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4 September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine CONTENTS 2022SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER|MAGAZINEBUSINESSTK 32 ANextGen:Future Focused on Family Learn how four friends are taking ranching and the beef industry to the next level.
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Employment
Entrepreneurship can be daunting at any age, but six youth entrepreneurs are finding ways to turn hobbies into cash. for
Business Michael Odupitan 30 A Collaborative CommunityEXPERTSTHEFROM 6494 BURNSJOHNbyPhotoHIGHFILLEMMAbyPhotoBURNSJOHNbyPhoto
Last Word With Molly Howey 94 Molly Howey shares the goals of GO Topeka and how local businesses can be part of the success. Dietrick and Tools for Terminating an Relationship Kelli Higgins Online
12 Start Your
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas has navigated its way through several pivotal moments over the past 80 years and has an eye to the future.
Moments 88
When husbands and wives go into business together it can be difficult. Throw in a sibling and it gives new meaning to the idea of a “family” business. When the Economic Weather Gets Stormy: Leadership Starts With You 54 Kansas Leadership Center offers leadership guidance to navigate uncertainty. A World of Opportunity 58
Kristina
Success or Bureaucratic Requirement 82
Washburn professor Michael Stoica shares his take on the strategic planning process.
10 Tips
6 September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine CONTENTS 2022SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER|MAGAZINEBUSINESSTK Community Collaborations 16
Local businesses and nonprofits are teaming up to solve problems with interesting solutions. All in the Family 40
Adapting to Pivotal
16 40 BURNSJOHNbyPhoto Strategic Planning: Central
Two local companies discover new opportunities through corporate buyouts. Turning Play Into Pay 64
made in the Sunflower State. Here is our featured candidate #1. Spiral Chutes by Stevenson Company save Made from sanitary stainless steel and powered by gravity, these fun size slipper snack factories around the world We want to know what you think! Vote for your favorite at kansascool.com or scan this code WHAT’S THE COOLEST THING MADE IN KANSAS?
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Unfortunately, every leader needs to make the decision to terminate an employment relationship. It is never easy, but if you have a plan…it goes much easier.First, if you are terminating the employment relationship because of issues with their performance, have you had coaching conversations? Many times, a verbal conversation will assist the employee in getting on the right track.
TIPS & TOOLS FOR TERMINATING ANRELATIONSHIPEMPLOYMENT
Do employees need to have a verbal or written warning before they are terminated? No. In Kansas, it is an employment at will. So, this means you can sever the employment relationship with or without cause and the employee has the same right, but the termination cannot be for discriminatory reasons. The only time I encourage termination without warning is when the offense is egregious, willful or arises to gross misconduct.
SUBMITTEDPHOTO
Kristina Dietrick, PHR, SHRM-CP HRPresidentPartners
FAQ
GENERAL TIPS
HUMAN RESOURCE ADVICE 21
Second, if verbal counseling does not work, it is time to document the issues in a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP). This conveys to the employee in writing the specific work issues and expectations. You must have a witness in the meeting with you and the employee. The best witness would be someone in the line of supervision or a human resources professional. During this meeting request a signature from the employee to verify their commitment to the organization’s expectations.
Do I have to document their performance issues? You don’t have to, but if you get into a lawsuit, it assists your case in defending terminating the employee for cause. As I advise leaders, the termination does not have to be lengthy. Just stick to the facts: dates, times, witnesses and what happened. The preference is to have the employee sign the documentation, but it is not required.
10 September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine
an employee is never simple or easy; however, it can be much less stressful if you have taken the appropriate action leading up to the termination event. TK
Make sure the line of supervision is aware of the termination.
Face-to-face is preferred. But, sometimes under certain circumstances it needs to be over the phone. You still must have a witness. What about separation pay? This is a business decision. You can provide this if you feel it is warranted, but if you are giving the former employee a significant amount of money, you should tie it to a Separation Agreement. This is a legal document that assists in protecting the employer from potential lawsuits in the future. Should I contest their unemployment benefits? You have every right to contest the unemployment, but you will need to have the documentation to prove your Terminatingcase.
Gather property of the employer. Keys, credit cards, laptop computer, cell phone, etc. Get the employer’s property while they are still with you. Assist them in gathering their property. What is in their office? Assist them to their office and off the property.
Finally, if these expectations are not met, it is best to terminate the employment relationship. Below are the steps to termination:
Discuss their last paycheck. PTO payouts, etc. Discuss their benefits. When will they end? Points of contact for these benefits.
TERMINATIONS
QUESTIONSFINAL
Yes, whenever the least amount of people are present at the office. Do I have to do this face-to-face?
STEPS
Have your talking points ready for the meeting. This is what you need to convey: State the facts. “We have made a business decision to end your employment as of today. This is not a good long term fit for both parties.”
Make sure you have a witness for the termination process (line of supervision or human resources professional). Many times, HR Partners or Dietrick Law has been the witness. This may occur when the leader has no other witnesses, or the employer believes this termination will be contentious.
Is there a good time to terminate the relationship?
If the employee has remote access to any information technology, please inform the IT person to disengage the system at the time of the termination.
September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine 11
Have you seen the social media videos of people talking about their favorite Amazon products? That’s affiliate marketing! You can make money through affiliate marketing via your blog, or even monetize your social media with affiliate links. This is a great online business model for beginners as you don’t have to create any products or keep any inventory. You will need (or at least greatly benefit from) an email list if you want to consider this model. Most affiliate sales will come from your list, not your blog or social media, but you can definitely start where you are and grow.
START YOUR BUSINESSONLINE
BLOGGING
As a blogger, you usually make money from ads, sponsored content, or affiliate deals. Blogging takes consistency to work, and the results can take a while to materialize, but there are many bloggers making a good living online. Even if it is not going to be used as your primary form of income, having a blog is a good way to promote your other business or to bolster your reputation. Coaches, freelancers and network marketers can all find that a blog helps promote their main business. Once a blog generates enough traffic, it can be monetized using affiliate marketing or paid advertising.
@ @
Physical products can be sold online via your website or with the help of other services. With the Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) service, you simply ship your goods to Amazon. The sale and processing occur through the Amazon platform, as does delivery of the product itself. Other methods of selling physical products online include drop shipping and opening an Etsy shop (where you can sell both physical and digitalDigitalproducts).products are electronic goods, content, or pieces of media that can be stored in a file or sold and shared online. For example, eBooks, audio files, website templates, PDFs, etc. are all digital products.
AFFILIATE MARKETING
6
ONLINE BUSINESS OPTIONS CHOOSE AN ONLINE BUSINESS MODEL
E-COMMERCE STORE (PHYSICAL AND DIGITAL PRODUCTS)
@
You might believe that to succeed in starting an online business you must have a truly original idea. However, you don’t have to be the next Jeff Bezos to run a successful online business; you just need to be willing to set realistic goals and act. Countless people have already made the leap into entrepreneurship, and with the right online business ideas and plenty of sweat equity, you can too.
12 September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine
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Digital courses are a great way to scale your coaching or consulting business. Again, you’re selling something you already know, but you’re doing it in a more hands-off, automated way. And if you do this as a continuation of your coaching offer, you know you have a target audience who is happy to pay higher prices for your self-study courses.
If you are an expert on a particular topic, then you should consider creating your own online course. This is not as difficult as it sounds, but you will still be responsible for marketing and promoting your course. Products and services have one problem: they both require you to spend money and time on creating new value. Digital products are quite different.
You can get started right away with a skill you already have. And because coaches and consultants have a higher perceived value than freelancers, you can get paid more on an hourly basis. A new freelancer might charge $50/hour for their time, while a coach or a consultant can ask for $100 or more. @ @
The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely upon advertisements or prior results obtained.
N. Larr y Bork Miranda K. Carmona Cynthia J. Sheppeard David P. O’Neal Susan L. Mauch Samuel R. Feather Tracy A. PatrickCameronLanceCatherineColeL.WalbergR.SmithS.BernardM.Salsbury
FREELANCING If you have a marketable skill that can be delivered online, freelancing is a great way to earn extra money because you can get started right away by selling a skill you already have. You can work from anywhere and leverage your existing skills for compensation. Examples of freelance services you can offer include copywriting, proofreading, graphic design, website design, social media manager and virtual assistant services. But there’s one problem: As a freelancer, you sell your time. You’re like an employee, but with a lot of different bosses. Still, it can be a good place to start if you want to start earning money from your business as fast as possible.
COACHING AND CONSULTING
Experience Matters. Trusted since 1881.
September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine 13 }
515 S Kansas Ave Topeka, KS 66603
Getting your first paying customer is a huge milestone for a new small business owner. Once your store is set up, you’ll want to start getting your business out there. News flash, there is no such thing as an overnight success. Finding new customers and creating convincing promotions takes time and energy.
It might sound harsh, but it’s true: just because you think you have a great idea, that doesn’t mean there’s a market for it. Before investing your time and energy into starting your business, research how feasible it is and whether there’s any potential buyer interest. After conducting market research, write a business plan to clarify your ideas. Having a business plan will help you stay organized and focused as you go through the ups and downs of starting a new business.
First, decide on a business name. Then choose a domain name and verify that it’s available. You can purchase a domain name for less than $20 a year in some cases. From there, you can build your own store on a platform like Shopify and start accepting payments from customers right away.
I needed sales quickly when I first got started, and Etsy acts as a search engine and can help to accomplish that goal. However, they do take a substantial cut, so once I was ready, I knew I wanted to have my own custom website so I could keep more of the profit. It’s all important to note that when you use a platform like Etsy, you do not own any of the information from the sale or the client. Having my own website provided the opportunity to communicate with clients and have better options for them to engage with me.
• How are your values and beliefs different? Does your business stand for something? Make it clear.
FIND YOUR NICHE
RESEARCH YOUR MARKET
• How are YOU different? How are you/your business different from your competitors? Think: personality, voice, all those things that make you unique.
• How is your “secret sauce” different? How do you help your customers get results and how does that differ from your competitors? Alternatively, if you sell products, think about what makes your products special.
If you’re selling a custom or digital product, platforms like Etsy and eBay might also be a great option for you. I started my business on Etsy, grew it to over six figures, then built a custom website. There were two major reasons for this – quick sales and an established customer base.
E-COMMERCE #4 #5
DEVELOP YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE
BUILD YOUR BUSINESS WEBSITE
MARKET YOUR NEW SMALL BUSINESS
A solid brand will help you stand out on social media among a sea of other online businesses. Answer these questions to create a stand-out brand:
• How is your audience different? Do you serve a specific target market? That’s what you’ll want to highlight.
14 September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine 5 WAYS TO DEVELOP A BUSINESSWINNINGIDEA #1 #2 #3
You’ve validated your idea, now it’s time to turn it into a reality. Whether you’re selling a product or service, you need to create it. Find a manufacturer to bring your product to life, create packages of your service offerings, write your book and identify a self-publishing option to bring it to fruition, or create your digital products and post them on Etsy. If you go the drop shipping route, the product has already been developed for you. It’s up to you to choose the products you’re passionate about or that you’ve identified a hot market for.
• How is your product different? Do you offer a better service than others? Do you make things easier for clients?
Make a list of all the skills you’ve learned in your career. Then, look at things you get questions about all the time. Maybe it’s your nutrition, your amazing singing voice, or your public speaking skills. And finally, look at your hobbies and interests. What skills have you learned on the side? Think about people who might want this, aka your target audience. Relationship coaching for men? Career coaching for executives? Brand consulting for creative businesses? That’s how you find your niche.
If you want to start an online business, you need to have a website. And to make money online, you’ll need to incorporate payment processing functionality.
Think about how your product features are different.
If you’ve been thinking about starting an online business, now is the perfect time to put yourself out there, act and create your online mark. TK
September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine 15
By KIM GRONNIGER
Two innovative community collaborations are underway in Topeka to elevate the way essential services are delivered. One initiative is focused on enriching the lives of unhoused individuals and another on Topeka Collegiate’s school lunch program. These two groups are capitalizing on their collective expertise to reimagine possibilities for enhancing the well-being of the individuals they each serve.
