Brent - Podcast Show Notes
Today's episode is another installment of meeting the Name Bubbles team! Michelle and Emily talk to Brent, who has been with Name Bubbles for over half a decade. Listen in for some fun questions, hard questions, and advice about small business ownership from our very own, Brent Marianetti!
Brent - Podcast Transcript
Welcome to From the Basement Up.
BRENT MARIANETTI
Thank you.
MICHELLE
And I have Brent here with me. And Brent, I'm going to let you lead in and introduce everybody, let them know who you are and what you do here.
BRENT MARIANETTI
Okay. My name is Brent Marianetti. I am the operations manager here at Name Bubbles. And I've been here for a little over six years, I believe.
MICHELLE
Actually I've remembered you did leave for a short time, and then I remember you came back to go to lunch with someone or something?
BRENT MARIANETTI
Yes.
MICHELLE
Okay. And I was like, " What are you doing? We want you back." So I was so excited you came back. So are you counting in the time when you worked before with this? Because I think you were here even longer?
BRENT MARIANETTI
Yeah, I think I was here for a year and then I photographed weddings full- time, and then it just got to be too much and I still had kept in touch with some people here, and then I actually randomly stumbled upon the ad again. And it was a different location. So I didn't know if it was a different printing and production company. So I actually, I texted Rob and he was like, " Yeah, that's us. You got to come back. That'd be awesome." And then him and I went out to lunch and chatted about some softens when Sean was still here and he joined us and then yeah, I was able to come back and it worked out and it's been, so that was... so counting that time, I think it's been a little over seven years.
MICHELLE
So we love Brent. Brent is amazing and the team loves having Brent here. You are an amazing supervisor. You keep everybody on track. And we just started our leadership team not too long ago. And Brent is part of the leadership team. So I'm just thrilled that you came back. It's perfect. So thank you.
BRENT MARIANETTI
Oh yeah, absolutely. Thanks for having me back. It's a good environment. Good, great people. It's good to be back.
MICHELLE
Yeah. Thank you. So just to let everyone know Brent, when the pandemic hit, we shut down, I'll never forget this. And just so everybody knows what Brent's like. You were so sweet. You and your wife, you drove around to everyone's house and you dropped gifts off. And I have to tell you, my world was like on fire at that time.
BRENT MARIANETTI
Yeah. Everybody, a lot of peoples were.
MICHELLE
Yeah. So just, you popping by and giving a gift like that, it made such a big difference. And I remember just stepping back after you had left and dropped that off. And I just kept thinking like how lucky I am to have amazing people at Name Bubbles. So thank you so much for doing that. So just-
BRENT MARIANETTI
Yeah, absolutely.
MICHELLE
...very, very kind, very kind. And also your Christmas gift was amazing too. He makes these handcrafted trays, just beautiful, so very talented. So I have to say.
BRENT MARIANETTI
Yeah, we figured everybody could use a little pick me up, with just a little smile. So try to keep it safe with that, going to anybody's houses or anything, but everything was sealed and clean so we could drop it off on the porch, say hi from a distance and went from there. So yeah, we drove around and did that for a couple days,
MICHELLE
So nice. And it made a huge difference. So thank you.
BRENT MARIANETTI
Yes, absolutely.
MICHELLE
Amazing. So I just have a couple questions and some of these are funny and some of them are more serious, but if you have other things in there that you want to throw in, please do. But I just want to know like here at Name Bubbles, what was your first day of work like?
BRENT MARIANETTI
Oh man. Okay. So in the old building and well, I remember the interview more than I remember my first day, because it was kind of a blur because there was so much information and it's not difficult things. It's just different terminology for everything and this is how you do it. And this is what it's not, they're not stickers, they're labels and like everything, every little last detail. But I believe the interview, you and Rob, I think interviewed me in the old building. And that stands out to me because instantly I knew that you guys had similar outtakes on life, that we would get along either in a work environment or outside of work. And for some reason it really stands out that seven... well then when I took the break, so that was probably 10 years ago, ish, that the interview was maybe around there, eight to 10 and that still it's like yesterday just stands out in my head that you guys stood out such like genuine people. And I was like, this could be something special for that.
