Leading a Business Through Crises — Brandon Mackay

SphereCast

This week, the SphereCast team speaks with Brandon Mackay — Owner, President, and CEO of SnugZ. SnugZ is a Utah-based company that boasts the domestic manufacture of promotional products. Founded in 1989, Mackay’s company has spent over three decades creating custom gear for businesses, events, and various other promotions. SnugZ creates most of their customizable products in house, from hand sanitizer to PPE kits to sunscreen to lip balm to lanyards.

Brandon joined SnugZ five years after its inception and has shepherded the company through its highs and lows. During its 31 year history, SnugZ has lived through the “Dot Com” bubble, Y2K, the 2008 housing crisis, COVID-19, and other difficult events. And, as you would imagine, Mackay has picked up quite a bit of perspective living through such turbulent times. On the podcast, Mackay shares that perspective and explains how to survive and thrive during events that are out of our control.

Noteworthy Quotes:

"When it comes to navigating crises, business owners try to remember that there are some skills from the past that we can pull forward to today."

"Really, in the early years when you're in a business that's an upstart, everything feels like a crisis."

"In retrospect, the advice I'd give myself is to constantly breathe. If you knew how close you were to the finish line, you would always try just a little bit harder. Sometimes, we don't realize how close we are to our goal. We just need to pace ourselves. Be patient."

"When defining company values, first, you have to define what your own values are... Once we established our values, we went from an okay company with decent growth to a great company with momentum growth."

"Transparency is always the best policy... It allows everyone to be proactive versus reactive."

"When most startup businesses begin, there's always more work than there is people. There's just not enough revenue to hire the staff that you need."

"To find a good balance in life, you have to find those sacred times for yourself. Whether that's your lunch hour or dinner with your family or friends. Just respect those moments of time during the day."

Bullet List of Resources –

Brandon Mackay

• LinkedIn
  
  

SnugZ

• Company Website
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
• MediaHive