The Container Store’s Post

Last weekend, a Nashville coffee shop closed its doors after 25 years in business. Portland Brew was a staple in the 12 South neighborhood. ☕ A friend sent me this picture of a 'thank you' sign, filled with well-wishes and gratitude from customers. Take a look at a few of my favorites 🥹 : ▪️"Thank you for helping me through nursing school and being the place where I fell in love with my husband." ▪️"Came here every day when I was sad my freshman year." ▪️"Grateful for this place to gather. We are all better for its existence." ▪️"You helped us find friends when we were new here 2 years ago, and fall in love with our neighborhood" ▪️"You've fueled many long work days and sleepless nights with our first baby, and provided us a bright start to almost every day. We will miss all of your friendly faces." ▪️"So many of my best memories happened here. Thank you PB crew for creating a space for us to feel welcomed and at home!" ▪️"I love this place but it has always been the staff that brings me back every day." Did you notice that the word 'coffee' wasn't mentioned once in any of those notes? In fact, it's hardly mentioned on that board at all. Regardless of the industry you're in, you are in the EXPERIENCE business. The making-someone's-day-brighter-business. It's not about the products or services you're selling; it's about how you make your customers feel. ☀️ What do you want YOUR legacy to be with your customers? #cx #customerexperience

10 Years! - Congratulations Todd! The Last Impression – Everyone always talks about how important it is to make a good “First Impression”, but I think we can make a case that the “Last Impression” can be equally important. Often, we spend days, weeks, months procuring materials, manufacturing products, then assembling and packaging to create final deliverable goods. The final step of this very resource intensive process is to make sure customers receive the product in good condition. For 10 years, Todd has helped us ensure that our customers’ Last Impression is as good as the First Impression, thereby ensuring that they will continue to use our services. Although the interaction with our customers is important, safe driving and patience are even more important. We are very fortunate that Todd has the patience of a Saint while navigating the crazy roadways of Denver and still maintains a wonderful personality when delivering product to customers. Todd not only navigates the complexities of the Denver streets, but he expertly navigates the inner workings of our family of companies. Every one of the companies in our family utilizes Todd for various delivery activities to/from vendors and customers. Through the years, Todd has learned the various expectations of each company and is able to meet every exacting demand he is presented with. When Todd is not making deliveries, he enjoys living a healthy lifestyle of eating right and going to the gym. His favorite hobbies/passions are Audio, Video, and Home Theater. It started with a love for high-fidelity audio while listening to Grateful Dead and Phish. This grew into a keen eye for high-definition video that once coupled together with the audio, he was able to build his own state-of-the-art theater room where he likes to spend his free time. When asked what has kept him here for 10 years, it is the sense of Family and Warmth. Having worked for several other companies in the past, he has never seen a company culture that creates such a happy environment. He loves that employees work very hard while at the same time they all get along so well. Congratulations on 10 Years! #thankyou #workanniversary #plasticinjectionmolding #pozzetta #3PL #madeinamerica #madeinusa #lastimpression #coloradobusiness

Companies often invest immense energy into "beating the competition". But in reality, it's competition that pushes the market forward and drives everyone to perform better. When you have a strong vision for the future, competition becomes just another factor to consider - it might make you adjust your path slightly, but it won't change your ultimate goal. So, let's celebrate the successes of our competitors too, with some good old-fashioned freneminess! 💐 💐 #Shield #GlobalRelay #Behavox #HappyAnniversary #Competition #Marketing #Innovation #CommunicationsCompliance

Great article by Yasmin Arrigo on the deprioritisation of #DEI in #ADland - please read and share! At Brixton Finishing School we've experienced this in the last 12 months, alongside many other #changemaking organisations, a #stealth defunding of commitments to #DEI leaving us with a budget deficit last year. We took this #crisis as an opportunity to reflect, reframe and recommit to our mission - to create fair, accessible industry access for all talents and to then support them to thrive, not survive when they arrive. Thank you to all who advocated for us - we really value and appreciate your efforts! #2024 is our year of serenity and we will not deviate from our mission - we will gracefully keep, keeping on, driving change. Talent is distrubuted equally but opportunities are not. To supercharge change long term commitment to impactful change making projects is needed. It’s vital that the industry leans in and support our (and other organisations) efforts. MEFA CEO, Naren Patel, decided to launch the Media For All [MEFA] awards when a recent survey indicated that businesses were experiencing “DEI fatigue” ; they were under so much pressure that diversity and inclusion were taking a back seat. #DEI departments have been disbanded at #tech companies (Source: WordinBlack.com) And by December 2023 open calls for divestment were heard - with Elon Musk declaring on X ‘DEI must Die’. Dear Industry, your busy day job is serving your clients and their consumers - our day job is supporting multiple communities with many intersectionalities to win at the world of work. So please, reach out to third party experts who can make authentic inclusion a reality for you - it’s not going to happen if it’s not a future proofed commitment. 

