Stephanie Vera on Building Homegrown Impact at BMW Manufacturing

In this episode of Unpacked with Ron Harvey, host Ron Harvey sits down with Stephanie Vera, Supplier Development and Engagement Operational Lead at BMW Manufacturing, to talk about the leadership it takes to build something authentic from the ground up. Stephanie owns the concept, approvals, and execution of the BMW Supplier Exchange, and she pulls back the curtain on what it really takes to bring a 2,500-person event to life while keeping it genuine and homegrown.

The conversation moves from Stephanie's start in logistics to leading a team and a flagship community event, and it lands on practical wisdom any business owner or emerging leader can use.

In this episode, Ron and Stephanie discuss:

• Why leadership starts, runs, and ends with people
• How BMW weaves small businesses into a large-scale event so it stays authentic
• The economic impact mindset behind BMW's investment in the Greenville-Spartanburg community
• The high standards and ethics suppliers must meet to grow with a major manufacturer
• How to actually work a conference room without burning out or chasing only the "big" contract
• Pro tips for refining your pitch and knowing exactly where you fit before you walk in
• Why the road less traveled and an optimistic mindset can become your next big opportunity

The BMW Supplier Exchange takes place May 13 at the Greenville Convention Center in Greenville, South Carolina. Registration is open at BMWSupplierExchange.com and closes in mid-April. For buyer pro tips, follow BMW Supplier Network Purchasing Americas on LinkedIn.

Connect with Stephanie Vera on LinkedIn. This episode is brought to you by Global Core Strategies and Consulting, a professional leadership firm based in Columbia, South Carolina, where Ron Harvey serves as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Connect with Ron on LinkedIn, and if you know someone who would add value to the audience, reach out about being a guest.

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The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and guests and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any organization or entity. The information provided in this podcast is intended for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered as professional advice. Listeners should consult with their own professional advisors before implementing any suggestions or recommendations made in this podcast. The speakers and guests are not responsible for any actions taken by listeners based on the information presented in this podcast. The podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice or services. The speakers and guests make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the information, products, services, or related graphics contained in this podc...

Transcript

People Always Matter And Welcome

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Unpack Podcast with your host, Leadership Consultant, Ron Harvey of Global Core Strategies and Consulting. Ron believes that leadership is the fundamental driver towards making a difference. So now, to find out more of what it means to unpack leadership, here's your host, Ron Harvey.

SPEAKER_01 0:19

Well, hello everyone. This is Ron Harvey. I'm the Vice President and the Chief Operating Officer for Global Core Strategies and Consulting. We're a professional leadership firm, and everything we do is about people always matter. At the end of the day, we think everything starts with people, gets done through people, and ends with people. So if you ever talk to us and you see us out in public, you're probably going to hear the phrase, people always matter. I mean, that's intentional and that's authentic for us. But in our in our podcast, which is what we do, release the episode every Monday, is talk about things that often don't get talked about, about our growth and our opportunities and our challenges, how everyday people that you probably admire accomplish things throughout adversity or challenges, how they have grown. And so we pause and we call it Unpack with Ron Harvey because we know we're going to talk leadership. Outside of that, we have a good time, but we want to talk about real leadership challenges. So I'm excited to have a good friend who I've known for a while. I've supported tremendously, have watched her grow and continue to do great things at our organization.

Meet Stephanie And The Event

SPEAKER_01 1:20

Stephanie, I'm I'm glad you said yes. And she's sitting there, like, okay, what is Ron going to ask me next? Let me invite you to introduce yourself however you wish to. How do you want people to know you and what you do?