MICHELLE
Oh, that's very cool. Thank you. Very, very sweet. So that's a great story. Thank you. If Name Bubbles was an animal, what animal would it be? And what characteristics are similar to Name Bubbles in the animal?
BRENT MARIANETTI
Oh, that is an interesting question. I feel like without thinking about it, my gut is that it is a puppy, but that is in a therapy dog training, but in a very young age. And for some reason, it works in this way to me that, you want to do well, have the capacity to do well. Very caring, cares for others almost to a fault of loyalty sometimes, but just gets so excited and so wrapped up in being a puppy and easily distracted that sometimes it strays from the mission of actually helping people. I feel like it's good and bad, but it's genuine.
MICHELLE
Okay. So is the puppy potty trained I hope?
BRENT MARIANETTI
Oh yes. Potty trained. Yeah, absolutely. Yes.
MICHELLE
No, that's cute. I like that. So what is the big life lesson that you've learned here at Name Bubbles during your time here?
BRENT MARIANETTI
I would say, I feel like everyone has things that they like and dislike about their job. It's a job. You have good days, bad days. You can't say that everything is stress free. But I would say that for the most part, it really makes you realize what a unique company and group of people it is. Because when you talk to a lot of my other peers and family members and that get a little glimpse that meet you or, stop by for lunch and meet some of the people or see the process in the building. It's just, you don't realize how rare it is to find people who are actually this genuine and about each other. And it has a great owner, a good vision. It's a rare combination. And I feel like, unless you go somewhere else, which I did for a couple years, you don't really... like most things, you don't appreciate it until you don't have it anymore. But I feel like that was the big life lesson that I got out of it was, it's not like this everywhere and it's not just like, " Oh, I could be doing this or this. And maybe I'd be enjoying it more or making more money or have more room to grow as an individual, as a career." And this is a very rare place that I feel like all of those things are true and possible.
MICHELLE
I love that. Thank you. One thing I do you want to say for other business owners out there, people who are thinking about starting a business is, you have an opportunity to build what you want to live in, and build a community. And that's so important. So I feel like it's not just me. It's the team too. So it's the team. It's our work life balance, our core values, everything that we're putting in place. I do have to say it's gotten better over time. I feel like things were not as easy early on. Part of that I think is also as a boss learning to get my footing and understanding what my next steps were or even my responsibilities. So I think that I've evolved, the company's evolved and when you have good people and you're fair and you show them, if it's an employee handbook or whatever, so they know what to expect from you as a boss, and then what to expect also from them as a team member. So I feel like we really have hit that sweet sauce. We've got like the magic sauce going. We really do.
BRENT MARIANETTI
Yeah, totally agree. And it starts at the top too. Like what you can have a good team. Each part is integral, but if you don't have a good owner and leader at the top, then it doesn't matter how good the team is and vice versa. So I think they play off of each other and they're very, very much connected, more so than just having one being, a super strong suit and the other one being weak. Then I don't think it works unless they're both on the same page and on, on par with one another.
MICHELLE
No, thank you.
BRENT MARIANETTI
Yeah, absolutely.
MICHELLE
Being on par is very, very important. So as far as... I'm going to ask a fun question.
BRENT MARIANETTI
All right.
MICHELLE
Okay. Now, if Name Bubbles was an ice cream flavor, what would it be?
BRENT MARIANETTI
Oh, just instantly without thinking about it, rocky road.
MICHELLE
I love that.
