The Doing Business in Bentonville Podcast
To create an ecosystem that connects leaders of all kinds – industry, community, student, educational, civic, investment and entrepreneurial – to help overcome Omnichannel Retail barriers through exclusive, insight-rich content.
The Doing Business in Bentonville Podcast
Ep. 100 - Leadership, Legacy, and Community: Cameron Smith's Impact on Northwest Arkansas
Some people leave footprints that shape an entire community. Cameron Smith was one such individual—a visionary who transformed Northwest Arkansas's business landscape through genuine connections and a commitment to elevating others.
Our milestone 100th episode brings together Wayne Callahan (former leader at SC Johnson and Heinz) and Eric Howerton (entrepreneur and founder of Podcast Videos) to celebrate Cameron's extraordinary legacy.
Their personal stories reveal how a pharmaceutical recruiter who "knew literally nothing about retail" in 1995 became an indispensable cornerstone of the supplier community through curiosity, authenticity, and relentless relationship-building.
What made Cameron special wasn't just his business acumen but his genuine approach to people. As Wayne recalls from their early friendship, "Cameron did a nice job understanding the cultures of companies," helping build teams that won Vendor of the Year seven times for SC Johnson.
Eric shares how Cameron would call him unexpectedly just to check in: "That meant so incredibly much to me... he was attentive and legitimately did what he said he was going to do."
Beyond his professional achievements, Cameron's community impact stands as his most enduring legacy. From his significant involvement with the Cancer Challenge to his co-founding of Doing Business in Bentonville, he embodied servant leadership.
As the podcast continues his vision—now reaching audiences in over 100 countries—we remain committed to demystifying omni-channel retail through trusted, authentic content.
Whether you're part of the Northwest Arkansas business community or joining us from across the globe, this episode offers powerful insights on leadership, community-building, and creating a legacy that outlasts you.
Subscribe to Doing Business in Bentonville and join our mission to advance omni-channel retail while honoring the values Cameron Smith instilled in all of us.
Well, hello everyone and welcome to Doing Business in Bentonville. I'm Andy Wilson. I'm the host today of Doing Business in Bentonville and we're so excited to bring you, and I've couple of reasons. First, we're taking this opportunity to honor an individual who has consistently demonstrated exceptional qualities Cameron Smith. We're going to honor him today. The late Cameron Smith was not only a successful entrepreneur, but he was a significant influencer in our field of work and I will tell you, he made such influence so you're going to hear about that from our guest today and beyond his professional achievements, he was just a great guy. I'm telling you, he's just a great guy and it's exciting today that we're going to share what a great guy he was. He had a positive impact on so many people In fact, I can say hundreds of people. I'm one of the individuals that he had such great impact on and we'll talk about that today. The second compelling reason today that we are going to do this is that today is our 100th podcast today. We're so excited that Doing Business in Bentonville has done this, and Cameron was one of the co-founders of Doing Business in Bentonville.
Speaker 1:The Moth Zone provides a wonderful opportunity today as we reflect on the contributions of Cameron Smith and my two guests today. I want to introduce them today. Wayne Callahan welcome, we're so glad to have you here. And Wayne's the co-founder of Doing Business in Bentonville and he also was a major leader in the supplier community Two great companies SC Johnson Wax and Heinz Corporation. How many years was all that, wayne, that you worked there?
Speaker 2:I worked at SC Johnson for 20 years. It was such a fantastic company, a great training company. I started there in my early 20s and later transitioned to HJ Heinz to starta second big customer-centered team and worked 18 years with them. Two fantastic guys, congratulations on your career.
Speaker 1:And you're doing a lot of other things today, wayne and I will tell you we're friends and I appreciate the influence you've had in my life and we're so glad you're here today. Our second guest is Eric Howerton Eric, welcome.
Speaker 3:Thanks, andy, good to be here.
Speaker 1:You know, I was thinking about what I'm going to write about you.
Speaker 3:You know.
Speaker 1:But no, Eric, it's not important. You know the great things I can say about Eric. He was co-founder and chief growth officer for White Spider, a technology company that he later sold, and you know, Eric is also an entrepreneur. So it took him about five minutes after he sold that company to do something else, and he is actually a founder and owner of Podcast Videos. We are in that studio today.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we're here, right now we are. Thanks for the ad plug, Andy. You bet Appreciate that.
Speaker 1:Both of these individuals, though, have shaped our industry, so so good to have you, eric, here. You know we've been talking about doing this for a while, yeah, and now you're here. And, Wayne, so good to have you here Now. What we're going to do is we're going to talk about our friend Cameron Smith a bit, because he has, as I mentioned earlier, such great influence on our lives and our community and this field of business there where you're in. And, Wayne, we're going to begin with you. You've known Cameron for over 30 years. Well, both of you all worked together. You met very early on in your career and early on in his career. Talk to us about that.
