Practical Leadership with Guest - Eugene Simor

In this episode, Eugene shows us how leadership doesn't have to be complex, sharing the fundamental principles and practices that have led to his own success. He talks about how his time in the Scouts impacted his leadership style, and how you can use self-sufficiency to improve your confidence and that of those around you.

Eugene also shares how he role models his mother and became people-centered, explaining how this approach has helped him motivate the diverse range of people around him. Plus, he gives us valuable tips on how to keep ourselves and our children safe, including some essential survival tips.

But that's not all - as a bonus, Eugene reveals what to do in a survival situation, so you'll never be caught off guard. And if you're worried about missing a run on toilet paper, fear not - Eugene's got you covered!

Join us for this compelling and informative episode of Practical Leadership with Eugene Simor, where you'll learn everything you need to know to become a successful leader and a savvy survivor.

Transcript

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Hello and welcome to the Practical Leadership Podcast where leaders share their tools and practical advice to make you a better leader today. My guest today is the legendary founder of Alamo Beater, which has now become more than just a beer and spirits it. It is now. Strongly ingrained into the community in the culture in San Antonio before Alamo Beer. Our guest today studied and got a, a degree in industrial technology. It's a, it's a combination of engineering and business from what I understand. And he was a, a sales engineer for Johnson Controls. one of the interesting things was he embarked in a year long sailing adventure around the world. And then when he was done with that, he relocated and he wanted to find the next place to live in. He chose San Antonio. From there he started, he started a couple different businesses and one of them was redevelopment basically taking old buildings and kind of making, making them profitable rental properties. He's a active member of the community. It's hardworking, dedicated, focused. I remember what, 15 years ago or so, anywhere I went, anywhere where there were people you would see our guest here today and a booth and sampling of a product. Nobody's worked harder. You, Eugene Seymour, it's a pleasure to have you on the show today. Thanks for having me Max. Good to see you. It is excellent to see you too. So, before we get started, what, what has been something good, fun, exciting, happy that's been happening in your world? Well it starts with getting up every morning, but since I'm already 60, I know, I've gotta say it's been our family vacations. Just been able to, to spend time. I've got four kids, lovely wife, and we just did a, a sailing trip for a week. Sailing's my passion. So it was great to be able to introduce the family to that. Get'em out on the water get'em in the water snorkeling and. Just to be able to spend a week and there were no fights, no drama. It was just a whole bunch of fun. So that's probably the biggest thing in the last six months on a, on a personal level. That is, that is, that is excellent. I, you know, I, I believe in the, the importance of spending time with a family together, and there's no better way of doing it than than on a trip. It doesn't matter where you go. Right. You're just kind of outside your environment, spending full time together. So I, you know, I think that I've, I've, I always connect you with Alamo, And, and your kids, right? Like it's, it's, it's a big, it's a big bunch. So how, how, how do you feel about like family values San Antonio? Local community? Well, well I mean, you gotta remember, I was single and no kids up until about 44. So I've seen San Antonio from two different sides, from a wildly popular, fun party town as, as, as a bachelor. It was great. San Antonio offered everything, but I must say in the. 15 years now with kids, wife, family. San Antonio is a great, great family spot. I see the the community comes together and really rallies around. Its, its citizens and it's visitors. And it's just, it's friendly. It's you know, they say Texas is friendly. Well, San Antonio is extra, extra friendly. Yeah. I, I agree. And so, so let's talk a little bit about those, those values. So, you know, you, you, you're always friendly you know, you're always outgoing, you are always out there meeting people, you know, I like to say shaking hands, kissing babies growing, growing the business. Where, where does that come from? Where does that kind of natural instinct to be serving people, helping people, being around people? Where do you, where do, where does that. Well, I, I, I guess going all the way back to, you know, grade school, I remember different things, but it's really, it's a result of, of our parent, my parents Being en engaged and encouraging us to meet new people, you know look you in the, in the eyes, shake their hand sort of things. My, my mother was a flight attendant. So she had this ability to really talk to anybody. I think as a result of that there was no fear factor of, of meeting anybody new. And it was kind of fun and adventure. So I, I, I gotta imagine some of those early days. Of of my mom being so outgoing. Excellent. And how do you think that has, that has translated into your leadership and your views of leadership? Well I think the ability to connect with people relatively quickly. And I, so much of that just has to do with a good introduction to somebody looking them in the eye visiting Letting them talk to make sure that you, you learn about them bef so you can find the best way to relate to them. Long time ago, read the Dale Carnegie book, how to Win Friends and Influence People. Even trying to get my kids to read it now, cuz I think that's just a really good headstart on life to learn how to really be a, a, a good listener and to try to engage folks and, and get a conversation going. That is very cool. So, on on, do you consider yourself to be, to be, to be a leader? If so, how did that come about? When, when, when, when did you first understand the concept of, of, of leadership? Well I think that the initial stuff is, is probably what team sports, when you're a kid. And. You know, you don't decide to be a leader at that age. It just, it kind of happens. I think since I was okay in sports I tended to be a little bit taller than most of the kids. So that probably gave me just a bit of a leg up to, to start with. But being able to lead a, a sports team and