Leading in a Male Dominated Industry | Miranda Johnson, Red Wing Shoes #080

Hello everyone. I'm Karissa with Shining Light on Minnesota. I am super excited. I have Miranda here from Red Wing Shoes. Welcome Miranda. Hello. Hello. Yes. Hi. So, let's get started and tell everybody about how you got started into Red Wing Shoes. Okay. Yes. We'll start with a the wide range question, right? Yeah. Yes. Sure. Um, my husband paved the way for us. Yeah. He worked for the previous owner of our Red Wing shoe stores for almost 20 years. Mhm. Um so I um I'm originally from New York and moved here in 2013. Met my husband, so became familiar with Red Wing through him. Yeah. Um and you know I I am trained as a speech pathologist. So my background is in speech therapy working with pediatrics and uh so just really all I knew about the business initially was that I liked the shoes. Right. Absolutely. [laughter] It would bring me home uh gifts. right? Uh which I gladly accepted. You know, I joke that um the the first time he brought me home a pair of Red Wings, he you know, he sat me down and um he, you know, rolled up my pants. You had me at the shoes. Put put them on for me. And I was like, "Wow." Like this guy, we were just dating, newly dating. I was like, "This guy's a keeper." You know, he's putting my shoes on. And then, you know, I go into the store one day, you know, later on after that, and I see them sitting people down and fitting people for shoes. So, I was like, "Oh, here. I thought I was getting my shoes." It's everybody. Yeah. Everybody's getting this sit and fit experience. But um so he was asked uh if we wanted to buy the stores in um April of 2023. So, that's when uh we started the process. And of course, there's nerves that come with that. Um but you know he picked up the phone right after um the previous owner asked him and he called me and he said okay do we want to do this [snorts] and I said yes yes this is kind of what we have been waiting for what he's been waiting for um so one store turned into do you want to buy two uh turned into okay us going back to the bank and saying okay can we buy three right so uh we went all in and bought three storesing uh right off the bat in 2023 and um I loved my job I was working for a wonderful company in private outpatient pediatric therapy services and um we quickly realized as we were going through the process of buying the business that um I couldn't do both. Right. So I made the tough decision to hang up my speech therapy hat and go in fully to to the business ownership. So yeah it's kind of nice when it's one of those like you have the process set so you know okay I'm going in fully. I want to make this a family business. I want to make this work. Yeah. Yep. And there's there's risk with that. Of course, we have two young kids, so um leaving, you know, my steady paycheck at that time was tough, but I knew that um together we would have the skills really to make it work. He knew everything about the boot business, right? Um you know, he knows all about the shoes, all about the customers. And I uh brought my experience of, you know, managing and growing business. I was working as a clinical director at the previous job. So, uh, yeah, that between that and some educated use of chat GPT, you know, we we started and now we're fully in. So, and it's one of those two, I mean, you've had the the customer the the patient comes first experience, too. So, putting that together with everything else and knowing that the needs of everybody, you always come first. Yes. Is important. Yep. For sure. I um that was something that was well ingrained from my the previous company that I worked for. Um, it was always a people first organization and um, you know, the the previous owner of that company lived and breathed that and I think Wes and I, my husband Wes and I both uh, live and breathe that. Um, you know, our customers are why we're here. Yeah. And, um, from there, our employees are why we're here and we're why we're here. So, everything is, you know, for the for the people. How nice has it been now that you have the three locations to say, "Okay, I don't have to wear quite so many hats. I have employees that are able to spread their wings and try things and do things on their own a little bit now, too. Yeah. I I mean, our employees are experts. We we locked out and kept all of the employees from the stores with us. So, I have the shortest tenure, right, [laughter] of everyone in the business. Um, but they yeah, they are the experts and they have embraced change. You know, when we took over the stores, there were a lot of things we kept the same, but there were also a lot of things that we wanted to enhance and grow and really dig into. Wes and I are both very involved in the business and they um you know they make it easy for us to to um work on the business because they are in it every day uh serving the customers and selling boots and they're they're the experts, the fit experts. Yeah. Well, and it's interesting too. I mean the way people shop these days to the way they even have even shopped two years ago or three years ago has changed. People want to buy online. They don't want to go into the store and actually try things on. they want to have it right at their fingertips today instead of going in