SOLID START
Focusing on life from God's perspective.
SOLID START
Notice, Served!
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What if something as simple as noticing someone could make a lasting impact? On this episode of Solid Start, Greg and Brian welcome special guest Matt Mitchell, who shares his experience joining Merrell Bros. in 2023. On his very first day, Matt didn't know what to expect or even fully understand what was going on. But one thing stood out—the people around him made him feel welcomed, valued, and accepted. That's the Merrell Bros. way. It's about more than the work we do; it's about caring for the people we do it with.
This week, Greg challenges us to open our eyes to those around us. Who might be feeling overlooked or left out? Who needs a little encouragement? Don't just notice someone—make the effort to reach out. You never know the difference you might make!
Well, hello again, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Solid Start, a podcast designed to get your week off to a solid start by focusing on life from God's perspective. I'm Greg Greed, life coach at Merrill Bros, and joined by my amazing and uh very popular co-host Brian Hertzog. Brian, good morning. Good morning. Happy Monday. It was a good weekend. Was it?
SPEAKER_01Great? Yeah, it was great. Okay. Had a good weekend. It was gorgeous, wasn't it? It was beautiful. Got to clean up the garage and still don't know what to do with half of my son's stuff that's still in my garage. He doesn't have room for it where he currently lives. That's what happens when you get a married uh married guy in the family. I'm like, half of my garage is his stuff that he can't take to his apartment.
SPEAKER_00So what do you do? Yeah, that uh I'm I remember we were uh we did that a couple for a couple of kids. So they just didn't have a place to put it. At some point, right?
SPEAKER_01At some point. You're like, hey, either sell this stuff or do something with it.
SPEAKER_00It is yours. It's yours now. Well, good. Glad you had a great uh great weekend. We have a guest this morning, so I'll I'll have you make the introduction. Yeah, this morning we're joined by Matt Mitchell.
SPEAKER_01Uh he's a junior at Purdue in Ag Business. Uh he's wor he's been with us since 2023, uh doing part-time, and then just recently he did an internship with us in the manufacturing integration.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00It was great to have you here, Matt. So welcome back and thanks for uh doing the podcast with us.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, thank you. No problem.
SPEAKER_00Good to uh good to have you. So last uh Monday we introduced this whole idea of making our pasture a safe place. In other words, creating a place where people feel safe. And so I thought it would be fun to uh talk to a couple of people in the next few weeks just to say, hey, are we doing that at Merrillbros? Are we are we providing a place where the culture is good and people feel like, wow, I can fit in. So you were uh tell us just a little bit before you talk about your experience here. Tell us about growing up and all of that, uh about your family, who's in your family and who's a part of your tribe.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so I have a great mom and dad, um, and then I have an older sister and a younger brother. Um, yeah, so I'd say I went to Northwestern High School.
SPEAKER_00Um Tigers! Woo! Woo!
SPEAKER_02I went to Come on, Brian. I went to a uh smaller private school when I was in elementary, and then after the fourth grade, I went to Howard Elementary and then continued at Northwestern. Okay, great for middle school and high school. But okay. Yeah, I uh grew up Kokomo my whole life. Um went to church at first CPC and then later on we went to uh crossroads. So I've grew up in the church most of my life.
SPEAKER_00Okay, so faith's been an important part of your journey for your family as well as for you. Yep. Yeah. So was there a turning point that you thought, hey, this is not just my parents' faith, not just my family, well, my family does, but this is who Matt is.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so I think it would have been my junior to senior year um of high school, where I uh really um gone fire for God through a uh church camp. Um but before the church camp, I got invited to a uh youth group at Crossroads from a friend. And uh then I went to that church camp following that um invitation, and I just kind of realized, you know, going to that public or the private school and then public school, um, I kind of maybe changed the way I acted or maybe the way I talked or just um wanted to fit in. And um I don't think it's bad to fit in, but I think maybe the way I was trying to go about it wasn't always the right way. Okay. And, you know, maybe things I would say I knew I wouldn't say around my my parents or um you know my grandma type of a deal.
SPEAKER_00There you go. Not around grandma, Brian. Yeah. You get your mouth washed out with soap when you say all those things around grandma.
SPEAKER_02So I uh I kind of decided, you know, through that camp that I really wanted to change, and you know, I was really worried about what people thought of me and like you know, like what people would think of me kind of changing. Um but you know, like I said, I grew up in church, so I I knew about the faith, but it really wasn't until that um that week uh I think it was uh that camp at that church camp that I really decided to um be on fire for God and kind of um you know make it my own faith and my own walk.
