Welcome back to the Christianity and Business Podcast, an initiative of the RGW Dunham College of Business at Houston Baptist University. I'm your host, Darren Shear, and this is the show that helps Christian business leaders to integrate biblical values into business. On this episode, we're joined by a good friend of HBU, Jeff Applegate. Jeff founded Texas Injection Molding in 2013 and serves as chief executive officer. Texas Injection Molding provides plastic injection molding services to many industries in the South Central United States. Jeff was the co-founder of the Greater Houston Manufacturing Association and serves on the advisory boards of the University of Houston College of Industrial Engineering and Houston Community College Advanced Manufacturing Center. He's the author of the book Good to Great Families. Jeff is married to Julie and they have three grown children. And one of the things that we have in common, actually, as we were uh discussing here, um sadly, both of our fathers just passed away of COVID. And don't mean to mention that as a as a downer to anybody, but I think probably many of you can relate to that right now. Um, whether you've lost a loved one uh to this pandemic or or you know somebody who's going through it, um, it's it's uh it seems like it's it's affecting more and more of us um in more personal ways. And um I know Jeff and I can certainly uh relate to that, uh, what you're going through. And just wanted to encourage you and um and just pray God's comfort over anyone who is um experiencing that loss uh of of a loved one right now. Um just know that God is with you. And and as Jeff was saying earlier, that's what the season of of uh Emmanuel means, God with us. That's what Christmas is all about. And um, and so um without further ado, let's um let's head on into the interview. Jeff, welcome to the Christianity and business podcast.
SPEAKER_02Thank you for having me, Darren.
SPEAKER_01All right, so we're gonna talk about um what's the culture of your of your company? That's really gonna be the focus of this this discussion. And and you said uh I I read that you said the culture at Texas Injection Molding takes as its model the biblical character of Boaz, the grandfather of King David. What do you mean by that?
SPEAKER_02Well, it's something that I kind of worked into. Um I think over the years I've tried to figure out how to um live out my personal faith and my personal convictions in the right way within the workplace. And um culture was about that. And it was um, you know, I I used to always say is if I can get my people to genuinely respect each other and care for each other, everything else will take care of itself. And that was uh kind of the the direction that I was going, but I never really had a biblical uh uh picture of a business person that could illustrate it. And then one day I just stumbled on on the story in Ruth pumped Boaz, and uh it says uh Boaz is out in the fields, and it says, And now behold, Boaz Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, May the Lord be with you. And they said to him, May the Lord bless you. And that little verse, you know, uh I think I I stopped and paused. Boaz, he was a business guy, you know. He was uh at the time he he was a wealthy uh landowner, had uh uh people working in his fields, but that little verse said so much about Boaz and his character and the culture that he had he had uh developed in his um with within his farm and his community, and and that became kind of an illustration for me uh in the business.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And so what was it about his character? Uh and and you maybe you could start with the the aspect of that verse, may the Lord be with you. And that's how Boses uh Boaz greeted these these reapers. Um, what does that mean for your business?
SPEAKER_02Well, I think the same thing, you know, we uh when he said when he says, May the Lord be with you, um he he didn't he he he he was expressing his faith to these people that he worked work for him and he and he cared for them. Um he was out in the fields, he was walking amongst the people. Um he had a it shows to me that he had a relationship with them, especially in their response. Um, when they respond and say, May the Lord bless you. By him saying, May the Lord be with you, he he is he is wishing his his blessing on them, he is communicating where his faith is, that his faith, especially in the days where you're a farmer, you know, I mean you trust in God for rain and sun. Um, you value those workers, you have a relationship with those workers. And in turn, when you care for, genuinely care for those workers and respect those workers for the jobs that they're doing, they will care for you. They will care for your business, they'll take care of your crops, they'll take care of, in our case, they're gonna take care of you know the equipment, they'll take care of our customers, they'll they'll care for each other. So I think that that whole framework of of the attitude that he brings uh is um symbolic of the the culture that he had, and it's something that I look to say, how can I build a business that um and be the Boaz in my business?
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And if I remember correctly, there was uh a great famine in the land at that time, and and Boaz was, I mean, he was the in a lot of ways providing redemption. I mean, just providing a source of of food, you know. Interesting. Here we are at Christmas time, thinking a lot about Bethlehem, and which literally means the house of bread. And so in a in a time of famine, people were coming to Boaz, and and he was not only able to provide uh source of revenue for himself, but provide um a source of work and and income for these for these workers, which is so powerful, right?