and having that personal fit option. So yeah, yeah, we can let's talk more about that, but that is a cornerstone of our business. Red Wing shoes has always been, you know, brick and mortar only. Um, and you know, our Red Wing corporate team will be the first to admit that it took him a little while to get on the e-commerce bandwagon. Yeah. Um, last year was our first year selling online, Red Wing shoes being available online, which nobody would have ever thought that that was going to get to that hurdle. Right. Right. And I would say um it's a convenience for sure. I think the statistic that really stuck out to me the most is um last year 80% of the customers who bought online were new customers that had never shopped with us before. So, which is huge because most people know the Red Wing, they know the brand, they know the fit, they know exactly what they want, they want to get them. Yeah. You So, um it's brought a new consumer base to our business being available online. Um I think, you know, because it's footwear and because it's work footwear, uh our customers still prefer to be able to come in and try the boots on even if it's a pair of boots, you know, the same same style number that they've been wearing. Might be a little more narrow. You just don't know. Yep. Your feet change. So people come in and um we actually have this crazy piece of equipment where you know it's similar to um equipment used in the running industry. So people come in and they stand have you ever done this? Where you stand on the machine and it takes a 3D picture of your feet and then a dynamic scan of your feet and from there it can recommend all the boots that we have in the store and insoles. So I will say our customers are still coming in right that's what we want. Um, but it has, like I said, opened a new consumer base to us. People who are really eager to have that convenience piece of buying online. Plus, people who don't live near a Red Wing shoe store, right, are now able to try our products for the first time, which is amazing. They need to have that, too. I think it's really important for people to have that convenience if they don't have one, to be able to have that experience. For sure. Absolutely. Yeah. So, it's cool. Yeah. I mean, it's it's always been kind of the brick and mortar and to have that that expertise to say, "Hey, you know, I can still get these. I live in I live in a small town 100 miles away from one of the stores and I still want to get them because I moved away." Yeah. Yep. And then maybe if they're traveling, you know, into the cities, they make it a point to stop and check it out. Um, and to try the machine out. And try check out the machine. Yep. We'll tell you way more than you'd ever thought you'd want to know about your feed. Yep. Do all the stores have the machine? Yes. Yep. All of the stores have the machine. And our three stores are in Bloomington, [ __ ] Rapids, and Columbia Heights. Those are the three that Wes and I own. Um, and yeah, it is the first thing you do. It's just a part of the process, right? You come in and you get measured. Nice. So, that's like the first step of the what we call the ultimate fit experience. Y have been some of your main mentors like that have formed you and made you who you are today. Um, number one, uh, without a doubt is Kelly Peters. She is the owner of Sunny Days Therapy. She is um my friend and colleague that I worked for for 10 years. Uh she is who she is through and through. I think every aspect of her business has been shaped by her and what she cares about and her values and morals. And I learned so much from her, you know, starting as uh a really young new uh speech pathologist to growing into a leader and a manager and a mentor myself. Yeah. Um, I just saw her, you know, the way she handled everything from, you know, celebratory moments to difficult conversations and, um, she just was always her. Yeah. And, uh, true. So, I think she was my biggest mentor for sure. Amazing. She still is your mentor. Yes. We still work together. Yeah. Keep in touch with one another. And what have been some of the obstacles that you've come across in the process of going from the path speech pathology to the shoe business? Um well I would say one of the biggest uh changes was working with exclus pretty much exclusively women in the speech pathology field to working pretty much exclusively with men. So just that dynamic shift which I've enjoyed. I've really enjoyed there's so many um unique aspects of you know developing a a team with you know the opposite gender that you you just learn you know more about your communication style and um so I would say that I'm making a change and I'm not one of you. Yeah. Yeah. And I think um it's been it's been really nice to to just um just yeah like I said grow in the way I communicate and you know learning about a whole new group of people and building those relationships with um our employees has been really special for me. I would say um you know the biggest challenge is you know I went from being an employee to being an employer and correct I mean there's just so much that comes along with that. um you know learning everything from taxes to numbers to starting a business yeah to maintaining a business to you know the HR aspect you know I do everything in