16 September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine }
Photos by JOHN BURNS
COLLABORATIONSCOMMUNITY
KITCHENCOLLEGIATE
Many school lunches rotate around chicken nuggets, mystery meat patties and starchy entrées, but Topeka Collegiate students this fall will enjoy globally inspired meals featuring fresh ingredients made possible through a collaboration with K.I.T. Solutions and Bobby’s Food Co.
In May, the school’s beloved cook, Crystal Kiely, retired following 13 years of overseeing students’ nutritional needs. To plan for the change, Dr. Lyn Rantz, head of school, spent time last year reimagining the food program for Shawnee County’s sole independent school and the only one not accessing the federal lunch“Topekaprogram.Collegiate is known for academic excellence, but we also know that strong academics begin with physical and Dr. Lyn Rantz Head of School Topeka Collegiate Bobby Santacroce Bobby’sOwner Food Co. Pedro Concepcion K.I.T.OwnerSolutions
18 September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine
Photo by JOHN BURNS
FOOD AS AN ADVENTURE
Pedro Concepcion, well-known for the innovative menus he’s created for popular Topeka eateries such as The Pennant, Brew Bank and The Tee Box, and Bobby Santacroce, owner of Bobby’s Food Co., worked with Rantz to create healthy, cost-effective menus that will be mass produced for about 150 students using locally sourced ingredients from vendors such as Tanner Beef and Arkenberg Farms. In May, Concepcion, Santacroce and Topeka Collegiate lunchroom supervisor Yumiko Glashausser hosted a tasting week for staff and students. } One student came through the line and asked for his customary peanut butter and jelly sandwich. “I asked him to try our menu (herbed polenta with veggie pasta, braised beef and a breadstick) and I told him I would make him a PB&J if he didn’t like it,” said Concepcion. “He came back and high-fived me, praised the polenta that he thought was mashed potatoes and “Experiencing different cultures at a young age through food will make it easier for kids to try new things throughout their lives.” Pedro Concepcion Owner K.I.T. Solutions
September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine 19 mental health,” said Rantz. “Eating healthy helps us focus and feel better throughout the day.” She explored possibilities with a local foodie, a Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas dietitian, and others to glean ideas for challenging nutritional norms and encouraging students to experiment with unfamiliar cuisines and produce prepared in enticing ways to engage their senses and spark their curiosity.“What if we play classical music as students enter the lunchroom? What if we put fruits and veggies front and center instead of sugary snacks?” she asked. “If we do this right, we are improving students’ lives and helping them be more adventurous with what they eat.”
Photo by JOHN BURNS
All weekly menus will feature proteins, grains, fruits and vegetables in alignment with USDA dietary guidelines while also integrating education about the origin, region and culture of the meals served.“Experiencing different cultures at a young age through food will make it easier for kids to try new things throughout their lives,” said Concepcion.
DOING THINGS DIFFERENTLY
Sample menus include coconut curry meatballs with chickpea white rice, burnt ends and roasted vegetables, sweet Thai pulled pork and spring rolls and Greek lasagna.
“We’re a team, troubleshooting supply chain issues and envisioning an entirely new lunchroom experience,” she said. “It’s an inspiring project, one we’re all honored to be part of.”
“No one wants to eat mushy, soggy stuff,” said Santacroce. “During our trial run, it was great to see the kids already excited. Diversity is the spice of life and we’re eager to open the kids’ palettes to new things.”Inaddition to a daily entrée and vegetarian alternative, the school will offer a salad bar with multiple fruit, vegetable and protein selections such as seasoned tofu, tuna salad and beans. In addition to milk and chocolate milk, water infused with berries, lemons or cucumbers will be available to encourage hydration. Snacks and desserts will include new twists like vegan cookie protein balls, and one day each week will be dedicated to breakfast fare.
Topeka Collegiate weekly menus feature proteins, grains, fruits and vegetables in alignment with USDA dietary guidelines while also integrating education about the origin, region and culture of the meals served.
“Some kids may have only had certain vegetables prepared in the same manner, so we’ll be introducing them to new ways to enjoy them,” said Concepcion. “I overheard one little girl eating a piece of broccoli from our preview menu say that she didn’t mind eating vegetables if they tasted good. That’s what we’re striving for.”
Photo by JOHN BURNS
Throughout their careers, Concepcion and Santacroce have strived to build reputations for doing things differently and better, a complement to Topeka Collegiate’s “beyond the book” holistic approach to all aspects of education, said Rantz.
“We focus on fresh, local ingredients and cultural fusion,” said Santacroce. “The food is eclectic, nutritious and fun to not only nourish the belly but also the mind.” }
For Concepcion and Santacroce, texture is as important as taste when it comes to creating memorable meals for kids and adults alike.
20 September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine asked for a banana. That was an iconic moment that helped us know we were doing something right.”
Concepcion agreed. “We’re striving for program stability and sustainability while pursuing excellence and innovation in our execution.”
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“A lot of learning happens in the classroom, but our students and staff are part of the bigger community too, so it’s cool to incorporate the expertise of local entrepreneurs and experts and have different voices participating in the project,” she said. “We’re committed to a lifelong growth mindset and instilling healthier eating habits can improve physical and mental health for all of us.”
Concepcion was entrusted at an early age to make supper for his siblings and became adept at combining whatever ingredients were on hand to create new dishes. His experimentation in the kitchen led to graduation from a culinary institute and launched his career. “The food is eclectic, nutritious and fun to not only nourish the belly but also the mind.”
“We’re not aware of any other school pursuing this type of initiative and we hope to create something that is potentially scalable to other parts of Shawnee County and beyond,” said Santacroce. “We’re all playing to our strengths and showing others what’s possible.”
Raised on the East Coast, Santacroce’s two Italian grandmothers nurtured his lifelong passion for food.
“We think parents will appreciate the opportunity to buy something delicious and nutritious that they can reheat quickly at home,” said Santacroce.
“I’m a transplant to Topeka, along with Pedro and Bobby,” said Rantz. “From the start, I’ve appreciated the hands-on entrepreneurial spirit of the community and our parents. It’s a network of problem solvers, business owners and leaders who have come together to solve the puzzle of providing a locally sourced, healthy, appealing food program for multiple grade levels for our toughest critics, our kids.”
22 September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine
Photo by JOHN BURNS
Community members interested in seeing the lunchroom’s cultural and culinary conversion firsthand can make a reservation in advance.
Brittany Crabtree, director of communications and special projects at Topeka Collegiate, said the lunch program collaboration has spurred additional ideas to fuel the initiative such as potentially having a snack cart with seasonal veggies and fruits available at recess, implementing raised gardens that the kids could tend and offering cooking classes for parents and pre-ordered evening meals they could pick up along with their kids.
Crabtree said the school is also working with Rachel Rost, a sustainability expert at the Topeka Zoo, on composting and managing waste.
FUELING THE FOOD INITIATIVE
}
Bobby Santacroce Owner Bobby’s Food Co.
Accustomed to operating a popular food trailer operation and catering corporate and private events at various area venues, Santacroce said, “Taking on a school lunch program is a unique proposition for me, but I love working with Pedro, and the school’s outside the box thinking is intriguing.”
September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine 23
24 September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine
Unhoused individuals in Topeka often face daily isolation and uncertainty about where, when and how they can obtain basic necessities that most people take for granted—meals, hot showers, laundry facilities, clean socks and underwear, mental health services and preventive care. But thanks to the Mobile Access Partnership } (MAP) comprising the Topeka Rescue Mission, Valeo Behavioral Health Care, Stormont Vail Health, the Shawnee County Health Department and the Topeka Police Department, they can now dependably receive an array of services every week to not only ease their burdens but facilitate stronger personal connections.
(MAP)PARTNERSHIPACCESS
Photo by JOHN BURNS
MOBILE
September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine 25
Photo by JOHN BURNS Photo by JOHN BURNS
Aimee Copp-Hasty, corporate development director for Valeo, said, “Mobile showers for the homeless are very much a big city thing, so we were shooting for the stars to think we could get one in Topeka. Before the mobile unit, unsheltered individuals often had to clean up in convenience store or gas station restrooms. To see the relief on their faces when they leave the shower unit is so gratifying, especially since several of them come by to shower before they go to work.”
Aimee Copp-Hasty Corporate Development DirectorValeo
“A lot of people have come to realize that housing is a big part of health care,” he said. “Many people take vitamins and medication, but think about what that looks like for someone who doesn’t have a house. Capsules can melt in the heat and stick together, and the issue is compounded if they have prescriptions.”
26 September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine
After the Topeka Rescue Mission and Valeo worked with the Shawnee County Health Department in 2019 to secure portable toilets and handwashing stations for individuals living by the river, an idea began to form about a mobile shower and other services.
Bill Persinger, CEO of Valeo, said MAP has provided resources for the mental, physical and social well-being of individuals “carrying extra burdens including a lack of financial resources, trauma, mental illness and chronic family and health problems that have led to unemployment, addiction and other circumstances.”
“During my 48-year career, I’ve seen a lot of great stuff put in place, but MAP is the coolest thing I’ve seen so far.”
Valeo obtained the grant for the mobile shower and laundry trailer.
FACILITATING DIGNITY FOR THE UNSHELTERED
Persinger said the unsheltered living population MAP serves extends not only to people sleeping outdoors on streets and under bridges, but also to those residing in abandoned trailers and campers or staying temporarily with friends and relatives who may not be able to provide lodging long term because of an individual’s mental state.
Bill Persinger ValeoCEO
“Trust is a fundamental component of the partnership. We all know that no single entity could do MAP alone.”
“Once we got the grant, we asked ourselves what if we could do a little more with the special partnerships we have with faith-based groups, local government and nonprofits, and the ideas spooled up quickly,” said Persinger. “Barry Feaker, former CEO of the Topeka Rescue Mission, has always said that progress moves at the speed of trust. Trust is a fundamental component of the partnership. We all know that no single entity could do MAP alone.”
September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine 27 } What’s Kasasa® checking? It’s like you get paid to shop! 2.00 % CASH BACK on everyday debit card purchases.
*For Kasasa Cash Back Checking accounts, if you meet the minimum qualification requirements during the monthly qualification cycle, you will receive 2.00% cash back on up to $400.00 in PIN based/signature-based debit card purchases that post and settle to your account during the monthly qualification cycle. A maximum of $8.00 cash back may be earned per monthly qualification cycle. Insured by NCUA * Persinger said social determinants like zip code and lack of transportation to secure a job or have access to a grocery store offering fruits and vegetables can compromise health, but behavioral determinants like smoking and abusing alcohol and drugs often can be addressed with the right“Individualsresources. may not be able to control where they live, but they may be able to modify their behavior with a supportive environment,” he said. “Through MAP, we’re altering the field by providing access to social services, health care, transportation and internet connectivity. We’re taking necessary services to places where the people who need them are.” MAP partners are not aware of any similar collective and consistent service model for the unhoused elsewhere in the country. They have hosted several out-of-state visitors interested in replicating the partnership’s success in their own communities.“Duringmy 48-year career, I’ve seen a lot of great stuff put in place, but MAP is the coolest thing I’ve seen so far,” Persinger said. “We’re beating back the stigma about mental illness and homelessness and making it real for people who don’t work in this field every day. They can see that we’re helping people not only get their basic mental and physical health needs met, but also providing them with opportunities for greater independence.”