SPEAKER_02It is, and I I think that as business owners, that that's a a great a great privilege that we have for this little brief time on earth. Uh we have um been given uh some charge over uh some of God's resources, and we've given some charge over some of the people. I in my company I have about a hundred employees, so there's a hundred families that um that I have the privilege to be able to uh provide a place of of uh of work for them where they can earn a paycheck, where they can grow in their careers, they can provide for their families. And it is a great, great privilege, I think, to and and great responsibility um to do that and to know that it's only for a time and that that we it is not not ours. It's not ours, but it is uh um it is God's that all the resources are his, and then we just get to be a steward of it for the brief time that we're um on this earth.
SPEAKER_01So Boaz greeted them with may the Lord be with you, and then his reapers replied, or his employees replied, May the Lord bless you. What's so powerful about that?
SPEAKER_02Well, I think that that just demonstrates the character and the culture that Boaz has had established, um, the relationship maybe that he had established with his employees, that that they would return the blessing and that they would um um want the Lord to bless him. And that that will um I think that's the culture that when I look at um my employees, it's my responsibility to put them in a position where they can prosper. Um when I uh when we we did, I'll give you an illustration, we did um our uh benefits for our employees, and when we did reviewed them at the end of the year, the the benefits administrator came in and said, um, you know, we provided this Teledoc service, and not a single employee uh was using the Teledoc service. And I and I shared with them, I said, you know, it's it, hey, it's our responsibility. Many of our employees have not had healthcare, have not had access to that. They don't know how to use it, they're not technology savvy, they're uh lower skilled workers. And I said, um, we have got to be the boaz to these folks. We have got to be um the one that helps them to be able to, you know, if we have to come in and show them how to use this and and and demonstrate it. We we and I want by doing that, we're showing that we care for them and by and building a relationship with them of trust because many cases in our situation uh where they haven't had healthcare, they don't trust the healthcare system. And so building trust so that they will use it and then they will understand that what we are doing is to try to you know we're trying to do things or offer things that are in their best interest for they and their families, um, and and and and build that spirit where they uh once they recognize that and we've built that uh within our our culture, uh, you know, there's that trust, that um uh that experience, that that relationship where um they will um, you know, we they're not just an employee, um, they are a part of the family, and that they're gonna, as Boaz, as as he goes out and says, May the Lord be with you, and they say in response that may the Lord bless you, um, because they know that um uh you know by their goodwill, they want to express that towards Boaz.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and it it made me think about um Abraham and and God's promise that I will bless those who bless you. And here are um these reapers are blessing as a descendant of Abraham. And so of course God is gonna is gonna bless them because they're obviously they have a heart to bless um one of God's people, and and and that just the evidence of God's blessing on uh a man or woman of God in the marketplace does become so evident, or or at least it should become evident if if we're truly, I mean, if we're saying things like, may the Lord be with you to our employees, they they start to get some sense of okay, so that's why that's why he or she does what they do and how they do it, and why they're always giving credit to God and things like that. They start uh and it's not just about proselytizing, but it's hey, you can you can pray with your employee, right? I mean, and you've got some stories about that.
SPEAKER_02I I do. Um as far as praying with my employees. Uh we've uh I think that's a privilege that that it's not something that I'm I'm going out and looking to pray for pray for them. I'll uh I'll uh it's a relationship that I've developed as Boaz uh developed a relationship in that I go out every day. As Boaz went out into the fields and he talks to his people, he was there, he was present. Um I'm out into the shop floor, the manufacturing floor, I try to see everybody, I try to look everybody in the eye, I try to be available to them. And um, and when there's an occasion when someone has a loss, uh I'll I can it's it's only natural for me to say, can I pray with you? And we will we'll pray pray there. They know I just finished a Christmas letter. In the end of the Christmas letter, I shared um of my loss of my father to COVID, and that during this Christmas season, that Emmanuel, God with us, that he has been with me and he has been my comforter, and that's how I've got through this, and that uh my hope for them in this Christmas season that they would also know him. And I could share that in a Christmas letter. When I write a I write a letter every quarter to my employees that say kind of how we did in the the prior year and and and or the prior quarter and what what do I expect for the coming quarter? And um each year I have a theme. Um this year happens to be building our story. Um we've had other themes like love one another. Uh we've had uh uh all in was our when we first when we the very first year when we we were when I literally was all in on uh on starting the business. But um uh having that theme, I usually have a verse. It's not that that supports that theme for the year. And so um I don't think as business leaders that we now I'm I'm also talking about a privately held company, as business leaders, we we don't have to hide from who we are. I mean, that's it's that's not there's no legal uh there's no laws that say that we can't be who we are, can't express that we can't discriminate based on our beliefs. And and and in my business, I want to invite, I uh you know, we we try to build it on a strategy of people, process, and technology. I want to hire the absolute best people that I can get. Um, I don't care what their uh their uh religion, their creed, their color. I I want the best qualified people that I can get. And then I want to give them uh develop great processes to make sure manufacture repeatable product, and then I want to give them the technology and tools. Um, so it's people processing technology, and then I try to wrap that people processing technology as a strategy. I wrap that in a culture where people genuinely respect each other, care for each other. When you can do that, that's why I say that's a secret sauce, that's the magic in the bottle. When you can have a culture where people genuinely care for each other, they want to show up, they will show up for their friends, they will work hard for their friends, they'll they'll come in at two in the morning when they need to and and because their friend needs them. And and when you can do that, um it's it's not only a fun place to come to work, but it's uh it's it's in the it's a competitive advantage advantage in the marketplace. It's unbeatable.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And you mentioned how you you like to go out and walk around on the on the factory floor and and just really be face to face with everybody. And and you also pointed out that that's what Boaz did. Um, was he was out, he could have just stayed in the house and let the servants do the work and make his mailbox money, you know, as his entrepreneurs fantasize about. But instead he was out in the fields uh with the workers. Can you just talk about the importance of of that and what that looks like for you?
