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October 15, 2004
We had many great applicants over the past
5 months for the “top level production job”. I
did extensive interviewing, with the goal of finding the perfect
fit. It was tough, because we had mostly engineers, with masters
in business, or masters in engineering, with 10+ years of
experience as top level production managers with auto companies,
Jack Daniels, etc., etc.. All of them are kayakers, of course.
There have also been some “off limits” people
who could also do an incredible job for us, with direct experience
in kayaking. However, the way things work, patience is often
a virtue, and in this case, the saying rings true.
John Ratliff works at the ultimate manufacturing
plant for kayak outfitting, Rogers Foam. Rogers Foam is the
place where I make my seats, thigh pads, walls, and hip pads.
It is a great company that will continue to be my supplier.
However, I taught John to roll this spring. Then he got a
4 Fun, and took it to the Ottawa River for a clinic with me.
At this point, he went from a guy who just learned to kayak,
to a Kayaker! Now, the goal of any person who becomes a kayaker,
is to go kayaking. Not just on the weekends, but as often
as possible. Where does a person go who wants to kayak everyday?
Jackson Kayak is certainly one option, especially since it
is part of our company mission to hire only kayakers, and
assure that they have the opportunity to kayak daily.
John is married to his lovely wife, Carman,
and has two cute little girls, Em, and Abby. I am sure Em
is short for Emily, but we call her Em and that is all I know.
I was worried that Carman may not want to move from their
home town near Lexington, Kentucky, to Rock Island, Tennessee,
but she welcomes the change and they are looking for a house
with property on the lake, with a dock. The lake here is a
great place to live.
John will be in charge of all operations
at the Jackson Kayak plant and coordinate with the Ranch.
His experience with R+D, production, management, his personality
(this ranked number one most compatible with our staff), and
his desire to make a difference with a small company make
him the ideal hire for us. Of course, like anything, his job
is about to start, and potential is nice, but results is the
only measure of a job well done. When posed with this idea,
John just smiled and said, “bring it on!”.
What improvements will John’s position
create at our small business?
- John will help us in many aspects of
R+D that include sourcing, design, materials, pricing, etc.,
that he has years of direct experience with.
- He will be responsible for improving
our efficiency in all production tasks, eliminating wasted
dollars, so we can spend that money making the product better
and the company healthier.
- He will be my single point man when
I am on the road for 6 months a year for all reports, and
implement any changes requested.
- He will also be the extra horsepower
needed to take us from a 2,500 boat/year company to a 4,000
boat per year company in 2005 in the production facility.
- There are many more areas that John
will positively impact, but that gives you an idea.
When did I know he was the man?
There were many moments that added up to
the decision, however, a few key tests were laid out for him,
of which, none were disclosed.
- He didn’t hesitate to surf the
hole at Rock Island- and dropped dead center into the middle-
even though he could barely ferry that far out, he paddled
extra hard to get to the middle.
- This is a personality test- 90% of everybody goes
to the corner, especially at his skill level. He went
for the center, and that will be how he attacks all
challenges in his job- I’ll bet on it.
- He still acts like a kid. This is key for working
with me, and the young crew at Jackson Kayak. I want
somebody who can be serious and get the job done 100%
of the time, but when the job is getting done, it is
about max fun and being on the same level for what entertains
our brains.
- He plays to win, but can be getting
the beat down and is still positive and still going for
the win. We played the “dice game” and I did
my typical EJ luck moves on him, where I call my luck and
usually get what I call, it seems. He was having bad luck,
but played well to the end and beat me. This is not unlike
the roll of the dice he will get on the job daily. I need
him to win in the end everytime, regardless of the odds
he faces, and he must be positive the whole time.
OK, enough of that. Here are the stats:
John Ratliff-
Starts as C.O.O. on October 27th , 2004
Sold his house already
Getting his new JK cell phone this weekend
while he looks at houses.
Paddles a 4 Fun
Wife is awesome
Kids are awesome
Welcome to the JK family, John, Carman,
Abby, and Em!
EJ
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The Man - John Ratliff
Carman
Abby
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