MAKING MAP POSSIBLE MAP launched in May 2021 operating solely through grants and donations. Every Tuesday and Thursday morning between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., partners set up trailers, trucks and tents in a church parking lot, and the Topeka Rescue Mission provides transportation for individuals who needParticipantsit. can sign up for a 20-minute shower session in a two-stall trailer Valeo purchased through a Kansas Housing Resources Corporation grant. Beforehand, they can select a clean set of clothes, including new socks and underwear, from a Topeka Rescue Mission supply trailer. Scotch Fabric Care Services launders their dirty clothes, which are available to be picked up the following week. Community members, volunteers, businesses and church and civic groups donate towels, wash cloths and hygiene items, and A-1 Rental pumps and dumps the wastewater.TheTopeka Rescue Mission serves hot breakfasts and lunches, Gatorade, coffee, and water. Its supply trailer is available for
Photo by JOHN BURNS
28 September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine individuals seeking everything from shoes and flashlights to air mattresses and tents. Much of the inventory is obtained through grants or donated by localValeocompanies.offers mental health screenings, COVID testing and case management services. They assist the Topeka Police Department in establishing city IDs for adults without driver’s licenses and Social Security cards.Every Thursday, Stormont Vail’s ADA-accessible mobile unit provides preventive care and assessments. Karla Hedquist, director of community health engagement for Stormont Vail, said 60 percent of an individual’s health can be attributed to social determinants, 20 percent to genetics and 20 percent to health care. MAP allows the team to address multiple factors that influence health, including social isolation, transportation, cleanliness, and access to healthy food, through dependable MAP by the Numbers May 2021 – July 2022 Number Served 3,551 Unique Individuals Served 749 Individuals Transported 536 Showers 2,457 Clothes 3,193 Meals 7,178 Laundry 703 Volunteer Hours 3,861 Valeo Mental Health Assessments 76 City IDs 146 Stormont-Vail Health Checks 82 Lifeline Phones 119
“one-stop shopping” events, said Hedquist.“Consistency is so important,” she said. “We show up even in extreme weather conditions when it’s extra hot or cold because that’s when they need us the most.”Once a month, Kansas State University’s mobile veterinary unit arrives to care for pets through The Street Dog Coalition overseen by Allison Crow, DVM, and Hill’s Pet Nutrition provides dog food. “It’s unbelievable how many people on the streets have pets and The Street Dog Coalition helps protect that bond to help with mental health. In some cases, these pets may be the only family they have, and the care the pets receive is positive for them too,” Copp-Hasty said.Lifeline offers free cell phones with unlimited talk, text and data features, depending on carrier, to qualifying individuals. Wi-Fi and charging devices can be accessed onsite through equipment provided by the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library. Individuals can also pick up hygiene kits, snacks, pet food, sunglasses and other donated items.
“We’re all passionate about providing this program to a largely distrusting population,” Copp-Hasty said. “The people who come have had a lot of hardships and we are under Karla Hedquist
Stormont Vail Jenny Falk Director of Homeless Outreach Topeka Rescue Mission
Director of Community Health Engagement
The truck, stocked each week, typically runs short on men’s shoes, men’s small shirts and pants, women’s 3X sizes in all items and women’s ankle socks.Referring to a “love the one in front of you philosophy,” Falk said, “Our MAP team members really care about the people we’re serving and strive to provide them with whatever they need in the moment. And if we can’t provide it, we take their requests and try to fulfill them the next time.”
Falk said it has been gratifying to see positive changes in participants’ demeanor through the provision of so many services in one setting.
September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine 29 constant pressure to continue week after week to make a difference in their lives.”
Photo by JOHN BURNS MAP volunteers stock the Topeka Rescue Mission’s supply trailer each week with clean sets of clothes for participants.
“Being able to provide showers, clean clothes, hot meals and connection with others has helped them improve their quality of life and build relationships,” she said.
MEETING BASIC NEEDS
Between May 2021 and July 2022, 749 unique individuals received services through the partnership, which typically serves about 60 people each“We’retime. seeing the results of what can happen when everyone does what it does best,” Copp-Hasty said. “Together we’re all stronger.”
Jenny Falk, director of homeless outreach for the Topeka Rescue Mission, plans MAP routes, evaluates site feasibility for the program’s significant water and electricity needs and coordinates transportation throughout the day so individuals can come and go as they“Weplease.have some sites that people can reach easily but others require transportation,” she said. “There’s always excitement when we pick people up and take them to the MAP site. It’s one consistent thing they can count on living in circumstances where there is not much consistency.” Falk also coordinates relationships with participating churches and ensures that at least a half dozen volunteers are available to assist from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. to set up and tear down the space and fulfill other needs.
TK
Each MAP day, the Topeka Rescue Mission serves about 150 meals. A recent menu included biscuits and gravy, bacon and potatoes for breakfast and chili dogs, chips and Crumbl Cookies for lunch. Individuals who prefer not to shower but still want an additional set of clothes can receive items.“We rely heavily on clothing donations from Doorstep and then fill in as we can,” Falk said.
Once we identify our connectors and establish our collaborative leaders, it is important to develop diverse teams. Research has proven that diverse teams produce better results when led by the proper collaborative leader. Teams that include individuals from diverse backgrounds, cultures and generations, offer different perspectives that extend reach into the community and allows them to build a space that is inclusive to everyone.
30 September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine HIGHFILLEMMAbyPhoto
To establish a collaborative community, I truly believe we must start at the root. I’ve learned in the last three years that collaborative communities need collaborative leaders who know how to work with others and align their shared purpose for the advancement of projects, organizations, communities and society. These individuals must have strong skills in connecting people, attracting diverse talent and modeling collaboration as a core value.
CONNECTORS In Malcolm Gladwell’s bestselling book, The Tipping Point, he describes how Paul Revere’s influence on the community was a result of his “connection” to different social groups.
The influence of Rosa Parks for the civil rights movement wasn’t solely because she refused to give up her seat, but it was her connection to the community that rallied the people. Connectors are significant not only because of the number of people they know but, more importantly, because of their ability to link people, ideas and resources that wouldn’t normally bump into one another.
Diversity means bringing people together who wouldn’t normally work together because of their experience or lack of. I find it difficult to develop solutions alone to issues that I have not personally experienced. To build a great collaborative community we need individuals who are either knowledgeable of the issues and/ or those who have experienced the concerns.
COLLABORATIVE LEADERS
We must learn that the work we do is not about us, but instead, is for the communities we serve. As leaders, if we are not able to put egos aside when building community, we create tall silos with even thicker walls. A strong collaborative leader is one who has also developed their social intelligence to build the teams and communities that work together.
TK Michael Odupitan CEO &OmniPresidentCircle
DIVERSE TEAMS
It is not enough for collaborative leaders to build diverse teams and attract the best talent. They must embody collaboration at their core and set the tone by being a model for the team and the community to follow. A leader must assess and evaluate their values to improve their awareness emotionally because being a part of a collaborative community means you may work with other leaders you do not align with.
People will follow and support you if they are confident that you are doing your Persuadingbest. people to contribute their time and effort to partnerships with people they do not know (or people they may not necessarily like) to solve important problems takes time. The development of common purpose for a collaborative community can be a long, complex process but when we figure it out, there are tremendous benefits. As our connectors build teams and our teams develop a shared vision, our organizations and communities become breeding grounds for creation. People support what they help create.
COLLABORATION
CREATING COMMUNITYCOLLABORATIVEA
September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine 31 for your business’s design needs. I have the EXPERIENCETALENT & am fontjudgingtotallyyoubyyourchoices. WHAT 3CB OFFERS • Logo/branding design • PrintInfographics/illustrationsadvertisingdesign “Bartlett & West helped us understand the long-term potential in biogas. By producing energy and selling to the power grid, we avoid flaring and expect to cut down on our operating costs. It’s rare to find a municipal project that generates revenue. This is a huge win for the City of Topeka.” Sylvia Davis, Deputy Director of Operations City of Topeka Utilities Department www.bartlettwest.com Driving community and industry forward, together. Oakland Wastewater Treatment Plant: Producing renewable fuel to drive city revenue and environmental sustainability
the future looked bright for all ofThenthem.tragedy struck. Brad’s brother passed away from cancer. He was only 40 years“Sometimesold. you have to have something like that to make you stop and realize that life is short, and you need to make the most of the time you have on this earth,” Damon said. “That made us take a step back and really evaluate our futures. We asked ourselves where we wanted to go and what we wanted to do for the next 25 years.”While weighing the answers to those questions, one underlying theme kept emerging: a future focused on family.“We sat around the table and talked about how cool it would be do something together that we all loved.”
By LISA LOEWEN Photos by KEVIN JOHNSTON
32 September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine }
A financial company founder, two VPs of marketing and a banker start a ranch. It sounds like the beginning of a joke, but with four separate companies handling millions of dollars in cattle and beef each year, NextGen is nothing to laugh about.Derek Thompson, his brother Damon, and their cousin Brad Lindstrom are no strangers to the ranching business, having grown up working on a family hobby farm. As young men, their career aspirations took them in a much different direction, where they found success in the financial sector. Derek helped co-found Advisors Excel, and Damon and Brad worked their way into vice president positions at the organization as well. They found incredible success within that organization and
Photo by KEVIN JOHNSTON MATT BADSKY, BRAD LINDSTROM, DEREK THOMPSON, DAMON THOMPSON | NextGen
aNextGenFutureFocusedonFamily
September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine 33 Contractors Warehouse Hobbyist and Outdoor Storage Call 785-221-6700 for availability 1335 SW Auburn Road, Topeka, KS 66614 ⚫ Available sizes ⚪ 15’ x 50’ ⚪ 20’ x 50’ ⚪ 40’ x 50” ⚫ Each electricitymeteredindividuallyunitfor ⚫ Outside parking starts at $50
34 September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine
Photo by KEVIN JOHNSTON
Brad said. “We thought about the cattle business and how with our financial and marketing expertise we could take ranching into the next generation. Derek had already bought a ranch out west of town, and that is what really started the vision.”They brought long-time friend Matt Badsky, a banker in Oklahoma at the time, into the discussion, and even though all four men still had full-time jobs that demanded a significant amount of time and energy, they threw all their remaining resources into the formation of NextGen in 2015. NextGen FEED In addition to owning a ranch, Derek had also invested in a feedyard outside of Emporia and had been working with them for several years, so he understood the feed side of the cattle business. The trio purchased NextGen at Riverbend, a 50,000-head finishing feedyard in Hugoton, Kansas, just outside of Garden City and located strategically near meat packingTheyfacilities.addedNextGen at Allen, a 12,000-head starter and grow feedyard near Allen, Kansas, which has also turned into a finishing “Purchasingyard.the feedyards helped us start the investment toward our cattle operation,” Brad said.
Photo by KEVIN JOHNSTON Photo by KEVIN JOHNSTON
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September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine 35 P h o t o c r e d i t : N e x t G e n C a t t l e C o ( K e v i n J o h n s t o n ) s c h w e r d t d e s i g n g r o u p w w w . s d g a r c h . c o m SDG is honored to be a partner of NextGen Cattle Co. With their recent expansion into retail and new partnership with George Brett, NexGen continues to elevate the future of advanced cattle genetics.
36 September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine
NextGen BEEF
NextGen CATTLE Almost concurrently with the purchase of the feedyards, NextGen started the cattle company so they could develop the seed stock and control the quality of the cattle in the went out and purchased 80 2-year-olds that would calve in the fall,” Damon said. “After they calved, we planned to use embryos in those cows to start a purebred operation. Our original intent was to eventually sell a few bulls and develop high quality seed stock.”That intention grew into two bull sales a year, with NextGen selling more than 600 bulls in 2021 and expecting to sell close to 750 in 2022. It also maintains a herd of 1,000 purebred animals.“By following a scientific approach through cross-breeding and genetic selection, NextGen is now well-known and proven in the feedyard,” Derek said.The traditional rancher would be content with that type of success. But the founders of NextGen are anything but traditional.“Allofusare wired kind of the same. We can’t seem to stop with what is right in front of us because another opportunity is always on the horizon,” Derek said.
feedyard.“We
But they quickly realized that to keep the yards full, they were purchasing cattle from across the country without really knowing much about the quality of the stock. If they wanted to produce the highest quality beef, they had to take control of the genetics.
They met with Stacy Davies, ranch manager at the Roaring Springs Ranch, who had been buying bulls from NextGen for several years. Davies had been in the meat industry for quite some time and loved the fact that NextGen had developed direct relationships with ranchers across the country.“Ranchers were buying our genetics, and we were buying the calves back and putting them into the feedyard,” Damon said. “Davies suggested that we tell that story and sell our beef at the retail level.” Demand for local beef was already high before the COVID pandemic hit. But once those meat packing plants started suffering from quarantines and staffing issues, it became nearly impossible for beef companies that
“They pretty much just shut out the independent contractors and processed all of their own business instead,” Derek said.