have that desire to win when you're. Helps. But the actual leadership, where I really started to look at it, would've been through the Boy Scouts. And I started that in probably seventh or eighth grade. The way that it's structured is they have you have a, a patrol or, or your team that's part of a troupe. And within that, that patrol. You work with the other folks and the other guys different people have different jobs, but it, it does teach you to lead the younger scouts. And I, I think that's really where I kind of got my first taste of, of leadership in leadership through teaching others. I should have mentioned that you were an Eagle Scout, right? Like that's, that's, that's something to, to definitely wear. Well, yeah, I'm, I'm still an Eagle Scout. I'm just a lot older now. Well, once, once an Eagle Scout. Always an Eagle Scout. Yeah. That's, that, that is fantastic. So you, you were talking all about kind of like leading others in, in, in serving. So what, what is, what is it about this, you know, boy Scout mindset on leadership? I remember reading, it's been a, it's been a while, so somebody can correct me if I'm wrong, but something around like 20 some percent of all Fortune 500 CEOs were Eagle Scouts. This was, this was a, a, a few decades ago, so I, I don't know. My, my latest But, but, but, but there's, but there's, you know, like strong correlation about, you know, learning about leadership early on. But I think it's not just learning about leadership, it's, it's, I believe the type of leadership. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know it's a high number. I don't know what it is, but it's not high enough. Or else you'd be interviewing me as a c e O of a Fortune 500. Just give it some time. Just give it some time. Well, I, the, the type of leader. That I, that I think that I got through scouting was, it's, it's not an an adult telling you what to do. It's you figuring it out yourself. So the, the way that things are set up in, in scouting when you get to that level is the, the scouts are the leaders and they, they plan the meetings, they plan the camp outs. And it's okay. Messed something up. Heck, I remember one time we were hiking up in the, in the the mountains of Southern California. And well, I hate to say it, but our patrol got lost on a hike. But we figured it out. We got down, it was pouring down rain. It was miserable. It was cold that we, we found a post office in a little. And sat there until we were picked up. But we, we knew enough of how to get off the mountain and that sort of leadership, not panic, but the, the thing that I, I think all leaders have, it's, it's a self-sufficiency, is you don't have to worry about things because most situations, you've already had some sort of mental preparedness for it. By thinking ahead by planning. Learning from others that have, have made mistakes. It it's that really, that self-sufficiency and, and the confidence that it builds is probably the, the biggest thing. I remember when and what was it? We were rolled from 1999 to 2000. Everybody thought things were coming to an end and were a Y2K bug, right? The yeah. The, yeah. Stocking up on water, this, that, and everything. And there were so many things that people were doing that I found so ridiculous, like buying a whole bunch of bottled water. Well, all you have to do is fill up your bathtub, okay. Or your water heater is an 80 gallon storage tank. It's just, most people don't know that because they've never actually trained about it or thought about it. But one of the merit badges is you know, survival base. So it teach you to think differently. So I, I say that that goes back to that confidence. I, I'm guessing toilet paper wasn't up in your list of survival items either. Well, I'll say during the shortage recently during Covid and everything else, my wife did a lot of walking with me. I, I like to get, get out and get some exercise and I always point out to her the toilet paper trees. Which a sycamore tree has the best leaf to wipe your backside with. So there is no shortage of toilet paper or I'm sorry, there's no shortage of being able to take care of your business. There may be a shortage of toilet paper, but it doesn't mean that you can't have a a, a clean backside by using Mother Nature. That, that, that is excellent. So, you know, this podcast is all about practical advice on leadership and other subjects, but there you go. Right now, you know Sycamore Tree plants are the best ones for that. The leagues, the leaves, the leaves, the first, the, the spring leaves and summer leaves are great. When they turn brown in the winter, you gotta be a little bit more. Okay. You heard it here, folks. All right. So so we're talking about, you know, leadership and self-sufficiency, thinking, planning, learning from others, learning from other mistakes. How, how did that translate into your business and being able to grow and evolve your business? How much of that would you say kind of rings true in your, in your, in your business? Well, when I first started, I mean, it, it was me in a minivan that was getting my, my product was being brewed at a, a brewery 50 miles north of San Antonio. But I, I was doing all the sales, marketing, restocking the shelves, so it, it was a one man wrecking crew. So I learned most every job within my company from the, the ground up. So I. I understand what it is to, you know, work hard. It's not just something that, you know, I, I bought and walked into the CEO's office and said, oh, there's my new chair. So I, I think learning along the, along the way and, and building as you go and getting this a skillset and doing your best to understand all the different jobs in your company is a, a real plus for the way that I put things. So, so you, you've, you've kind of built this business on a lot of confidence, understanding the fundamentals of each of the different areas and, and functions. Mm-hmm. How, how does that translate now that, you know, you went from a, from a van, a minivan to, you know, now this, this beautiful brewery, a community place, people, you know, where people gather and have conversations and spend time with family. How. You know, how are these different values and mindsets how have they translated from you into what is now visible for all of us? Well, it, the, the hardest thing realizing as, as a company owner or as a, as a leader, is realizing what you don't know. So, man, I learned a lot from the ground up, you know, doing all the deliveries and do all that. But what I, the things that I didn't know, I wish I realized a little