SPEAKER_02Sure. I think in the secular world, they talk about it like management by walking around is uh made famous. But uh long before that, Boaz was out in the fields walking amongst his his uh employees. Uh he could have been, and later in verse six, it talks about and the servant in charge of the reapers answered. So there was a servant that was in charge of the reapers. It's not like he was their direct supervisor. Boaz owned the the farm. And he could have been up at his at his house sitting on the hill looking over the farm, but no, he chose to be out there walking amongst the people. Um, and I think that that discipline, you know, for me, I I enjoy it because uh um I enjoy the people, but I and I enjoy what we do. We're in the custom manufacturing business, where every day we're making 10 or 12 different products, and I enjoy seeing the products that we're making, seeing the problems, the challenges that people are facing, and seeing if I can help them. Um and uh that allows me to build relationships with them to um and to express my concern for them, uh, to hear their problems directly firsthand, and to have some influence into solving some of those problems. So I think that Boaz, by being in the fields, not only did he have the relationship, but he saw did they have the right tools to do their job? Um did they uh what you know what what other problems were they did they have either relationally that he could help solve or tools, or um, you know, how could he help them prosper and how could he help them be successful by being firsthand right there in the middle of them? And then I'm sure he went back and he let his supervisors do their job, but he he had that that that personal connection to the to his employees.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And I I think the uh the reapers may, I don't remember exactly, but were those separate from those who were coming in to pick up the gleanings um from the fields and the corners of the fields?
SPEAKER_02I think those were the people who are picking up the the the from the corners, the leftovers, after the reapers had come through and gathered the crop, there was the leftovers and the poor would come and they would allow the poor to come. They knew that that was kind of their way to leave some. They didn't you know they didn't take every piece of the you know the harvest with them. They would leave some and then that that that was uh uh gave the poor the opportunity to come in and to uh uh and that's uh uh to take from that harvest as well.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And I mean that that in and of itself is such a demonstration of his character that would have been so evident to these employees of his is, I mean, because he had to tell them, like, don't like let the let the poor come in and do this. And they're wondering, like, what I mean, this is this is your field, like why would you not want to harvest 100% of that for your own bottom line?
SPEAKER_02And and he says, no, let's let's we're gonna let the we're gonna let the poor come in and get those the I think that's uh yeah, I hadn't thought about that really, but the uh one of the core values for our company is to give back to the communities that we live and work. That was Boaz's way to give back to the communities that he lives and works. So not only did he provide for the workers, but you know, there are other ministries within the the community, and he was providing that was one of the ways that Boaz was providing for his community. And I'm sure he probably had other ways, but that was uh um one that was recorded for sure.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. What are some of the other best practices um that that one of our that our business owners and managers that are listening right now could take and apply in their business as it relates to uh really modeling the character of of Boaz, which and this is the kind of guy that God says, I want this this guy to be the I mean, essentially the great, great, great, great, great, I don't know how many great grandfathers of of Jesus himself.