Speaker 2:Andy, first of all I'm honored to be here on the 100th podcast and also a podcast, that's you know, focused on a dear friend and a great community minded person like Cameron he was. He was an amazing guy and I'm sure we're going to talk a lot about that today, guy, and I'm sure we're going to talk a lot about that today. My connection with Cameron came through the supplier community. But just to briefly tell you, in about 1989, I started the business team for SC Johnson, but it was in Racine, wisconsin, so things have come full circle. It was a virtual team then and then it just became apparent to do the kind of service and stay focused on the business the way we wanted to. I moved to Northwest Arkansas to start our on the ground business team in 1992. And there were a lot of other consumer products companies beginning to do that at the same time. I say that because it's kind of important as I parallel the scenario with Cameron. My team was just getting going and a lot of teams were just getting going and we were both developing talent from our own companies and bringing them in and we were also looking in the marketplace for talent. And so you may or may not know.
Speaker 2:In 1994, cameron and Monica were married and when they were married they moved to Fort Smith, arkansas. And when they were married they moved to Fort Smith. Monica yesterday, who I dearly love, and she reminded me that you know he was a recruiter in California but he primarily recruited pharmaceutical and other jobs, nothing in consumer products. So I received a cold call from him in about 1995 when he first started and I didn't know who he was, and we struck it up, a great, just conversation. We decided to meet, we continued our dialogue and I began to really rely on him for his thought and his input on the industry and certainly he listened to me as kind of culture I was trying to build.
Speaker 2:So why did that matter? Well, it mattered because, I mean, our personal relationship grew, because Cameron knew literally nothing about retail and consumer products and I knew nothing about the recruiting. We learned from each other. We had so much fun together. So that was 95, yeah, and and that continued and we uh, honestly, we just uh. He helped me build, uh, an amazing team. Sc johnson won vendor of the year seven times. I'm not sure many companies have done that and it was the team, it was the resources, it was the culture. But each year I kept telling Cameron, you know, he needed to focus more on consumer products and he needed to move from Fort Smith to Rogers. And finally, in 2003, they moved to Rogers. That's wonderful.
Speaker 1:So that's, great. Now, now eric you always so cool as long as I've known you, eric, you, you have surrounded yourself with great people. You like look, look around. Okay, but you, but I. But the thing I noticed about you you just run to people. Yeah, you see someone, you hear someone, you read a. The next thing I know you're, you're meeting with that person. You, and that's one of the that's a great act to be done. Tell us about when you ran the Cameron Smith, how did that happen?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so it's funny when you're telling that story, because I can just picture Cameron headhunting Wayne, you know, just insist, insisting on having a relationship with them. Well, oh yeah, well, I gave cameron a piece for his own of his own medicine back in the day. I headhunted cameron, you know, like as we were starting white spider up right, and uh, and as we were getting into the supplier community more, more etc for business, uh, people were like I mean, you know cameron smith? And I'm like, no, I don't know who he is. And and uh, and uh, and then I started looking into him, like who's this guy? Like what's the big deal about Cameron Smith? He knows everything around here and everybody. And so I just uh, scott Crossett was working for him, he's a CEO now of Cameron Smith and Associates. And uh, I met Scott and I was like, man, scott, I want to meet Cameron, you know. And uh, he's like, yeah, I'll, I'll, I'll ping him and see. And then you know we could go by. I'm like, hey, bro.
Speaker 2:I haven't heard from Cameron.
Speaker 3:What's the deal? And he's like, uh, yeah, you know he's kind of busy and so I just kept calling and I'd call the office and eric howards and wanted to meet with me, and he's like, just whatever, just set me up with this guy. So I came in and met with him and then, you know, immediately, you know I wouldn't let him go, you know, but he was, it was immediate connection. I mean, we really got along and had a lot of similarities and, you know, joked a lot and stuff. So that that was I gave. Gave him a piece of his own medicine. I should go into recruiting.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, you'd be great. Well you do. You both are similar, but I think that's. I think people that are great leaders and entrepreneurs are like that they run to things so they can learn and grow and develop and get better. They never stand still. You never stand still. Wayne never stands still and that's a sign of great leadership. And again, again, it's so awesome to be talking about him today, as we think about Cameron and our audience, and we have guests now in over 100 countries that view this. We're over 200 a day of people viewing DBB. Thank you very much to our guests. One of the things I think we can share with our guests is what we learn from cameron. Yeah, the things that we learn and that. And then then we definitely want to talk about the impact he had on northwest arkansas and other in many other places. But what, what did you guys learn from cameron when you were with him? What? What was his strengths Do?