BRENT MARIANETTI
And I can explain. It sounds scary and bad. If you're like, " Oh worry, I went on this rocky road. It was terrible. It was awful." But then you eat the ice cream and you're like, " Hey, this is delicious." Isn't most of life about the journey rather than the destination anyway? So I feel like it works in many levels. Like we've grown, we've learned things. We've had our bumps, but at the same time, I think you have to, you can't learn unless you experience it, you can't learn from those things. So the road is part of it. We've had fun on the way it's been good. And I think now, like looking back, it's more clear to see the road that you've traveled on more so than when you were on it. It was just what you had to do to get through it.
MICHELLE
Yes. So just so everyone knows we're expanding and Brent is going to be part of that expansion, a big part of the expansion. So it's interesting. We're opening a second office and it's going to be in the Western US. It's going to be in Colorado and I'm so glad you said rocky road, because we've got a big road ahead of us to get this up and going.
BRENT MARIANETTI
And it's almost a road to the Rockies now, too. Right? Because we're near Denver. So we're outside. It works on many levels.
MICHELLE
That's very, very, very true. So good point. I'm going to ask another serious question. What's the most important thing you've learned here at Name Bubbles?
BRENT MARIANETTI
The most important thing that I've learned? I think that I've learned, it goes with what I've taken away from it the most, is just that when you have the right people and the right team and generally good people at heart, the rest can come. And it doesn't mean it would be instant, and it doesn't mean it'll be easy, but you can't teach that. You can always teach somebody a new process, but if it's not working because the person just isn't that person like you can't teach personality or traits. And sometimes that's harder to see in an interview or in a hiring process. And it doesn't really come out until later. But I think as a company we've learned that and I've learned it personally as well. It's not just to apply here, but also in my own personal life. You see people for who they are and you respect them for that. But it doesn't mean that it'll necessarily work because you like the person, you know what I mean? I think that's what I've learned.
MICHELLE
Yeah. I actually agree 100%. So it's interesting because when I have brought people in for something specific, whether it be marketing or sometimes they're just not that right personality. It just doesn't fit with the culture here. And even though they're very capable people, it doesn't work well with here. So it's like, you have to find that person and do you think that they're capable of learning what you're needing from them? I agree 100%. So finding the right people, finding that right personality and being kind it's so valuable. And what happened? I feel like people got away from that for a while.
BRENT MARIANETTI
I think so too. I do. But I think that it does give you that warm feeling in your heart when you do, it's like, I hate, like this is good. People are good. But generally like, and you meet that. You get reaffirmed of your belief and your position instead of getting too bummed out, which is easy these days with everything going on. But yeah, I think that's been the biggest takeaway I think.
MICHELLE
Yes. So in one word, describe Name Bubbles and explain why?
BRENT MARIANETTI
In one word, I'd say family.
MICHELLE
Oh, I love that.
BRENT MARIANETTI
I would, because I feel like it really doesn't feel like work to most of us. It is, but it wouldn't be crazy to see yourself hanging out these people outside of work a lot at holidays, a lot of people do hang out. It's not work friends. They're actual friends and family. You feel so much like our parent figure, our mom and then we have Ashley, who's more like the disciplinarian sometimes because she's very good at keeping on task and like being very, not rude, but like rigid like, yeah, this is... it's all fun in games, but we need this like result based more than that. So I just feel like, everybody has siblings and cousins and everyone just generally looks out for one another. I feel like no one is trying to get one over on anyone, which isn't the case in most places.
MICHELLE
I do agree with that. I feel like you... gosh, you even go camping with people here, you go on major hikes. You guys, you do spend a lot of time outside of here, and look out for one another. I love that I have customer service packing orders because we're light on customer service calls, and they want to make sure that orders get out the door faster and everyone just pitches in where things need to get done. And you don't find that everywhere.
BRENT MARIANETTI
No.
MICHELLE
So it is a great team and family, family focus. So all the way around, even wanting to know how people's families really are.
BRENT MARIANETTI
Sure. Definitely, definitely.
MICHELLE
So I love that. I want to get to a customer service story. Because you are the front line or, you're the person that the customer service team goes to. So I think the first thing is what is your favorite customer service story?