the business from the payroll to managing people um to working with Wes and learning about you know inventory and how to read a P&L and it never shuts off it just never yeah never shuts off right like things that you think about in the middle of the night feeding all the employees and making sure everybody has food and their families have food and all that kind of stuff. Absolutely. Health, we carry health insurance and benefits. So, it's just crazy. Um I think I told you when we when we were went for lunch that the one thing that I learned to do pretty quickly is to have, you know, something next to my bed, you know, notebook or my notes app. If I wake up and think of something, I just put it in there because otherwise you're never going to get back to it's going to keep going, right? Yeah. Put it in there and then the next morning it's like, "Oh, that was that was a good thought." Yeah, that was the thought or like why was everything seems bigger in the middle of the night, right? Like why was that even keeping me up, right? And it just kind of keeps cycling through like oh yeah, that builds and then there's something else that goes off of that too. Yep. So it can it can spiral and you want it to spiral like during the day when you have capacity at 3:00 in the morning and then you start going off of that and oh yeah, then there's that too and Yep. Yeah. I mean, it's it's a good problem to have that you're thinking about all those things and their families and everything like that. And then when you see the successes, you know, like yes, you're feeding their families and yes, they got their first car and they bought their first house and all that stuff too. Those those wins. Oh, for sure. I mean, and you know, the reality of that when employee comes to you and said, "Hey, like I I applied um for this home loan and I I got it because of you know, the salary that you're paying me or the raise that you gave me this year." So, you know, thank you so much. I don't know if I would have been able to do it without that. And it just puts, you know, that into perspective for you. Um, I think that we, you know, we we run a business where, you know, we we want to be doing more and we want to be doing better. And, um, we know that productivity in a business is the basis of morale, right? You know, you know, if people are feeling like they're contributing and they're a value ad and their ideas are recognized and they're help moving the business forward, they're going to be happier. Absolutely. Right. If they can bring something to the plate and try something. Yeah. Right. Absolutely. Like there's that saying, I don't like idle hands or something like along those lines, but it's so true. When you see an action Yes. when people are um you know, feel they feel valuable um everybody the morale of the business, the culture of the business is just that much more positive. um when everyone feels like they're playing a part. Yeah. I mean, one of my favorite quotes is either you think you can or you can't. And you're right. Like what you bring to the table is what you bring to the table. And those people that you sit down with are also those people. You know, I always tell my kids, those people you surround yourself with, if you sit down with five people that are millionaires, you're more than likely going to be the sixth one. Same goes if you sit down with five people that are robbing a bank. Guess what? You'll probably be the sixth one. So make your choices in the people you hang around too like those people are going to be influencing your life. So yeah, you for sure for sure you learn um from the people around you and um you know we are learning absolutely from our employees and from our customers and that's how we you know base a lot of the decisions in the business you know feedback that we've gotten um things that people care about. You know what do our customers care about? What do our employees care about? really spending the time to get to know what those things are um and letting it shape the way you run the business. And you want to know from those customers, hey, what am I doing right? What am I doing wrong? Like let's let me hear that review. Let me let me know what's making a difference, what's working, what's not because then you can make a change based on that too. Absolutely. Yes. It's something we do a ton of, right? And um especially when you know you're providing a product that they wear on their feet all day long, right? They've got something to say about that. And they always do. There's always feedback. Whether it's good or bad, there's going to be there's going to be feedback. And I feel like these days, more times than not, it's negative feedback. But you still want to know that like, hey, I've had these shoes for 40 years, and why all of a sudden is it are the seams coming out or, you know, is it is it changing or is the leather not the same or whatever it may be. Yes. For sure. Yes. And that's something that I think I really um value about the Red Wing Red Wing as a company, right? um from the product people, the people are at, you know, the right out the gate deciding um how are we going to build, create or modify and change this product to better suit our customers. Like we're always soliciting that feedback. You before boots