Ep. 23 Lindsey Yoder - The Maven of Company Culture

Discover the artful blend of commercial signage with company culture in today's podcast with Guest Lindsay Yoder, VP of Sales at Sign Arts Studio. Lindsay shares her inspiring entry into the signage industry, revealing how Sign Arts Studio merges creativity with practicality to produce signs that capture attention while meeting municipal codes. As we chat, Lindsay unfolds the story of their family-run business, emphasizing a service philosophy rooted in quality, client education, and a nuanced understanding of installation complexities. 

Join us on a journey through the transformative landscape of personal and professional mindset. I'll take you through the power of prioritizing daily tasks and the discipline required to achieve them, offering insights into how these practices afford a sense of accomplishment and control in the unpredictable whirlwind of life. Reflecting on the hard work as a blend of routine and discipline, I share personal experiences that have crafted my ethos and the importance of embracing life fully.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:03

Welcome to Heather Ewing, the CRE rundown. I am your host, heather Ewing, founder CEO of Abstract Commercial Real Estate here in lovely downtown Madison, Wisconsin, and today I have a real treat for you. I have Lindsay Yoder. She is the VP of Sales at Sine Arts Studio. Lindsay, welcome. Thank you for having me, heather. Definitely, it's a pleasure to be able to connect in this way. We're always connecting through social media, through various networking events or, of course, different referrals with your beautiful signs.

Speaker 2: 0:44

Thank you. Yes, it's been great to connect with you over the years, and you're just such a pleasure.

Speaker 1: 0:50

Thank you. So I've known you for years. But go ahead, share with the people viewing that are listening in. Tell them a little bit more about you.

Speaker 2: 0:59

Sure. So my name is Lindsay, as Heather mentioned, and I joined on with Sine Arts Studio about two and a half years ago. My husband founded the company. His name is Dan. It'll be 19 years this year, so we actually met. I sold him some advertising in my first sales career and now we're married.

Speaker 1: 1:28

Quite a sale Lindsay.

Speaker 2: 1:30

Yeah, it's pretty funny. My dad was a sign maker and owned a sign business and they say you marry someone like your dad and I did, and so as the company was growing and evolving, we were looking at what would be the best way to bring in these more opportunities and have more of a growth Kind of just like really being intentional with our growth and what is this going to look like. And I had a pretty successful career in sales and recently in the construction industry and was able to meet a lot of folks through that, and so Dan and I made the decision for me to come on board and it's been a wild ride but so much fun. And a lot of people asked me how do you work with your husband? How is that? It's actually pretty great.

Speaker 2: 2:28

We both have our own roles in the organization and that's really helpful. We really don't see each other a whole lot at work and we check in here and there and have conversations, maybe briefly in the evening because we have to shut it off. But it's been really great and I'm so grateful for the relationships that we've formed and just really being able to change the sign landscape in Madison and other areas. We actually just redid our mission and vision and company values, and our vision truly is to be the company that's changing the sign landscape and making a lasting impression on the communities we serve. And when we were very intentional with, like, what is our for Sinox Studio and what is our mission, and actually we've been sharing it with everybody in our team. We have about just under 30 full time team members now and it's been really fun. So that's who I am.

Speaker 1: 3:43

Well, I think one of the things is I'm a very artful person as well, with my oil painting for many, many years, and I think it's a different medium of art, but I really do love how you've crafted a niche within the market, and when I think of you and Dan and your team and Sinox Studio, I would say the two things that really surface for me is high quality, very unique signage and, additionally, one of the things why it's so easy to refer you to clients is that not only do you deliver, but additionally, I love the value add of service, and you really go above and beyond here with helping your clients understand and navigating all the municipal for them, which, if you're not familiar with the municipal, it's the last thing you want to touch. So it's really nice that you have incorporated that into your offering.

Speaker 2: 4:42

Yeah, absolutely, and that is a big part of the knowledge that we bring to the table. When it comes to the sign types. What does the municipal say when it comes to signs? And it's interesting because if somebody is, let's say, doing a renovation or a new building and plans are approved, this signage is something separate and we really know the ins and outs, and I think people appreciate that too, just knowing that we are knowledgeable, there and helping guide them with the best, what's going to suit them best when it comes to what they're able to do.

