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Justin Shelley (00:02.246) Welcome over to episode one, the inaugural, the first, hopefully not the only, episode of Elko Rockstars. I'm Justin Shelley, CEO of Phoenix IT Advisors. I've been doing business since 1997. Not always here in Elko. No. and I'm here with Billy Prepo, CEO of the Elko Area Chamber. Billy, thank you for being here. Thank you for having me, Justin. It's like the CEO of mine. I know what it's going on. listen, I'm gonna be I'm gonna explain why I it was a greedy, selfish move to have you on here first. Okay. Because I've been planning this. I actually started, let's see, I had DFW Rockstars back in Dallas because I have a a business there as well. And I started thinking about bringing Elko Rockstars here. I was just racking my brain to know I want to to interview. And your name just kept coming up over and over. So I'm like, And and it's a greedy move because I'm like, hey, you know everybody in Alco. Nope. I know all the businesses, right? You've been around the block and I looked, you know, so I start digging through your history and I see twenty years at the chamber. This is nice. Yeah. ten years as CEO, and you've been in Elko for thirty one. Yes. So I'm ashamed to admit you've got me beat by a lot. Well, I probably have you beat by a lot of years in life as well. So I don't know that that's true. I graduated Elko High in nineteen ninety two, so I'll tell myself there. I won't ask you to do the same. Well I graduated in nineteen eighty eight. Okay. So you only got a couple years on Kellogg High School. Kellogg. Up in northern Idaho. Okay, so you're not an Alpha native. I'm not either in full disclosure. I graduated here but I've moved all over the place. tell me a little bit, you you've been around the mining community though your entire life. My whole life. So Kellogg, Idaho was definitely mining industry, they were silver mines. And so when the mines started closing down in Idaho, I moved to with my first husband, I moved to Arizona. So lived in three different communities in Arizona before we moved to Elko in 1995. Okay. Two years after I graduated. Yes. And so it's been one of those things that you see the different different mines, different cultures, but I definitely understand the importance of mining in a community and what mines give back to the communities. So Justin Shelley (02:26.546) I it's always a pleasure to work with our mines and work with our mines support and see what we can do to help our community grow. Well, so I'm gonna tell you a little bit about my story, my background in business and small towns. I've I've done business, so I started my company originally in Reno in 1997. And then I've done business in we went up into Susanville, California, tiny little town. It's a prison community, so somewhere but different. Yeah. Challenges. unique to that small community, but different from what we have here in Elko I moved to Florida, I've lived in Dallas, you know, I I've been kind of all over the place and I've had businesses, some good, some not so good, all over the place. One universal I found is that business sucks. It's just hard. It's not so I I actually check my math up on that. As connected as you are in the business community, you have anybody coming to you saying, Billy, I'm bored. I don't know what to do business is so easy. I've got it all figured out. I need hobby. Never. Okay. Not one time. So it's not just me. Nope. that said, this is a stupid side note, but business owners are usually ADHD We've got like this other business, but my god, there's like all these other things we can do to distract us. Yeah. so the universal is that it's hard. And what I find interesting though is that each community, each market is very unique and very different. I've like I said, I've done business in cities, I've done business in small towns. and even small town to small town comparison, wildly different. Yes. So that's kind of why I resurrected this concept. DFW Rockstars, like I said, started in Dallas. then I moved out here not too long ago, about three years I did back. and I just it's just been emailing. I wanted out of rock stars. I love it. I'm not making the same mistake I made in Dallas though. I brought a musician on. To talk about his business as a musician. Everybody thought I was interviewing rock stars, musicians. Well, you've got a piano out there. I do. I was once a fancy myself a pianist. I love the piano. I love music. I even majored in music for a full semester at UNR before I realized I'm really not a musician. Like, how come my music doesn't sound like those other people? anyways, back on track. Justin Shelley (04:51.963) I'm sorry. so tell me, in in the community of Elko, what are some of the and let's just hit maybe the top two or three challenges that you've seen other businesses struggle with? And I think it's consistently the last 20 years, it's it's consistently how do we keep people shopping local in our community, supporting our small businesses, and also employee hiring and retention, more so. retention of employees. There it's a struggle for for businesses to not only hire the people, but after they get them trained and all the all the things that they go through, they don't stick around or they don't show up. So it's really a process of not just hiring but retaining employees that they're really struggling with. Which do you think is worth the hiring or the retention? the retention. And it's been a while since we've been bagging on the