We Never Intended to Start this Podcast

So here it is—the very first episode of ROS Goss. 

Mandy Dwight and Catherine O'Connor of Dwight & Company pull back the curtain on why they launched a podcast—despite never planning to. Tune in as they share the real story behind ROS Goss, what you can expect from future episodes, and why the world of robotics and automation has more to talk about than ever.

Transcript

Speaker 00 0:00

Hey, everyone. I'm Mandy Dwight, founder and CEO of Dwight & Company. We're a boutique sales and marketing agency that specializes in automation robotics. And now I'm the host of this podcast, which is called ROS Goss. So welcome and thanks for joining. This is the very first episode. You know, Dwight and Company was interesting because I never thought that I'd start a company, let alone a podcast, but we'll get to all that soon. I thought that, well, this is my colleague, Catherine O'Connor. And you probably know Catherine. Catherine is our marketing guru. You've probably worked with her. But lucky Catherine, she's also the director of this new program, which is ROS Goss. So Catherine, I do have something for you, particularly relevant to your new role. So go ahead and show everyone what that is. I started on it already. Okay. Yeah, so feel free to fill that out as you need for the episodes. But this is our very first episode. I thought Catherine should have something like this. So just to really kick us off. Oh, it's so fun. So, you know, Catherine had the idea that we should do this first episode, which, you know, is a little bit of the who, what, why, when, where, how of ROS Goss and what you can expect coming up. So you can thank Catherine for this episode. It was all her idea. But first of all, you know, I thought that we'd talk a little bit about the who and particularly like who I am. So Mandy Dwight, you probably know me. I've been in the robotics industry for probably more time than I could have imagined. care to admit publicly. But I'm a sales and marketing startup veteran. Specifically, I spent most of my time with robotic startups. I've worked at some companies that you probably know. Some of them exist still. Some of them do not. But, you know, along the way, I've learned a lot of different things. You know, my career story is really non-conventional. I spent most of my time, my early days, as an educator. And I learned very quickly that you know students learn best when they enjoy what they're learning about, use technology and things like that. And one of the things that I used in a STEAM classroom was robotics. So I really took my love of everything robots from that and really moved that into what was a career pivot, really, and became sales. So started out my very first sales job. I was selling robots to university labs, to commercial R&D labs, and even to K to 12 universities. And Going through that, I would be meeting with really, really smart, brilliant people that were solving all of these really interesting challenges with robotics. And I would say, well, why is this important? And they would say, you know, Mandy, what we're working on in this lab is going to change supply chain forever. You know, I would hear things like that every single day. This will change autonomous driving forever. This will change all of that. And with that said, I decided to go more into, you Thank you. With that said, most of what I've done has always centered so much on building relationships and really educating people. So that has always been my philosophy. It's not about sales for, you know, very transactional. It's about building the relationships with clients and having a great customer success plan. So, you know... One of the things that was really interesting about my career in fall of 2023, you know, I was working for a startup and I got kind of the... The urge or the push, I should say, I got laid off. So I decided that I would start a company called Dwight and Company. And, you know, we really are serving the automation and robotics community with sales and marketing service. So it was kind of like the push that I needed to start this company and get going. The interesting thing about it is I really never intended to do that. And I never intended to really build it out to be the team that we are today, which is, you serving from very large integrators to very small stealth startups with their sales and marketing need. So with that said, we've been doing that for a while. We're different because there's a lot of people that know sales and marketing. There's a lot of people that know automation. There's not a lot of people that know all of those things together. So we are really the blend of that. We bring that expertise to the companies that we work with. But this is sounding like a sales pitch. So I'm going to stop this right now. And I'm going to go into really, you know, why we're doing ROS Goss. So ROS Goss kind of is something that fell into fell into our lap. So, you know, we have a friend that sat with us and said, you know what, Mandy? Um, you know, you should start this podcast and I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna tell you who it is now. He's going to be a guest on a later episode. So I'm not, I'm not gonna, you know, let, let that secret out yet, but you know, he really pushed us to, to start this podcast. And so. If you love this podcast or if you hate this podcast, you have this person to thank when you see him and tell you who that is. We'll share the story. That is actually a story. So we'll save that for episode five or six or whatever episode he's going to be on. So And then coming up with the name, like the name ROS Goss. So that was kind of an interesting story. Like ROS, you guys, I don't have to tell you, ROS, as you know, means robot operating system. I feel like I spent every day of my early career in robotics saying that word multiple times an hour because that was the platform that every single robotic system was really, really built on and continues to be. It's a really important system. We have a lot, the robotics community has a lot to thank to ROS, so, so that was kind of, you know, where that came from. Plus some of the best events I've ever been to have been ROS Con events. So now I'll just, I'll just leave that there. Um, so with that said, I took that, um, that early nostalgia that I had for, for ROS and, you know, We joke around all the time about robot gossip in the industry, and we just mesh that together with gossip. But I absolutely assure you this is a very safe podcast. We're not going to have any spicy