SPEAKER_02 1:30

Excellent. Thank you for having me. Excited to be here. My name is Stephanie Vera. I work for BMW Manufacturing. My official title is Supplier Development and Engagement Operational Lead. There's been a few changes here in the last couple of years, previously supplier diversity. I am in charge and lead of the supplier exchange that we hold every year. So when I say head and lead, that means you know I'm responsible for coming up with the concept, communicating that concept to leadership, getting everything approved from budgets to vendors to I would say just agreements in general, and then communicating and executing our teams to do the groundwork. So, but it is a team effort collaboration. As you said, Ron, it takes people. However, it does have to originate from somewhere. And as with leadership, there's things you don't see in the background. So thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_01 2:20

Yes. Yeah, thank you so much. I mean, she's pretty modest. I mean, like when you show up and you look at all the stuff that's going on, I think Stephanie goes on stage for a couple minutes and then she's behind the scenes and talking and making sure stuff. But she has a phenomenal team, and then it really does take an entire team. But I will say that you know, getting to know her, she's taking on this role. I think year number four that you've been in it. Yeah, yeah. That has been a part of your job description of what you do every year. So your big event that is getting ready to come up. What's the date for the event this year?

SPEAKER_02 2:48

Yep. The event is May 13th at Greenville, South Carolina at the Greenville Convention Center. And that's open for registration at BMW SuppliereExchange.com. You can see all the details there.

SPEAKER_01 3:01

Yes, always all the speakers is out there. So Google it, go out there, look at the event

Supplier Development As Leadership

SPEAKER_01 3:05

in this phenomenal event. And we'll get into some more questions around there. I want to dive in a little bit with you. When you think, you know, you're in supplier development, you're doing this at supplier exchange. How do you look at, you know, the role that you do in directly leading your team? How does supplier development and an exchange tie into your role of becoming an effective leader?

SPEAKER_02 3:26

That's a big question. I guess I'll start with I was previously in logistics here at BMW, and I had to go on-site to the suppliers and basically audit or pre-qualify their logistics processes to protect their. But I found that my favorite part about my job was getting to know the people, but also learning from their processes and them teaching me their processes. That's a big thing. So, all in all, I see this whole event coming together as a huge business, right? It's a business in itself. So I'm learning a lot as well. But also, how can we continue to integrate other businesses into this big as a conglomerate event for that to then come together? So, for example, we do utilize, I'll say small businesses to help us bring this event to life. So, you know, we can always go and find the best event planner, but really it's done in-house and with the support of registration companies, uh, exhibit companies. So, really, it's pieces of the small business community coming together to create this huge event. So that's how I see this event being executed. Um, it's been the most successful that way. It's remained authentic and genuine. It feels homegrown. But I think at the end, everybody's really excited to see how it comes together and knowing that they had a part of it. So that's one element of how I take the exchange feeds into the overall role that I serve.

SPEAKER_01 4:50

Thanks for sharing that. When you think of it, I've been around you for a while and watching what BMW does with this event every year. Why is it so important that y'all play your role in being a part of the community? I mean, BMW is, you know, you guys truly want to make sure that the plant in in in your area feels homegrown and that you guys care about why is that so important to the organization?

SPEAKER_02 5:09

Yes. So BMW's huge, right? And if you live anywhere in Greenville, Spartan Brook area and you drive down 85, it's on both sides of the interstate now with our battery plant being built in Woodruff. But even if you take exit 60, it's I would say mile down the road is still BMW property and and we're continuing to build. So with as much as we're I want to say taking out or you know, cutting trees and building infrastructure, we're also looking to put back in. And a lot of that goes back to workforce

Community Impact And High Standards

SPEAKER_02 5:40

community support, impact. We support a lot of the say schools around the area, we take in interns. So I think it's important to do our part. Yes, we build vehicles, yes, we export them, but all in all, it takes people, it takes organizations, community partners to be a part of the bigger brand and the bigger mission of also that economic impact here.

SPEAKER_01 6:02

Yeah. And I think that's important for everybody that you bring in, the economic impact. Like, what's the role and responsibility? So when you bring in a company like a global core, how do you make sure that I can get up to speed and contribute to the economic impact that y'all want to have? It's not just let me do business and get a paycheck from BMW. You guys want to make sure you prepare your vendors or your suppliers to understand the value of the economic impact. How do you get those businesses on board with you?

