he left behind and you could tell it made a really big impact on Al.

[00:27:55] Kiel: [00:27:55] You know and one of the things I was thinking about, uh, after that conversation is [00:28:00] that, you know, w we talked about, well, mental toughness on this podcast, we’re not really talking about like quick fixes this.

[00:28:07] Isn’t like, you know, the five tips that are going to get you more mentally tough for your next sales call. You know, you hear our talk about it, and it’s really about developing a, a legacy, right?

[00:28:17] Brad: [00:28:17] Yeah, I, I think he went, I think it’s a legacy and I think it’s also kind of an evolution of growth that you, that you can see that ultimately you want to take plant in your life and then be able to pass it onto your, your kids.

[00:28:35] I mean, those three, I think if you could pass, if every parent could pass those three things onto their kids, they’d be really happy, dream big believe in yourself and never give up.

[00:28:44] Kiel: [00:28:44] Yeah. And, you know, just to that point, it’s kind of like, I guess the takeaway here for me is that, I mean, it’s not too late and it’s not too early to start thinking about what that’s gonna look like.

[00:28:56] What, what do you want to leave behind? There’s no right. [00:29:00] Timeline for this other than right now is a great time to start thinking about.

[00:29:04] Brad: [00:29:04] Yeah. Well, when I think about, you know, I think about legacy, I think about Teddy Roosevelt and the legacy that he left. To his kids. And really, you know, you’ve got the two Roosevelt families that came from different branches, but there was definitely something in the water.

[00:29:24] There, there was something, something in the family makeup that made that, that family tree so resilient and strong that they were able to pass that on to their kids. Cause the Roosevelt family members are still. Not only legislating and still involved, but they’re still, all politics are still involved in day to day.

[00:29:45] Uh, you know, happenings that happen in the world. Same thing with the Kennedys.

[00:29:50] Kiel: [00:29:50] Yeah, well, I mean, it’s, it’s fascinating and this is big stuff to think about and kind of wrap your head around. I guess, if you were going to boil down like [00:30:00] one takeaway here of what somebody can do tomorrow, what, what would that look like to you?

[00:30:04] Brad: [00:30:04] So I think the one thing that you can do is, is really perspective. Um, I think that’s the most important place to start. Is really getting, um, a perspective and understanding and understanding. And so I think, you know, if you take what Al said, if, if you take the first one dream big, I think that’s a big piece of, of getting perspective is, is having a dream that’s bigger than the one that you have today.

[00:30:32] Something that you can step into and then really understanding that. Um, life happens for you not to you. I think that’s a significant piece of mental toughness is that paradigm shift is sort of moving away from, you know, if you’re a little kid and somebody takes your brownie. It’s not that they took the brownie from you.

[00:30:54] It’s the heyday probably needed the brownie. And I think making that little shift sort of makes everything else sorta [00:31:00] sort of step into place. I think it helps you, you know, take being in a, in a traffic situation. I heard somebody tell a story where they were, um, they were behind somebody and they were just so irritated.

[00:31:12] This is kind of a, um, I don’t know that it was, uh, so they were just really irritated that the sky was. Driving slow, but then, um, they realized that they would have been a part yeah. Of an accident had this guy not gotten, gotten in front of them. They probably would have been full, full blown into something that was ahead of them. So I think the first thing is really changing that mindset.

[00:31:36] Kiel: [00:31:36] Yeah, really powerful stuff in this conversation. I’m really, really glad we had the chance to talk with Al and, um, get his perspective.

[00:31:44] Brad: [00:31:44] It was powerful to say the least. So thanks for dropping by Kiel. That’s it for today. Remember if you’d like some further reading on how to grow in mental toughness and become a better salesperson, you can download the mental toughness playbook and get it for free.

[00:31:58] By going to monster [00:32:00] connect.com. Slash podcast. And remember to subscribe to your favorite podcast app and leave us a review on Apple podcast until next time don’t let what you can’t do, interfere with what you can do.