K9 Business Talks: Why I Don't Hire Degrees

So sometimes I make content or I push out information that is not popular, all right? So I may get kickback from all the colleges and universities that I support with my fanfare, like football and basketball and those types of things, but I felt like it was necessary to push this out because when I look at the team that we built at CCU, I think about all the people that we've had over the years, the things that we have tried, the amount of money and time that we've invested in figuring things out and continue to figure things out and trial and error things. There's one thing that stands out to me when it comes to Hiring. And I'm talking about hiring when you get to a point where you need to hire executive staff and start looking at growing your team on the top end. Because there does come a time in most companies that they want to grow that ownership can't do it all any longer. And me for one, even though this was my baby, this was something that me and a group of friends started together. I realized that it couldn't grow if it only depended on me. Yes, many studying, a lot of work in reading and getting advice from other owners that have done a lot more than I've done. One of the number one things that I— that echoes in my head, I remember going to some training with the SBA, by the way, great resource, SBA free resources. People don't realize how much is out there. I think I'll add that to, um, to my list of things and resources to give our business owners. But so shout out to the SBA. They'll give you free training. Some of it is paid, but the vast majority of it is free. And they have a lot of resources at each SBA office, and usually there's an SBA office in your area, just so you know. So I give you that. But also, one thing that I realized that When hiring executive staff, and I hired people with degrees and, you know, were experts in their area, after hiring a number of those, and I started out with marketing, and that's just an example I'm using, I hired people with marketing degrees, and I'm not taking anything away from it, but as a small business owner, I didn't have a lot of money to invest in continuing to pay somebody that wasn't bringing results. And the problem that I found was in hiring people straight out of school was I had to spend as much time, if not more, either breaking habits or getting them to adjust to our industry. And because of that, I found that it was just better and it had bigger success when we were able to get certain skill sets and characteristics in a person. And then build upon those for the job function that we needed and not necessarily relying on the degree that they got or had in order to expect the results from that degree. And what I heard consistently from these individuals was the fact that they learned everything in the book, which was contextually based on everything else that everybody else learned. So they had a foundation, but then I still had to invest and spend the time in teaching and training them to relate that to our industry. And what I found was, and I hope Maya doesn't mind me saying this, but what I found was you find your biggest gems when you kind of dig through the coal a little bit. Because I take Maya as an example. She had some very great characteristics that I look for in a person that I work well with. And that was another thing, because this position, particular position, required me to work very closely with this person. I also needed someone that I could get along with. But what I found was, and I go back to my years of being married as well, that we are a good a team because we complement each other. So when I talk about me and my wife, we complement each other. There's things that I do very well and things I don't do very well, or the things that she does very well and things that she doesn't do very well complement me, and vice versa. So even when I first met Maya She had great qualities that complemented the things that I struggled in, and because of that, I felt like we were a good match. But what she didn't know was we went through a trial period, but I had already had it made up in my mind that she was in. But I made her think that she wasn't because that was my strong point, right? I can bluff her and play hard to get and, you know, make it seem like You know, well, we don't know, you know, because Maya came in with no formal education per se when it came to marketing. But what Maya had and made up with was not only was she smart, she was adjustable. And what I immediately noticed about her was her approach to things, which was she was an avid researcher and she would research something to make sure that we were making the best decision or she was taking the best approach. That made up for the lack of knowledge or formal skill that she had, and even for that matter, experience. But because of that, those traits complemented me as well. She was very organized. She stays— and to this day, she's very organized. She stays on top of her stuff and oftentimes beyond that. But when I would get razzled and dazzled in the situation, she would be the calming force that kept me grounded. So that we can make a good decision. So if there's something that I'm going to advise you on as an owner or as a business owner or potential business owner, look for people that complement your weaknesses. Because if you can find people like that and then teach them your skill sets and what makes you successful as an owner, you're going to be much better off. Now, I'm not saying that that comes with or without a degree. I'm just saying that I wasn't a fan of that because A lot of people hire based on degrees. I just don't do that. I look for other qualities in that person because our team functions based on the relationships that we have together. So whether it's a trainer, a kennel tech, a kennel master, a, a store operator, operations manager, executive assistant, marketing. We want to be able to get a— get around and get— get— be able to hang around everybody. So if we have a get-together, we can all show up and be okay. Because I've seen where people didn't get along in the team, and it creates a bad team environment, which then translates to production. And I just don't like that. And I have found that that doesn't work for us. So again, I teach from my experience. I give people insights to the way that I think. And one of those insights is the fact that I don't hire based on degrees and things of that nature. And you can be very successful without having degrees if you have determination, if you want to learn, and if you love doing something. Because that will carry you further than that piece of paper that's hanging up at your wall at home, or maybe even in a drawer. I think I found my daughter's degree in her drawer, um, because it comes down to her personality, her grit, her determination, and all those qualities that makes her successful. Just like Maya, just like anybody else on our team, they gain success by their own determination and their own, uh, the way that they are, the characteristics of why we hired them, not on their educational backgrounds and things of that nature. So giving those nuggets, that just works for me, that has worked for me over the years, and I think that will continue to work for us. That's not to say that Maya I may not change my mind eventually, but I think most importantly, we hire for the person versus what those skill sets are, because we can teach most of the things that we do if those qualities are in place.