Speaker 2:you want to go for it. Well, I, I, I think that he was a really good listener and not everybody is a good listener, especially people that have that much energy and, you know, passion to to get things done. But he, he was a great listener and because of that he he would get smarter every day. You know, he would ask people questions and and he would go to he would go to Eric, he would go to you, he would go to different people and and he would ask questions and then it didn't take long until he was pretty much a subject matter expert in something, subject matter expert in something.
Speaker 2:And I always appreciated that about that, about him and and, clearly, his energy and his willingness to be involved in the community. I can remember when I was in the chamber of commerce and working my way through I was chairman there for a while and and Cameron saw that I was involved in chamber of commerce and he says I want to get involved in the chamber of commerce. So we got involved in the chamber of commerce and different, and it was like that he would see people involved in things that he then he would understand the impact they were having on the community and he would say I want to contribute, I want to be a part of that. So he was such a positive person um looking for ways to get involved and and um I'll be an advocate.
Speaker 3:Right, yeah, you know, I mean there's. There's so many things that come in my mind, I'm sure, like for all of us, right, I mean I'm as you were talking about that. One of the things I remember is, you know, cameron had this status, you know, I mean he, you know in the community, like a lot of folks do. And what I appreciate about him is, after I finally got him to sit down and hang out with me for a little bit, I immediately realized how real and genuine he was, you know, which I really appreciated because I mean I think that you know, he was just somebody that was really wanting to do the right thing, you know, for the right people, because that's the right thing to do, you know, for those folks.
Speaker 3:And I remember, like we're talking early days of White Spider, unknown. You know the company was unknown, I'm unknown. I didn't work at Walmart, I didn't work for a supplier, you know and I'm trying to break into this and I didn't work for a big agency for that stuff, and so I was definitely a, you know, extraterrestrial in the supplier community from that standpoint. Um and so there's a lot of times where I just hit all these roadblocks on a regular basis. But then when I started talking with Cameron, he immediately like he, he cared to your point, he would listen to what I actually had going on and then he would think about how that can help the greater community and even his clients and the people he knew.
Speaker 3:But I remember like he would call me, you know, and I've never had anybody do this before that would call me out of the blue to check in with me and see how I'm doing and how my business is doing. Dude, that meant so incredibly much to me. So I think that he was attentive. Not only was he genuine, but he's attentive and he legitimately. He did what he said he was going to do and he cared just as much as he expressed. And that was from day one to the time he passed. He was always checking in and I would just get a call out of the blue and I'd be sitting in a meeting. I mean, if I was sitting, this podcast and cameron called, you know I would.
Speaker 3:I would walk out and say the godfather just is calling me, I gotta take the I gotta take it, you know, and and he, you know, he never understood like how much of a of a you know high amount I would hold that phone call. It didn't really matter, I mean, he was just legitimately just checking in to see how things were going and I thought that that was really special, you know, and I try to remember that, you know I'm I'm a self-proclaimed narcissist, you know and so, but but to to like, so that meant that he actually in his busy day I mean, he's talking to folks like Wayne about building really incredible teams at the world's largest retail Like, I mean, that's serious business he actually took the time and he did care enough to give me a shout when I'm a starting up entrepreneur?
Speaker 1:Yeah, big deal. Yeah, why? What's your thoughts on that? What do you? What do you? Where would you at?
Speaker 2:Well, I was listening to that story and I I thought that's great, great, and it reminded me that, right, um, I mean, he was a show mind, make no mistake, he was amazing and he was a sportsman. He was a lot of things but he was also really sincere. And if, if you were a friend of his, you knew you were. Yeah, he treated you like a friend he did.
Speaker 3:He walked into bonefish or anywhere in the, in the area, you know, and I mean there'd be people coming up and saying hi to him. You know, I mean just like all the time, like if I was ever having lunch with him or whatever. There's like probably 10 people that, hey, cameron, how you doing? Yeah, I remember you know quite a few times they walk off and you know cameron saying hi and I say like who was that? He goes, I have no idea, you know, in a few cases, but to your point, he was. Yeah, really his presence yeah was really strong, but he was extremely sincere. That's where I think that the like when we talk about passing that on, that legacy in a way, like that sticks in my mind. Like I mean to be down to earth, to to be human, to help other people, yeah, I mean like he did that. I'm going to do that because it meant so much to me. I know it's going to mean a lot to somebody else, right, you?
Speaker 1:know, wayne, you were in the supplier community. You were here early on, I mean not the very beginning, but early on in supplier community, the very beginning, but early on in supplier community. And I think today there's thousands of Walmart SAM suppliers teams here. I don't know how many now, a couple thousand, maybe 3,000. So it's a lot. It's in the thousands, right. So Cameron was very, very involved in that and he, you know, especially with recruiting. What do you think he did as an impact? Northwest arkansas, how did cameron associates impact? You know walmart sounds, that whole culture around supplier community, because he had a lot to do with that. What, what, what impact do you think?