NextGenOwner
Brad Lindstrom
NextGen knew that if they wanted to be in the meat processing business long term, they had to get more control over the packing side of the industry. That led to the opportunity to buy a meat packing plant in Pleasant Hope, Missouri."Itwas actually a brand-new pork facility that had gone out of business,” Brad said. “We bought it and converted it to a beef plant.” In March 2021, NextGen Beef Co. harvested its first beef animal. Today, they run about 2,500 head a week through the meat processing plant, all of which have been procured by the NextGen team. A good portion of the animals, about 500 head a week, are going into the food supply chain, whether it is with retailers throughout the }
September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine 37 didn’t own their own processing facilities to get their weekly number of animals processed.
Photos by KEVIN JOHNSTON
“We thought about the cattle business and how with our financial and marketing expertise we could take ranching into the next generation.”
38 September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine state of Missouri with the Show Me Beef program or to companies such as Whole Foods, Chipotle, McDonald's or Taco Bell.
But the work is worth it when you are doing something you love. “It is fun and exciting,” Matt said. “We all have the belief that if you aren’t growing, you are dying. We are all still relatively young. No one wants to just sit around.”
They also hope to grow a legacy that their children will want to be involved with."The traditional model is for the rancher to run his business until he gets tired and then the kids step in to take it over, then their grandkids step in, on so on,” Brad said. “We don’t do it that way. We are creating an organization that provides a wide range of opportunities besides just going out and handling livestock.”Derek agrees. “It is so much more than just ranching. If our kids want to get into marketing, finance, risk management, analytics, software and so much more, they can do that here. We have a lot of talented people working for us who didn’t grow up around cattle.”
THE NEXT GENERATION
“When we originally started, we had a lot of freedom. It was like being quasi retired,” Derek said. “We were able to do what we wanted and enjoy the time on the ranch. Now, it is like more than full time jobs. We have roughly 450 employees. We went from not a lot of responsibility to having millions of dollars’ worth of cattle on the lot every day and supporting a lot of people.”
NextGen TRADING
Trading takes positions on commodities mixed into food rations and then sells them directly to feedyards or large cattle operations for use in their feed. They truck the inventory from the factory to locations nationwide.
BEYOND THE VISION For the owners of NextGen, the vision of being in the cattle business has evolved into four businesses that incorporate vertical integration from seed stock through feeding and
What began as a way for a group of family members and friends to slow down a little and enjoy their work has accelerated into a massive endeavor.
Looking to bring next generation ranching to all levels of the cattle business, NextGen seized on another opportunity four years ago: commodities. Because they knew firsthand from their experience in the feedyards how essential good quality feed is to producing good quality beef, when certain food ingredients were hard to come by, NextGen took it upon themselves to find a solution. They worked with suppliers, nutritionists and customers to find alternatives to alleviate the strain of shortages in the market and develop a diverse portfolio of supply. “It just made sense to help out all of those other ranchers that were struggling with the same feed issues we were,” Matt said.NextGen
Investment advisory services offered through Cambridge Investment Research Advisors, a Registered Investment Advisor. Cambridge and On Target Financial are not affiliated.
CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Client CFO &
September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine 39
Sure
at financial
joe@ruontarget.comTopeka,5301www.ruontarget.comSW7thStKS66606 processing, to give the consumer the highest qualityThatbeef.evolution took place in such a short amount of time that the owners admit they weren’t always able to put best practices into place. Now that things have stabilized, they plan to go back through each operation and look at ways to streamline and improve efficiencies. "We have a lot of room for improvement and growth,” Matt said. “Complacency is the beginning of the end.” Externally, they want to interact more with the public and take their message out to the retail market offering NextGen beef online direct to the consumer.“Weare going to do this by telling the stories of our ranchers, the blood sweat and tears, the effort it takes to run a ranch and operate a business, the pride they take in providing the best quality meat,” Derek said. “There’s salt of the earth people in the cattle business—hard working, honest, tons of integrity.”
NextGen will have a little help telling those stories. Former Kansas City Royals baseball legend George Brett has joined the team as a strategic partner to help spread the word about NextGen Beef. TK
Joseph Prokop, CFP® CRPC® Fiduciary (785) 272-5000
“It is so much more than just ranching. If our kids want to get into marketing, finance, risk management, analytics, software and so much more, they can do that here.” Derek Thompson NextGenOwner
Photos by KEVIN JOHNSTON
Making you take your best shot goals.
Photo by JOHN BURNS
By ERIC SMITH Photos by JOHN BURNS
40 September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine }
Running a family business with your spouse and/or sibling isn’t for everyone, but Hogan Muffler & Brake, Circle Coffee Co. and Family Business Resource Center, have embraced it head-on.
FAMILYTHEALLIN
Photo by JOHN BURNS Photo by JOHN BURNS
carrie & curt hogan | hogan muffler & brake
Photo by JOHN BURNS
MUFFLERHOGAN & BRAKE
“He said, ‘Do you have enough to keep us busy?’ I said, ‘No. But I’m tired of playing one-handed solitaire until I get things rolling.’ So, he came, and we played two-handed solitaire and got the business rolling. Thirtyseven years later, he is still with me,” Curt said.
September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine 43 }
Curt Hogan Co-owner Hogan Muffler & Brake
Curt and Carrie have had two more sons and multiple grandchildren since then. All three sons have worked for the family business at some point, as well as one of their granddaughters, Curt said.The business is up to eight employees now and has expanded over the years with the addition of outbuildings, bay spaces and equipment. Even after all these years, Hogan’s bread and butter remains custom exhaust fabrication and installation.“Mygoalwhen I went into this at 20—and it’s still my goal today— was: When I retire, I do not want my standard of living to decrease. I don’t have to be rich; I want to be comfortable. But I wouldn’t mind being rich,” Curt joked.
“I came to expect more from family because they’re family.”
Curt and Carrie Hogan purchased their Topeka business from Cowan Muffler 37 years ago as newly married youngsters with a 2-month-old baby and little to theirKenname.Cowan was retiring after running multiple muffler shops for several years and offered the one at 4018 SW 21st St. to Curt, who had been working for him. “Young as I was at that point, my thought process was, if you gotta rebuild, might as well rebuild while you’re young,” Curt said. “And I’m not going to lose much because I don’t have much.”
After a half a year on the job by himself, Curt, 20, said he called his 17-year-old brother, Kevin, and asked him to come work for him.
Today, two of the Hogans’ sons are currently employed at the business—Ryan, the 2-month-old when the business started, is now the lead exhaust technician and their youngest, Tanner, is a service advisor. The Hogan boys each began working at the shop part time when they were 16, and they all worked summers and after school.
Curt said running a business with family “is not for the weak of heart.”
“It’s definitely a double-edged sword,” he said. “The nice thing about it is, I have complete trust in those that are in charge when I’m not“Theavailable.downside of it is, in all honestly, I’ve lost a lot of socializing with my brother and my sons. Because quite frankly, you work with them all day, you don’t want to see them every night.”As the owner of the business, Curt said he expects certain performance levels from his employees, but even more so from his kin.
Curt said his goal is to make sure the business that he and his family have built over the years will be viable and able to support his children once they take it over.
The middle Hogan son would probably still be at the business if it wasn’t for his dream job opening up, Curt said.
“I feel great about the future, but I also feel a little bit of skepticism,” Curt said. “We’re traversing waters we’ve never traversed before, just trying to determine if this is the new normal or if we go back to something else.”
44 September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine }
“I’m not going to say we haven’t had our troubles. As a matter of fact, in the 37 years, my brother has been fired once and quit once. Both of them lasted less than 24 hours. Once cooler heads prevailed, it was obvious that it was just a blowup over the situation at hand.”
Joshua Hogan took the job as head high school wrestling coach at Washburn Rural last year. Joshua also owns Hogan Lawn Care and coaches kids club wrestling as well.
Carrie Hogan is co-owner of the business but is medically retired after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015. She has been cancer-free for a few years but still fights the ravages of chemotherapy and radiation and hasn’t been active in the day-to-day operations for severalLookingyears.into the future, the Hogan patriarch said the eventual plan is for his sons to take over the business.
Photo by JOHN BURNS Photo by JOHN BURNS Hogan Muffler & Brake’s “bread & butter” is custom exhaust fabrication and installation.
“I came to expect more from family because they’re family,” he said. “And that’s a natural feeling that business owners that have family involved run into.
September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine 45 Let’s get started on your next project. Get $100 off your next design.landscape valid thru 11.1.22 for a limited time (785) 286-0015 schendellawn.com #GetJazzed in 2022BlueJazzCoffee.com ® Local Team Local Roasting For our Local Customers The perfect groove... Delivered! TOSCANMEORDER!
ruth vincent, david & jackie vincent | circle coffee co.
Photo by JOHN BURNS
David Vincent and his wife, Jackie, opened one the area’s newest coffee shop and bakery at 1710 SW Medford Ave., a few blocks west of Washburn University, with David’s older sister Ruth Vincent working as the head pastry chef. And while David admits it was a leap of faith to open the shop, he said his family’s business experience served as a great example.David is the eighth of 11 kids in his family, so he’s had the benefit of watching his family oversee companies and find success. His dad, Austin Vincent, is an adoption lawyer in Topeka and runs his own practice, Christian Family Adoptions, while his brother Matt runs Golden Rule Design & Build, and his sister Hannah owns Hair by Hannah“I’vesalon.gotten to watch a few of my siblings run businesses, so I think it’s just a normal thing for me,” David said. “Yes, it’s scary, and yes, it’s a big risk in some ways, but getting to see my older siblings model that risk, and do it really well, has given us a lot of confidence in what we’re doing.”
coffeeCircle co. in business a few months but he’s already doing really incredible work.”Before Circle Coffee Co. was a 20-employee neighborhood cafe inside an old laundromat in central Topeka, it was a mobile coffee cart, built and operated by family friend, Cameron Philgreen.
Topeka had food trucks and other mobile businesses, so why not coffee? One of the first events he attended with his coffee cart was David and Jackie’s wedding in October 2018. The Vincents owned business,photography/videographyawheretheywould travel to various locations to shoot weddings and other private events. “I wanted to do something that I would be proud to tell my kids about and maybe someday pass this business on to them if that’s in the cards.”
September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine 47 }
DAVID VINCENT Co-owner Circle Coffee Co.
David’s younger brother Timothy just opened a business called Community Woodworking Co., and he did all the wood interior accents and furniture at Circle Coffee Co. “He did a really amazing job,” David said. “He’s only been
David said he and Jackie and their friends spent a lot of time at the PTs at College Hill at SW 17th and Washburn. It was their gathering spot, and so when it closed during the pandemic, they felt like something was missing in the neighborhood.
Circle Coffee Co. is a 20-employee neighborhood cafe inside an old laundromat in central Topeka.
The couple knew that a coffee business would not be the most profitable venture in the world, but they also knew that money isn’t always the deciding factor. They also wanted to something they really enjoyed.
David and Jackie bought the mobile business in 2019, a decision the couple did not go into lightly.
“I wanted to do something that I would be proud to tell my kids about,” David said. “And maybe someday pass this business on to them if that’s in the cards.”
48 September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine
David said that for years the two of them had been having conversations about what it would look like to someday have a coffee shop. Combine that urge to chase a dream with the beginning of burnout with the photography/videography business, and Circle Coffee Co. soon became a reality.
“Because my wife and I appreciate going to a nice coffee shop and spending time with each other and with friends, we felt like this would be something that would bring a lot of value to the area,” David said. “We
}
Photo by JOHN BURNS
David and Jackie both really love coffee and have always enjoyed coffee shop experiences and inviting friends over for java.“That’s a good test, if you’re trying to see if you should open your own place,” David said. “Do you enjoy having your friends over for this? The answer was yes.”
50 September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine wanted to inspire other young people to stay in Topeka and start businesses and invest in our community.”WhileCircle Coffee Co. places a high importance on fun seasonal beverages, it also sticks to the classics. David said the shop makes a “really, really good” cappuccino and offers more off-the-wall signature drinks that rotate through on a seasonal basis.