even, you know, are sold in our stores, they are tested by people in the field for, you know, a year sometimes um and then trial and retiled. My husband and I um have gone to the Red Wing Tannery and Factory and done four tours now. Nice. And we say every time we go, we learn something new from which is important. Yeah, absolutely. It's it's nuts. Like people in Minnesota, if you want to spend a day, right, like get on the train, go down to Red Wing, take a tour of the T factory if you know, if that's something that interests you. It's it's nuts. You don't know what you don't know until you've gone there. I mean, I've I've been there myself and it's like it's it's gets your mind going for sure. Yes. The things the things that you learn just that it is a you know, the the boots and my feet are a product of the meat industry, right? So like um the cattle provides the hides which are then tanned. Um Red Wing Shoe Company is one of the very very few I can't even think of another shoe company that owns and operates its own tannery, right? So you see like the half hides coming in and then you see you go to the factory and you see them being boxed up. Y right, you know, and and signed by the person who did that final inspection. So it's an incredible piece of history that we have right here in Minnesota. You know, the company starting in 1905, the tannery starting in, you know, the mid 1800s. So, yeah, it's just Yeah, not many places can say that they do everything local in here in Minnesota and keep it going and have kept it going and it's all just born and raised. Absolutely. And it's Yeah, it's a source of pride for sure. I think um for Wes and I, for our employees, for our customer customers to be able to say right, they you know, they saw where the boots are made, right? Yeah. So, how has the change from New York to Minnesota been? You know, it's been so long. Right. I know. For it. We've had that conversation when we were talking, too. Yeah. Yeah. So, I'm from upstate New York. So, um a whole other part of the state, right? Absolutely. Upstate New York. I grew up in a very small town. We had a blinking light in a deli. Yep. That was like the consistency. I graduated high school with 85 kids. So, I grew up on 81 acres of land, right? Which everybody wants to get back to, right? It was really a cool place to be a kid. Like, we would My brother and I would get lost during the day. I don't think my parents ever knew where we Everybody gets older, that's what you want. You want to get back out there to the land and have all that. Yeah. So, it was an amazing place to grow up. Um, Minneapolis, St. Paul, uh, we live in Mountains View is the biggest city that I've ever lived in, right? So, I went to school, I did my undergrad and my grad work in Syracuse. Yep. Um, and, you know, in terms of changes, you know, weather is everything pretty much the same. Um, we would get a lot more snow. Like I have vivid memories of being a college student like standing I had a Chevy Avalanche at the time like standing on top of my Chevy [laughter] avalanche like shoveling out two feet of snow. So we definitely got more snow in upstate New York but um you know once you acclimate to the weather you know the weather [clears throat] yesterday 35 degrees felt like a heat wave here. I know right. Everybody was ready for like their flip flops and yeah good to go. I came without a coat today. I know right. I'm like what coat? I don't need one. I'm good. [laughter] So yeah, honestly like very uh similar in a lot of ways. Uh the accessibility here, you know, um my aunt joked when I moved here that you can get any everywhere in 20 minutes and I'm coni convinced that's factual. I tell everyone you can get anywhere in 20 minutes and Right. So I just love you don't have like the hour and a half, three-hour long traffic stop where you're like, "Okay, I'm stuck in traffic and I'll be there in three hours." Yeah. Yeah. So it really is a hidden a hidden gem in a lot of way a lot of ways. For sure. Yep. So, we've talked about obstacles, and for every win, there's always a lot of losses. What have been some of your losses that have gotten you to some of your wins, mistakes, like little mistakes that you make um that help you learn? Yeah. About just the process of everything, business ownership, managing people, right? Um I I own all of my mistakes. It's something that I have learned, which is good. That's huge for a lot of people to do. Yeah. It's better. It's better to just own the mistakes and explain why you maybe think it happened and how we're going to, you know, not let this happen again or put, you know, safe walls in place so that you only make the mistake once. You learn once and you're not going to be shame on you the second time, right? Just just little things. Um I think you know um in terms of you know the process of owning a business anything from like when you have to file things to what you know what amount of insurance you have to have or you know the amount of employees that you have and um oh I have to have you know this this license for this that and the other thing. So, uh, you you learn a lot and I think, you know, the biggest thing I've learned is to, um, expand your network, utilize your resources. There are experts out there for everything. Yes. Everything. So, utilize