SPEAKER_00How great. Well, thanks for sharing that with us. So uh help us think back to your first few days at Merrill Bros. What was it like being the new guy or the new kid on the block? And what were you most uncertain or nervous about in those first few weeks, if you can remember that?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I remember um when I had my interview, you know, my dad always told me to dress up nice. So I came in to Meh Her Brothers for his part-time parts job wearing a uh um black slacks and a white shirt, and you know, I was like, Dad, you're making me look, you know, more professional than I need to for this place. And I walked in here looking like I was trying to sell them something when um I guess myself, but um This is a biosolids business, by the way.
SPEAKER_00White doesn't really work, Brian. No, no.
SPEAKER_02So I uh yeah, I I was just nervous, and then um I started that following Monday. Okay. And um, yeah, I think just being in high school at the time, um, having some experiences in agriculture, but not a whole lot. Right. Um and not knowing exactly all what Bear Brothers does, and um knowing I'll be working with gentlemen and uh other guys and gals that will be older than me um and more experienced just because you know they're uh had more time than I have. Um I think I was just more so nervous about wanting to perform at a high standard, but because I haven't had opportunities, not being able to um know everything, you know. I I like to know a lot of things before you do stuff, and so uh asking questions was something that I really had to learn.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_02Um but yeah, I think it was just the nervousness of my inexperience and wanting to make sure I didn't get looked down or um, you know, I wanted to make sure people wanted to give me the opportunities.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and that and that was a safe place. Yeah. Yeah. Matt, what uh is there someone that you say, hey, that was the person that went out of his way to help me feel welcome, to be included, or to be comfortable even asking questions. Did you have some of those people at Merrill Bros? Did we did we live out our culture? Is what I'm asking.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I'd say um the guys in the parts department really um kind of your immediate supervisor and the other people in there, okay? Yeah, um the manager that's currently there, he was my manager. Um then there's also another individual that no longer works with us, but both of them were really um helpful and um answering questions, uh, you know, making me feel uh included on things, trusting me with things after maybe they taught me it. Um they never hesitated to um re like retell me how to do things or instruct me if I had questions. They always you know had patience. Um but yeah, they they were just really welcoming and uh made me feel included, even though I maybe wasn't as um smart when it came to maybe mechanical things or just other things because I haven't had the opportunities, but you know, they took the time out of their day to make sure I um felt comfortable and was included.
SPEAKER_01Can you name all two million parts that are in the parts department? Um at least two million, Brian.
SPEAKER_02I think I can probably maybe like one million, but I don't know about the uh once it got over one million, it's a little tough.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I mean, Brian not having our expertise is what he's saying. Uh yeah. Or lack thereof, at least in my case. So, Matt, then based on your experience, um what advice would you give to somebody who's listening to this podcast about how they can help a new person to feel safe and accept it? Maybe it's at work, maybe it's somewhere else, uh, based on what you learned, what what would you say to somebody that's listening?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I think um through some things that I've been able to be a part of, as well as just my experience here at Mower Brothers, I've kind of learned that um taking the time to get to know the person and know that they're cared for really is a a a good start because um you know people want to know how they're cared for, not necessarily what you know about. Yeah. Um and so you know, when I knew that they cared about me, you know, not only did it make me feel good about myself and feel good about them, but you know, it made me um have something to look forward to coming in. And um, you could talk about more than just uh work, you can talk about it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it wasn't just your job performance, they cared about Matt Mitchell, yeah. And they wanted to know about you and your family and all of those things. So that's I mean, that's what this developing a safe culture is all about is that first we have to get to know people. We certainly need to get a job done, um, but we do have to care about people uh along the way. So Brian, uh anything else to add on uh on that that you remembered from your first few days or weeks here?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I would say the same thing. Okay. That's right is to care for uh our folks here. And uh we literally we have a meeting right after this podcast where we're gonna go and pray and uh just talk about things that are going on. So it is a very real thing. And I'm glad you f you said you felt that because um all the way down from our executive team to our directors, managers, I mean that we pour a lot of time and effort into even training on how to care for our uh Merrill Brothers family. And uh I'm glad you you said that. Like, hey, I mean you work for some good people in the man. Yeah, yeah, I love those guys.