Photo by JOHN BURNS
running a business is always a risk, David said that to him, owning a business with family feels even riskier, but with a higher reward.“Ithink everything just feels just like higher stakes,” he said. “We wouldn’t want to fail for any of our employees or our community, but when there’s a family member involved, I feel like the stakes are even higher because you love that person, and you don’t want them to be without an income.” }
“Watching Ruth and David learn how to work together has been fun,” Jackie said. “They both love doing things with excellence and want to master their craft. They are both so good at what they do. It’s really special to be a part of Whileit.”
Photo by JOHN BURNS Circle Coffee Co. places a high importance on fun seasonal beverages while also sticking to the classics.
“My sister is really talented,” David said. “Everything she does is really top-notch. So, of course we always thought about having her as part of the coffee shop on the bakery side.”
In addition to traditional baked goods, Ruth specializes in making allergen-friendly items that don’t taste allergen-friendly, including a streusel coffee cake that’s glutenfree and Workingvegan.through different communication styles and creative opinions is the biggest challenge in running a family business, Jackie said, but at the end of the day, it’s a gift that makes them a better team.
David and Jackie specialize in coffee and Ruth does the baking.
anne francis, PHD & jack fitzpatrick, PHD | Family Business Resource Center
Photo by JOHN BURNS
Business Resource Center focuses on family relationships and how they affect the business—either contributing to the success of the company or being responsible for limitations it encounters. Fitzpatrick said he and his wife work to help family-owned businesses be successful from the beginning and during times of growth, then help them prepare for a transition of leadership and ownership from one generation to the next if that’s their wish. Both Jack and Anne worked at Menninger in Topeka for several years before starting their business.They’ve worked with several businesses like Payless, Stormont Vail, Chase Bank, Microsoft, and Home Depot, just to name a few. They also have clients all over the United States and Canada, in locations such as Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver.“Ithinkpeople would be surprised that a business like ours comes from Topeka, Kansas,” Jack said.When Jack and Anne provide consulting services, they gather as much information as they can about the way in which the business operates and the
Balancing family sentiments and loyalty versus family intelligence and competence can be the biggest issue with family-run businesses said Jack Fitzpatrick, clinically trained familyJacktherapist.andhis wife, Anne Francis, have operated the Family Business Resource Center in Topeka for 33 years, offering guidance to family-run businesses.
September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine 53
FAMILY RESOURCEBUSINESSCENTER dynamics between the family members and executives.
“We try to enhance the relationships among the leadership in the business so they can contribute to its success,” Jack said.They also provide tips for success, such as developing a good business plan, implementing strategies for executing that plan, and bringing in an outside board of advisors or directors when businesses get large enough.
“A strategic plan is very useful,” he said. “What are internal strengths and weaknesses, and what does the marketplace look like in terms of opportunities for us? The good ol’ SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat) analysis. It’s something a lot of small businesses don’t do.”
“Family businesses often have a tendency to employ family members in spite of their lack of competence or intelligence,” Jack said. “That’s a big issue because a lot of families think that the best way to deal with issues among the family is to treat everybody alike. In a business, that doesn’t work very Familywell.”
In addition to providing consulting services for family businesses, Anne has written a book about women in family businesses called The Daughter Also Rises. TK
JACK fitzpatrick, PHD Co-owner Family Business Resource Center
“We try to enhance the relationships among the leadership in the business so they can contribute to its success.”
Like thoughtful entrepreneurs and executives worldwide, Topeka business owners recognize that turbulent times call for creative approaches to leadership. Record-breaking inflation, social unrest, and a global pandemic that just won’t quit have forced even the most stable companies to reevaluate.
By JULIA FABRIS McBRIDE & DAMON YOUNG
LEADERSHIP SKILLS
SUBMITTEDPHOTO
To download and read KLC’s research report, “WEATHERING THE STORM: Leadership Lessons from a Global Financial Crisis,” visit KansasLeadershipCenter.org.
WHEN WITHSTARTSLEADERSHIPSTORMY:GETSWEATHERECONOMICTHEYOU
Julia Fabris McBride Chief Leadership Development Officer Kansas Leadership Center Damon Young Chief Business Officer Kansas Leadership Center
SUBMITTEDPHOTO
Perhaps you find yourself wondering if the-waywe’ve-always-done-it is strong enough shelter from the economic storms of the early 2020s. Decisions you make now mean everything for the future of your employees, your company and even your community. Choose well and your company thrives. Fail to recognize that the moment calls for hard choices and a new approach to leadership and you risk your business collapsing or withering away, one customer and one unrenewed contract at a time.
Don’t join a
GUIDANCE AND ADVICE
just
First and most intriguing, companies that thrived through the 2008 crisis both retrenched and invested. They acknowledged, understood, and accepted necessary losses. They made strategic cuts and focused scarce resources where they were needed most. But unlike companies that failed or barely survived the crisis, the successful companies didn’t just hunker down. Even during an economic crisis, they invested in new ways forward. People at those companies knew they needed to let go of some things so they could lean into others. At successful 2008 businesses, those in top jobs and supervisory positions made difficult decisions that may be similar to those you’ve been called upon to make in response to inflation, supply-chain issues, or pandemic-related human resource challenges. The businesses that thrived during the 2008 crisis postponed some projects, went back to basics, and assessed exposure to risk. But even as they limited risk in some areas they increased it in others, prioritizing innovation and investing strategically in research and development, training, and marketing. While it may seem counterintuitive, cutting costs in some areas while investing in others appears to be the path to success during turbulent times. Companies that combine retrenchment and investment strategies are more likely to thrive during an economic crisis. }
Early in the Covid-19 pandemic, the Kansas Leadership Center (a Wichita-based training and engagement center with a global reach) sought wisdom from history. We knew we’d be able to serve our corporate partners more effectively today if we understood how the most successful businesses navigated the 2008 global financial meltdown.Whydid some companies thrive amidst massive change and forced adaptation?
The results of our research pinpointed best practices we now use in coaching executives and teams as they seek to exercise good leadership, make wise choices, and increase both reach and revenue during tough economic times. What we learned may help you entertain new ideas and more possibilities for leadership.
RETRENCH AND INVEST
FROM RECENT HISTORY
September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine 55
Club Join a Family www.topekacc.org(785)354-8561tHEtoPEKaCountRYClub
Leadership is an activity, not a position. Leadership and authority are two different things. Leadership is mobilizing others to solve their most important challenges. Authority is more like management. Having good people in authority positions is absolutely necessary, but insufficient to weather the storm.
Consider which of these lessons might merit attention from your company. Companies that prioritize relationships are more resilient during a crisis.
56 September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine LEADERSHIP SKILLS
1 2 3
Anyone can lead, anytime, anywhere.
In addition to balancing retrenchment and investment, companies that weathered the 2008 economic storm were prepared in three important ways. Even if you are still worried about this crisis, it’s never too soon to start preparing for the next one.
There is no quick way out of the current economic storm. No matter what business you are in, big or small, locally owned, or multi-national; no matter who your customers, or what service or product you deliver, one thing is sure: the challenges you face are complex and daunting. They require you to think beyond the old, top-down model of leadership. No one person can meet today’s overlapping crises on their own. We need everyone doing their part. Your business will more effectively navigate change and eliminate barriers to success when employees at all levels embraces these five leadership principles:
Leadership is about our toughest challenges. Boldly articulate your aspirations. Make the necessary hard decisions. Encourage people to keep their eyes on the prize. Remind your people that you are navigating rough weather together.
Our research shows that businesses that thoroughly understand themselves and their environment are more able to thrive during difficult times. By examining areas of vulnerability to a crisis and exploring the broad range of perceptions about your business, you set the company up to weather future storms. When subunits or subsidiaries are allowed to play by their own rules the company outperforms those who insisted on uniformity. In 2008 the most successful multi-nationals empowered local units to make important decisions, do their own R&D and develop new products to meet the needs of their environments. If you work for a large global company, what can you do now to encourage those higher up to loosen control and set the whole organization up to thrive?
As you look for ways to balance retrenchment and investment, be sure to acknowledge the risks involved. Encourage everyone to pause regularly, reflect on the situation or challenge in front of them, ask good questions, and test the waters with low-risk action steps before going all in with a big, bold investment idea.
The economic storms of the early 2020s are real and could be dangerous. We have not yet made it safely to the other side. But with a combination of wisdom born of research and experience, and an inclusive, experimental approach to leadership there are clear skies ahead. TK
PREPARING FOR THE STORM
Leadership starts with you and must engage others. Some things an expert can fix, or the boss can order done. But as a culture, we’ve fallen into bad habits. Either we horde too much power at the top or (if we hold jobs in middle-management or the front lines of a business) we let ourselves off the hook, waiting for others to lead. Tough challenges require everyone to own their piece of the solution.
When it comes to our toughest challenges, everyone has a part to play. Lots of people need to contribute time and energy. Companies need everyone’s ideas; everyone thinking beyond the status-quo to identify and implement strategies for success during turbulent times.
The most successful companies in 2008 had an existing track record of supporting employee rights and safety, consciously committing to a diverse workforce, and consistently sharing visions, resources, and information across their organization. The strongest companies are those with a culture of honest diagnosis.
Leadership is risky.
WEATHERING THE STORM DEMANDS A NEW APPROACH TO LEADERSHIP
September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine 57 World is a Top 100 insurance organization offering quality products and services from all major carriers, combined with attentive service from local advisors who are experts in their field and cater to many specialized industries. Never compromise again when it comes to managing and protecting your most important assets—your people and your business.
across private and public
For more than 20 years, Peoples Insurance Group has been offering its clients products and services combined with personalized service. specialize in providing a comprehensive review and evaluation of unique business risks and will implement management strategies custom to situation. thanks to our new affiliation with World Insurance Associates, Consulting Inc. has been providing its clients with industry-leading safety consulting for more than 50 years. Our team develops and delivers personalized on-site programs that increase workplace safety, ensure state and federal regulatory compliance, improve employee health and awareness, often help you save on your premiums. in almost every aspect of safety industries sectors.
your
your
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WE CAN HELP YOU WITH: • Mandated safety training programs • Site safety inspections • Improved workplace safety • OSHA & DOT compliance • ISNetworld, Avetta, and Browz compliance • QR code for tracking training • Online learning management system • Safety supplies for all industries Reach out today for a risk assessment. • Business & Personal Insurance • Employee & Executive Benefits • Retirement & Financial Planning • Payroll & HR solutions • Surety & Fidelity Bonds LARGE RESOURCES. LOCAL RELATIONSHIPS. Peoples and Safety Consulting have joined forces with World Insurance Associates to bring you even more products and services to protect your people, your family, and your business. We are excited to work with our clients on a deeper level for decades to come. MICHAEL LESSER Principal, Midwest Sales Manager Peoples Insurance Group A World Company 1415 SW Topeka Blvd, Topeka, KS 66612 785-271-8097 mlesser@peoplesinsure.comx214 CRAIG STROMGREN SafetyPrincipalConsulting, Inc. A World Company 4111 NW 16th St., Topeka, KS 66618 css@safetyconsultinginc.com800-748-7887
insurance
in
risk
we can offer solutions across all your business and personal needs. WE CAN HELP YOU WITH: • Business insurance • Workers’ compensation insurance • Contractor performance bonds • Surety and fidelity bonds • Payroll & HR solutions • Business perpetuation products • Life and personal insurance • Employee and executive benefits Reach out today for a risk assessment. Safety
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Many small business owners have spent most of their lives growing their companies from the ground up. It is like raising a child; they have given it life, nurtured it through good times and bad and proudly watched it grow into something wonderful. But like parents who must plan for their own future once the children are grown, as thoughts of retirement become more pressing, entrepreneurs find themselves faced with a new dilemma: a succession plan. For some business owners that succession plan is clear. An existing business partner or family member will take over the business. But for those whose options are a little more limited, finding an acceptable exit strategy can be complicated.Owners must consider much more than just their own retirement needs. They have employees who count on them, clients who still need their services, vendors and industry partners with whom they have spent years building relationships, and a reputation that they would like to leave as a legacy. That can be a hard bill to fill. Unless a buyout offer that meets all those requirements comes knocking on your door.
