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Make It Clear: Why You Can't Just Flush and Forget
Make It Clear: Why You Can't Just Flush and Forget
Talking About Our "Why"
In his book "Start With Why", author Simon Sinek talks about inspiration, and discovering your drive and passion for doing what inspires you.
In a departure from our normal format, Angela and I take some time to talk about our own personal "why". We talk about what drives us and inspires us to be a part of this industry and a part of Orenco Systems.
What drives you? Do you have a passion for what you do?
Do you know what your "why" is?
If you have comments or questions about our podcast, you can reach us through this link. To discuss a project or talk to one of our engineers, call 800-348-9843.
Angela (00:01.476)
Hello and welcome back. So today, Shawn and I are gonna take a little detour from our normal topics. And we kind of wanna get into why we do this. So...
Angela (00:21.324)
You know, we've talked a lot about this and we both believe that we are doing mission driven work. If you've listened to the first three episodes of the podcast ever, they're all about the Orenco story. And I think in those podcasts, we talk a lot and you can get a really good feel for why we do what we do. Right. Like, why we're here,
why the company even got started. And you can really, I don't think we intended to, to get into our why. When we, when we recorded those podcasts, it definitely wasn't the purpose. You know, we just kind of wanted to get the story out there. Cause one of the biggest questions we always get is, how did the company start? You know, what, what is the story? And so we put the story out there.
But as we think about our whys, um, I think that the company's why is really illustrated in those, those first three podcast episodes. So yeah, why, why we're here and why things are the way they are. Right. Like, I was talking to a gentleman in Washington. I don't think I told this story yet, but, I was speaking to a gentleman in Washington the other day.
Angela (01:50.648)
about some property that my aunt has. And I just needed him to go out and check some stuff. And, he says to me, your phone number comes up Orenco. Why is that? And I said, well, you know, that's a thing. So I told him who I was and what I did. And he said…
Shawn (02:11.922)
Let me tell you something.
Angela (02:20.632)
He said, I have to tell you that you guys have the best customer service. He said, I know that people don't always, you guys probably don't always hear the good stuff.
Shawn (02:48.17)
Right
Angela
But I have to tell you that you guys have the best customer service. Like I can actually call if I'm out on a project and I need, or out at a site and have some questions I can call and you guys will actually answer the phone. And
Angela (02:49.412)
talk me through things. And I said, well, that's something that's been important to us since the beginning, right? We've been really intentional with our customer service line because, a lot of our products are designed around serviceability and it's… anyways, I'm getting a bit off topic, but I think that
Angela (03:16.236)
If you listen to those podcasts, it definitely illustrates the why of the organization as a whole. So Shawn and I wanted to come in today and talk about our whys because they differ, right? We're having these discussions a lot in our group and everybody's why is different. Everybody's driven by something different. So
We wanted to come in and talk about what drives us.
Why are we here, Shawn? Why?
Why do we choose this battle every day?
Shawn (03:58.326)
I know. And this is something I've thought a lot about this week since we decided we were going to be talking about this. You know, we've been reading, of course, in this great book by, Simon Sinek, “Start with Why”, and it's been a very eye-opening and sort of soul-searching book in a way, and it's clarified a lot of things and made me really think. And put...
Shawn (04:26.498)
put words to my why. I think my why has been kind of ethereal for a long time. My why was not very well defined, but I know that it started back in the 1980s, the mid 1980s. So, you know, some of you have been around that long, others probably not, but...
Angela (04:44.016)
Some of you haven't and that's okay, you know when it was. Yeah.
Shawn (04:46.61)
right? But I grew up in a third world country. I did not grow up here. I'm an American citizen, yes. I was born here in America, but I grew up in a third world country, and poverty was everywhere. And I'm not talking just poverty, poverty like we have … like you see when we talk about, you know, like below income, below median income, like I'm talking abject poverty. People who are getting their water out of mud puddles and, you know, trying to...
Shawn (05:16.846)
wait for something to fall off a cart on the road so they can get something to eat. That's the kind of poverty I'm talking about. And I remember that everywhere we went where there was a water source it was polluted. There was a major river that ran through the middle of the city and it smelled awful and you dreaded having to drive across the bridge because it was so full of garbage and sewage. And so that's where I got my first...