SPEAKER_02 6:27

Yes, so we have high standards, right? We are very uh strict in our requirements, anything from sustainability requirements to ensuring that your processes are ethical, sustainable, you have to have a team. So ensuring that you're delegating and you're paying salaries, you have a team, you're providing jobs. That's another thing. Um you have ties to bigger, I'll say entities that already know your work and you can continue to grow and pour into those because it honestly it all comes back. It's a big web, right? So you may not be doing with the business with BMW, but you're doing business with another supplier down the street who supplies a component. So, and how do we support how do we, I guess, inform and teach and develop is really setting out our standards and being very clear about it. And you know, just being able to deliver on that is what we expect to work together.

SPEAKER_01 7:20

Yeah, I mean, I love it. You I mean, you said no, we want to inform, teach, and develop, and and you guys really take that seriously. It's not like, hey, we don't need you to be perfect when you show up. We we want to see that there's potential and that you could you're cultureable. So when people are partnering with you, you actually help coach some of the people that y'all do business with.

SPEAKER_02 7:34

Of course, there's so many people that come up to us, and should be very clear, you know, we get calls, emails, texts, even outlook invites, uh called outlook outlook invites. We do have, you know, teams of people who do have full-time jobs, but they do support with this development piece. Um, it just depends, honestly, and you know this, Ron, it's almost like the timing has to be perfect as far as like where you are. So the more you can um say have that touch point with one of us, continue to nurture the relationship, that's very important. Um, for then one day when that opportunity does come up, you are the first in mind, or at least in the consideration pool.

SPEAKER_01 8:14

Yeah, you've been in it for a while, but how did you, I mean, you were you were in in logistics, but how did you

From Intern To Opportunity

SPEAKER_01 8:20

get into the the the space? You know, what what drew you to that? What drew you to it?

SPEAKER_02 8:25

So that's a whole story in itself. But like I said, I started as uh I was actually an intern in finance. Um, and that was my first, I would say, exposure to BMW and just the culture, right? And then I navigated more into the logistics space. But during my job there, like I said, my favorite part about it was learning from people's processes and let's say their businesses, right? I had a few suppliers that were creating or producing parts, and I would go to their factories to see how they're doing it, but really just talking to them and understanding outside of processes what were their pain points. That was the most eye-opening piece. I actually had a contact here, my predecessor, I'll say her name, Louise, reached out to her and said, How can I support you? Really? It's just how can I help you? I was available, I was open to supporting the mission. She would send me to networking events sometimes. She could make so it was really just being available and and putting myself out there. So ultimately it it got me an opportunity into the space. I wouldn't say really by accident. I wasn't expecting anything, but um it was a great avenue. And the network that I built was really the supporting element there.

SPEAKER_01 9:31

Yeah, I love it. And for those that are listening, when you think about, you know, you started as an intern and and you go back to that day. Did you see that you'd be where you are today?

SPEAKER_02 9:40

No, absolutely not.

SPEAKER_01 9:42

Like ever started, I'm just happy to be in the door. You know, I was going as an intern and I don't know where I'm in, but I'll listen and ask a lot of questions. But when you think about where you started at, what what how much did you have to get out of your comfort zone and get out of your own way to get to where you are today?

SPEAKER_02 9:58

Whew. You asked some really good

Growth Starts Outside Comfort

SPEAKER_02 10:00

questions, Ron. Um, comfort zones should be temporary. I think if you're in a comfort zone, you got to find the quickest way to get out of it and learn that. And it almost feels if you're comfortable, it's you're not growing. And if you're not growing, you're not advancing. Every day I'm I'm, I would say, face to face with something uncomfortable that I need to do. But I see it now as okay, well, this is an opportunity to grow. I think you just have to program yourself to think that way because there you're always going to face adversity, whether it's you know, uh the company culture, the leadership, I don't know, whatever you want's external factors, uh, whatever it is, but you have to be okay with being uncomfortable and getting through it. But every day, honestly, is always something you gotta tackle.