gossip or anything like that. It really will be true thought leadership and insightful pieces that you'll get to see. But, you know, here's the thing. Why are we doing this? So, like I said, I never... thought that I would start a company. And certainly, I never thought that I'd start a podcast. And, you know, when I got laid off in fall of 2023, you know, it was something that was very difficult for me. You know, because I, you know, I loved my job, all those things, right. But what I learned very quickly in this industry is the people that rallied around me, And the connections that are lifelong friends in this industry, how they just came together and supported me. And I see that all the time in this industry. People come together. People care about each other. People have great stories to tell. And I think a lot of those stories, we talk about robotics. We talk about automation. We talk about automating things. But it's a very human industry. And this is a podcast that's really about telling some of those very human stories. So we're going to cover thought leadership. We're going to cover innovation. We're going to talk about mentorship, building relationships, the importance of customer success. Some of those things that we don't often sit and talk about. And it's my goal to bring some of the most inspiring people to sit with us and have a conversation that is very human about a very robotic industry. So we have some amazing people lined up. And with that said, that's a little bit about the podcast. And Catie said to me, well, Mandy, you can't just get on to the podcast and just talk and talk and talk, because I promise you this is probably one of the last episodes that I'll be talking this much. I'll be asking the questions. But Catie said, Mandy, I'm going to ask you a couple of questions. That way the audience can get to know you a little bit so that you know I have no idea what these questions are. So I... I'm slightly scared to hear what Catie's gonna say, but here we go. Here was the thought behind it. So when I first started working with Mandy, the first event that she brought me to was Automate of last year. Oh yeah. And I quickly realized that almost everyone in the industry knows Mandy. I working with her every day. We talk on the weekends. I see a different side to her. And I thought that this would be a great opportunity to shed some more light on who you are as a person. You're amazing, cool, awesome, all these things. And maybe these questions will bring it out. Not so sure. But oh, I think I'm even more scared. But let's hear that. Let's hear them. All right. So starting it off, question number one, what is one thing you wish more people knew about you? Oh, wow. That's a really tough question. I mean, I talk all the time, so I think people know a lot about me. People are like, I wish that she would just be quiet. You know, one thing that is really interesting about me is I'm an introvert. I know that sounds really funny, but I'm an extrovert because I am in sales. But, you know, In my free time, I'm very much an introvert and I will relax and I will find that time to recharge and do those, you know, and I'll touch on it in a little bit. Like the podcast is really, it pushes me outside my comfort zone and I'll get to that in a couple of minutes. One of the company mottos is you can't pour from an empty cup. So I encourage, yeah. You know, rest days, all those things. Yeah. Catie's good balance, right? Catie will say that to me all the time. And that is a company motto because Catie brings that expertise to the table to be able to say when is when. You love a spa day. Question two. Best concert you've ever been to. Oh, wow. Best concert I've ever been to. Let me guess. Was it Jack White for our company outing? Oh, we did. We went to see Jack White for our company. That was really good, actually. So, yeah. So, and Catie said, I said, Catie, for our company outing, our quarter three outing, would you like to, was it quarter three? No, quarter one. Quarter one. It was quarter one of this year. I said, do you want to go see Jack White? And she said, yes, I've heard of him. And I said, ah. So, we went down to a small venue, Roadrunner in... In Boston here, and we had great seats. Yeah, I've seen Jack White a couple times, though, but that was a good one. I think I know one song. Best concert I've been to in a long time. I had a great time. There's some good company outings here. So was that your answer, or do you have a better concert? Madonna. Oh, yeah, I did say Madonna, but girl, do not go on stage at 10.30 when my bedtime is 10.45. So that's all I have to say. All right, next one. What's one word your friend would use to describe you? Wow. One word. These are these are you should have given these to me before. One. Reliable. Oh, good one. I think reliable. You know what I mean? Like, I feel like, you know, one of my things that I say all the time is you have to make choices. deposits before you make withdrawals and I approach a friendship I approach both sales and friendships that way right you know like kind of like you need to always be there when somebody doesn't need you but especially be there when they do so I think that's important yeah who has had the biggest impact on your career wow that's a lot of people um That's a lot of people. That should be an episode. That's an episode. Maybe we'll have them all as callers. But I've had some really important people that have championed me in different ways. And it's not just one person. There's been so many people that have really supported me. Yeah, I would love to hear that story. And then finally, pick a theme song to your life right now. Is it under pressure? But not for this podcast episode. It might be like that one for today. It'll change by six o'clock. It'll be it'll be something else. But yeah, it's it's it's midday here. Yeah. So there are my questions. Oh, wow. OK. I hope that people get to learn a bit more about you throughout this. Well, you know, I heard Katie came with some questions and I said, well, you know, if Catie is coming with some questions, I'm going to come with some questions. And now I feel a I feel like I was nicer to you with my question. So I hope... Okay. So I have four questions for you. Okay. And one is like a statement and I need to hear more about this story. So, you know, you've really immersed yourself in the past couple of years since we've been working together. You've really immersed yourself in all things automation. Yeah. What is the thing that has surprised you the most about this industry?