millennials. but do you think it's a generational thing as well as community like a mining community challenge? Or is it just a mining community that makes this hard for upper businesses? I think it's a properly a combo, but I also have every everybody that works here is young enough to be my child. Yeah. And they're amazing. They work hard, they get things done. So yeah, I can't really just say millennials in general don't they're lazy, they don't want to work. These girls aren't afraid of anything. Okay. And so I think. The mining community makes a difference. A lot of places can't compete with mine salaries, but it's not even just mine salaries, it's even mine support businesses, those kind of things. but the problem is small businesses can't compete with insurance. the cost of healthcare and providing insurance for their employees is rough. And so I think that's part of it as well. But I think there's also they get they'll get people hired, they think they want to work, they don't. really necessarily want to work or show up or those kind of things. And so I think also small businesses and small business owners maybe don't know how to do the hiring process and maybe some training on on hiring and and interviews and that kind of thing might be helpful as well. But I but there really is definitely a tur such a turnover in employees that it's it's hard to Justin Shelley (07:18.971) make those connections customer wise. They have people working in the store. You go in, it's new people in the store, new people in the restaurants, new people. So they don't build those connections and relationships. Just kind of want a small town biospool to be about. Yeah, you go to the coffee shop and you want the same person. You want you know the people you want, you know, that kind of thing that have worked there forever and you know, Andy Griffith and Ampi and the store again. It's and it's not really that way anymore. But I think it it is definitely a struggle. to for them to keep employees. Without naming me, do you see businesses actually fail because of hiring and retaining employees? I have. I absolutely have. And I think sometimes it's the employees that are destroying their businesses. They have poor customer service. They people are like, I'm not coming back in there anymore. Yeah. It's those kind of that type of a situation. I think the ones that are strong business owners that are there on site, that are at the stores, that are in the restaurants, tend to do a little bit better with their employees because they're there and they're working with the employees and building those relationships with their employees as well. I think employee relationships in the business is very important as well. Yeah there's a there's a book that became famous in the business world called the E myth. Have you heard of this? No I haven't. Okay. one of the things that is famously quoted from that book Is work on your business, not in your business. And that I'm a member of a community of IT MSP business owners nationwide. So there's hundreds of us. We meet weekly in small groups, and then every quarter we go and meet. that's the entire community. It's a fantastic community to be involved in. That became such a fad for a while. It's like, stop working in your business. You've got to pull yourself back, get out of the trenches, work on the marketing, work on the the processes and Important advice, however, you can take it too far. Yeah. You have to stay connected. And that's that's what I'm hearing you say is like if I don't seen it, I'm not gonna name names, but I have seen it here. I've seen it in other businesses where you can just tell there's there's no owner in sight and there's no oversight, no ownership. it showed up in the business reviews, the Google reviews. crazy, great businesses, phenomenal product. The the building is gorgeous, everything is perfect except Justin Shelley (09:47.439) There's an absentee owner running it. Yeah. And and it just it shows. so yeah, I mean it it can, it can put people out of business. What what creative solutions have you seen? And let's let's kind of break it up into hiring and then retention as well. What creative ways have you seen for local businesses to find good talent? I think some of the things that I've noticed more with some of the businesses is they're willing they're more willing to work. around people's sketchballs a little bit. So this gal has four kids, she's got to get them to school. So we think no, she cannot be the opening shift. So she works around them being able to get their children to school or vice versa. Even sometimes it's dad that's got to get the kids to school in that type of a situation. I think that they've worked on more training for their employees. Different situations like that. but I think it's still I think people don't really think about that there is training and thoughts and ideas going into the actual hiring process, but to continue to educate your employees as well is is very important. so I've also seen where they We'll hire two different people to do the same job, but it's part-time because they really only just want to work part-time. They work around, like I like I'd mentioned before, different hours and situations. I work really hard with my gals on making sure that they can attend their children's events. Yeah. They still need to go to we have preschool preschool graduations and we have wanna bring treats to the kids for school. They have sports events, different things, conferences, those are important. important