SPEAKER_01 10:47

Yes, I mean it's and it's changing even faster. AI is on front. You got these generations, and nothing's slowing down, the world is moving faster. So I think you're absolutely right. You how do you get out of the comfort zone? How do you, you know, you've come from intern to where you are now? You're you're the face of that on the that event. You know, you look at at the event that you host every year, you're the face of it, you're behind the scenes and you're pretty quiet. How do you not become so so power struck that you have that much influence and remain humble while you're doing it? How do you tell leaders that are listening? Because you work hard to get to where you are, sometimes it can go to your head. How do you manage to stay humble as you're progressing up the ladder?

SPEAKER_02 11:25

That's interesting. You know, I don't see it that way. Yeah, and maybe it's just you know that humbling of the values I was brought up with growing up Hispanic household, it's always there's always a way to be better. I always stay humble, that's the main thing. I'm not I'm not in it for the power, would say. I enjoy the experience, I enjoy the ride, I enjoy the people. Um you do come face to face with people who are in that scene. I just I don't I don't know, I don't see that's not something that's motivating for me to be, you know, in power. It's more so uh having the opportunity to work with businesses and and for the bigger cause and mission. So it's interesting, yeah. I I I can see I can see that. Uh but that's not really something that intrigued me in the first place about this role.

SPEAKER_01 12:14

And you naturally, but you you tap into something that's important is your family values.

Values Fit And Staying Humble

SPEAKER_01 12:20

When you think of your values and you think of the organization BMW itself and the values, seems like there was some alignment that made it the right organization. Can you speak to about making sure when you pick an organization to work for or support or partner with that it aligns with your values?

SPEAKER_02 12:35

Absolutely. We spend a lot of time, most of our time at work with people, right? That that's where your energy is going. And it's very important that make sure that you all share at least those same values. Although it's unspoken, sometimes you can feel it. Um that's that's the first reason. Identifying that for sure. It's it comes naturally, right? If you have those same values, the effort and the time dedication that you have to do extra sometimes comes naturally, it's not forced because you align. For me, I think overall the brand stood out to me as an intern, right? Of course, the vehicles are cool and the cars are cool, but there's something about the luxury brand, and and I mean, like I said, a very strict, very uh say straightforward. The German culture in general is, and that's very opposite from I would say the Hispanic culture. But I was very intrigued by it, and how do I continue to grow myself and be adaptable in that way? So I guess that's what drew me to that. It was a challenge. But of course, your values say evolve, right? Depending on where you are in your career. But I would say that that was my initial pull, right? That element of excellence.

unknown 13:52

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 13:54

Yeah, that's what I was leaning to. When you're speaking, uh, you know, it's like, wait a minute, you have BMW, you know, that model is ultimate driver machine, you know, and they have high standards. So when you're working for an organization like that, can it be intimidating?

SPEAKER_02 14:06

I think I'm just drawn to this challenge. Um, sometimes it's a lot, and but you get past it, right? You grow. And just in general, in the last four years, I have seen myself grown, and that's in itself is a reward for me. I feel good about that. Um, there's some people that don't make it, they don't stay. And I mean, to each his own, right? Value, the values have to align. Um, but for sure, there's always intimidation, it's just understanding how to navigate it and that you are in control of certain things and certain things you're not. So, what can you control? And is that enough for you to feel satisfied?

SPEAKER_01 14:40

Yes, yes, I love it. Can you think about a moment in your career, you know, from intern to where you are now? I mean, you know, and I've been around you, watched you, and and and shared a lot, and you know, offline, you know, you know unofficially, you know, served as a mentor or coach to you. Can you think of a time when you felt uncertain or unsure or your confidence wasn't where it needed to be? And how did you overcome that? How did you what did you say to the leaders that are listening that are coming up that are watching you and see you on this stage and doing phenomenal stuff? It's not always a great day. How do you help people get over that place where the confidence is not where it should be and you're a little uncertain?