BRENT MARIANETTI
More like about a customer specifically or like an interaction. Like what do you-
MICHELLE
Just any fun story that you've heard of, or anything that just made you smile that just like, was that happy? Like you made someone's day today?
BRENT MARIANETTI
I think, well, as far as what will make me smile, I remember, I think it was a year or two ago that a woman had written and needed a reprint of an order. And it was literally specifically because her dog had eaten the labels.
MICHELLE
I think that's everyone's favorite customer service story.
BRENT MARIANETTI
It's so great. Because he sent a picture of proof and it was a golden or lab and you could tell, he had like the doofy look on his face and he was caught doing something shouldn't. And they were like some stickers stuck to his fur still around his face. And it was like, she wrote a handwritten note, then put it on him and it was like, " It was great. It was so cute. Because you didn't say like, it got lost in the mail" Or like, she was honest, shared a little funny thing. You could really relate to her and like, " Yeah, we get it. We'll take care of it for you. Like no problem."
MICHELLE
Yeah. So, what is the most creative place that you've seen Name Bubbles used or interesting place that you've seen them used?
BRENT MARIANETTI
I think I've actually seen them used on a friend of a family has put them on her dock. Up in, I think it's like George. She had out one of those nice aluminum docks. Because every year they had a problem with, even if they take it out, the water rises and the ice takes it, they lose their dock. So she had asked me, I know these are great for washing and their freezer are safe. Like will it work? And I think as long as you put it on like a flat metal surface at a decent temperature, it should be the same thing. They're not going to fall off because the water or the ice. And she used them and she loved them and it was great. And part of the dock actually floated away and her neighbors could call her because they knew exactly whose it was and it made its way back.
MICHELLE
I'd love that. That's a cool story. So she retrieved part of her dock that's amazing.
BRENT MARIANETTI
Yeah, thanks to Name Bubbles. Yeah.
MICHELLE
Okay. So now I want to hear a good op story. Operations where we make the labels. So many funny things have happened there over the years, but do you have like a favorite one that comes to mind?
BRENT MARIANETTI
Oh man. All right. Give me a second to think of in operations. A funny story.
MICHELLE
So they are into business. Like you guys get down to business back there and you get super focused, besides Rob singing and operations.
BRENT MARIANETTI
Yes. That's usually the nice thing that brightens the day is when he comes in, you know he is there because he is very boisterous and he has a good voice. So it's not anything that's bad. It's always fun. And his personality is great and it affects everybody. But I think that one of the funny stories is one of our... it's kind of operations related, but one of our technicians that services our printers is before I knew him well, we'd call him when we need something fixed and he'd come in. I know him and Rob have known each other for a very long time. And Rob is great. He works. But Rob likes to work four, 10 hour days and have his Fridays off or four, 12 hour days, get a little extra time on whatever he needs to do so he can decompress over the weekends. So we give each other a hard time about stuff and ingest and joking around. And I remember I'll never forget the first day that I knew that this tech was of similar cloth when it was like rousing and in a fun ways, he came in on a Friday to fix something and he was looking for Rob, and he looked in and he goes, " Oh, big surprise. Rob's not here on Friday, man. What I'd give to get his job, or something like that. It must be nice to network on Fridays." And it caught me off guard because I was like, all right. I know he's known him for like 10 years, but I don't know the relationship that they have. And then he looked at me with a big smile, like all right. Okay. Like he gets it too. Like he could fit in here with no problem at all. It was great. And he was like, " Make sure you tell him that the next time you see him, that I was looking for him." And I was like, " Oh, must be nice. And of course Rob was like, "Are you kidding me? I missed Greg was here this and the other thing. So just like, it's a good-
MICHELLE
Wait, didn't we name a printer after Craig?
BRENT MARIANETTI
Yeah, we did. But I think one of the first ones that you guys had bought, one of the old VPs was Greg. It was-
MICHELLE
We actually named a printer after our technician. So he comes and treats our printers and our printers really are like our kids. Like we have to take care of these babies to make sure that they get their orders out. And I think that everybody knows that we name our printers. So I'm just mentioning this again and have you come up with some of those names?