bit sooner, like distributor relationships. We had built, built up the company to a point where I needed a, a dis distribution network. I'd never worked with one before. It's a kind of a different mindset and a different approach. I, I just, I didn't have that skillset and I, I wish I would've learned that a few years before I did to be able to bring the right people in. Same thing with our beer hall is. I've never run a arrest, not before. I have bartended before, so I know I knew a little bit of the job, but I didn't know the rest of it. So it was making sure that I hired some folks that had the experience that could get things going. And I could be there as, as a motivator, but not as a, as a know-it-all. So, so that, that, that is, that is something I'd like to explore. You know, you, you, you built a lot of self-reliance, a lot of thinking, planning executing, learning hard, learning yourself, and you kind of built it on your shoulders, right? And one thing that I always see in businesses is that there's this stage where, where the owner hits the wall, right? Like, you just can't keep going on just by yourself. And it's like a, it's a, it's a significant change in mindset going from I've done it all to now I've gotta bring other people. How did you get through it? Especially knowing you and knowing your, like, no nonsense, you know, again you, you use, you use a word that I like more than other words that I've heard before. Self-reliance, right? Like, you want self-reliance from people you know, ownership, accountability. Do what you're supposed to. How are you able to balance that? Wow. Or manage that shift. Well, I, you know, I know I can't lift a keg of beer. Like I used to slinging those off. The truck used to be e easy work. Now I'm old enough where I ask for some help when I'm doing that sort of stuff. It, you know, it is a hard shift and I still, I still struggle with it because there's certain things that I do and expect. That others, you know, it, it might just be a job to them. It's not their their livelihood, it's not their passion and they're getting a paycheck and they're getting, you know, paid for their services. They're slowly becoming part of the team, but they're, there's a couple different mindsets when you have folks that are working for you. And I think if you can identify those and know how to work with that person on. Different level. I mean, some are highly motivated, ready to go. A advancement motivates'em. Others, it's personal pride will motivate them. Some folks it's, Hey, I just, I want to get through the shift. I want to get my paycheck and I want to go do the things that I really enjoy. So it's kind of identifying each one of those types of folks that are working for you. And trying to come up with, with a plan that's best, cuz one style doesn't fit all. And then also what I've learned is there are some people that are unfortunately it's, I've found it almost impossible to motivate. I just, I, I don't get it. I don't understand. And I don't know if that's some of that old man syndrome, you know, creeping in is like, Hey kids, get off my lawn. You know? Or, It, it, I just remember when it, when I was young, I was a, I was a box boy at a supermarket. Absolutely loved it. It's because I was getting paid too much as a kid, but that was the going wage. So I had this great job interacting with folks and everything, and I worked hard. I even harder because it's that was just, you know, how, how I was, I learned. To strive to achieve and, and not to be a slacker, but I, it's trying to find folks and, and how do you, how do you take a slacker and make'em a performer? I, I, I don't have that leadership skill. I don't know. Well, it's, it's, it's a great question and I don't think there's, there's a good answer for that, right. Something I've explored for decades. Jack Stack the Great Game of business. Wonderful book, wonderful system. He says it, you gotta aana right? You gotta aana. And, and that's probably one of the most difficult things again, to get someone to want to do something. Yeah. You can't, right? Like, it, it, it's, to me, in business it's usually. It ends up wasting a lot of time. It ends up wasting a lot of energy. You wanna work with the people that want to learn, that want to grow, that want to develop, and then there's so much you can do with them and those that don't, you know, I'm sure there's a place for them, but typically not in high growth organizations. So, yeah. Yeah. If somebody has figured out how to turn someone that is not motivated and doesn't wanna into someone that does in a, in a, in a kind of like business setting. In a profitable way, please let me know. I mean Doug, Doug Harrison does talk about the idea. He was on the show and he talked about, you know, turning good people into, into an a team through great systems. But even then, there's an element of you know, desire. So with you on that. Yeah. Okay. So then we're, we're talking about adapting. Your communication, your style, focusing on what they want, what they need talking about what is important to them so you can give them what they want to get the outcomes that you're looking for. As kind of like a, a way of doing things. And, and it, and it sounds to me like a lot of that comes from, from you know, your, your, your experience with people and, and liking people. So what are some things that someone that might not be so naturally gifted or talented at that, how could you spot what somebody is interested in or how somebody is motivated? Like what are some things that you look for if, if, if you know, you're working. With, with a person, what conversations do you have? What do you look for to say, ha, now I get it. They are motivated by money or growth or recognition. How do you do it? You know, I don't have a pat answer for that, but I, as I kind of think about it a little bit, it, it's getting to know the person more than just the guy that operates a machine or the guy that's serving you a beer or whoever it might be, is try to find a, you know, a little bit more about them personally. With today's, you know, world a lot of folks, you know, don't want to go there and, and ask the questions, but if, if you find it, you know, if somebody has a, a, a passion for reading. One of our guys here was having a beer with them after work and we started talking about some different books and things and it, it turned out we had a, a common thread about the types of adventure books that we like to read. The. I call him the, the true to life historical novels where the, the characters are made up, but