Shawn (05:46.214)
you know, taste of polluted water and why it was so bad.
it didn't seem like anybody was doing anything about it, but at the age I was at, you don't think about those things. I didn't think about that kind of thing until long after I'd come back to the United States. And then I was never... I have to say I did not think anything about this before I started working for Orenco.
Shawn (06:16.338)
When I first started working for Orenco, I was working retail. I'd worked retail for years and I was getting very burned out on retail. And a very good friend of mine said, Hey, why don't you come work with me? We can, I supervise the electrical shop at Orenco and you can come drill panel enclosures, you know, at Orenco, at least as a foot in the door. I knew nothing about what Orenco did. I just thought it's not retail. It's...
Angela (06:44.444)
Yeah. It's better. Let's go. Yeah.
Shawn (06:47.506)
Right? And it's an opportunity to try something new. And so I jumped at the opportunity. I did that for six months. Still really didn't know what Orenco did. I mean, I knew I was working with control panels. That's all I knew.
Angela (06:59.397)
Mm-hmm.
Shawn (07:03.314)
and then an opening came up in customer service and since I'd been doing that for years this was back when we first started officially calling it a customer service department and there were two of us I think that were hired at the time for customer service to be on the loop and I remember I had signed up for that and I had applied and gotten the job so that was my first real instance of starting to find out what this company was about.
Angela (07:31.076)
Right?
Shawn (07:33.49)
Kind of fast forward through that through the years working through the sales department and being in such close contact with the senior sales folks and the engineers getting to know the owners of the company talking with them and finding their passion just… I started to learn what this company really was about and it started to really grow on me because I wasn't,
Like I said, I wasn't an advocate before and I wasn't an advocate when I started, but I became an advocate as I learned more. Because I found that I was working for a company that made every effort to live up to their mission statement. And everything they were doing was bent toward fulfilling that mission statement. They were serving a higher goal. And that was very appealing to me and it fed into...
Shawn (08:24.434)
my experiences, because here I had come from living in a third world country where everything all the water was polluted and there's here's a company that's trying to make a difference trying to clean get clean water trying to maintain clean water trying to provide solutions for people to get clean water. I'm not talking about drinking water I'm just saying we clean up the water so that it's… yeah and so that sort of really was the initial
Shawn (08:52.502)
thing that lit my fire, so to speak, for fulfilling my why. And I think to this day, that has just kind of grown. And I've become very passionate about helping people
get clean water. And I think that's why I do what I do for this company. I'm in the training department and I create content for our salesmen and engineers to go out and sort of proselytize, I guess you could use that word, almost like missionaries that spread the word about how to use the technology that we have harnessed to clean up water and to, you know, clean up the sewage and put it back into the water cycle so that it's clean.
Angela (09:36.487)
Yeah.
Shawn (09:36.734)
So I mean, and that's kind of a long roundabout way to arrive at my why, but it was really kind of hard for me to articulate without going back and finding that passion. So...
Angela (09:48.452)
Well, I think that if there's one thing that I've learned, it's that...
Angela (09:58.432)
as I stumble over my words, sometimes you're why, like when you really talk about what gets you, right? Like, it's, it can be really difficult to put into words.
Shawn (10:11.082)
It is, because it's emotion-driven and emotions don't necessarily equate to words. Not very well, anyway.
Angela (10:15.448)
Right. No, no. And I think for me, I...
Angela (10:25.26)
I consider myself introspective. Um, maybe that's a mistake. Maybe it's not. But I do. And, so I'm always asking myself, like, trying to keep myself in check. Like, what am I doing this because I am indoctrinated, right? Like people still, they'll, they'll come over to dinner at my parents' house and
Angela (10:52.248)
Like we talk about stuff at the dinner table that most people don't talk about. Like talking about pee and poop and the process of like bodily functions and how that affects things is just normal banter at the Bounds table. It just, you know, it throws some people off, but it's like, yeah, yeah. I mean, so we've always talked about wastewater and we've always been talking
Angela (11:22.884)
discussed it and anybody who's ever heard my dad speak, they know that he's super passionate about wastewater. The biology of it, the process, everything he's super passionate about. So I have to kind of ask myself like, why, why am I here? Why, why am I doing this? Am I doing this because I am my father's daughter?
