Want to push yourself to greater heights in business and leadership? Join Matt Edmundson as he talks with Glenn Poulos, a serial entrepreneur who built and sold multiple successful companies by mastering the art of human connection. From getting his sales team out of the office and in front of customers, to leveraging AI while maintaining the personal touch, Glenn shares actionable insights for anyone looking to grow their business and deepen their impact. Discover how combining timeless leadership principles with modern tools can help you achieve greater success and meaning in your entrepreneurial journey.

---

Key Takeaways

Leadership requires maintaining the human touch, even as technology advances. Glenn emphasizes that while AI and digital tools are valuable, they should enhance rather than replace personal relationships. True leadership means being present with your team and customers, creating genuine connections that technology alone cannot replicate.

Success comes from being "a pleasure to do business with." Glenn built his business around this principle, ensuring every interaction, from answering phones to meeting clients, focused on creating positive experiences. This approach not only drove business growth but created lasting relationships that transcended traditional business boundaries.

Growing businesses requires strategic thinking about equity and partnerships. Glenn shares valuable insights about when to partner, when to go solo, and how to make smart decisions about sharing equity. His experience selling multiple companies provides practical wisdom for entrepreneurs looking to scale their businesses.

Personal growth and business success are interconnected. Glenn's story demonstrates how maintaining interests outside of business - from DJing to pickleball - contributes to overall leadership effectiveness and personal fulfillment. His commitment to continuous learning, especially with emerging technologies like AI, shows how leaders can stay relevant while honoring timeless principles.

---

If this episode of Push to be More piqued your interest make sure to keep up to date with everything we do here on the Push to be More Podcast.

---

Links referenced in this episode:

• pushtobemore.com
• podjunction.com
• glennpoolis.com

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• NWS
• Podjunction
• Gap Wireless

Well, hello and welcome to Push to Be More with me, your host, Matt Edmundson. We're going to get into another one of those stories. Yes, we are. We're going to get into a conversation with Glenn Poulos from NWS.

We're going to be getting to all kinds of stuff with Glenn. Yes, we are. But before we do, let me just give a quick shout out to the website.

If you've not been before, go check it out, pushtobemore.com if you haven't done so already, go sign up to the newsletter because we will email you all the show notes and the transcript from our conversations.

They get sent straight to your inbox, which is a wonderful thing because all the conversations are phenomenal, which is no pressure, obviously, on today's guest. Now, before we get into the conversation, let me just shout out to Podjunction who sponsor this show.

If you are looking to use podcasting in your own business to sort of do marketing, to grow your network, whatever it is, if you're like me, you run your own business. You love podcasting, you love chance. People like Glenn have a podcast. Why would you not? Go talk to the guys at Podjunction.

They will help you get set up and established in the right way and just make sure success from day one. So do go check out podjunction.com they will be happy to help you.

Okay, so let's talk about Glenn, the co founder and VP of Gap Wireless, a top distributor in the mobile broadband and test equipment market. He's got over 30 years of experience with sales. Oh yes he has.

He's built multiple successful companies, authored the award winning book 'Never Sit in the Lobby: 57 Winning Sales Factors to Grow a Business and Build a Career Selling'.

So when he's not sharing sales wisdom or leading his team, apparently Glenn likes a bit of the old hiking, skiing and playing pickleball near his home in Ontario. Pickleball, which is such a great word. Glenn, welcome to the show, man. How you doing?

Hey man, thank you so much for having me.

Oh, it's good to have you.

I'm doing well.

Yeah, yeah, good, good. Pickleball. How did you get into pickleball?

And it's now one of the fastest growing sports. Right. So it's very competitive, but I mean, you can really play at any level.

And so even if your level goes up or down, you can always find a crowd to play with. And, you know, I think it's, you know, it's become a professional sport now as well, and exciting game, easy to play, and it's a great workout. And.

Yeah, so just all around fun, you know.

Oh, good.

It's a lot easier than tennis, let's call it. Let's say that.

So, again, so I'm told, I've never actually played pickleball.

It's been one of those things where I've heard a lot about it, you know, and a lot of people do it and play it, but I've never, for whatever reason, I've never actually had a go. I don't know if it's as big over here, but, yeah, I should definitely, definitely try. Would be a worthwhile venture.

Well, listen, let me start off, Glenn, by asking you the question I love to ask everybody at the start of the show, not about pickleball, but about podcasts. As you know, this show sponsored by the powerful Podjunction people who are perfect at promoting podcasting.

And I can't think of the next word beginning with Pete, but I'm sure there's another one out there. You actually have a podcast, don't you? Profit Power. Two P's, Profit Power.

More P's.

Profit Powers.