the, the historical facts are correct or, Oh, very cool. Yeah. So, so we made a little bond on that, and not that I know exactly what motivates him now, but I do understand him a little bit more. And there's something to relate to if you can find some sort of common. It helps. And, and I think just a little bit better of a connection. And then they don't just see you as the, you know, as the boss or the, you know, employee boss relationship. It's okay. I know a little bit about him. And, and kind of go from there. So, I love the idea of of, of knowing people, connecting with them working with them you know, more holistically, right? More than, Hey, here's just a job. Yeah. Here's a challenge that I hear people say when I have some of those conversations. Well, I don't have time for that. We're too busy. How do, how do you tackle that? You know, too busy is always an easy ex excuse. Absolutely. Yeah. You, you need to make time. So, and, and it doesn't have to be much time. I mean, and it might be different. I mean, we've got about 30 people working here. I mean, it's not a, you know, 200 people running around and, and have a production schedule that's so tight sort of thing. So we have a little bit more flexibility And then, you know, plus at the end of every shift, you, you get two beers each day. So we usually have a, a few folks hanging out here, having a, having a beer after work and relating. So it tends to be a little bit more social. The other ones, I, I think if, if you are on such a tight thing and you don't have a, anything social built into your work schedule, you need to find a way to have something. If it's, even if it's just, it's something short and fun after, after work. So just make time for it. And I, if I knew how to make, you know, make time that'd be a whole nother book. And you can't, you can't make more time. You just have to use your time a little bit differently and, and add, add that Ben into your schedule. Do what it takes. I, I love the idea. Right? It's not an accident. You make it. You, you look for it, you look for a time. Just a quick plug here, right. Have an Alamo here with, with your, with your team members after work. I think that's a good one. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And we're also making some non-alcoholic here as well. We're doing quite a bit more contract brewing. So we do have a, a variety of soda pops that we're making some cheese. There's a really neat one made with an olive leaf that we're making here. We're making a drink that I knew a little bit about from my sailing days called, it's a drink that has kava in it, and that's a root from Fiji. That's a ceremonial plant there. So there, there's plenty of things. It doesn't have to be a beer. It can be just something, something to gather and and enjoy some camaraderie. Thank you. Thank you for that. So that's one thing that I forgot to, to, to mention about you very. Creative and, and, and you could see all the different activities, promotions, products, partnerships. I mean, there's a, there's a lot of activity there. Let's, let's keep it within the context of, of, of leadership. How do you use that creativity in, in your leadership style in working with people, working with teams? I mean, you don't build what you've built by. Even though one person, you know, leads it, how do you, how do you infuse this creativity in, into your team? Obviously try to find something a little fun to do every now and then, but we've reached out to the community quite a bit and the community's reached back and we, and we do a, a ton of work with nonprofits supporting. Whether it's something as simple as they wanna have a gathering here at our facility or if we're donating a product to a charity fundraiser that, that's not creative per se, but it, I mean, heck, it might be for somebody if they've never thought about that, you know, hosting things at their, at their business. We do some, some brainstorming here. I don't. So the, the one thing that is great about having those beers every now and then with different people is you, you do brainstorm a bit and just that process of talking things through I think helps get the creativity, creativity flowing where you can you know, come up with some new ideas and new concept. Have you, have you gotten great ideas from, from the community, from people that just come up to you and say, Hey Jean, I, you know, I thought about this or thought about that. And is there like, some, some things that you're like, you're listening to certain patterns, you're like, yeah, we probably need to do something there. Well, if I say yes, I'm gonna have to give you an example. And if I say no, it sounds like I'm not listening to the community. I'm just having a hard time coming up with what an example would be that Yeah. Well, I mean, I can give you an example of what I know, right? Okay. You, you, you have, you have the, the community in certain ways. I mean, both, there's both trends, but then there's both community wanting seasonal. Okay. Right, and saying, Hey, I mean people want it. I hear it. You should do all this, you should do all that. And you're like, okay, let's look into it. And then you end up developing things. Well, good. You, you've got me thinking now. So we have the, a perfect example is we have a, a tap room here, our beer hall and we generally every week we'll have a new beer on tap, but it's not just a new beer. We call it the Brewer's Barrel. It is, it's one keg of beer. We have a really small pilot system here. It's, it's home brewing except we're making it here, so we don't call it home brew. But that particular brewer, it rotates among all different members of the staff. You might have one of the professional brewers making it one week, and then another week it might be you know, somebody on the packaging line that's wants to give it a a try. So they'll get creative together with one of the brewers. Everybody here at the, at the business has an opportunity to, to brew something. Not on the giant production scale. Obviously we don't want to have if something doesn't turn out right, it's expensive to dump that. But just that one keg at a time, it's, it's really kind of fun. Well that one keg at a time ends up in our beer hall. People sample it and if we get really good feedback, hey, it might, you know, end up being a production batch if it doesn't get good feedback, you know. You pat'em on the back and say, Hey, we tried, let's, hopefully we can get through the rest of this keg and don't have to dump it. But yeah, go back to your day job. But they have