SPEAKER_02Well, I mean, I think that Boaz I'm I'm sure Boaz did uh had many uh characteristics that he um uh he demonstrated with his employees and and with those that he works that worked for him. And I think as leaders, um uh you know how we respond in a crisis. I'm sure Boaz had crises in his own farm and his own life. And you know, we uh living in Houston have had uh hurricanes, we're going through a pandemic right now, we've had floods. So how do you respond as a crisis and in in in the midst of a crisis? Um in our case, you know, say Hurricane Harvey, uh, that was a chance to go and love people. That was a chance to go visit them at their homes, that was a chance to partner with other uh industry um other people that are competitors in our industry that wanted to help us that were down in Houston, and I allowed them to adopt some some uh employees, families, and uh provide um they would just they they replace furniture, they replace clothing. Um, as I mentioned before, praying with people and praying for them. For us um as leaders in the business, I think we have the opportunity, whether it's being saying grace over a meal, or it's um uh it's just living out our faith in the in an authentic and genuine way that um is uh attractive and that uh people will ask about and inquire about. So I think by um when there's a crisis, you know, the natural thing for me as a believer is I'm gonna pray and uh I will express that to them and and uh when it's comfortable or it's the right time, I'll pray, uh, pray with them. Um I had an experience um where we had a um an employee um uh business partner that was uh very sick and it caused um caused concern amongst the employees that that we could potentially lose this person. And um so we would gather and I would give reports on their health condition and we would pray together for that person. So I think that's such a natural uh place to do that. You know, my own behavior, uh I've got to what I got we got to manage our own behavior and uh how do we act in front of folks and do we um do we take special privileges? I mean, we are uh a servant for them, in my my opinion. I think our jobs as leaders is to direct the way we're gonna go and then And then how can we help you and serve them as Boaz, I'm sure, did with his folks. You know, we are we gotta in as leaders of our businesses, we've got to make right choices. We're gonna be judged and we're gonna be prosperous or we're gonna fail because of our choices that we make. Being grounded in the Word every day is a way that helps me to make right choices. I mean, there's a Bible in the in the side of my desk. Um it's something that I have the I I I read in the mornings beforehand. People know that I'm I'm reading it before the work day starts. And um it's something that I will reference throughout the day if if need need be, because uh uh the choices we make um have have have an impact. So I mean there's there's there's many. I mean those are those are those are some of those. I think being available, maybe we'll to end on one is um I'm a task master, so even though I may walk out into the the the the floor, there's usually a purpose for that, not just wandering around. And um I think that I am like a bee that goes from uh task to task, and sometimes I I give off the may give off the uh impression that I'm busy and don't want to be bothered. And I think that that uh I have to I personally have to be disciplined to to you know to linger a little bit around a conversation with somebody to let them um let them share what's on their heart. I can't it's too easy to move from place to place. So I think just pausing and um you know when you greet somebody, ask them a question, an open-ended question, and just wait and and and let them let them talk. So those are things that I think we can do to facilitate uh conversations, to let them know we care about them, asking them, you know, uh uh about their family, asking just just something simple. Um give them an open door to to to uh share what's on their heart.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Well, this has been so good. And thank you for holding up this example of Boaz as uh as a role model for uh from the Bible for us business people. Um what a what a great example. And you know, considering the times that he was in with the with the famine that was going on in Israel, and now here we are in uh a global pandemic um with uh with the economic crisis that comes along with that, people are uh are searching for for people who are um have a have a bigger purpose, who see the bigger, the bigger picture and aren't just stressed out about um just the cares of the world, but are looking to God, you know, and how just as you pointed out, how Boaz pointed his people to the Lord. He said, May the Lord be with you. Um, this is certainly the the example that we need. And thank you for the example that you set, Jeff, and and their Texas Injection Molding. We need more of these these role models um, like you and the culture that you have set up. And um, and so I know everybody can go to Texas Injection Molding.com, correct? Is that the website?
SPEAKER_02That's the company website, yes.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and Jeffreyapplegate.com, where you can uh take a look at some of Jeff's blogs. Thank you so much for your for your time today, Jeff. Um, any um parting advice you'd like to leave with our listeners today?
SPEAKER_02Culture is elusive. And it's something that's worth pursuing. Um, we have not got it 100% right. Uh, we are pursuing it every single day. But what like I said earlier, it is the secret sauce, it's the magic in the bottle. Uh, if you can get your folks to respect each other and genuinely care for each other, you'll create an environment that'll allow your business to prosper. And that's what I would encourage everybody is to really put culture as a top priority in their business.
SPEAKER_00We hope you've enjoyed this episode. And if so, we would greatly appreciate it if you would leave us a quick rating and review for the Christianity and business podcast on iTunes. You can get more information about the HBU Center for Christianity and Business at Christianityandbusiness.com. Thanks for listening, and remember to keep integrating biblical values into your business.