The Lion Brand Story Revisited
Creative Retail Talks with Clint O'Rear
Stories from David & Adam Blumenthal covering 144 years and five generations of an iconic yarn brand in the creative industry. From how it got its name to what keeps it strong and growing. KEY TAKEAWAYS: Lion Brand has been around for 144 years Lion Brand was the sole supplier of yarn to Target for many years up until Target discontinued the category Lion Brand has been on the web longer than Google The key to keeping the business within the family and successful is that no family member is forced to be a part of the company. Every member of the Blumenthal family that has worked for...
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Revisit Servant Leadership and Company Culture with Jim Iyoob
Creative Retail Talks with Clint O'Rear
When your company has a Dean of Leadership Development and twelve Character Commitments, you know they take servant leadership seriously. , Chief Customer Officer of , shares the culture that began with a vision βto make a remarkable difference for each otherβ β clients, team members, and community. KEY TAKEAWAYS Etech is an outsourced contact center that has organically grown from 400 to 3500 employees that focuses on making a remarkable difference for their customers Continuous growth and training are essential for all levels of employees Servant leadership comes...
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A look back at how Happy Customers + Happy Employees = Healthy Business
Creative Retail Talks with Clint O'Rear
Retail authority shares his philosophy on how Happy Customers + Happy Employees always leads to a Healthy Business [Podcast first published November 2021] KEY TAKEAWAYS Happy Customers + Happy Employees = Healthy Business If you reduce employee turn 20% you increase profits by more than 20% Happy employees make Happy customers AVID Insights creates a Health ID score to measure the level of satisfaction and engagement of both employees and customers. Employee engagement is the #1 driver of customer satisfaction. 95% of products are developed with ZERO research - a huge mistake! Key areas to...
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Taking a Look Back at How to Create Happy Employees Who Create a Happy World
Creative Retail Talks with Clint O'Rear
, retired CEO of WD-40, is this amazing combination of a confident leader and a very humble servant who has led his tribe very well. Although he was in the oil products business, in this episode we talk about a lot of things that have nothing to do with oil but everything to do with how to grow your business and grow your people. [Podcast first published May 2021] KEY TAKEAWAYS 70% of people who go to work everyday are disengaged Aristotle - βPleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.β From Ken Blanchardβs class at University of San Diego in the Masters of Leadership program,...
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ETechβs commitment to servant leadership for the next generation of leaders
Creative Retail Talks with Clint O'Rear
As Dean of Global Leadership Development, Melissa Wood spearheads all learning and development business-building programs for . She shares insights into the next generation of leaders and how you can build your personal leadership development program. KEY TAKEAWAYS John Maxwell had a tremendous influence on Etech and Melissa ever since he spoke at an Etech company event. Etech is more than willing to invest in leadership development tools to produce the next generation of leaders. Melissaβs passion is working with people one on one and helping develop their leadership skills. Lessons...
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Purpose and Insights from David and Adam Blumenthal
Creative Retail Talks with Clint O'Rear
Creating a more colorful, connected, comforting and caring world with yarn. KEY TAKEAWAYS Lion Brand has an amazing Purpose Statement with four key words Colorful Lion Brand produces high-quality, uniquely colored yarn that stands above the competition Connected Lion Brand stays connected to the craft and the community that the craft creates Comforting Knitting gives people comfort and stress relief Lion Brand employees feel comfortable and supported working for the company Caring Lion Brand puts lots of care behind every decision they make, products they produce, and...
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Producing the Next Generation of Leaders with Melissa Woods
Creative Retail Talks with Clint O'Rear
When employees and leaders choose to share their talent with your company, give them opportunities on their journey. Melissa Wood shares the 12 character commitments of culture and the 5 Pillars of Education to produce the next generation of leaders. KEY TAKEAWAYS Etech has 12 character commitments for their company culture Humility Integrity Positive influence Communication Creativity Courage Accountability Teamwork Valuing people Adaptability Teachability Vision Etech has 5 Pillars of Education to help with ongoing learning and producing the next generation of leaders Aspiring Leader ...
