Cyndie Goss

I always find the yes. This year with my team, our theme is the Year of Yes, because it's really about finding the yes in all things. Don't be stopped or frustrated by that initial no - whether it's we're not gonna buy this, or it's not right now, or we can't launch this, or we don't have the funds, or whatever. Just keep working around the hurdles to find the yes. It's really motivating for me and my team. That's what drives me in the industry too - just finding the yes. It's motivating for me to be able to find the yes for my team, so I can be that change maker, that person that can take their challenges and bring it up through industry, or bring it through the nonprofit side to be able to find the yes. That's really what motivates me. Very altruistic.

The best career advice I've received is to never burn a bridge. You never know who you're going to be working against, maybe starting out in a competitive way, and then you could be working for them, they could be working for you, you could be working together, or you could still be working apart. But you never burn a bridge professionally. That's something I train my new reps and new people when they come into the industry. It's really one of the best pieces of advice I can share with them. It's a small industry, and you just never know, so you always behave and hold yourself with integrity, because you just never know how everything's gonna shake out.

Hold yourself with integrity because it's a small industry and you just never know how everything's gonna shake out. You never know who you're going to be working with in the future - someone you're competing against today could be your boss tomorrow, or you could be working for them, or they could be working for you. Always behave professionally and never burn a bridge, because the relationships you build and how you conduct yourself will follow you throughout your career.

The economic headwinds right now are definitely a challenge to the total commercial construction industry. Budgets are tight in all verticals, and especially in education, which is the side I'm most passionate about. One of the biggest challenges for us as a manufacturer is that we make a really sustainable product, a product that is through and through a healthy choice for people to use inside their space, which is where we spend the majority of our time. For us, it's that intersection of sustainability, why it matters, and getting it into a place in education that matters long-term for those schools and those students. It's not just about a product specifically that lands in the space, but also how the students feel, how they're impacted by that space, because education sets them up for life. If they have the right access to being able to learn in environments that support them not just academically, but emotionally and socially, that can impact their long-term outcome. Being able to be a catalyst in not only providing product that's the right fit for education, but really being part of research, driving research that is accessible for schools to be able to access without having to pay for that research, is a challenge that we're facing every day. But one that I'm passionate about.

Connection is really important to me, especially when we are all doing a lot of work from home and a lot of hybrid ways that we interact, not only with friends and family, but with colleagues. I think connection is important to make sure that nobody feels like they're on an island, that they don't have a way to connect back to people on our team or people within the organization. I try to make sure that the people at the top, that the team in the field has access to them. When they secure a large win or a large enterprise opportunity, I make sure to connect them and build them upwards through the organization so that access is available to them. That helps build connection, which helps build culture.