Speaker 2:Well, I think that sort of the scenario that I played out with he and I. He played out with hundreds and hundreds of people that were building teams. Maybe it was one, two or three in the beginning and then it became 50, and then it became 100, and how many teams there are I'm not sure. But he was smart enough to build a trusted reputation with the supplier community and people that were in roles that were going to be making choices on people that would be a part of their team. Cameron did a nice job of Understanding the cultures of companies and and was easy for him to talk about. This is kind of the makeup of this company and here's how someone might fit for this kind of company. I also think that he was really smart to stay close to people that were developing these teams, because he wasn't the job creator, make no mistake. The customer't the job creator, Make no mistake. The customer was the job creator. What the teams were doing is deciding and being choiceful about how they were going to add resources, how they're going to allocate resources. So if I took you back to the 90s, we were primarily sales teams, and then sales teams became sales and analytical teams, and then sales and analytical and customer service and supply chain and marketing. So each time that layer, another layer was added, cameron participated and engaged and realized, hey, you know, I've got to look in a different talent pool if I'm going to help you source those kinds of people that mattered in our community. So our community became very well-rounded.
Speaker 2:Um, the, the easy part of his job and he would, he would call it um, this is um, uh, shooting fish in a barrel was the talent that was already in town. You know, cause that that was the easy part, someone was unhappy and they want to go to another company. Um, what? What was hard was, uh, getting talent from St Louis or Chicago or Dallas or Los Angeles to want to come here. And his team and he were really helpful in helping paint the picture of the opportunity that was had and the future that was in front of us. And the future that was in front of us and gave people a reason to buy into the culture, mission opportunity with a company and to relocate their family. So I think he played a key role in helping to sell the benefits of this great lifestyle that we all enjoy today. Yeah, great points.
Speaker 3:That's awesome. I mean that's that's really conclusively. I appreciate that dialogue. It really is, because you know all I can think about like he was. Uh, you know, it was funny in the very beginning when you started out. You met cameron because he gave you a phone call. You know, and that's something that he would teach me a lot too is that he, he was the proactive engagement for the community, right, like he was the one who picked up the phone and dialed yeah, he reached out first, almost, you know, especially in the beginning, but I mean even all the way through.
Speaker 3:But I think you know, when you're talking about the culture fit, like he knew the market need, the client need, and he stayed relentlessly focused on that. You know money always follows value. Sure, right, I mean in everything we do, you know and so. But I think that really highlights kind of a deeper part of what he was doing that maybe a lot of folks just saw on the surface level, but there wasn't many people that would sit there and really think about Wayne's team and the people on his team, how this new candidate is going to blend into that culture, to continue to build that up, because that's what makes up a company, like I mean, I think that you know, and I remember him discussing it like it was always a deeper level than recruiting, right it was.
Speaker 3:It was team building, it was culture creating, you know, in his mindset on that. Thank goodness he had that, because I think we can look at our area today and look at the suppliers, the agencies, walmart, I mean everybody. There's this culture that's going on Like we have this precedence of we work together. You know great places to work and we're all you know there's more of a team mentality, I think, than I know. I've experienced a lot of folks that have come from outside the area and they have a hard time and I know I'm kind of getting to a team culture that's actually developed here. That's taken a few decades to build. Yes, absolutely, and I think that to the point you're making. Cameron was a significant contributor to that.
Speaker 2:Can I just make one point that doesn't get made a lot and that is. He also carried that on into his own business. You know we talk about Cameron Smith a lot, but we you know how, about Scott Cross and Denise Dentish, and the list goes on of the team that he built. He has family members there. He has. You know, it was a very, very tight team that has stood the test of time as well, and I think I'd be remiss if I didn't call out the success he had building that team 100%.
Speaker 1:Absolutely Well. These are such great points and you know, not only did he get such a great job talking about his business and his leadership, and you know just a few words that you all have talked about. I just want to remind our viewers again we talked about that he's a learner. Yeah, Always a learner. Yeah, Always Curious. Yeah, curious. Exactly that's it. I think great leaders have to be curious. Yeah, For Cameron Smith to land in Fort smith, arkansas he come to northwest arkansas way back when it was not what it is today and it was great then.
Speaker 1:It's greater now yeah and uh, but for him to not know a thing about the business, and I think that's a great point. I hope our viewers need to understand that and understand that. You know it's your career. He was in a career he changed and you helped him with that, wayne, because he was curious, he learned every day and he connected with people.
Speaker 1:You know, I love what you said about him checking in. You know he checked in with a lot of us. You didn't know how many he checked in every day. Know he checked in with a lot of us. You didn't know how many he checked in every day, but he checked in with a lot of us. I know he checked in with me from time to time and you know, and and it was so helpful to me because because I, you know, I maybe I'm having a rough time and he realized I may be having a rough time he thought about that's why he checked in. Yeah, you know, and I would love to see his check-in list. I'm sure it's lying you know I mean, can you imagine?