Building Confidence As A Skill

SPEAKER_02 15:15

Confidence is a great topic. And I don't I don't see confidence as a I would say uh like a milestone that you reach it and you're like, all right, I'm finally confident. It's something you create, and believe it or not, people don't know if you are or not, yes, depending on how you communicate it. So speaking to that, I'll say intern that is feeling this uneasiness in this new world, I would say, or even anybody looking for a new job or to come into BMW, it's okay to feel fear, it's okay to feel uneasy, but the way you communicate it and move forward, you always have to be very optimistic. But trust yourself to understand how to navigate it if it doesn't go the way you plan. Because ultimately you control how you react to things. And I would say here at BMW, you know, it's if you're a little shaky, your management sees it, and it's not a good place to be. So you just have to roll with the punches, hope for the best, um, and trust yourself.

SPEAKER_01 16:14

Yes. So in in your space, you know, tenure is probably important, but you're you you appear to be a younger leader in the organization. How do you help younger leaders still stay pretty assured of themselves when you when you have people that may have been around longer or maybe may be older than you are? How do you show up as a younger leader to still you know have a good relationship with people that there's age difference?

SPEAKER_02 16:37

Yeah, I I really actually enjoy speaking to younger uh professionals. I myself have two younger sisters, right? But it's a it's a completely different world, even in the last 10 years. I mean, that's not long that I was in school. So, but from then from now to there, from then to now, they're struggling with, you know, pressures online, AI, something that even I didn't have to deal with. But I think ultimately the fundamentals stay the same. I think you have to be able to build those relationships. Uh, understand that it's not all transactional. I believe it's a tool. Part of the journey is transactional, but the other half, there's a gut feeling of building those relationships and knowing that's how it works. And that's what I communicated. Continue to foster relationships, continue to meet people, get out from behind the screen because there's work outside of the screen that needs to be done. But also don't give up, even if you don't fit all the qualifications. Um shoot your shot. Yes, take a little, take some risk. I think we're just we're the younger generations kind of put in this box. It's like, okay, you have to have A, B, C, D, H, all of these things before you can even jump in. Um, but why not? Just give it a shot. What's the worst that can happen?

SPEAKER_01 17:54

Yeah, I love it. I love that you speak it to, you know, take the shot, you know, trust yourself, take some risk, calculate a risk, you know, don't do anything that's just you know unlawful and unethical. But take your shot. But also, you spoke on there, Stephanie, uh, about the relationship because I can remember when you know when I first met you and you were doing the handoff with Louise and and invited you out for lunch and we sat down and just kept building a relationship. What do

Relationships Without The Transaction

SPEAKER_01 18:15

you tell people that want to build relationships with organizations like a BMW or any other organization that's trying to figure out how to navigate with you? With the lunches, but hey, no, I'm just here, I'm not asking for anything. I I want to have a relationship. If something shows up that I can help, but I'll be happy to. But you I'm not looking for you to give me a contract. And I think oftentimes that's a hard relationship when you're working with people. What do you tell people that are listening that are trying to figure out how to build an authentic relationship without making it so transactional?

SPEAKER_02 18:41

Yeah, that's the million-dollar question. Just like you and I, Ron, right? It's an ongoing relationship. You're in every room that I see these conversations happening, we're working towards something bigger. And of course, you you're always on the top of my list, um, trying to also find opportunities always for you. But it's also I think it's just checking in like you do. Almost like uh best practice is Ron Harvey on how to build relationships, right? Um it's speaking like humans, you know. Think about the buyer on the other side. They they're bombarded, they also have big targets, they have to deliver. I get it, you know, it's hard both ways. Just doing your research, right? Hey, I see that you're involved in this, or uh I see BMW is moving towards this, and I believe I can be a good asset. But hey, how about what are your interests, or how can I help you make your job easier? Things like this, because at the end of the day, we're all human. Of course, capabilities are always a big piece of it, but it's how do you get to the top of mind? Uh who is the most marketable, the person I trust that you know I feel can handle something. It goes hand in hand, right? Because it's not all just network, it's not all just capability, it's a mix. I think it's just being able to do your research, know who's who, build those connections and and almost almost sort of build your network, right? Yeah. So that's a big one for sure. You never know who knows who.