the expert experts, build those relationships, ask them the hard questions, learn from them, right? Um, you know, bring them into your circle. So we you know anything that is is you know really really important and a priority we um outsource to the experts. Um and you know other things that you know we can do inhouse we do right. Um but an example would be uh a social media consultant. Recently I realized because I I I I describe myself as like a a type B+ personality. [laughter] I I am uh I am going to forget like 90% of the things on my grocery list, but you better believe I have the most well formatted email signature. Correct. [laughter] Yep. But um so recently I realized that I was going to kill myself trying to do uh social media posts uh effectively because I would just get way too hung up on some of the details and formatting. Oh yeah. Um you know, I have great ideas for content um but beyond that I need help, right? Yeah. So, um, bringing on a social media consultant was something that we did last year and she's been a great value ad and looking forward to continue to build that relationship and, uh, get her help throughout 2026. Um, you know, obviously countless other things from um, you know, the accounting help, uh, having close relationships with our bank. Yeah. um you know ev like everything uh you know resources in the store, resources out of the store. So that's just been huge to have. It's hard. It's hard to wear a lot of hats and say, "Okay, this is what I'm good at. This is what I'm not good at." So the ones I'm not good at, I'm going to outsource. I'm going to find those people so I can find what I'm good at. I can go to the bank. I can work on the acquisitions. Well, he can go and he can work on the people's side of things or whatever it may be. Absolutely. Especially in the ownership world, you've got to you've got to find the right niches for where where you need to be. Yeah. Yeah. And you know, I was asked this question in my previous job and it still maintains the same like what's the what's the favorite part of the business for you and for me it's the relationships, right? It's the people. It's the one-on-one time that um helps grow the business. Absolutely. You know, it's drumming up more business. Uh meeting potential customers, serving those customers. That's what I the people person. Yeah. That's what I like to do. So, um, you know, some of the other things I've it's been easy for me. I'm going to find the account. I'm going to find the HR. I'm going to find that other let go of things. And, you know, Wes and I are a really good compliment because, you know, he he knows the products, right? He knows the business. He knows um the customers that are wearing our boots, right? He's had many many many years of relationship development in that realm. Yeah. So, we we're doing it together. Actually, this year is going to be a lot of togetherness for us even [laughter] more than the last two years, but uh going out and meeting new accounts and being able to talk about how the account is set up and then the products that will best serve their employees. So, we've done meetings together so far this year, the two of us go out and it's been really fun. I think we're a good team in being able to rep represent all aspects of the business. Um, so that's been something that's been fun for us so far this year and we're we plan to do more of. We're doing some speaking events. We're partnering with trade schools and high schools because um it's a pretty staggering fact that for every uh five trades people leaving and retiring from the trades, we have one person entering, right? So, um it's a it's a goal of ours, right? to build that pipeline of people getting into the trades to keep obviously to keep people shopping in our stores, but more importantly keep, you know, the builders of and even younger than that, too. I mean, even the the junior high and the high school levels. I mean, I do the same thing going out. I mean, who would have thought you or I mean, when we were younger, our younger selves would be in the industries that we're in, you know, going into them. And when most girls are out there, they think construction, they think, I'm going to be out there with a hammer. I'm going to be out there with, you know, I'm going to be out there with us all. I'm going to be doing that kind of stuff. Not really doing what we're doing today. You know, it's to see all the different assets. I mean, they could be in marketing. They could be doing HR. They could be doing all the things that they want to do. Absolutely. But in the world that we're in in the trades, you know, it's there's so many different assets out there that they could be doing and getting into. And I mean, and swinging a hammer, right? And doing whatever they want to do. And I think, you know, Red Wing has been electrical. I mean, there's so many different trades out there that Yeah. are Yeah. pipe fitting, whatever. Yeah. So, I think Red Wing has been really great at, you know, giving that representation and showing women in the trades and being a part of that um aspects of the trades culture because um you know, it's it is great to see um you know, a dynamic business with women and men working alongside of each other. And um something that obviously