Episode 208: Winning at Business and Life with Geoffrey Stern

This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast, where business leaders share their insights. It is 6 questions in 7 minutes because successful business leaders are busy and rarely have more time to spare. So let's get to it. Question number 1: In a few sentences, please tell me who you are and what you do.

Professor Pete, thanks for having me. It's a pleasure to be here. So my name is Jeffrey Stern, and I am the founder of Express Corporation, which is a company that puts voice chips into products like toys, print, and packaging. You've probably heard the term IoT, the Internet of Things. For over 20 years, I've been creating VOT, the Voice of Things. If you've ever been to a Build-A-Bear Workshop store, we provide all their sounds. And we've put smiles on the faces of millions of old and young guests at Build-A-Bear.

Oh, I love it, Jeffrey. And the imagery I have in my mind of Build-A-Bear is, it's a wonderful image that I used to take my kids to as well. So thank you for that. Question number 2, what is something that makes you smile and/or laugh about working in your industry?

You know, I think anybody who produces a product, the most pleasurable thing is when you see your product in the hands of a consumer. But For someone who makes products that talk, that joy is exponentially greater because I get to see what they record on it, and I get to see how they've used my technology. And sometimes it's like having a kid. They do things with my technology that I would have dreamed of.

Oh, I love it. And I could hear the passion in your voice. It's so great. Question number 3. I have a fictitious book with all the answers for business. What chapter would you think most companies should read?

So I always love the first chapter because that's the chapter where the author talks about the question they're going to answer. And inevitably, the question is always better than the answer. And if you read a good book, you actually start thinking about that question, like the book of Blink, which is how do you develop an opinion in an instance? That's a great question. How he answers it is another story. Good to Great, we all should think in terms of being good or great, but I love the questions in the first chapter.

Oh, that's great. I never thought of it that way. Thanks for sharing that. Question number 4: Other than the generic work harder, have a great attitude, and care for customers, what advice or insight would you give to other business leaders?

So I think the most important quality that you can have is one of— it's not so much humility, it's the one of not knowing, of asking questions. And again, because I'm in a little bit in the toy industry, I get to hang around with kids, to ask with Curiosity. How does that work? Why is it so? And I think that is more than anything else, the most important quality of being human and being successful, but also being a successful manager and a businessman. We— something that you can learn from somebody. There's always a different way to skin that cat. And I find that that's what keeps you fresh and keeps you innovative, keeps you young. And after all, isn't that what we all want to do?

Absolutely. And I love the idea of asking questions because, at least in my experience, if I'm asking a lot of questions, I'm also doing most of the listening and letting the other person elaborate. And so I learn more that way. Is that part of the benefit of asking those questions that you found?

I think so. I think the biggest lesson that I learned is I think most of us find ourselves when we ask a question, we're actually trying to impress the person we're asking. And that means that we lose out on a whole bunch. So I was once working at a firm where the boss would come in, he'd come in late, and he'd ask the stupidest question that you could ever imagine. And the person he would ask it to would be fumbling and would ultimately give out information that he would have never otherwise have given out. So it's really the ability to open up a conversation and not use a question to make a comment, but use a question to really use as a trigger to elicit things that you wouldn't expect. And isn't that what it's all about? The unexpected.

Absolutely. Thank you for sharing that insight. It's great. Question number 5. What other business leader like yourself would you like to acknowledge and invite to be on my podcast?

Well, I don't know if she would agree, but Maxine Clark, the woman who started Build-A-Bear Workshop, who discovered me when she had 2 or 3 stores and We made music together, a lot of noise together. She had, you know, she left the company, it had 450 stores and it's all over the world. But what's valuable about her is not only did she give me a great chance and a great break and pay for my kids' college education, but she left an indelible imprint on the company. It's clear even till today that this is not only a women-run company, but it's a women-founded company. Clearly a company that listens to kids and children and the childish voice inside of all of us. So when you go there, there are dogs walking around. You can bring your pet to work. And so I think that in terms of not only a role model in terms of a leader, but someone who's lived a successful life and started a successful business, is a mentor, I think she'd be a wonderful guest on your show. I hope you get it.

I will give it a try. Thank you for that referral. And our final question, question number 6, please tell me about your first job.

So the first job is the one where the boss came in and asked a spokesperson for a company. It was a financial firm where I worked in the research department. And that's where I learned about asking questions. So I learned a lot there, but I also learned that rather than research a new industry every day and try to figure out what somebody else is doing and how they're making money, I realized very quickly that I was the kind of guy who liked a tree as opposed to the forest. And so I'd like to say that I'm a serial entrepreneur, but the truth is I'm like a dog with a bone, and I've done much. I've stuck to voice chips. I've looked at every mutation of how they can go and what they can do. But that first job told me important things. It taught me skills like you would learn at any job, but it also told me what I wanted and what I didn't want. And I wanted, instead of investing, I wanted to do. And you know, you have to make those decisions early on. And I think you're very fortunate if you have that first job, and it teaches you who you are and who you're not. Mm-hmm.

I couldn't agree with you more. And it sets you up for a successful future career. And obviously, you're a perfect example of that. So thank you so much. It's a great story, very inspirational. And Jeffrey, thank you so much for being on the show. How can people find you?

Well, my website is voice-s.com, and you can catch up with all the things that we're doing. I know you're going to post a LinkedIn link as well. I'd love to hear from you, especially if you have a good idea for how to use a voice chip and make a thing talk.

Great. This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast. Thanks for listening.