SPEAKER_01 20:12

There's like two degrees of separation now, you know. And I tell people, which is important because we don't talk about it often, and you talk about you know, a forced networking doesn't work. Uh, how do you show up and and be good at what you do and continue to let people know who you are and and people will give you space as well? So let's pivot. Your conference is coming

What The Supplier Exchange Unlocks

SPEAKER_01 20:30

up, and thank you for sharing. We'll share that again. What do you hope that people get out of the conference as you guys continue to revamp, to improve, and to as you've moved and pivoted the conference this year? What do you want people that are attending on both sides, whether they're a vendor, whether they're an attendee, what do you hope they'll accomplish in your role? What does BMW really want to accomplish with the conference this year?

SPEAKER_02 20:51

What I want to accomplish, we'll start there. I think this is one of those activities, events where it gets you out from behind the screen, like I said, in into a room with possibilities. I know in the past it's been overwhelming. Okay, but I think the main push here is just make a connection. Find somebody, whether it's BMW or non-BMW, that you can just introduce yourself, maybe even practice that. Have you introduced yourself to somebody? Have you asked certain questions? Or I don't know, just it's an opportunity to meet some some new people for your network. Um again, you never know who they know, or to support your business. BMW, of course, this is this has been going on for I'd say 13 years now. Every year it's grown. And what we're seeing is that the connections that are made are cannot always be tracked back to the event. For example, the contracts or business that's made is not always able to be tracked back to the event, but somehow it's the catalyst for. Something in the future, it's just hard to trace that back, right? So if you have a success story, let me know. Of course, that can be tracked back. But I I hear a lot of the memories, right? Oh, at the exchange event, I met this person, and now we're good friends, or we started a business together, or uh things like this. I think for BMW, the biggest thing is of course communicating the mission, opening our doors. It also has an effect on our internal associates that are attending. They see the impact of the community and they come back more motivated to build the vehicles. So it it's it has a lot of different outputs, whether it's internal with our associates, external with our community partners, they see the work we're doing, ideas spark motivation. And maybe you go come out inspired. It's been a hard year. You hear a message from somebody that resonates and it sparks an idea. So all of these different things I'd love to gather and collect to showcase that. But ultimately, it's communicating the mission and opening our supplier base for sourcing opportunities.

SPEAKER_01 23:10

Yeah, I will say, you know, the conversations we've had over the years and it continues to get better every year. And it is for me, it's an economic economic development driver, internal and external. So if you've been to it, um Stephanie put a call out for us, a call to action. If you've been to it and you have some story that you share, reach out to her. Let her know because those are important. You know, you can have a return on investment in some kind of story to attach to it. So if you listen to the podcast, if you've ever attended the BMW conference, you know, share that story with her because that's important for all of us to understand the value of it. But also, Stephanie, something I'll share with all our listeners if you're going to attend the conference, don't just focus on BMW. There are vendors that are there that are different levels of suppliers. And oftentimes we're just so focused on the BMW that we forget all the other organizations and the companies and the small businesses that are there. Your relationships with everybody don't just go for let me win the big thing. That'll be great, that'll be nice. And hey, kudos to you if you do. But there are a lot of opportunities that give you a chance to build up your capabilities and your skill set by working with smaller organizations, and they need you just as much as you need them. So focus on everybody and don't get locked in. Is there any best practices that you would share, Stephanie, for people that are gonna attend the conference? You know, you've been around it, you've watched it. What are some best practices,

Pro Tips To Prep And Pitch

SPEAKER_01 24:25

some do's and don'ts as you come to the conference?