fun. The good thing, and that, that does create a lot of camaraderie here at the brewery is just that, that single task of, of getting a couple folks together to, to make, make a very small So getting people engaged and involved in, in, in trying and kind of tapping into their, to their creativity and, and looking for things to, to do. Let's, let's jump into a different subject. Learning. You've mentioned the importance of, of learning becoming aware and, and, and learning more about what you don't know and the importance of, you know, it's the things that you don't know that could be getting in the way of your, of your success that if you just become aware of them, right? Like, now I know I don't know that I can do something. How do you, how do you now try to keep up with that and, and make sure that you're, that you're learning and becoming more and more aware of the things that you don't know that could be important. Well, you know, I, I think everybody throughout your career, you kind of have to do a self-assessment annually or, you know, thereabouts and set a couple goals for things that you want to be more educated on. It doesn't mean you have to go back to school or anything like that, but if, if you just read a couple books on a subject, it doesn't take long to be a a book smart expert on something. It doesn't mean you're gonna be. Perhaps as good as, as, you know, somebody that's actually doing that craft, but you can certainly learn about it. So I, I continue to, to learn and, and do self-assessments. I, I also think so much of that does come with age where I find that as I've aged, I'm not as cocky as I used to be. I'm certainly maybe more opinionated, but for me it's a lot easier now. I don't have to fool myself and pretend I know something. And it's very often I'll be in a meeting and somebody uses a word and I have no idea what it means. I don't mind asking. Whereas if you're younger, you may not and all, but it's, you know, it, it's fine to admit what you don't know because if you don't know something and you don't try to find. And then you're making a decision based upon something you don't know well, then your whole decision making process is flawed. Yeah. So separating the information and knowing what you don't know. I like to talk about this and I think it's, it's an important subject because it's both a level of maturity and it takes people's leadership to the next level. If you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room, and you gotta have people that are very smart at what they. So you can, so you can learn from them. Right. And, and I think that you know, what I'm hearing from you is to say, I mean, when you're building your business from scratch, right? Distributing beer out of your minivan, there's no one that's gonna be smarter than you at your business. But at a certain point you realize that you don't know everything and then you've gotta be open to, to, to learning. And that to me is a, is a critical point. Just kind of like a little bit on a personal note. I don't have clients that think that they're the smartest person in the room, and sometimes they are by far the smartest person in any room, but it's how they feel and it's how they make other people feel about it. So just a, a wonderful sign of both, like maturity and, and a leadership kind of saying I can be that now. So, thanks Eugene for that. Let me ask you this. You talk a little bit about doing some self-assessment. How do you do it? Do you have a particular like tool, do you think and reflect? Do you ask yourself some questions? How do you go about this self-assessment? I, I just kind of sit and think I'm not, I I, I don't have a actual tool or a, a, a process or that. I do, I, I'm still very old school. That's a little black book. On each little page. Each little page. It has calendar stuff. I, I still do that. If I'm gonna take notes, I have a page in the back. Well, I'll, I'll jot down a thing or two if, if I if I think it's, you know, important to follow up on. So I'm, that's mine. And for me, I mean, so much of it might be, oh, you know, I heard about that and I wanna learn more about it. So, Jot it down. I and I do have an iPhone and I figured out how to save a few things on that as well, where I, I might go to a website and send it over and say, okay, I wanna research this later on. But I, I'm old school. I mean, my VCR's still flashing 12. I mean, that's how non-technical I am. So, For those of you that don't know what a VCR is, okay, so, so, so you, you, you're curious and you hear things and you're like, I want to know more about those things. Yeah. And you don't have, you know, like necessarily a structured process, but you think Right, which is a super valuable thing to do. Most people are too busy to stop and. And you're saying No, no, no. I'm, I'm thinking, are you thinking in terms of, in terms of, of the business, are you thinking in terms of your vision? One of, one of the things I I, I, I remember from back in the day was you, you, you always had a vision for, for what you wanted to build, right? I mean, you never had this idea, well, I'm just gonna sell so beer and see what happened. So you, you, you want the big things. How important do you think it is or it has been for you to have a vision and to continue to evolve that? Because I think that that's how you find your gaps, right? Like, that's how you find the, if I'm going to, if I'm gonna have a beer garden, I probably need to learn a little bit about run, how to run a restaurant. Yeah. The, the good thing is I've been learning how to drink beer and, and I continue to, and ho hone that skill. So you know, I, I do a lot of market research per se as I'm drinking. But the, the idea is you can set a big goal, but don't. Think that that's setting the goal is one thing, but you've gotta set smaller goals along the way. And it's the whole thing about you. You're not gonna be able to eat an elephant in, in one bite. You gotta kind of chew on it. And I think, and I, I, I still want Alamo beer to be the, the largest craft brewery in Texas. And, and we're a long way off from that. But the idea is we, we keep grow. Towards it. But as far as reassessing some of the big goals, I look at that and I, and I, and I know where I am now and I know how hard it's taken to get there. Is it that goal has changed? I mean, as craft industry has changed it's, I would like a well known Texas brand. Our market focus focuses Texas. You get questions all the time. Well, when are you gonna go outta state? Probably never, because if you can't make it in your own