Angela (11:52.924)
I am the oldest child and am I doing this? It is my why because I'm supposed to do what my dad tells me even at 49 years old. Or you know what I mean? Like is my why deeper than that? And I think if I'm being honest, there was a time early on where I probably did do this because… not this,
Angela (12:22.544)
but early on in my teens and twenties, I mean, I've been working, we've already established since, you know, I was 10 or 12 years old, and there was a time where I was working here because that was what I was supposed to do.
Shawn (12:38.614)
Right. That was what was expected.
Angela
And that was the expectation. And as my father's daughter and having the respect that I have for my dad, I did what I was supposed to do.
Angela (12:52.644)
But as you get older, I mean, everybody knows that just it changes. And, my why is, I think, I think part of my why does become being my father's daughter or does speak to being my father's daughter, because like my dad, I tend to be a right fighter and I tend to be that person sitting there going, well, but that's not right.
Angela (13:21.924)
Like it doesn't have to be like that. Why, why are you doing it that way? You're doing it the hard way. Like you don't, you don't have to spill millions of gallons of wastewater into our waterways. It doesn't have to be like that. You don't have to spend three to four times the amount of money on a septic system, it doesn't have to be like that. And I get really
Shawn (13:52.234)
Hehehehehehe
Angela (13:53.248)
That's where I get really passionate about it, right? That I think is my why is that I want people to, I always want people to do the right thing. We're not always the right thing. The, an Orenco system is not always the right answer. It's not, but when it is, and when you're faced with
Shawn (14:15.35)
Mm-hmm.
Angela (14:22.932)
other systems that are going to cost significantly more and saddle communities with long-term financial burdens…
Shawn (14:33.988)
crushing debt.
Angela
I get, crushing debt. I get pretty, I get pretty passionate about not saddling people who don't know any better with crippling debt because that's what you know, or that's what is going to
Angela (14:52.58)
make somebody the most money. Like I get pretty, I get pretty worked up about that. So when I ask myself my why, it does go back to the company's mission. Like I don't want more sewage dumped into waterways when it's not necessary.
Shawn (15:14.382)
Exactly.
Angela
I don't want million gallon spills and I don't want communities saddled with something
Angela (15:22.884)
that is gonna be burdensome. Like I want to help people, I want people to have solutions that make not only their area of the planet better, but make their living conditions and their future better. Right? And I suppose I could do that in a variety of industries, right?
Angela (15:50.256)
You could do that in a lot of different places. I just happened to have landed here.
Shawn (15:53.667)
Right, right, exactly.
Angela
And if I wasn't like, I've thought about it a lot. Like if I wasn't here, what would I be doing? And it would probably be work in an area where I was doing, you know, that, I would be doing that kind of work.
Shawn (16:10.422)
Yeah, part of something that's bigger than yourself and trying to achieve some goal that benefits.
Angela (16:12.528)
Yeah, so I want to leave this planet better than better than I found it.
Shawn (16:20.982)
Yeah.
Angela
Right? I want to leave this place… I want to leave a mark.
Shawn (16:25.462)
Well, I think the why really touches on legacy as well. And I don't mean that in a negative sense, but I think that your why definitely impacts the work that you do and the legacy you leave behind, whether it's a company or a person.
Angela (16:41.58)
Yeah.
Shawn
You know, it's kind of funny. I don't want to make light of this, but especially given the fact that...
Shawn (16:50.366)
it's going to represent my age, but I think it's kind of interesting that I've been here long enough to actually watch the evolution in your why.
Angela (16:57.424)
Oh, right, you have. Yeah, for sure. Shawn and I have been together for a very long time. There's a reason we're so comfortable with each other. It's, it spans decades. Let's just say that. Let's leave it at the decade.