family vacations. Well, let's talk about Fridays. Because the schools are four day weeks and businesses aren't for the most part. So Fridays can become tricky, right? Do you do you have that problem? Or do you do you address that with your employees? I address that in my place, but they also are very good about utilizing Boys and Girls Club. Okay. So they have the kids go to school, but then they have Boys and Girls Club in different organizations that they Justin Shelley (12:03.979) That they go to. We have some that have dads that are off on pregnancy. They're at the mine through Thursday. So they work on those different situations. But when things come up and they don't have a sitter, we we work around that. And sometimes it's a matter of they're working from home. Right, right. And we all are aware that when people work from home, they don't work eight hours a day, they don't get as much done, but at least they're still productive and then they don't have that stress of what am I gonna do? Child. You know, it's arguable that, and I'm just speaking from personal experience, sometimes we're more productive at home. I think so too, but not when you have little kids with that. Correct. Okay, fair enough. And I am more productive. I was more productive at home, so there would be randoms. I'm gonna work from home today until my husband retired. And then it's like having a little kid at home as well. And so I'm less productive at home as well. I love him, but You know, it's not, it's there's distractions and so I have a love hate relationship with working from home. I've recently gone to full time working from home. most of my thirty years in business I've refused. I want an office. Like I said, ADHD self diagnosed. I mean I'm looking up I'm not trying to, but right now Billy, I'm looking out your window at the stupid cars driving. my I sit there and Yeah. So when somebody walks in and wants to talk to me, I'm done. I can be in the middle of something and yeah. So yeah, I am also as the boss here, as CEO of the chamber, I'm very available. I'm very approachable. I'm very my doors open and people realize that. And so it's in the back door, straight into my office. I'm like, have a seat. Let's visit. What can I do for you? No, but it's but it's what you gotta do. That's what I'm here for. And so I think working with the community and working with these small businesses and being like I said, I'm approachable. So people will come to me and talk about things and not just work things. I get I get to hear other things as well, which is sometimes I'm the counselor, sometimes you know, sometimes I'm the HR, sometimes but I'm trying to I try to be as much as I possibly can because people need me. Yeah. Yeah. Which it's important. Which shows up in the in businesses when the owner is not Justin Shelley (14:25.95) approachable. let's talk about retention. So I mean we have to get creative on both and we're we're we're bleeding back and forth. That's okay. But if you could say like your your number one thing that you've seen businesses do to retain employees in a world where you're competing with great benefits, great pay, what what's the most creative thing you've seen? Flexibility. Flexibility, okay. Because the mines are wonderful and they're great and they pay very well, but they don't have that same kind of flexibility. Right. And even some other industries, because they need that person at work at this time to do this job. And so I think working around, like I said before, schedules and different situations, but I think flexibility is is huge. And I think that's why I my gals have stuck around so long. I want to say because I'm wonderful, but really it's that that flexibility and that camaraderie and friendship that they have together, that we work together as a team, but it's it's make they're comfortable here. And that's what they need to be comfortable. They need to know that this is their place. This is where they can come to work. This is when they can have a bad day. This is when they can have a great day. And it's okay. Right. Okay. Well, that's honestly that's really what I wanted to dive in today. Do you have any Final thoughts, key takeaways, like if people just listen to this one part of what we're talking about, what do you want the LCA community to hear? I think that, like I said, we focus a lot on retention. give young people a chance. When you're hiring, don't just assume that they're not great. They're not afraid. They're not afraid of anything. They're not afraid to learn things. They're not afraid to get on that computer and start playing around and figure out things. They're not afraid of technology and futuristic things and they're just they're just willing to do whatever us older people are a little more intimidated by those kind of things. And I also the understanding with your employees, the understanding that life is life and things happen. And like I said, flexibility is is amazing. But I also really, really encourage people in this community to make sure that you are spending your dollars in this community. Justin Shelley (16:48.686) These small businesses are struggling. They're trying to get people in the door, but right now people are buying groceries and they're buying gas. There's not necessarily we're gonna go buy a home decor, we're gonna buy new furniture, we're gonna be those kind of things. But if you go and send those dollars out of town, it's not helping this community. Yeah, we're in our own little bubble here and we need to make sure