So maybe you've already had this guest on your show, but we do like to ask if you could have anybody on your podcast, past or present, that you can sit down for an hour with and just have a good old chin wag. The only caveat being that they've had to have had a big influence on your life. Who would you talk to and why?

Right now, I probably pick Lex Friedman. You know, I mean, he's got his own podcast. He interviews all the top people.

I probably wouldn't get the top people, you know, the Sam Altmans and the Elon Musks and, you know, people like that and which are all sort of on my radar for. I'm following a lot of things on AI lately and how to adopt it and implement it into the businesses and.

But I just feel like he's on the forefront of lots of complex topics and he appeals to a broad audience.

So, yeah, he, he, you know, he's got a wonderful show as himself and, you know, I'm not sure how many times he's guest versus versus host, but yeah, I'd have to. I. Today I'd pick him, so.

Interesting. Interesting.

No one's ever mentioned him before and I get it because, you know, I'd be fascinated that with someone that has a successful podcast, like hyper successful, and just talking to them about what they found, you know. Yeah, people like Jordan Peterson, he has a really successful podcast, doesn't he?

He does.

Who's the guy that's got the most famous podcast? Yeah, yeah.

And people like that, whether I agree with their politics or not, I, I would just be really intrigued to, to so just to pick their brains about the whole thing. I think it would be really quite fascinating, wouldn't it? And just learn from them because these guys have seen stuff that I've.

And experienced stuff that I never will, you know, in many ways, and I think it would be quite fascinating. How did you get into podcasting?

And then I started getting into attending and sort of podcasts or being a guest on podcasts in promotion of the book and you know, the building of the obligatory brand which is now required for such things. And. Yeah, and then I, you know, I, you know, kind of enjoy the, you know, the process and the, and, and being interviewed and what have you.

And I thought, you know, I can also, you know, put my own spin on interviewing other people. And so I just thought, hey, you know, in addition to being a guest, you know, I'd also like to be a host. Right.

And, and so, yeah, and so that's how I got into it.

I picked Profit Powerhouse because, I mean, I work with a lot of entrepreneurs and you know, a lot of, A lot of people that are trying to become entrepreneurs, listen, listen to me and talk to me and want to collaborate and what have you. And so that's the kind of message that I'm sharing.

People that are building, you know, seven and eight figure type businesses and you know, the steps they took, where they're at and stuff like that.

Do you enjoy it? Do you enjoy the podcast?

Yeah, yeah. I had to take a few weeks off because I, I sold the company, right. The NWS Gap Wireless that I worked for.

So I've just got on pause for a few weeks and, and so it's, it's a lot more work than I realized to host. It is than to attend, to be a guest. Yeah.

And the back end, of course, is a lot and you know, but I mean, I'm really, you know, I'm really well entrenched in, in adopting agents and AI type tools into my day to day and I found it invaluable for preparing for a really thought provoking interview with each one of the guests by using AI to help me. And because, I mean they, I could come up with the same questions, but it's just so much faster. Right.

And, and so I, I was really enjoying how that, you know, how that was playing out because I can upload entire, you know, sort of not the entire history, but I mean, you know, people's media kits and their website and their LinkedIn and put all this together and say, look, you know, I want to talk about this subject, you know. Yeah, can we. With 40 minutes of questions, you know, to get, to get some thought provoking conversation going. Right.

And I mean, it would take me hours to come up with that. Right. And I can come up with it in 10 minutes and then I can, you know, curate it and I still have to deliver the content.

So again, it's just a tool, right. And, but in, you know, in the right, in the right hands or whatever, it's invaluable.

And so have you found, I mean, your, your expertise and knowledge, Glenn is obviously in selling. That's what you have done for a long time. Your books about sales.

I mean, I started probably my sales career, let me think, in the mid-90s, so probably about 10 years behind you. And I, I still think even at that point I'd done quite a lot of sales and my influences were all the old school sales guys, right?

Zig Ziglar, for example, love that guy. You listen to everything that that guy had to say. Then there's been this massive technology shift.

You know, you, we had the Internet, we had email, now we have AI. Do you think AI is, I mean, you're obviously using it for your podcast. How do you see it with things like old school sales?

Is it impacting it in a good way, in a bad way? Just in a way. I'm curious to know your thoughts.

Well, you know, it's kind of like, it's kind of like the. I'll give you a bit of a convoluted answer and the. But it's a tool, right?

And so, you know, when you put tools like drills and saws and levels in my hand, you don't end up with a masterpiece construction because I'm a crappy carpenter. Right? And so putting the best tools from Milwaukee or whatever in my hands and saying, build a house, not going to happen. Right?

And so, you know, I'm not going to be able to use AI to build me a house either. Right.

Like, and so, because I'm taking the tool and putting it in the hands of the expert who's then taking that tool and becoming a more powerful version of them himself. Right? And that's the way I see AI. Right?