BRENT MARIANETTI
So we usually take a vote. Again, the two most recent ones. I love coffee. So I make all sorts of different cold brews and different stuff like that. And usually Greg also enjoys coffee. So when he comes to fix something, he'll usually ask if I have and coffee around it and I'll usually share some with him. So the most recent printer that we got, he actually named before any of us could say it and he put it in the printer before we could do it. And he named it cold brew beast.
MICHELLE
Actually I love that. Because cold brew beast is going to go. It's going to print colors.
BRENT MARIANETTI
It's going to go. So have the pistachio cold brew that he had named it after, after the day. So we adapted it a little bit and since we couldn't... he'd made it so we couldn't change it in the actual software. So we printed out, we adapted it to be pistachio and we printed it out in like the little slot labels. So like it's pistachio. But in the actual computer, it shows up as cold brew beast because Greg was being-
MICHELLE
Now, are you trolling Greg with the slot on the outside? Is that little bit-
BRENT MARIANETTI
Of course, it's a very sibling like brotherly. It's like fun group.
MICHELLE
It's funny because what are the printer names?
BRENT MARIANETTI
Oh man. So it started where they would try to do like each group because each station has two printers would have similar names. So like there's Xena and Gabrielle from the classic Xena Warrior Princess show, we try to give them strong names.
MICHELLE
Absolutely.
BRENT MARIANETTI
Because they take a beating in the summer. Atlas colosus, Kirkin Spock was a good one like a good duo. And then some of the cutters are actually pretty clever too. One is Edward for Edward scissor hands. Since he can cut things. Another one is Kimbo for Kimbo Slice, the old MMA fighter. Because that was his name, the last name Slice. It was like, " We tried to get funny."
MICHELLE
I wouldn't know what that is.
BRENT MARIANETTI
I think Andre actually came up with that one and I was like, " Wow, that's a really," Because I was like Kimbo, why kimbos? Oh right. Slice the last name. He's going to cut stuff. All right. That works. So yeah, there's some really clever ones.
MICHELLE
Yeah. Well one time we had two and it was Calvin and Hobbs. Yeah. And they were trouble from day one. They really were. So after we had to get rid of Calvin and Hobbs, we did because they were making mischief all the time.
BRENT MARIANETTI
It's funny how that works out sometimes.
MICHELLE
It really did work out. So I think after that, we were really careful at what we started naming our printers after those two. Because I remember it was like a big investment.
BRENT MARIANETTI
Oh, definitely
MICHELLE
To have these two big printers come in and then they were always having issues. But that was it though. So very funny. I like that op story. That's a good op story. Definitely.
BRENT MARIANETTI
Just shows like the vibe, the culture. No one takes themselves too seriously. Everyone has thick skin, but can joke around stuff. Which I feel like, I have two brothers. So growing up, that was like a key. I have friends that have family that are very literal and very serious and can't joke around about anything. And I feel like that would just be personally, it would make it sad for me because I'm such a joking, kidding person. And I feel a lot of people here are so.
MICHELLE
Yes. And you guys buckle in when you need to, but then you also have fun. So it's great. Just for new small business owners out there who are listening, what advice do you have for them as an employee? Like what advice would you boss? And you're very open and honest and I feel very constructive. So I'd love to hear what you have for them.
BRENT MARIANETTI
I think as far as for people opening small business, I can't speak to it 100% since I've never done it personally, but family and friends and experience here, I wasn't here as early as some people, but I was here pretty early on. I would just say if there's a business model and you think that it can be successful, if you think you can make money doing it, you can be good at it. And it's something that you're passionate about then it's not easy, but I've even seen it at the photography company that I worked for. It sounds cheesy, but if you stay with it and stick to it and just keep exploring different alternatives, if it's something that you're passionate about and that it's important to you, I think it usually tends to find a way. You can't just give up after some bumps in the road, some monetary-
MICHELLE
After the rocky road.