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By LISA LOEWEN
A WORLD OPPORTUNITYOF
September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine 59
But it was the less obvious benefits that caught Lesser’s attention. Becoming part of World Insurance Associates would instantly broaden the range of products he could offer to his clients because of market“Overnight,size. I would have access to 50 more carriers and many more products than I ever could obtain on my own,” Lesser said. In addition to being able to compete with bigger agencies, if he took the acquisition offer, Lesser would be able to provide his clients with more than insurance products because the family of companies
A WINNING PROPOSITION
“I went into that first meeting with an open mind, but also a healthy degree of skepticism,” Lesser said. “From the first meeting, I had an immediate connection with the team at World. They answered all of my questions with straight forward answers and addressed my hesitation without any pressure.”
Lesser had already decided that it would have to be a perfect storm for him to consider selling the business. At only 50 years old, he was coming off the best year he had ever had with a bright outlook for the future. However, he could sense a change coming in the insurance industry and wanted to stay ahead of that shift.Smaller agencies were being absorbed by larger corporations that could provide a wider range of client products and service as well as more costefficient employee benefits. Growth opportunities for smaller agencies required significant capital expenditures, adding a layer of risk that outpaced tolerance.
Michael Lesser weighed the pros and cons of selling his agency to World Insurance Associates and knew it was the right decision for his company, his employees and himself.
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AN INTRIGUING OPPORTUNITY
Michael Lesser, owner of People’s Insurance Group, is glad he answered that knock, even though he is still years away fromAsretirement.ownerof his own agency, Lesser had been approached before by brokers looking to facilitate purchase of his business, but he didn’t take any of them seriously. After all, he was too young to think about selling and none of the offers appealed to him. But in May of 2020, World Insurance Associates approached him with an offer that was nothing to joke about.
That outlook, combined with an honest look at his own retirement options and succession path, had Lesser weighing the pros and cons of selling his agency to a larger corporation. The most obvious benefit was the income from the sale of the business. It would be like taking his retirement early and investing it for later.
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September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine 61 under the World Insurance Associates umbrella includes human resources solutions, employee benefits services, payroll, retirement benefits, financial planning, compliance and more.
Having more time to concentrate on his clients and the additional services he can provide them made Lesser realize what World Insurance Associates was still missing: a safety and compliance solution.
FILLING A VOID
That is why when Lesser approached Stromgren about exploring the opportunity to join the World Insurance Associates group of companies, Stromgren didn’t dismiss the idea outright. }
The company, which has offices in Topeka and Wichita, works with clients to provide one-on-one client specific training and consulting that encompasses every aspect of corporate safety and risk management while maintaining compliance with governing regulations.
That commitment to leaving the local integrity of the business intact swung the pendulum for Lesser and he signed the contracts in August of 2020.
A tweak to change the agency name to People’s Insurance Group, A World Company, and some internal software and technology changes, are really the only thing that has changed. “Our clients are still going to receive the same quality of service from the same people they have trusted for the past 30 years,” Lesser said. “Now, they just have more options to choose from.”
It seemed like an obvious choice, but to someone who has spent 30 years building a business, the biggest obstacle is the one staring back from the mirror. Going from owner to employee is a difficult pill to“Theswallow.ideaof giving up control to someone else was always the final caveat that I couldn’t get past,” Lesser said. “But that is where World is radically different. Their model is to add resources and make agencies more profitable with as little change as possible.”
Fortunately for World Insurance Associates, Lesser had a client who had been specializing in safety consulting for decades. He just had to convince both parties that working together would benefit everyone. Lesser had been writing insurance for Safety Consulting, Inc. for several years and had built a strong relationship with its owner Craig Stromgren.
The real changes are the ones that most people don’t“Mysee. employees are making more money and have better benefits and more job security now. If something happens to me, they will still have a place to work,” Lesser said. “On a personal note, I don’t have to worry about the day-to-day headache of accounting, accounts payable, payroll and IT. It frees up more time for me to take care of my clients. And I no longer go to the office on Saturdays to catch up on paperwork.”
SEALING THE DEAL
Safety Consulting was established in 1971 to help businesses navigate compliance issues resulting from the enactment of OSHA. Stromgren purchased the business in 1994 and has spent almost 30 years building a company based on relationships and trust. He oversees the Topeka office while Dan Pabst manages the one in Wichita. Pabst has been providing safety consulting services to clients in Wichita and throughout western Kansas for more than 22 years.“This is a people business,” Stromgren said. “Our customers, some of whom we have worked with for more than 20 years, rely on us to keep them safe and provide oversight of their compliance. Over 95 percent of our new business is from referrals, so customer relationships and mutual trust is everything.”
“A lot of my clients are my friends. The biggest factor in my decision was our ability to keep those relationships and maintain the integrity that Safety Consulting is known for,” Stromgren said. “Really, nothing has changed in our day-to-day operations. We just added the words ‘A World Company’ to our brand.” TK Craig Stromgren is happy with the acquisition of his business by World Insurance Associates as it increases the opportunity to grow and solidifies a financial future.
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One would think that having sold his business, Stromgren would be sitting back and taking it easy, but that is not the case. Instead, he is working harder than ever because he wants to make sure World Insurance Associates is as pleased with the working relationship as he is.
“I created Safety Supplies 15 years ago as a way to improve the service we provide to our clients,” Stromgren said. “We were already providing safety consulting services, so this company helped them find the safety equipment and protective gear solutions as well.”
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
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MAKING A CONNECTION Lesser set up the connection and made the introductions, and then stepped back while Stromgren and World Insurance Associates began discussions.“Ihadbeen approached by companies before wanting to acquire Safety Consulting,” Stromgren said. “But it was a little early for me to consider retirement. This deal was different. They weren’t looking for me to retire. They wanted to keep everything exactly the same and implement a Safety Unit within World for their other offices throughout the country. I found that intriguing.” That intrigue eventually led to an agreement to sell Safety Consulting to World Insurance Associates in December 2021. Now almost a year into the relationship, Stromgren says he is happy with his decision.“This acquisition by World actually increases our opportunity to grow and solidifies our financial future,” Stromgren said. “We didn’t really have a succession plan in place, and with most of our employees in their 50s or older, there wasn’t really anyone in place to acquire the business.”
“Mike and I had spent the past 10 years working together and had already built a strong relationship based on integrity,” Stromgren said. “So, when he asked me if he could set up a meeting with World, I agreed to listen.”
It also gives World Insurance Associates more products in its arsenal: safety and compliance solutions and safety supplies. This means it can now offer Safety Consulting’s services including site safety inspections, safety training, OSHA assistance, DOT compliance, and risk management to clients across the country.Andwith the additional purchase of Stromgren’s Safety Supplies business, those same clients can purchase everything from gloves and apparel to gas detectors and confined space protective equipment.
Stromgren is now seeing many of the same benefits that Lesser discovered after the acquisition. Being included under the World Insurance Associates umbrella brings a significant increase in resources but still allows him to foster those local relationships that Safety Consulting was founded on.
September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine 63 SDEIUMMIT Recognizing the achievements, contributions and influence of Hispanic Americans to the history, culture, and achievements of the United States. September 15 - October 15 MED Week celebrates the outstanding accomplishments of minority-owned companies and presents informational sessions and programming. September 18-23, 2022 A full day summit with roundtable discussions, panels and lectures to discuss diversity, equity and inclusion. MED Week DEI Summit CelebratingLeadingLearning2022Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion In Topeka, we are fostering a commnity in which equity is at the center of all we do. Learning, Leading and Celebrating everything that helps make Topeka a great place to live! For more information and Glenda.Washington@topekapartnership.comevents:gotopeka.com/training-and-events-mwbd Hispanic Heritage Month Prairie Band Casino September 27, 2022 September - October 2022
Starting a business to capitalize on creative strengths can be a daunting undertaking at any age, but several bold young people are successfully selling art, accessories and apparel through a variety of area venues.
TURNING PLAY INTO PAY
By KIM GRONNIGER Photos by JOHN BURNS From L to R: Raegan Gideon, Hayden Gideon, Paxton Waddell, Jazlyn Watson and KiAnna Watson
September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine 65
Rory Bisnett (age 11)
Rory Bisnett’s mother surprised her with a resin jewelry making kit in January and the 11-year-old soon discovered an affinity for crafting accessories.Afterher mother bought her molds and earring studs, the Landon Middle School sixth grader gave necklaces and earrings to teachers and friends, and ultimately decided to open an online store in February.
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Sleepy Fox Design Co.
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September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine 67 } MCELROYS.COM 785.266.4870 McElroy’s is pleased to donate the plumbing expertise for the 2023 Designers’ Showhouse, as part of the Topeka Area Building Association team. Proceeds benefit Child Care Aware® of Eastern Kansas. Rory Bisnett's resin jewelry inventory includes stud and dangling earrings, glitter key chains and colorful shaker necklaces that can be monogrammed with added charms.
“I’ve always liked foxes and I once went to the Renaissance Festival as a fox with a hat and tail,” she said. “I bought a stuffed fox to sit at the stand when I’m selling somewhere, and I’ll wear my fox hat too.” A fan of Claire’s, Hot Topic and Icing, Bisnett appreciates the allure of affordably priced custom costume jewelry to complement style and convey personal interests. She bought her first clip-on earrings at Claire’s—resin gummy bears—and later got her ears pierced there too. Her inventory includes stud and dangling earrings, glitter key chains and colorful shaker necklaces that can be monogrammed with added charms. Bisnett’s early hurdles included bookkeeping, experimenting with resin set times and finding the raw materials she needed at the rightSheplaces.sells items at Paper June and online, and recently participated in a market for youth entrepreneurs.Beforelaunching Sleepy Fox Design Co., Bisnett was no stranger to the side hustle. She experimented with a comic book business with friends and shoveled snow for a neighbor.
“I went to several houses to see if the owners would like me to shovel snow but only one person did,” she said. “She paid me double.” Asked what qualities she believes are advantageous for entrepreneurship, Bisnett said, “I’ve always excelled at math and I’m also good at working with people. I like creating things, so having an art shop is a great fit for me.”
Bisnett saves a portion of her earnings and uses the rest to restock her shop and expand her line. “It’s exciting to have my own business,” she said. “I still need to work on time management and I’m always concerned about quality, but I’m really happy with how this is going.” }
Photo by JOHN BURNS
The same month she placed second in a Junior Achievement pitch contest. Bisnett named her business Sleepy Fox Design Co. after watching a TikTok video and already understands the importance of branding.
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September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine 69 785-670-6760 topekahospital.com 6135 SW 17th St., Topeka, KS 66615 Back to school can mean increased exposure to injuries or illness. Our board-certified emergency physicians are experienced in providing compassionate, personalized emergency care for patients of all ages. Now partnering with KS Pediatrics to provide prompt pediatric specialty care your family deserves. Lab and radiology imaging services on-site. IN NETWORK BENEFITS. OUTSTANDING CARE. ALL PRIVATE INSURANCES ACCEPTED $25 SCHOOL SPORTS PHYSICALS NO APPOINTMENT REQUIRED Townsite Plaza 3 120 SE 6th Ave, Suite 110 Topeka, KS 66603 endeavorpw.com 785.329.2510
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September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine 71 KONA ICE OF LAWRENCE/TOPEKA/MANHATTAN Insured by NCUA YOUR STORY is our passion. READ the Kona Ice story at EnvistaBusiness.com
the pink
Hayden Gideon (age
Raegan Gideon, 14, makes epoxy key chains and coasters featuring gold flakes, sprinkles, glitter and real flowers that she sells through Instagram and Etsy. She also has inventory available for sale at Sugar Creek Country Store and Florence Adams in St. Marys.“The owners email me if they need more items and I take special orders for customers who want certain colors or letters,” she said. “It’s really gratifying to have people buy my work and say how much they loved it or how much someone they bought it for did.” 11) tulips Gideon (age 14) co. }
my resin
Raegan
Raegan seeks inspiration from Pinterest, Etsy and Amazon and is expanding her offerings to include decorative trays.
For other youth considering starting a business, Raegan said, “Never give up, even though it’s tempting to quit. Running a business and creating inventory can be a lot to tackle with school and sports but keep at it. It’s worth it.”