With the same, the opposite, though. I'd say old school stuff applies more now than it ever has done.

More than ever. Right, Yeah, I totally agree.

Because, you know, people argue, well, I can do it over Zoom and I don't need to make sales calls and I don't need to be in front of the customer. Customer. And I'm like, okay, great, so let's say your business is super successful, you're doing hundreds of millions of dollars, and guess what?

The company decides you're getting a jet. You get to buy a jet.

And it's like, okay, I'd love to invite you on a Zoom call where you can then take a virtual flight on your 50 million dollar plane.

And then you can virtually meet the, the captain, the co, the co pilot, you know, and the flight attendants, and they'll gladly give you a virtual walkthrough of the plane. And then you can give me $50 million and I will send you a plane. Right? And I'm like, well, no, I'd like to go on a test flight. Oh, okay.

So then I guess selling is important, right?

Like, the whole point is that you have to, you know, when people are buying things they want to buy from people, they want to touch it, feel it, see it, and you know, and as a salesperson, if you're not in front of the customer with those with the products, then you don't know who's there.

Who is there in front of the customer with the Products because I can guarantee you somebody is and that's probably the person that's getting the order. Right. So yeah, the, my whole thing is about how to get, act and stay in front of your customer and be a pleasure to do business with always.

That's the whole thing I'm trying to build and I'll use every tool in the game in order to do it right.

Some of the times I'm on the phone, email, you know, text messaging, visiting, dropping by, you know, but ultimately one of the things is getting in front of the customers and that's really what I call selling and that's what I'm paying my top salespeople to do is to be in front of the customers. And everything else for me is marketing and, and I'm glad. I'll gladly use every tool available today to give me the. An advantage. Right?

Yeah, yeah, it's, it's, it's a powerful thing, isn't it? I mean, I, yeah. My expertise I suppose is E commerce.

And I'm often asked, you know, about online marketing, you know, what's the latest tool, what's the latest gadget, what's the latest silver bullet? It is usually in essence what people are asking, is there a shortcut to go and find, you know, a million dollars in extra revenue somewhere?

And my, my go to answer because I get asked that question a lot. My go to answer is actually there's no point in us having this conversation until you have mastered old school principles.

Because if you've, if you've not done those well on an E commerce website, I don't think you, you might, you might luck out and sell a whole bunch of stuff on TikTok shop because that's the latest fad, that's the latest trend. But there's no longevity in your business. You know, you're, you're going to be around for a little while. You're like a firework kind of a thing.

And it's the businesses which master this sort of the. I, I love this phrase, old school. You know, this sort of the old school principles of what Zig Ziglar called the know like and trust.

You know, do they know you? Do they like you? Do they trust you? Yes or no? If the answer to those questions is no. Hang on, why do you mean?

And so I think, I think it's really interesting talking to you because I like you. I think these things should have, they're, they're the principles.

Like someone said to me the other day, what's a book you would Recommend still to this day, you know, you would really want your kids to read I'm like, How to Make Friends and Influence people. Right. Straight up. Do you mean it's a great book. It's like, go learn that. Inwardly digest it. You're like, well, it was written a while ago.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But the principles are still the same and people are still the same and psychology is still the same.

So just go read that book and inwardly learn that book. What is it that you think we're losing with this?

Sound like a real old fart now, and forgive me if I am, but what is it you think we're losing with all this latest tech?

Well, I would say we're at the risk of losing.

I don't want to say that we are losing it, but I mean, we are definitely at the risk of losing people's ability to get, get in front of the customers because they think that they can do it all virtually. Right. And I always like to joke that, you know, the, in the, in the sales department, all the chairs, the nails are pointing up. Right?

And so that basically when you sit down, the chairs are not comfortable. And I don't want you in the office. I need you out front of customers. And, and they're like, oh, but I can send an email.

And you know, I'm like, oh, you sent an email. Did they answer you? And, and, and they're like, no. And I go, what'd you do next? So I called, I go, what did he say? He goes, well, he didn't answer.

I go, what'd you do? I left a voicemail. Oh, okay. Did he call you back?

No, he didn't back, like, oh, okay, so you've sent an email, you didn't respond, you've called him, he hasn't phoned you back. So basically, you know, nothing's happened. Right. Like, and, and so I need you to somehow figure out a way of getting in front of that customer. Right.

And, and I mean, there's, there's obviously lots of tricks and, and sales training that you give people to help them to do that. But, but, but I mean, we're at risk of thinking that we can do things automated. I can get the AI to answer my phones for me. And, and you know, and I.

Funny as I got a call this morning from an AI it was, it fascinating and, and, and, and frightening and, and infuriating all at the same time. Right. But it was insanely well, well done. Like, I don't know what system they're using.

Yeah.