SPEAKER_02 24:28

Yes, absolutely. We actually have posted some videos on LinkedIn. Um BMW Supplier Network Purchasing Americas. I know it's a mouthful, but that's our official purchasing uh LinkedIn for BMW. And there's some videos on there from our buyers exactly saying exactly that, those pro tips.

SPEAKER_01 24:48

Um we'll drop it in the release of this.

SPEAKER_02 24:50

Perfect. But some of those tips range from refining your pitch, but really hitting on what you're good at, right? Not just ever, I can do it all. What do you need? Um doing your research up front to identify exactly where you fit. So don't come up to the buyer and say, hey, what do you need? Uh where do you see me fitting? Uh it's more so, hey, I can provide this, I'm the best at this. Is there a need for this specific thing? Right? Um, things like that. Other than that, you know, watch some of these videos. I think those are the biggest two. Like I said, you if you don't, you're not going to walk out with a with a BMW contract, but you may walk out with a new contact that could lead you to that in the future, or even just spark a new idea, a business relationship.

SPEAKER_01 25:38

Yes, I love it. I love it. I mean, and you're spot on. You know, I'll tell you the first time I went, I mean, you said it perfectly. I mean, also overwhelmed, like, what'd you do? I say, I had a good time. I'm like, I don't know. It was like 2,500 people, and I was just happy to be in the room. I hadn't prepared, I hadn't asked enough questions, and I was really overwhelmed the first time. I had to figure out how to navigate that space because I didn't need to be in every breakout, I didn't need to meet every person. You're never gonna meet 2,500 people, so please give realistic expectations. Um, so I had to learn it. Um now I can navigate that room effectively and efficiently. That's beneficial for what you guys want to get and also what I want to get out of it. But I had to learn that. So if it's your first time, please talk to a veteran or watch those videos and get to that link and learn some things before you get there, or otherwise, you're gonna be drinking from two fire hoses. Any last minute things you'd like to share, just things that you've learned as being a young leader, being in an organization such as the Vin Dev, any tips you'll share with an up-and-coming leader?

SPEAKER_02 26:35

Let's see, the world is evolving, but this is you could either look at it as something being scary and oh, the world as ending, or this could be the next dot-com boom for you. This could be the next opportunity. So seize the moment or capitalize on it. Always look at it from that angle because there's enough noise and there's enough things to be overwhelmed with. Um be the let's say, take the road less traveled and

Register, Share Stories, Stay Connected

SPEAKER_02 27:00

think optimistically here because it could be the next big thing.

SPEAKER_01 27:04

Our last opportunity, we'll we'll close out with this is promoting the conference. Let's hype them up and get people to come to the conference. You want to promote us one more time before we wrap up?

SPEAKER_02 27:13

Absolutely. So uh BMW Supplier Exchange, May 13th. You can sign up now at BMW SuppliereExchange.com. Um, so registration will close. I'll say second and to end week of April. So we'll be wrapping those up. I hope to see you there.

SPEAKER_01 27:31

Thanks for everyone that that joined us that's following the podcast. Uh, until next time, Stephanie and I will sign off, but please tell someone about the conference. If you ever need to reach me, you can probably find both of us. I know for sure on LinkedIn. So look us up if you want to reach us, we're on LinkedIn and you can follow us or you can reach out to us on LinkedIn, and that's the best way. And you can go to my company's webpage. By the way, if you know someone that you think will add value to our audience and be a great guest, I'm always looking for people that will add value to our audience at any given time. Everything leadership, how do you help develop people is what the podcast is all about is developing the mint of others. Until next time, Stephanie and I will sign off. Thank y'all for staying with us. Y'all have a great one, and see you next time on Unpack with Ron Harvey.

SPEAKER_00 28:14

Well, we hope you enjoyed this edition of Unpack Podcast with leadership consultant Ron Harvey. Remember to join us every Monday as Ron Unpacks Sound Advice, providing real answers for real leadership challenges. Until next time, remember to add value and make a difference where you are or the people you serve. Because people always matter.