backyard, greater San Antonio area, can you really make it in all of Texas? And then why would you think about going out of the state? The whole thing for me about supporting local is let's support local. Let's, you know, there's not just talking about it, but let's actually do it sort of thing. So I I, that big vision. Changed slightly, and it's been heck, it'll be 20 years in October that I had my first product on the market. So in that times have changed and I tend to, the big picture goal has, has changed slightly as there's. As time goes on. So now it's just, I, I, I want a beer that people support locally that the branding has set it up. So the branding has a po possibility to be, you know, the, the National Beer of San Antonio. And hopefully will be a, a product that's recognized throughout the state. I mean, that's, that's powerful insight. The idea. You know, you have, you have a big goal, you break it down into milestones, but you're, but you're reevaluating it. You're reevaluating it both on the business side of things and you're reevaluating it in terms of what you are learning along the way and what is, and what is important for you. And I think that one of the things that, that has always been powerful is that, you know, it has always been about San Antonio. It has always been about Texas. And I think that you. Get clear and clearer and more and more confident about the direction and, and, and, and the ambition is not about just dollars because, you know, you could start distributing everywhere and make more dollars cuz there's a very large market out there. But you're like, I wanna win here. I I wanted to mean something. I wanted to have purpose and. It's that redefinition of the, of the goals that, that probably continues to give you, you know energy. As you said, you know, you're working, waking up and going to work. You're at the office right now. And, and continuing to push the team forward to kind of continue to make this, this vision happen. How do you, how do you communicate this vision with your team? What, what, what is a, what is a story that you tell'em? How do you tell them? How do they, how do they know what, what you know, and what you want to build? Well, I, frankly, I wish I did a better job of it. I don't have a, a newsletter that we do every, every month or anything. I, I think if there's one area I can improve upon, it is kind of corporate communication but you know, to everybody for, for me to get the word across it. I'm here and it, and it's social and I'm, I'm able to visit with people on a regular basis. So it, it's that sort of thing. I, I think the next thing is as we grow, I probably do need some real structure. As to you know, as the leader of the company is, what can I do to make sure that the new guy that I hadn't met yet already know, already knows what those goals are and, and, and, and the vision for the company. So I, I think that's an area for improvement even after all the, all these years. It's, it's something I deal with every, every day, right? We go from, you know, it's a small group knowing each other, communicating, socializing, troubleshooting. So there's a lot of knowing each other and what's in our minds. And as we continue to grow, that kind of gets diluted unless we're very focused on it. So one of the good things that I hear is, Well, well, you know, great leaders always think that they can do a better job, which is always true. Right? We can always do a better job. Yeah. But there's, but there is a job being, being done. And, and you kind of mentioned it a little bit earlier with, with the events, with the spending time, with the team, with getting to know people. And I think that it might not be formal at this moment, but it is definitely happening and it's kind of more, more, more organic cuz you're still at the size. Where, you know, talking to people is something that is very possible, right? I'm still able to do, I mean, my office is know a hundred feet from where the beers brewed and, and packaged. So spending some time out in the production area definitely helps spending time at the, the beer garden visiting with folks that, that's good. But I, I do I, I, I do see a sense of need for a little bit more structure now that we're growing past 30 people. And with any luck we'll have a, a second shift that'll be starting here probably coming into the summer. So there are, as, as we grow, I know I need to look, look ahead and figure out how to best. You know, let people know is, you know, hey, that old guy is a guy that started the company, you might, you know, wanna visit with them. Yeah. Well I think you, you, you mentioned something about, you know, thinking and, and planning and learning from others. So I think that if you use that, that same philosophy, that same approach you know, there's, there's, there's there's a lot of blueprints out there. There's a lot of systems out there. There's a lot of frameworks out there that, that can really help expedite this. So, you know, we, we can save a lot of a learning curve. And continue to, you know, accelerate into, into kind of like the next level of our, of our business evolution. Yeah. I'm, I'm, I'm curious Eugene, are there a few things that you always tell people, you know, like, are, are there some, some, some conversations that you find yourself having, like over and over? Whether it's, whether it's it's your kids, whether it's team members or friends are, are there a few things that are just very intrinsic to kind of like how you view the world and how you think about. Well, that wasn't on your list of potential questions. Nope. I to, to try to anticipate and, and, and look ahead, but, but I don't mean that in necessarily a business sense. It's at least with my kids and family, it's, you know, be cognizant of your surrounding. Far too often there's folks that are just looking down at their phone and they don't experience what's around them, or they don't realize that the iron is sitting on the counter and there's a toddler coming into the room. Well, I know it's gonna happen, it may never happen, but they're gonna pull on that cord and that iron's gonna fall down. And I always think the, this kind of worst case planning scenario But by just telling people, you know, have your heads up and, and, and look around a bit. I mean, that's, that's it. It's the one thing I I love about sailing with the, the same guys that I have is we work so well as a team that you don't have to even say anything. If, if, if the sales going up and, you know, somebody's handing you a, a, the wind Chanel, you're