And it was for an AI type event that I signed up for. And I could just tell because there were a couple of pauses and things.

And, you know, and it was asking me, are you going to be on the call tomorrow at 8:00am Pacific? And I said, well, no, the calls at 9:00am Pacific. And.

And then it started interacting with me and it figured out that I was actually involved, enrolled in a different course and stuff, and then confirmed that I was coming. And it, the pause has gotten narrow, tighter and tighter as it like. And I was thinking, oh my God, this is incredible. And the voice was so natural.

Like, yeah, it was the pauses at the beginning that. That triggered me that it was AI. Right, right. But I was thinking, oh my God, like, this is amazing.

And I mean, they're calling thousands of people to get on these seminars, right? And. And so AI is invaluable.

Like, you know, if I was doing a seminar to my customers, I would probably still call them personally because I really need to get them to attend. And it's not as many people. Right. And. But, but, you know, so in some cases you can use the tools to, to get the job done, but.

But not at the risk of the personal touch. Right. And because the, the businesses that.

I would always, you know, tell people the humorous story that when you hit, you know, when you pound zero a bunch of times on, you know, when you get mad and you want to get to an operator and just go 0,000, that would immediately send the call to me. And we had almost 200 people at our company at the end. Right. So it's a lot of people, you know, other than me, that could be taking the call. Right.

And then someone's like, oh, I need, you know, help with this. It's broken or something, you know, this and that. I'm like, okay, well, I'm the.

I'm the president or I'm the owner or whatever I can, I can probably give you. And they're like, I'm talking to the owner. And this was back maybe when I owned the business, but I, I did sell it a couple years ago, but.

And people were always amazed by that.

And you know, and so, you know, those are really important aspects of operating a business to Me and I wouldn't want to lose those, you know, in fear of, you know, using too much automation. Right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a really powerful point, isn't it?

Because I think we've got so used to working remotely, you know, I can do everything from my four screen supercomputer around me and, and actually just getting out and seeing people still one of the most powerful things you can do. Just.

Yeah.

This is where actually I find podcasting really a unique mechanism because I can. I found in the past how I got started in podcasts, Glenn.

They didn't want to deal with any more Internet accounts.

Yeah.

And so I tried to call the CEO. So, you know, my team called their team. Nothing was going on.

I thought, well, maybe if the me as the guy that owns a business calls their guy that owns the business, maybe we can do this sort of a bit, you know, a bit more on those terms. He wouldn't. I couldn't get through the. The receptionist, she was just brilliant, you know, I did. None of it was happening.

And that's when I had this brain fart and just thought, well, you know what? I called him up. We just literally had started a podcast like a few months before and we called the company. I said, listen, it's Matt here.

I'm just calling because we have this podcast called whatever it was called, and I would love if the CEO would come on this beauty podcast and just talk about the state of the beauty industry. I don't know if he'd be interested in that, but we would love to have him and talk to him for about an hour or so.

I get put straight through to this guy. So whereas before there was a complete, you know, blockage, I get put straight through to the guy didn't mention anything about our company.

He knew who I was and I was just like, listen, dude, we've got this podcast. This is what it's about. These are the kind of things that we would love to talk to you about. Are you game for it Is like, totally.

So we set a time, he comes on the podcast. This was back in the day when I. I mean, I don't really know what I'm doing now, but I definitely didn't know what I was doing back then.

And we must have talked for around two hours. And we put that guest out there.

I don't know if anybody listened to that podcast, but what I do know is he and I had such a great time by the end of that call that we had to record the podcast. I had the contract that I couldn't get before because the podcast had opened the door, and it created an opportunity.

And this is where I think face to face work really, really works really well. It creates an opportunity to have a much better conversation.

Yeah.

And a much more real conversation. Whereas email doesn't allow me to do that in so many ways. Zoom doesn't really allow you to do that.

And I know podcasting is a little bit like Zoom, but when you come on a podcast, you expect to be vulnerable quite quickly. I don't expect to do that if I'm on a Zoom call and you're demoing a bit of software for me.

Right.

And so there's something about creating this environment, creating this space where really good conversation can happen.

Yes.

That seems to work, whether that's in person or whether it's like what we're doing now with the podcast.

Yeah, yeah. No, that was a genius strategy that you used. And, and if someone had, often people challenge me to ask me that question, like, how would I get into.

How would I get that CEO on the line or what have you. Because I want to sell those products or something. And, and, and my suggestion would have been something.

You know, it wouldn't have been that, like the podcasting thing, because that's not sort of my. Maybe now it would be. But I mean, over the years. But, but the same.

I use the same philosophy, like, the same science behind what you were doing with the podcast is you're moving the. As my dad would say, you're putting the emphasis on the opposite syllable. Right. And. And so.