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The social impact and customer loyalty inspired by yarn
Creative Retail Talks with Clint O'Rear
A comment on the Tonight Show leads to a 30-year partnership with Vanna White. The mindset of giving back and making a difference has led to #HATNOTHATE, donations to charities like St. Jude Childrenβs Research Hospital, a wider spectrum of skin tones (Skein Tones), and sustainability. KEY TAKEAWAYS Lion Brand has stayed in the family because family members like Adam have wanted to come back and work for the family business Lion Brand Yarn was selected as the outstanding family business in New Jersey Vanna White was a customer of Lion Brandβs and talked about knitting on Johnny Carson....
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Melissa Wood turns the table and interviews Clint
Creative Retail Talks with Clint O'Rear
Melissa Wood turns the table and interviews Clint about his WHY and his passion for servant leadership. KEY TAKEAWAYS: Melissa Wood flips the interview on Clint and interviews him for a few minutes Clint talks about the influence his Dad had on teaching him about Servant Leadership starting with listening to cassette tapes of Zig Ziegler Clint also learned Servant Leadership from many of his football coaches in high school and college Clint has also been influenced by Garry Ridge, outgoing CEO of WD-40, and his principles of Servant Leadership and Tribe Culture Melissa is similar to Clint...
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h+h americas and Darrin Stern
Creative Retail Talks with Clint O'Rear
If you make a living in the fiber arts, whether it's a side gig, full-time gig, small store, mega store or multinational store, h+h americas 2022 is the place to be. h+h americas will become the U.S. based sister event of the German h+h cologne, the worldβs leading trade fair for the handicrafts industry. Starting in 2022, h+h americas will take place every June in the Chicagoland area. h+h americas June 22 - 24, 2022 Chicago, Illinois Donald E. Stephens Convention & Conference Center in Rosemont The event is open to anyone who makes a living in fiber arts, no matter what background...
info_outlineStories from David & Adam Blumenthal covering 144 years and five generations of an iconic yarn brand in the creative industry. From how it got its name to what keeps it strong and growing.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Lion Brand has been around for 144 years
- Lion Brand was the sole supplier of yarn to Target for many years up until Target discontinued the category
- Lion Brand has been on the web longer than Google
- The key to keeping the business within the family and successful is that no family member is forced to be a part of the company. Every member of the Blumenthal family that has worked for Lion Brand did it because they wanted to
- Lion Brand is fueled by a passion for the business and a willingness to change and adapt
- Hiring people that have an interest in yarn and appreciate that Lion Brand is a family business has been the key to integrating non-family member employees into the company
- Lion Brand has been able to build a strong connection with its customer base and is very proud to continue to do that
- Partnering with Vanna White and others has been a huge boost for the visibility of the brand
SUGGESTED ACTIONS:
- Think long term
- Hire people that are a fit for your culture
- Stay passionate about your vision and adapt along the way as needed
- Find interesting ways to increase visibility of your brand!
πππ©ππ πππ¨π ππ‘π§πππ, Chairman of the Board of Lion Brand Yarns.
Read the Inc article How I Did It: David Blumenthal
Earliest yarn memory?
Going to the office at 54 Canal Street, at the corner of Canal and Orchard Streets, where we had offices and a warehouse. It was the tallest building on the Lower East Side of New York. I was about 7 or 8 years old and I would sweep the floors and empty the wastebaskets. Going into the office with my father was a really big deal for me.
ππππ πππ¨π ππ‘π§πππ, VP Brand/Product Development and Digital at the Lion Brand Yarn Company.
You can reach Adam on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/adblumenthal.
ππππ‘π§ π’βπ₯πππ₯, president and owner of Creative Sales Consulting, has worked in the Retail industry since 2000. Clint and his team connect suppliers & retailers in the creative arts industries for stronger relationships and strategic sales growth, in order to bring joy to consumers through artistic creative and decorative products.
For more insightful conversations with leaders in the Arts & Crafts Retail industry visit CreativeRetailTalks.com.
If you'd like to be a guest on the podcast, reach out to Clint OβRear at [email protected].
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Music:
"Carpe Diem" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/