The high school freshman created her company, My Resin Co., in late 2020 to occupy her time productively during the pandemic and save money for college. Her first splurge with her earnings was a $30 shirt. “The first few weeks went smoothly, but then there were challenges like the resin not setting well,” she said. “I have my process down now.”Active in volleyball, basketball, track, cheer, drill team and competitive softball, Raegan said juggling activities with her enterprise was also a challenge initially.
Raegan Gideon shares examples of her epoxy key chains that she began making in 2020 and now sells on Instagram and Etsy.
Inspired by her older sister, Hayden, 11, is working on developing her own company too, The Pink Tulips. She plans to sell beaded necklaces, bracelets and earrings.“Ireally enjoy creating patterns with small glass and clay beads,” she said. “It’s art but it’s also work.”
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“I make a lot of lists to keep me organized,” she said.
Hayden, who plays volleyball and basketball, said she is eager to emulate Regan’s success when she begins selling items this fall.
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September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine 73 College Your Way Line up a career in manufacturing. Advanced Systems Technology l Industrial Production Technician Machine/Tool l Welding Scholarships & Financial Aid Available 785.670.2200 washburntech.edu 5724 SW Huntoon St. l 2014 SE Washington St.
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“I love anything that involves art and design,” she said, a passion evidenced by bedroom walls covered in pictures and paintings she’s created herself that now provide a colorful backdrop for her burgeoning business.
Three years ago, Paxton Waddell, 17, began creating lettering and design work for fun under the instruction of an aunt. Waddell’s designs and slogans on T-shirts caught on through word-ofmouth and became the impetus for her business, Paxton’s Creations.
Two years ago, Waddell realized she wanted to take her hobby to the next level and began mapping out a plan.
Paxton Waddell
(age 17)
“There was a steep learning curve and a lot of trial and error,” she said. “I had to adjust some things and work through difficult transitions, but I figured it out as I went along.”
Early challenges entailed finding the best suppliers and perfecting a technique to ensure press-on lettering would stay put and not peel off.
creationspaxton's
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Integrating a business with schoolwork and extracurricular activities has necessitated a few adjustments in her schedule.“Iget to do what I love every day, but it’s time consuming,” she said.
Waddell pumped her first profits back into her business through the purchase of a new Cricut and an iPad to refine her designs.
Her supportive parents have also made accommodations by allowing Waddell to put a T-shirt press in the living room.
“I know working for myself will always mean putting in more hours than a normal job, but I like the idea of being able to do whatever I want,” she said. “I want this business to become the only job I’ll ever need to sustain me.”
Waddell, who supplements her homeschool curriculum with graphic design courses at Washburn Tech, intends to pursue a business degree at Washburn University after“Takinggraduation.courses at Washburn Tech has given me new perspectives because we share ideas and designs and build on them and that has helped me grow a lot through my art,” she said. “I don’t get feedback when it’s just me.”She promotes her business through word-of-mouth, Facebook and Instagram, and eventually hopes to offer a website.
In addition to shirts, Waddell offers cups, decals and other promotional items. She provides spirit wear for some of the Cornerstone homeschool group’s sports teams.“It’s been really cool to go out in Topeka and see people wearing my shirts,” she said.
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Long term, Waddell wants to grow her business into a full-time career.
“It’s huge and it’s there all the time as a reminder to me that I should be working,” she said, laughing.
Paxton Waddell turned her passion for art and design into a business three years ago that offers cups, decals and other promotional items.
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September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine 79 r e d d o o r h o m es t o r e .c o m 78 5 . 25 0 . 77 2 0 Decor, Furniture, Home Fragrances Gifts & Custom Faux Florals Fairlawn Plaza Shopping Center 2131 SW Fairlawn Plaza Drive Topeka, Kansas 66614 Find joy in yo space! Twins KiAnna and Jazlyn KiAnna Watson, 11, create artwork independently and collectively in pursuit of their own ideas or to bring a client’s vision to fruition. Their parents encouraged the seventh graders at Eisenhower Middle School to launch an art business earlier this year not only to share their creativity but also to cultivate skills around dealing with people, meeting deadlines and making money for college. KiAnna & Jazlyn Watson (ages 11) astwicenice } BURNSJOHNbyPhoto
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They create hand-drawn designs and use Cricut and HTV transfers to add art to apparel. One of their most recent collaborations was a shirt design for a fundraiser for Lifehouse Child Advocacy
“We’reCenter.stilltrying to figure out how to collaborate with each other and clients,” said Jazlyn. “At first, KiAnna and I both just wanted to draw our own ideas, but we’ve found that it’s good to figure out how to combine our thoughts with what clients want and then work toward making everything come together.”Jazlyn prefers pencils and gel pens to capture realistic-looking depictions, while KiAnna uses pastels and colored pencils to draw cartoons and comics.
The pair seek inspiration on social media and study the work of other artists.“I like looking at the graffiti around Topeka,” said KiAnna. “I recently saw a bee on a building wall that was really cool.”The sisters collaborated on another shirt design with a split face, half skeleton and half human. Jazlyn created the face and KiAnna contributed work on the image’s hair and teeth. Both find drawing relaxing and are stretching their comfort level through customer interactions. “It’s fun to show people what we can do and answer their questions about our approaches,” said Jazlyn. “At first, I was nervous talking to people when they stopped by our table to ask about our shirts, but now I’ve gotten used to it,” said KiAnna. The twins sell their apparel on Facebook and at the SENT Market. TK Twins Jazlyn and KiAnna Watson find inspiration on social media, studying the work of other artists and from their surroundings (like wall graffiti) to create custom apparel designs.
Photos by JOHN BURNS
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Central for Requirement?BureaucraticorSuccess
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Michael Stoica Professor Washburn University School of Business
82 September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine } FROM THE PROFESSOR
Strategy and strategic planning are topics that ignite interesting, and at times, passionate debate in literature. The following pages include some of the thoughts and contributions to the debate. Organizations need direction, guidance and goals to work toward. Strategic planning represents the main tool an organization’s leaders use to this end. It represents the process of setting goals and creating a blueprint for the entity’s future.
StrategicPlanning
FROM THE PROFESSOR
Fritz Shoemaker “No battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy.”
“A fool with a plan is better off than a genius without a plan.”
Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, German Feldmarschall Since the essence of strategy is to create tomorrow’s competitive advantage faster than competitors mimic the ones you possess today, strategic planning should incorporate and/or reflect the competitive moves and business approaches management employs to steer the company forward. It should summarize the game plan to please customers, position the organization in the chosen market(s), compete successfully and achieve desiredTheperformance.majortasksof the strategic management process include: ■ developing a strategic vision and mission ■ setting goals ■ crafting the strategy to achieve the goals ■ implementing and executing the strategy ■ evaluating and making Thus,correctionsstrategic planning should incorporate, in a smart and concise manner, these tasks and should display collective wisdom building, rather than top-down or bottom-up planning.Onthe left, famous quotes on (strategic) planning could be easily divided into those that praise planning and those expressing doubt about the need for, or the usefulness of, formalizing the management strategic thoughts into a written document. In resonance with the quotes expressing doubts about strategic planning, Roger Martin published in 2014, and later in 2018, in the
Thomas Boone Pickens (also attributed to Warren Buffet)
Peter Drucker “The goal of having a strategic document is very un-strategic.”
“People in any organization are always attached to the obsolete—the things that should have worked but did not, the things that once were productive and no longer are.”
Thomas Edison AGAINST: “Plans are useless but planning is indispensable” Dwight Eisenhower (also attributed to Albert Einstein)
84 September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine IN FAVOR:
“Good fortune is what happens when opportunity meets with planning.”
Dennis Daodu Synergy: The Key to Principle Centered Development “Strategy is the highest level of a plan.” Fritz Shoemaker
“When you plan a work, work the plan, the plan will work.”
September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine 85 } taking risks and facing the unknown. The predictability of costs, since strategic planning is almost always cost-based driven, represents another trap. Revenues are consumer dependent, therefore not under the company control, and are hard to predict.The author suggests ways to escape such■traps:keep the strategy statements simple ■ recognize that strategy is not about perfection ■ make the logic of the plan explicit Mintzberg, in his seminal work published in 1987, advances five different definitions for strategy: plan, ploy, pattern, position, and perspective.
Harvard Business Review, “The Big Lie of Strategic Planning,” opining that the typical approach to strategic planning is not useful for companies. The plan might be comforting but it’s not useful. Indeed, in his view, the typical strategic plan is not action oriented, it does not question assumptions, it uses a self-referential framework, and the income statements (part of the plan) assume revenues within the company’s control.The word strategy is almost always paired with the word plan, and that constitutes a trap. Thus, strategic planning represents a comfortable exercise but also represents an ambush. Martin argues that strategy making should be uncomfortable; it’s about
FROM THE PROFESSOR
86 September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine Strategy as a plan is a consciously and purposefully intended course of action, a set of guidelines that are designed in advance of the actions to which it applies. In this sense, strategy is a complete plan, specifying what choices the organization will make for each situation (as such, the definition is borrowed from game theory).However, for Mintzberg, a strategy can also be defined as a pattern in a stream of actions. The organization does not have a formal plan; yet its strategy can be inferred from the pattern in behavior that can beStrategyobserved.can also be defined as a position, that is, a means of locating the entity in its environment, in the place it generates returns, or, as it is called in management theory, a product-market realm. Strategy as a perspective, as defined by Mintzberg, refers to an integrated way of perceiving the world.
Reference readings: Martin RL. 2014. The Big Lie of Strategic Planning. Harvard Business Review. 92 (1/2):78-84. Mintzberg H. 1987. The Strategy Concept I: Five Ps For Strategy. California Management Review. 30(1):11-24. Hamel G, Prahalad CK. 2005. Strategic Intent. Harvard Business Review. 83(7/8):148-161.
All these definitions are not incompatible with each other. They interrelate: A plan may describe the ploy to outwit the competition, that can ultimately help develop a perspective. A pattern can emerge and be recognized as such within an overall perspective, which in turn will give rise to a formal plan. Many successful companies, start-ups or well-established and mature ones with revenues in the order of tens of billions per year, do not have a formal strategic plan and, according to their founders and/or managers, never developed one. There are many thriving companies in Topeka and in Kansas that do not rely on strategic planning, that is, they do not have a formal strategic plan. That does not mean that intentions have never been formulated and articulated by the central leadership. It means that the management adopted, explicitly or not, their strategy as a pattern, position or perspective as the main approach. Planning is everything, as suggested by Eisenhower, and those companies engage in planning, they just do not ratify it in a detailed strategic plan. Based on their planning efforts (meetings, discussions, debates, analyses, etc.), they manage to develop a perspective and foster a pattern of behavior that is strategic and make their business thrive. TK
September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine 87 of cyber attacks were aimed at small businesses. IN 2021 If you think that your cybersecurity measures are just good enough, the hackers would agree with you. of small and medium-sized businesses are not financially prepared to recover from a cyber attack.* CYBER AT TACKS ARE REAL. ARE YOU PROTECTED? WE ARE CYBERSECURITY. WE ARE MANAGED I.T. WE ARE NEX-TECH. ONLY 1 4% WERE PREPARED TO DEFEND THEMSELVES.* YOAREU? LET’S TALK 800.588.6649nex-tech.com/business forbes.com
By LISA LOEWEN }
Businesses that have thrived for multiple decades have many things in common: great vision, excellent leadership, quality products and services, and client relationships based on trust. These qualities are essential to sustaining viability; however, all those pieces can be in place and a business can still fail if it is unable to adapt to change or unwilling to pivot when needed.
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AdApting to pivotAl MoMents
80 YEAR MILESTONE BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD OF KANSAS
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Looking back on its 80-year history, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas has experienced many of those pivotal moments where tough decisions propelled the company to new success without sacrificing its core values instilled by Sam Barham in 1942. When Barham heard about the opportunity to set up a Blue Plan in Kansas, he moved his family to Topeka with the intent of creating a company based on the pillars of strength, community and service. Those three fundamental values formed the foundation of every business decision Barham made during his time as CEO for the next three decades.The core of the culture that he founded remains strong today, even though the company has undergone some seismic shifts. Matt All, president and CEO of BCBSKS, says that staying true to its purpose and values has enabled BCBSKS to weather many storms over the “Maintainingyears.Sam’s vision for this company has kept us strong,” All said. “We have had to adapt to some significant changes in the world but reminding ourselves to stay true to our values has given us the courage to pivot when required.”