BRENT MARIANETTI
Right, after the rocky road. I feel like you have to keep your head up and learn from it. Everyone makes mistakes. And as long as it's not catastrophic and bankrupting, you got to still follow the dream until it's obvious, until there's no doubt. You never want to look back and be like, " It could have worked." But as far as that goes, if there's anything else specific we're all pretty open here, we usually can try to address it and move on from it and learn from it.
MICHELLE
So it's interesting because you're the last of the employees who I've spoken to, and I always say, get your grit on. So you have to be gritty and you have to dig in and you have to make it happen. And every single employee has brought that up. So flexibility was a big one. Everybody kept bringing up and then grit or digging in, staying with the endurance thing so that it's been really interesting. Any questions that you might I have for me? Just curious. And I don't mean to throw that out.
BRENT MARIANETTI
No. So yes, I do have one. In your wildest dreams, did you ever think we would've been as busy as we were last summer?
MICHELLE
Wow. Last summer took me by surprise. I will admit. I thought I'd be more prepared when we got... so this is going to sound funny. When I was in my basement, I remember like writing things down, like what are my goals? What am I going to... and I really did write down the biggest name label company in the world, on a piece of paper.
BRENT MARIANETTI
That's great.
MICHELLE
So I really like wanted to be so big. And that sounds funny, because as you're growing something, you really do hit these bumps. We're like, I'm 52 now and now I'm expanding and we have a great company here. Do I put it all at risk by investing? And it's not putting it all at risk, but it's going to make things really, you have to really, I'm going to be stressed again. So you're putting things on the line. You're buying a new building, you're buying new staff. You've got to make sure you're managing everybody really well. You have to make sure the equipment's working the same as the equipment here. There's logistics, as far as the website and getting who's printing what? On what side of the country? So it was really interesting because I'm going, " I could be really happy where I'm at right now, or let's really push this." And I think the thing that really made me go was I'm really worried about burnout for you guys. And we could do a split shift. We could have people come in and print during the evenings. And that's definitely a possibility. And I thought about that, but I don't know if people would want that life, that work life balance. I don't know if that would really go well for the culture where we're at now. So in my mind, I really felt like, we were so busy. I did not... we tripled our orders for August. It was insane and turned off advertising. So it was really wild. And I really, I had known it was coming, but it caught me off by two years.
BRENT MARIANETTI
But it's got to be kind of neat from that perspective to see like that was the dream in the basement. And at that one moment, you can't predict when it's going to happen.
MICHELLE
You're right. You cannot.
BRENT MARIANETTI
So funny story related to that. One of my uncles is a career long artist, an animator. He didn't get his" He's done work for Saturday night live." He used to work on Beavis and Butt- Head back in the day as like right out of college. He's teaching and taught adjunct to NYU animation. He's in his 60s now. As two years ago, he finally did a movie with Adam Sandler, he was the director of him and his business partner with the directors of cinematography and animation for Hotel Transylvania series.
MICHELLE
Oh Wow. Good for him.
BRENT MARIANETTI
They hit it off. And I remember talking to him and him being like, " It's great." He got very emotional because I'm realizing my dream, because this is what I've always wanted as an artist to be able to make a good living, doing it and to be quasi famous because, I never thought it would take this long. And similar to what you were saying, do I do it now at this age? Or can I be happy with what I've done before? But you realize that it's right there, you had your lifelong dream. You don't know how long it's going to take sometimes or when it's going to happen. But if it's there, you feel like you have to go for it.
MICHELLE
Exactly. Well that was my conclusion. It's like, okay, the risk is there. I've been taking risks all the way. When have I not taken a risk? And then I'm like, you know what? It's there. And I have this amazing team of people, group of people who are so capable and smart and amazing. Why wouldn't I do this? And I feel like we have been at this for a long time and we've figured it out. We know how to make this happen and we can duplicate it.
