In this Business Blast podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews Sydney Keller, the marketing specialist at City Uniforms and Linen. The episode opens with a brief Anchor sponsorship plug, followed by an introduction of Sydney and her role in market research and creative campaign development. Sydney shares a personal story about her passion for horseback riding, describing how training world‑champion horses taught her perseverance and positivity. She then outlines her core marketing philosophy: knowing customers personally and building relationships rather than focusing solely on statistics. Her broader business advice emphasizes continuous learning, never settling, and avoiding self‑doubt. When asked about happiness, she stresses staying true to one’s values and living without regrets. Sydney recommends the book The Mentor Leader by Tony Dungy, highlighting the lesson of empowering people and fostering a culture of faith. Her favorite quote is Coach Brooks’s “Great moments are born from great opportunities,” reflecting her belief in seizing chances through hard work. The interview concludes with her online presence, listing Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and the company website.
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Thank you for listening to the Business Blast podcast. So for all my listeners out there that have been wanting to do your own podcast, I'd like to introduce to you Anchor. Anchor is a one-stop shop for recording, hosting, distributing, and monetizing your podcast. So before I found Anchor, I had never actually done a podcast because all the research that I had gathered made it seem very complex. Then I found Anchor, and Anchor makes podcasting extremely simple. So if you want to do your own podcast, go to anchor.fm/start. I can't wait to hear your podcast. All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Sydney Keller with us. She is the marketing specialist for City Uniforms and Linen. Her focus is on conducting market research and developing creative campaigns to better fulfill the needs of their consumers. So welcome to the show.
Thanks. Thanks for having me.
Of course. Grateful to have you on. So Sydney, the first one we ask on this show is, what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
All right, well, anyone who really knows me is going to tell you that a huge part of my life includes my horses. When I'm not at work, I'm out at the barn through the cold winter days or the hot, humid summer ones. And I think it's really crucial for any employee to have a passionate hobby outside of work to keep them refreshed and constantly cultivating creativity. And that's why horseback riding is one of mine. And a couple of years ago, this hobby took me down a road I never even imagined I would be on and having accomplished. I had the opportunity to work with a lady and have my first training a horse, and we went to a world show and we left Oklahoma that year as world champions. And with a lot of gratitude, I can say I've trained multiple world champions since then. Just through hard work and perseverance, despite a lot of doubtful people that I've encountered along the way. Basically, the message behind that is if you maintain your positivity and hard work through tough times, you're going to be able to pull through and accomplish the bigger picture.
Absolutely. And then the next one I have for you is, what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
Know your customers. At City Uniforms, we really pride ourselves on being family-owned and locally operated. Our focus isn't really to be the biggest provider, but the best, and that goal comes from building personal relationships with our customers to find out how we can better serve them. I don't really want to know the stats of an account more so than I want to know the people behind the numbers.
And then what is your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry-specific.
Okay, um, not— I guess my best piece of advice would be not to settle. You should always strive to continue learning. There's always something else out there that you have yet to gain. I always joke around that if I could go to school forever, I would. It's, um, it's really good to appreciate the things you have accomplished so far, but not to make a home there. There's always more opportunities ahead, and you just have to reach for them.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
That would be not to doubt yourself. I think too many times there's brilliant ideas that are passed up due to fear of speaking out. It's okay to take risks. Sometimes I look back and I think if I could have done anything different to better prepare myself for the professional business world, but if I had the chance to go back and change anything, I wouldn't. I really think I learned a lot from the people I met and the experience I've had, and I believe that shaped who I am today.
And then in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
Um, the key to happiness would be staying true to oneself and your values and beliefs. And if you can look back years from now and be content with the decisions you've made, then I think you've done something right. And just live with no regrets.
And then what is the best book that you've read, and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
I'm in one of my business classes. I, for grad school, I had to read The Mentor Leader: Secrets to Building People and Teams That Win Constantly by Tony Dungy. And as an avid sports fan, I could really relate to everything in the book. And the biggest lesson from that book is to empower the people around you by cultivating a culture of faith, and then success will follow that. And it's vital to look towards building the future, the futures around you, rather than constantly striving to reach for the short-term goals.
And then what is your favorite quote and why?
So I touched upon that I'm a sports fan, but I'm a huge hockey fan. So it should come as no surprise that my favorite quote is by none other than the 1980 US Olympic hockey team's own Coach Brooks. He stated that with great moments "Great moments are born from great opportunities." And this really resonates with me because it just states that you can achieve greatness through hard work and perseverance, even when the odds may be stacked against you. So you should take advantage of the opportunities that are given to you daily.
Yes, I love it. All right, well, thank you so much for coming on. The last one I have for you before we let you go is, where can our audience best find you online?
So I'm the typical millennial, and you can find me or my company on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, or our website, which is www.cityuniformsandlinen.com.