Just when it appeared healthcare had navigated into smoother waters, the COVID-19 pandemic threatened to capsize the industry. Overwhelmed medical providers, lockdowns, worries about contagion and fear of personal contact made traditional delivery of health services nearly impossible. Thus began the era of telehealth. Medical providers weren’t the only ones that had
SUBMITTEDPHOTO meant that this new single pool of customers as a whole needed greater care than people first thought. It also meant that insurance providers were entering some uncharted waters. “Many insurance providers pulled out of the public marketplace during that time because of the uncertainty and potential risk,” All said. “We are proud that we stayed in.”
REDEFINING HEALTH CARE
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One of those pivotal moments came with the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, which changed the landscape of health care and health“Priorinsurance.tothe passage of the ACA, we divided people in to two distinct pools: healthy and sick,” All said. “ACA changed that rating system to stop viewing the two groups separately.” While the ACA provided greater access to health care and insurance products, it also Sam Barham moved his family to Topeka in 1942 to become the founding president of the original organization now known as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas. He served the company for over three decades.
PANDEMIC CHAOS
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“More than 50 percent of all healthcare expenditures are spent on 5 percent of the population,” All said. “We have to find a way to provide great care for those populations but make it more affordable across the board.”
“Telehealth is different than we first imagined,” All said. “While it certainly filled the gap when people were not comfortable sitting in a doctor’s waiting room, it has played the most significant role in mental health services. In fact, 16 of the top 20 codes that were billed during the pandemic were behavioral.”
Once again, BCBSKS has pivoted to meet the changing needs of its customers by partnering with MiResource to better connect Kansans with in-network mental health care. This custom tool guides people through the process of identifying the right mental health care by asking a series of questions and then, based on the answers, matches patients with the most appropriate behavioral health provider.
All says the need for mental health services was already on the rise, and the pandemic exacerbated the situation even more.
“This partnership earned us the BCBS 2021 Brand Excellence Award for Brand Innovation among all Blue companies,” All said.
“We are in a behavioral health crisis right now. Telehealth has actually helped reduce the stigma associated with those types of services, but more still needs to be done,” All said.
All says the solution will likely be a partnership between private health insurance and health care providers, with government stepping in to offer premium assistance when“Thenecessary.world is in a period of change that is more rapid than anything we have ever seen,” All said. “In some ways, the consumer is moving faster than the industry. Think what Amazon does to streamline the purchase process. Health care needs to be that easy.”
92 September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine to change the business model in midstream. Health insurance providers had to jump in the deep end with them to make sure health coverage aligned with available services.Because much of its client base lives in rural areas of Kansas, BCBSKS had already pioneered the telehealth model of care in the 90s. However, virtually overnight, the pandemic grew the demand for those services exponentially, both in scope and type of care.
FUTURE SOLUTIONS After 80 years of adapting to the changing health care marketplace, All says BCBSKS is poised once again to make a critical pivot. This time the focus is on better management of health care costs.
TK Matt All, president and CEO of BCBSKS, says that staying true to the company's purpose and values since its inception has enabled it to stay strong while undergoing seismic shifts.
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HOWEY, CEcD GOPresidentTopeka Senior Vice President Greater Topeka Partnership
LAST WORD
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On the heels of the billion dollar investment coming to Kansas, TK talks with GO Topeka. What types of external businesses does GO Topeka look to bring in? Recently, GO Topeka has shifted more focus to attracting new businesses in the aviation, animal health and bioscience industries. With the assets we have in our airports, there is a unique offering the community can continue to build on to attract companies who need access to one of the largest runways there is! Topeka’s location within the Animal Health Corridor presents another advantage for companies in animal health and related industries. What project are you most proud of bringing to Topeka? I came in on the tail end of it –but the company I’m most proud of attracting to Topeka during my time with GO Topeka is Mars. They have been a great corporate partner and remain a point of pride for our community and the state of Kansas. Any misses where we almost brought in a company, and they choose another location? Without giving too much information, we have come in second for a large company who chose to locate in another Kansas community mostly based on the ability for them to hire at lower wages in that community. To me, that is an acceptable reason to “lose.” Our whole goal is to help create opportunities for our current and future citizens to have good paying jobs that create economic success for all. What makes Topeka attractive to businesses? We have so much to offer! Our cost of living and cost of doing business are both attractive to companies looking at growth or relocation opportunities. Depending on the industry, we have some unique characteristics you don’t find everywhere like water capacity, logistical infrastructure and available shovelready land. Of course, our location in the center of the United States and state and local incentives play a part in most site selection criteria as well. What could we do to bring more businesses in? That is very dependent on the industry. Most companies are focused on things they cannot build themselves. We hear a lot about availability of skilled labor, access to customized training and a pipeline of people ready to work. Why are incentives necessary? Incentives are means to close gaps and help communities make up for places they lack. Incentives cannot make a bad deal good, but when used correctly, they can make a good deal better. The data behind location decisions is deep and wide. Ultimately, site selection is really about a process of elimination. The fact that we are fortunate enough in Topeka to have flexible, aggressive incentives allows us to direct those incentives toward pain points of the company and keeps our community in the game. What can local businesses do to open conversations with GO Topeka when they are looking to grow or innovate? Just reach out. Our team is focusing on support for existing businesses of all sizes and offer one-on-one discussions as well as a variety of training and programs. TK
Schedule of Events
11/16 Opportunities in International Trade Location: St. Francis Community Board Rm at GTP, 6th Floor Time: 1pm - 3pm Cost: $10 11/17 Washburn Entrepreneur Showcase Location: WU Bianchino Pavillion (Football Stadium, 2nd Floor) Time: 2pm - 4pm Cost: Free 11/18 Boots to Business Reboot Location: St. Francis Community Board Rm at GTP, 6th Floor Time: 8am - 3pm Cost: Free For more Laurie.Pieper@topekapartnership.cominformation:www.gotopeka.com/global-entrepreneurship-week/gotopeka.com
11/14 Small Business Strategies for Success Location: BrownStone Time: 8am - Noon Cost: $35 11/15 Innovation Breakfast Location: Townsite 16 Time: 8am - 9:30am Cost: $25 Entrepreneurial Mindset Workshop Location: Cyrus Hotel Time: 3:45pm - 4:45pm Cost: $10 GTP Business Unwind Location: Cyrus Hotel Time: 5:30pm - 7pm Cost: Free
September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine 95 Global Entrepreneurship Week is a global celebration that occurs from November 14-20. People come together through local, national, and global events to create solutions for worldwide economic growth. This year, we want to bring Entrepreneurship Week to Topeka to help celebrate our Dream Chasers, Opportunity Makers, and Success Creators who launch startups and bring ideas to life.
LeaderBUSINESSTopeka
LET KANVIEW GLASS IMPROVE YOUR VIEW
KanView Glass can install frameless mirrors, replace your broken & fogged window glass, design and install the perfect frameless shower enclosure to fit you needs, and much more. We want to help you enhance the beauty of your home or business. Let KanView Glass improve your view! 785-273-1240www.kanview.com
LOCAL
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LEADERS
SUPPORTSPOTLIGHTPARTNERSLOCALBUSINESS
KanView Glass is a full-service glass company for both residential and commercial customers. Local, family, & veteran-owned and operated, KanView Glass serves Topeka, Lawrence, and surrounding areas. Jerry, with over 35 years of experience, teamed with his son Josh, with over 12 years of experience in the glass industry, provide their customers with superior service and the highest quality glass products the industry has to offer.
God's Storehouse is Topeka's better way to thrift. Its mission: to help the local community by offering quality condition items at a discounted rate.
God’s Storehouse is a church that operates a thrift store and was first opened in 2009 by Rick & Pennie Kloos. The heart of its ministry is illustrated through its slogan: “Generosity at its best!” God's Storehouse strives to exemplify this in its interactions between the employees, agencies it works with, and the community in which it operates. Its vision is to love God and love people; by doing so it hopes to make a lasting impact in the community in which it serves.
LOCALLY OWNED & 31 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE
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For over 85 years, the company’s name has been symbolic of its heritage. The word “steak” stood for STEAKBURGER. The term “shake” stood for handdipped MILK SHAKES.
Shake continues the 85-year tradition of serving the country’s best, freshest, and tastiest burgers and shakes. 785-273-9711www.steaknshake.com
Gus was determined to serve his customers the finest burgers and shakes in the business. To prove his point that his burgers were exceptionally prime, he would wheel in a barrel of steaks (including round, sirloin, and T-bones) and grind the meat into burgers right in front of the guests. Hence arose the origin of its famous slogan, “In Sight It Must Be SteakRight.”'n
A BETTER WAY TO THRIFT
God's Storehouse helps people in the community who have gone through difficult times, by giving items such as clothing, furniture, and household goods at no cost. In addition, it resells the donated items at a reduced cost, recycling them back into the community.
Steak 'n Shake was founded in February 1934 in Normal, Illinois by Gus Belt, who pioneered the concept of premium burgers and milk shakes.
God’s Storehouse regularly partners with different churches, agencies, and other non-profit organizations to help empower individuals in achieving a new start. 785-608-6743www.gshtopeka.org
For the last year, KBS Constructors has been strategizing, planning, and executing a reorganization that will promote growth and excellence in all areas of their company. KBS began in 1989 under the leadership and direction of our founder Dan Foltz who desired to bring excellence and quality to the construction industry.
The NOTO Arts and Entertainment District officially welcomed the Rogue Event Studio to NOTO at 917 N. Kansas.
ResourcesHumanasBroxtermanStephanienamesFoundationCapperVPof personnelorganizationalwillBroxtermanoversee
Advisors Excel Opens New Corporate Broadcast Studio Advisors Excel recently completed construction on AE Media Studios designed to deliver exceptional, highquality level video production unparalleled within this local, regional and national markets. Washburn University Names Marshall Meek as Interim President The Washburn University Board of Regents announced that it has selected Marshall Meek as interim president until it hires a replacement for retiring President Jerry Farley. Meek has served as president of the Washburn University Alumni Association and Foundation since 2017. Mammoth Ranks 692nd Fastest Growing Company In U.S. Inc. Magazine ranked Mammoth Sports Construction no. 692 on the 2022 INC 5000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies in America.
Rogue Event Studio Opens in NOTO
Local healthcare organization donates more than $4,000 to the American Cancer Society Kansas Medical Clinic, P.A. donated $4,196 to the American Cancer Society of Kansas to help support the fight against colon cancer.
Send your news releases to news@tkmagazine.com. Get expert business advice and up-to-date information on business in Topeka at TKmagazine.com
practices, policies, recruitment and retention of staff and volunteers for the organization’s entire service area that includes Topeka, El Dorado, Winfield, and Arkansas City. She will also serve as a member of the Senior Management Team.
Same Excellence in Construction, New Organizational structure
The sixth annual Kansas Manufacturing Summit will focus on key issues challenging today's manufacturers. The day-long forum provides the opportunity to network, learn about manufacturing resources and industry trends, and gain insight into workforce development.
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Summit To Focus on Ways Manufacturers can Compete,Innovate,&Grow
Primary Care Physician Freddy Cooper, M.D., Joins Stormont Vail Health Stormont Vail Health announced that Freddy Cooper, M.D., has joined their medical team and will practice as a primary care physician specializing in Outpatient Internal Medicine.
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September/october 2022 TK Business Magazine 99 • Talking about wanting to die • Talking about having no reason to live • Giving away prized possessions • Acting anxious or agitated • Talking about being in unbearable pain • Sleeping too little or too much • Withdrawing or feeling isolated • Increasing the use of alcohol or drugs • Showing rage or seeking revenge • Displaying extreme mood swings • Talking about being a burden to others WARNING SIGNSFINDGETSUICIDEHELPHOPE! Valeo’s Crisis Center 400 SW Oakley Avenue Topeka, KS 66606 Valeo’s 24-Hour Crisis Line: (785) 234-3300 September is National PreventionSuicideMonth Visit us at: or valeotopeka.org