Speaker 1:you said you and he was a change maker. Yeah, you know, each of you are and, and, and and. You know, eric, I work, get to work closely with you and I know that you're a changemaker. You see something, you change it, you work on it, you change it. That's hard work. You're pushing upstream, doing that and doing that. He was very involved in the community. There's things that you all, that we know, so talk about some of the things you did in the community that we know about.
Speaker 3:Yeah, in the community that we know about. Yeah, I mean, to me that's one of the more impactful things that I learned from Cameron was how significant it is to give back. You know, I mean I think that we all fundamentally are taught or innately have that feeling like we know to contribute and give back to society and culture and community and family. But I didn't realize, like, how a significant it was and then be how much actionable work that it took to do that Right. And so, like I remember he would, you know, he would coach me in, like where you know how I would go about it. You know, I would watch and see what he was participating in, which was a plethora of things you know before that it's like just do one thing, right Is what? Maybe a lot of folks would say, just do one thing and go deep with it. But he had a different mentality. It was kind of go deep with a lot of things and that was encouraging for me because I, I mean, mean I knew that I could like that someone else was doing it. I can definitely do that. It's what I want to do. Right is to have a little bit of a broader, you know, a broader impact and and and watching him do that, and then how he was participating in it, how much he cared, and then literally about every conversation that I'd ever have with him, the topic of community philanthropy was always present.
Speaker 3:It was he was at every single event, like, and he drove the participation in events. He would call you and ask you know, if he invited you to an event, he, like you're, you're not getting away with it. If you said, yeah, I can be there, like you're, you're gonna show up because he's gonna make sure you're coming, and so like a lot of these things, like when you're trying to you up because he's going to make sure you're coming, and so like a lot of these things, like when you're trying to, you know, to have an in-person event at some of these types of charitable events. It's really important for the charity that a lot of people show up. That's so significant. That's a way to get back.
Speaker 3:But Cameron had a table of eight. You can guarantee you his table was never sitting empty. You know because he was checking in. But you can guarantee you his table was never sitting empty. You know because he was checking in. But he knew it meant so much to the charity. He also knew it meant a lot to those individuals If you can get them there and sit down and participate. I mean that was a big deal, yeah, wes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, maybe I'll just call out one, you know, because Eric's involved in it too. But you know, from the very beginning I was involved, even before I moved here, with the Cancer Challenge. It was called the Phillips Classic and then it became the Cancer Challenge and I became the chairman of that. You got really involved. I was deeply involved in the organization for years and years. And, cameron, it's one of those things, like you said, eric, he said you know, I want to get involved in that. And it became personal because he had, you know, last 10 years he dealt with with cancer and and I guess the reason I wanted to bring up cancer challenges he got involved. But he didn't just get involved, he, he got involved both personally. He shared personal things that not many people are willing to share, and he gave his time and he gave his money and he gave his attention and support. So cancer challenges another single example of many where he went deep for both, you know, his own contribution to the community but also his personal interest.
Speaker 1:All right, I appreciate it. You know it's wonderful to talk about Cameron and his career, his legacy, his impact. He has had all of us in our community. We're better today in Memphis, arkansas and beyond because of Cameron Smith Great question about it? Yeah, and we're all three better and everyone has. He touched their lives. He touched are better today because of that. What a great leader. You know. As you were both talking, I was thinking about the leader that had the opportunity to work with is Sam Walton, and Sam would many times growing. I grew up at Walmart but you know some of the things that Sam taught us. Cameron also taught us. You know that's what great leaders do. Now Cameron is also along with Cameron. You both are founders of Doing Business in Bentonville.
Speaker 3:Thank you.
Speaker 1:Okay, thank you very much. It's awesome, thank you.
Speaker 3:Okay.
Speaker 1:Thank you very much. Right, it's awesome we're here today because of your and Cameron's vision.
Speaker 2:And the coffee that.
Speaker 1:Eric and I have. Yeah, that's right. So let's do this. Let's talk about doing business in Bentonville and talk about you know, and you have such a great story. And let me just say right up front how grateful and honored I am to be part of doing business in Bentonville, and, wayne, you had a lot to do with that, so thank you, you're welcome. I'm humbled by that. And so let's talk about the early beginnings and why, because I think it's very important people understand the history a bit of doing business in Bentonville. Then, eric, let's talk about the future, okay, okay. So, wayne, give us a bit about that.