I've been I threw myself into and here we are. Yeah, it's it's exciting to see all the growth that's out there. I mean, from all different age levels and bridging the gaps together, putting the old with the new and seeing the people that used to handw write things and the smarter generations working together. Everybody always talks about there's a big gap and they don't like working together. But it's so much fun seeing the older generations who are used to writing things down, working with the newer ones that are like, "Let me show you how to put it all together." Yeah. Yeah. Partnering together. Yeah. Um it's it was pretty cool also getting down to to Red Wing and seeing the tenure of people working in the factory in the tanneries and making the boots. You know we have people you know retiring after 50 years of service and uh you know second third generation families. So uh another aspect of the business you know showing that longevity in um you know working to make these which a lot of generations a lot of places don't have that. I mean, we have employees here that have been here for close to 40 years ourselves. I mean, it's just one of those that when you see that in companies, you know that they're doing something right. Yes. You know that they're they're doing everything right. It's not the constant turnover. You bring on your employees from your stores, you keep them there, things are happening that are right. Yep. Yeah. Yes. What's next for growth for you guys? Or what do you think that you're going to incorporate together? I don't you know, I say I say the first year was like, okay, are we paying all of our bills? Yeah. Well, you're working together. You're doing things together. You're presenting together. So that's new. Yeah, that so that's new. That was the, you know, our first year in business was just, you know, checking all the boxes because we took over existing stores. So there's a whole another, you know, beast that comes with that in um ownership. You know, the first year was just getting our name out there, uh building awareness of our new ownership and uh meeting customers, right? Uh learning about the employees. Uh year two was really uh dedicated to you know growing aspects of the business that were already strong. Um and I would say this year is um going to be growing new aspects of our business right focusing on our industrial customer right that is our bread and butter you know people who are working and wearing our boots. So, expanding our industrial accounts, um, getting, uh, you know, small from small mom and pop shops who need safety footwear all the way up to those big, you know, corporate conglomerates who need safety footwear, just growing the business from all sides of the coin there. Um, you know, getting out into the community like I mentioned earlier, getting involved in the trades, trades, education. Um, that's going to be, you know, new for us, that seeing that growth and being part of that growth. Um, you know what else? We'll have we'll have two kindergartener two kindergarteners. We'll have a kindergartener going into first grade, right? Yeah. Uh, our daughter will be going into kindergarten. That will be new. So, two kids in school. And the work life balance, there's not really such a thing. I mean, that's it's it's a whole scale in itself, right? Yeah. Yeah. Well, I um something I learned from um Kelly Peters also was, you know, work work really really hard now so you can, you know, be there. Yeah. Later, you know, all the work like no one else today so you can work like no one else tomorrow. Yeah. Or so you can live like no one else tomorrow. Yes. Yes. All the all the activities that the kids will have, you know, that will be because they look for you in the crowd and they look for you in those things. Yeah. So, yeah, we are we are hustling now. But I mean the flexibility of business ownership I think for anyone who is considering yes considering or wanting to take the leap um you know it is scary it is risky but you know being being your own boss and controlling the effort that you put in and you know having a say and you know every ounce of effort right is uh there's something so rewarding about that and um you know our kids getting to walk go to a physical place that, you know, we own and say, "Mommy and daddy did this." You know, they're making it, we can do it, too. You know, it's kind of one of those things. Yes. So, it's it's been really special, you know, being able to take I think I told you a random Monday and take the kids to Great Wolf Lodge and, you know, spend the day. So, that that flexibility piece is next to nothing I've ever experienced. Absolutely. And everybody always says, "Yes, there's the stress where you don't shut things off, but you get those Mondays or you get the times where, hey, my kids are seeing me do it." or hey, Sam got his first car and that's something he's always wanted all his life. You know, he might be 24 years old, but he finally bought his first car because of all the worrying we're doing and all the stuff we're doing and we're making it happen. You know, it's kind of one of those that it's worth it. Yeah. Yeah. Y yeah. And they hear, you know, they hear the business conversations. They they see the muing of boots that and they start talking