ready to go, somebody's trimming things. The, there's a lot of that teamwork that happens through repetition. But you don't, you anticipate, but you don't get that in your, so much in your corporate environment. Yes. I, I guess I don't really tell people that. I don't know. You, you got me back so mean. Well, I, I, I mean the, the thing is I, you know, I, I, I, you know, I know you a little bit and Yeah, and, and, and you, you always have like a, kinda like a no nonsense approach to things, right? Yeah. And, and are very, and are very practical to. And, and are very aware. So I, I never asked you this before, so I was just curious if there was, if there was, you know, like a, a type of like philosophy or mindset that you're always telling people. But I, but I love the idea of you know, being aware and, and being present and, and in, in life and, and at work. And I actually think that your product is, is a great conduit to it, right? I mean Typically, you know, beers related to social, right? You're, you're with other people and, and you're enjoying the moment and you're, and you're, and it's an opportunity to be present. And I think that's kinda one of, one of the unique values that I see in spirits, right? It's, it's, it's a moment to, to become aware and to be present. And then this, this repetition. So when you're sailing, you guys know each other, you've been together for a while. And, you know, each other's moves and you know what each other should be doing, and you have the confidence and trust in each of them. So, so it's, it's again you, you know, you probably all know about the same things and know the positions and know the roles and, and, and know what to expect and kind of how, how to work through those. So, so you did mention that I asked you a question that was not in the q in the potential question, so you've asked plenty of'em actually. But I, I was, I was gonna ask, have I missed any question that, that you wanted to talk about? Let's see. That particular, I, I'm, so I, you, you have made me through this interview process of, you've made me kind of think through a few things that I hadn't, so I, I appreciate that. And I think. I know that as I get older and, and dealing with all different kinds, kinds of people, you, you have to remember that not everybody's like you. And, and quite frankly, not everybody likes you. You just have to be a little bit easier going realize that you, you can. Control others you know, behaviors that you just gotta, you gotta focus on the things that you, you can. And go from there. And, you know, I, I, I, I like what I'm doing. It, it's fun. And I, and I, I will agree with you on the, the beer and spirits being very social is most folks favorite beer? Is not just because they tasted, they think it's great that favorite beer is associated with the time that they had it. Whether it was something they did with friends, a concert, an outing you know, we just won the sailing championship and, you know, you're having that favorite beer. It's, it's a good time goes with the product that, that that in your mind is your, So it goes back to the, to the establishing the emotional connections with people. Well, yeah. P people, and that's for sure. I mean, it's the people in you know, say people are far more important than, than products. I'm just happy that we've got good people here and we also have a really good product. Excellent. I have maybe a couple more questions. So I'll ask you this one, then I'll do a quick summary and then we'll kind of wrap up. What do you think has been your secret to success? Right? I mean, Alamo beer is, is, is, is a clear success. It has more potential and there's more growth expected. What, what do you think is, has been key to that? You know, work hard and don't give up. Boy, there were a lot of times that kind of banging my head against the wall thinking, oh, okay, maybe I should. Get a job that has got a regular paycheck. But I got through, got through that. It's just, it's, it's pushing yourself going, going forward, not giving up, but also try to think things through before you do them. I mean, it's, it I taught my, my kids how to play. And the whole idea of thinking several moves ahead is so important that if you can do that, even if it's just a couple moves or, or, or you know, one move, just try to think ahead a little bit of, of what will happen before you actually move that piece. Then is it, is it the, the best father's Day that I had was a couple years. When, when my, when my son beat me in chess, and I think he was about eight or nine at the time and was, I was excited. It was like, wow, okay. He just got it. He's thinking ahead. So that's probably the most important thing. That that is, that is excellent. It's also consistent with a lot of things that you say, right? That, that awareness, which allows you to think ahead, the, the, the planning and thinking, which allows you to see ahead and then, and then putting in the time, putting, giving it the energy and recognizing that there's gonna be obstacles along the way. So I'm gonna try to give you kind of a little bit of a summary right. With, with, with some of my keynote notes. Okay. For our audience, remember you can download this summary practical leadership.com. You can. You can download the summary and share with others. Here's kinda some of the big things. So a, a little bit of your formation had to do with you know, no fear factor, being willing and open to meet anyone. And, and, and open to it. Reading the Win, the, the book how to Win Friends and Influence People as a, as a tool that you recommend for people to kind of get comfortable and understand the importance of listening and caring for what other people have to say and what other people care about. Talked about leadership and kind of how you formed your leadership mindset. And a lot of it was sports and in particular, boy, So the big idea is help people figure things out, right? So don't figure things, you know, don't tell people what to do, help people figure things out. And it's okay to learn from, from mistakes. And the fundamental piece here is, you know, self-sufficiency. And, and I think that that's kind of one of the big things that scouts ultimately gives, gives people is, is this, this confidence in themselves and this knowledge that, you know, you'll survive through anything. So self-sufficiency and it, and it starts with thinking and planning ahead and, and learning from others when it comes to. One of the keys you said is know your business well, know all aspects of it. You, you started in the