Speaker 2:Well, I'll bounce around just a little bit about DBB because it's such a fun topic and hopefully I hit the right highlights. If you want me to dig into something else, let me know. I do remember that Cameron and a gentleman named Jim Shankle and I three totally diverse backgrounds. It just had nothing in common which made it so perfect. Jim still lives in Fayetteville. He's a good friend, and Jim came in the background of Club Corp, you know like organization membership, that sort of thing. He had a friendship with Cameron before I did. Cameron actually introduced me to Jim. You know what Cameron did, you know what I do. We had this idea that was community-based, based like how can we be a resource to the supplier community? That was foundational. What it was about. We um, actually all um. It didn't have a major profit motive but we hoped we didn't lose a lot of money that was our that's number one.
Speaker 2:That was our number one goal was to not lose a lot of money. Um, so we made uh small and we kind of started the company and you know we had a premise and it was built on a few, you know, ideas from Jim. My role was and I'll talk a little more about the supplier steering committee was more content, what we would talk about. And then Cameron, as Eric and I have talked, his job was his Rolodex.
Speaker 2:His was a little better than mine. Get people to see, get them to show up. It was amazing. Yeah, how do you, how do you fill a room? But you know we and this is Cameron, this says a lot about what you were just talking about, but it's a point that can't be missed.
Speaker 2:Cameron for years pushed that we actually make it a nonprofit organization because we honestly did not have a profit motive. That wasn't our motive. We never did it because it was going to cost more to set up a 511C and manage it than it was just to manage the dadgum business. So we chose not to. But every few years he would bring it up again. You know, like, do you think we ought to be nonprofit? And I said we kind of are, I'm just teasing we, we did, we did just fine.
Speaker 2:But the secret sauce to the to making the mission successful and again a mission was pretty straightforward. You know, we, we wanted to be a um, an advocate, uh. We wanted to be, uh, a resource for the suppliers community. We wanted them to. Uh, we had three things. So if, if, if, if someone left that room with new information, a new phone number, a new contact, something they could go back to their office and be and do something different.
Speaker 2:That day we felt successful because our whole idea was to be different and that we were not going to be philosophical, we were not going to be long term strategic. That wasn't our role. There were plenty of companies that could do that. What we wanted to be was action oriented. There are plenty of companies that could do that. What we wanted to be was action oriented. And so to bring that to life, I want to paint a picture for a second. Through my friends and Cameron's friends, we had key leaders from all the business teams, or a number of the business teams, like 10 or 15, pretty much at all times. So we had a steering committee and what that steering committee would do. We met regularly and we just whiteboarded all the topics that were currently important.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And then what we did is really beat them up and said, okay, yeah, that's right, they're all important, but what's the most important? And then we would stack rank them and then every time we would meet, do we need to change the stack ranking? What's important now? What just happened, what's in the news? What's actionable? Once we could identify what's the most important, relevant and current, we would make that a topic or headline for our next Doing Business.
Speaker 2:In Bentonville meeting, which were all in person. At the time, we'd have six to seven. A few years we had more, but we had about seven or so per year, usually 100. I mean, we've had as many as 300. But we typically had 100, 150 people in the in the room. But what made it work was one the content. So it was relevant, it was important, it was action oriented. But then we, through our contacts, we'd go to Walmart and say who, who could speak to us about that, or Sam's Club, talk to us like you, be the voice of reason in the room that says here's why this is important. Then we would try to get a subject matter expert or a supplier or somebody that was actively working on that initiative. So what we would have is a real discussion from the customer here's why it's important A real discussion from someone that's trying to make it better to, you know, actually do some good work and resolving that challenge.
Speaker 2:And the dialogue was incredible. And then your audience, every single person there, was going like, ok, I'm listening to this. And then they're going back to their office and saying here's what I heard today. We're going to do this, we're going to do that, we're going to call, we're going to you know, we're going to take some action. That's what DBB was and that's why for so many years it continued. It had great momentum. For so many years it continued, it had great momentum.
Speaker 2:People were then, as that flywheel continued and as that snowball rolled and got bigger, then we were getting the inbound of I wish you guys would talk about this, or here's a great topic. So we got topics and then the supplier steering committee would still then guide is that what we're going to talk about or not? And so if you balanced, if you looked in the early days and maybe the first 10, 15 years of DBB, what were the good meetings and what were the just so-so meetings? The so-so meetings was man, that was really interesting and that was a great presentation, but you knew at the end they weren't going back back. They didn't have a new phone number or contact. They didn't go back to their team to say, look what, I picked up something today. Yeah, so what we?
Speaker 2:what we really tried to focus on was the difference between great information or actionable information and and um, that was, that was an amazing thing, it was an amazing time and, uh, andy, you were part of that, so thank you very much oh well, thank you.
Speaker 1:It was great job on that. That's great. Now, eric, as we think about the future, yeah okay, so coven happened it's a date after COVID.