about, hey, that that cow might be tanned and he might get those turn into those boots. You know the scary things that they pick up on. Yes. [laughter] Yeah. Which is a lot of fun. I mean they they pick up on the things. They go to school and they start passing it around and you never know who their kids parents are or what they do and what that might turn into too. They are they are listening for sure. Yes. Yeah. So what outside of work do you guys like to do? Um we we are home bodies. Really? And most people are when they own a business. It's like I'm going home and I'm shutting everything off and I'm I'm good. Yeah. our our homestead, so to speak, is where we love to spend a lot of our time. We are hosts, so we are constantly having, you know, friends and family over for different things. Um, in the summertime, we have a big garden. So, we have a full acre lot in Mountains View, which is amazing. You know, a nice size lot. Wes was driving down these streets like five this street five years before we found a house for sale. So, when I ended up, what can go here? What can go there? Oh, for sure. So he was looking at these these lots in where we live and when one came up for sale it was a complete you know uh needed to be gutted down to the studs. So it was a project. Uh we had contractors seven months. So we've made a home that is something that we enjoying spending time at. So in the summer we do a garden. Um you know just always which is peaceful in itself. Like that's that's a stress reliever for sure. Yes. For sure. Yes. Wes Wes starts the seeds in March. So we'll [laughter] know like what's going to be in the garden in March. We my living room is taken over by seeds that will you know future plants and future in the garden and I I deal with that for [laughter] you know two months and then they go into the ground and we hope that they survive. Hope they survive and Yep. We'll see what comes up. It's a lot of work all the way until you know when we eat our last thing that we've canned. Yep. Um for the season and then are starting again. And so we do a lot of that. Um but yeah, kids are always outside. I love, you know, taking the kids to the zoo and um we're going to I'm going on a field trip with my son to the children's museum tomorrow. So lots of like getting out and going places. Yes. Which you have to keep. And those mommy dates and going places and those those memories have to stay. Yes. Those are those are what they remember. I mean, my kids still come to me and they're like, "Hey, mom, remember that random time that we went to that one place?" And I'm like, "Yeah, and we went on the cave and we climbed the rocks." And it's just the little It's the little things. Yeah. Yep. Instead of, "Hey, mom, remember the time we sat in the house and built a fort or didn't do anything, you know, and sat on the phone." Yeah. They don't remember those. Yeah. Well, that's good because I did have my son straight call me out for looking down at my cell phone during a soccer game the other day. Yeah. Which was so embarrassing. You know, he's running up and down the I must have looked down for like two seconds. Yep. And they know, right? He's like, "Mom, get off your phone." Like all the parents like instantly turned them like just kidding. Yep. Right. We learn quick [laughter] and it's one of those random times that they just happen to look and they're like, "Oh, you were on your phone the whole time." I'm like, "No, I just happen to look really quick and you happen to be looking at me when that happened." Right. I can't even explain. I can't even justify. Yes. I'm sorry. Never do it again. I won't bring the phone. It's like even I mean it's the phones are tricky though. Like you learn even when you're having a lunch like with with somebody if the phone's sitting on the table. It's one of those things that you know it's going to be a distraction so you don't even bring it out. It's it's when you want your attention to be somewhere, don't have the phone out. Yeah. That that it has been an adjustment for me to have my phone on me and my phone because I have definitely been one of those people who I don't even know where my phone is. Like my husband got me an Apple Watch so I could locate my phone in the house because it's usually lost in the abyss somewhere. Um but yeah, he really he wanted me to like respond to his texts and answer his calls, right? But um yeah, having your phone on you and you knowing that it's a a crucial part of the business is was a a learning curve for me. You know, I'm one of those people if I don't text back in like 30 seconds, you'll hear from me like Well, and that's seven to 10 business days. And that's one of those things like with business, if you don't reply right away, you're going to lose that sale. Like you got to be on it Johnny on the spot right away. And I'm one of those people that have like I am going to reply right away. I'm not going to wait 3 to 4 days to reply and have someone wonder did you get it? Did you didn't you not get it? You care about this. Yes, I care. I want I want to know that want you to know you're a priority and I'm sure there you know nowadays that's the first impression, right? Like communication. Um thank you for your reply. I'm working on it. I'll get back to you. Yeah. Is the first impression