Speaker 2: 5:28

There's been folks that want multiple signs and we're like let's do this. I didn't think about that. I remember a couple of years ago, prior to me coming on, dan was telling me a story about a company he was working with in Madison that they wanted three signs. The municipal would allow these three signs, but he was like you don't need three signs, why don't you invest in this sign right here? And here's the value that it's going to bring, really talking about how we can implement the design elements to make it really stand out, because in some of the other areas they're really not going to be seen as much. So why invest the money into some of these areas. Let's make an impact here. And I remember she. I ran into her at an event and she's like I just want to tell you I love my sign and I'm so appreciative that Dan didn't sell me a sign I didn't need and, like she just and it is huge.

Speaker 2: 6:35

It's really helping people think of something outside the box that maybe they haven't thought, and that is, you know, something that I'm really proud of and like when I talk about Siner Studio and the value add that we bring is we are not a traditional sign company. We really bring in that artistic approach.

Speaker 1: 6:59

Right, and I think you know what you're sharing too, is the partnership of the unvarnished truth of yes, I could tell you three, but I'm choosing not to and here's why you want the one really high quality and how it will deliver and get you what you're looking for at a lesser price point. So I think that's where you really develop those long term relationships. It's not the sprint, it's the marathon. Right, absolutely yeah, extending that. Something else that I want to highlight that you do also and I think you started this, was it maybe a year and a half, two years ago? Was the the sign reveal parties? Yeah, I love it.

Speaker 2: 7:37

So yeah, that's that's been really fun and different.

Speaker 2: 7:40

And you know, one of one of the things I just, I just love connecting with people and that is like, like I am a I'm a people person and I just I love meeting all, all wake, all walks of life, you know. And so in my past, one of my you know things that we did were networking events, and you know, signs are a big deal and we can, we can have a lot of fun with it. Our first one that we did this was prior to me coming on board, but we we help work was the orphan sign, right, like that was. We shut down State Street, had to reroute buses and like it was. It was just so special to do a countdown and have people be a part of that and you know the video actually have it and I get kind of emotional about it and it's. You know we were really it was a, this was 2016. So we were a much smaller organization and but even you know, we we just did one with Lola's this year and that was. You know there's one of your clients, yeah, and that you know that that partnership that we have with Torian Matt is because of you. You know that relationship and that introduction first off with and with that, like that was, there was maybe like 4550 people, but it was in the parking lot and people from right over there and it was just so cool, like, and then you know it gets dark and you turn on the line for the first time. It's special and so that is something, along with you know, we really try to bring in. You know that as an you know added value to your sign experience. You know the overall flow of the project.

Speaker 2: 9:35

Really communicating before, during and after the project is, you know, a big intention for us. And you know there's there's never over communication. We never want somebody to ask us what's going on with our sign or when should I expect this? We're really going to be that responsive group and, like just today I actually had somebody that reached out and they're like we're interested in speaking with you about interior signs. You know they're a client that we've worked with quite a bit, general contractor and you know I'm I responded you know I don't wait two days and you know we are meeting up today.

Speaker 2: 10:14

You know, like obviously there was a hey, we have some time. Does this work? If not, let's look at next week. Here's some date options and they're like wow, I can't. Thank you so much. We've got this scheduled already and you know it just, it feels good to be able to.

Speaker 2: 10:28

We hear that a lot. You're really responsive, you communicate well and that's really important because that was a big mission when, when I came on board, you know we obviously know business is perfect and as you grow, there are challenges that you will face and you might drop the ball in some areas and it stinks when that happens, but you can. You can look in the mirror and do the right thing right and where we need to improve and we're doing it. And it's even the other day our sales team, which is small but mighty we were just talking about looking back six months ago to where we are today and what we've implemented in is working and it feels good and we're aligned and customers are giving us feedback that it feels good to work with us and that is just awesome.

Speaker 1: 11:25

That's the benchmark right, but you're crushing it by day. Thank you, huge kudos to you and team. So how do you balance that? How do you utilize mindset and also fitness? I know you've been really revamping a lot of different things in life and it's so fun to watch the evolution and, obviously, the alignment, because so many people are off on different tangents because they're not super focused, whereas I think a large part of you your and Dan's and team's success is because you're really focused. So how does mindset and physicality play into that for you?

Speaker 2: 12:04

So mindset is huge and I will tell you that it's not always easy and I will be spulenja if I say that it's the easiest thing and I got it figured out.

Speaker 2: 12:16

But I do know that for me, mindset is your attitude and how you approach situations.