Speaker 1:A lot of things changed, yeah, and we, we had to stop. Stop doing the things live. And I remember one day Eric called me up and touch space and he said, hey, can we have coffee? We did, and he said we sat at a Starbucks and Eric said the future, andy, is a podcast. That's what you said, yeah, and I looked at you like what? And so your vision and you were able to convince Wayne and others for you to take doing business in Bentonville and recreate it, reimagine it. And the point I want our viewers to really understand here is I looked from a far end and being involved doing business in Bentonville and then COVID happened. But what you did as an entrepreneur and as a leader, you're able to take something and reimagine it. Reimagine is a strong vision of the future and most things have to be reimagined. At times you did that. Talk about why you did that with doing business. What was your energy? What was your motive? What was your, you know, behind reimagining doing business in Bentonville.
Speaker 3:Yeah, you're going to have to watch my time because I'll get on the soapbox and I'll lose track of reality.
Speaker 3:But I mean in all honesty, like I think there's a, there's a few things the the community, starting at the root of the community, right, the value that you were talking about giving to the community so that we know where we're going, what we're doing, what kind of actions we can take. You know, that is so imperative in my perspective, right, especially as there's a few things that are macro, that are that have changed on us, right? Number one was Walmart retail. Let's go beyond Walmart and just go to retail. Retail has gone through a revolution because of digital internet, omni-channel, right, and it's just a confusing ball of wax, like I don't think anybody has a true answer for it, but our mission is to demystify and advance omni-channel retail, and so that word omnichannel retail to me has a significant meaning. It's almost like when brick and mortar started having self-checkout or when you have the barcode, stuff like that that has global impact forevermore. The fact that a customer is going to buy based upon the convenience in that measurement of time is just as valuable as their money is significant, and I'm working in the community and the industry and with Walmart suppliers over the last decade. You know all the conversations a lot of folks are very. They have to be kind of reactive, you know, as to what's going on, that we need something to be proactive, like we need to to really start speaking forth like these changes, making sure that everybody really is trying to understand this. Like, how do you funnel down everything that's happening in omni-channel retail and try to crystallize that into some sort of meaningful message? So there's that.
Speaker 3:And then I think that also the other great impact, the other big pillar was, is just how we consume content, how we get to engage with information, has drastically changed. I mean, that has many reasons why. I mean smartphones were probably the biggest Genesis of that. You know that predates COVID COVID. You know what I've witnessed and experienced was it just really allowed people to feel very comfortable about being isolated and not having a desire or a reason to engage with other human beings, which was, you know, not a really great experience. I think that anybody can really say that's too terribly positive, you know, but we lost that in a lot of ways. It was impacted Right and I mean I think everybody, even from nonprofit events to you know games and everything.
Speaker 3:It took a while to recover, but all COVID did was just kind of further amplified the fact that the smartphone and the way we engage with content is extremely diversified. The smartphone and the way we engage with content is extremely diversified, and so we needed a way to get information out and make it just like an omnichannel retail, extremely convenient for people to access, which is different than just having a in-person event. It's just the consumer behavior has changed on on how they consume that, and so you know, when we were talking I mean, like I've just been a big fan of video I think video is the dominant asset. Still, I think it has at least another 10 years, you know, of being a dominant asset. I don't think that it's even hit its top point right now. So video comes audio, you know, comes written content, comes a lot of ways you can diversify and scale that content. And so when we you know, when we got DBB and we changed the trajectory, like we really paused on the in-person events so we could focus on how do we build a foundation based upon video-based content that can scale into written content, scale down to e-newsletters, scale down to social media snippets, and then how do we assimilate and curate all this information that's going on about omni-channel retail right, which is going across the globe and be able to take that and funnel it down to where it's digestible and there's a dependable resource on a daily basis, real-time basis, that the supplier community, whether it's here in Northwest Arkansas which, by the way, the other impact is is that doing business in Bentonville is not just for people that live in 30 minutes in the Bentonville area, it's global. We're in a hundred. You know folks are watching our content or listening to it or consuming content across a hundred countries, like you were just talking about.
Speaker 3:Folks come here Like this is the epicenter of Omni channel retail.
Speaker 3:That's my perspective and my opinion and I want to make sure, I want to have a contributing part in ensuring that we continue to lead that charge, because it's not a, it's not a certain scenario and there's a lot of threat to it that I don't think that we really gauge. You know, too much. I mean when we see other retailer boxes on our doorstep because that was more convenient. That's a threat and I think that my you know kind of going back to Cameron, going back to folks like Wayne and you, andy, the contributions that you've built before, that I could step on and stand on your shoulders and build a business and have a good life. You know, because of what y'all have done, I want to do the same for the future, in the sense of where you know, to protect and to accelerate and advance. What this omni-channel retail means for us is significant, and all that in that future of it. The platform that we have now just allows us to have greater tentacles, both geographically and timely.