Check out this article on my new friend LaToya Davis and her business, The Black Opulence Xperience!

One of Mary Poppins famous lines was "I'm practically perfect, in every way." But do we really need to be perfect? This article, written by Brandon Hughes at Charter Solutions, makes "perfect" sense. #commonsense #brandonhughes #perfectsense

Happy #FACSfamFriday, everyone! Before you go out and celebrate Memorial Day, we have our next Employee Spotlight to unveil! Our very own Fred Vinciguerra is next to be in our spotlight! Fred is our CEO and works out of the Hayward office. Check out Fred's responses to our questions below, as well as a photo of him with his family out in nature. Do you have any questions for Fred or other FACS employees you'd like to see answered in the next #FACSfamFriday? Let us know by commenting on this post! What is one thing that you geek out about?  It's sad, but I really don't geek out about much. Maybe the Chicago Bears, Cubs, and Blackhawks. I love my Chicago teams, but geeking out is probably a stretch.   What is one way that you unwind?  Either by getting my sweat on (exercising, even though it doesn't show) or fixing something. I'm not super handy, but I enjoy giving it a try and feel really good when it actually works after I tried.   Is there anything you wished would come back into fashion?  Perm's for guys - nevermind, I wouldn't be able to get one anyway.    What celebrity would you like to meet at Starbucks for a cup of coffee?  Howard Stern - please don't judge. I think he does an amazing job interviewing people and is not afraid to ask questions others shy away from.   What is one of your favorite books?   I really don't read fiction but I do enjoy a good business book. One of my favorites is Oren Harari, Break from the Pack. It's about how to compete in a copy cat society and Malcolm Gladwell's, Outliers and What the Dog Saw - lots of short, facsinating stories. Favorite quote?   "A man with one watch knows the time. A man with two is never sure."

Happy 4th, MFG Fam! 🇺🇸🎆 And Happy Birthday 'Murica 🎂 🥳 🎉 I celebrate today because for ME...America isn't just a place on the map - it's a living, breathing idea we're ALL able to shape together. We control our collective destinies fam... Hear me out... My wild ride from two-time felon to spearheading The New American Manufacturing Renaissance? That's the American Dream in action...manifest your destiny type stuff. But to go deeper...when you think about it, WE ARE THE MAKERS. You know how we're always tinkering, creating, and building the future in our shops? Well, we can apply that same "come-together can-do spirit" to fix up our country. Sure, we've got our flaws, but we're rolling up our sleeves and getting to that WORK. That's what makes us the greatest nation on Earth. I've seen it firsthand on the American Manufacturing Renaissance Tour. From bustling factories to cutting-edge classrooms, we're proving American Manufacturing isn't dead - it's in a RENAISSANCE. We're not just churning out widgets; we're crafting opportunities and strengthening our nation, one skilled worker at a time. So tonight, while you're gazing at the fireworks, remember this: every "Made in USA" label tells a story. It's your neighbor, your son, your daughter. It's not just a product - it's American grit, know-how, and dreams made real. We're writing the next chapter of American greatness right now. It's happening in machine shops, tech labs, and classrooms across the country. And let me tell you, it's one heck of a page-turner. Here's to the red, white, and blue - and to building the future together! 🦅🏭 #4thOfJuly #AmericanManufacturing #NewAmericanManufacturingRenaissance #MadeInUSA

Tactically, morally and by every metric…

Here's some inspiration for the year ahead, In the bustling streets of New York, Mary Wells Lawrence didn't just navigate the city; she navigated an industry. Armed with an audacious spirit and a mind teeming with creative fervor, she set out to conquer Madison Avenue. Her journey wasn't just about climbing the corporate ladder; it was about dismantling it and building a new, inclusive one. Starting with a dream and an unyielding belief in her ideas, Mary founded her own agency, Wells Rich Greene. Her office wasn't just a space for meetings; it was a haven for innovation, a melting pot of brilliant minds concocting campaigns that transcended mere advertising. She shattered conventions, challenging the status quo with bold, disruptive strategies. Her campaigns weren't just about selling products; they were about igniting movements. From "I ♥ New York" to the iconic "Plop, plop, fizz, fizz" for Alka-Seltzer, Mary's creations weren't confined to screens or billboards; they were etched into the fabric of culture. Her entrepreneurial journey isn't just a tale of success; it's an anthem for breaking barriers, championing creativity, and proving that in advertising, daring to be different is the true currency of innovation.