that we're taking care of our businesses, that we're taking care of these people that are working so hard to keep their doors open. And they're the ones that are giving to every raffle, every donation, every fundraiser, all the boys, you know, the boys and girls club stuff they're giving to the the little league, different things like that. So make sure that you're here, present in our community, and that you care that you're involved and you want you want this community to grow and provide. And doing by doing that, you need to shop local and you need to be. Available and present in this community and help each other out. I just saw it this week. I was with a client and happened to be at their front desk when somebody walked in with the paperwork for a a fundraiser. you know, you can donate this much, you know, show them all the different programs. but what they're not doing is going over to Salt Lake or over to Reno and and getting fundraising dollars there. So it's one of those things that you want to ask these people in the community for donations, but you go spend all your dollars in Salt Lake and then you go in here. And want a donation I don't spend money. So so support our community. It's an amazing place to be. It's an amazing place to live. And that's that's really the key the key factor is taking care of the community, taking care of our people. I'm hearing you say give businesses a chance to run their business. You know, it's like we're we're here to help business owners and it's just yeah. Yeah. We we gotta help each other out. Yeah, we're we're here to show this this podcast is about sharing information and and you know educating each other. I love the saying you you you never want to be the smartest person in the room. No so that's you know, like I said, I'm I'm just out. I want to get to know everybody here. I want to learn from them. That's how I I fail. I dropped out of college. not a college graduate. I learned everything I know about business from meeting with other business owners. but yeah, if we're in a community that doesn't take care of itself financially. Justin Shelley (19:11.089) Well, it doesn't matter how good you are at at running the business. One other thing, and I we'll we'll probably wrap up with this unless you have anything else. I'll I'll take the final word, but I heard you say talk about educating or or ongoing training, however you worded that. And what you know, I brought up millennials earlier. When it was cool to say millennials didn't like the work, that was one of the things they found in in the survey or study that was done, is that You know, it it's not necessarily about pay, it is. We're all here to do money. It's not absolutely about benefits, although that is a huge thing. The number one thing that the employees wanted was personal fulfillment. And how many times as business owners do we sit down and think, how can I make this a great place for my employee? We talk a lot about our clients, we talk about how to grow the business, we talk about how to manage money, we talk about how to market. Do we talk about how to build that organization into somewhere we're want to show up and be their best. So that that's that's what I'm I'm putting my spin on what you said, but I I love that so no and that's that's one of the things that I'm I will just close with this as well. the gals that work here are amazing and I make sure that everybody knows yeah what they do, what they've accomplished. The things that are happening in here are not because of me. I'm a small part of a team that's doing these things. But these ladies have grown and learned and it's amazing to watch that. And I'm like, look at how smart you are. Look at how talented you are. And I make sure that everybody knows how great these ladies are. So you say it's not you, but I'm gonna put it back on. You've created an environment where they can thrive. Well, I hope so. And that's that's what I'm hearing. That's I mean you can see it here when you walk in. There's there's smiles, there's not drudgery. You're gonna need something. Anyway, well I I can just speak as a a member of the chamber that I love what you guys do. I have because I'll all over the place. it's not a flex, by the way. I that's wrong. I I've been a member of a lot of chambers and I am crazy impressed with what you guys do here. I I would argue that it's the best chamber I've been a member of. Justin Shelley (21:33.874) I'm not bragging. This is again I'm telling myself more than anything because I haven't been as involved as I would like to be. I'm I've seen the light, I'm changing my ways. So we're we're a beer sponsor. We're we're gonna be here for your beer show. I know, I'm excited. Reminds me, I've got pen and paperwork I need to work on there. Anyways. so I just want to say thank you for what you do for the community because communities need it no matter where they're at, no matter what the meeting challenges are. you gotta have somebody advocating for the community. So thank you for that. And I thank you for being a member of the chamber and supporting the community and and giving back. So absolutely. I love it. Well Billy, thank you. Appreciate it so much. It was a very selfish move. you involved. I appreciate it. I told him I s I told Justin that I was extremely intimidated by this, but this was fun. well Billy I've done several podcast shows, different themes. I've done hundreds of episodes and I'm nervous so I mean it is what it is. All right. Thank you so much. We'll see you guys next week.