Speaker 1:You know, that's well said. You know one of the things that, when I listen to you, one of the things I envision now is that when I look at something, I look at how to change it. You've created that into me when we talk, because it is because you know, sam Walton taught us at Walmart change is the most consistent thing. You live that every day and you drive to that every day, and that's the exciting thing about Omnichannel it's changing every day. And you, you drive to that every day and that's the exciting thing about omni-channel it's changing every day. And what doing business bill, as as our mission is that you talked about, we're to de-emphasize, de-mystify, uh, on the channel, yeah, in other words, let's make it clear, clear for you, let's help you navigate through that, and the thing that we do is that we're continually bringing subject matter experts here in this, in this room, and we're talking about how to get, how is it going to change and what you, how you have to change with it. Yeah, or you get left behind quickly.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and it's.
Speaker 3:And I think that you know, omnichannel is so much bigger than I think that that I can really grasp in a way Right, and I think that I can really grasp in a way, and I think that anybody can.
Speaker 3:I mean a challenge to say, you know, even the folks that are leading Omnichannel effort, like it is, continuous complexities and even the most minute areas that have been figured out for a few decades are now being impacted and affected. Ai just being in the last couple of years, right as far as it's, I mean that is completely impacting all the different pieces, and so that demystification is an ideal state of where our mission is and our purpose is to do that, because if we do not have this resource, there is no resource, there is no central place for SC. You know SCJ's team to go read and digest this on a regular basis just to stay ahead and present as to what, like things get requested and demanded to the supplier teams and things get demanded to Walmart associates, things get demanded to the agencies and supported third parties and no one really knows why. But if you can see the complexities of Omni channel, you'll start to understand and that helps you to participate and to your point, to activate and go with change.
Speaker 1:I think, as I think that's one last thing, I would really say that what you I know what you your mission is is too is that we are a trusted source. You talk about that a lot. You talked to me about that a lot, and I would tell you, to all of our guests that are listening, viewing today, that you can go to our website doing business in Bentonville and you can look at our website. It's full of information. There's every video, there's 100 videos almost on there now and but there's tons of written information every day, every week. That's current. That the back to what wayne talked about how important it is being current and relative and actionable. It's there on the website. But it's a trusted source. You were were adamant to this team how important that was. Yeah.
Speaker 3:You know, here's the reality. The culture and community that our area has has been built upon trust and credibility and genuine, real people. People, you know, sam Walton, all the execs, all you know, all the Walmart leadership, the supplier community and, wayne, like yourself, genuine, you know, a genuine effort to advance what we're doing here. You, andy, you know, and then obviously, cameron Smith, you know that in in, what I am, in my heart, trying to accomplish is to continue to pass that genuine trustworthiness, which trusting starts from the genuine authenticity of whoever is pushing out To create a place where people can depend on that. This is not really biased or slanted, and there's not another motive other than to simply let's have a centralized place that we can all communicate and work together at. That's it.
Speaker 1:Gentlemen, what a conversation. Wow, it's been so wonderful sitting here remembering our great friend and the impact he's had on so much, and then talking about the future. It's been wonderful.
Speaker 1:As we wrap it up, a final thought from each of you about today's conversation. My thought I'll start okay, um, my thought is I, as I listen to both of you today, um, how humbled and grateful I am to be able to, to to be around people like you and Cameron Smith, and you know, what Cameron taught us is the things that you already shared. You know, great leaders teach us and impact us and change us for the better, and Cameron did that in so many ways. And so final thoughts, wayne, then Eric, and then we'll wrap it up.
Speaker 2:Well, sure, my final thought would be Eric, I couldn't be happier and I know I'm speaking for Cameron as well to pass the DBB bidon to you. What we were doing by the hundreds, hundreds, you're doing by the thousands, and, uh, I just admire what you're doing, both in the community and your other businesses, but also the way, uh, you've taken and um and building upon what dbb can be, and I, I just appreciate your friendship.
Speaker 3:Thank you, wayne. That means a lot to me. I mean, you know, when we talked about me taking or getting DBB for lack of better terms it was a no-brainer, it wasn't even really too much of a calculation. I mean I was in because of you, because of Jim, because of Cameron, because of Andy, I mean the folks that have like it's that it would take me decades to build the credibility and trust that you guys have already built, and so that value, like that, it's just like having a really great brand, right, a really great brand in the retail world. But I mean being able to take that. And then then, when you say that to me, wayne, just now, like my sense is high responsibility. You know, and and you know I hope that I can, I can do my part to continue it on and that's yeah, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2:Andy, thanks for your leadership.
Speaker 3:Yeah, thank you.
Speaker 1:Wayne Callahan. Thank you, eric Howard, thank you, and to all of our guests and viewers, thank you very much. Continue to share about doing business in Bentonville. We appreciate so much. We're humble because of your viewership. And continue to write me on LinkedIn, andy Wilson. Give me your comments, suggestions. I will answer you back. So again, gentlemen, a great time together, thank you. Thank you everyone. Goodbye.