mini, you know, delivering in the minivan, and you had to learn all the different aspects of your, of your business, which allowed you to then make, make great decisions and know what you would expect from these different areas. Then you also mentioned this, the importance of knowing what you don't know about. So when you're looking ahead, you become aware of what you are gonna need to learn about. And part of your mindset and philosophy is about being curious. So if you're curious and you're thinking ahead, you're gonna figure out, well, I better learn about that. And, and, and kinda like, well, if I'm gonna be opening up a beer garden, well I probably need to learn a little bit about the re. Business and be curious about it and go and read a few books and talk to some people. Really powerful thing, you, you, you gotta know people at a personal level know what, what drives them, what motivates them, what they care about, and adapt your communication and your style to suit them. You can't do too much with, with the people that are just not motivated, right? If they don't, if they don't wanna, there's only so much you can do. So spend your time with those that want to and find common ground. Seek to connect, right? The, the question then was like, well, well, when do you do that thing? You've gotta find time. You've gotta find time, you've gotta create social events. You've gotta create those opportunities to build the time. So, Time is not an excuse. You've gotta find time for it. It's a priority cuz we've gotta be prioritizing people learning, learning from, from the community, learning from your team and, and letting them be engaged. So one of the ways that you build this engagement is by, by letting, letting everybody be a brewer. What a what a what a great concept. You know, for our audience out there, you're running a business you're leading a department. How could you let everyone be a. Right. I think I'm gonna, I'm gonna point that phrase Eugene, if you allow me to, right. I gonna tell this story over because it's kind of giving the opportunity to, for everyone to, to get the spotlight and, and be creative and, and show you kind of what they've got and engage with what you have. I, I just think that's, that's just a a great concept. I'll al. The self-assessment is thinking about, you know, where do you wanna be? How are you gonna get there? What did you, what do you need to to know about? And just, just giving yourself time to think, giving yourself time to be curious allows you to do that. And then we talked about setting goals, but breaking them down to milestones and not being afraid to adjust them as you mature and as your business. And, and with and, and, and with that you kind of have clarity of the direction and can bring everyone along with you because you know, you. It makes sense and it makes sense to you and, and you're still connected with that goal and purpose. And it's not something that, you know, you had when you were, you know, 20 years younger. It's the goal that you have as you've, as you've developed which tends to have more community and more social wellbeing as I, I ha, as I have learned, as we, as we age as well. Secret to success, right? Work hard, don't give. And think several moves ahead. It'll, it'll, it'll, it'll allow you to navigate through business and make, and make better decisions and understand that not everyone is like you, and not everyone is going to like you, and that is okay. You, you ultimately have to be yourself and, and, and lead others kind of with, with what you have to offer. So, I'm, I'm sure I've missed a few things, but I just wanted to highlight a few of the thoughts that, you know, kind of stood out for me. I mean, last but not least, I mean, this is, this is a really important one, right? Sycamore tree, Sycamore tree leaves don't, let's not forget about, let's not forget about the, the, their important contribution to humanity. That's a good one. Yeah. So, so did I miss anything, Eugene? Is there, is there something that, that I didn't ask you that I should have asked that you wanna share with everyone? No. I, I guess I'm looking forward to continuous success here at Alamo. I'm looking forward to transition where I'm, you know, not here. On a, on a daily basis, but get to ease into retirement and know that there's a, a good team to keep Alamo beer going forward. Very cool. Thank you for that. If, if somebody wants to, to reach out to you, connect with you Now that I told them that, that, you know, they can share their, they're great ideas with you. Is there, is there a, a good place that, that, that they can go? Yeah, you just go to alamo beer.com and, and find me through that, through our website, but it's just Eugene Alamo beer dot. Okay. That's pretty, pretty, pretty simple one. So Eugene, before I, before I let you go today what is something fun, exciting, happy, that you're looking forward to that'ss happening here in the next few weeks or months? Business or personal? Oh well, I'm going out to the Sierra Nevada to do an in-depth study of the snow pack and that, so you're going. Yeah, so I'm doing that tomorrow. I learned how to ski at a very, very young age. I was probably in third grade or something. I still remember my first pair of skis were hand-me-downs from my mom and they were made of wood and had these cable bindings and the boots were lace up. So that was something that I did with my father as a, as a young person. He taught me how to ski and I've kept that up and now taught my kids how to ski. But this is the coveted guys trip and we're leaving to California tomorrow on that. Well, that, that, that sounds, that sounds fun. Is it the, is this the same group of people you sail with or is this a different group of No different group? I, yeah, say I've, I'm fortunate enough to have a, a, a good group of friends that we go skiing every year. And then I've got a, a, a good group of friends that we sail on a regular basis. I, I can imagine that that's gonna be high caliber and pretty intense. Knowing, knowing what I know the ski of pre is better than it used to be and I look forward to it. Excellent. Eugene, it's been fantastic having you on the show today. Thank you for taking the time. Thank you for what you're doing for the community. Putting the name of San Antonio out there, making it bigger, brighter, better you know, your contributions. The, the products, the, the development of new ideas. I just appreciate all of that and I think we're all better for, for having you here in San Antonio. So thank you so much for that. Thank you, max.