And you're shifting it from being, you know, needing something to providing him something. Right. And so. And, you know, and, you know, and you're.

You're feeding into his, you know, his needs a little bit more in terms of giving him an audience and, and, you know, and his. And building his brand. And obviously, so, you know, now he's coming from a different perspective, which allows you to then get what you need later.

Right.

Yeah.

And I always, with other sales scenarios, like how else would I do it, is I would become the best salesman for the company that I want to sell to. In other words.

So, you know, common thing that I do use, and I talk about this in the book several times, is, you know, finding business for my customer. Right. And that's by learning my customers product as good or better than they learn it.

And then I look for ways of, of, of of bringing together other aspects so that I can, I can call the sales manager, the vice president of sales and say hey look, I found this really good opportunity for you. Such and such. I thought you, you know, I wanted to reach out for you. I reach out to you and da, da, da.

And by the way, you know, also need an inroad to your vice president of engineering and, and he's like, okay, well why don't you drop by and then I'll introduce you face to face and blah, blah, blah, you know. And so, and it works, it works amazing. Right. And, and so I share that, I share that technique a lot actually.

Again, this is old school principles, isn't it? You're actually, what you're doing is you're creating value for them.

Yeah, yeah. You've, you've, it's hard to do that remotely. Right. And that's why I always want to get in the door, get behind, you know, get into the lobby.

Don't sit in the lobby. Right. Never sit in the lobby. It's the name of the book. And then get behind the lobby door and learn what's really happening at the business. Right.

And understand where you really figure, figure stuff out.

Right. I, I get the emails. I don't know if you get them, Glenn.

Quite a lot from companies going, oh we, you, you know, love what you're doing with the company. Company. They have no idea who I am. Right. But they would, they love what you do with the company.

And we, you know, we've had a look at your website and we think we've found five ways that you could improve that website. Give us a call to discuss. I'm like, you lie right straight off the bat, you're telling me a lie. I don't trust you.

Yeah.

You're waiting for me to call you, then you're going to go away and figure out five things about my website that I could improve. But I think it's much better to go, hey, Matt, listen, I know we've never met.

Here's five things that we found about your website that we think if you fix them straight away that would have a big impact. Here's what they are. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Presented in a nice, you know, simple way that I can understand it.

If you'd like to talk to us about any of these things, we'd love to chat with you. No questions asked. Definitely no pressure. We're a web company. We just love to help people do much better on the website, on the Internet.

And if that's you, then great. But I think it's that whole delivering value like you say, isn't it? It's that we're going to be super, super helpful.

And lying is never a way to get me to believe you're going to be super, super helpful, you know, but yeah, you're trying to. Because again, this is AI, isn't it? Oh, we found your name. We'll mail merge it with your company name and it sort of looks a bit more personal.

Yeah, I would follow up that email as well. And I would say, you know, hey, Jack, you know, I, I sent you that email with those five tips. I actually found another tip.

You know, I'm hoping I get maybe 15 minutes on your calendar, you know, and I leave a voicemail. Never less than 20 seconds, never more than seconds. Get straight to the point.

Add something of, you know, that will appeal to his sense of, of greed as well as I call it, right. That he can get something out of it and our desire to. And then he may or may not call me back.

But then I'll say, you know, I'll follow up my email in a few days. And then now I've had the email, then the phone call, then the email, then maybe another. And, you know, it takes some usually seven times, right.

To break through the, the mental paradigm. But I mean, just sending those emails can be really challenging.

I mean, I tell a lot of people, you know, in the company that I just left, I got so many emails that basically I had to go through the process of the first I would see the email and it was like, can I delete this email without getting fired? Yeah, right, Delete. Right.

And so, because, I mean, there was just so many of those things that you're talking about, I couldn't even open them or look at the preview of them. And I mean, it would just be like, no, delete, delete, delete. I'm not getting fired for, for these ones, right?

Yeah, yeah, you got to have to come up with a better way of getting a hold of me, right?

And, and they, you know, and so, you know, there are some people, like the cyber guys or whatever, it's like, oh, by now you must have been hacked by the, you know, the Russian hackers or whatever, because you're not answering any of my emails. But this is my last time I'm reaching out to you or something, you know, and I'm like, you know, no, we all. We already have the cyber stuff. Right.

Like, yeah, so, yeah, it's a. It is a bit of an art though, too, you know. Yeah. What you have to do. But yeah.

Well, I feel like we've just gone and put the walls to rights on sale, on selling, so, you know, which is great. You've obviously had quite a. A long career in this whole arena you've built your company, sold it.

I'm curious, Glenn, what's the biggest challenge you've had to face?

Well, the.

So the biggest challenges that I've had to face were obviously the people were always the biggest challenge, but that's kind of an easy, easy go to one. Right. So, you know, not following the advice of hire slowly, fire fast. Right? Fire fast, hire slowly.