Angela (17:16.928)
Not, not to go totally sideways, but I did have this thought yesterday that I did not. I came into the world when there was still a quarter of a century left. Right. So I was born in ‘74. There was a quarter of a century left. Next year, I will have lived through a quarter of the century that I was going to enter. That hit.
Angela (17:45.656)
That hit kind of hard yesterday.
Shawn (17:46.408)
Just kind of gets you right in the feels.
Angela
It does. But I think that a lot of people probably go through an evolution of their why. I don't know how you don't or how you don't refine it.
Shawn (17:59.038)
Yeah, it has to be something that... right, and it has to be something that sort of evolves because you understand more.
Angela (18:06.776)
Well, and the yeah, the experiences that you have, like every experience lends itself to teaching you something as long as you remain, you know, humble, open, like willing to look inside and really question, why do I think this? Why do I agree with this? Is that really the right thing to do? That I don't know how you don't evolve. You know?
Shawn (18:36.398)
It’s natural process I think and I think if you if you resist that and remain stuck I don't know it's hard to think about because I don't… I'm not sure that I want to be the person that I was and have the why I had, you know, ten years ago
Angela (18:52.284)
Right.
Shawn (18:56.32)
I'm beyond that now.
Angela (18:56.356)
Well, and I do wonder, like, I think that, like, I think you and I are very similar in the fact that we both want, we both want things to just be right. You know what I mean? Like you seeing that water running through the rivers, um, when you were growing up, you intuitively knew that's just not right.
Shawn (19:17.898)
Yeah, there's a better way. Yeah.
Angela
There’s a better way. It doesn't have to be like that. But, you know, as you experience different things,
Angela (19:26.616)
you learn how to maybe articulate that better or refine what effect you can have there. Right? Like how can I, I mean, let's be real, there are lots of things in this world that I think are just not right. And I would love to think that I could have an effect, but I probably can't. My effect on
Angela (19:55.948)
other things that I would like to see different, would be really small. but I can affect this. I can have a real effect on, on this part, in this area, I can do things that are impactful. So I will do things where I feel like they can be impactful and affect that change.
Shawn (20:23.314)
Yeah, you know, it's interesting. I was just thinking that our why, our own personal individual whys, have actually a not insignificant effect on the company's why.
Angela (20:37.081)
Right.
Shawn (20:39.446)
you know, when you have people that are passionate about why they do what they do, you know, their motivation for doing it, and it's in service of something else, something that's greater than they are, then the company's why, or that thing that's greater than they are, their why is impacted by that as well.
Angela (20:59.248)
Right.
Well, I think that we talk a lot about...
Angela (21:07.344)
We've got a lot of long timers, right? And even some of the new people that are coming in, I feel like...
Angela (21:19.236)
We are fortunate to be surrounded by a lot of people who are just as passionate as we are about truly protecting the world's water, about making this a better place, about finding people's solutions and really helping, being helpers, right? They're passionate about doing that. And I feel really fortunate for that.
Shawn (21:45.958)
Mm hmm. I do too.
Angela (21:49.432)
I couldn't imagine having, uh, working in an organization that didn't align like that or where I wasn't where you're not. I'm sure you have. I know you have because I know, I know some of the places that you've worked and working in, of course, again, we all know that I've never experienced this because, I've always worked here,
Angela (22:20.364)
and it's always been mission driven work. It's always been, you know, I mean, for goodness sakes, this is a passion project that turned in…that turned in
Angela (22:36.444)
to an international company, right? Like I was actually thinking about that this morning as I was getting ready and thinking about the podcast and like what we were gonna talk about and it's just running through my head like,
Angela (22:53.788)
The reason that this company started was literally to help a community. And because there's got to be a better way. And I think a lot of entrepreneurs are like that, right? They figure out a better way to do something.
And we just lucked out.
that our better way turned into a company that can employ, you know, we talk about it a lot of the time, a lot of time, play over 400 people, affecting all of those families, affecting the community. You know, it's a big deal.
Shawn (23:30.402)
It is. It is. And in all honesty, I think we do a much better job of living out our why. When I worked for that big retail company, which shall remain nameless…
Angela (23:45.604)
Should we call it Voldimort or? Okay.