SPEAKER_00You know, Matt, there's an interesting story in uh the book of Acts, uh the fifth book in the New Testament, where there's a guy named Barnabas who takes in uh a guy named Saul. Saul, his previous life was uh to do everything possible to uh uh to imprison and to make life difficult for people that were following Jesus, and then he comes to a shocking um transformation, and everybody's suspicious. It's like, hey, I don't want to have anything to do with him. And so in Acts 9, it says that uh nobody really believed he was a disciple, but a guy named Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul had um seen the Lord on the road and the Lord had spoken to him, and how Saul had preached boldly in the name of Jesus in Nazareth. So it was this guy named Barnabas who noticed Saul, who said, Hey, I think there's something real here. I think we can trust him. Nobody else did, and so I'm thankful that there were people here and other places where you've been that said, Hey, we care about you as a person, and we think you're valuable, and we're glad to have you a part of the team. So we are glad to have you as a part of our team and are excited for what's ahead for you, the rest of this um this year as a junior and then next year, and look forward to uh great things from Matt Mitchell. So uh thanks so much for uh living out your faith uh at school and at work and wherever you go. So uh have a great uh have a great rest of your uh semester and uh a great junior year. So take care, my friend.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, thanks for having me. And um, yeah, and our brothers have been good to me, so I plan to just continue to reciprocate that love that they give to me.
SPEAKER_00So that's great. So our challenge this week for you is kind of the Barnabas challenge, and it's really following up on what uh Matt and Brian just said is that we are going this week to say, hey, how do we notice somebody maybe who's new, somebody who who seems like they're not fitting in well, and we get to be the person that says, hey, tell me a little bit about your story. I don't I don't know you very well, and I'd love to know a little bit more about your family, about what what you love to do when you're not here. One of the questions I try to ask people, hey, what do you do when you're not when you're not at Merrill Bros? Like what do you what is it you love? And so I learned lots of things about people just by saying, hey, what do you like to do when you're not at work? So this week we're going to notice, uh, we're gonna be very conscious of reaching out, and maybe we get to open a door and help somebody to take a next step where they can feel more comfortable being a part of this incredible company. Brian, we have a lot of exciting news from uh this past weekend, some sad news, and then we're in this fourth quarter where we want to finish strong and live out this culture. So I think I'll just today have you uh have you pray for us.
SPEAKER_01All right, yeah, we definitely need to pray for some of our Merrible Brothers family who have experienced loss this week for sure. Uh part of that caring piece, right, is uh lifting them up in prayer. And we want to celebrate new life too with our. Uh, let us pray. Uh Father, we just thank you for who you are and how you bless us each and every day. Uh sometimes we don't even see the blessings, and so we just want to pause and give you thanks for those. Part of that blessing, God, is new life and the babies that were born this past weekend. Uh we're just so thankful for uh those lives and pray for the moms and the dads of those babies here in the Merrill Brothers family and uh exciting times, but also it can be scary times and the unknowns and uh just praying for them. Father, we've had several uh Merrill Brothers families experience uh loss over this past week, and so just pray, God, that you would comfort uh that you would just come alongside those who just maybe even asking questions why God, and uh just pray God that you would just care for them. Uh just allow your love and your grace to just fill them um during this time. This also is a is a time, God, where our company is just going through so much, and we just need we we need your guidance, we need your wisdom as we launch new products, as we have guys going all over the country, as we are continuing to uh bring in the harvest, and there's just a lot happening. There can be a lot of anxiety, but there's also a lot of excitement, and so we're just leaning on you, God, for just the guidance through all of the new opportunities that that come up and uh just all the new work that that is being put before us, and uh we just uh continue to trust you and and just give you thanks for how you have blessed us here. But I pray God that if there's anyone listening to this podcast that is just that wants to accept you or just has questions that they would reach out either to us or to someone, God, to uh just answer that little nudge that you've put on their heart. God, we thank you and we love you for all that you've done for us in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen.
SPEAKER_00Amen, Brian. Thank you for uh for praying. So if someone does want to reach out to us so that we can pray and and be able to provide uh the next level of care, how do they get in touch with us?
SPEAKER_01Just go to mirrorbros.com, click on the prayer tab at the top of the page, and you can get in touch with us that way.
SPEAKER_00Okay, great. Well, Matt, again, thanks for joining us. And uh, those of you that are listening, thanks for another episode of Solid Start. Uh, we want you to keep growing, keep encouraging, and make someone feel safe uh with you this week and be included. Take care, my friends.