It'll take a long time to hire someone, but if they're wrong, get rid of them right away. Right?

Yeah.

And if somebody asked me, you know, when do I know if I should fire a guy? And I'm like, well, have you ever thought of firing them? And they're like, well, yeah, I mean, I'm like, well, when was the first time?

And they're like, well, last, you know, last February, when, you know, that's when you should have done it last February, because it never gets any better. Right. And so the people is always a challenging thing. But, I mean, I don't have a magic bullet for hiring all the best people.

But, but if you do adopt the slowly, fast methodology, you don't keep the bad performers and set a. Set a poor example for, you know, because you set a baseline of, of expectation.

And it, and the, you know, the, it creates a rising tide of the, of expectation for everyone else in the business. Like, oh, this guy came on, he was a bum. I saw he was a bum. Hey, guess what? The boss thought he was a bum and we fired him. Right? So I better step up.

Right? And so, so that, that helps a lot.

The other thing, the biggest challenge was there were, you know, there was a time, one time where I don't know if you're looking for something specific or just in general. Right.

But I mean, there was one time at the business where we had two divisions and we let, we let a division manager break a cardinal rule, which was to make a decision that could bankrupt the company. Right? Like, we don't allow decisions to be made that could bankrupt the company. You know what I mean?

Like, yeah, buy this, invest in that, you know, something, something. And that. The. If that went sour, that you would be bankrupt and, you know, through a series of decisions that he had made.

We were dangerously close to, you know, and so I made that mistake.

And then, you know, the, the biggest challenge for an entrepreneur is you, you know, you have to, you have to be good at becoming kind of a general manager. And you know, and the title I always had at the business was, was VP and GM and then executive VP and gm, but always maintain that GM title. Right.

Because to me the GM is the guy who's responsible for everything.

Every department funnels into the general manager, finance, operations, sales, marketing, it, customer service, all of it funnel into the general manager. He's responsible for everything. And, and the biggest challenge for me was I had to come up to finance for the non finance CEO. You know what I mean?

Like that whole course, you, you have to understand cash flow, you have to understand credit, your loans, your covenants with the bank, you know, when to spend, when to pay off, you know, all that stuff. And it doesn't come naturally to everybody. I mean some people are just eagle eyed on it. I wasn't, I had to, it was a learned skill for me.

And so the biggest challenge for me was overcoming my lack of innate, you know, finance accounting background with just brute force learning of, of what it, what it was. Right. And spending time with the finance people, you know, to stay on top of it rather than taking them at their word or what have you.

And so those are some of the challenges that I had had.

And did you have throughout your journey, did you have like a partner to work through this with or were you just the sole owner and found it quite a lonely space.

Yeah.

The only thing is, is that if you have a partner and you're 50, 50 and you sell the business for 10 million, you only get 5.

Yeah.

And if you're Canadian, the government takes a huge chunk of it. So now you're down, you know what I mean? 3 and then you pay HST on it and that's 15% off the top of everything.

Before you know it, your 10 million becomes too, right?

Yeah.

And, and so you know, you have to be very careful about equity and, and don't give away any equity which you can buy the talent, you know what I mean? Like if you need like say a cfo, then you don't need to bring in a guy, give him 50 of the business because he's a smart money guy, right?

Yeah.

You can hire them as a cfo. If you can't afford them, hire a fractional cfo.

Yeah.

Right.

So, so honestly like I left the business that I had sold with my partner, we did almost three years with the private equity we left and now I bought a new business, this one, I bought 100. And I'm taking the last 30 years of experience of running these two businesses and I'm doing it myself this time and with no partners.

So that's where I'm at as of today.

Yeah, it's an interesting, interesting to hear you talk because I, I, most of my business life I've had partners over the various seasons and I found that immensely helpful at times.

But I think if I, if I was ever not going to have a business partner, it would probably be sort of now onwards really, because I feel like, I don't know, maybe my experiences, I don't think it makes me cocky. Maybe it does, I don't know. But it, I think having had the experience that I've had, I just feel a lot more comfort, comfortable in my own skin.

In terms of running a business, maybe.

Yeah, me too.

So what have you bought?

Yeah, so I bought a company, of course. I had a very, very elaborate and I'll compete selling my business to private equity.

So I had to change, I had to change industries, technologies and countries. So I moved, I moved from Toronto to Florida.

I changed from telecom to power generation, but I bought the exact same kind of a business and it sells high end instrumentation to the power generation and distribution.

So the, you know the companies that deliver you electricity, right, they generate and deliver you electricity and I've never really worked with that kind of business, but the, the cycle of being buying a distributor that buys products from around the world, imports them into a country, you know, and then repacks them and sells them to domestic customers. That's the business I understand I've ran for. You know, I started in 85, so I'm now at like 40 years. Right.