Unknown 14:26

Yeah.

Speaker 00 14:28

just how welcoming this community is. Yeah, I'd agree. I was so shocked to be welcomed the way that I was to, you know, different colleagues of ours, to people in the industry, from different companies that we don't even work with, but just how nice and supportive people are. And that's not something that I saw, you know, working with A consumer product beforehand, that's not something I was ever exposed to. But, you know, I've had so much fun going to shows and seeing people and just continuing to build those relationships. It's, you know, the technology is awesome. And I learn something new every single day, right, in this industry. But I really think that the people make it. And that's why I'm so excited for this podcast, because we can start, you know... I think humanizing maybe is a good word for it. But, you know, show the faces behind the products and, you know, bring that to light. Yeah. I mean, it's a very like that's one thing that, you know, when I mentor salespeople, like it's a very like in in-person industry and always take advantage of all these like networking events. But in our industry, I mean, we have groups like like A3, MHI, PMMI, you know, like really great groups. That, you know, you just, you know, and I remember being so scared to go to those when I was early in my career and kind of like, okay, Mandy, you're going to go down and do networking now. And, and now it's like, you know, so fun to get out and see your industry colleagues. Yeah. Like just really accepting. And I was scared. And I thank Mandy for dragging me out of that hotel room. Yes. Yeah. You get down there. You have to say that you're a first timer. Put it on your badge. Oh, I ordered that badge for you. You were not going to do that. So I ordered that. I ordered that. First timer. Okay. So. The best advice you've ever, you've been given so far in your career. And it's okay if it's not from me. Like I will, it's okay if it's from somebody else. You know, I don't know if this is career advice. I think this is, there's a crossover between career and life. But I feel like a good motto that I have that I've heard from, I forget who it was, but it stuck with me was let go or be dragged. I like that a lot. And I think, you know, you have to know when to let go and find something else, like whether it's in your personal life or with work. If you know something's not going the right way, just let it go. Everything will always work out. Yeah. Wow, that is good. That's really good. I should find the person who said that. Yeah, we'll have them on the podcast. And then, so if you could have dinner with anyone, living or deceased... Who would it be? Oh man, I don't know. I don't know. This is an episode five question. I can't think on this. Yeah, we can come back to it. What would you have for dinner? Oh, that's a good question. Probably Mexican. Okay, so you've got half of the question answered. That was the second. So we'll pause on that one. And then... This one, this is a loaded question. I know the answer, but I want you all to hear this. So do you have any pets? And if so, I need to hear everything about her. I do have a pet. Her name is Harley. She is 140 pound Great Dane. Yeah. Great Dane Massif. And she is my soul dog. She is my true companion. I have never felt love the way that I look at her. And she is just... so funny I rescued her about a year ago and I can't imagine life without her oh I love that if you hang around me you'll see pictures of her you'll see slob on my clothes probably oh I love that she's fantastic yeah all right so you're off the hook like you can come back to that other question but I didn't think on it I yeah I mean yeah text me later um and then so you know So now you know a little bit about us. So what to expect in the coming episodes of ROS Goss. Over the years, I've really set some professional goals for myself. And one thing is to surround myself with the most interesting and smartest people in the room with hopes that I grow every single day professionally. So I have the goal to sit down with people that the conversations will be enriching, they'll be interesting, and I'll grow. And I hope that everyone watching and listening can do the same. And then the other thing is, this is really pushing me outside my comfort zone. I talked a And it's funny Catie asked that question because I didn't know what how to answer that at first but that that's like a secret of mine right so this podcast 100% pushes me outside my comfort zone and with that said you should probably do something that scares you every now and then just to always be growing and that's what we're going to do here so I've created this podcast full of some of the most interesting people in this industry we'll talk about the stories that we don't often talk about. And, you know, hopefully we'll, we'll have some, some fun times along the way. We have a fantastic director here. We'll be streaming on the, oh, there it is. It's close it. Well, we're not done yet. I haven't done that. And I'm told that I have to always do the sponsor at the end. So that's going to be a little bit of growth for me trying to remember to do that. So, you know, we'll be streaming on all the major platforms, you know, so please don't forget to, you know, tune into that and follow that. If you'd like more information about us, Dwight and Company you know sales and marketing for automation innovators we can be found at www.dwightco.com or you can contact us at hello at dwightco.com we also have a web page rosgoss.com where you'll find all of the different episodes and that's it so director I think we should cut it for this episode yep music