for a lot of business interactions. Um, you know, I still I still have the preference to like pick up the phone and call someone and go face to face. Let's go have lunch. Let's, you know, let's let me stop by. I'm going to bring you cookies and let's go out to lunch, you know, which I have noticed that people are taken aback by that. Um, and it's something that I'm, you know, prepared to continue to it onetoone or small group interaction because I think you there's something so much more meaningful like you you have that accountability when you meet someone. Um, you know, I think it helps with developing the business relationships even just with execution. Yep. I I told you I'm going to get back to you by Monday and I saw your face when I said that. So So obviously I'm going to get back to you. Yes. Yep. So it I think it does does help with a lot of you know the transaction piece as well as the building the rapport. People get surprised when you stop in there too like instead of just a quick hey text like I got your I got your call like I'm going to stop in and be like hey how are you like or you know here's here's our services. Let's have a chat. Can I bring you out to lunch? You know like just a quick stop by and and just like meeting really stop by in there. Yeah. Yeah. We got a tour. I know. Like you saw all the people wearing Red Wings. Yep. Right. like let's build that and let's get the next branch that's going up and over there. Yep. [laughter] Yeah. So, it's it's a lot of fun to get that interaction face to face. Yeah. We like we like going out and seeing I mean it's just amazing to see where people work, right? You spend a a majority of your day at the the place of your employment and to get to see, you know, the inner workings of a business, right? We might just be fitting them for footwear, but we see, you know, all the other PPE that they're wearing. We see we meet the people behind the scenes. We meet the people in the field. So, um, you know, getting out and going and see seeing our customers is important to us. You have a lot on your plate. It sounds like there's a lot going on. You're going to be here for our expo on April 22nd, so you can meet all of our network, which is super exciting because there's going to be a lot of different people here. And you have I mean, you're working with a lot of schools and we have to chat after this because there's a lot of different ways that I think we can connect and help you with all your networks, too. Yeah. But what are some things that you think? Are you going to be doing any traveling? Anything like that? Anything fun that you guys have coming up? Spring break. Yeah. I missed I missed one spring break since living in Minnesota where we did not go somewhere warm and it was a miss. Y [laughter] uh February and March felt really long that year. Um so we we are going down to Florida. My dad lives uh in Florida full-time. Um and resides in our small base room basement apartment when he's here visiting the grandkids. But yes, my brother and I and my sister-in-law and my husband Wes and our four kids collectively will go uh see him for spring break. Yeah. He lives in Sebring, Florida. Yeah. Which is about 2 hours south, hour and 45 minutes south of Orlando. So it's central, but he's like an hour Yeah. from the coast. So you have to get somewhere warm. I think this is the first winter in 10 12 years that I haven't gone somewhere warm. And I'm like I There's still time. I'm going I'm hopping on that plane and I'm going somewhere. Yes. Yeah, you have to. Yeah. Well, we appreciate having you come on. Before we leave, what would be something that you'd want to tell our viewers that they would need to know or like to know about about about you, about Red Wing, about anything? Yeah. I would say, you know, if you if you live in Minnesota and you haven't stepped foot in a Red Wing shoe store, check it out. It's um it was very unique to me um to be, you know, on this side of the coin. You know, you say Red Wing in Minnesota, everyone knows Red Wing. Everyone knows Red Wing shoes. And a lot of people have not set foot in a Red Wing shoe store, which is crazy. Being, you know, going into a a They know the shoe, but they don't know the store. Yeah. Yeah. You know, going going into a sing a single brand retailer is an experience that is limited, I think. You know, we are we are Red Wing and you're in a Red Wing shoe store and that's all that we sell. You know, you're immediately immersed in the brand. Yep. Um, and it's just pretty cool. So, I would say, you know, if you know, step into a piece of Minnesota history, check it out. And which location should they go to? Oh, yes, of course. So, our stores are in Bloomington, Columbia Heights, and [ __ ] Rapids. So, yeah, a very a great team, you know, ready to welcome you. And how can they get a hold of you if they want to get a hold of you? Uh, shoot me an email. Um, my email is m Johnsonnwoodkicks.com. Yep. Um, feel free to shoot me an email. Um, otherwise, you know, reach out to Karissa. Yep. And it'll be on the link. It'll go in the It'll go in the And it'll go in the newsletter, everything like that, too. Yeah. Perfect. Well, we appreciate having you on and we hope you continue to shine the light. Thank you. Great. Yeah. See you guys later. Bye.