And, and so I can apply all the principles that I know about running a successful distributorship, you know, to an established business. But I'm, but I'm on side for all my covenants of, of having sold my telecom company in Canada.

And, and so, and of course there's only six or seven people in the company, so I'm really going Back to, back 18 years from, from when I started Gap Wireless, and it really was the most exciting time and I'm, you know, more energized than ever.

And you know, you know, it just, every day brings sort of something new now and I'm quite excited about what the future, you know, brings, you know, and, you know, I, I did pretty good when I sold the company, so it's not, it's not like everything's on the line or anything, but it's still, you know, I'm only 62, so, you know, I, you know, I'm also taking it very seriously about this. My last sort of last kick at the can.

And, yeah, and, but yeah, so I'm enjoying it and, and the weather's a little better than it is in Canada right now, but.

Yeah, no doubt right now. Oh, okay.

Yeah, this week's kind of crap, kind of cracker, but yeah.

So what do you, I mean, you, you, I mean, I, I get why you would move down to Florida from Toronto and I, I, I, I can see the different climates, different countries, different cultures. Maybe you've just, yeah, Canada's just gone and lost their, your Prime Minister, haven't you? Yes, someone explained it to me.

A Canadian guy who lives in the UK said, we have lost Jeremy Corbyn and we have got Boris Johnson or something like. No, no, Nigel Farage was what it was.

Yeah, we've lost someone completely on the left and gained someone completely on the right, which I thought I find fascinating, but, yeah, I'm, I'm curious. What do you, what do you do to stay sharp? What do you do to fill your tank, you know, to recharge your batteries?

How do you stay on top of your own game?

Yeah, so I'm also, believe it or not, I'm a charity dj. And the reason it's called a charity DJ is because I don't charge a lot of money.

But Since I've been 17 years old, I've been DJing events and things like that and so on a regular basis. And it's like, well, how do you find clients? And I said, well, when you don't charge a lot of money, believe me, they find you.

There's lots of, lots of opportunities I have to turn down more than I can accept. But, and so, yeah, I mean, my latest, my biggest recent gig was of course New Year's Eve, but it was a huge event.

It was in Canada, it was in Toronto and it was downtown and there were a lot of people super fun.

And, and I mean, you know, and they, that, that group, which is a charity and, and they, they've reached out to me with five more dates over the next 18 months. Like, could you do any of these events? Right.

And, and, and so I, I love DJing and playing around with music tech and you know, I'm kind of the, of the, on the geeky side for playing with, you know, technology kind of stuff.

Okay.

And, and then, you know, I do play pickleball, you know, a little bit.

The, you know, in Canada we have a place we call it up north, which is kind of in the cottage country, so love, love going and it's, it's in Blue Mountain, so it's nice there. And in here in Florida, we, we're only a few minutes from the beach and can take the dogs there.

So I love to go to the beach with the dogs and walk around, but nothing a lot, much more complicated than that.

And the, you know, and I'm, you know, I'm always fascinated on different things, you know, about the business and, yeah, and, and, and you know, I'm really, really hyper fascinated with AI right now.

So I'm overwhelmed at the, at this pace with the tools are coming out, trying to, trying to look at what, what it's going to look like in a year or two from now coming back. Because I mean, you know, there's, there's video and graphics and audio tools. Every kind of tool. There's 10 a day coming out. Right.

So how is it going to roll up and get, you know.

Yeah, get all absorbed into probably four or five main companies that are offering, you know, super packages or something, you know, that companies can use. And so, yeah, so I'm, I'm playing around on the side a bit with that as well.

Well, I see you're a busy man. Can I ask, do you have any regrets?

Yeah, well, yeah, I don't know. That's a good question. But the, you know, I'm not sure I would have done anything differently, honestly.

But you know, I mean, the, the, you know, you know, it's not like I've had a, like a flawless personal life, you know, I mean, I, I, you know, I've had a divorce and things like that and you know, could I hand, could I have done things differently in those regards? And those, when you ask me that kind of question, those are the kind of Questions that pop up. Right. Work wise? No, not, not really at all.

Like, I mean, unfortunately, I had good partners. I mean, do we always make the right moves? No. But in the end it all worked out and you know, and so no regrets in that regard.

But it's, you know, it's, you know, I've always, you know, I'm always questioning, you know, I've always been. Have I always lived the best life and been the best parent and best partner and stuff like that. Right.

So, yeah, I'm always questioning myself in that regard.

Yeah. It's an interesting one, isn't it?

I think most people that run businesses do because you, you devote so much time and energy to the business and there are just some days where you are absolutely exhausted and you don't feel like, actually I'm being a good dad or I'm being a good husband here. And it's, I remember over the years I've done projects with some of the wealthiest people on the planet through various companies that I've owned.