BRENT MARIANETTI
Oh man, thinking back to when I was first here, it took like minutes to create each label and we were still printing. Like people were still... we were still busy, but there was no way, like it's just light years ahead of efficiency and automations wise and.
MICHELLE
Oh yeah, the processes.
BRENT MARIANETTI
Crazy. Crazy.
MICHELLE
It is. I should probably have you and Rob in here together, just talking about the processes. Just how you guys, it's like every year, what we do the end of the high season and we haven't had time to do it this year. Because we've been so busy.
BRENT MARIANETTI
So busy.
MICHELLE
But we step back and we look and we're like, okay, what did we do? What were the positives? What were the negatives? What can we do to make this better? And we've done that every year now for, I want to say like eight years or so. And that's something that I keep going, " Brent, we have to schedule time."
BRENT MARIANETTI
Well it's good too. Because everybody's experience is different. Like, yes, we were busy, but busy is good, but some people were stressed more than others, but what did different departments take away from it than someone else who's not, like we're pretty closely connected with customer service. So we know what they were doing. They had a better idea of what we were doing. But people like Ashley, you and Rob and different departments, it's once you get busy, like you said, you hunker down and down the business in your own little zone and your own little cocoon. So this is good to be like, " Oh we had this issue and it could be connected to this." Or like, " Oh, if I did this and this department, it could help this and this department." And it's very interconnected. It seems weird that we're all in the same office, but everybody experiences things very differently and getting everybody's perspective from it, you can only learn from it and better each individual little milk and cranny of everything.
MICHELLE
Exactly. And I made the mistake this summer where I think one day you were like, oh, and it was a huge number of orders that you got out. And I'm like, " Wow, great." So I'm thinking in my mind, " Oh, that's what the team can get out."
BRENT MARIANETTI
What a push.
MICHELLE
But no. So I'm letting advertising go for a little while longer than I should have, because I'm thinking, " Oh, the team can get out this many orders, then we're fine." But it just happened to be the way I think things worked through the order system and the weekend and people had come in and they had spent extra hours. So I, in a lot of ways I felt bad. And I think that, I came back there, I had my son come in.
BRENT MARIANETTI
Oh yeah. You guys-
MICHELLE
Husband come in.
BRENT MARIANETTI
Nieces?
MICHELLE
I'm like, yeah, everybody, I'm like, "Get in here now and we need help." So we did, we brought in the neighborhood basically.
BRENT MARIANETTI
Yeah, absolutely. And it was that original that once we started getting backlogged, it didn't really matter how... it was great that we could get that many out. But you were only treading water with the crazy amount of orders that came in. So by the time we actually got a chance to chip away at what had built up so fast, and been like, okay, this is unprecedented for all of us. Like no one really knew how to handle it. Because it's usually like, " Oh, we have a couple busy days. We'll power through. We'll be caught up in a week. Not a problem." But then it was like, " Oh man, not only are we not catching up, but these numbers are astronomical."
MICHELLE
What a great problem to have.
BRENT MARIANETTI
Yeah. Oh definitely. Definitely.
MICHELLE
But still you want to make sure we were... for the customer service side of it, it was a panic.
BRENT MARIANETTI
We don't want to set anybody up for failure. Ultimately make more work for anybody here and make our customers unhappy. Because that's the biggest goal for everybody is to just-
MICHELLE
Happy customers. But Brent, thank you so much for coming in.
BRENT MARIANETTI
Thanks for having me. I was blessed.
MICHELLE
Yeah, absolutely. We'll probably do this again sometime.
BRENT MARIANETTI
All right. Sounds great. I look forward to it.
MICHELLE
Thank you.
BRENT MARIANETTI
Thanks Michelle.
SPEAKER 3
Thank you so much for joining us today on From The Basement Up. Please be sure to check namebubbles.com or our blog on the podcast and all of the show notes, resources and links for our guests every Thursday. And please be sure to leave us a five star review wherever you get your podcast. See you next week and thank you.