Speaker 2: 12:23

Right, it's like really like I worked with a business coach life coach prior to coming on with Dan and the big takeaway for me was you can't control the situation, but you can control how you respond, and that has guided me a lot, right, like you can't control what that person's going to do, you can't control what traffic is going to be, I can't control how my husband's going to respond to something, but I can control the way I respond. And that's been huge. I mean, it's so simple and in business moments, right, like not being reactive to situations, like there might be an issue, maybe a client is not happy, maybe a project is not going well, it happens. But if we can really do a check in with our attitude and how we approach the situation, it's really going to be a better outcome. And you know, in regards to like the working out, it's it's not just about the Like I got. I want to. You know, I want to get a six pack or something like that.

Speaker 2: 13:45

It's truly help with my mind that and give myself the time that I deserve for me and, I think, as a younger woman, when I first started in my sales career, I didn't give myself time and that will cause burnout and You're gonna feel crazy and you know, like really and so, and I've been there and it's like I used to feel guilty To like, oh my gosh, if I take this time for me, like you know, I have three kids and you know it was like that was so insane.

Speaker 2: 14:25

And it isn't saying because I know a lot of people like that now. So, if you're listening to this, make the time for you and Heather, I tell you this all the time. You have been a huge inspiration for me and I know Men and women. You know just the power of the mindset and the focus, and you know the other thing too that is really help, helpful for me is Prioritizing the tasks that you need to do in a day. Right, that's simple. Little check-in like Makes me feel really in control of how my day is gonna go right.

Speaker 1: 15:02

Well, and I think that's where to, if you know, I like to call it my, my top three Right of really what are the three things?

Speaker 1: 15:10

and then doing those right away, because then no matter what, what unexpected surprises might unfold later in the day, you've got your top three, you can feel accomplished because you are accomplished, and it's also Reconciling that it's never all going to be done and be okay with that. And so, to your point, the prioritization and I think something Joining to that is discipline, because if you prioritize but you don't stay disciplined and and really Work on the things that you need to and not take the calls, not go into the email, you know all these little distractions that that is a huge empowering force for good for people and so I agree I don't you know, I'm by far, far from perfect as well, but it does feel good to see a positive trajectory and I think, like you're saying, what you focus on grows, yeah, and I see it as little seedlings of where do you want to plant your seeds?

Speaker 1: 16:10

And there's always gonna be days that we deem rough and other days that were really simple and things fell into your lap and it all just happened and it's really Seen the end goal. And that's where you know me with marathons of it's a marathon, it's not a sprint, and also have the mindset that there's going to be challenges in life and that's just life it is.

Speaker 2: 16:32

and to your point about discipline, it's funny, you know, thinking back to Some of the people that you know I've had in my life, that you know leaders from other, you know I've never I've not had a lot of careers.

Speaker 2: 16:45

I've had two sales jobs and now here, since I've been, my early 20s and One of the things that really you know sticks with me is when you define hard work, how do you define that? Really hard work is Discipline and routine. When you think about it, and that was something that you know was said to me at a really young age that I really think helped instill a really great worth, that work ethic, within me. But it comes from the discipline and routine that I bring in to every day and again. I'm not perfect, but it's, you know it's, it's it's being intentional with that and it's really served me well in as I've grown in my career and you know the business that I'm in and it's Did. Life is not easy, so those are things that are controllable and have worked pretty well.

Speaker 1: 17:46

I agree. So my last question for you, my dear, and this is always the big one, right what does living fully mean to you?

Speaker 2: 17:57

You know, really finding, for me, living fully is embracing the life experiences that we have Some are going to be good, some are not going to be good and it's about evolving personal growth.

Speaker 2: 18:15

You know like growth, growth and change are going to have, like change is going to happen and, you know, looking at the change, you know you think back, like I was just with some girlfriends this past weekend and we we literally have been friends for, you know, 18 years. We started our sales careers together. We actually most of the girls work at the same two companies and you know it's so cool to see how each one of those women and myself have personally grown and the things that we've done as we've changed through the years. And you know, being able to make those meaningful connections with people is, I think, living fully, like meeting new people, putting yourself out there. It can be nerve wracking, but I will tell you, it is so incredible what it can do when you put yourself out there, be authentic and, you know, open to new possibilities and just really making the most in each day.

Speaker 1: 19:19

Well, that is beautifully said and with that, Lindsay, thank you so much for coming on and talking with me today and sharing yourself and also Sign Art Studio with my viewers Definitely. And please do share. How can people connect with?

Speaker 2: 19:34

you. I love connecting on LinkedIn. I do a lot on LinkedIn, more so than any other social media platform. That would be my suggestion. Perfect, all right, thank you so much, lindsay. Thanks again for having me on Heather. I really appreciate it. You bet. Bye-bye, bye-bye.