We, we had access to, to various number of people that are super wealthy people. I could mention names and people would know who they are and go watch. Yes, there's a lot of money.

What was fascinating to me because I got a chance to talk to these guys and, and, and spend time with them and I'm a white. Podcasting is a really good fit for me because I'm a really nosy person. I don't mind asking really awkward questions.

And I would ask them a very similar question. A lot of them, you know, what kind of regrets do you have? All of them is to do with family.

You know, they, they'd made insane hundreds of millions, billions of dollars, pounds. And you kind of go, well, in the world's eyes, you're insanely successful.

But what haunts you at night is the fact that you're a failed father or a failed husband.

Yeah.

And it was really insightful, really fascinating. And so, and I think that's true. You don't have to be super successful to have those things plague your thoughts at night. You really don't.

Especially as, you know, as entrepreneurs, because you do divide your attention 25 different ways. And so, no, I'm not surprised at all, Glenn. I think it's a common, a common thing. What does, what does it look like in five years then?

So if I, if I could, if I Could work it perfectly in, in around three to maybe five years max, but hopefully three, sort of flip this company to a bigger company and do do a shorter stint than three years with the private equity or whoever the buys that, you know, maybe 12 to 18 months, hand it over and then try to go on a more definitive retirement path. You know, buy an rv, drive around North America.

I would still have a place in Florida and a place in, in Canada and sort of divide my time between the two based on climate and. Yeah. And then just, you know, and then just start to start to relax a bit and who knows, I might do something then I wouldn't.

But in my mind what I see is me sort of slowing down a bit in that, in that time frame.

And you know, my, there's a fellow I met where he's a doctor who, he ran a medical practice that he kind of sold and you know, and look, he got, he got, I don't call it life changing money, but he got life making money. Like, you know, he's retired now and he's got lots of money, but the, and he has lots of kids that are related. He's been married a few times.

They all had kids and there's five, six kids involved with, they have kids and, and he made this thing where he said, look, I'll, I'm not going to buy you a car, I'm not going to buy you a house, I'm not going to do this, but I'll fly your whole family to Disney World. But I'm coming, you know, like I'm going to come with you.

Yeah.

Or you can come and spend time at my, you know, huge cottage up north. We can play on the boats, but I'm going to be there. And he's sort of spending their inheritance. Right.

And I really, I really look up to what he's doing and you know, and he's getting lots of great time with his kids, his grandkids.

Yeah.

And probably making up for lots of lost time.

Yeah.

And I'd love to be able to do something like that. Right.

Yeah.

And yeah. So.

Yeah, why not? Why not? Listen, I'm aware of time, man, and it is ticking on at a pace.

If people want to reach out to you, if they want to connect with you, what's the best way to do that?

Okay, so you can always connect with me on the website glennpoulos.com but if you want to, you know, talk to me and collaborate with me, LinkedIn is really the best. I'm, I'm there, I'M there every day and I'm a LinkedIn top voice. Post all the time.

Connect with me there, reach out to me, send me a message and happy to talk to anybody or look for ways of collaboration.

Fantastic.

We will, of course, link to all of that information in the show notes, which you can get along for free on the website pushtobemore.com and of course you get, if you're on the. If you're listening to this on your phone, the podcast app, you scroll down, the links will be in the, in the podcast app as well.

But Glenn, listen, I really enjoyed the conversation, man. Super, super fun. Thank you.

Yeah, I just, it's great to talk about old school and just go back to how it, how it all sort of started for me, really, and sort of start thinking about that. So, yeah, really, really enjoyed that conversation. Huge thanks for coming on, man. Genuinely, really appreciate it.

Thank you for having me, Matt.

Well, that's a wrap on another great conversation. Massive. Oh, yeah, let me do this. Massive round of applause. There we go for Glenn for joining me today. Huge thanks also to our sponsor, Podjunction.

For all you entrepreneurs out there contemplating podcasting, you should just go right ahead and do it. Just talk to the guys at Podjunction and let them know I sent you. They're great, great people. Now, remember, keep pushing to be more.

Don't forget to follow the show wherever you get your podcasts from, because we've got some more great conversations lined up and I don't want you to miss any of them. And in case no one has told you yet today, let me be the first. You are awesome. Yes. You are created awesome. It's just a burden you have got to bear.

Glenn has to bear it. I have to bear it. You've got to bear it as well. Now push to be more. Like I say, is brought to life by Podjunction.

Of Transcripts show notes, head to the website pushtobemore.com all one word. But that's it from Glenn. That's it from me. Thank you so much for joining us. Have a fantastic week wherever you are in the world.

I'll catch you next time. Bye for now.