Shawn
no, we don't have to go quite that far. I just watched the de-evolution of that company over the years. And I think that's part of what fed into why I wanted to leave. But they
Shawn (24:00.402)
they said they had a why, but they never really lived up to their why. I think there were individuals that tried to tried to do that in their own way, but I could never formulate my why around trying to sell, you know, a TV or
Angela (24:19.436)
Widget, yeah. Retail items.
Shawn
you know, yeah, any retail item, you know. Customer service, yeah, that was a great goal,
Shawn (24:29.79)
It was never… and while the, yes, the corporate office did espouse customer service, to me it was more lip service. Now management and the department level was much better at that than the corporate, but, but I think for having a company that actually lives out there, why, and is passionate about their why, even if it's not always articulated, is such a blessing to be able to work for a company like that.
Angela (24:57.04)
Yeah. It's a big deal. I don't know that...
Shawn (25:01.714)
It really is. I find myself like, and I don't know if you find yourself doing this too, but I've got people that I grew up with that I talk to all different times. And it's like we can talk about the same thing as a shared experience. When I was overseas, you know, I lived in a dormitory with a bunch of a bunch of guys my age and
Shawn (25:26.642)
went to a school that of course had a bunch of kids my age and we have a shared experience. But I can't talk to just somebody off the street about that. I have a hard time talking about that to anybody who wasn't there.
Angela (25:40.081)
Who hasn't experienced it? Yeah.
Shawn
Correct. And it's the same way with this industry.
Shawn (25:44.714)
I'm very passionate about this industry and what we as a company can do in this industry, but trying to talk to somebody who isn't a part of the industry, it's very hard. It's like there's no shared experience. I can't tell you necessarily about my day or about what's going on because you have no…
Angela (26:02.556)
frame of reference. Yeah.
Shawn
frame of reference for this. And so...
Shawn (26:07.37)
you know, just being able to come to work and talk about, you know, all the great things that we're doing and the passion we have for what we do is very liberating.
Angela (26:16.684)
Yeah. Well, and people who share that experience, share that passion, share that desire to do better. I think.
Shawn (26:28.13)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, and are feeding into our corporate why.
Angela
And are feeding into the corporate way. Yeah. Well, just being beacons. Right? Like who doesn't want to be, who doesn't want to be a beacon?
Angela (26:47.264)
Okay, so what was supposed to be a short podcast about why Shawn and I do this has turned into a almost 30 minute diatribe.
Shawn (26:59.158)
Yeah, well, we get passionate about certain things, I guess.
Angela
It's really funny. It kind of hit me the other day because we, you know, we talk about this stuff all the time. Not in reference to why we do it, but we talk about the topics.
Angela (27:17.688)
all the time.
Angela (27:22.604)
It can get, I don't want to say that the meaning gets lost, but it's like, it's just how it is. It's not, it's not because it's my why. It's because it's the right thing to do because it's how things should be. And because there's a better way and it wasn't, I was, I think I told you, I was sitting down talking to somebody outside the organization.
Angela (27:52.46)
about a community getting taken advantage of. And I got super passionate. I'm like, it doesn't have to be like that. I'm like, it's ridiculous. And then I'm like, Oh, there it is. There it is. Yeah. You know, cause normally when you're talking to people outside, you don't, you just talk. It's not...
Angela (28:22.928)
You try not to be super passionate about it, but we started talking about people getting fleeced and I was a little heated. Little heated. All of a sudden I was like, Oh, yeah. So if you don't know what your why is or need help finding it, I definitely would suggest Simon Sinek's book, “Start With Why”. It'll ask you all the questions.
Shawn (28:51.626)
Yeah, it'll make you think.
Angela (28:52.7)
kind of help you think about it, help you get there. And if you are currently in a job that does not fill your bucket, I would also think about that. Because having a full bucket makes the hard days a little bit easier, I think.
Shawn (29:12.682)
Yeah, I agree.
Angela (29:15.892)
Right? All right, on that, we will let you go. And we will see you next time.
